Please Have More Respect in These Discussions!

I don't know about you, but I'm at work now and have to check quickly to see if there's anything relevent on here.

When I keep clicking on three word questions which have no answer, or I click on to a question that has no relevence to these boards, I start to get a bit cheesed off...

So of course I will reply to them, as they are wasting everyone's time by cluttering up these boards...

Oddly enough your opinion is not the same as mine and is yet another one which is wasting my time...

If you're going to throw your toys out of your pram everytime someone disagrees with you, I would show you to the exit door myself!

Google a man an answer and you feed him for one day. Teach a man to google and you feed him for a lifetime.

Quite.

Andrew,

I agree with you to a point. We could probably be a little more circumspect when it comes to our conversational tones. Occassionally I may come across as arrogant, even though that's not what I intend. But I do have some issues with your post in terms of what constitutes a "legitimate" question and how to help provide answers for users. For example:

1) I'm not sure someone asking how to build a perpetual motion machine is asking a legitimate question. The inability to build such a device has nothing to due with lack of experience. It has to do with fundamental laws of physics. To say, "sorry buddy, it can't be done" is a legitimate response.

2) If someone is dealing with electricity and has no idea what they are doing, saying "find an electrician" is a perfectly legitimate response. Providing details about how to perform the action may lead an unqualified individual to needlessly risk injury. Maybe the person is qualified, maybe they're not. I don't know for sure, but if the question is worded in a way that makes me believe they aren't qualified, I'm not going to get involved.

3) If someone asks a question like, "I am interested in mechanical engineering, tell me about it", and we get a lot of questions like that here, saying "look it up on Google" or "read this textbook" is a legitimate response. The poster isn't really asking a fair question. I'm not here to teach Engineering 101. If there is a specific question that the user wants answered, but hasn't stated it, it's not my job to pull it out of them. In fact this isn't my job at all, I do it for fun.

4) We also get quite a few students on here looking for specific answers to problems that they need to learn for themselves. While I have no problem pointing them in the right direction to find the answer, giving it to them helps no one - not the student, not their perspective employer, and certainly not someone who will rely on the end product that they produce later in life.

In a perfect world, posters would state their questions as specifically as possible, Providing all important variables and details, explain their level of experience and what they have tried before. It would make my role as an experienced responder all the more easy. But unfortunately, we don't always get this level of commitment from the poster and when that's the case, I only provide a response commensurate to the question asked.

Wow, that was a lot more longwinded than I intended, but I hope it helps you to understand the level of passion and committment that people have to CR4. Sometimes our gruff answers are the result of this passion and the lack of such from a lazy poster.

Andrew, I think you have this same passion. You wouldn't have put up this post if you didn't. I'd ask that you don't leave. Lend your voivce here and try to fill in the gaps that some of the rest of us miss.

Guilty as charged.

I've attended trainings where we would brainstorm for ideas. The rules were: every idea gets heard, every idea goes to a vote, all ideas are not to be put to ridicule, no matter how absurd.

That's fine...if this were a brainstorming session.

It's not.

I've tried the calm, cool, and collected method and found that it can't be used all the time. Some people need to be shocked to get the lesson to sink in. It's a sad fact of life. I've been subjected to it myself sometimes and, believe me, the lesson sticks.

I remember during my high school days, I asked a question to our instructor. He asked me, "what do you mean?", "could you elaborate a little more?", "what's the point in your question?"

I was exasperated! Couldn't my instructor get what I meant? He told me to calm down, take a deep breath and think about how to phrase the question so that I could get the answer that I needed. It was an embarrassing lesson but my classmates and I learned to ask proper questions from there on.

Besides, I read the FAQ before I joined. Look for the answer yourself before you ask your question in this forum. It makes sense. Telling a person to get professional help instead of doing it themselves is good advice. Telling a kid to work on his project himself is good for him and, possibly, you. He might work for you someday.

Hack here. I enjoy these discussions and comments because I find many of the questions challenging to answer. Since I don't know how to answer with a spot-on response I feel motivated to find whatever I can about the subject and solve the question as a result of my research rather than relying upon my experience only. Sometimes several days go by while I consider a response, I have lots of work that keeps me busy. When I have time I go back and look up a few patents on the subject in the USPTO or go to my books if the net doesn't provide what I'm after. My text books are historical and comprising nearly a thousand volumes from the 1790s to today. There are many I don't have and sometimes feel compelled to go to a university library for a few days. I have been doing this for 50 years so you would think I would get faster at it. At least I know where to look.

By the time I get my response ready the discussion has blown past me like a fast moving train and if I post a notice no one goes back to review the question again.

This site like so many are here today and replaced by tomorrows other more pressing need. When I was a young man doing research and development, urgency was less of an issue. If 6 moths or a year was required to answer a question that paid $50k to answer, my contractor wanted the right answer, with proofs, designs, references and peer review. Here...you get Blow-off and puke to start with mixed with a few thoughtful answers based on experience and fuddy-duddies like me with a view of our whole history almost never hobble up to bat.

Understanding the world you are in helps to alleviate the urge to make rash decisions.

Andrew,

There is a report button provided by our host which you should feel free to utilize when you observe forum content you find offensive. You may also exercise your option to end your participation in this forum as you mentioned.

You may however choose to remain and partake of some of the thoughtful insight provided by this community. Even if you find it distasteful you may find value in the discourse you find here.

I hope you choose to stay and participate. We may all learn something from you.

Isn't that why were all here?

When a person posting a question has taken time out to try else where first and knows how to ask in an intelligent manor then I will give them the time of day to find an answer if I have some knowledge of the subject. However if they are just being lazy I will let them know in a polite way to not waste my time.

I try to be available for people who have a specific reason to require my expert opinion or advice. What I would caution people about is in giving out knowledge of any kind that might help some one cause criminal damage or any act of terrorism.

A little knowledge can be dangerous but plenty of the wrong kind of knowledge could kill. I expect the relevant authorities trawl these post to see if any dangerous facts are being passed onto suspicious persons. These are difficult times we live in.

Let us acknowledge our responsibilities here and keep our selves safe.

Uncle Sam.