Code of ethics (was Re: Pet Peeves)

[Chris Borokowski <athloi -at- yahoo -dot- com>]

This reminds me of Robert A. Heinlein's concept of
"Fair Witnesses," or people whose sole purpose was to
observe and report fairly. It may have been a metaphor
for writing in general, or a discipline like Zen, but
it made a big impression on me as a kid.

"Fair Witness 
Person rigorously trained to observe, remember, and
report without prejudice, distortion, lapses in
memory, or personal involvement."

http://www.heinleinsociety.org/concordance/books/ss_hc.htm

And on a practical note, self-pity never did anything
for me either (even regarding the utter horrors of
daylight savings time).

--- elizabeth j allen <eja -at- samurai -dot- com> wrote:

> How does this last fit into technical writing? When
> we, as authors,
> attempt to impose our personal agenda on people
> around us, we stray from
> the path of clear and effective communication.
> 
> No matter how strong the emotions we are feeling, we
> need to learn to set
> them aside and write objectively. Projecting our
> beliefs into our work is
> not appropriate, no matter how strong the emotion
> behind them. Use the
> words that best convey your meaning and move on.





 
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