While what you say makes sense, Craig, I also hope readers offer the benefit of
the doubt upfront-- especially those who know me. We humans do tend to leap to
judgment, assuming the worst when it's not justified, far too often.
For my part I will try to put more effort into disarming verbiage. ;)
(apologies to Thomas Perl, I'm done with the subject... I hope)
Randall (Randy) Arnold
MeeGo Community Office: Device Program
http://texrat.net
>________________________________
>From: Craig Woodward <[email protected]>
>To: List for community development <[email protected]>; Randall
>Arnold <[email protected]>
>Sent: Tuesday, August 16, 2011 5:00 PM
>Subject: Re: My Perception of the Maemo/MeeGo Community
>
>There's one small bit I want to clarify. Something I think needs to be said
>publicly. And yes, the rest we've taken off-line to private e-mail. :)
>
>One of the big limitations of e-communication is the lack of emphasis, pitch
>and gesture, which can be critical in determining the mood and tone of the
>author. To replace that when reading, the mind generally uses more subtle
>cues in the language. Indeed, those cues are biased not only by personal
>expectations of the reader, but also by cultural norms. This is partially why
>some books are huge hits in one country and bomb in others, even when they
>share a common language (US/UK, for example).
>
>I think Randall pegged it exactly when saying:
>
>>I do have a tendency to use very stark words when making a point (as I am
>>doing in this reply), and that's solely to be very clear. Some mistake that
>>for hostile tone...
>
>I think that's exactly what's happened here. Unless it's prefaced with that
>intention (as I did when replying to him, and he did in the last reply to me)
>the default reading of blunt language is generally considered hostile. At
>least it is on this side of the pond. When prefaced correctly, that
>interpretation of tone can be offset, if not eliminated completely.
>
>I'm not claiming fault, or saying such interpretation is right or wrong. Nor
>am I saying that it's universally accepted that blunt terms imply a rude
>tone. I'm just trying to bring awareness that we need to be cautious when
>changing our writing style, even when it's for the sake of clarity, to make
>sure we preface or implicitly set the tone so it's not misinterpreted. As a
>reader, we must also accept that differing cultures may have other ways of
>speaking, which do not properly translate to the tone or mood we may be
>accustomed to. So, this does cut both ways.
>
>Just something to keep in mind as you communicate on-line, especially in
>forums with a wide range of cultures and languages, and a distinct lack of
>mark-up capability.
>
>-Woody
>
>
>
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