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How Do You Stay Upbeat Amidst the Idiocy?

Posted by ScuttleMonkey on from the keep-fighting-the-good-fight dept.

Techdirt has a wonderful summary of how hard it is sometimes to stay upbeat when faced with some of the complete idiocy that intelligent, tech-savvy readers often have to deal with in their day-to-day lives. While the frustration will probably never go away, nor will the news calling attention to it, it does seem that opening people's eyes to problems helps things move in the right direction, so keep it up. "Yes, we're in the midst of a brutal financial mess — but that won't stop innovation. Yes, incumbent forces, with short-sighted plans and a desire to hold back the tides are annoying and disruptive (not in a good way) in the short run. But even they are finding they can't hold back progress. Robert Friedel has a wonderful book called A Culture of Improvement that details how we, as a society, are constantly looking to improve on what we already have. We add ideas and ingenuity to old concepts and build something better — not because of the desire to grab some "intellectual property," but because of the desire to improve our own lot, to build a better tool that we want to use. Incumbent short-sighted players have been able to hinder and harm progress, but they can't keep it down completely. That culture of improvement can't be stopped entirely."

34 of 442 comments (clear)

  1. That's easy... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    Liquor.

    1. Re:That's easy... by dr_dank · · Score: 4, Funny

      You should try Brawndo. It's got what plants crave.

      --
      Where does the school board find them and why do they keep sending them to ME?
    2. Re:That's easy... by Valdrax · · Score: 4, Funny

      But I don't even know her!

      --
      If it's for-profit but free, you're not the customer -- you're the product (e.g., the Slashdot Beta's "audience").
  2. Stay humble by jvalenzu · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Instead of focusing on all the tech details that other folks get wrong, think of all the economic dogma and confused legal interpretations that otherwise intelligent people allow themselves to parrot.

    1. Re:Stay humble by atraintocry · · Score: 4, Insightful

      You didn't see his title then: stay humble. We all have some stupidity lurking with on. It's harder to drum up that nerd rage when we look at our own.

  3. Yeh damn tech idiocy by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Funny

    I was going to blog about this very subject today, but I couldn't get onto my Journalspace for some reason.

  4. Hmm by Highrollr · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I remember in online games, if everyone else looks like they're lagged, it's really you that has the problem. Perhaps, when everyone else looks like an idiot... well, you know.

    1. Re:Hmm by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

      I remember in online games, if everyone else looks like they're lagged, it's really you that has the problem. Perhaps, when everyone else looks like an idiot... well, you know.

      There's more wisdom in what you say than the original poster will understand.

      One of the best and most lasting ways of becoming happy is to surround oneself with people that makes you feel happy. If the people around you do not make you happy, it's not their fault. You're responsible for your own happiness. You choose them. Choose people that makes you feel happy.

    2. Re:Hmm by Fortran+IV · · Score: 5, Funny

      One of the best and most lasting ways of becoming happy is to surround oneself with people that makes you feel happy.

      And so you come to Slashdot?

      --
      I figure by 2030 or so my 6-digit UID will be something to brag about.
    3. Re:Hmm by gEvil+(beta) · · Score: 4, Insightful

      And so you come to Slashdot?

      That's what I love about Slashdot--everyone here is smarter than me!

      --
      This guy's the limit!
    4. Re:Hmm by bdh · · Score: 5, Interesting

      You've paraphrased something I've being saying for decades. Back in my university days, I was a TA. I quickly learned that if 1 or 2 of my students (in a class of 15) didn't get it, it was them. If 12 or 13 didn't get it, then it was me. It meant I hadn't explained it properly, or I'd made a false assumption about what they knew.

      The other important thing is that even when it was one student who didn't get it, it didn't mean that the student was an idiot. It often meant he or she simply marched to a different drummer. I had one student pass by the skin of her teeth, and even that was only after considerable tutoring. But that same student went on to get a PhD in a totally different discipline. There's a difference between being a fool and being a fish out of water.

      Unfortunately, far too many people take an attitude of "if you don't know what I know, you're an idiot". I know quite a number of people who are constantly stressed out, because they expect anyone and everyone to be fully up to speed on everything that they are interested in. Engineers seem to be particularly susceptible to this, because unlike writers, musicians, or artists, we deal with deterministic systems. We design, build, and fix things so that they are reliably predictable. But people aren't reliably predictable, and expecting them to be is going to stress you out.

