4 ms·
"Trust me" is shorthand for "Without any supporting argument whatsoever, please believe". When you are tempted to write "trust me", please reconsider and think
by dsjoerg 13y ago
"Trust me" is shorthand for "Without any supporting argument whatsoever, please believe".
When you are tempted to write "trust me", please reconsider and think of why your readers should believe what you're saying.
So in this specific case: why do you think people should be reading "Steinbeck or Vonnegut or something"?
I don't particularly disagree with your advice, but I'm also not inclined to follow it without so much as a shred of a given reason.
- zzzmarcus 13y agoPot, kettle.
- TillE 13y agoWhy exactly do you expect some random person on the internet to patiently explain the value of literature to you?
- dsjoerg 13y agoTrust me, backing up your assertions is important.
- foobarbazqux 13y ago"Trust me" is also shorthand for "I have reflected deeply on this, and based on my personal experience, and our shared humanity..." It's obviously not foolproof to make predictions about another person's experience based on your own life, but this is perhaps a more charitable interpretation of what GP meant by "trust me".
- dsjoerg 13y agoFair enough. I was annoyed because I have found those particular authors hard to connect with, and now some random dude wants me to trust him that they're good for no stated reason. But yes, the principle of charity should always apply and yours is the correctly charitable one.