Why you always gotta bust my balls?

dinosnopro

Why?

Because I know you really want to help and I want your help, just not your debates. They are confusing and annoying.


This is a very general statement and is directed at the "experts" on all threads.

I am always making bets with myself on which page you guys are going to start going back and forth with scientific explanations off topic. 4 pages later you guys figure out you have either lost interest, or you are on the same page and the debate was pointless.

Sound familiar?

You guys know a lot. I mean, you have done a lot of research and I think that is great, but do you think the best place to debate is on a thread requesting help about diet and exercise?

I think it is really great that you have taken the time to educate yourself on things that effect weight loss. One thing I would suggest is to move to a PM if you disagree with someone on a thread and it requires a scientific explanation. Not many people understand what you are talking about and why it is important. The other this is, if you want to go off subject then post your own thread.

Seeing you prove yourself right is not helping the situation. I am not going to believe that the best thing to do is to eat like a starving child in africa and turn into a cardio bunny. I am not stupid, I promise. If someone tells me to do something stupid I will simply ignore them and move on to the next post. Because I have common sense, and most people do.

I know you guys just want to help by sharing your knowledge, but for the OP and interested readers, lets stay on topic and make sure you are speaking at an entry level. Why, well because most of us are on here hoping that the guy who made this website is right and we aren't going to fail.

We need your help, we need your advice. You don't have to speak in jargon, or prove to us that you are smarter than the other guy.

If give advice and encouragement then you have done your job :-)

Thanks guys!!

nixirain

I had to do weeks of research to figure out what people were talking about.

Sounds like you should be thanking the science posters for motivating you to get your learn on!

I am smart and do that, most people are not. I want to help people, not prove how smart I am on a internet forum. I want help people on there journey.

It's kind of funny because it is usually men going back and forth and it isn't relevant. I dont dislike the topics, I just think they need to post their own topic if they are going to go off topic.

Staying on topic is a fair request. Just couldn't resist "busting your balls" haha

Fair enough

I guess I just got so annoyed the other day when I was reading replys and I saw s stupid one. The happen on every thread, I know but come on! Sometimes people have no common sense! I made a bet with myself there was going to be a reply within atleast 2 pages. You gotta count on the people that don't read any replys before posting and say the same thing, ya know. And there it was a challenge! I love the challenges! There were 2 or 3 people (probably a few of you that posted I am wrong over here) that posted a logical argument to the stupid one. Good stuff. Then comes the guy that finds 1 little thing to argue about the logical reply (usually a wording problem. I see this, but that poster doesnt) Then there are 4 pages that we have to sift through to get back on topic. It is just Douchy. It's not many, if any of you guy's. It's THAT GUY. And I just think if you want to cater to THAT GUY. It would be better to do that in a PM. I posted the same thing in one of the posts it was happening in.

Like I said before. I know this will not change anything, Knowledge is power and if you know you are effecting people in a negative way, maybe you will think twice before you have an "react" reply on a post from someone that really needs your help and knowledge.

JennieAL

So you are looking for platitudes, duly noted

No. I urge you to know your audience. Make sure they can understand what you are talking about and benefit from what you are saying.

It is pretty simple. I appreciate your reply. :-)I think it helped a few people.

So, dumb things down? Spoon feed?

.

If you are trying to help someone who is starting out? Yes. That's just common sense.

That keeps them blissfully ignorant, imo. If people aren't willing to hold onto a thought for a little while it's just pure laziness. And it's probably the same attitude that got them fat in the first place.

People who are ignorant of ANY subject, including nutrition & fitness, and who show some sort of interest or willingness to learn, should not be spoon fed info. Give people more credit than that!

JadeRabbit08

:bigsmile: i was thining last night ...where is the love on these forums

i think you are correct in saying that if 2 people get into a debate on a topic ...they should move to a private message
it makes the forums tiring and full of clutter that others don't need/or want to see:huh:

there ...said my peace

Good point. That way nobody will ever be forced to challenge their misconceptions, and we'll have much more room for "Does this count as water" posts.

If I want love I will buy a puppy. Or post on my wall where my MFP buddies are awesome.
When I post a question on nutrition or optimising my weight loss, or effective weight training I just want the facts (as others see it). Preferably with links to peer reviewed research if I can get it.
The thing is, knowledge is hard earned. It would be lovely to have one expert hand you the information on a silver platter but that isn't realistic. You have to search through what people post and use that information as a jumping off point to research and come up with your own opinion.
I know those long *kitten* threads are painful, hopefully good information can be gleaned from them. If someone is posting something you don't understand try and get them to clarify.
I am afraid the ball busting must continue! : D

committomittxoxo

Too long to read.... good thing there's still porn on the 'internets'

myofibril

No. I urge you to know your audience. Make sure they can understand what you are talking about and benefit from what you are saying.

Wonderfully put.

Knowing your stuff is important.

Knowing your stuff and being actually able to convey it in a meaningful and helpful way to the person you are talking to is much more important to me. That actually means having a good idea of how much info that person can handle at the time. Some people do need to be spoon food. Some people don't.

