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> I didn't thought of that as a special power. I thought it was natural, like driving a car, or speaking English. You’re clearly taking for granted any learnt

> I didn't thought of that as a special power. I thought it was natural, like driving a car, or speaking English. You’re clearly taking for granted any learnt skills which you have and projecting them to others. A substantial portion of the world population can’t speak English, and I suspect the grand majority of humans don’t know how to drive a car either. I know you have to turn the wheel to turn the car and that I should keep to the right, but that doesn’t count as actually knowing how to properly operate a car.

dxdm 1y ago
OP clearly (to borrow your choice of word) wants to express that they thought people simply learn how to find information by simply using a search engine over time, just like you can become proficient in other activities by repeatedly doing them; and they gave some examples that many people here can relate to as such. I don't think OP wanted to offend anyone who doesn't know how to drive a car, or suggest that everybody should be able to. So, yeah, things are not always that clear. That's why it's so useful to give people the benefit of a charitable interpretation of their words by default.
- oblio 1y ago
  The examples OP chose are actually excellent: both of those activities require deliberate practice and years of training (education) and people who don't do either of those suck at them. Think of the average person you know that had terrible results in middle school and high school or of the average driver, that thinks he's better than 80% of drivers out there.
542354234235 1y ago
I'm going to assume good faith on your part. OP is using analogy as a rhetorical device, using things in their own life that would be recognizable and transferable to others. When he says its like "speaking English", it is because he speaks English, but it can be understood that any non-English natives would insert their own mother tongue. 88% of European households and 92% of US households own at least one car. Driving, as something that once learned you take for granted since you do it pretty much daily, is something most people can related to. Even those that cant, are probably intimately familiar with those that do. It isn't something exotic and specialized, like airline pilot or submarine crewmember. If I say "its like finding out someone ate the last of your favorite candy", it is meant to analogize a feeling of disappointment. If you personally don't like candy, I would expect that you have the ability to understand the meaning and intent and not focus on how the analogy doesn't perfectly align with your individual personal experiences and preferences. If you want to complain about how some cultures don't really eat candy, while others focus on collective sharing over individual ownership, I suppose you can.

dxdm 1y ago

OP clearly (to borrow your choice of word) wants to express that they thought people simply learn how to find information by simply using a search engine over time, just like you can become proficient in other activities by repeatedly doing them; and they gave some examples that many people here can relate to as such. I don't think OP wanted to offend anyone who doesn't know how to drive a car, or suggest that everybody should be able to. So, yeah, things are not always that clear. That's why it's so useful to give people the benefit of a charitable interpretation of their words by default.

oblio 1y ago
The examples OP chose are actually excellent: both of those activities require deliberate practice and years of training (education) and people who don't do either of those suck at them. Think of the average person you know that had terrible results in middle school and high school or of the average driver, that thinks he's better than 80% of drivers out there.

542354234235 1y ago

I'm going to assume good faith on your part. OP is using analogy as a rhetorical device, using things in their own life that would be recognizable and transferable to others. When he says its like "speaking English", it is because he speaks English, but it can be understood that any non-English natives would insert their own mother tongue. 88% of European households and 92% of US households own at least one car. Driving, as something that once learned you take for granted since you do it pretty much daily, is something most people can related to. Even those that cant, are probably intimately familiar with those that do. It isn't something exotic and specialized, like airline pilot or submarine crewmember. If I say "its like finding out someone ate the last of your favorite candy", it is meant to analogize a feeling of disappointment. If you personally don't like candy, I would expect that you have the ability to understand the meaning and intent and not focus on how the analogy doesn't perfectly align with your individual personal experiences and preferences. If you want to complain about how some cultures don't really eat candy, while others focus on collective sharing over individual ownership, I suppose you can.