Little things annoy me

;)

> I can't get away from the amusing thought that some contributors think of themselves as the reasonable family person and the 500,00 others as donkeys

half a million? nah. just one or three...

>Dave, you have really outdone yourself.

i'm sorry. i'm ashamed. i couldn't help it. :(

>Say instead "I am an expert and you who ask questions have no right to express your opinion about the replies to your questions". Would any of us actually want to agree with this alternative description of what some of the frequent contributors appear to be saying.

well i'm not an expert. i help where i can and learn more than i help.

there are real experts here and those are the people i learn from. oddly (depending on your perspective), some of them are also posting in these threads forum comment threads because they care what happens to this forum.

the silly youtube link was just a reflection of my feelings that when i do post, and take the time to explain my position, it's common courtesy for the other person to actually read and absorb the information i'm trying to impart before posting back, rather than just saying "no it's not. no it's not. no it's not."

Say instead "I am an expert and you who ask questions have no right to express your opinion about the replies to your questions". Would any of us actually want to agree with this alternative description of what some of the frequent contributors appear to be saying.

Well a little modesty would help us all here. Even experts ask questions. I regularly ask questions, but not here. How else does one become expert? Some contributors seem to believe that people asking questions could be stupid and thus not entitled to express opinions about responses. Historically there have been many groups of people who thought only their opinions were valid and that others should not be allowed the freedom to express any views.

The argument about the validity of people asking questions having the right to identify an answer they found useful is as valid as the argument about women, or any other previously excluded group, having a vote. The right to stop anyone expressing their opinion about a topic they raised is a right that should be treated very, very carefully.

Some segment experts have been passionate in the defence of the status quo. But that passion, praiseworthy though it may be, has sometimes descended into condescension and even insult. We read such contributions and form opinions about the validty of them. And then may be extend those thoughts to the validity of their other contributions. Who of us wants to be remembered for teenage temper tantrums or petty insults about typos?

I say let the unwashed, uncultered question posters have their say in points or best answer identification. Without them what would we "experts" do. Insult each other? Tell contributors they have no understanding of design when a simple back button would seriously improve our index of snapshots web site? Post clever replies about the hidden significance of typos? Post two line replies like some headline writer? We could even amuse ourselves writing long, verbose comments that nobody cares to read.

Just saw the YouTube thing. Let's ask ourselves if we're sure our perception of our own roles in that situation matches what others think of our contributions. I can't get away from the amusing thought that some contributors think of themselves as the reasonable family person and the 500,00 others as donkeys
Cheers and goodnight
Ian

reminds me of my never wrong ex.......

Dave, you have really outdone yourself.

Perfect!

:)

heh! this explains the situation perfectly.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nh33bGAxl58

>I've tried to explain why I think an answered feature is no big deal and who it would or should work.

and i've tried to explain why it's not, but don't worry. you'll win. it's part of the package. so sit back, relax and enjoy the ride.

>Well to mollify 5 or 10 people out of 500,00

You counted them, did you? And is that supposed to be fifty thousand or five hundred thousand?

One more try. The person asking very often doesn't know enough to judge whether the question is satisfactorily answered. Therefore it should be left open for further contributions and suggestions. An 'answered' label may discourage that.

This would be a bad thing.