RE: Checking assumptions at the door (but NOT he vs she!)

["Lin Sims" <linda -dot- sims -at- verizon -dot- net>]

This seems to have degenerated into a discussion of gender(less) 
pronouns. I was kind of hoping for one about the unconscious 
assumptions we all make in our writing.

Using "he" as an all-inclusive is simply an example of one of these 
assumptions, and it seems to be going away. The "neighbour's 
wife" example is a more subtle version of the same thing. 

We all make assumptions when we write; in technical manuals we 
document those assumptions we are aware of up front. But what 
other assumptions may we be making about our readers that we 
aren't aware of? How do we discover them? Once we know what 
they are, what do we do about them? Are these assumptions 
doomed to stay in our blind spots? Is it necessarily a Bad Thing for 
these assumptions to exist?

*thinking Very Deep Thoughts--well, okay, maybe medium-deep*



Lin

Knowledge is Power.
Power Corrupts.
Study Hard. Be Evil.

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