Best way to answer a simple question.

[LEVY]

The best way to answer a simple question is with a simple anwer.

The more you add to the answer the better chances you have to be wrong. If complex technical advice is requested, then by all means answer if you know for sure you are correct, or just post your thoughts but let people know you are not 100% sure.

LEVY

[Jonathan]

"If you can't explain it simply, you don't understand it well enough."

~ Albert Einstein

[SamHill]

If complex technical advice is requested,
LEVY

Please explain the angle of the dangle theory. I know there are competing explanations, but I don't know which one to believe.

[LEVY]

Here is your answer:

E = mc 2 + t y 2 = a X xy/1/2

However, not 100% sure!

LEVY


Please explain the angle of the dangle theory. I know there are competing explanations, but I don't know which one to believe.

[Shep]

Not to be rude, but what does this have to do with DeLoreans exactly? :confused0:

[Dangermouse]

I've found the best way to answer a simple question is "yes, dear"

[Tillsy]

I heard that 69.17% of all statistics are made up...

[LEVY]

What are you talking about?

Look at the above mentioned formula: E = mc 2 + t y 2 = a X xy/1/2

It is self explanatory.



LEVY


Not to be rude, but what does this have to do with DeLoreans exactly? :confused0:

[LEVY]

69.16999999999999999 to be exact!


LEVY



I heard that 69.17% of all statistics are made up...

[DeLorean03]

I think Levy is trying to politely state that sometimes people here give advice, and they tend to ramble or get into way too much detail. Sometimes, a quick and simple explanation does a lot more than writing a book to "cover all the bases just to be safe" answer.

[Michael]

I think Levy is trying to politely state that sometimes people here give advice, and they tend to ramble or get into way too much detail. Sometimes, a quick and simple explanation does a lot more than writing a book to "cover all the bases just to be safe" answer.

Isn't that just an ungrateful attitude.

"Um thanks for all the free advice and answers to my questions, but your answers are just too long, please in the future make them shorter as I can't be bothered to take an extra few seconds to read an in depth answer to my problem.

If you don't like spending a few extra seconds to get your free help, then you can pay the posters that do take the time to help you and I'm sure they will gladly accept payment to re-phrase your answer in a shorter version. How's 25 cents a word sound?

[sdg3205]

Isn't that just an ungrateful attitude.

"Um thanks for all the free advice and answers to my questions, but your answers are just too long, please in the future make them shorter as I can't be bothered to take an extra few seconds to read an in depth answer to my problem.

If you don't like spending a few extra seconds to get your free help, then you can pay the posters that do take the time to help you and I'm sure they will gladly accept payment to re-phrase your answer in a shorter version. How's 25 cents a word sound?

Gotta say, I agree with Mike. When you post for tech help here, unless you get it from a vendor like Dave, Toby, Josh, etc etc, you have to realize it's not from trained mechanics, but enthusiasts and hobbyists who are trying their best to help other people.

If you want concise help, call or email a vendor directly.

[Spittybug]

Q: What size is the XYZ bolt? A: 13mm.

Q: How does the air conditioning system fan fail work? A. The light goes on. BUZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ. Epic failure.

Maybe we should all just answer with short answers and continue pretending the world is flat. Some people enjoy the learning and sharing knowledge aspect of owning an old car and participating in the forums about them. Shouldn't we all help each other to think in such a way as to solve our own problems and not rely simply on what others tell us?

Oh, sorry, that answer may be too long.
:poke:

[DCUK Martin]

There was a recent exchange on the DML which highlighted this issue perfectly. I get fed up of reading someone post a simple question and then be confronted with an essay on every possible thing that can ever go wrong with said part even if the majority can't be a problem given what was stated in the question.

I will always try to give what i believe to be the most obvious answer, or make it clear when there are options. If the OP still has issues they can come back and we'll go from there.

[David T]

I will admit I sometimes give more of an explanation that the original poster needs or wants. Part of my reason for doing that is that when I answer someone's problem I answer it generally for the benefit of the whole forum. Other's may have a similar issue and not fully understand it. By giving a more detailed answer sometimes it can make more sense than just a simple "check this and do that". I also try to explain how and why something is supposed to work. I also understand this *can* be even more confusing especially if the poster is not well versed in technical automotive terms and systems. The basic problem is we can never really know just what someone's skill level is so we have to "dumb down" the answers. This forum is not and can never be perfect but it does work! One of the most important things we can do is offer encouragement. We can't get to everyone's car and physically help them so we do the next, best thing and give them the benefit of our experience. This answer to a simple question has gotten long!
David Teitelbaum

[DeLorean03]

Isn't that just an ungrateful attitude.

