Why I ask "stupid " questions... - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / general

author: Beamin
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 20, 2017, 10:34:24 pm
content: Since I really like posting on this board I will be honest with you guys. Often I ask question where it seems like you have already given me the answer it seems like I am being lazy and not thinking for myself and wasting others time instead of putting in the effort. I suffer from seizure disorder. If you have ever had one you know what its like. For those of you who don't its like having your brain reset and you forget everything and have no clue it ever existed. Some times when they are quite sever when I come out of the seizure I don't even know what year it is or what state I'm living in and anything that happened that date is completely wiped out from my mind like the day just skips although you don't have the feeling of losing any time. Its like you blink and its a day or two later. Every time I have one it gives me a little bit of brain damage and its starting to erase almost all the memories of my childhood. I don't even remember being the best man at my brothers wedding and he had to tell me about it. I can remember almost nothing about what it was like growing up. So I apologize but posting on the forum gives me time and date stamps and "restore" points where I can pick up where I left off and relearn things. For instance I can remember almost nothing about getting my ham license when I was in my early 20's; and I was very smart for my age. Now I have to relearn almost all that stuff hoping that another seizure doesn't come by and erase almost every thing again. So I am sorry for wasting peoples time but without resources like this I would be completely lost in all the things I am passionate about.

author: frog
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: October 20, 2017, 11:31:45 pm
content: I don't believe there is such a thing as a stupid question. From a community point of view, if you don't know something then it's very likely that a bunch of other people don't know it either.

author: GreyWoolfe
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: October 21, 2017, 12:56:19 am
content: I understand. A number of years ago a co worker suffered a grand mal seizure. His wife had to drive him around in the company van so he could run service calls for a whole year before he was released to drive again. Since then, he has had the blink and reset syndrome. I have grown used to answering the same questions every other month. I just smile inside and help him out. He writes the information in little pocket notebooks but ends up losing them and starting over.

author: Rerouter
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 21, 2017, 06:37:01 am
content: There is a difference between a stupid question, and the same question 10 times over, but a little background helps clear that up.Most of the stuff i have learned over the years has come from stupid questions, questions worded without the knowledge or the industry wording posted on obscure forums over the inter webs, where being new to a subject I end up asking the same question to my search engine and it pops up with the smart answer to a dumb question.I certainly don't have seizures, but most of my memory is situational, e.g. Until I have enough context about what i was doing, or where i was when I learnt something, Its lost to me. I've frustrated countless people when they ask me about something that happened 3 months ago, and 30 minutes later my subconscious pops up with the answer, and they have half forgotten why they asked at the time.My personal worst is when something is very similar to another, and I cannot easily pry them apart, e.g. 2 customers walk in with the same device over 2 weeks,To beat my flaw, I've become the companies Technical writer, and maintain a fitting sheet / task library, so if i ever struggle i can pull it up, get enough context and carry on,

author: b_force
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 21, 2017, 09:00:06 am
content: Sorry to hear about your issue!Not able to remember things must be pretty tough and sad sometimes. Really all the best with that, and it's very much appreciated that you pointed it out for us!

author: Zero999
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 21, 2017, 09:59:40 am
content: Sorry to hear about your medical condition. I don't have the best memory and I don't have anything like that.To be honest, it's not those sorts of questions you asked which frustrated me, but when you pretend to be clueless, then reveal you knew it all along, like you did in the PCB thread, linked below. In future please be honest if you know before you ask a question. It's fine to ask a question, you already know the answer to, if you're confirming your answer is correct, but please be honest about it from the start. People here are not trying to trick you. There's no need for games.https://www.eevblog.com/forum/beginners/want-to-start-making-my-own-circuit-board-where-to-start/msg1287542/#msg1287542

author: janoc
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 21, 2017, 10:21:20 am
content: Quote from: Hero999 on October 21, 2017, 09:59:40 amThis. The same in the recently resurrected thread about the "free energy/snakeoil" generator. I am sorry for your condition, Beamin. I can well understand that some things can be difficult because of it but the answers you were looking for were right there in front of you, in the same thread. And then you proceeded with something I can hardly describe otherwise than outright trolling (the nonsense about engineers being "linear thinkers", etc.)That is what makes people angry, not the fact that you are asking questions. I used to tell my students that the only stupid question is the one not asked - it is better to look stupid for 10 minutes until you learn the answer than to remain stupid/ignorant forever because you have never asked. However, kicking people in the teeth by trolling them is not going to get you any favors.