Sometimes the debate seem to come from a pathological need to be right perspective rather than being of any practical use.

sculley

I agree but also think we have a problem as well with the attitude period. Okay people asks questions and no matter how dumb it might seem it doesn't give us a right to make the op feel stupid. Everyone's knowledge level is different and I think it's good that someone wants to learn hence why they post a question. I have seen far too many times people get their head bitten off for a question that someone felt was stupid. Doesn't give the op much confidence in their mfp family does it?:(

gemiwing

The information shared on the boards is great and it's things people need to know. Of course, there will be questions raised again and again because the myths are so pervasive. I get frustrated seeing the same topics/questions yet I have to remember my anger is with the myth and not with the person asking- they have done nothing wrong, in fact they are doing a good thing by asking 'is this right? it sounds like BS to me but everyone is saying it's true'.

It sounds like this is a discussion of tone, and unfortunately any discussion of tone will be difficult on the internet. In person I could call you a jerk but smile and you know I am telling the truth but trying to show compassion too. On the internet- no smile is seen. Even smileys are looked down upon by some.

One thing I love that MFPers have created is the 'shouldieatmyexercisecalories' hotlink. What if we could form a Wiki to link people to that would answer their most common questions so we could impart knowledge without becoming frustrated in the battle against misinformation that harms people? Then the Wiki can be worded as such to introduce people to the topic, the nomenclature and research while leaving the person linking to the Wiki free to know they have helped without having to re-write a small 'Welcome to Weightloss 101' pamphlet four times a day.

dennydifferent

I only "bust" someone's "balls" when they're trying to convince people that their way is "the truth". I get so sick of all the aspartame is EVIL! Splenda is POISON! Sugar is TOXIC. CARBS cause diabetes! and on and on and on.

Because that alarmist bull**** can cause harm. Yes, harm, because someone who does well on carbs might suddenly decide they *HAVE* to give them up, thereby complicating their lives and making it less likely that they'll stick to a diet.

And if they can't stick with the diet, they won't lose the weight.

And if they don't lose the weight, they'll have to deal with all the physical complications that come from being overweight.

Hence, harm.

That's worth busting someone's balls over.

It works the other way too. Carbs were a major problem for me, but reading MFP I'd come away with the notion that anyone who thinks that is wrong and stupid. I can't stick with a (consciously) low calorie eat-what-you-want-in-moderation diet, I just end up bingeing. Plenty of others say the same thing. Yet I don't feel I can comment on a lot of threads because any suggestion that cutting down on carbs might help some people just makes the thread spiral out of control.

I wouldn't mind if the debate was civilised and respectful. It's mostly just jeering and laughing with a possibly relevant, possibly not PubMed link at the bottom. It's not about debating what the truth is, it's always proving that your already decided opinion is the correct one, over and over and over again, ensuring the whole community thinks the same way. Consensus terrorism, I believe it's called. It's certainly not how science works. THAT's the problem. You're a wonderful exception to that, I have to say.

Of course the real answer is for unqualified amateurs not to post great long screeds of half-digested pseudo-medical "advice" that they gleaned from a quack/bodybuilding website. Whether low carb or low calorie. Like that's ever going to happen.

ashleab37

Omfg, do NOT take the science to PM. The science is the most important thing.

I don't believe any claim I read that isn't backed up by science.. What kind of moron would?

misslissa121

I totally disagree with you....I believe EVERYTHING I read online


So you're telling me that the coffee and cigarette diet won't work afterall?!?!

Darn.

Oh well, I don't smoke anyway. :happy:

If you do this you have to wear a parka or bib overalls. I have witnessed this from an old lady I worked with at a plastics factory. It was 100+ degrees in the area she worked and she wore bib overalls back there, the kind you would wear to go hunting in 2 feet of snow. I never once seen her put anything other than her coffee cup or cigarette to her mouth, she was about 5'4'' and couldn't of weighed more than 100lbs. So if you gotta parka, and wanna try that diet, I would go for it, because I'm not a doctor, but I witnessed it*

*this person does not believe in smoking, but I do believe in coffee (but only in the am)

ashleab37

According to peer reviewed literature, people generally read what they want to read, in a nutshell. (Tewksbury, 2003).







Reference

Tewksbury, D. (December 01, 2003). What Do Americans Really Want to Know? Tracking the Behavior of News Readers on the Internet. Journal of Communication, 53, 4, 694-710.

This made my day

determinedbutlazy

I enjoy the scientific debates on the board. They're interesting and I enjoy seeing all the broscience-y myths being debunked by hard science.
I've learned a lot about my body and found loads of things to research further due to these "irrelevant" debates here.

dad106

I only "bust" someone's "balls" when they're trying to convince people that their way is "the truth". I get so sick of all the aspartame is EVIL! Splenda is POISON! Sugar is TOXIC. CARBS cause diabetes! and on and on and on.

Because that alarmist bull**** can cause harm. Yes, harm, because someone who does well on carbs might suddenly decide they *HAVE* to give them up, thereby complicating their lives and making it less likely that they'll stick to a diet.

And if they can't stick with the diet, they won't lose the weight.

And if they don't lose the weight, they'll have to deal with all the physical complications that come from being overweight.

Hence, harm.

That's worth busting someone's balls over.

Amen.

When surfing these forums I see so many blanket statements and mis-information that it drives me nuts! When I see something that I know for a fact is not correct, I will try and correct it... and then that leads to the OP of that comment getting angry because someone actually challenged them to think about what they are saying before they post.