Rule 2: Place known information before new information

As we read the flow of a sentence, word after word, we analyze new information in the context of information we already know. This means that we need to see the new information after the already known information.

Imagine the following sentence, in which the reader is familiar only with information A:

A causes B. C results from B.

In the first sentence, the reader learns that A causes B, and at the end of the sentence, both A and B are known. At the beginning of the second sentence, the new idea C is introduced, but its meaning is unclear until we reach the second B. The mind must hold the text ‘C results from’ in active memory until the second B provides the correct context.

It is much better to place the information in the order that:

A causes B. B produces C.

Pattern:

Because I already knew A, I could easily understand new information B. Then, because I knew B, I could understand C.

Example 1:

"^AXP-350, a calcium antagonist, increased ^Bplasma renin activity in conscious renal hypertensive dogs. ^BThese findings agree well ^Cwith previous findings that other calcium antagonists also increase plasma renin activity. ^C1On the basis of experiments in isolated perfused kidneys, ^Dincreased renin release via blockade of calcium influx into juxtaglomerula cells has been suggested as a ^Bpossible mechanism of plasma renin elevation by calcium antagonists."

Pattern:

A increased B. B agrees with C. On the basis of C1, D is a possible mechanism of B.

Correction:

"^AXP-350, a calcium antagonist, increased ^Bplasma renin activity in conscious renal hypertensive dogs. ^BThese findings agree well ^Cwith other reports showing that other calcium antagonists also increase plasma renin activity. ^C1Experiments in isolated perfused kidneys have suggested that calcium antagonists ^Bincrease plasma renin levels result from increased release via ^Dblockade of calcium influx into juxtaglomerula cells."