author: Beamin
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 21, 2017, 12:40:06 pm
content: Quote from: janoc on October 21, 2017, 10:21:20 amI was quoting the CEO of ubeam when I said linear thinkers. OF course engineers are not linear thinkers. They are the opposite; it takes creativity to solve problems. I don't see how I was "trolling" in that other thread with snake oil. I was pointing out the absurdity through sarcasm. I wasn't looking for any answers in that thread. I was asking: "What would this person say if they were responding to the thread TODAY."

author: DTJ
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 21, 2017, 12:45:01 pm
content: More than once I've gone searching for tech information only to find a post on a forum that I myself wrote some years earlier asking for help.It's a little unsettling how often it happens!

author: Beamin
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 21, 2017, 12:57:51 pm
content: Quote from: DTJ on October 21, 2017, 12:45:01 pmAnd when you read it you think wow I have the same thing or same problem or that's a really good idea.

author: DTJ
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 22, 2017, 03:45:06 am
content: Quote from: Beamin on October 21, 2017, 12:57:51 pmYep.I think "wow this is exactly the question I'm looking for information on", followed shortly by "Oh, this is my question from last time...."

author: nanofrog
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 22, 2017, 05:51:25 am
content: Quote from: Beamin on October 20, 2017, 10:34:24 pmUnfortunately, I've Epilepsy and have some idea what you're dealing with.FWIW, I do get a slight warning though most of the time; Dr.'s call it an aura, but for me I liken it to having prisms embedded in my eyes (see light as an optical spectrum).But unlike you, I do end up with a lost sense of time; not immediately though. I tend to notice things like it's dark out when the last thing I could remember was it was daylight outside. Or notice a clock at some point. Fortunately I haven't ended up with brain damage from it thus far, and I've had this since early childhood (I've some brain damage, but that's from a couple of near fatal accidents that put me in a coma each instance).I do know what a gran mal seizure is though, as a younger family had them frequently. And eventually, the brain damage killed him at the age of 17 (it's additive as I understand it).

author: janoc
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 22, 2017, 10:53:27 am
content: Quote from: Beamin on October 21, 2017, 12:40:06 pmWell, you didn't really quote her, you have stated it as a fact. It was me who has brought up the possibility of you quoting her because that bullshit statement was pretty much her trademark. And even if, why did you quote that nonsense, when, in fact, you knew it was incorrect? What were you hoping to achieve by that?If it was sarcasm, it seriously did get lost in that.

author: tggzzz
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 22, 2017, 11:03:20 am
content: Quote from: janoc on October 21, 2017, 10:21:20 amI agree wholeheartedly with both those poster's sentiments.I will also, with some regret, notehttps://www.eevblog.com/forum/testgear/how-to-read-the-calibration-(and-other)signal(s)-on-tek-3465/msg1326789/#msg1326789I hope it will prove possible for the OP to find a way to not forget the helpful guidance several people have given on this forum.

author: Beamin
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 22, 2017, 02:17:03 pm
content: Quote from: tggzzz on October 22, 2017, 11:03:20 amI don't play games. Games are a waste of time. If you think I'm playing games you need to reread the post and keep in mind what I said in this thread. It should make sense when you know the background and the context. My point is to think deeper then just what appears on the surface think about why the question is being asked and that the answer I'm seeking is not just a straight forward yes no question but rather the supporting details that I may not have thought of. I consider wrong answers just as important as correct ones because you can learn what *not to do. People often ask me "Why are you asking him he's and idiot and failed at what he was supposed to do" But by listening to them I can figure out exactly where they went wrong and learn from their mistake and figure out why they would choose to make that decision.

