3 ms·

I feel like we need a "why don't you just?" safe word, where the intent is to signify "hey I'm not being a smartass, I'm really just curious about why this seem

I feel like we need a "why don't you just?" safe word, where the intent is to signify "hey I'm not being a smartass, I'm really just curious about why this seemingly simple solution won't actually work". So much of what happens on the internet is in bad faith that it makes it really hard to just have innocent conversations without being misunderstood. :-(

lovemenot 6y ago
Why dont you just coin a new phrase? Perhaps it'll stick.
- breckinloggins 6y ago
  I've actually seen literal quotes before, e.g. a question like: "Why don't you just" get a bunch of people on rafts and row real fast to push it off?
- umanwizard 6y ago
  Because if it doesn’t stick, everyone else will just think you’re annoying (like the “fetch” girl in Mean Girls).
1123581321 6y ago
Agreed. I’ve thought the same for posting an interesting fact. Anymore, I want to preface every single one by saying, “hey, you may already know this; I’m just sharing it because it hasn’t been mentioned yet and I think it’s neat. If you were implying the fact already, I apologize for overlooking that.”
rjmill 6y ago
I try to replace any "I think..." and "Why don't they just..." comments with "I wonder if..." ones. I've found it communicates my curiosity in a way that's less likely to be misinterpreted. It's made my internet/IRL conversations much more productive.
- adolph 6y ago
  Leading with “One weird trick that...” will increase your CPM, guaranteed.
noizejoy 6y ago
> So much of what happens on the internet is in bad faith ... and I have to admit I’m still not able to easily recognize the difference between bad faith and utter lack of experience and/or intelligence without digging deep into the history of the individual posting such “questions”. And the need for that extra digging makes such questions effectively the same waste of time and emotional energy as responding to a troll.
- breckinloggins 6y ago
  Same. It's super easy to know when I am communicating in good faith, but it's not so trivial to know when you are. You know those scenes in the movies where two characters circle around each other giving the side eye like "so are you fucking with me or are we cool?" Twitter in particular feels like a whole site of people doing that. :)
- umanwizard 6y ago
  You don’t need to do the digging if you follow the rules of the site, which include interpreting others’ comments as charitably as possible.
SAI_Peregrinus 6y ago
"Why is the following wrong:" "What's the problem with" "What's the problem with training every pigeon in the world to grab on and fly it out of there?" "Why is the following wrong: They could get a shitload of muskrats and have them dig out the banks?" Etc. Suggestions made obviously ridiculous.

lovemenot 6y ago

Why dont you just coin a new phrase? Perhaps it'll stick.

breckinloggins 6y ago
I've actually seen literal quotes before, e.g. a question like: "Why don't you just" get a bunch of people on rafts and row real fast to push it off?
umanwizard 6y ago
Because if it doesn’t stick, everyone else will just think you’re annoying (like the “fetch” girl in Mean Girls).

1123581321 6y ago

Agreed. I’ve thought the same for posting an interesting fact. Anymore, I want to preface every single one by saying, “hey, you may already know this; I’m just sharing it because it hasn’t been mentioned yet and I think it’s neat. If you were implying the fact already, I apologize for overlooking that.”

rjmill 6y ago

I try to replace any "I think..." and "Why don't they just..." comments with "I wonder if..." ones. I've found it communicates my curiosity in a way that's less likely to be misinterpreted. It's made my internet/IRL conversations much more productive.

adolph 6y ago
Leading with “One weird trick that...” will increase your CPM, guaranteed.

noizejoy 6y ago

> So much of what happens on the internet is in bad faith ... and I have to admit I’m still not able to easily recognize the difference between bad faith and utter lack of experience and/or intelligence without digging deep into the history of the individual posting such “questions”. And the need for that extra digging makes such questions effectively the same waste of time and emotional energy as responding to a troll.

breckinloggins 6y ago
Same. It's super easy to know when I am communicating in good faith, but it's not so trivial to know when you are. You know those scenes in the movies where two characters circle around each other giving the side eye like "so are you fucking with me or are we cool?" Twitter in particular feels like a whole site of people doing that. :)
umanwizard 6y ago
You don’t need to do the digging if you follow the rules of the site, which include interpreting others’ comments as charitably as possible.

SAI_Peregrinus 6y ago

"Why is the following wrong:" "What's the problem with" "What's the problem with training every pigeon in the world to grab on and fly it out of there?" "Why is the following wrong: They could get a shitload of muskrats and have them dig out the banks?" Etc. Suggestions made obviously ridiculous.