User:WhatamIdoing/Believe editors

When editors tell you something about their own personal experiences, you should normally believe them.

Specifically, you should believe what they said – that they, personally and individually, are having the experience they describe. Their experience might or might not align with your own experience.

The offended editor
For example, if an editor says that they are offended, you should believe that they (not you) are experiencing the named emotion (offendedness). It is a violation of both common sense and Assume good faith to believe that they are lying to you about their own emotions; if they say they're offended, you should believe that they really are feeling offended.

You should not, however, believe things that they didn't say. For example, if an editor says that they are offended, you should not believe that they said you are a bad person, or that you must agree with them, or that the entire world agrees with them.

The editor's workflow
For example, if an editor says that an editing task was difficult for them, you should believe that they (not you) actually did experience difficulty with the named workflow. It is a violation of both common sense and Assume good faith to believe that they are lying to you about their own experience; if they say they had trouble, you should believe that they (not you) really did have trouble with it. Similarly, if they say that they found it easy, you should believe that they (not you) found it easy.

You should not, however, believe things that they didn't say. For example, if an editor says that they struggled to complete a task, you should not believe that they said nobody can accomplish the task, or that they said that you won't be able to. If an editor said that they prefer one method over another, you should not believe that they said everyone will prefer that method, or that their preferred method is the only possible method.