Newbies beware! Law of Morons

ccrider

Seasoned Expediter
"The Law of Morons". Put a group of very intelligent, well meaning people in a room together, put them on a committee or some governmental body that is devoid of guiding principles or merit-based decision making and "The Law of Morons" will prevail. The collective IQ will drop to the smallest shoe size in the room. And hope for loafers, because collectively this body won't be able to tie anything together - not even a single shoelace.
Davos Sherman Okst


Davos has stated this very well and with a bit of a twist it clearly can bee seen alive here.

I did not fully appreciate this principle until just recently while engaged in a post on EO. When I first found this forum, I thought it was a great resource for information for both new and old to the industry however, after seeing some of the opinions expressed by highly active members, it has become clear that too much misinformation is freely expressed without a check by the truth and when truth is offered, is is attacked as being something other than truth.

Newbies beware! Much of what you read, which is presented as profession opinions, is just that. Just an opinion. And we all know how common opinions are.

What you need to be aware of, and really can not truly know,
is what motivates the person starting the post/thread.

Is it ego? Self importance? Are they justifying their self worth?
Protecting their friend's esteem? Are they envious of others' success and attack to justify their failures? You can find it all right here.

Still others share similar motivations but want to help, rather than stymie, another's successes and experiences.

I have been amazed at some of the advice and opinions given here on EO. Some of which I am convinced were designed to discourage newbies from the industry altogether by offering incomplete or just bad advice. From what I can see, there are a lot of "old school" truckers who learned the hard way and don't like seeing younger or smarter people getting into the industry without suffering the same (or more) failures that they did.

The new rules being placed on the industry mean a lot of the old school truckers will be gone soon and replaced by these new, younger, and smarter truckers.

Maybe it's just in their dieing desperation that they hand out these bad opinions. Perhaps.

Or maybe I am wrong. Everyone here is as pure as the driven snow and there are no poorly contrived motivations at play here.

Or maybe they're just morons.

Just my opinion.
 

highway star

Veteran Expediter
Owner/Operator
So, do you see this business as having a very narrow set of rules and guidelines, or do you think different things can work for different people and those with different carriers? Can you give an example where an "old school" trucker, say, for instance, me, has urged some newb to not get into this just to do that, as opposed to having a good reason to do it?
 

layoutshooter

Veteran Expediter
Retired Expediter
People in here are NOT morons. They have different opinions. There is NO need to call names. Please play nice.
 

scottm4211

Veteran Expediter
Owner/Operator
I'd have to wonder about the intelligence of anyone who is offended by the words of strangers on a messageboard :confused:
 

ATeam

Senior Member
Retired Expediter
What you need to be aware of, and really can not truly know,
is what motivates the person starting the post/thread.

Is it ego? Self importance? Are they justifying their self worth?
Protecting their friend's esteem? Are they envious of others' success and attack to justify their failures? You can find it all right here.

Yes, you can indeed find all of that here, but so what?

When you research a new business opportunity, do you really need to know what the motives are of the people who provide the information? Or will you be better served by focusing on the information itself and taking THAT for what it is worth?

If someone tells a newbie "don't even think of entering this business if you do not want to use dirty showers and sleep in parking lots that smell of urine," what does it matter what the motives are behind the statement?

A smart person researching the industry would have no need to know the speaker's motives. He or she would instead set out to determine first if it is true that the showers are dirty and the parking lots smell bad, and then determine if he or she could deal it.

Notice too that a good-hearted, well-intentioned expediter might say you can get home every week. Another good-hearted, well-intenioned expediter might say you can gross over $200,000 a year. Both can be telling the truth but both statements are cannot be true together (one truck operation).

A fool newbie would latch onto both statements and jump in thinking he or she will make $200,000 and get home every week. A smart newbie will avoid that mistake by using multiple sources of information and sifting out the truth for the kind of business the newbie intends to run.

