Why don't people listen anymore...selective hearing maybe?

[tvtech]

Hi all

For the record I started writing this post @ 19H23 tonight (South African time). Written online in real time with Electrotech Online. No saved Word documents here for me. I just want to see how long it really takes me to express my thoughts and all.

Okay, with the timing going....here I go.

It appears to me that it is very important to make yourself VERY clear when doing any explaining these days. Like someone asks you a question about something Technical or otherwise.

Maybe like making really SURE they understand what you explained to them. Kind of like "please tell me what I just explained to you..do you really understand?? If you are not sure please ask me now".

Maybe, I am unusual...but I have always made 100% sure that I understand what is being told to me, lectured to me or advised to me. Whether I accept or ignore the advise willingly given to me ...is my choice. I make sure I have heard and understood the facts. And this is the important part....

With the attitude I have I really have problems with people I advise with facts. This is the way it WILL work I say. I know because I have physically done it. Simple.

Nevertheless...this is not aimed at anybody here. Just an expression of my frustration with people in general who ask for advise...and the don't heed the reliable advise given. Because they neither want nor understand it...

You see, years ago, when I first started working for the largest TV Repair company in South Africa...my attitude was this: "My head is like a sponge....all I want to do is learn and absorb all I can"...and I did and still do.

I started off as a mere driver who was not supposed to fix TV's.

And ended up as Branch Manager who ran one of the most successful branches in the country..

Thank you for reading this guys,

Off my chest and happy now

Love the lot of you
tvtech

Now 20H38 South African time.

 

[JimB]

OK so it is now 22:10 (Peterhead local time).

I think I understand your frustration/dilemma.

I notice here on ETO:

1 Badly asked questions

2 Questions asked, which when someone tries to answer, turn out to be the wrong question! What is that all about?

3 Correct answers given which are totally ignored by the OP who continues banging on his original question, I guess hoping for an answer which confirms his wrong assumptions.

4 Replies to bady asked questions which I read and think "how the hell did he reach that conclusion from the information given?"
The responder has mis-read the question and extrapolated to absurd conclusions.

For myself, I always try to provide the background to a problem, the same in real life, not just ETO.
Example, I recently had a problem with a bank account for which I am responsible.
On visiting the branch, rather than try to describe the problem straight off, I handed the bank clerk the letter which caused the problem in the first place and said "first, read this".
Then I could tell my full problem with a minimum of words, and the problem was fully understood.

Why don't people listen?
Some are just thick, some their brains are full already!

Another personal example.
I would arrive home from work at 18:00hrs, my wife would be eager to tell me about something or ask my opinion on something and I would just sit there in the chair grunting meaninless acknowledgements.
My brain just could not process it after a day at work and an hours drive home.
She finally realised that if she wanted a sensible answer from me, she should wait until 20:00 or 21:00 when my brain and body had rested, then she was likely to get a sensible answer.

Now 22:35, I think that is enough for now.

JimB

 

[picbits]

I love the posts that read :

"Dear Sir, I iz makin a circuit, plz help"

 

[KJ6EAD]

There are many bad forms of requests as you've all said but my pet peeve is not the txt spk requests or the PLZ HLP useless titles but the ones that start out all humble like with "I'm a noob" and "I don't know..." and such but then proceed to argue vigorously with any advice not confirming whatever misguided notion they've got.

This is the natural way of forums I guess.

 

[tvtech]

OK so it is now 22:10 (Peterhead local time).


Now 22:35, I think that is enough for now.

JimB

Hi Jim

You can both think and type waay faster than me online . Thanks for your input too. Great post from you.

And you nailed my frustration problems too...not necessarily on Forums...but also with people in general these days...

What is wrong with youngsters listening to old timers experience???. Old timers are experienced. They have been there, done it and succeeded or failed. And willingly want to help youngsters to prevent the same mistakes they made when they failed.

And rejoice with teaching when all is a success and all is good and people have acquired knowledge that they understand. And can only then put to good use

A little knowledge is a dangerous thing. Fools thrive in this environment. It is the haven of bullsh..ters.

Regards,
tvtech

 

[Grossel]

Before reading this first post through, I thaught that everyone must be the target.

I had to admit that I sometimes put some fun in answering as Jim's alternative 4. But, that is mostly because:
* It's terrible boring to just copy'n paste a template where OP is just asked to write a better question, given that in most cases the OP doesn't care at all.
* It will bring me closer to what the OP is really asking about if OP is comitted to solve his problem.
* It will always be someone else telling the OP to rephrase the question.

HAve fun

 

[picbits]

We haven't had the .......

"I had a brilliant idea - if I attach this motor to a generator then wire the generator to the motor .........."

post for a long time

 

[Winterstone]

What is wrong with youngsters listening to old timers experience???.
................

Yes, I am from Germany ...and my experience is exactly the same. What went wrong with our youngsters (not all, I know, but too many)?
Perhaps it should read "what went wrong with our education and our social environment" ?
(Please, excuse my bad wording. Unfortunately I cannot express myself in the english language as good as it would be necessary to describe my opinion).

It is really a pitty, but I am afraid that we - as a community of communication engineers - are not quite innocent of this situation.
Didn't we equip our 5-year old children with an own TV set? And what about "Game boy" and similar animated stuff? Didn't we educate our children to a kind of passivity?
Did they ever feel tediousness, which could create creativity? Oh no - there was always a technical "toy" for "entertainment".
Today, young people feel lost if they are not connected with "their world" via Ipod etc. over 24 hours per day.
And they consider this as absolutely important - and they transfer these "experiences" also to other regions of their life.
As quick as they can be informed about a desease of a friend they also expect technical information immediately.
The internet is full of answers! Everything is available, it only must be downloaded.
They do not realize that such a collection of mosaic pieces never can replace a good textbook.
And this attitude is reflected also in their questions. They never have learned to ask a question which contains all the background information necessary to get a substantial answer.
More than that, in many cases they think it would be OK to use these funny SMS abbreviations (4you, thx,...) also in technical forums like this one.
And as a result of this development - the technical libraries are empty (that's my experience during several years of educating engineers in a university).

