"Why don't they just...?"

[randomness]

tb recently shared with me a rant about people who start a sentence with "Why don't they just...?" I don't want to misquote her and I very much want to hear her in own words if she's willing to share them here. But I did find a post about this very phrase in a very different context that I thought was worth a repost.

From Why don't they just...?":

It seems every time I come across a story about the Mars Curiosity rover there will be many people commenting on the technology used starting with "Why don't they just..?" and usually pointing out things like: the processor in their smart phone is way faster than the one of Mars, or they have way more memory on their iPad, or their digital camera is way better than the one sending back pictures. These "Why don't they just..?" questions are both annoying and to be expected.

Annoying because the underlying thought is "Those NASA/JPL guys are so dumb LOL" and to be expected and encouraged because we wouldn't make any progress without asking questions and, in particular, asking why.

But it doesn't take much research to find the answer. (Even though I'm tempted to answer: "Because it's on friggin' Mars, doofus!")

Ultimately after listing some of the reasons why the situation isn't as simple as the askers think it is, he adds an excellent suggestion:

But rather than explaining all this stuff, I think there's a better way: build, land and operate a rover here on Earth.

It's too bad that sort of suggestion isn't a possibility in many of the other situations where people ask, "Why don't they just...?"

Comments

[gee-tar.livejournal.com]

I think that's making a rather mean assumption about people who use the phrase presuming those who use the prelude consider themselves superior. I use the phrase as often as anyone else, but I always assume there's something I'm not considering and I honestly want to know what that x factor is, not that I think I'm more clever than the people who put substantial more time and effort thinking about the problem than me.

[r-ness.livejournal.com]

I'm not going to speak for tb here, but I think the discussion here is specifically regarding people who say, "Why don't they just...?" in the context of victim-blaming, rather than people who use it as an actual question.

If you honestly want to know what the X factor is, you might well want to phrase it that way so you're not mistaken for someone who's blaming a victim. It works out better if you start the conversation that way.

[rmd.livejournal.com]

I am reminded of a tweet I saw today: "If your answer to every social problem is “teach people to code,” think harder." (From @lauraolin who I do not know)

[achinhibitor.livejournal.com]

I think the discussion here is specifically regarding people who say, "Why don't they just...?" in the context of victim-blaming

If that is what you think the intention is, it would have been useful to flag that in the original post, as it never occurred to me that is what is being talked about.

[r-ness.livejournal.com]

Actually, I did flag it in the first sentence, but I had expected tb to come in earlier and provide more context.

Also, I actually have no problem with what you posted without knowing what was being talked about. That was kind of a feature, not a bug.

[achinhibitor.livejournal.com]

Actually, I did flag it in the first sentence

Hmmm... I read the first sentence as 'tb recently shared with me a rant about people who start a sentence with "Why don't they just...?"' It doesn't seem to imply that "victim-blaming" is the topic of conversation. Perhaps I'm missing something.

[r-ness.livejournal.com]

Perhaps I'm missing something.

You are.

My LJ, my thoughts.

[browngirl.livejournal.com]

FWIW, the victim-blaming context was abundantly clear to me.

[r-ness.livejournal.com]

In fact, now that I'm thinking of it, it can be as easy as asking, "Why don't they...?" instead if you're really looking for an answer. That one word "just" is what really makes the phrase sound like the asker is superior.

But I do think there are even better ways of phrasing the question.

[stolen-tea.livejournal.com]

I personally like prefixing the question with something like "Maybe there's something important here that I don't understand, but...", which tends to self-deprecate enough that it's often OK to keep the "just". Of course, by going to this extreme to avoid the apperance of being condescending, it runs the risk of inviting condescension from the other person, in that sometimes you get "RTFM newb" or "your education is not my responsibility". But in general I find that also to be a feature, in that it helps me avoid those people in the future.