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Re: Resolved: Technical communicators can create information
Subject:Re: Resolved: Technical communicators can create information From:Keith Hood <klhra -at- yahoo -dot- com> To:John Posada <jposada99 -at- gmail -dot- com> Date:Sun, 13 Jun 2010 15:15:24 -0700 (PDT)
I think it doesn't matter at all who or what "creates" information. What matters is whether or not we can get paid for massaging and transmitting it.
And as for me not defining what I mean by creating information, neither has anyone else. I don't think there is a coherent definition. You might as well try to specify how wide yellow is.
When I write something, I am creating a document but I am not creating the information in it. That is something I discover and codify. I figure I "create" information about as much as an archeologist creates dinosaur bones.
If you get better mileage out of thinking you create information, go for it.
By the way, earlier, RM said something about my use of the term truth-neutral. What I meant was, in some situations the truth or falseness of a statement is irrelevant. For example, his use of the statement that the moon is made of green cheese. Obviously if that were used in a discussion about the structure of the moon, it would be a false statement. But in a different case, where that statement is transmitted as part of a test to determine link connectivity - in such a case the question of whether or not that statement is true is irrelevant. Nothing hinges on the truth or falseness of the statement. So in a situation like that, the statement is truth-neutral.
--- On Sun, 6/13/10, John Posada <jposada99 -at- gmail -dot- com> wrote:
From: John Posada <jposada99 -at- gmail -dot- com>
Subject: Re: Resolved: Technical communicators can create information
To: "Keith Hood" <klhra -at- yahoo -dot- com>
Cc: "TECHWR-L Digest" <TECHWR-L -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com>, "Steven Jong" <stevefjong -at- comcast -dot- net>
Date: Sunday, June 13, 2010, 4:32 PM
Hog wash.
It does matter. We don't find it...we look at the facts; how somethig works, then create the appropriate information for others to be able to do what they need to do based on those facts.
BTW...I'm not looking to make what I do more important than what it is. I would take an equal position to any statement that is wrong.
BTW...you still haven't defined what you consider to be "create information".
--
John Posada
Senior Technical Writer
NYMetro STC President
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