The following scenario, which is quite common in many parts of the world, reminds me of how in life, it is much easier for some to be arm-chair critics without first putting in effort to understand circumstances before they open their mouths to lambaste those who say/think/do differently from others - so much time wasted over petty details and nitpicking. Tunnel vision or a I-am-better/greater-than-thou or I-am-right-you-are-wrong mentality sans respect seems to show that society has not really progressed much from the days of the cavemen. Oh yes, I have been guilty of that too and have learnt my lesson now. Speak less, listen more and not judge. In fact, I surmise we could be moving backwards. What do you think? Please leave a comment to share your views. Thanks!
How Many Forum Members Does it Take to Change a Light Bulb?
1 to change the light bulb and to post that the light bulb has been changed
14 to share similar experiences of changing light bulbs and how the light bulb could have been changed differently
7 to caution about the dangers of changing light bulbs
27 to point out spelling/grammar errors in posts about changing light bulbs
53 to flame the spell checkers
41 to correct spelling/grammar flames
6 to argue over whether it's "lightbulb" or "light bulb" ...
another 6 to condemn those 6 as anal-retentive
2 industry professionals to inform the group that the proper term is "lamp"
15 know-it-alls who claim *they* were in the industry, and that "light bulb" is perfectly correct
156 to email the participant's ISPs complaining that they are in violation of their "acceptable use policy"
109 to post that this group is not about light bulbs and to please take this discussion to a light bulb group
203 to demand that cross posting to hardware forum, off-topic forum, and light bulb group about changing light bulbs be stopped
111 to defend the posting to this group saying that we all use light bulbs and therefore the posts *are* relevant to this group
306 to debate which method of changing light bulbs is superior, where to buy the best light bulbs, what brand of light bulbs work best for this technique and what brands are faulty
27 to post URL's where one can see examples of different light bulbs
14 to post that the URL's were posted incorrectly and then post the corrected URL's
3 to post about links they found from the URL's that are relevant to this group which makes light bulbs relevant to this group
33 to link all posts to date, quote them in their entirety including all headers and signatures, and add "Me too"
12 to post to the group that they will no longer post because they cannot handle the light bulb controversy
19 to quote the "Me too's" to say "Me three"
4 to suggest that posters request the light bulb FAQ
44 to ask what is a "FAQ"
4 to say "didn't we go through this already a short time ago?"
143 to say "do a Google search on light bulbs before posting questions about light bulbs"
1 forum lurker to respond to the original post 6 months from now and start it all over again....
And 1 to say that his wife walked in after he changed the light bulb and she said how much brighter the room was!
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modernlifeisrubbish Dear MWS,
Hahaha, this is a good one. i liked the last sentence best, as it could be the most relevant to the original topic, "to change the light bulb & to post that the light bulb has been changed."
People these days liked to criticize others for having a different opinion than them when they should be criticizing the subject matter. Unfortunately i had a late lesson that people are always subjective. Everyone has their own opinions. i also learned that important subject matters that concern life should be as objective as possible to at least arrive at a common truth.
Most people just want to let others subscribe to their own beliefs without having a healthy discussion of important subjects so that a truth can be arrived at. So we have all these personal attacks and nitpicking, as you'd said, directed at other people instead of focussing on the pertinent subject matter. Yes, i'm no exception too in the past.
i dont care much about changing light bulb now and have since moved on to more important topic like "how to choose a tortoise for small children for beginners".
Maybe it's better to just share information without making any judgment or introducing our (perhaps) preconceived ideas. Unless it's a deeply felt topic we're familiar with that could affect the life of everyone that would then warrant our (hopefully sane and responsible) opinion, it would be better to let others think and decide for themselves. Perhaps? Speaking the truth to others too much in these degenerate days of the "Latter Day of the Law" would only invite hostility and hatred to self sooner or later. But not that i care too much either.