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Comment by nickff | Hacker News Reader

That's not really a reason why, it's the (vague) plan going forward.

They want a break from their present situation so they can concentrate on planning for their future plans since it's hard to plan for the future when they are fully involved in the present. That's why. Not vague at all.

Can I ask, why are you using "they"? The article lists the author's name as Katherine Maher and you can see a picture of a woman when you click it.

Edit: her wikipedia page also uses "she" and "her" etc throughout.

I know when I talk about someone I don't know I use "they". It isn't to do with not knowing preferred pronouns, more like a type of formal speech about an unknown person. Maybe it is a regional/dialect thing? I would read an article about a person, and then still talk about them/they rather than he/her. I think it is tied to them being unfamiliar, as I wouldn't do that with a celebrity.

If i replace she in op's line "She wants a break" it feels like they are writing about someone more familiar to them. "They" implies distance between the observer and observed.

That may be what you think is going on, but isn't necessarily true. They might have been forced out, or quit because of stress or interpersonal conflict. There is no 'because' in the former CEO's statement.

OP didn't ask what was true. Just what the stated reason was. The CEO did state reasons. Can't believe I have to say this on HN, "because" is implied.

You inferred this motive, from the former CEO's plan. The CEO did not explicitly state that they were quitting because they wanted time and space to plan their future.

> The CEO did not explicitly state that they were quitting because they wanted time and space to plan their future.

Yes they did.

Which word in their statement indicates causation? I generally look for the word 'because'.

Natural language tends to assume the receiver of the message shares sufficient context with the emmiter as to be able to infer their communicative intention even if it lacks some key word, or logical stepping stone.

seriously, this is a common problem online for some reason.

Why do so many people try to act as if implication isn't a thing in online interactions?

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