this post was submitted on 29 Mar 2024
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If it's a question I know how to answer but believe it really it would take 30 seconds of searching for a regular person to find...
I'd give the answer but be a bit snarky about it.
Does the snark really make you feel better?
Honestly, yeah sometimes. It's my emotional reflex to frustration that was programmed into me by my parents and I haven't done enough cognitive behavioral therapy to undo it.
As someone who discovered my Type 1 ASD at 40, the gods know that I have a lot more work to do on my self-awareness and abrasiveness.
Not saying you should adopt this, but sometimes I read aloud what I type and imagine myself replying to a student in real life in the way of and with the tone that people sometimes have on StackOverflow.
My gut reaction at that point, usually, is to rewrite a response or post completely with a more generous dose of humility and compassion.
I don't always get it right, but when I remember to do that and read replies, I like myself a little bit more.
I've been thinking about this a bit more, and I realized that I talk to other people the way I talk to myself. This probably wouldn't be a problem if I weren't so critical of myself.
I think I need to not only put in the effort to reread the things I write when communicating with others, but also to just be kinder to myself in my internal monologue.
I spend too much time being frustrated inside my own head, and that makes it easy to use that same tone when I'm interacting with other people.
Thanks for sharing your advice. I think verbalizing my thoughts the way you suggested will be really helpful.
Same.
Same.
My Dad's neighbors always say:
And as a counterpoint to that, from Slavoj Zizek:
Just because we wrestle with ourselves internally, it doesn't justify our perniciousness to others.
Uncle Iroh nailed it:
I just don't wanna sound like an asshole when I attempt to do that!
It’s not about feeling better. It’s about getting the other person to understand that Google exists and that they can use it, too. Too many people refuse to put in any effort of their own and go ask someone instead.
IMHO in that situation answering isn’t even the right thing to do, since it encourages that behaviour and prevents the asker from learning to find out stuff for themselves. Something about fishing for hungry people or so…
When someone is genuinely stuck, doing research themselves allows the answerer not to go down the same dead ends, which saves time for both.
If it's on Stack Exchange, you can help us keep the community decent by assuming good faith and being patient with newcomers. Yes, it's frustrating. And yeah, sometimes, it's basically impossible to avoid sarcasm and scorn, just like how HN sometimes needs to be sneered at, but we can still strive for a maximum of civility.
If all else fails, just remember: you're not on Philosophy SE or any of the religious communities, it's just a computer question, and it can be answered without devolving into an opinion war. Pat yourself on the back for being a "schmott guy!" and write a polite answer that hopefully the newbies will grok. Be respectful of plural perspectives; it's a feature that a question may have multiple well-liked answers.