Re:NSA infected 50,000 computer networks with malicious soft...
by mercer on Saturday November 23, 2013 @02:24PM
(#6787099)
I'd take a bet that it's mostly the former (and the latter is rather similar to it). It's not just that some people get off on pointing out that something is 'obvious', it's that lots of other people feel the same way. So they upvote.
A somewhat similar example that always comes to mind in these cases (and for some reason happens relatively often among my 'geekier' friends) is when someone says 'I don't dream'. There's always a smart-ass around to point out that everybody dreams, but they just don't always remember it. I don't know if that's true, but that's irrelevant..
It might be technically true, but it's pedantic and misses the point of the statement. And it cuts off a potentially interesting conversation for the sole purpose of making this person sound smart.
I've noticed myself doing this too (I privately call it 'snoping' someone), and have been trying to avoid it as much as possible since I became aware of it.
A somewhat similar example that always comes to mind in these cases (and for some reason happens relatively often among my 'geekier' friends) is when someone says 'I don't dream'. There's always a smart-ass around to point out that everybody dreams, but they just don't always remember it. I don't know if that's true, but that's irrelevant..
It might be technically true, but it's pedantic and misses the point of the statement. And it cuts off a potentially interesting conversation for the sole purpose of making this person sound smart.
I've noticed myself doing this too (I privately call it 'snoping' someone), and have been trying to avoid it as much as possible since I became aware of it.