Third person passive

February 19th, 2004

Whilst reading my posts you might occasionally experience a moment of
grammatical vertigo, and I apologise if this is the case. It’s probably
due to me slipping from first to third person narrative, and although
it’s a problem I’m aware of, most of the time it happens unconsciously.

It’s not my fault though; I’ve been trained to be this way. Prior to
robotperson, my entire adult creative output consisted of documenting
experiments and writing dissertations during my science-heavy education.
Like everyone in science classes as far back as high school, I’ve been
taught that third person passive is the correct voice to use when writing-up.

Example:

"The sample was added to the solution, which then
was seen to give off a gas. The gas was tested and found to be C02"

The thinking behind this approach is understandable – third person gives
a more objective feel to results, and objectivity is the cornerstone
of science. However, not only can this lead to a misleading sense that
the results are absolute (undesirable from the constantly questioning
scientific viewpoint), but it also makes a really dull and lifeless read.

There is an argument in favour of teaching high-school students to write
in the first person active, which I definitely would help to shift the
stigma of boring greyness that afflicts science.

So …when I slip from first to third person it’s sort-of reversion
to default-mode writing, and I’m probably feeling sleepy on the train.
I can assure you that should it be observed to occur in the future, attention
will be paid to correct it.

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