author: tggzzz
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 22, 2017, 02:22:04 pm
content: Quote from: Beamin on October 22, 2017, 02:17:03 pmGiven the context in this thread, that seems true. I applaud you for your openness and honesty; it does you credit.However, unless someone knows that context, itlooks and feelslike "playing games".Hence I hope you can find some way to not forget that.

author: Beamin
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 22, 2017, 02:47:42 pm
content: Quote from: tggzzz on October 22, 2017, 02:22:04 pmOne of the reason I felt compelled to talk about this subject which I normally don't like to was not to lose the valuable responses I get from experienced people like yourself. I know there are some people on this board who have come and went who I would describe as "I know a little about something but I think I know everything and its easy, so there fore I am right and can't handle the criticism of being wrong" These are the people who are afraid to say "I don't know" and instead will give you some bullshit wrong answer and when you point out their mistakes they say "I never said that" then when you quote them they say "You are quoting out of context" or a myriad of excuses because they can't bring themselves to mutter the phrase "I don't know or I was wrong". These people I would call idiots because they are willfully ignorant. People who read half a Wikipedia article and claim to be an authority on the subject. The first step in mastering a subject is learning how vast it is and realizing that you know almost nothing about it. A good example would be the payphone mp3 player thread where someone kept telling the OP how easy it was going be and how they could do this really complicated thing in "a few minutes". They did a great disservice to the OP by not setting realistic expectations and how much knowledge and time they are going to spend. All because they think they know everything. They even tried to tell me that I was wrong and it greatly irritated me to insult the two plus years and hundreds of hours I have spent learning this subject when they in reality have probably never even built a simple transistor blinking LED circuit without just coping a schematic or even own a bread board. The internet is full of people like this. Go in instructables and look up 2.4 gighertz wifi antenna. One post has great details of every step except for the most important part: matching impedance and making sure the feed cable doesn't become part of the antenna. Or every 20 yr old kid who buys a SDR dongle reads half the wiki article then tries to make a youtube video saying they "hacked it" not even realizing the dongle can't even transmit.I don't really care what the internet thinks of me but I certainly don't want to be classified as one of these idiots.

author: nanofrog
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 22, 2017, 10:20:07 pm
content: Quote from: Beamin on October 22, 2017, 02:47:42 pmFWIW, I don't see you in this light at all. Seizures are serious business IME.Had one in a hospital and freaked a previous GP Dr. out (was in there for acute kidney and liver failure due to multiple NSAID's and cholesterol medications he'd put me on). He then sent me to a neurologist, who confirmed I have Epilepsy (EEG test, and the strobe light put me in a seizure while I was wired up).

author: Beamin
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 23, 2017, 01:51:08 am
content: Quote from: nanofrog on October 22, 2017, 10:20:07 pmYou wont be doing the timing on an old car distributor cap any time soon. Some times the scope can make those flashing lights.

author: nanofrog
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 23, 2017, 09:51:20 am
content: Quote from: Beamin on October 23, 2017, 01:51:08 amSeriously though, I use a DMM for that, not a timing light.

author: onesixright
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: October 23, 2017, 01:28:44 pm
content: Thanks for the background, it doesn't hurt to knowAnd I learned another thing (never knew that such condition existed).People are often very judgemental :-/ I wish you well and for a long period without reset!There is no need to ask anything, since all the answer (well most) are already to be found on the InterwebsOf courses a joke, its often hard to find the right answer, because looking it up means you need to use -most of the time- same or similar keywords as the posted would have used (or OP asked). So if your phrasing stuff different, big change you wont find it. And some answer needs updating....IMHO no biggie!