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[Spring-Loaded]

Show don't tell is good advice. It's not bad advice that gets thrown around too often. It should be learnt by more people including yourself, if your op is anything to go by.

You haven't shown why it's bad, you've just told me, as if I have to just accept that, because your opinion is worth something.

The only time you didn't follow your own advice was when you cited a example. Which is er, showing... I guess, to some degree. It would have aided your argument better to actually have prose to quote.

This doesn't mean I think it is a golden rule that must be observed, because it isn't, and I've not heard anyone describe it as an unbreakable rule.

I will agree with the other golden rule, that no rule is fundamental to writing. Orwell said something similar:

He was talking about political writing of course, but that sixth rule is the one I'm preaching from my soap box.

Sure there are examples, where telling is better than showing, but in my view, more often than not, showing is better than telling.

I conceded that I should've been more clear about what I meant earlier in the thread and a lot of my writing here is not good. However, I've heard people use "show, don't tell" in critiques of others' valid uses of telling and have seen it promoted as an unbreakable rule. These incidences were among friends and their writing partners/colleagues/Etc. about their own work, so I might have just run in bad circles. It's not the worst advice when misplaced, but it came to mind when making the thread.

"Show and tell" is better advice unless the person receiving the advice has a habit of listing off facts and needs that drilled into their head. Never had I said telling is better than showing or that showing is bad.

 

[Buzzati]

Cynical thread.

 

[Log4Girlz]

Everything happens for a reason.

Well no shit Sherlock, its called cause and effect.

 

[TestMonkey]

"Do unto others as you would have them do unto you." This garbage is how wars are started.

"Never impose on others what you would not choose for yourself." This is the path that leads to world peace.

 

[zoleristec]

"Start your own business."
"Suit up and pound the pavement."
"Get your Master's."

The next asshole that utters these statements to me will be tied to a chair and force-fed the fetus of his unborn child.

 

[Buzzati]

"Start your own business."
"Suit up and pound the pavement."
"Get your Master's."

The next asshole that utters these statements to me will be tied to a chair and force-fed the fetus of his unborn child.

Starting your own business can be completely viable. Getting a Master's can be a very smart career move.

Cynicism in droves in this thread.

"Why do anything?"

 

[Mr_Zombie]

"Have low self-esteem or you're depressed? Hit the gym!"

"You're having problems socializing? Grab a beer!"

 

[yogloo]

FHUTA.
It's never a time to FHUTA Damnit.

 

[Screaming Meat]

Not so much advice...

"Cheer up, might never happen."

What if it already has?!

Also? YOLO. I take that to mean: You Only Live Obnoxiously.

 

[stilgar]

"Hide the body in the river"

A hot summer can dry it up for months, dumbass.

 

[Derwind]

FHUTA.
It's never a time to FHUTA Damnit.

I know this is random but when you enunciate the abbrevation FHUTA, One of the Somali word for "Ass/Butt" is also pronounced the same. "FOO-tah"

Coincidence?

 

[Trent Strong]

"Have low self-esteem or you're depressed? Hit the gym!"

This is good advice though. It definitely can't hurt.

 

[diamount]

Support our troops!

 

[stilgar]

"Have low self-esteem or you're depressed? Hit the gym!"

I helps (marginally, though).

"You're having problems socializing? Grab a beer!"

This one, not so much

 

[Spring-Loaded]

This is good advice though. It definitely can't hurt.

It might not help either depending on the person. They might think they're helping themselves while the true source of their suffering goes untreated

 

[Screaming Meat]

This is good advice though. It definitely can't hurt.

Unless you pull a muscle, of course.

 

[Forkball]

"The Xbox One will be worth it."

 

[Buzzati]

It might not help either depending on the person. They might think they're helping themselves while the true source of their suffering goes untreated

Walk and chew gum at the same time.

 

[Trent Strong]

It might not help either depending on the person. They might think they're helping themselves while the true source of their suffering goes untreated

Well, yeah, it's not going to cure a serious psychological problem, but it can help. At least temporarily.

