TechWhirl (TECHWR-L) is a resource for technical writing and technical communications professionals of all experience levels and in all industries to share their experiences and acquire information.
For two decades, technical communicators have turned to TechWhirl to ask and answer questions about the always-changing world of technical communications, such as tools, skills, career paths, methodologies, and emerging industries. The TechWhirl Archives and magazine, created for, by and about technical writers, offer a wealth of knowledge to everyone with an interest in any aspect of technical communications.
Subject:Re: Hearing (or seeing) what isn't there From:Andrew Plato <gilliankitty -at- yahoo -dot- com> To:"TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com> Date:Sat, 15 Mar 2003 10:40:10 -0800 (PST)
"John Posada" wrote...
> I'd like to throw out a question.
>
> How do you avoid injecting into your understanding of a software or hardware
> something that isn't there. Some might say that this is related to the
> discussion we had about knowing or not knowing enough to document something,
> but it isn't the same. When this happens, the credibility of the content is
> So...how do you train yourself to not assume something without actually
> knowing you are doing it?
This is easy. Work like a scientist not a artist. A scientist draws
conclusions and understanding from facts, not from speculation, opinion, and
preference. Thus, you need to be able to differentiate when you have an
opinion, a fact, speculation, and preferences.
Most people are convinced beyond any reason that their opinions, speculations,
and preferences are facts. Thus, when people tell you things, you must
relentlessly assume that everything coming out of their mouth is dripping with
bias and misinformation. Only after some analysis can you start to see
patterns emerge. Then you draw your conclusions (documentation) from those
patterns and not the babbling of a very biased person.
Andrew Plato
__________________________________________________
Do you Yahoo!?
Yahoo! Web Hosting - establish your business online http://webhosting.yahoo.com
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Order RoboHelp X3 and receive a $100 mail-in rebate, plus FREE
RoboScreenCapture, WebHelp Merge Module and iMarkupSoftware, for a total
giveaway value of $473! Order here: http://www.ehelp.com/techwr-l
Help celebrate TECHWR-L's 10th Anniversary starting this month!
Check out the contests at http://www.raycomm.com/techwhirl/special/contests/
Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday TECHWR-L....
---
You are currently subscribed to techwr-l as:
archive -at- raycomm -dot- com
To unsubscribe send a blank email to leave-techwr-l-obscured -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com
Send administrative questions to ejray -at- raycomm -dot- com -dot- Visit http://www.raycomm.com/techwhirl/ for more resources and info.
