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The XY approach can be perfectly legitimate. You're a domain expert. You have a problem X. It's a standard problem in your domain but only you can really unders

The XY approach can be perfectly legitimate. You're a domain expert. You have a problem X. It's a standard problem in your domain but only you can really understand it. However, you can see that a general purpose approach, Y, could solve it. Y might even sound complicated but is at least fully explainable whereas X isn't easily explainable at all. Of course, the "XY problem" usually presumes a naive person ("user")who falsely imagines the more complicated-sounding solution Y would solve their simple problem. And that's a pretty common situation. The general approach for all this stuff is whenever someone is asking for the solution to a complicated or weird question, just verify they have some reason to approach it that way. There's no reason to automatically assume either they do or they don't and not assuming anything lets you approach them more respectfully.

PurpleFoxy 6y ago
Sure, but it’s still worth explaining what X is to give people context. Also the majority of question askers tend to be the ones who came up with the incorrect solution or are trying to use something dangerous to solve their problem.
version_five 6y ago
Classic physical world example: I was making a wooden frame to go between a light fixture and the ceiling of the overhang on my porch. I made the frame in my workshop, was going to paint it and mount it outside. So I went to home depot and asked for exterior paint. It was winter, and I instantly got a lecture about how you can't paint outside because it's too cold (before the guy showed me where the paint was). It's minor obviously, but it stands out because it's just like all these internet discussions where someone would rather tell you you're doing it wrong then try and help you. To me it's a cultural problem along the lines of lots of "we better not give people information because they are not enlightened enough to use it the way we want them too" ways of thinking. Personally I think it's a bad approach everywhere.
nullc 6y ago
Indeed. One should check for XY problem and one should not be offended when someone is checking, but just help them help you by getting through the standard procedure.

PurpleFoxy 6y ago

Sure, but it’s still worth explaining what X is to give people context. Also the majority of question askers tend to be the ones who came up with the incorrect solution or are trying to use something dangerous to solve their problem.

version_five 6y ago

Classic physical world example: I was making a wooden frame to go between a light fixture and the ceiling of the overhang on my porch. I made the frame in my workshop, was going to paint it and mount it outside. So I went to home depot and asked for exterior paint. It was winter, and I instantly got a lecture about how you can't paint outside because it's too cold (before the guy showed me where the paint was). It's minor obviously, but it stands out because it's just like all these internet discussions where someone would rather tell you you're doing it wrong then try and help you. To me it's a cultural problem along the lines of lots of "we better not give people information because they are not enlightened enough to use it the way we want them too" ways of thinking. Personally I think it's a bad approach everywhere.

nullc 6y ago

Indeed. One should check for XY problem and one should not be offended when someone is checking, but just help them help you by getting through the standard procedure.