"Um thanks for all the free advice and answers to my questions, but your answers are just too long, please in the future make them shorter as I can't be bothered to take an extra few seconds to read an in depth answer to my problem.

If you don't like spending a few extra seconds to get your free help, then you can pay the posters that do take the time to help you and I'm sure they will gladly accept payment to re-phrase your answer in a shorter version. How's 25 cents a word sound?

10949

I just want to reiterate that I do not feel the way I suggested. I was just suggesting what I thought he meant. I definitely am always grateful for the advice I've been given as well as the ability to give advice as the years have gone by. It was just my observation and thought; I was NOT stating that is how I feel.

Just making sure that's clear (:.

[LEVY]

Just look at Dave's (DMCMW) answers, few words but very complete, everyone understand. Not everyone understand all that technical stuff and some may even get confused.

LEVY






There was a recent exchange on the DML which highlighted this issue perfectly. I get fed up of reading someone post a simple question and then be confronted with an essay on every possible thing that can ever go wrong with said part even if the majority can't be a problem given what was stated in the question.

I will always try to give what i believe to be the most obvious answer, or make it clear when there are options. If the OP still has issues they can come back and we'll go from there.

[DeLorean03]

Just look at Dave's (DMCMW) answers, few words but very complete, everyone understand. Not everyone understand all that technical stuff and some may even get confused.

LEVY


I understand exactly what you mean. To massage both sides here, we have to remember that Dave is technically qualified to work on these cars, so his simple answers are not only easy for the newest of owners to follow (heck, even I understand what he's saying :D!), but he also knows that sometimes "less is more."

Those here that don't work at DMC-X (X = region), they do their best to help and mean totally well. We all work on our cars and want to provide as much information as we can to help anyone in need, and sometimes saturation of information can lead to more confusion than help. At that point, the person originally asking for help should state if they are more confused than helped and ask for further clarification.

I do understand, Levy, what you mean though. Sometimes, I have definitely gotten confused more quickly than helped. What do I do at that point: ask for more clarification :D! I totally see your point though.

[LEVY]

Another good example is Bitsyncmaster, he is an electronics guru but he doesn't need a 400 Word essay to prove it.

LEVY



I understand exactly what you mean. To massage both sides here, we have to remember that Dave is technically qualified to work on these cars, so his simple answers are not only easy for the newest of owners to follow (heck, even I understand what he's saying :D!), but he also knows that sometimes "less is more."

Those here that don't work at DMC-X (X = region), they do their best to help and mean totally well. We all work on our cars and want to provide as much information as we can to help anyone in need, and sometimes saturation of information can lead to more confusion than help. At that point, the person originally asking for help should state if they are more confused than helped and ask for further clarification.

I do understand, Levy, what you mean though. Sometimes, I have definitely gotten confused more quickly than helped. What do I do at that point: ask for more clarification :D! I totally see your point though.

[SamHill]

No.

[Shep]

There was a recent exchange on the DML which highlighted this issue perfectly. I get fed up of reading someone post a simple question and then be confronted with an essay on every possible thing that can ever go wrong with said part even if the majority can't be a problem given what was stated in the question.

I will always try to give what i believe to be the most obvious answer, or make it clear when there are options. If the OP still has issues they can come back and we'll go from there.I find it's all about balance. Some guys like to post simple answers that leave more to be clarified, and others post more detailed answers that end up answering questions the asker would've otherwise asked, and still others tend to rant and/or be irrelevant quite a bit and have overly long answers that really need editing. It's the middle one that I try to aim for, and sometimes it's tough to know how something's going to go if it went differently for you. The reason why I go into more depth is because, quite frankly, most of us don't want to get two steps into a five-step answer and suddenly hear some horrid noise, then leave ourselves wondering "Was it supposed to do that? Did I break something? It kind of sounded normal... but maybe it wasn't! What now?" and have to ask what to do next, then wait for a response to the thread and potentially waste an entire day with your DeLorean out of commission because the poster wasn't clear and you don't know if you broke something. This is especially true if the poster simply omitted this fact because they felt their post was a tad bit long, and in turn wasted the other poster's day by not giving enough info.

