I believe implicit requests for advice basically shouldn’t exist.
That’s not very pragmatic. Worry about whether they do exist. You say they don’t exist in other contexts, but this statement makes me distrust your observations.
Also, I suggest you consider more contexts. Are you familiar with other venues intermediate between LW and your baseline? nerds? other online fora?
saying “seriously, what is it with the pens?” seems like a reasonable line of inquiry.
Really? It seems like a reasonable way of stopping it. It does not seem to me like a way of learning. And since not that many people go by your desk, it might scale to actually stopping it.
I’m not saying they don’t exist in other contexts, but that they’re a less probable interpretation in other contexts. In those contexts, I wouldn’t expect my original comment to be interpreted as a request for advice as readily as it is here. I wouldn’t necessarily expect it to be interpreted any better, but I wouldn’t expect a small deluge of advice.
I am fairly sure this discussion isn’t really recoverable into something productive without me painting myself as some sort of neurotic pen-obsessive snapcase. Yes, I only have myself to blame.
That’s not very pragmatic. Worry about whether they do exist. You say they don’t exist in other contexts, but this statement makes me distrust your observations.
Also, I suggest you consider more contexts. Are you familiar with other venues intermediate between LW and your baseline? nerds? other online fora?
Really? It seems like a reasonable way of stopping it. It does not seem to me like a way of learning. And since not that many people go by your desk, it might scale to actually stopping it.
I’m not saying they don’t exist in other contexts, but that they’re a less probable interpretation in other contexts. In those contexts, I wouldn’t expect my original comment to be interpreted as a request for advice as readily as it is here. I wouldn’t necessarily expect it to be interpreted any better, but I wouldn’t expect a small deluge of advice.
I am fairly sure this discussion isn’t really recoverable into something productive without me painting myself as some sort of neurotic pen-obsessive snapcase. Yes, I only have myself to blame.