This Is Why I Don't Miss DPReview AT ALL!!!!!!! :-)

I was just having a quick browse through Open Talk on DPreview and stumbled on this gem of a thread.

www.dpreview.com/forums/thread/4708984

Oh dear..........if you're slightly, or better still, very bored atm have a read through it.

I couldn't believe some of the nonsense that is being posted in that thread and to think if I was still there I most probably would have been a part of it.
I'm only about half way through the thread but this little pearl of "wisdom" has got POTT (Post Of The Thread) so far 🤣

I'm a little disappointed I am not on alfn's hit list 😞 because I had a few run-ins with him as well.

Hi alfn in case you are here under another name 😜

Thank you so much Amazon for getting me off DPReview 😂

In the immortal words of the late Bob Pease…
What’s All This Exposure Triangle Stuff, Anyhow?

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bob_Pease

LOL

Give it 6 months and you'll be saying the same about this site and any other refugee home for ex DPReviewers... 🤣

It's not just a DPR thing. For example, there's a string theorist called Luboš Motl who is also a blogger and social commentator. For some reason, I'd expect someone who is working on the foundations of physics to be mild mannered, polite and reticent in public (stereotypes, stereotypes) but judging by some of his postings, Lubos appears to be more than a little troll-like (IMO, at least). You can't escape human nature by starting afresh, unfortunately, it comes along for the ride.

I could recall many funny forum events and "Gags".
Or even Czech forum jokes! I wonder if this needed to be reminded and showed on the wall already, as it is rather rant, and now "spitting on the dead man".

So, there is some lightening cases I remember:

RC forum:
User1: I want a RC plane. Got $100. Someone from EasyRCshop told me that "Easyplane123" would fit me.
User2: The plane is not good.
User3: The shop only wants to sell, rather go with PlaneXYZ.
User 4: Yes, go with PlaneXYZ. Only costs $136, has upgrade path, community around it, spare parts, you name it.
User2: Well it has some quirks, I would recommend PlaneTQU, but still better than Easyplane123.

User1:
Hey. So I bought the Easyplane123 and it wont fly. What should I do? Help!
User2: FU!
User3: GTFO!
User4: GFUself!
User1: You are mean toxic bastards! Never again!

DIYforum:
PrecisionCompany1: Hey, so we are looking for someone to measure this piece of nanotube.
We sent it to few institutes but they cannot do that. They recommended this forum. Any ideas?
Gully: yeah, send it to Franta, he can do anything. Here is the address...

PrecisionCompany1:
@Gully: We have sent our piece to Franta, but after a month, we get no response.

Gully: I will reach to him.
Franta: Sorry, was very busy I'm online now.
PrecisionCompany1: Could you please update us with the status?
Franta: I didn't get any assigment details. Recognizing it as a small peg, I made a thread on both sides of it, drilled hole for locking pin into it, pin included, and mounted it onto temporary carbon base. Was that okay?

Speakerforum:

Me: So, to get highest performance from the speaker, amongst other things, all else being equal, it must have a lot of motor force.
Emmerson: No, you have to fit the Q parameter within the requirements and needs of the box.
Me: The speaker box certainly do not have needs, and requirements.
Emerson: See?! In the simulation it draws poor graph! You don't know what you are talking about!
Me: that is sensitivity graph. Useless for efficiency and maximum power output.
Emerson: No! i have read the bible! This weaker driver will do better!
Me: How do you expect a spekar pushing less Newtons per Watt to output more performance?
Emerson: The bible!
Lucky: Yeah, the bible! He's been reading it for 20 years! You don't know anything.
Korgy: You're here just two days, already making waves. Cool off.
Me: WTF?
Mod: ban....

Now on topic:
Stuff happens maan! It's okay that stuff is going on. We will try to make it better place here hopefully. I have full trust in the admin crew. If it is isolated purposed thread case, even such opinions can appear. It just cannot creep over in normal discussion I guess. One has to make peace with less than ideal world. It sure showed you human behavior, gave you experience, showed you wrong role models. It had its utility.

I was always fascinated how the knowledgeable people posting factual information are deemed to be arrogant by the ignorant people. The problem with those ignorant people is that they are too ignorant to know they are ignorant.

👍🏻 In a month at most, we already feel the presence of some beautiful specimens. 😂

Dunning - Kruger effect There you go. 😅

I guess the only way that it is possible to get around that problem is to be a non-threatening expert? Perhaps the extra trick experts need to master is how to explain their knowledge in a humble seeming manner? I mean I've seen plenty of examples of curt, cryptic responses from experts before. Or stomping complicated overwhelmingly technical answers not appropriate for learners.

My feeling is that when experts talk to their peers, they expect a high level of expertise and can take all kinds of shortcuts. Those conversations are flattering to all involved, no need to waste time with trivial explanations. It's different when the audience is non experts or those with just enough knowledge to confuse themselves. It takes a special kind of gentle touch. It takes skill to figure out what level of explanation will be appropriate for the particular audience. You often find enthusiastic beginners desperate to learn, but who aren't ready for the full bore truth. I imagine judging the right level of pedagogy is not that common a skill - one of the reasons why experts who are good teachers become so highly valued by their students.

When I learned writing for the web at the Open University, one of the examples of how writing styles change we were given was the issue of references. Back in the day when there were only a handful of experts in the world, it was common for experts to exchange views by letter. And when writing a letter is was common for the writer to insert latin, greek other foreign language refers or classical references, that kind of thing. These were never explained. It was considered the height of rudeness, an outright insult, if anything referenced was ever explained. Intellectuals were assumed to be on a common level and cognizant of the references. Now that we write for a democratic audience, avoiding such references, or explaining them is important. Whilst the odd person might be flattered by an author assuming a high level of prior knowledge, the majority just get confused. It is no longer derogatory to assume your audience won't understand the details of your explanations. They expect you to work harder to serve them.

The only way to get around the issue is to add an AI that transforms any aggressive post into a more neutral one. You will have to accept it, or the post will be denied.

You must be kidding. It is well documented that basic truth is claimed to be agressive, hurtful or even racist by some people. AI already is so bound by the norms of not offending anyone, that it is barely usable. I don't want to be/get a mouthpiece of that.

:)

BTW, I am using Grammarly to check my posts before posting and found it helpful when it sometimes suggests less aggressive phrases.

I wouldn't be surprised to see sooner or later browser extensions that the user can adjust to tweak content on sites to be more to their liking on the fly. That would make things quite chaotic as different people would see different content though.

Yeah, there were some work language guidelines posted as a meme few times.
Like, Eff this sh = could we please reschedule this job due to the momentary workload I am experiencing? 😂
Full list of these.

I put great hope into the community being able to balance that on its own.

Dear God, no!

Rich

The beatings will continue until morale improves. 😅

Nailed it!

As in "We dont need no stinking experts!", or (slightly more politely) "I think the people of this country have had enough of experts..." (Michael Gove, MP).

:) :) :)

David