Little Things That Irk You VII: Seething Pains

[Asura]

His response: "As an IT consultant who’s been in the industry for more than 25 years, I’m well aware of all the....." etc. etc. plonker

I immediately tune out when I hear the "I'm right because I know about this stuff" response, unless it comes with an accompanying explanation for how their experience guides them to that conclusion. If I don't get that, it's time to tell someone to **** off.

[fishbowlhead]

Some bloke on Facebook who instead of giving correct advice to a friend, said she had an IT problem and just sent her an affiliate signup to something he said would solve her problem. I pointed out that she didn't actually have a problem at all and instead should just continue about her day. Unsure if this should be in irks or smiles. Both maybe.

His response: "As an IT consultant who’s been in the industry for more than 25 years, I’m well aware of all the....." etc. etc. plonker

I get it occasionally with some of my products.

Customer: Ive been doung this 25 years i know what im doing!
Me: so? My product is different so you need to follow MY steps for best results.

24hrs later,
Me: how did the instructions work out for you?
Customer: works fine now.
Me: good to hear (with smug undertones).

[Brad]

I never bring up my credentials in an argument. If you need to do that it's because you're wrong and you know you are and are drawing on your last line of defence.

What's worse is credentials that mean nothing anyway, e.g.

As a Christian, I think...

[Dogg Thang]

I don't know. If an astronaut is arguing with a flat-earther, it would seem the credentials are pretty important and it certainly doesn't make the flat-earther correct. Some arguments aren't even worth getting into because one person is so much more qualified than the other person so, sometimes you can just drop your credentials and leave it at that.

[Brad]

I'm gonna say that your extreme example proves my rule :-)

[Dogg Thang]

Replace 'astronaut' with anyone qualified to know what they are talking about and replace 'flat-earther' with anyone who isn't. Qualifications can matter.

[Brad]

True, but the important bit in my claim is that I never "bring up" my credentials. It's much more fun to have them emerge late on in the argument when inevitably asked "how would you know?". I agree that this can also be a waste of everybody's time however.

[Dogg Thang]

Us: "Oh really? Well I've been arguing on message boards for over twenty years now."

[Brad]

I wasn't gonna bring it up but I've been doing this since they were called BBSs, I think I know how to win an internet argument. You can't win this. It'd be like Chewbacca living on Endor; it just doesn't make sense.

[Neon Ignition]

https://www.theguardian.com/society/2018/dec/06/quarter-of-adults-think-marital-sex-without-consent-is-not-uk-survey-finds

Very worrying but what the article doesn't distinguish directly and what immediately adds to the scale of concern is that the report refers to 'people's' views rather than men's meaning women often share these views too

[Dogg Thang]

It does look pretty bad. But I guess, like with any survey, it depends on how the questions were asked and how people interpreted them. For example, pressured into sex without violence could be incredibly serious and damaging and involve all kinds of coercion or it could be "ah, go on, sure we're doing nothing else". But I would take the latter scenario as still needing consent, which is the crucial part. So I don't know.

[Atticus]

I've been struggling to get my head around something my 12-yr old has been covering at school. As part of the national curriculum they have to learn about citizenship and the importance of debate. But it's the subject matter they're using that I'm not happy about. For weeks they've been learning about the James Bulger case. All about it. Culminating in a film they watched on Friday. My son was clearly affected by it after school and at bedtime he started shaking and losing control of his breathing ... asking that me and Eve sleep either side of him because he was scared (after the film the teacher told them the perps were just up the road in Durham). During this whole episode on Friday night he said "Dad, I can't get the words and pictures out of my head".

I've always tried to let our two have a childhood. When I was a kid there was news on in the house constantly and I hated it (I still hate it) so I've never subjected them to it. I still stand by that. And I think at 12 it's a bit much learning about such a horrific crime that most would find upsetting ... and would perhaps choose not to watch a film about with graphic images, upsetting images and detailed accounts of torture and murder.

We've contacted the school and the head of the year told my wife that the teacher should have been an opt-out ... but unless that's done with discretion there's not a kid in the class that would lose face by saying they didn't want to watch it. I'm still trying to speak with them to make sure it doesn't happen again. I wouldn't have wanted it in my head at 12. But maybe that's just me.

***also posted in parent thread***

[Dogg Thang]

What the hell? There is no way the details of that case should be shown to 12 year olds. No good would come from that. I can't imagine what they thought the educational benefit would be? It's just a real life gruesome bogeyman story.

[Brad]

WTF!!!!!???? That case sickens me to my stomach every time I have to think about it.

[Atticus]

Thanks guys, I'm glad it's not just me.