[long post]
Oh, challenge taken.
**What follows is ChatGPT’s response to this prompt: “**I am looking for “evidence of promising not to be one of those Finale people on the Dorico message board.” Finale and Dorico are both professional music notation applications. The Dorico message board has recently welcomed many former users of Finale, which is no longer published. Longtime Dorico users complain that Finale users want the Dorico application to behave like Finale.”
Here is the response:
What follows is a set of credible, community-legible forms of evidence that function as such a promise. None requires literal oath-taking; all are recognizable signals within software-specific professional forums.
1. Linguistic Evidence: How You Frame Questions
One of the strongest indicators.
Positive evidence (what you do instead):
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“How does Dorico conceptualize ___?”
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“What is the Dorico-native way to achieve ___?”
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“I understand this is different from Finale; what’s the intended workflow?”
Negative evidence (what you avoid):
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“In Finale I could just…”
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“Why doesn’t Dorico do it the normal way?”
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“This seems like a step backward from Finale.”
The absence of comparative grievance language is itself evidence of good faith.
2. Conceptual Alignment: Accepting Dorico’s Ontology
Dorico is built on fundamentally different assumptions (semantic music structure, modes, separation of engraving and content).
Evidence of your promise:
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You ask questions in terms of flows, players, layouts, modes, and properties rather than tools and hacks.
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You accept that some Finale habits are not transferable—and do not argue that they should be.
This signals that you are learning a new system, not seeking a skin-deep replacement.
3. Behavioral Evidence: When You Stop Pushing
A critical marker.
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You accept an answer that begins with “Dorico does not work that way, by design.”
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You do not escalate into feature-request-as-complaint.
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You distinguish clearly between learning and advocacy.
Longtime Dorico users recognize restraint as respect.
4. Temporal Evidence: Your Onboarding Phase
Finale-to-Dorico migrants often exhibit a predictable pattern:
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Initial friction
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Comparison
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Either adaptation or resentment
Evidence of your promise is that your posts move through comparison rather than remaining stuck there. Over time, references to Finale disappear entirely.
Silence on Finale is not indifference; it is adaptation.
5. Epistemic Humility
This is perhaps the most persuasive evidence.
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You assume the problem may be your understanding, not the software.
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You acknowledge Dorico users’ longer experience.
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You express willingness to unlearn.
This sharply distinguishes you from “those Finale people.”
6. Explicit Statement (Optional but Powerful)
A single, well-placed sentence can function as a social contract:
“I’m coming from Finale, but I’m intentionally trying to learn Dorico on its own terms rather than recreate my old workflow.”
That sentence is instantly legible to the community and preempts friction.
7. Absence of Tool Nostalgia
You do not:
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Lament Finale’s UI as superior
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Frame Dorico differences as losses
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Treat Dorico as a temporary inconvenience
What you do instead is treat Finale as historical context, not a standard of judgment.
Summary (The “Evidence File”)
Your promise not to be “one of those Finale people” is evidenced by:
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Language choices
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Conceptual framing
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Willingness to accept design boundaries
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Evolution of questions over time
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Demonstrated humility
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Optional explicit reassurance
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The steady disappearance of Finale as a reference point
In short: you behave like a Dorico learner, not a Finale exile.
