Small Peculiar

I’m editing a business book, so this is, as they say in business books, top of mind. Now, it is sometimes appropriate to use individual as a noun, usually when you’re making a specific contrast between a single person and a group or other entity, such as a corporation. But most of the time it makes more sense to say person or guy or Linda or something like that—something human. I’ve said it before and will keep saying it until I die: more syllables don’t make you sound smarter, they just give the reader more time to realize you sound dumb.