As I told Accipiter via PM, DMCTalk is like a conversational Wikipedia. For the most part, it's DeLorean owners discussing their D's and asking/answering questions about them, but the one thing everyone forgets is those posters who'd rather remain private and search for all the answers they need, never actually needing to make a single post. I try to be the latter, and only if I simply cannot find the answer do I become the former. It could be any thread on the topic that has what we want to go over, so even if the asker already knows part of what they're asking, those of us that are reading it as third parties would prefer to have ALL the information because we usually don't know. If someone asks "what color wire powers the front blinkers?", then yes, this should be very condensed, but if someone asks, for example, "What does X noise when I do Y mean?", then it's generally a good idea to cover all possibilities, because out of all of us that come across the answer later, some of us are going to have one of the problems some posters would have omitted.

One thing that I've learned but always have a hard time doing is that if a post that is somewhat long can be summarized, do so at the top of the post, and provide the details below. Sometimes a simple answer is all we need, but other times it's one of those minor details that we need, so when we read the summary and find it applies to us, we need to read the details to figure out what the answer for us is. The problem is that this isn't high school -- you can't just drive over to any given member's house and help him out in person, so you have to make do with doing it remotely. I've been in this situation at work quite a bit -- sometimes a coworker's written description of a problem is very unhelpful, and I haven't the faintest clue what in the world they're talking about. When I walk over to their computer, it takes me about 15 seconds to spot the problem and correct it, but it would take hours (maybe days) of back and forth for me to do it in writing. That's another reason I have more detailed posts: I've seen first-hand how detailed answers solve problems MUCH faster than simple ones when it's not something blatantly obvious, and actually take less time for both parties.

And yes, I'm aware this post is itself long, but there's multiple problems with being too simple that haven't been addressed yet.

[DMC5180]

Dave S. gives short to the point answers for good reason. He has a business to run and doesn't have time to write a book on every issue that's been covered repeatedly over the years. Another reason would be he reads through a thread and simply confirms or clarifies in a few words what may have been said in previous posts.

[Tillsy]

It is ironic there is so much to be said about saying too much :)

[DashEight]

It is ironic there is so much to be said about saying too much :)

That's what I thought.

Here's my Cliff Notes:

Have a question? Ask Dave (DMCMW)

Simple. -P

[Dangermouse]

I
As I told Accipiter via PM, DMCTalk is like a conversational Wikipedia. For the most part, it's DeLorean owners discussing their D's and asking/answering questions about them, but the one thing everyone forgets is those posters who'd rather remain private and search for all the answers they need, never actually needing to make a single post.

.

This begs the question - should we tailor our posts/answers for those that do not contribute? In a conversation, surely one person talks and the other listens. And then vice versa. If everyone just listens, then there isn't much of a conversation.

It's fine if an owner listens (i.e. reads) the answer to a problem that he has had, but it is nice if he takes the time to thank the original poster for the advice. Say I ask a question on how to do a certain thing, and one of the Davids gives a step-by-step, (or even "try this and if that doesn't work, try this") then I should come back to the thread when I'm done and thank David, and perhaps comment on the accuracy of his reply. Similarly, if a year from now, someone else is having the same problem, it's not too much to ask him to post "hey I was having the same problem. Thanks. David's advice was spot on". This will re-inforce those answers that are correct as opposed to theories and suppositions that get bandied about from time to time.

I think I have drifted into "thread etiquette" rather that "short answers". Oops

[David T]

Yes, it is important to know how these threads end. That way we can see what really was the source of the problem and we can adjust our advice for the future.
David Teitelbaum



[QUOTE=Dangermouse;60142]This begs the question - should we tailor our posts/answers for those that do not contribute? In a conversation, surely one person talks and the other listens. And then vice versa. If everyone just listens, then there isn't much of a conversation.

It's f

[Spittybug]

That's what I thought.

Here's my Cliff Notes:

Have a question? Ask Dave (DMCMW)

Simple. -P

That's fine so long as Dave S. remains generous enough to give away the years of advice and training that he also relies upon to make a living and feed his family. We are all grateful for his contributions on this board, but let's not forget he's the Delorean professional of the bunch and what YOU fix, he doesn't get paid for. That's why many of us go out of our way to buy from DMCMW when others may be closer.......

[LEVY]

And reliable!



That's what I thought.

Here's my Cliff Notes:

Have a question? Ask Dave (DMCMW)

Simple. -P