dbhughe wrote:IMHO, A forum is a place to distribute knowledge and make it easier to solve a problem, not a place of arrogance where RTFM is the reply of the day. By all means, if you know the answer, please explain it or, point me to it and If I know an answer I will try to explain it as best I can.
Normally the best way to answer is to show the person where the knowledge came from. It's like somebody asking for a drink of water... it is wise to show them where the water comes from or they will always be helpless by asking.
"RTFM" is often a frustrated response by somebody who has many years of experience and to THEM it seems pretty obvious. They can't remember being a newbie (or are under the belief they were born with the knowledge). On the other hand, there are occasionally people who do know where the knowledge is, but are just trying to get others to work for them. When a person says they want to program a device, then they should at least make the effort to download the datasheet and attempt to read the first page, just to make things look good.
When I had trouble teaching a student, I would tell them that aquiring knowledge was like pushing a box across the floor. It works best when both the teacher and the student push from the same side. Sometimes the student likes to sit on top of the box and let the teacher try to push, or sometimes the student will get on the other side and push the wrong way. There comes a time when you have to give up and let the student fail, if that is their goal. They need to indentify their goal and methods for it to succeed.
Pointing somebody to the right chapter or data table is the best reply.
Posted: Thu Jun 26, 2014 10:28 pm