Re: Why no SSCCEs?

On 29 Sep 2005 17:28:13 +0200, Tor Iver Wilhelmsen
<jadedgamer@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote or quoted :

>But one of the reasons for telling people to write a SSCCE is that
>when they do, they are more likely to discover the answer to their
>question themselves. That is also valuable.

Obviously people won't in general write SSCCEs except those preparing
to a submit a bug to Sun. So I think the key may be to back off to a
less onerous request -- just to see some code. If the person feels
attacked, or likely to be a attacked, they won't give it. Since so
few people seem willing to post code, I assume most feel threatened.

I don't think of myself as scary. In person, even though I get more
respect than I do on the net, I can't think of anyone who acts at all
intimidated. I love newbies. I remember my own excitement at
discovering computers, and though it is not quite the novelty now it
was for me, I can feel their thrill of discovery and accomplishment by
proxy.

I think to myself. This newbie could be the next Bill Joy.

I sometimes wonder why some people hang out in a newbie newsgroup if
they don't enjoy helping newbies. I think some are here to haze fairly
defenseless victims.

The newbies I consciously take strip off are the ones who have a
overly strong sense of entitlement -- that the universe owes them an
answer to their question, a precise spoon size feeding, no more, no
less than desired. They chastise answerers trying to help for
misinterpreting their vaguely formulated questions.

The others I am deliberately unkind to are the ones who play helpless,
and put no effort at all into anything other that badgering others to
do their assignments for them. This is SUCH a futile exercise for both
student and helper. Why spend all that time and money then subvert
the education process? They should have spend the dough on a trip
around the world.

Oddly, I don't mind the really dense ones. If they are willing to keep
plugging, so am I. They are all geniuses compared with the customers I
have had over the years. I have seen time and time again how a slow
student needs intensive care, then suddenly they catch fire and are
off on their own dazzling everyone. I remember one time tutoring a D
student in ionic chemistry. Eventually he GOT it, and aced the exam,
getting the top mark in the grade. The school made him re-write
the exam under supervision because they could not believe the change.
Stupid people are primarily discouraged people who have given up
trying because others have beaten them into thinking they can't make
it.


--
Canadian Mind Products, Roedy Green.
http://mindprod.com Again taking new Java programming contracts.
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