Which Words Matter the Most

Worth reading through to the end of the article, rather than just the point about Program A and B... a surprisingly good article. I use a lot of the techniques in there in my blogging, and have done for years... they're pretty much unconscious for me by now.

&gt; A typical example of this is the sentence ‘place the box on the table by the window in the bedroom’. This sentence can be interpreted in three different ways:<p>* Pick up the box from the table, which is standing next to the window and put it in the bedroom.<p>* Pick up the box from the table and put it next to the window in the bedroom.<p>* Pick up the box and put it on the table that is standing next to the window in the bedroom.<p>Only in writing. When speaking, we&#x27;d use different intonation. We&#x27;d stress the capitalized words:<p>* place the box on the table by the window in the BEDROOM<p>* place the box on the table by the WINDOW in the bedroom<p>* place the box on the TABLE by the window in the bedroom

I wonder what choice people would make if both programs were described with complete information on both positive and negative consequences.

In both cases, Program A is NOT equivalent to Program B. Program A is missing the vital information that there are 60,000 people in total.