Musings: Theory of Mind

I am going to depart from the realm of computer science briefly, because I want to discuss a problem which is rampant in software design and papers. The problem involves the Theory of Mind (ToM), the "ability to attribute mental states—beliefs, intents, desires, pretending, knowledge—to oneself and others". But while ToM generally refers to interpersonal relations or philosophy, I am going to focus on the part about attributing knowledge to the people who will use your software or read your papers.