The Hedge That Got Lost in Summary
■ A Summary Keeps the Facts but Drops the Tone Koshiba wrapped his message in hedges: maybe he misread it, only a small concern, whenever there's time. Hakobukun treated that as padding and delivered one line: there is an error in the order. Accurate, yes. But Tanaka heard a verdict.
■ Hedges Are Not Decoration; They Carry the Sender's Certainty A hedge does two jobs. It respects the listener's position, and it signals how sure the speaker is. Remove it, and a tentative check becomes a flat accusation. The relationship is rewritten without anyone agreeing to it.
■ Conclusion: If You Summarize, Show the Receiver What Was Cut Machines will relay more of our words. Summaries are not the problem; silent summaries are. Attach the original, flag that tone was removed, or let the sender approve it. Hakobukun's final choice is one answer among several. What a relay drops is part of the message too.