      I've seen people get bitterly angry because someone didn't know the difference between an AMD processor and an Intel one. I know one person who, when a co-worker on a project casually asked why Linux would be a better choice than Windows, got so angry his hands were physically trembling with rage, and he had to walk out of the room, because "otherwise I'd have to punch that stupid bastard in the face for such a retarded question". I know one person who has exploded in a rage in a restaurant, because the waitress brought his sandwich on the wrong type of bread.

      Not surprisingly, two of the people I know like this have already had heart attacks.

      The problem with stress like this isn't that there are foolish or annoying questions about. Of course there are. Always have been, always will be. The problem is how seriously you take it. If you treat foolish questions as personal insults, if you expect everyone to have your level of expertise in your field, then you're going to be stressed out. Let's face it; if you get angry about bread, the problem isn't with the bread.

      If a discussion of bracing styles forces you to leave the room because you're going to hit someone, you're either wound too tight, or you're in the wrong profession. Possibly both.

      Sit back, take a break, and wonder why it is that you're always so angry about everything, when everyone else seems to take it in stride. And if you come to the conclusion that "that's because everyone is stupid and I'm not", resign yourself to be miserable and angry for the rest of your life, cause life isn't going to change any time soon.

  5. Idiots are everywhere by sincewhen · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Here's a clue... You encounter idiots everywhere in life. Sometimes they are just caught off guard, sometimes they are having a bad day, sometimes they are outside their domain of expertise, and sometimes they are simply a waste of space.

    You have to find the patience within yourself to get on with your life, accepting that there are some things you can't change.

    But getting angry or depressed about it certainly won't help.

    --
    -- Braden's law of data: All data spends some of its lifetime in an excel spreadsheet.
    1. Re:Idiots are everywhere by GiovanniZero · · Score: 5, Insightful

      I think the hardest thing about being "The Computer Guy" is that people stop taking the time to think through problems themselves and just ask you. That ends up making their questions stupid because they no longer need to think about problems.

      --
      Mod me up, mod me down, do your worst you modding clown.
    2. Re:Idiots are everywhere by popmaker · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Or maybe they're out of their expertise. Really, should everyone be thinking computer-related problems through when they can ask the experts? There are a lot of problems related, for example, to finance, that I'd rather have my bank doing. I don't see them frowning on me for not knowing something I asked them.

      We each have a finite amount of time for solving problems, and a finite number of abilities, each of which is at least somewhat specialised.

      No one can be good at everything. And calling somebody an idiot for not being good at what YOU do is simply not fair.

  6. I might be one of them. by Samschnooks · · Score: 5, Insightful

    But getting angry or depressed about it certainly won't help.

    I prefer pathological apathy - I'm working towards just not giving a shit anymore. There's nothing I can do about much of anything: I'm just an average and sometimes below average peon with no power. I might even be one of those idiots, so I guess it's a good thing that I can't do much.

  7. Frustration? by geek · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I used to get frustrated a lot. That was before I grew up and realized not everyone follows the same life path I do.

    Dumb questions do exist. I laugh when people say "there are no dumb questions" and I laugh even harder when people say "the only dumb question is the one not asked." In all honesty, both are wrong but I have learned that the only dumb question is the one asked repeatedly. If I have to explain something to someone twice, i figure "ok they just forgot, happens to me too." But if I have to tell someone, or explain something to someone over and over and over, then it's a dumb question asked by a dumb person. However, with that said, feeling frustrated doesn't help. Just walk away, don't help them, don't explain. Tell them to figure it out and stop wasting your time. If this is on the job, tell their manager and get them replaced for incompetence.

    It isn't worth getting frustrated and angry. Your emotions are your responsibility. A wise man once told me, "10% of life is what happens to you, the other 90% is how you deal with it."

    1. Re:Frustration? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

      But if I have to tell someone, or explain something to someone over and over and over, then it's a dumb question asked by a dumb person.

      How do you know you aren't just giving out stupid answers?

    2. Re:Frustration? by slash.duncan · · Score: 4, Insightful

      You sound like me, but formed from different life experiences. =:^)

      I don't worry so much about questions, perhaps because I've become /used/ to dealing with people asking them, but do get bothered when I see someone say "I had no choice", because in reality, that's choosing to be a passive victim, not an active overcomer. Unfortunately, I've been there.

      I was a (repeat) victim of abuse earlier in life. That's how I learned about victim syndrome, failing to appreciate the choices one has, continually reevaluate personal priorities in the light of changing reality, and assertively choose and act on your choices based on that, the hard way. The victim /lets/ life happen to him, and often believes /himself/ that he "has no choice", because he's /chosen/ to be passive, to /be/ a victim. The overcomer may in fact have many of the same terrible calamities happen, but actively evaluates his options and dynamically responds accordingly, reevaluating and adjusting as he goes, choosing NOT to allow himself to remain forever a victim, but to overcome it and use it to his advantage.

