What is Something You Refuse to do on Quora?

Posted 28Oct2017.

I have an interest in Quora that could be best described as “fickle” at times. There are days when I will get stuck reading answers and feel like participating in the exchange of knowledge and perspective, and others when I avoid the repetitious baiting as they are often on the same level of truck stop toilet seats: do I really want or need to touch this?

On the occasion where I do participate, I usually have a loose set of guidelines of what I won’t do:

Divulge personal information. Months ago, I almost posted a relevant picture of a sticker on the back of my truck. I even had the response formatted with the picture and explanatory caption, before I realized that it was too much identification. Sure, intelligence is the art of piecing together one of those massive jigsaw puzzles and trying to get the best idea of the total picture with the least amount of information, and I realize that, with the proper motivation, the concept of privacy goes out the window with the first login to a site… but that doesn’t mean I need to make it easy.

Divulge professional information. As with the above example, open-source intelligence gathering is a growing field as folks find that everyone will provide bits and pieces of their profession anywhere. Given the fact that many of my friends still venture in harm’s way in Afghanistan and Iraq, I summarized this best in June in my answer to the question “Why doesn’t ISIS have more success shooting down helicopters?” Again, there may or may not be the juicy answers out there to this and other questions, but I cannot and will not make it easy for those seeking pointers. OPSEC, yo.

Discuss politics. I get it – people feel the need for discussing political stances to foster change. Ha. Ok, that was funny. The problem is that most of the time, these questions are asked by folks who really care nothing for discussion or change – they just want to bludgeon anyone who disagrees with them with convenient facts cherry-picked from sites which support their argument best. This is not a “discussion” – this is more of a petty-assed attempt at debate. I’m not going to change your mind, and you aren’t going to do the same with me, so leave it.

Of course, I say that… but adhering to it is a different thing…

Respond to vapid commentary. What. The. HELL? If I write something specifically answering a question, chances are that it will be effectively researched and supported by the most reliable sources available. So… why do folks have this overpowering urge to respond with tangential information that shows that they clearly did not read what I wrote or look at any of the sources.

I have a problem with this part of my response. In a way, it contradicts the point above and gives the impression that I am an absolute authority on a select set of topics. Again, ha. I make mistakes, and I am always learning. If someone points out an error, I will correct my response accordingly, but to ramble on about details which, while factual, are not relevant to the discussion and composed with a certain level of irrational condescension? To quote Ozzy Man: “Yeah, nah mate.”

Argue. In all of the points above, I may be a bit crabby in tone, but we (as a digitally connected society), have gone a bit too far in how we relate to one another. There are too many really good ideas out there, and a lot of folks with passion that overrunneth their ability to control said emotions. I’ll write here… I’ll offer my perspectives on my own personal blog… but I really despise arguing. More often than not, both parties in any disagreement actually want the same things: safety, decency, understanding, and maybe even gluten-free unicorn rides on Rainbow Avenue… However, the execution and process of getting to that point typically results in the unicorn becoming a paganistic sacrifice to the Gods of Dissent and Controversy and Rainbow Ave becoming festooned with IED’s and covered by soulless snipers who only care about their cause. I’ve much better things to do with my time than dispute perspectives with myopic and angry trolls.

Of course, all of the above is contextual, void where prohibited, some assembly required, objects in mirror are closer than they appear, not responsible for damages incurred through use of product… this side up.