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You can't acknowledge the prevalence of the XY Problem and expect geeks not to act on it.

• davidgerard 11y ago
  Oh, absolutely. The overcompensation the other way is a pain in the backside, though, and reminds me why people don't like nerds much. (And I say that as one.)
• dragonwriter 11y ago
  You can acknowledge the prevalence of the XY Problem and expect geeks to act on it in a manner which is not presumptive and condescending. Geeksplaining involves the presumption that the geeksplainer knows what the specific inquirer wants better than the inquirer because of the geeksplainer's presumed superior general knowledge of the relevant domains. Even where the latter presumption is correct, it often doesn't justify the former presumption, so its always best to validate an belief that the questioner may be experiencing the XY problem rather than assuming that is the case. Its fairly simple to do, provides an opportunity for learning, is generally socially more acceptable, and provides a better chance of actually resolving the inquirer's actual problem.
  • Nadya 11y ago
    If I experience the XY problem with 90% of the people I try to help I'm not going to walk through it with 100% of people because an even smaller portion of the 10% might get their feelings hurt. That's a waste of my time as well as the time of most people I'm helping. They can solve their own problems if they wish to be that selfish with their time.
    • Zikes 11y ago
      Plus, that sort of presumption is simple human nature. Targeting geeks specifically is just perpetuating an unfairly negative image.