      The victim chooses to let life happen to him. The overcomer forces life to let him "happen" to it.

      That was a hard lesson to learn, and those events will forever remain a part of me, but having learned it, I've now taken advantage of them, and don't believe I'd remove them even if I could, because then I'd not be "me", but someone else.

      10% fate, 90% what you choose to do with it or how you react to it, indeed!

      --
      Duncan
      "Every nonfree program has a lord, a master,
      and if you use the program, he is your master."
      R Stallman
  8. Charitable contributions by Man+On+Pink+Corner · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I find that it's easier to avoid taking other peoples' idiocy to heart when I can pay various non-profit organizations to deal with it on my behalf. Some recent favorites include:

    The ever-present EFF
    The Freedom from Religion Foundation
    The American Library Association
    The Wikimedia Foundation
    The Nevada chapter of the ACLU (which is explicitly pro-Second Amendment, unlike the national body)

    There are plenty of other worthy causes; those are just the ones on my list this year. Think about it this way: the God-botherers contribute a full 10% of their income, pre-tax, to try to drag civilization back into the Middle Ages. What's the best you can do?

    1. Re:Charitable contributions by MikeRT · · Score: 5, Informative

      There are plenty of other worthy causes; those are just the ones on my list this year. Think about it this way: the God-botherers contribute a full 10% of their income, pre-tax, to try to drag civilization back into the Middle Ages. What's the best you can do?

      Those same God botherers have been shown in study after study to be far quicker to give a large percentage of their income to charities that directly reach out to the poor and down-trodden than their secular counterparts. Even some atheists have admitted that Christianity is doing wonders in Africa at changing the hearts of millions and bringing them to a point where they can build peaceful, stable societies.

    2. Re:Charitable contributions by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

      "Christianity is doing wonders in Africa at changing the hearts of millions and bringing them to a point where they can build peaceful, stable societies."

      Christianity is doing wonders in Africa at changing the hearts of millions and bringing them to a point where they can contribute 10% of their income.

      Fixed it for you

    3. Re:Charitable contributions by sincewhen · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Christianity is doing wonders in Africa at changing the hearts of millions and bringing them to a point where they can build peaceful, stable societies.

      You say "Christianity" I would say "Good people working together under the banner of Christanity."

      The problem I have with such missionary work is the expectation (if not explicit requirement) that the recipients convert to Christianity.

      --
      -- Braden's law of data: All data spends some of its lifetime in an excel spreadsheet.
  9. Keep it in perspective by Concerned+Onlooker · · Score: 4, Insightful

    The easiest way to stay upbeat is to remember that you, too, are an idiot. Everyone is an idiot from time to time. When you see idiocy in others that is the time to take an even closer look at yourself to see what lacunae reside in your own thinking.

    --
    http://www.rootstrikers.org/
  10. Well personally.... by st0rmshad0w · · Score: 4, Informative

    I've found a combination of liquor followed by swift and blinding violence generally works for me.

  11. Thank you for admiting it by coryking · · Score: 4, Funny

    Everybody on Slashdot has far less brain power then me. I'm sure if you ask anybody else, they would agree that they too are smarter then the rest of Slashdot. Why do you think we all post here? We are all smarter then everybody else here. We merely exist to point out how much of an idiot people not like us are.

    If you point out that *I'm* and idiot, you are wrong because remember I'm the smartest Slashdot poster here. The point of contention then becomes the fact that you cannot have two "Smartest Slashdot Posters" and so we debate.

    However, since everybody but me is an idiot, they lack the mental ability to understand how smart I truly am. This thought, that I alone am the only Smart Person On Earth, makes me depressed. However, I'm no idiot like the author of this "Ask Slashdot". Smart people dont "Ask" questions--they already know the answers. Questions are for clueless sheep.

    Obviously I do have the answer to the "question", but only an idiot would give it--it would reward asking questions and thus reward not knowing things. Never answer questions, people should learn on their own. Any Smart Slashdot Poster knows this.

    1. Re:Thank you for admiting it by OnlySlightly · · Score: 4, Funny

      You, sir, are an idiot.

    2. Re:Thank you for admiting it by KillerBob · · Score: 5, Funny

      Everybody on Slashdot has far less brain power then me.

      I don't know if I should laugh or cry at that line....

      --
      If you believe everything you read, you'd better not read. - Japanese proverb
  12. You can care by coryking · · Score: 4, Insightful

    But I think the secret to "caring" is to pull yourself out of yourself, so to speak. Stop worrying about your existence and thing about how we as a society are evolving.

