This is interesting in that I have a present application: someone else’s terrible, awful, no good, very bad document I have to destroy, and frankly their status deserves a penalty. Quite a lot of this will involve the phrase “knew or should have known” in my response.
Saying this without seeming to expect telepathy or clairvoyance will be important to watch for, e.g. noting in every case the “should have known” vector and describing bad consequences of actions without ascribing a personal incompetence or malice to them. (I suspect incompetence combined with self-righteousness rather than malice per se. Would demonstrating the self-righteousness count as ad hominem?)
The tricky bit is the fine balance between “you catch more flies with honey than vinegar” and “kill it with fire for your own self-defence.” I’m inclined to the latter by sheer annoyance, which means watch myself.
This is interesting in that I have a present application: someone else’s terrible, awful, no good, very bad document I have to destroy, and frankly their status deserves a penalty. Quite a lot of this will involve the phrase “knew or should have known” in my response.
Saying this without seeming to expect telepathy or clairvoyance will be important to watch for, e.g. noting in every case the “should have known” vector and describing bad consequences of actions without ascribing a personal incompetence or malice to them. (I suspect incompetence combined with self-righteousness rather than malice per se. Would demonstrating the self-righteousness count as ad hominem?)
The tricky bit is the fine balance between “you catch more flies with honey than vinegar” and “kill it with fire for your own self-defence.” I’m inclined to the latter by sheer annoyance, which means watch myself.
?
Lack of ability combined with wanting to be right? Two things normal people never exhibit which deserve punishment?
Would it count as useful? Would it help?
I’m told balsamic vinegar works better than honey, actually. I have never run the experiment myself, though, nor seen peer-reviewed published results.
“Honey catches more flies than vinegar, but hurled bucketloads of shit work pretty well too. Also, overextending analogies gang aft agley.”
I tend to frame things as “for future reference” rather than “you should have known better”.
I have no idea why your comment’s been voted down.