Having an irritated moment.

Fusion_power · 2014-03-06, 17:07

Do you catch yourself reading a forum where someone posts something subtly wrong and several people post comments in support of the incorrect post? Do you get the urge to post something countering the incorrect information, balanced and correct, but clearly stating what is wrong? What if several of the supporters then call in question your motives for "taking potshots" or "explain why this is important"?

This happened to me on a beekeeping forum over the last 2 days. A woman posted something subtly wrong and every post after it corroborated and approved. My post with correct info got "the treatment". I got irritated and perhaps for just a few minutes, I understood what Bob must feel when someone posts garbage mathematics.

Bob, I'd like to apologize to you and thank you for providing me with a couple of very sharp lessons over the years. They have come in handy.

The world is full of positive people, but just because they are positive does not mean they are right!

xilman · 2014-03-06, 17:42

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fusion_power

Bob, I'd like to apologize to you and thank you for providing me with a couple of very sharp lessons over the years. They have come in handy.

Been there, done that, scars are fading.

cheesehead · 2014-03-06, 17:43

(pun withdrawn)

ewmayer · 2014-03-06, 22:37

I run into the "wildly, flagrantly, patently, easily verifiably wrong but attracting much love from fellow idiots" phenomenon much more often than the "subtly" one, it seems. I dream of the day that the online inanities might be of the subtle variety.

"Possibly correct but purely speculative and highly subjective, yet claiming to be objective and unique truth" is another wildly popular webforum meme.

TheMawn · 2014-03-06, 23:53

The same happened a couple of days ago to me, where even I could see the wrongness, which was a first. On the other hand, coupled with the wrongness was a serious lack of any attempt at understanding it for oneself. That's the part that got me going.

[...]

In my own case, I don't know very much about all this stuff we do. I took all the high school maths and four engineering calculus courses, but very little of that helps with understanding P-1 factoring or ECM factoring. If I went and asked about it, instead of trying to explain it to me in language that makes sense, he would chew me out for not having taken an entire mathematics degree in the first place, chew me out worse for not being willing to go spend four years on getting one, and then chew me a little bit more for not being willing to learn at all, despite having approached him for help in the first place.

Enough rambling for now.

chalsall · 2014-03-07, 00:52

Quote:

Originally Posted by TheMawn

Enough rambling for now.

If I may now take the "talking stick"...

I understand where Silverman comes from (in this particular case). Humans are generally annoyingly (and amazingly) stupid. But it doesn't hep to talk down to them -- it just makes them annoyed, and talk more.

I now hand the "talking stick" back to anyone who would like to take it. (BTW, my SWMBO arrived home a short while ago, and I had to apologize profusely for being me...)

Nick · 2014-03-07, 10:01

I once found myself in a social group in which one member introduced ideas which he knew to be flawed in order to watch the others taking the idea seriously in discussion, a bit like dropping a pebble in a pond to watch the waves. Presumably he found it entertaining, but those of us who realized what he was doing found it manipulative and wrong.

2014-03-06, 17:07	#1
Fusion_power Aug 2003 Snicker, AL 1110111111₂ Posts	Having an irritated moment. Do you catch yourself reading a forum where someone posts something subtly wrong and several people post comments in support of the incorrect post? Do you get the urge to post something countering the incorrect information, balanced and correct, but clearly stating what is wrong? What if several of the supporters then call in question your motives for "taking potshots" or "explain why this is important"? This happened to me on a beekeeping forum over the last 2 days. A woman posted something subtly wrong and every post after it corroborated and approved. My post with correct info got "the treatment". I got irritated and perhaps for just a few minutes, I understood what Bob must feel when someone posts garbage mathematics. Bob, I'd like to apologize to you and thank you for providing me with a couple of very sharp lessons over the years. They have come in handy. The world is full of positive people, but just because they are positive does not mean they are right!

2014-03-06, 17:43	#3
cheesehead "Richard B. Woods" Aug 2002 Wisconsin USA 2²×3×641 Posts	(pun withdrawn) Last fiddled with by cheesehead on 2014-03-06 at 17:47

2014-03-06, 23:53	#5
TheMawn May 2013 East. Always East. 11·157 Posts	The same happened a couple of days ago to me, where even I could see the wrongness, which was a first. On the other hand, coupled with the wrongness was a serious lack of any attempt at understanding it for oneself. That's the part that got me going. [...] In my own case, I don't know very much about all this stuff we do. I took all the high school maths and four engineering calculus courses, but very little of that helps with understanding P-1 factoring or ECM factoring. If I went and asked about it, instead of trying to explain it to me in language that makes sense, he would chew me out for not having taken an entire mathematics degree in the first place, chew me out worse for not being willing to go spend four years on getting one, and then chew me a little bit more for not being willing to learn at all, despite having approached him for help in the first place. Enough rambling for now. Last fiddled with by Brian-E on 2014-03-07 at 00:38 Reason: Some personal remarks removed

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2014-03-06, 22:37	#4
ewmayer ∂²ω=0 Sep 2002 República de California 2D3E₁₆ Posts	I run into the "wildly, flagrantly, patently, easily verifiably wrong but attracting much love from fellow idiots" phenomenon much more often than the "subtly" one, it seems. I dream of the day that the online inanities might be of the subtle variety. "Possibly correct but purely speculative and highly subjective, yet claiming to be objective and unique truth" is another wildly popular webforum meme.

2014-03-07, 10:01	#7
Nick Dec 2012 The Netherlands 2×7×113 Posts	I once found myself in a social group in which one member introduced ideas which he knew to be flawed in order to watch the others taking the idea seriously in discussion, a bit like dropping a pebble in a pond to watch the waves. Presumably he found it entertaining, but those of us who realized what he was doing found it manipulative and wrong.