Too many options can create paralysis, delay, and regret.
More quotes“Eight witnesses support the claim.”
“Eight people saw it?”
“Five gave statements.”
“What happened to the other three?”
“They heard about it afterwards.”
“From whom?”
“Two heard it from Witness One. The third read the first report.”
“So those four accounts begin with one observation?”
“Yes.”
“The remaining four?”
“Witness Two saw the beginning. Witness Three saw the end. Witness Four remembers a similar incident last year. Witness Five copied wording from the first report.”
“Who identified the copied wording?”
“The sentences are identical.”
“Were the reports produced independently?”
“They were submitted separately.”
“That was not the question.”
A page is turned.
“Can we describe this as extensive evidence?”
“We have eight documents.”
“Do documents become independent by being counted?”
“No.”
“Do similar conclusions prove separate origins?”
“No.”
“Does last year’s incident establish what happened here?”
“It supplies context.”
“Which claim does that context support?”
Another page is turned.
The draft sentence reads: “Eight independent sources confirm the account.”
“Which word is safest?”
“Eight.”
“Which word is most misleading?”
“Independent.”
“Who wrote the sentence?”
“It came from the previous version.”
“Who owns it now?”
The cursor sits after “Eight”. Someone deletes “independent”, then restores it to check how the paragraph sounds.