David Buchanan: Planning a trip to The Internet? Learn this handy phrase before you go: "I do not have the required background to form opinions on this topic"

Planning a trip to The Internet? Learn this handy phrase before you go: "I do not have the required background to form opinions on this topic"

but my supposin' is as good as any expert's knowin'

Seems like the equivalent of putting “antidisestablishmentarianism” into an English for tourists phrasebook; no one ever actually uses it!

I think that’s a controversial phase for people to learn. Opinions are like arseholes, everyone has one…even if they expose themselves as ignorant

Your asshole shows you're ignorant?

Yeah I didn’t word that extra bit well at all 🤦‍♂️ I knew what I was trying to say but I butchered it badly Perfect example of why some people should engage their brain before making a fool of themselves 😂

well we do have the phrase "show your ass" that means pretty much exactly that, so yes www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?t...

Urban Dictionary: show your asswww.urbandictionary.com making yourself look like a jackass or an asshole, being a dick. embarrassing yourself or the people you are with in public or in front of other people, usually by doing something socially unacceptabl...

People fail to learn from Mark Twain. 😭

Are you telling me that "I heard it in Fox News" or " my uncle told me" is not enough background to discuss on the internet? I am shocked. Shocked I say!!!

Welcome to the Internet, someone will be along to correct you shortly. 👍🤣

😂👍🏼

I try to tell everyone that reactions are not the same as opinions

that's a dangerous way to go, it's possible to form opinions based on your intuition and general knowledge, i think realizing they're wrong is a big part of learning, you can do it with humility and without being stupid

The problem with The Internet is that "intuitively correct but factually incorrect" information spreads much faster than the truth.

yeah well, that's the internet's problem, not yours if you act in good faith

Internet-scale dynamics don't just happen by accident, we can control them through our choices.

Gotta figure out how to align incentives with factual information.

Something something Goodhart's law

the person making the choice is the one choosing to trust @robeto1829 who puts 28 caveats in his tweets and says he is only thinking aloud, instead of engaging their own critical thinking and looking what other people think, presumably because someone told them they shouldn't be forming opinions

Good thing about The Internet though is that I can block people even before they interact with me

It's okay, David. We have #Truthiness. 👍🤣

maybe you but I am the one human being on Earth that has somehow had every kind of background experience at once, thus qualifying me for all debates which I inevitably win

See also: "this issue is not sufficiently relevant to my life to be worth opining"

This is funny 😹

Is that also your opinion?

ROTFLMSAO!!!

Related: I just don't have to have an opinion about that, and if I do have one, I don't have to share it on social media.

There are a LOT of people who really don't have enough common sense to follow that rule.

Post