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Originally Posted by
Minde
I also like it when people make things simple, not complicated.
So the best answers to this question is probably Joy's:
Thanks. (: Generally when people ask me questions like that, I try to get an idea of what they're looking for and then give them an answer in a format that is useful to them. I try to give a relatively concise answer, then wait for a them to ask a question or comment so I know which points they want me to expand on or clarify or what they're trying to accomplish.
Usually once it seems I've answered they're question I'll throw in an idea or opinion I have on the matter. I'll say something like "Now, my stance/opinion/thoughts on the matter are *insert short rant here*, but that's just me."
(That said, if it's a subject I have a lot of interest in, sometimes it's difficult not to talk too much and give them more information than they need, but generally I try to avoid bogging them down with a lot of information or explanation right away because saying too much is more confusing than not saying anything at all. If I do get carried away, I'll try to sum up the general ideas and most important points in a clear way at the end.)
Nice, short, to the point, says what what's supposed to happen, a little bit of why, and some more of what actually happens.
If I was interested in the subject I'd probably ask Joy more, not necessarily because she knows a whole lot more than several others who posted, but because she's easiest to understand.
Yeah, I didn't think you were asking because you had an interest in getting a text book explanation or reading an essay on the matter.
Although, being easy to understand,
I can see better if she's right or making sense, and in this case she doesn't sound too uninformed.
Thank you, I very much appreciate that.
There aren't many subjects that I claim to be anything even close to an expert on, so it's annoying when people assume that everything I say should be 100% complete and accurate. All I'm doing is taking whatever I've heard/read on the matter and putting it into a format which I think would be useful to them. That's why I generally try to give them some idea of how much (or how little) I've heard/read/experienced on the subject and how reliable my sources are. I want to give them some idea of how useful what I'm telling them is likely to be.
The reason I don't give some people the explanations they ask for here is because I know that they won't take my answers the way you do. When I give people information or explanations on things, I want them to think of me only as one of many possible sources and expect me to be wrong sometimes. And when I
am wrong, I don't think it's reasonable to for someone to take offense, act as if a crime has been committed, or conclude that
none of the information or explanations I give should
ever be taken into consideration... things which unfortunately seem to happen around here sometimes.
Actually, her reply
was a little lacking. I could have done with more.
Funny thing is, I actually had written more, but I removed it because I didn't want to be part of a debate on the matter. (There are clearly people here who have more interest in and knowledge about this subject than I do.) And because:
But, then again, if I want to know more I could just ask, choosing from what she said which direction to take. So I guess say only a little initially is best, because it gives me a choice of whether or not I'm interested enough to continue.
That's exactly what my thoughts on the matter were. "If she wants to know more, she'll ask. I'm not even sure where she wants to go with this. I think she probably just wanted examples of different types of answers."