biased replys to questions

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

I almost thought about putting this in the pit, but since it is more ABTM rant than a flame, it goes here, imho.

To all of those who are of above average intelligence, highly skilled experts in a field, or are simply very well educated:

I always appreciate your two cents worth, however, your techincal jargon may as well be ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs, as I do not understand a word of it. Would you, or someone else, please speak in layman’s terms, for those us of who are not physics, geometry, or mathematical majors, and so on.

If you want to spew techno-jargon, go right ahead, but please juxtapose that with a recap containing wording and methodology that people whom are not as skilled as you, can understand as well. I realize this may be time-consuming to do, but it would be greatly appreciated.

I am sure I am not the only parpticipant/reader who feels this way. Just because this is science based board, does not mean that everyone who visits it is a scientist.

Thankyou

2

This is really more of a MPSIMS kind of thing, it’s NOT appropriate to About This Message Board.

Let me quote to you from the forum description:

For TECHNICAL questions and concerns about the SDMB. This is also the place for practice posts.

Emphasis mine.

Moving this post to MPSIMS.

your humble TubaDiva
Administrator
The Straight Dope

3

No.

That simple enough for you?

4

I agree to your balanced approach.
You are right that jargon is good, but then calls for a recap in English.
At least toned down to match a newspaper’s science page. We all want to get at least the gist of the answer.

5

And what on earth do you mean by ‘biased’? Biased is one sided. Too complicated and makes my head hurt is a whole other kettle of fish.

6

“Biased” may not have been the correct word to convey my feeling, but it was the closest thing that came to mind at the moment.

I’m not singling anyone out here. However, there do seem to be a significant handful of posters who neglect to realize that not everyone reading their replies are as adept as themselves. Please consider us types who are techno-jargonally-challenged.

Your reply may be the exact intelligent answer someone is looking for. However, when it is written entirely in technobabble, it’s rendered useless because the average reader cannot understand or relate to it.

I hope this clarifies. Thank you.

7

Sometimes it’s relatively easy to do; sometimes it’s nigh near impossible without writing a small treatise covering all the background material. That’s particularly true, IMHO, of some of the more arcane aspects of mathematics and physics.

Some examples of things that troubled you and things that didn’t would be helpful. When folks have been immersed in a subject for a long time, it’s easy to forget what the common level of knowledge might be. I don’t think anyone here would be offended if you asked for clarification, or at least a reference or two that you could digest at your leisure.

8

Here is a thread example of what inspired me to address this troubling situation. telescopes and binoculars

9

First of all I’m not sure where you got the impression this was a science board (and if you are under that impression, what the hell is with your questions like: “When you go to your car do you check the backseat for “boogiemen” before you get in?” or “How many big name Hollywood type celebs have sucessfully hooked up with a plain Jane or John Doe from everyday walks of life?”)

It’s a board about knowledge and is not about dumbing stuff down. The only times I’ve lost track of explanations was in physics threads, and that’s just because I don’t know much (or care) about physics. If something’s confusing to you ask the author of the post to break it down or send them an email. Or use the bare bones of what they gave you and get more info elsewhere online or even a dictionary for crying out loud. This is hardly the only site on the web.

And lastly, just because you don’t understand something doesn’t mean everyone else doesn’t understand it either. I’d appreciate you not speak on my behalf in regards to ignorance.

10

You are twisting my words.

How is stating nondescript possibility and probabilty speaking on your behalf? I simply implied that there are very likely to be other posters, out of the 9000+ people who visit here, who feel similar as I do. I did not attempt to name anyone, or even fancy a WAG as to the possible number of other posters. Whether or not you fall into said category is of your own volition to determine.

Voguevixen, I hate to point this out, but you may allegedly be a hypocrite.

How good of you to speak for 9000+ posters, minus one, and assume that I am the only layman in attendance.

Knowledge is gained by learning. Learning is done in steps. One can’t expect a person to read, before they learn and have a basic understanding of the alphabet and its meaning. Likewise, one can’t expect a person to immediately comprehend a thread topic/reply which one has no basic understanding of. No one here is suggesting “dumbing-down” of anything. I am suggesting that topics and replies become more oriented toward learning, which is done in steps. When one gains a basic understanding of something, one can progress to the next level. It is called growth. And regardless of age, all human beings are in a constant state of growth through learning. We learn things everyday, regardless of the significance of what is learned.

Lastly, if (note I say IF) you are implying that I am ignorant, then you are in error and are way out of line. It is obvious that I have a will and desire to learn about things which I am not presently knowledged in. That is the complete opposite of ignorance. Ignorance is a choice. I choose not to be ignorant, which is I why I desire posts be made so that I, and any other person(s) alike, may gain an understanding, and therefore, learn. A person is certainly capable of learning on one’s own, however, it is often through the teachings and sharings of others, that one gains the most valuable knowledge. This is why we have apprenticeships, schoolteachers, college prof’s, and people who train employees to do a job. Regardless of their occupation or education, learning from other individuals often is, or often can be, equally rewarding.

