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We should separate observation from explanation. There are plenty of valuable observations made by people and these observations should stand on their own witho
by Ididntdothis 7y ago
We should separate observation from explanation. There are plenty of valuable observations made by people and these observations should stand on their own without the observer also having to explain it.
- michrassena 7y agoThis is something I've noticed as well. As both a client and as an IT troubleshooter, I try to be keenly aware of this distinction. When I'm at the doctor's office, I relay what I've observed, and try to refrain from any speculation of the cause. Likewise, when asked to fix a problem, I try to ignore the explanation the client is offering and focus solely on the observation. I think it's very easy to get hung up on refuting or confirming the observer's explanation and ignore the observation. For as much as observations are worth, if someone says they saw a strange animal, I might believe them, if they said they saw Bigfoot, I wouldn't, but that's a very good moment to ask questions.