Knowlegable or opinionated

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pennycar9

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Just how do you deal with people who are knowlegeable, opinionated or who are genuinly seeking guidance?

I have been following posts on these forums for a while now and whilst I dont proport to be the font of all knowledge, there are surly some dicks who show their heads from time to time.
There are some very knowledgeable contributors and I take my hat off to them, then along come some dickhead,and daft foot forward, tries to shoot then down in flames. I have noticed many newcomers to the the forums who have asked reasonable guidence, and while some of the requests have seemed a bit naive, I feel the answers should reflect the fact that the poster is looking for help and advice, not ridicule as has been shown here in the past. In My veiw, the forums should be a source of constructive information and advice, not a messenger service nor a place of ridicule or insults
It must be me so I shall go and talk jibberish to who ever may want to listen to my rantings.
 
I agree with you full on. The other irritating trait some people have is where the opening line to their opinion/advice starts something like, "I don't have one of those but I've got a...." or "I don't know about those but...." and then go on to produce a lot of ill informed advice which doesn't answer matey's question. Bottom line is if you don't know the answer or are not sure then don't reply.

This will of course apply to the question I am about to post!
 
Am in full agreement. I am new to the forum but have read it for years without contributing and wish that people with think first and then contribute....there are some great links and genuine facts but there is an almighty amount of opinionated dribble..but considering some of the questions asked I do hope that some of the contributors never really venture far to sea...or if they do I hope it is during the day in nice weather.
 
Disagree. It's the range of opinion and the way threads suffer mission creep that makes it interesting. If all the posts were questions and if only real experts (who are they?) replied the forum would sound like a speak your weight machine.
 
Yes good comment, and point taken, I just get niggled by people who offer an opinion and will not move from their position however strong or weak that opinion may be.
 
There is a lot of good and informed opinion and guidance on the forums here.
Any childish and immature responses are just something that have to be tolerated along the way. On balance I feel that the good outweighs the bad, having on here ready access to a wealth of useful information which is freely given.
There are contributors who seem to have to comment on everything and anything...........too much time on their hands perhaps, or do they just enjoy seeing the number of postings to their credit rise?..........Their business not mine.
CJ
 
It can sometimes be difficult to judge the whether someone knows what they are talking about but you can always ask why they have a certain opinion. Maybe they know because it's their job to know, maybe they have direct experience, maybe they know someone else who has, maybe they can cite a reference, e.g manufacturer's data.

Personally, I tend to disregard advice from people who are unable to put forward an opinion without reinforcing it with swearwords and agression. I reckon that if someone can't be bothered to learn how to use his own language properly,then he probably hasn't learnt much about anything else.
 
You make a good point.

As a sometime contributor, I would guess a lot of us have the same reaction, especially when newcomers get the brush off. Of couse quite a lot of the questions asked have been dealt with before and informed contributors are not likely to repeat themselves again and again when a search would point the way. This leaves the medium open to the rest, who, may on occasions indulge their publicist fantasies.

There's a lot of experience on these pages, and by and large I think that comes over - the reader has to pick between the helpful and the self indulgent, but abuse of other contributors diminishes the contribution.

I have profited from advice here, and I've been at sea since 1979! I am happy to share experiences and insights but have to accept we all row different boats - there's no perfect solution.

If I have a beef relating to your point it's that the tag lines many posters use are boring after the first exposure, and rank aggravating on the 100 th ! But they keep on, seemingly in the belief it adds reinforcement to their contribution, when of course it detracts. Some self sensorship would be advantageous.

I think the moderators keep the whole package in trim pretty well - I add this piece of base sycophancy so I don't get deleted, of course - virtual death, and even before I've launched myself afresh on this years' waves...!

Keep reading/posting, and igore the empty vessels stuck on their own mudbanks....

Peter Gibbs

PS did you have a question? I'm free at this precise moment to.....
 
[ QUOTE ]
The other irritating trait some people have is where the opening line to their opinion/advice starts something like, "I don't have one of those but I've got a...." or "I don't know about those but...." and then go on to produce a lot of ill informed advice which doesn't answer matey's question. Bottom line is if you don't know the answer or are not sure then don't reply.


[/ QUOTE ]

In theory I agree with you. But in practice not - as very rare that someone else will have had the exact same problem and know the exact answer for your circumstances....

......often the best that can be obtained is a number of options, some of which are based on folk being able to work out a possible solution from an understanding based on experiance with boats (or technical matters)......and IMO as long as folk clearly state "I have never done exactly that" etc etc.....then the OP knows how much weight to give to a response - in any case a lot of the "answers" are about collecting knowledge even if only to ask better questions in real life......

.....and of course being an internet forum having a few answers (of any quality) does keep a subject "live" and the longer around the more likely to attract a good answer(s).

And of course IMO always good form to keep the Lounge type stuff out of the Forums - although not always possible when folk start threads deliberately seeking opinions /forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif
 
[ QUOTE ]
"I just get niggled by people who offer an opinion and will not move from their position however strong or weak that opinion may be."

That's just like real life!

[/ QUOTE ]

My deity! You're not suggesting the forums are just like real life are you! /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif
 
Well I don't know which category I fall into but I do try to give informed opinion. This topic comes up periodically and every time it does I find myself fighting a temptation to just give up posting if that is what some folks think, that might be a good thing of course who knows.

Some (lots) of the questions asked have been aired before which is hardly surprising so in my case I will often answer again if I think I can offer something useful. However it is irritating when sometimes the same question comes up when the last post on the same subject is only on page 2 or even is still live on another forum. Some people are too idle maybe to look first?

So please tell me if I'm a dick or what, it could well save a lot of typing...
 
OK!

We have established thread drift.

If Peter Gibbs can moan about the tag lines (and I agree that the jokes wear thin) then I'd like to moan about some of the post titles which give no indication of what the post is about.
 
Certainly not a Dick and I agree with you. I asked a question on here a little while ago and got an answer to that question. That is what I personally See these forums for. Help and advice.
 
[ QUOTE ]
I'll get my coat on the way out.

[/ QUOTE ]

I'm also on the way out to the boat to give it it's pre-polish clean so if you want to help take your overalls with you too! All we need now is 2 coats of polish this weekend, a final prop polish and we go splash next Wednesday. [/smug]

Dick
 
I agree with you and always regret when things get a bit personal.

However having met a number of contributors I can possibly understand them a bit better.

Most on here have their own boat , many have sailed for years. The cost implications for most of boat ownership means that most are financially reasonable sucessful either by using business acuman or intelligence. Most that I have met are professional.

You don't normally get sucessful in business if you are a shrinking violet. As many are experienced skippers they are used to taking responsibility and taking decisions that if wrong could have severe consequences.

Add that lot together and you generally get a nice bunch of knowledgable, opinionated, confident b@st@rds plus a few wind up merchants thrown in.

Stick with the forum and you can soon identify those that have opinions and those that have a specialists in depth knowledge and those that you can ignore. Beware of changes though dependant on time of posting as while vino just increases my opinion of my own intelligence for some it reduces it!! /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif
 
[ QUOTE ]
If I have a beef relating to your point it's that the tag lines many posters use are boring after the first exposure, and rank aggravating on the 100 th ! But they keep on, seemingly in the belief it adds reinforcement to their contribution, when of course it detracts. Some self sensorship would be advantageous.

[/ QUOTE ]?? WTF is wrong with my tagline? - or even my avatar come to that?
hammer.gif
Artificial Intelligence is no match for Natural Stupidity.
 
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