AUTHOR’S NOTEBOOK

Before judging, put the facts in order

Jean Carlos Araque Ramírez · 30 September 2026

When a transaction goes wrong, the first explanation often arrives too quickly. The loss takes up all the space, and the outcome seems sufficient to explain what happened. I prefer to pause: return to the original promise, read the documents and reconstruct the sequence of decisions.

A chronology helps identify what was known at each stage and what changed later. Expectations, unforeseen difficulties and contradictions do not tell the same story. Research requires distinguishing them and accepting that some questions may remain open.

Putting facts in order does not mean defending one side in advance. It means giving each fact its place before turning it into an explanation. That discipline respects the person making the claim, the person responding and the search for truth itself.