Newbies would be wise to examine motives but the motives best examined are one's own. What are you motivated to believe and why are you motivated to believe it?
 
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purgoose10

Veteran Expediter
I hope I haven't given anyone bad advise. I would never tell someone not to get into trucking because trucking has been good to me over the last 40 yrs but I guess the only answer to that is daahhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!
Just another old time trucker that doesn't know any better.

The only advise I will give to a newbie is "You better be **** sure your ready to commit because it will take a long time to get over it".:eek:
 

Turtle

Administrator
Staff member
Retired Expediter
Am I the only one who sees the rich, thick irony in the original post? Someone who posts their option about how everyone else's opinion is somehow worthless and/or wrong, and tells newbies not to pay attention to opinion. Too funny. In case others have missed it, I quote: "Newbies beware! Much of what you read, which is presented as profession opinions, is just that. Just an opinion. And we all know how common opinions are."

Here's a great example of that lowest shoe size thing...

"What you need to be aware of, and really can not truly know,
is what motivates the person starting the post/thread."


Uhm, if you really can not truly know such a thing, then by definition you don't need to be aware of it, as it is therefor irrelevant. It sounds nifty and high hifalutin (pompous, bombastic, haughty, pretentious), tho, I'll give ya that. But it's really just a low shoe size talking.
 

Brisco

Expert Expediter
Also, a word to "Newbies"........

Research the member themselves on all discussion boards you seek info from and see what their history, experience, and personal opinions are in general when it comes to the industry you're seeking info about.

Case in point, the OP of this thread has been here for quite a while with very few postings. Look over their posts here. Majority are condescending and present a very disgruntled driver. Also, said member results to name calling when his opinions/thoughts are the least bit challenged.

So, research the messenger too while researching the message they bring forth. As for the OP of this thread, Well, he's admitted to having a Pooping in Pants Problem while Driving here recently, so consider the message he's trying to relay upon newbies and come to your own conclusion as to whether what he brings forth is even worth taking in, know what I mean. :rolleyes:
 

ccrider

Seasoned Expediter
Also, a word to "Newbies"........

Research the member themselves on all discussion boards you seek info from and see what their history, experience, and personal opinions are in general when it comes to the industry you're seeking info about.

Case in point, the OP of this thread has been here for quite a while with very few postings. Look over their posts here. Majority are condescending and present a very disgruntled driver. Also, said member results to name calling when his opinions/thoughts are the least bit challenged.

So, research the messenger too while researching the message they bring forth. As for the OP of this thread, Well, he's admitted to having a Pooping in Pants Problem while Driving here recently, so consider the message he's trying to relay upon newbies and come to your own conclusion as to whether what he brings forth is even worth taking in, know what I mean. :rolleyes:

And my point is made is as little as 8 post replies!

This is too easy!
 

OntarioVanMan

Retired Expediter
Owner/Operator
And my point is made is as little as 8 post replies!

This is too easy!

I guess I am just a stupid truck driver that just don't get your point....

other then you just don't have any idea what a forum really is...

ever read a law or mechanical forum..you'll find the same thing....opinions and some facts.
 

Turtle

Administrator
Staff member
Retired Expediter
And my point is made is as little as 8 post replies!
No, not really. Your premise was flawed from the beginning, and so are your conclusions.

This is too easy!
You may think it's easy, but if you've been an expediter as long as you've been a member of this forum, and you continue to remain as clueless about expediting and this forum as your postings indicate, then you are never likely to be anything other than the grumbly poppiepants you make yourself out to be.
 
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LisaLouHoo

Expert Expediter
LOL, good one, CC. I guess if the EO lifers were really interested in helping Newbies, they would actually give them some bit of advice rather than the stock "check the forum archives" answer...rather there is that faction who seem to get satisfaction of trying to make others feel inferior.

"Bruises fade and bones will mend-but a psyche can be ruined FOREVER" : LisaLouHoo, c. 2008
 
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