 

[Mr_Zombie]

This is good advice though. It definitely can't hurt.

I helps (marginally, though).

It can help, but the problem is when it is passed as a be-all and end-all type of advice, no matter what's the source of your self-esteem problems or depression.

 

[Deleted member 102362]

"When a cat shows you its belly, rub your face in it."

Actually, it means they are trusting you not to touch their belly; instead, you should pet their head.

I learned that on NeoGAF!

 

[magnetic]

Just be confident.

Not because it's not true, just because some people assume it's as easy as just wanting to be.

"Fake it till you make it!" How exactly do you PRETEND to be confident? Doesn't confidence involve being relaxed and NOT trying to be something you're not?

It's like when someone says "You don't need to be angry at me", or "CALM DOWN". It just doesn't work that way.

 

[Vermillion]

"Do unto others as you would have them do unto you." This garbage is how wars are started.

"Never impose on others what you would not choose for yourself." This is the path that leads to world peace.

They mean the same thing, though.

 

[Commander Jameson]

"Keep trying. You'll find someone eventually."

 

[Napoleonthechimp]

"Do unto others as you would have them do unto you." This garbage is how wars are started.

"Never impose on others what you would not choose for yourself." This is the path that leads to world peace.

How could you think these are two different things?

 

[MidgarBlowedUp]

"eat your vegetables"
or
"Tyler Malka sure is looking good these days"

 

[daniels]

"just be yourself"
"ignor women to get their attention"
"you'll find someone eventually"
"hit the gym to get more confident"
"you are beautiful the way you are"

 

[Mister Wilhelm]

The biggest lie I'm told on a daily basis: "Having children is the greatest thing you can ever do in life."

 

[Ikael]

"Just be yourself"

This, right here, is the acme of post modern idiocy.

Yes, hating yourself is an unhealthy, horrible thing to do. But so is complacency. Keep growing and strieving to become a better version of yourself. Yes, sometimes external factors outside of our control hampers our goals and damage our lives, but guess what? The very only thing that you can really control in your life is your own self-being and your own actions. So focus on changing yourself and your actions according to your needs and heart's desire, rather than the other way around.

If you like how your life and your inmediate world is, everything is fine and dandy, but if you don't like something about a situation in your life, then either abbandon it or don't just try to "be yourself". No excuses. The biggest tragedy of our modern world is the amount of people who builds their Identity around their defects and shortcomings, and then tries to preserve them and defend them at the expense of their own personal happiness and the one of the people around theirselves, always waving the shitty excuse "but this is how I am", always following the shitty advice "just be yourself". As if the way you were born wouldn't be a wholly circumstantial thing with no intrinsic value on itself. Don't fall into that shitty narcissistic trap. Stop trading happiness for identity.

"Keep trying. You'll find someone eventually."

Now this makes me feel sad.

 

[Takamura-San]

"The more the merrier"....

Nope.

 

[Kinyou]

"I'll have to drink my own pee if I want to survive"

Numerous survival instructors and guides,[3][4][5][6][7][8] including the US Army Field Manual FM 21-76 "Survival",[9] advise against drinking urine for survival. These guides explain that drinking urine tends to worsen, rather than relieve dehydration due to the salts in it, and that urine should not be consumed in a survival situation, even when there is no other fluid available.

 

[toastyToast]

"Fake it till you make it!" How exactly do you PRETEND to be confident? Doesn't confidence involve being relaxed and NOT trying to be something you're not?

It's like when someone says "You don't need to be angry at me", or "CALM DOWN". It just doesn't work that way.

Being confident, at least initially, is an act. Actual confidence is when you don't have to pretend anymore

 

[mackattk]

All the bullshit of of how important permanent records are, donating money to charities that turn out fraudulent or mismanaged, the golden rule.
There is somebody for everybody, just try hard and you will succeed, staying with a company and working your way up is better than jumping ship and working someplace else.

"You don't need money to be happy." Well, that is technically true, but being rich can't hurt, right?

A lot of this reminds me of my favorite Weird Al song, Everything you know is wrong.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KThlYHfIVa8

I live by a platinum rule: Treat others how they treat you.

