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RE: Poll: Is technical writing a sellout or fallback career?
Subject:RE: Poll: Is technical writing a sellout or fallback career? From:"Lauren" <lauren -at- writeco -dot- net> Date:Thu, 7 Aug 2008 10:54:23 -0700
> From: John Posada
> Lauren...it's a casual survey...not a step in creating a
> nuclear device.
>
> They don't have to be synonymous because there is an OR in the
> sentence. If it is one or the other, then you answer YES. If it is
> neither, then it is a NO.
The "or" doesn't make question a yes or no question because "or" implies
both "either one and not the other of" and "any of." Logically and
generally, "or" is excludes one option from the other, unless the option of
"both" is included.
So the question, "Is technical writing a sellout or fallback career?" can be
answered as a "sellout" and not a "fallback." Which answer would that be?
Yes to the first part and no to the second part is not an option.
> The question could very well have been "Is the tree green or
> is the coffe hot?".
That example would only accurately apply if tree and coffee were the same
subject, which they are not. But if the example is accepted as valid, then
the "or" is still an exclusive term.
> If you have a tree and it is green, then the answer is YES.
If the tree is green *and* the coffee is hot, then the answer cannot be
"no," but if the tree is tree is green and the coffee is not hot, then the
answer cannot be "yes" or "no." The answer is "neither."
> Aside from that, ya gotta stop fretting about a question that means
> zero in the scheme of things.
It is an ill-formed question that cannot be accurately answered with a yes
or no. The question itself may mean little in the grand scheme of things,
but the issues of writing semantics and clear communication are relevant.
The poll question requires inferences from the reader and the question leads
to unresolvable inferences. If the truth is "and," then the question cannot
be "or." If the truth is "or," then there is no other truth, like
"neither."
For example, if [A *and* B] are correct, then the answer is "yes." If [A
and B] are *not* correct, then the answer is "no." If [A and *not* B] is
correct, then the answer is... what? Should we assume that the answer is
"yes" if either of A or B is correct and "no" if neither of A or B is
correct? That assumption requires an inference that contradicts other valid
inferences! Contradictions grate my nerves.
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