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Tech people, and especially the circle that is absorbed in the startup/techcrunch/combinator thing, have to be the most incredibly self absorbed, solipsistic bu

Tech people, and especially the circle that is absorbed in the startup/techcrunch/combinator thing, have to be the most incredibly self absorbed, solipsistic bunch of twits in creation. Most people are busy earning a living or living their lives doing something that actually matters, and the subtle nuance of details that tech startup types endlessly masturbate over is trivial background noise to most of the normal working populace. To turn it all around, I have had the experience of explaining a legalism such as a specific application of labor or copyright law to a deep hard core techie. It's absolutely outside their universe and their frame of reference... does not compute... smoke starts coming out the ears... "Illogical! Norman, please coordinate..."

alexqgb 16y ago
'Frame of Reference' is exactly the right concept. This is what allows you to make sense of what you don't understand. Even the smartest people with the wrong frames can come up short when challenged. Having a frame of reference is a combination of specific knowledge (typically gained through a program of formal study), and experience (typically gained from operating within a frame for some time, and building a private sense of how it works in practice). The fastest way to infuriate an otherwise smart, capable person is to (a) fail to understand that they simply don't share your frame of reference, then (b) treat them like they're incapable of understanding anything at all while (c) failing to supply the kinds of helpful clues that can get them properly oriented, allowing them to use what they do know to make better sense of what they don't. Computer people seem especially prone to this.
- Bored_Bystander 16y ago
  Yes. It's our collective public relations problem. Well said.
- JoeAltmaier 16y ago
  Agreed. I tried to eat it a Korean soup kitchen the other day. There I sat clueless with some murky broth and undescipherable dishes of 'stuff' while all around me Korean students scraped and mixed and ate with happy abandon.
deleted 16y ago
[deleted]
- Bored_Bystander 16y ago
  I see that I have already been downvoted from my one comment, here so I may as well continue the winning streak. > Having said that, I meet these people all the time, so maybe I am kidding myself. You're kidding yourself. To the average citizen, and this will include educated professionals such as dentists, attorneys, and educators, the internet is pure plumbing. A commodity. A public service utility. And get this... the majority of users have no awareness of the difference between the address bar and the Google search form. They will blithely enter a URL into a Google search. And they will type keywords with no URL punctuation into the address bar. And if either does not work they will stumble around somewhat blindly until it does work. Given this, how can even the most hardened geeks assume that "everyone" knows exactly how the slashes are arranged in a URL? End users just don't care about our terminology. They really and truly don't. Because there is no penalty for not knowing and no premium for knowing.
joelmichael 16y ago
Go fuck yourself.
- joelmichael 16y ago
  Can someone explain to me why I should respond to this person with any respect whatsoever given his complete lack of tact? Isn't this a tech site? Why am I more downvoted than him? Have a little more self-respect, tech community.
bloomshed 16y ago
I'm glad for the huge disconnect between techies and actual people. It makes it possible for the development of new ideas to connect with mainstream users. If techs understood mainstream people I wouldn't be on this site right now. Why do I feel Palinish? Ugh. . . too bad it's true. Perspective Time: Being an expert means you are capable of a lot, it's great for sure, but it doesn't mean you're smart or have all the answers. Let's not be mad at each other, it's all good.

alexqgb 16y ago

'Frame of Reference' is exactly the right concept. This is what allows you to make sense of what you don't understand. Even the smartest people with the wrong frames can come up short when challenged. Having a frame of reference is a combination of specific knowledge (typically gained through a program of formal study), and experience (typically gained from operating within a frame for some time, and building a private sense of how it works in practice). The fastest way to infuriate an otherwise smart, capable person is to (a) fail to understand that they simply don't share your frame of reference, then (b) treat them like they're incapable of understanding anything at all while (c) failing to supply the kinds of helpful clues that can get them properly oriented, allowing them to use what they do know to make better sense of what they don't. Computer people seem especially prone to this.

Bored_Bystander 16y ago
Yes. It's our collective public relations problem. Well said.
JoeAltmaier 16y ago
Agreed. I tried to eat it a Korean soup kitchen the other day. There I sat clueless with some murky broth and undescipherable dishes of 'stuff' while all around me Korean students scraped and mixed and ate with happy abandon.

deleted 16y ago

[deleted]

Bored_Bystander 16y ago
I see that I have already been downvoted from my one comment, here so I may as well continue the winning streak. > Having said that, I meet these people all the time, so maybe I am kidding myself. You're kidding yourself. To the average citizen, and this will include educated professionals such as dentists, attorneys, and educators, the internet is pure plumbing. A commodity. A public service utility. And get this... the majority of users have no awareness of the difference between the address bar and the Google search form. They will blithely enter a URL into a Google search. And they will type keywords with no URL punctuation into the address bar. And if either does not work they will stumble around somewhat blindly until it does work. Given this, how can even the most hardened geeks assume that "everyone" knows exactly how the slashes are arranged in a URL? End users just don't care about our terminology. They really and truly don't. Because there is no penalty for not knowing and no premium for knowing.

joelmichael 16y ago

Go fuck yourself.

joelmichael 16y ago
Can someone explain to me why I should respond to this person with any respect whatsoever given his complete lack of tact? Isn't this a tech site? Why am I more downvoted than him? Have a little more self-respect, tech community.

bloomshed 16y ago

I'm glad for the huge disconnect between techies and actual people. It makes it possible for the development of new ideas to connect with mainstream users. If techs understood mainstream people I wouldn't be on this site right now. Why do I feel Palinish? Ugh. . . too bad it's true. Perspective Time: Being an expert means you are capable of a lot, it's great for sure, but it doesn't mean you're smart or have all the answers. Let's not be mad at each other, it's all good.