Which you obviously did. Larry didn't say "must" in his post, he actually used the word "need", twice I think.
His use of "need" was an informal one that had a meaning tantamount to "ought", or "should". The (hortatory, if I'm not mistaken) necessity that "should" imposes is in no way as binding as "must", which involves a strict adherence. Quotas employ the latter sort of necessity. The fact that quotas tend to be digital and quantitative supports this point.
You could only infer a vague quota (is there even such a thing?) If you fail to understand the obvious context of the post. A proper context that would support your inference would be something like: "I realized that I haven't kept my promise to read a comparable amount of female authors lately, so I need to read more. Which of them do you think?" or "This board is misogynistic and must correct its skewed preference for female authors. We all need to find one to review."
His use of "need" was an informal one that had a meaning tantamount to "ought", or "should". The (hortatory, if I'm not mistaken) necessity that "should" imposes is in no way as binding as "must", which involves a strict adherence. Quotas employ the latter sort of necessity. The fact that quotas tend to be digital and quantitative supports this point.
You could only infer a vague quota (is there even such a thing?) If you fail to understand the obvious context of the post. A proper context that would support your inference would be something like: "I realized that I haven't kept my promise to read a comparable amount of female authors lately, so I need to read more. Which of them do you think?" or "This board is misogynistic and must correct its skewed preference for female authors. We all need to find one to review."
Fascinating stuff.
I am made of poison.
This board is severely lacking in discussion of female authors
- 12/09/2009 08:11:46 AM
1466 Views
I think what you mean is this board is lacking in discussion of lesser-known authors...
- 12/09/2009 10:49:56 AM
946 Views
While part of that is true, part of it really deals with a thought when I glanced through the posts
- 12/09/2009 10:55:07 AM
987 Views
The world is severely lacking in famous female authors.
- 12/09/2009 02:53:03 PM
992 Views
Wanna bet?
- 13/09/2009 08:23:14 AM
910 Views
Incorrect.
- 15/09/2009 04:14:06 PM
1031 Views
You might want to edit that...
- 15/09/2009 04:40:32 PM
1081 Views
Actually, most of those authors are talked about on other boards and blogs
- 16/09/2009 12:22:46 AM
908 Views
... That doesn't actually change the truth-value of his statement. *NM*
- 16/09/2009 05:31:30 AM
501 Views
Is KJ Parker actually a woman?
- 16/09/2009 12:27:35 AM
869 Views
Probably.
- 16/09/2009 04:51:57 AM
1280 Views
It is not uncommon in the publishing industry to pull tricks like that.
- 16/09/2009 11:19:04 AM
959 Views
female authors
- 12/09/2009 10:28:12 PM
954 Views
I discovered Morgan Llywellyn when I was in my late teens/early 20s
- 13/09/2009 08:24:15 AM
991 Views
None. Why in the world would you place a quota on gender? *NM*
- 12/09/2009 10:46:45 PM
444 Views
Who said anything about "quotas"?
- 13/09/2009 08:11:21 AM
922 Views
It can be inferred.
- 14/09/2009 12:45:18 AM
899 Views
it can only be inferred if you confuse the necessity employed.
- 19/09/2009 06:49:17 AM
1190 Views
Mm.
- 19/09/2009 07:13:27 AM
1212 Views
Everyone knows women can't write! They are by far inferior to men!
- 13/09/2009 01:42:16 AM
855 Views
Connie Willis, Susanna Clarke, Diana Wynne Jones, Megan Whalen Turner (to start with)
- 13/09/2009 01:47:17 PM
942 Views
I read mostly scfi these days and there just are not that many new female scfi writers
- 14/09/2009 04:28:31 PM
830 Views
Jaine Fenn and Liz Williams are two pretty decent recently-emerging SF writers. *NM*
- 15/09/2009 04:15:40 PM
427 Views
This post is severely lacking in discussion of male authors. *NM*
- 15/09/2009 04:42:23 PM
588 Views

*NM*
