If you're going to get in the water, it's probably a good skill to be able to swim. If you're going to drive a car and don't have the faintest idea how the engine works, you'll be at the mercy of manufacturers and mechanics.

The solution to your issue is not that everybody should conform to the lowest common denominator of technology literacy, but that the general internet user should get a fucking idea of the environment they navigate.

Stop being nerds

Never.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 4 days ago (3 children)

Nerds don't just want to teach people to swim. They want to teach them about hydrogen bonds and the mineral contents of the water, the processes of water treatment, and the technical requirements for a functional pool.

Nerds don't just want to teach people to drive. They want to teach them about the engine, the drive train, the underlying transportation infrastructure, and how to change their own oil and tires.

If you want people to swim or drive or use the fediverse you skip all that shit. Normal people do not care.

Stop being nerds.

[–] [email protected] 14 points 4 days ago (1 children)

Well, apparently you consider basic maintenance like changing tires superfluous to driving. Says all I need to know about your mindset on the other subjects.

Stop being ~~nerds~~ helplessly unskilled

FTFY

[–] [email protected] -4 points 4 days ago* (last edited 4 days ago) (1 children)

The majority of people pay other people to do that stuff. Normal people don't care about your nerd shit.

I change my oil, oil filter, tires, battery, wipers, all that shit. It doesn't fucking matter though, it's all superfluous.

Stop. Being. Nerds. Just let people be basic, stop insisting that they know everything before they're allowed to drive.

[–] MITM0 3 points 3 days ago (1 children)

Those other people are nerds too, now you're gonna tell them to stop being nerds ? Why should incompetent people be rewarded ?

[–] [email protected] -2 points 3 days ago

Rewarded?

This is about what is best for getting more people in into the fediverse. I'm telling people to stop being nerds and chasing normies away.

[–] deafboy 14 points 4 days ago (1 children)

Nerds don't just want to teach people to swim. They want to teach them about hydrogen bonds and the mineral contents of the water, the processes of water treatment, and the technical requirements for a functional pool.

And I think that's beautiful. There is nothing like watching someone explain something they're passionate about.

[–] [email protected] -3 points 4 days ago (1 children)

There's something wrong with hurting other people's ability to access the fediverse with insufferable nerd explanations that have nothing to do with posting.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 4 days ago

"hurting"? someone yapping about the fediverse is a minor inconvenience at worst. A TON of people that are on Lemmy don't know how it works, or even care about how it works, and that's perfectly OK. Nothing wrong with going on [email protected] and upvoting the cute cat pictures.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 4 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago)

Nerds don’t just want to teach people to drive. They want to teach them about the engine, the drive train, the underlying transportation infrastructure, and how to change their own oil and tires.

Maybe if more people knew how combustion worked and where the gasoline they burn comes from we wouldn't have as much global warming denialism.

Similarly, if people knew how their posts were served though Facebook, what server costs are, and what their revenue model was, it wouldn't come as such a surprise to them that their privacy was being violated.

But I think you're right though. I've given up on trying to convince the general public of literally anything, at least in the US where it's clear the cult of ignorance has soundly won. How can I tell someone that it's better to use an electric car if they're not willing to understand the carbon cycle? How can I tell someone it's better to be vaccinated if they're not willing to understand herd immunity? How can I tell someone that federated social media is better if they're unwilling to understand what federation even is?