Sincerely,
MSK

11

MSK,

I’ve found that most of the technically oriented posters (PC term for geeks) of the SDMB do, in fact, dumb things down a bit. If they all knew themselves to be in the company of nothing but true peers, I suspect the language used could actually make a man’s head explode. Meet them half way like I try to. Learn what the bejeezus they’re babbling about. You’ll be a happier man.

12

and on a more practical basis, wouldn’t it be easier and more efficient to post the question to the person who’s doing what you mention, instead of addressing the entire board? For example, you may, in fact GET some of the jargon, but if everyone started doing what you ask for, no post would be under 3 inches in length. I’ve never had a problem posting in a thread “hey, could ya help me understand that???” vs. wasting bandwidth on some one else’s best guess as to what the worst case scenario MIGHT be??? There are very young people here, I’m assuming that you aren’t particularly asking for everyone to start defining terms to the grade school level. I, for one, would be very annoyed/(gee , not happy) with that…

13

educate yourself instead of complaining. Or just ask the conveyor of technobabble

14

d-oh! simulpost…jinx, somebody get me a damn drink

15

That is a good point, and I did do so, in the particular thread which started this. Fortunately, others stepped in that thread, and did indeed help me to have a simpler understanding of the topic. I thank them for this.

Correct, I am not asking for anything that extreme, nor would I, unless the subject were so complex that it would be absoutely necessary.

16

MSK

If you are the preson who put up the thread (which you generally are :wink: ) then it might well be a good idea to mention how much/little you know about the subject.

When others talk in highly technical terms, which is unlikely to be me, they are often replying to a question that is written in similar terms and the poster will assume a cetain level of knowledge. Such a reply is not intended to be accessible to all.

There are often threads that are way too much for me, sometimes I can skim the edge, but I have learned that I cannot be privy to all exchanges and I don’t beat myself up or anyone else for it.

Accept that you cannot be an expert at everything.Some things that appear to be simple do not have a simple explanation.

17

MSK . . . MSK MSK MSK.

If you do not understand, ask. I am but a lowly college sophomore, who will probably be majoring in English and minoring in psychology, and possible also in French.

IOW, a very liberal-minded person.

I read the thread on telescopes and binoculars and understood nearly every word. If you want what they (dr. Lao, etc) said dumbed down for you, email them or me and I’ll do my best.

If, in general, you want stuff dumbed down, no dice. This site exists to fight ignorance, not promote it. You’re going to get some help on things like relativity, or theoretical faster-than-light travel. But on something as SIMPLE (to me, anyway) as friggin’ trig . . . sorry, dude. Other people who don’t understand it either try or don’t care enough. But if you’re going to ask the question, don’t expect someone to dumb it down. You wanted to know, you figure it out. None of us is going to hold your hand and teach you trig.

I apologize for the rudeness of this post. I’m currently going on (maybe) 10 hours sleep the past few days. I usually count on 3/4 of that per night. Fire alarm in the dorm last night kept me out until at least 3.

As I said before, you can expect some leeway and explaining with really hard concepts like relativity and . . . oh, I don’t know, the concept of an event horizon. But when you ask the question you better be prepared to do some of the legwork (figuring out concepts, etc) yourself.

In general, this board serves to fight ignorance. If you don’t know something, go ahead and ask. But be prepared for people to say “figure it out yourself” if it’s something where you can pick up a book and learn it.

18

First…how does this not belong in ABTM?

Tuba, I’m thinking you misread that description, so get off the high horse. You said:

You took time to highligh the word “technical”. Well thats all fine and dandy, but there’s an especially complicated aspect of the english language in there called the word “and”.

As in: For TECHNICAL questions AND concerns about the SDMB. This is also the place for practice posts. (italics mine)

This sure reads as a “concern about the SDMB” to me. There’s no implication of the word “technical” having a distributive propery in that sentence. Sure, its fair that you and he read that sentence differently, but there’s no need to be malicious. It fits in this forum as well, but your emphasis implied he was a dumb rube, and that is uncalled for.

Re the OP:

MSK, I agree that some posters talk over the typical readers head. I might even be guilty of it sometimes. But I don’t think theres anyway to change it. There are two types of techinical respondents here. 1) The intelligent helpful benevolent poster who enjoys applying his knowledge and feels good teaching others. 2) The intelligent socially inept egomaniac who doesn’t get enough attention IRL and like to make himself feel big by intentionally talking over peoples heads.

The second type is rare, but there are a few who will use exceptionally complicated words and jargon to talk down to a OP which made it abundantly clear they were completely lost on the subject at the start. A good poster can deduce what level of expertise to use after reading the way the question is worded, a bad poster just doesn’t care and wants a chance to flex his mental muscles.

The short response is that you’re right, but the best you can do is to not be afraid to ask for a simplification, and clarification.