Exercise 2: Why Report the Symptom, Not the Guessed Cause — Possible Solution ==================================================================== WHAT THIS CHAPTER RECOMMENDS AND WHY ------------------------------ Per this chapter's warn-box, "a genuinely common mistake: reporting a guessed cause ('the database is down') instead of the actual observed symptom ('I get a spinner that never resolves when I click Save'). This applies regardless of how confident the reporter feels, because the recommendation isn't about the reporter's confidence level - it's about what information survives if the guess turns out to be wrong. WHAT HAPPENS IF THE GUESS IS WRONG ------------------------------ Per this chapter, "if the guess is wrong - and it very often is - the real, raw information about what was actually observed is lost entirely, replaced by a theory that sends the investigation in the wrong direction from the start." Once "the database is down" is recorded instead of the actual spinner symptom, anyone reading the ticket has to either trust an unverified theory or go back and ask what was actually seen - the raw observation that would have let them verify or refute the theory themselves is simply gone from the record. WHY THIS APPLIES EVEN TO A CONFIDENT, REASONABLE GUESS ------------------------------ A reasonable-sounding guess can still be wrong, and confidence in a guess doesn't make it more likely to survive scrutiny once someone with the right diagnostic tools actually checks. Per this chapter, "let whoever diagnoses it form their own conclusion from the raw symptom" - the whole point is preserving the actual evidence so the person doing the diagnosis (using this subject's own technical courses) can reach their own conclusion, rather than inheriting an unverified one. WHY THIS WORKS AS AN ANSWER ------------------------------ It explains specifically what's lost when a guessed cause replaces the raw symptom, and why this risk applies regardless of how confident the reporter is in their own theory.