Re: "always read and follow the instructions"

["Gene Kim-Eng" <techwr -at- genek -dot- com>]

In situations where your products can kill their users
if not operated correctly it is often SOP to say "read
and follow" because you want the users to read the
procedures in their entirety before attempting to
perform them rather than just following them blind
(because it's entirely possible to follow a set of steps
without having first learned them)..

Gene Kim-Eng


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Milan Davidovic" <milan -dot- lists -at- gmail -dot- com>
> When I see a statement in a manual such as "Always read and follow the
> instructions in this manual", two thoughts come to mind:
>
> - Following the instructions in the manual (i.e. the ones actually in
> the manual, not the instructions you imagine) presupposes having
> learned them, so the direction to "read" them is redundant.
> - Telling someone to "do x" with no qualifiers provides no options,
> so the modifier "always" is redundant.
>
> Do you think "always read and follow the instructions" is likely to be
> more effective than "follow the instructions"? Do you think it depends
> on the context?

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