Thread: Thought of the Day #1

Originally Posted by Haroldg48

If a person asks a specific question on a forum, AND gets 3-5 well informed responses from experienced members, WHY do many of the OPs then feel compelled to argue with the responders?

Sometimes those 3-5 responses have 7-8 different ideas, sometimes contradictory, leaving the OP more confused following the responses than before the question was asked.

One thing I've learned as I've taken up a new hobby or interest is that there's often more than one way to do something, and sorting through the various suggestions to find the one that suits me can be challenging. Further, comments in other threads that are tangentially related to the original topic add even more options.

Challenging the responses may be the person looking to clarify the advice given to find the solution that is most suitable based on budget, circumstances, etc. if the person is less than tactful or not particularly skilled with words, the follow up may come across as more resistant and confrontational than intended. Or they may just want their opinion confirmed and don't want to hear anything else.

Sometimes I am left wondering...If no-one can decide how to skin the cat, it keeps eating the chow.

As to that, I often wonder how much crap/ confusion is generated by trolls sober or non trolls drunk?
In this age of instant celebrity and quick inebriation there is some strength to the suggestion that a person is celebrated by what they say and how often they say it... for a short time!

We also have a language ideological mix here at SRP from around the world and even here in the USofA there are distinctly different speech patterns and dictionaries for common terms. Take a 6 week tour in a military boot camp or federal prison if you are not convinced that ethnicity within a group is as confused as that between groups.

If you don't think so; why does every female spokesperson on TV and radio ads sound like a nasal "Valley Girl." Those were the butt of leg whacking fun back when and the equal to "Blonde" jokes; or, maybe the start of them, 30-40 years ago.
Still babbling, and at my age!
~Richard

Originally Posted by Moonshae

Sometimes those 3-5 responses have 7-8 different ideas, sometimes contradictory, leaving the OP more confused following the responses than before the question was asked.

One thing I've learned as I've taken up a new hobby or interest is that there's often more than one way to do something, and sorting through the various suggestions to find the one that suits me can be challenging. Further, comments in other threads that are tangentially related to the original topic add even more options.

Challenging the responses may be the person looking to clarify the advice given to find the solution that is most suitable based on budget, circumstances, etc. if the person is less than tactful or not particularly skilled with words, the follow up may come across as more resistant and confrontational than intended. Or
they may just want their opinion confirmed and don't want to hear anything else.

When seeking clarification you have to state such so as not to sound confrontational. If you don't understand something then say so. No big deal.

Originally Posted by Haroldg48

If a person asks a specific question on a forum, AND gets 3-5 well informed responses from experienced members, WHY do many of the OPs then feel compelled to argue with the responders?

This thread reminds me of a perfect example of this issue.

THIS thread was started by a guy who started a few threads complaining about how his honing was not working. He kept having the same problems with honing but because he had already "proven" that the x-stroke was inefficient by arguing in this thread, he refused to accept or consider that it would have solved the problems he described in his other threads. Lynn used excellent tact in caving in to him. I exchanged several PMs with him in which I tried to help him understand more about honing, and offered to hone a few razors for him, but being right seemed to be the greatest priority. I was not surprised when he listed all of his honing supplies in the classifieds.

I wish just one of you knew what they were talking about.

Originally Posted by Utopian

This thread reminds me of a perfect example of this issue.

THIS thread was started by a guy who started a few threads complaining about how his honing was not working. He kept having the same problems with honing but because he had already "proven" that the x-stroke was inefficient by arguing in this thread, he refused to accept or consider that it would have solved the problems he described in his other threads. Lynn used excellent tact in caving in to him. I exchanged several PMs with him in which I tried to help him understand more about honing, and offered to hone a few razors for him, but being right seemed to be the greatest priority. I was not surprised when he listed all of his honing supplies in the classifieds.

Read that thread. A "few" experienced people tried to get all his wheels in alignment.

His observations were correct for his honing skills and were what one would expect from an inexperienced honer. He never listened to or felt what the blade was telling him.

I agree with your observation. It was more important to be correct than to learn. A lost cause.

Originally Posted by WW243

I wish just one of you knew what they were talking about.

Why break a perfect record??
~Richard

Originally Posted by Utopian

This thread reminds me of a perfect example of this issue.

THIS .

That was very diplomatic of you Ron by going back 7 years to point one out :P

I probably would having pointed out the one from the other day about bevel setting that everyone that knows anything about honing razors tried to set the guy on the right track but he wouldn't listen ...

Every time I hear these words I cringe "I know the consensus is to it this way, but I am going to try it my way first" although there are many ways to sharp, there are quite a few well worn paths to success, that one should learn first before re-inventing the wheel..

Sometime I think the new guys feel we are hiding knowledge from them and there is a secret easy way to hone razors

The other one that gets me to cringe "After all it is just a sharp piece of steel" and they proceed to grind the crap out of a once good vintage razor


Just rambling thoughts

Seriously, I think there are some people who come to the forum as (in their minds) rugged individualists. In their world they are probably receiving some notoriety for being wild and getting lots of retro cool points from the Quad/Gel group. So they come here with an attitude, fierce, independent and manly. Then they have to confront their dearth of knowledge and are offended by the help offered by the wise old gents of the shave kingdom. It took me longer than most to come to the realization that you had to respect those who had knowledge that you wanted. It seems so simple but isn't.

Originally Posted by gssixgun

That was very diplomatic of you Ron by going back 7 years to point one out :P

Diplomatic is not a word often used with my name!

Actually, the reason I brought that one up was because it was so memorable for me. If you were to read all of the threads he started, it barely would scratch the surface of all of the arguments that he made by PMs to defend his position. The thing that got to me was that he was so frustrated with his inability to hone, as evidenced by the several threads he started, but he would not consider the possibility that our (not just my) advice was sound.

Do you get it?

He knew his way was not working, so he repeatedly asked for help from a group of people who had succeeded (to varying degrees) where he had failed, but he was never willing to accept the possibility that the x-stroke might have solved his problems. He annoyed the crap out of me, but I really tried hard to get him to see the light. I actually felt like I had failed him when I saw that he had put all of his stuff for sale in the classifieds.