If at first you don't succeed...ixnayonthetimmaMarch 18 2008, 16:15:26 UTC
I think use the word "try" implies that the user acknowledges the fact that he or she might fail at the activity. Personally, I know that when I say I am going to do something, I feel as if I have affirmed my intention more than if I say that I will "try and do" something.
On the flip side, I don't think that to concede this risk of failure means that the participant is doomed from the outset. If you look at the long term, we are all doomed to failure..after all, we can't manage to succeed at our intentions EVERY single time; there are unaccounted variables that may make things different. I'd like to think that although people are acknowledging the risk of not succeeding when they say "try," they are also acknowledging that despite this risk, they will attempt it anyways. After all, the way to guarantee failure in every circumstance is never to attempt the task in the first place.
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On the flip side, I don't think that to concede this risk of failure means that the participant is doomed from the outset. If you look at the long term, we are all doomed to failure..after all, we can't manage to succeed at our intentions EVERY single time; there are unaccounted variables that may make things different. I'd like to think that although people are acknowledging the risk of not succeeding when they say "try," they are also acknowledging that despite this risk, they will attempt it anyways. After all, the way to guarantee failure in every circumstance is never to attempt the task in the first place.
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