"Appears" vs. "will appear"

[Janice Gelb]

Sarah Bouchier wrote:
>> Use appears in other sentences and perhaps you will have the desire to
>> append, "as if by magic" or "out of nowhere."
> 
> 'Open the can of tuna.  A cat appears.'
> 
> I have now thought about this issue until my brain hurts.  I think the
> basic problem is that, unlike almost everything else in life, the
> window/dialog box really /does/ just appear.
> 
> If you unwrap a bar of chocolate, the chocolate doesn't 'appear'; it has
> been revealed by you opening it.  If you shout for a friend to come and
> help you they don't 'appear'; they  have been summoned from where they
> were by your shouting.  It's all entirely predictable cause and effect.
> If you click on a button in an application, however, you have no way of
> predicting that a dialog window will turn up on your screen.  It wasn't
> hidden behind the button, it wasn't summoned from another place.  It
> appeared.  Out of nowhere.  As if by magic.
> 

I've never understood this argument. The dialog
box appears as a result of your clicking the
button. Why is that "magic"? It's the entirely
predictable result of an action. Even if the
reader never knew, and couldn't predict from
looking at it, that clicking the button will
cause a dialog box to appear, you're telling
the reader that it will, and it does. Nothing
magical about it. Click button, see dialog box.
Rinse and repeat.

-- Janice

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