Re: [Fwd: The third thing I don't like about the WAI-IG list]

Lakespur Roca wrote:

"I have actually worked with a woman doing an empirical
study of Email
communication and how it's messages are misunderstood. And
boy are they!
An idol of mine Norm Abraham of This Old House and New
Yankee Workshop
espouses "measure twice, cut once". Here I think it would be
"think
twice, send once."  I see lots of messages here the
respondent to a
message did not understand the premise of a message and so
missed the
point. And others where the sender did not clearly express
their point.
The ensuing messages went back an forth with out making
points that
would have added any thing to the discussion."

--------------

An excellent point. But misinterpretation occurs on both
ends, so I think we should say that both sender *and*
receiver should read, reread, and give the other the benefit
of the doubt (or ask for further clarification). I apologize
if any of my posts or rebuttals have been interpreted as
hostile or offensive. None were intended that way, and, in
fact, I've been reading, rereading, and testing replies on
my wife just to make sure. That some of them still appear to
have given offense simply makes the above point. I also
apologize if I have misinterpreted the posts of others. In
several cases, I have asked for clarification before
replying.

But, I must also say this: In my experience, many people
have difficulty separating disagreement from disapproval. If
I take a position opposing what another believes, that alone
may be interpreted by the other as an attack on him or her
personally. It would behoove all of us, I think, to refrain
from making these issues personal.

Charles Munat
Puerto Vallarta, Mexico

Received on Monday, 4 January 1999 18:51:11 UTC