September 26, 2006; HW#1; Reading Reflection

According to what I read and understand of our textbook, "Ethic in Technical Communications", Aristotle set forth the notion thar to behave ethically is not automatic nor is it a reflex. To behave ethically, he believed came from the person's character & is displayed, in behavior, over time. Aristotle,also, asserted that behaving in an ethically manner wasn't easy, but rather tends to be thought out, in a deliberate fashion. In this day & age, though, the tendency is to "go with the crowd" ('sheep mentality).
In this imperfect world, Aristotle asserts, we as humans are weighed with the load of figuring out how to behave. Aristotle's thinking, in today's technologically-based world, would not be involved with the actual technologies themselves but with each person's determinations about those technologies.
Practical wisdom + moral wisdom = ethical action [see page 44, in "Ethics" text]. How do you act in a situation that may compromise your ethics? Aristotle's ethics was based on relationships: with the Divine, with one's self and with others.
Regarding law and politics, Aristotle held the belief that eac, law and politics, must be ethical because they each deal with what is best for the society-at-large; however; when the legal system or the rules of politics go 'bad', ethical behavior is to be our guide.
The author of our text, "Ethics. . ." states there are thinkers that contend that Aristotle's theories don't 'hold water' in this technological era, that what he thought of as sciecne and technolo9gy have no systems of values within themselves.

O.k. on to "Concise Guide. . .": according to the text as well as my own observations, everything that has[or will be] manufactured, processed, or developed has specifications, instructions or procedures to follow.
Dependant on what one's audience is, the specifications need to be geared toward that audience, whether that audience is a "do-it-yourself-over-one-week-end" type of gadget person or an electronical whiz-kid, or a blend of both, the 'specs' must be written clearly.
'Specs' are used to describe and detail how a specific product is made & designed, if this is the sort of audience one is attracting the product to/for. Specifications are used also for the product's exact use as well as its maintainance.
On page 231, of Concise guide, details the considerations of all specs that need to be thought out, such as clarity--are the same terms used all the way through the document? Are there what is called 'retrieval aids'--table of contents, and headings? Are the lists, within, short? Is is KISS--is it Kept Simple? Are all terms spelled correctly?
And from the next page {232], I've found the checklist: as I write any 'specs' in the [distant?] future, I must remeber this checklist, and remember to put myself in my reader's "shoes".