Rules Interpretations or rules explanations?

  • April 28, 2013 at 11:23 am #364
    Martin Gottschalk
    Participant

    Credit: this observation is not mine.

    I´ve been wondering with a friend about the document “Rules interpretations”, and given the definition of “interpretation”, if that document would be better named “Rules Explanations & examples”

    From Cambridge dictionary:

    Interpretation

    an explanation or opinion of what something means:
    [i]The dispute is based on two widely differing interpretations of the law.
    The rules are vague and open to interpretation.
    It is difficult for many people to accept a literal interpretation of the Bible. [/i]

    Explanation

    the details or reasons that someone gives to make something clear or easy to understand:
    [i]Could you give me a quick explanation of how it works?
    What was her explanation for why she was late?[/i]

    I mean, the document aims to teach a single interpretation of the rules, to be used by everyone. But the definition of the word can also mean “one of many meanings that can be built out of a piece of text”. Then “explanation” seems to better support the idea that there is no room for different meanings of what the rules text is trying to inform. Pay special attention to the example given by Cambridge Dictionary “The rules are vague and open to interpretation.”

    This would only be an irrelevant detail if i haven´t had a significant amount of rules conflicts with experienced players justifying their lack of rules knowledge under the idea that “rules are open to interpretation and therefore can mean different things, and your interpretation is as valid as mine”

    Maybe it would help to promote the idea that Rules are explained, and real situations (impossible to recreate) are the ones to be interpreted.

    Thoughts?

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