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How would I say my message without being snarky?

• FullMtlAlcoholc 10y ago
  If all I can add to a discussion is "Just google it", I just won't respond. For better or for worse, people aren't going to respond by saying 'By golly, you're right! I'm so lazy, but from now on, I will google stuff first instead of asking questions." They're just going to say basically "What an asshole, fuck this guy. Maybe he wants an answer that is curated and summarized by a human, not a litany of links where you don't know what to focus on. For example, when I asked what dependency injection is, some kind stranger responded "It's a million dollar term for a 5 cent concept. Pass objects as arguments to functions instead of instantiating them inside." Of course, this is a limited definition, but it was put into layman's terms and it answered my question. From that answer, I was able to really learn what it was instead of being stuck on phase 1 of understanding. When you're online, it's much easier to come off as a dick than it is in person so what I try to do is imagine someone coming up to me earnestly and genuinely asking the same question and respond thusly. Accordingly, when I know I'm asking a simple question, I add self-deprecation to the beginning. Example: "I have the technical and programming acumen of a bag of rocks, so excuse my elementary question, but..."