Re: Agencies/markup/etc.

[JIMCHEVAL -at- AOL -dot- COM]

In a message dated 97-05-19 18:36:12 EDT, ryanowit -at- NYCT -dot- NET (Richard
Yanowitz) writes:

<< The differing attitudes on tech writing rates and establishing them have
 opened my eyes about an area of tech writers' attitudes from which I'm
 normally isolated as an independent contractor and I have found the
 discussion... valuable >>
Ditto.

<< but rates and how you arrive at them (not what KTI--which seems to have
been unmentioned and irrelevant for awhile now--may or may not now do), like
working conditions, seem to some people pretty important to our livelihoods
and futures.>>
 Re-ditto.

<< I've seen plenty of stuff here that doesn't interest me, like whether to
 spell out "okay" and nuances of comma rules, or content that initially
 interests me and then becomes (for me) as arcane and dull as you find this
 "rate" thread>>
Ditto redux.

<< It distresses me to find people on the web, in almost every list
 I've joined, so quick to become angry and hostile; >>
I think the analysis that follows this is pretty much on the money - out of
sight, easy to spite, as it were.

I would add however that I find a slightly higher proportion of posters here
(than on other lists) who seem quick to take offense or be intolerant.

Even when a post is out and out wrong, it seems to me possible to "hate the
sin, but love the sinner" as they say in other circles.  It should be
possible to reasonably point out an error or a fault in logic without taking
on an offended or judgemental tone.

I was surprised, when I first left an 'arty' world (the music business) and
ended up in a technical one (computers), how much more virulent and personal
criticism often was. Especially since the people quickest to savage their
colleagues for often minor errors were also very blase about their own
mistakes ("No problem - we can restore  last month's backups...").

My own analysis of this was that people in an artistic environment KNOW their
ideas are subjective, and so are often more tolerant.  Technical people,
because they use logic and their own sub-set of the 'facts', often are
convinced their answer is the only one possible, and are correspondingly less
tolerant of other views. Forgetting that both logical processes and
individual experience can vary.

This is a forum to exchange ideas and techniques.  If any of those offered
are wrong, it's a sure bet that subsequent posts will correct them pretty
quickly.  So the risk of any actual damage from other people's (real or
perceived) errors is pretty minimal.

The risk of ill-feeling resulting from ill-considered attacks however is far
higher, and more real.

IMHO....

Jim Chevallier
Los Angeles
=============================
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