The author of the article also makes a critical mistake in the just-so example you cite, writing >And I will lay you ten to one that after you have answered

The author of the article also makes a critical mistake in the just-so example you cite, writing >And I will lay you ten to one that after you have answered >the questions, and explained how to find the information, >and why you want it, the clerk will go off and get one of >the other clerks to help him find Garcia - and then come > ^^^^^^ >back and tell you there is no such man. Of course I may lose >my bet, but according to the Law of Average, I will not. The historical figure the clerks were told to look for with imprecise identifiers and no business context is "Corregio", not "Garcia". The author supplanted the subject of research with the mythical "Garcia" but even that metaphorical substitution is problematic because if Corregio:Garcia::research:letter then really all the clerks need do is return to the requester and say "I found Corregio". It rhetorically opens the question of whether Rowan found Garcia or merely found "a" Garcia. EDIT: subject verb agreement in first sentence. Add qualifying phrase in second sentence.