4 ms·

IMO, the main problem isn't that newbies ask to be given fish. That's okay. There's no shame in being a newbie. The problem is what the community, especially th

IMO, the main problem isn't that newbies ask to be given fish. That's okay. There's no shame in being a newbie. The problem is what the community, especially the more knowledgeable users, do when confronted with this situation. Either: 1. They just give them fish, as requested. Sometimes they argue with each other, over who gave the best fish. 2. They angrily say "somebody else has asked for this very same fish before", and downvote the question into oblivion. What they almost never do, however, is the right thing: teaching them how to fish.

DanBC 11y ago
It's a bit wierd to complain about people asking for fish when those people have walked into a fishshop that has a big sign over the door saying "get your fish here!" with thousands of examples of other people getting fish. Sure, people shouldn't just yell "fish!", they should ask for a specific fish and give details of the aquarium / meal, but that's not the same as saying we should teach them about lines and bait.