OT? Community and tech writing in real life (was Re: Ambiguous words and Phrases)

[Tim Mantyla <TimMantyla -at- nustep -dot- com>]

This is one thread that's spilling over into "real life" issues, a 
tendency which some readers on this list abhor. I'd like to comment on 
spill-over in general, since it is and will always be an issue on lists 
dedicated to a particular topic area. 

I understand and agree that this is a tech writer list. It is devoted 
primarily to tech writer topics--which spill over into other issues 
occasionally. Sure, it's a balancing act to keep it on topic. But the fact 
is, technical communication shares most of its ground with other kinds of 
communication.

Also, if we all acted as tech-write-bots every moment of every day, we 
wouldn't be part of a community--which is *also* an unstated purpose of a 
tech writer list. We would instead be "Mr. Smith" in The Matrix, a machine 
so overly efficient and incapable of empathy that it kills by 
default--kind of how humanity acts in some places and some ways. The fact 
is, we each have ideas, experiences and feelings that may (and should at 
times) spill onto the list and even offend others from time to time. So 
long as it's polite and sticks to the topic in some remote way, I hope we 
encourage that kind of exchange, but in a limited way. Who defines those 
limits? All of us, in essence, which means they'll always be fuzzy.

I support "real life" spillover occasionally, since our own lives revolve 
in "real life" as well as our "tech writer life" bubble at work. The fact 
that the ambiguous marketing writing referenced below is not obviously or 
overtly technical in nature does not make the comments inappropriate, 
IMHO. Clarity is a primary issue in any kind of writing.

Clear writing usually provides the best customer service and is one of the 
most needed writing deliverables. Ethics demand it in certain areas, such 
as when money is exchanged, as reflected in contracts. (The convoluted 
credit card language Sen. Levin examined is simply terrible customer 
service!) Because tech writers communicate about organizations' 
intentions, efforts, products and views, clarity and ethics both fall 
within the tech writer's scope.

Why not explore more on the ethics of communication? Some corporations try 
to weasel out of responsibility or into your pocketbook using ambiguous 
language. This has real life implications and brings up issues of morality 
apropos to technical and other communication. Writers have a 
responsibility to the larger community, not just their employer, IMHO. 
Corporations should, too, but some don't because many laws governing 
corporations aren't tough enough to protect consumers from some 
profiteering, inhumane corporate leaders.

The purpose of this list is to serve the tech writer community's needs. 
Communities encompass people (and sometimes other creatures) with 
overlapping as well as disparate needs and goals. Ken's (for example) 
needs or interests may not coincide exactly with yours in this particular 
area. With that in mind, does it make sense that he has a right--perhaps 
even a duty, arising from his inner self, intuition or other impulse known 
only to him--to offer the tech writer community his unique experience here 
nonetheless? I found his post refreshing and stimulating, and saw in it a 
useful comment on tech writing issues.

I love the TV spot with James Lipton (Inside the Actor's Studio) speaking 
for a customer who mentions her phone experience with customer service: 
"Ahhh. Humans...acting humanly." Part of being human is to constantly push 
boundaries and expand experience; so list topics spill over into real life 
issues. Next year we may see a list devoted to ethical issues in tech and 
other writing as part of that expansion. And if some thoughts from that 
list spill over here, I won't mind one bit.

To paraphrase Devo: Are we not men--and women?? We are tech writers...


Happy Monday, Week, Year and Lifetime,

Tim / Tech Writer +++++ 

The Bigger Picture: If each of us considered our larger community in many 
of our activities, would we have collectively created the gap between rich 
and poor that now threatens too much of humanity? Would Exxon glut itself 
in the largest corporate profit ever by contributing to global warming, 
while many are losing their homes, some 15,000 homeless struggle to 
survive in Detroit's sub-zero temperatures this winter and Darfur's 3.5 
million refugees cringe in fear of rape and murder at any given moment?

Let's think about ourselves as cells in a community body called humanity: 
It's impossible for the whole body to thrive while other vital organs are 
dying. Sooner or later, those with the least ability and greatest need 
will bring us all down, unless we care for each other.


> From: "Dan Goldstein" <DGoldstein -at- riverainmedical -dot- com>
 
> Hi Ken,
> 
> This is a tech writing e-mail list.
> 
> Happy Friday,
> 
> Dan

> From: poshedly -at- bellsouth -dot- net
> ...the medical director of 
> one insurance company during a videotaped deposition for a lawsuit 
> where he acknowledged that while his signature is at the bottom of 
> one particular letter, his "signature" is really only on a rubber 
> stamp used by others to do what they will. In other words, HE 
> doesn't / didn't actually deny or agree to anything -- it was the 
> beancounters issuing "medical" decisions with his "signature".

> It's like years ago when they said you know it's going to be a bad 
> day when you find Mike Wallace and the "60 Minutes" film crew 
> awaiting your arrival at your office.
> 
> -- Ken in Atlanta


> > V. Suresh wrote: 
> > 
> > Isn't there a need to give more clarity to a customer than that?? What 

> > do you say? 
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