 

[RionaaM]

"Life will get better."

"There's soumeone out there for everyone, you just gotta find her."

"You HAVE to buy game X [even if you don't care about it or don't like the distribution method], or else the devs won't release an hypothical and yet unannounced game Y [which could be either a sequel, spin-off or totally unrelated game]."

 

[SJS]

"The Xbox One will be worth it."

Topic winner.

Some (of the more obvious) stuff to add:

- Drinking leads to good sex

- "Get a life."

- "Stop complaining."

- "If you're having problems with [sex], you are the problem." (It can be true, but it's always mentioned at inappropriate times)

- "College helps you get a job."

- Any statement intended to indicate that meat is not part of a healthy diet.

 

[lil smoke]

"Everything in moderation."

"Less is more."

Yeah right.

 

[NekoFever]

Just about any advice about diet/nutrition. The vast majority of it is terrible.

 

[McLovin]

just be yourself

 

[JohnDoe]

"Eat a lot of fruit" (to lose weight)
"You need god-given talent for singing/art but EVERYONE would be able to succeed at STEM fields if they only worked hard." - the people who say this are arrogant shitheads

 

[MarkMclovin]

A lot of people posting stuff that isn't even advice.

Someone saying "cheer up it'll get better in the end" is just someone trying to make your sorry depressing ass feel better.

 

[Dr_Boris_Goltz]

Telling people to vent their anger is bullshit.

 

[Opiate]

Follow your dreams, or other variations of "if you believe and work hard enough anything is possible."

 

[shadowsdarknes]

This ones true though. Nothing more offputting them someone posing.

Some people are narcissistic, anti-social cave dwellers. Some people could really benefit from breaking out of their shell.

In the words of the Goldman Sachs Elevator Twitter/FB page: "'Just be yourself' is good advice to probably 5% of people."

 

[Septimius]

"Just be yourself"

This, right here, is the acme of post modern idiocy.

Yes, hating yourself is an unhealthy, horrible thing to do. But so is complacency. Keep growing and strieving to become a better version of yourself. Yes, sometimes external factors outside of our control hampers our goals and damage our lives, but guess what? The very only thing that you can really control in your life is your own self-being and your own actions. So focus on changing yourself and your actions according to your needs and heart's desire, rather than the other way around.

If you like how your life and your inmediate world is, everything is fine and dandy, but if you don't like something about a situation in your life, then either abbandon it or don't just try to "be yourself". No excuses. The biggest tragedy of our modern world is the amount of people who builds their Identity around their defects and shortcomings, and then tries to preserve them and defend them at the expense of their own personal happiness and the one of the people around theirselves, always waving the shitty excuse "but this is how I am", always following the shitty advice "just be yourself". As if the way you were born wouldn't be a wholly circumstantial thing with no intrinsic value on itself. Don't fall into that shitty narcissistic trap. Stop trading happiness for identity

Being yourself is about congruency. Don't try to be someone you're not. You can become someone else, but if you're a guy that values being nice, embrace it. Don't act like a jack-ass because you heard it gets you tail.

 

[shadowsdarknes]

Telling people to vent their anger is bullshit.

I'll admit it. With the complete the word segment, all of the violent words came to mind instead of the benign words. And I'm pretty relaxed right now.

 

[edgardavids]

"Keep trying. You'll find someone eventually."

cant see how this is wrong. Might be a bit patronising though.

 

[Pop-O-Matic]

Keep it real.

 

[Cymbal Head]

I wish I could say "It's all about who you know," but that one is sadly, crushingly true.

 

[Rhomega Beta]

Support our troops!

What? They're going out there risking their lives to fight bad guys, then come home to find that people don't care and won't give them help for PTSD and transitioning to civilian life. If anything, they don't get enough respect and support. Go out to a cemetery on Memorial Day instead of having a barbeque.

 

[SquiddyCracker]

Anything involving "spot burning",

"Just do 100 crunches a day and you'll burn away all the fat in your stomach!"