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Proyecto Visión 21

“Experts” sometimes provide frustrating, exasperating answers

Francisco Miraval

Some things will never change, not even in a new year and not even with new, updated versions of computers, software, and games. Somebody once said –I think, but I am not sure, it was Asimov– something like “against human stupidity, even the gods are powerless.” A clear example of how true that statement is can be found at any technical support forum.

A few days ago, one of my laptops stopped working. After trying different things, I concluded the problem was the battery. I went to the web site of the company manufacturing the laptop to find information about a replacement battery. At the site, I discovered many other people were facing the same problem.

“Check the cable to see if it is connected,” responded an “expert” to one of the user. In fact, I am happy I read such a deep advice at that forum, otherwise I would have never thought about checking the connection of the power cord. “Be sure the battery is inside the laptop,” another “expert” suggested. “Of course not! I always leave the battery outside the laptop,” I was tempted to reply to somebody not event talking to me.

Somebody, with a problem bigger than just a bad battery, asked something and the answer was a request for that person to send information about the computer he was using. He did post the information and the “expert” suggested a solution. It did not work. None of the following solutions worked either.

Finally, the “expert” said, “We don’t have a solution for your problem. We hope we were able to help you.” Answers like that are, in fact, very helpful and useful to test your newly-acquired yoga skills to control your negative emotions.

In fact, I recently experienced that kind of frustration when I bought a new external hard drive from a well-known company to back up my files. Unfortunately, the external hard drive did not connect automatically to my computer.

I went to the page of the company that manufactured the hard drive and I found an answer that has been previously given to others with the same predicament. The answer simply said: “We suggest you but a new hard drive.” “But the one I bought from you was new!” I was tempted to yell to my monitor.

And I do not want to remember that time when I had problems with my email account at a certain institution and, when I called tech support asking for help, they told me my request had to be sent using the email account that was not working.

These examples are easy to multiply and they can be found beyond the area of technology. There are similar examples in education, religion, finances, journalism and other of our lives.

It seems we live in a society and a world where obviousness and frustration create delight and where somebody asking a question is seen not as person willing to learn, but as a vulnerable target and a potential victim.

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