Last night I was talking to someone who is an absolute music know-it-all. She knows everything about music. While talking to her my ignorance of music became quite apparent - I know nothing about it. So what did she do? She started yelling and screaming at me about how I should be an expert in it “just because” and learn everything about modern bands and music, but didn’t give me a single good reason to learn about it nor did she help me learn about it by recommending any resources.
This situation reminded me of something that happened about five years ago. I was only about 13 at the time - but I remember it like it happened yesterday.
We all know some people are a bit… “uneducated” when it comes to the Internet and computer security. Those people are the reason those Nigerian spammers keep on spamming. About 5 years ago one of those “uneducated” users e-mailed me out of the blue and asked for help setting up his site’s control panel. The odd thing is his passwords were included in it.
Now, I’ve seen people do weird things on their computers. Heck, I once got an e-mail from someone who took apart a floppy disk and stuck the actual disk in his slot loading CD drive. The guy who sent the password easily tops even that. Not only was his control panel password included, but he also sent the password for his billing account on his host, his e-mail password, and some more interesting info.
This was the first time I had any real experience with a computer user who didn’t know anything about security. To me that sort of concept was common sense - and it has always been common sense since I was first introduced to the Internet (good ol’ AOL dial up). I always figured people know to keep their social security numbers secret, so they should know that they need to keep their passwords safe and not randomly e-mail them to perfect strangers.
Anyway, long story short, I helped the guy fix his control panel problem, and then went above and beyond and briefly explained computer security to him. It didn’t take long either - only a few minutes. In fact, I spent less time teaching him the basics of computer security than that girl spent yelling at me about music.
By now you are probably wondering “Ok… a snot yelled at you and a foolish user e-mailed you and you helped them… what’s the point?” - my point is this - not everyone is as smart as you. All of us are good at something - and unfortunately we might sometimes forget that not everyone is an expert in that topic. Some people don’t know how to boil an egg, some people don’t know how to pump their own gas, some people don’t know that they should keep their passwords safe, and heck, there’s people like me who know nothing about music.
Why it is some people (like that girl) are so mean, I will never understand. The amount of time she spent ranting and raving about my ignorance of music she could have recommended a resource to help me understand it better.
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December 5th, 2007 at 2:45 pm
Some people feel inferior and think they are better than others. They usually don’t have that many friends because people can’t stand to be talked down to all the time.
You’re point is also true when helping out the young ones with their homework. Even though you already know what their being taught, they’re just learning it. So patience is a big deal so you don’t loose your temper.
My brother didn’t have any patience, so I was the one who stepped in to help my nephew out with the homework. I couldn’t sit there and watch the brother get angry because the little guy didn’t understand something.
A guiding hand is a lot better than ridicule. If everybody followed that example, the world might be a lot smarter.
But that’s just my opinion, and you’re entitled to it.
And knowing is just half the battle. ( I just had to add that in too
)
December 5th, 2007 at 8:24 pm
Indeed. Not only would the world be smarter - but everyone would be happier, healthier, and would get along a bit better.
December 6th, 2007 at 11:45 pm
I’d have never been able to work in a call center if I had assumed that everybody else was as smart as me!
I find that I’m a lot happier expecting people to be much less smart than others expect. That’s because when they actually do demonstrate a glimmer of cognizance,you can feel great, as you’re not disappointed in them at all.
December 7th, 2007 at 1:08 am
Hehe, I can see it now:
“Thank you for calling blah tech support, how may I help you?”
“Yeah… my computer popped up with that annoying “windows could not boot, press any key” message, so I pushed a key and nothing happened.”
“Yeah, well you see, there isn’t an any… wait a second… you actually know what “any key” means?!?! Holy crap!”
December 7th, 2007 at 10:59 am
I recently read a post in which the blogger attempted to teach some Photoshop skills but omitted all basic information as though everybody knows where to start!
Wear my shoes, I say!
December 7th, 2007 at 3:53 pm
I agree pelf - that seems to be something many tutorial bloggers do. At least they should provide links to some beginner tutorials on the sidebar.