The Uncertainty of Knowledge in Large Regulatory Industries

The Cycle of Technical Documentation in Large Regulatory Industries described in this chapter provides both a descriptive and inventional framework for investigating how this uncertain and dynamic material knowledge is cap- 

In describing rhetoric more generally as an art of design, Kaufer and Butler (1996) argue that speakers must develop strategies to balance the tension between predictiveness and responsiveness if they are to he perceived as both human and principled. Speakers who hold too firmly to principles without responding to audience concerns may be perceived as inflexible but speakers who are too responsive may be perceived as unprincipled, obsequious or compliant. 

This potential for a better future drives agencies to produce new technologies that will improve the health and safety of workers. It should also drive us to rethink how technical and material uncertainty might challenge the rs-sumptions that drive our rhetorical practice 

Chapter 3 explores the sources of this uncertainty and its implications for rethinking documentation practices in large regulatory industries. 

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