Re:Transformer Attention is off by one
by squarepizza on Monday July 24, 2023 @09:01PM
(#36856425)
I'm convinced that the value of active voice is not precision and clarity, but rather the subliminal egocentrism away from the object (the research) towards the subject (the researchers) who need to receive credit for the work. The royal "we" also helps frame the work as a collaborative effort with the audience.
[ Parent
| on HN ]
That's rubbish, passive voice has a number of detrimental effects, it increases text length without adding information, it makes subject (acting entity) and object (entity acted upon) easier to confuse and it confuses the reader about who actually did things (what some people often confuse with objectivity).
That said the assertion that most scientific articles are written in passive voice is outdated för quite some time. Most journal style guides advise to use active voice, e.g. https://www.nature.com/nature-portfolio/for-authors/write
Re:Transformer Attention is off by one
by squarepizza on Tuesday July 25, 2023 @08:02AM
(#36861044)
> it confuses the reader about who actually did things
When scientific papers have a clear list of authors and delineated section headings, this point is moot. And in such papers, again, repetitive strings of sentences that begin with the same "we..." emphasizes the producers of the work over the work itself.