| I used to work for a psychic hotline and techies did call | | | | gotten so cheap that some PC owners can barely |
| me, believe it or not. | | | | read and write. They think they bought a magic box. |
| Most techies don't call psychic hotlines, but it's obvious | | | | Other users could pass the A+ exam themselves. |
| they still believe in ESP. They believe that the | | | | That makes it necessary for you to actually listen to |
| non-techies learn technical knowledge just by | | | | the other person, gauge their level of understanding |
| contacting a techie, even though the techie does not | | | | and word your questions and answers to their level. |
| actually explain anything. | | | | If you don't nail it right away, you must decide whether |
| The techie thinks they just have to mumble something, | | | | you failed to fully communicate because you skipped |
| and the non-techie of course understands it. | | | | over details you know so well you take them for |
| Because the techie themself understands what they | | | | granted and forget that that others don't know them, |
| mean to say. | | | | or you failed to get to the point. |
| What is that but a practicing belief (an unconscious | | | | That is, you use your increasing understanding of their |
| assumption) in thought transferance? | | | | level of thinking to modify the words you use to ask |
| That must explain why so many techies do not feel | | | | questions of them and then solve their problem. |
| they have to explain technical problems and solutions | | | | I understand it's frustrating. But you know that if you |
| to non-techies using mere spoken or written words. | | | | want to query a database for some information, you |
| It's as though you went to a doctor and after they | | | | must use the proper SQL commands in the proper |
| checked you over, they mumbled some Latin and then | | | | format -- or you don't get an answer. If you want to |
| expected you to understand that meant you had a | | | | add data to a database, there are standardized fields |
| viral infection, and what you should do about it. | | | | you must use -- or it won't accept the new records. |
| It will greatly help your career if you do actually learn | | | | People are the same, just infinitely more complicated. |
| how to speak and write clearly -- in a way that the | | | | You want to learn something from them, ask in a way |
| rest of us who don't have Computer Science degrees | | | | they will respond to. You want to tell them something, |
| or MCSE certifications will understand. | | | | do it in a format they comprehend and respond to. |
| I realize that we can be frustrating. Computers have | | | | |