    You are but a small twig on a mighty river. You might be able to paddle around a little bit. You can always choose which twigs you want float next to. You can always choose how you want to react to wherever the river takes you. But ultimately, you cannot control the path the river takes through the universe.

    To put it more succinctly:

    Lord grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.

  13. Nonsense by coryking · · Score: 5, Funny

    I took freshman economics in college. I've studied differential equations (which those business weenies never had to). I've written in assembler. Economics *has* to be easy, those guys never had to study calculus based physics! Same with marketing--those guys never studied assembler like I did, so how hard could their profession be!? I mean, just show the clients a plain text file that highlights which features in our product are better, and which are not and let the client decide!

    Word to the wise, if your girlfriend or wife is a nurse and you claim that your engineering degree was harder then their nursing degree because they never took calculus, be prepared to spend the night on the couch. Just a tip.

    Still, my $TYPE engineering degree makes me more then qualified to do any profession. Why, with a few books from the library and maybe a couple Google searches I could probably give your friend that kidney transplant they need. How hard could it be anyway, those overpaid doctors never had to work with Laplace transforms!

    1. Re:Nonsense by bsDaemon · · Score: 4, Funny

      Well, we all know Vets are smarter than people doctors -- after all, the dog can't tell the doctor where it hurts.

    2. Re:Nonsense by Dun+Malg · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Word to the wise, if your girlfriend or wife is a nurse and you claim that your engineering degree was harder then their nursing degree because they never took calculus, be prepared to spend the night on the couch. Just a tip.

      Still, my $TYPE engineering degree makes me more then qualified to do any profession. Why, with a few books from the library and maybe a couple Google searches I could probably give your friend that kidney transplant they need. How hard could it be anyway, those overpaid doctors never had to work with Laplace transforms!

      Well, there is something to what you say. Having worked both in an engineering capacity and as a skilled tradesman, I've noticed that there is a distinct difference between between the two. Doctors and nurses are skilled tradespeople, like highly trained auto mechanics. No one is ever going to ask a doctor to design a better human being, any more than anyone is going to ask an auto mechanic to design a better car. This is not to say that it's easy to be able to instantly recognize the symptoms of disease (x), or the bad interaction of drugs (y) and (z); just that it's not a particularly creative field of endeavor. Engineering and the hard sciences (including programming) are less about being able to instantly reference huge volumes of memorized information, and more about taking a small amount of basic knowledge and putting it together in new ways.

      --
      If a job's not worth doing, it's not worth doing right.
    3. Re:Nonsense by The+Grim+Reefer2 · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Well, we all know Vets are smarter than people doctors -- after all, the dog can't tell the doctor where it hurts.

      Actually it's more than that. They also have to deal with the anatomy of more than just one species.

  14. only an idiot would say that by coryking · · Score: 4, Funny

    If you really were the Smartest Poster On Slashdot, you'd be smart enough to know that in fact I was actually the Smartest Poster On Slashdot. Only I am smart enough to know that I am the Smartest Poster On Slashdot.

  15. You must be very smart. by coryking · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Surely since you are an IT professional, you can talk to me about the advances in GPUs. Which shader programming language is the best?

    I bet you love when people ask you, "The computer guy" what you think about some computer topic you know nothing about. Obviously since you know about computers, you can help them install the game their kid downloaded for their RAZR, right?

    You know what I hate more then what you hate? When people try to pretend they know about my profession more then I do. People who know just enough buzzwords of whatever I do that they have fooled themselves into thinking they know stuff I dont. And I dont know much, trust me.

    But I dont really hate those kind of people. I just pity those people and hope someday they learn that they dont know nearly as much as they think they do.

    I dont know a fucking thing about how to design an embedded software application, but I'm a computer guy. I dont know how to program for mainframes, but I'm a computer guy. I dont know (but I'm trying to learn) graphics programming, but I'm a computer guy. Should I, a "computer guy" know about all these topics in great detail?

    The world is a big place. Maybe being a "metal guy" means more then just knowing about whatever steel type you read in a magazine? Maybe being an English teacher means knowing more then just "basic grammar rules" you read on "grammar-nazi.com". Maybe being a nurse means a fucking bit more then just knowing details about medications (hint, that is the doctors job, not the nurse, but obviously you know more about nursing then a nurse, so you knew that, right?). Maybe being a doctor means knowing more then just modern smoking complications?

    The world is a big place. Bigger, maybe, then you can comprehend. It pays to be humble. Being a wise-ass know-it-all will just get you nowhere in life.