General > General Technical Chat
Genuine question- is Please and Thankyou a cultural thing on the EEVBlog forum ?
Fraser:
In my case it is simply that I go out of my way to help people and often provide technical information that they cannot get anywhere else and then I do not even get an indication that they appreciated my gesture. I can become less friendly and keep all the ‘unobtainium’ information to myself but that appears mean spirited. If helping someone brings me sadness by their lack of any appreciation for my efforts, that may be the way to go.
I get an awful lot of requests for help with thermal imaging technology and normally help where legal to do so. I have lost count of how many times I have spent HOURS researching something, delivering the required information and getting ZERO response :( That kind of ‘entitled’ attitude rubs me up the wrong way but then it is my fault for spending the time helping a stranger in the first place.... that is what my wife says anyway ! ;D (She is much smarter than me :-DD )
Someone recently told me that we now live in a “Me Me Me” world of selfishness and some people display an unfortunate attitude that they are ‘entitled’ to help from others. To me that sadly appears similar to a Country ‘Gentleman’ demanding Tiffin at 3pm from his Butler :-DD Well I have news for people like that, I do not play that game and I am not your ‘Servant’ so find your own information through hard work, just as did !
This thread has honestly helped me change my attitude towards this forum in a positive way. I will spend more time enjoying my hobby and far less time researching questions from members with no ‘track record’ of being a contributor to this community. I recall the term “Seeders and Leechers” from Torrent days and I have no intention of becoming a banquet for leeches :-DD
Anyway I have what I asked for and will continue to contribute to this most excellent of forums, but on my terms :box:
I tend to sign my posts as Fraser as it is my name and my friendly ‘face’.
I no longer need to sit behind a nom de plume.
Fraser
In case anyone wonders what Tiffin is in terms of my usage....
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tiffin
MK14:
--- Quote from: Fraser on March 21, 2021, 12:20:14 pm ---I will spend more time enjoying my hobby and far less time researching questions from members with no ‘track record’ of being a contributor to this community. I recall the term “Seeders and Leechers” from Torrent days and I have no intention of becoming a banquet for leeches :-DD
Anyway I have what I asked for and will continue to contribute to this most excellent of forums, but on my terms :box:
--- End quote ---
It is not necessarily that simple, because I have also asked the same question (this threads topic), of myself, and come up with what appears to be a significantly different answer. Because in some cases, spending time answering some of the questions on this forum, even if it needs time to research and put together, can actually help (improve) oneself.
E.g. Let's say the question was about LDRs (light dependent resistors), and it was so long since I last used them (partly because if you know what you are doing phototransistors/diodes can be better, and not involve getting more toxic materials in wider circulation, i.e. Cadmium). Spending time answering a beginners question involving LDRs, can mean me refreshing my knowledge of them, any formulas involved/needed, and other stuff about them, that is becoming 'rusty' over time.
I.e. Even if they never respond to the thread, no thanks etc. At least I've had the motivation to refresh my knowledge of them, think about them again, and potentially enjoy spending a bit of time, reading up on them again.
A good answer, might even be useful (because of Google etc), to someone in the future.
E.g. It is extremely useful to me, that (hypothetical made up scenario), I can have my or a computer fail on me. Type into google, hard disk WD 123456789 Model BC, Winglows10 error "987654.21". A forum thread from 12 years ago, had someone have exactly the same problem, who says "You just need to change the CR2032" battery, as it fails the bios forgets the HD settings on older computers (hypothetically speaking). Then 2 minutes later, my computer is fixed, problem solved!
Fraser:
MK14,
I totally agree with your comments but I have been on this forum a long time and have noticed a change over the years. I still research topics for friends and also for my own curiosity. I study books and scientific papers to improve my knowledge of various topics. For example I have bought many books on thermography and thermal camera design and even bought an Amiga computer and its service documents to teach myself fault finding on a MC68K computer platform ! That was a bit excessive I admit but it helped me in reverse engineering and repairing MC68340 based FLIR PM series thermal cameras. I use the knowledge I gain to help others just as some good friends have helped me in the past. There is the question of who’s life you are living though. I am in my 50’s now and my wife reminds me that this is not a rehearsal so when I spend hours and even days helping other people, am I doing it for them or myself ? I have so much work on the to-do list at home and yet I ‘spend’ my time solving other people’s problems or providing them with information that takes hours to track down in my less than perfectly indexed 4TB archive ! Why is that archive not correctly indexed ? Because I did not spend the time doing so as I was distracted by other demands upon my time. I now realise that when someone asks a question either on the forum, or via PM, I should decide whether answering such fits in with my days priorities. It sounds so simple but I have always been someone who was happy (even eager!) to help others. A character flaw if not managed carefully as my poor long suffering wife knows.
I have just been vaccinated against COVID-19 and have spent the last year in effective social isolation so the forum has been an interesting distraction but I think it time I decided what is most important to my family going forwards. None of us know how long we have and I really do not think anyone will miss a few posts on this forum, or any other for that matter, from me. I am not that important in the big scheme of things. I will engage in topics that interest me or are simple answers but the equipment teardowns and long posts will likely end as they take too much time out of my day.
I currently have a request via PM to provide a scan of an Adret 740A service manual. That manual is buried under many boxes in my garage but I have said I will find it and photograph the pages. I will do so as I have already said I will. Going forwards, that hour or two plus physical exertion may not be made available for such requests though.
Fraser
MK14:
--- Quote from: Fraser on March 21, 2021, 01:10:22 pm --- I have so much work on the to-do list at home and yet I ‘spend’ my time solving other people’s problems or providing them with information that takes hours to track down in my less than perfectly indexed 4TB archive ! Why is that archive not correctly indexed ? Because I did not spend the time doing so as I was distracted by other demands upon my time. I now realise that when someone asks a question either on the forum, or via PM, I should decide whether answering such fits in with my days priorities. It sounds so simple but I have always been someone who was happy (even eager!) to help others. A character flaw if not managed carefully as my poor long suffering wife knows.
--- End quote ---
I agree with you!
I suspect, there is some kind of psychological process going on, at least in my case. Whereby, answering some (unknown to me, usually) persons question(s), on this/a forum. Somehow is achieving something (on the one hand it IS achieving something, but not necessarily for oneself/family/friends and our own ToDo lists, just as you described/said above).
INSTEAD of actually doing what you should have been doing.
To put it in other terms (that some other people used, in describing stuff, a bit like this, to me).
The forum concept, question(s), posts, psychology, etc etc.
Is somehow "PUSHING MY BUTTONS", to get me into frantic activity.
E.g. This classic meme/picture:
Fraser:
MK14,
I think you hit the nail on the head :-+ That Meme is sooooo typical of me except it is normally “something is wrong or faulty on the forum” in my case ! When you examine that behaviour in the cold light of day, it is illogical. Why can an answer not wait until the next day ?
Anyway, this has been a far more insightful thread than I ever imagined it would be and I thank all those who provided input as it has genuinely helped me. I will cease the Soul Searching posts here as we will likely have nauseated readers ‘throwing up’ soon :-DD
:-+
Fraser
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