All for now - I am becoming sad.
W.

 

[tvtech]

Yes, I am from Germany ...and my experience is exactly the same. What went wrong with our youngsters (not all, I know, but too many)?
Perhaps it should read "what went wrong with our education and our social environment" ?
(Please, excuse my bad wording. Unfortunately I cannot express myself in the english language as good as it would be necessary to describe my opinion).

It is really a pitty, but I am afraid that we - as a community of communication engineers - are not quite innocent of this situation.
Didn't we equip our 5-year old children with an own TV set? And what about "Game boy" and similar animated stuff? Didn't we educate our children to a kind of passivity?
Did they ever feel tediousness, which could create creativity? Oh no - there was always a technical "toy" for "entertainment".
Today, young people feel lost if they are not connected with "their world" via Ipod etc. over 24 hours per day.
And they consider this as absolutely important - and they transfer these "experiences" also to other regions of their life.
As quick as they can be informed about a desease of a friend they also expect technical information immediately.
The internet is full of answers! Everything is available, it only must be downloaded.
They do not realize that such a collection of mosaic pieces never can replace a good textbook.
And this attitude is reflected also in their questions. They never have learned to ask a question which contains all the background information necessary to get a substantial answer.
More than that, in many cases they think it would be OK to use these funny SMS abbreviations (4you, thx,...) also in technical forums like this one.
And as a result of this development - the technical libraries are empty (that's my experience during several years of educating engineers in a university).

All for now - I am becoming sad.
W.

Deep thoughts. And absolutely relevant to this discussion here

Thank you Winterstone. It is a worldwide problem that ETO might be the first to address. Seriously.

Please don't be sad....let's work on it together here at ETO and try and solve the issues. We can make a difference.

Regards,
tvtech

 

[tvtech]

My signature says it all.

ETO rocks. Period.

I chose ETO as my home. And I am not in the habit of changing homes for the fun of it. Some amazing people here. We might not always agree...but at least...we can talk about it...

You know, without fighting.. Adults and all with different opinions...but wise old Owls nevertheless...

I think, and this is my own personal take on this site........it is going to soar. ETO is well run, well Moderated and certainly has massive potential.

We are all grumpy sometimes......the best part is that members here mostly understand each other....good day, bad day and so on.

Almost like Electronics unites people....Crazy bunch are we not???

Tired hey. Lots to think about.

You folks are great.

Cheers,
tvtech

 

[BioniC187]

I also get frustrated with people hearing what they want to hear, I don't know electronics brilliantly but i do know mechanics, and its frustrating when people ask you for something, you advise them, and then go and make the exact mistake you warned them about. and this stuff about ipod and all that is too true. Everyone must have a blackberry, and be on their phones, else they feel bored? thats a joke to me, technology helps us live easier, but should never be relied upon to the point of kids screaming to play with their ps3 or xbox, and they literally feel they can do nothing without a cellphone or pc
Also in SA btw, 11:42 right now

 

[tcmtech]

its frustrating when people ask you for something, you advise them, and then go and make the exact mistake you warned them about.

In a large way that is one of the main reasons I have dropped back considerably on trying to be usefull around here.
That and getting regularily run around by half wits who will do their damnedest discredit a concept or principal that has been proven and well used for years because either they didn't think of it first or they don't really care to try and learn or understand the actual workings behind why or how something works in reality over theory.

Plus this site has a bug in it now that make the IE spell system scramble ever misspelled word so I end up spending three times as much time and effort now to make my posts come out readable. For more info on that, https://www.electro-tech-online.com/threads/editing-posts-odd-text-effects.127786/

[Mod Edit: Post edited. Please do not insult or use derogatory remarks about members or moderators.]

 

[tvtech]

Also in SA btw, 11:42 right now

Hi fellow SA person

You probably know better than most on this great Forum why I rant sometimes...gets to a person when you are surrounded by uselessness daily.
I could go on...but not here.

Stay strong and keep working harder than ever. South Africa needs us to build. And not break everything like them.

Best regards,
tvtech

 

[BioniC187]

Oh so true!

 

[Mikebits]

I'm sorry, were you saying something?

 

[tvtech]

I'm sorry, were you saying something?

Hi Mike

I was referring to the political party which is running our beautiful country into the ground.

Cheers
tvtech

 

[JimB]

I'm sorry, were you saying something?

Hi Mike
I was referring to the political party which is running our beautiful country into the ground.
Cheers
tvtech

I cannot help but think that Mike was making a joke, which you have missed, around the title of the thread.

JimB

 

[Ian Rogers]

I'm sorry, were you saying something?

I love sarcasm... Very funny

It's English humour at its best...

 

[tvtech]

I cannot help but think that Mike was making a joke, which you have missed, around the title of the thread.

JimB

LOL

Missed it completely.

I am not the sharpest knife in the cutlery box right now. My day off from work .

Cheers guys
tvtech

 

[Sceadwian]

tvtech, and winterstone, I believe I have something to share on this conversation.

Can you give your birth dates, rough year this type of thing started to bother you?

If anyone else has very closely held strong feelings of this nature they can provide the same information, the dates will determine my response based on a certain data set that I believe to be critical to understanding the question (though answer is a different story)