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.