Re: Is this a typical technical writing environment?

["Chuck Martin" <cm -at- writeforyou -dot- com>]

"Bill Swallow" <wswallow -at- nycap -dot- rr -dot- com> wrote in message
news:229667 -at- techwr-l -dot-  -dot-  -dot- 

::: What you have to keep in mind is that when dealing with engineers,
you're
::: frequently dealing with a mind that works entirely differently than a
tech
::: writer's mind.

No, we just like to say that because it gives us an excuse.



Actually, enough writing (that's not to say formal research) has been done
on this subject to indicate that this assertion has mure truth that some
might want to admit. Many programmers and other engineers do seem to see and
think about the world differently that the majority. They apply logical
reasoning to many situations, even those where it is not warranted. They
perceive that this logical approach makes the most sense and conclude that
it's the only reasonabe way *anyone* would approach things. It's what makes
engineers so good at resolving engineering problems but so bad at resolving
real-world interface issues.

To deny the differences, in thought processes, in approach, puts on the same
blinders that engineers use, but for a different reason. The result is the
same: a refusal to see that others might think and work differently that we
think should be.

Chuck Martin