Whenever I or my students are required to write procedures for someone to follow, I am always struck anew by the humbling challenges embedded in a task that seems so simple. "Just write down what to do, step by step" we think to ourselves. And then there, lurking in the shadows of what we assume is a straightforward "how to," we find the culprit -- language. What seems so simple, so obvious to me (because I've done it before) is all Greek to you (because you haven't). How would someone who isn't computer literate understand the difference between "turn on the computer" and "log onto the computer"? How would a novice cook know that sauté means to cook something on low heat in a pan on top of the stove?
Writing a procedure for someone else to follow reminds us that what's inside our heads is not necessarily what's inside anyone else's. When we stumble over the confusion that differences in experience, motivation, and interpretation can cause in our attempts to communication mere informational procedures to another person, it's no wonder that language confounds us when we try to reach consensus about weightier issues.
Does anyone have a camera?!
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