"know it all"s?

Question

I know a lot about fish and I try to educate people about them in our Agriculture class but people just give me glares like I'm a know it all. My teacher used to ask me for advise on the fish tanks and I would tell her things and teach her because(I may sound mean, but its true) she's 'fish retarded' and doesn't know the first thing about caring for them. So I would help her. Now, she thinks she knows everything! The nitrite levels went up really high in all of the tanks, and I tried to explain why, but she blew me off(along with the rest of the class) and looked online to find *gasp* the same CRAP I was telling her! I tried to explain why you cant just dip a test strip in the fish water(chemicals and all) and everyone just dipped the strip right in their tank and WOW all the fish got sick and now they're dying one by one.

Why are so many people impervious to advise? Why wont they take advise from someone who has had fish tanks for the last 17yrs?

Please no smart remarks, thanks.

Answer 1

People don't like being told what to do. It is that simple.

I worked at a fish store for a period of time..people are very very dense. They come in and buy everything they need for a tank...and then say they want to bring home fish as well. I could tell them till i was blue in the face that the fish will die, and the tank needs to cycle before they can add anything living to it....and they will still buy the fish. People would ask me a question about a fish or coral...and if they don't like the answer...its always "well i heard from my brothers friends uncles moms sister that those sharks can live with clowfish" A few times i even had irate customers come back yelling at us because their fish died...even when i told them it would.


I can't count how many times people have refused to take my advice and came back to ask me what went wrong. And don't dare tell them it was something they did...they won't have that. It must have been a sick fish or the stores fault somehow!


For some reason i see this a lot more when dealing with Fish...people don't take them as seriously as other pets like dogs cats etc. You wouldn't go buy a dog if you didn't know where to get shots for it, didn't have food, or didn't even know what a dog was would you? But people will do that with fish...its just a decoration to them...not a pet. And they won't take it seriously until they blow hundreds of dollars on a crashed tank because they wouldn't follow proper aquarium start-up and care techniques.

Answer 2

>Please no smart remarks, thanks.

Can dish it out but can't take it? I know a lot too. So do others here. Some think they know a lot.

I've been keeping fish successfully since the early 1970's. I've bred some community fish semi-professionally since the early 1980's. One of my current projects is growing out a variety of ram cichlids for a local retailer (and some other SA Cichlids too). The wholesaler ships them at approximately 1". They are very young. They cost about $1-1.50 depending on the fish, wholesale. It is also cheap to ship 1" fish rather than 2" fish.
I have a bunch in various stages of growth. Once they hit about 2-2.5" (about 3/4's size of adult) they are ready for sale. Instead of getting $8-12 per fish, they are getting $12-18 per fish because no other retailer in this market has them this mature and this nice. Presently, I have about 200 fish in my care worth about $2,500 retail. I make several hundred dollars a month profit doing this.
I don't like to brag and this is the first time I mentioned anything of my credentials. Somebody out there trusts me with a lot of fish. I think I know plenty, but not everything.
Here I try not to be a know it all. I try to give solid advice on only basic subjects and avoid going out on a limb. I certainly don't try to answer every question and never belittled anyone.
Sometimes that's hard. I see a lot of stupid answers here. I see a lot of the same basic questions, again and again. I try to help. I don't get offended by people who thumbs down me. I don't bother giving others the thumbs down except in the case of extreme misinformation. I vote for most best answers, sometimes my own answer, sometimes not.
If you know a lot about a subject, that's good. Sometimes the delivery is the hardest part. I'm still learning too.

Answer 3

Everyone does that sometimes, myself included to be sure. People sometimes have a hard time accepting advise or information that may change their opinion. Some people also learn better by doing instead of being told. Being a teacher myself I know lots of teachers are very much this way. They feel that they need to appear to have all the answers and know so much more than the students or they will not be taken seriously. I'm not saying your teacher is that way, just that it happens a lot. I would say just take it as a learning experience and feel secure and comfortable in knowing that no matter what she may say or do, you have given the best advice you could and tried your best to help. That's all you can ask of yourself and all anyone can expect.

MM

Answer 4

Some people though they ask for your advice, just don't get it. Almost like they have to hear advice then go against it for their own foolishness.
Not to change topic, but how many times do parents tell their children not to do something? How many times do they actually listen? Though good sound advice is giving it's not always what is heard.
Or they think that say, not removing water safely will be quicker result, not thinking usually instruction booklet says so, they have to see what damage is caused as a result of not heading the advice.
All in all, people ask for advice even when they don't want to hear it.

Answer 5

People are stubborn and generally not very bright - they'd rather remain ignorant if it means they can think they're right. Also, if they hear something they haven't before they'll automatically assume it's wrong - think outside the box and its all over (If I recommend something here that isn't plastered all over the internet already, it usually receives multiple thumbs down, as people haven't heard of it.

Plus, I can't count the number of times somebody here posted a question, got 9 good answers and 1 lousy answer, and ended up selecting that one as the best because it was just what they wanted to hear.

My best advice is not to give advice unless it's asked for, because no matter how right you might be, they just don't want to hear it.

Answer 6

I, too, find it very frustrating when you know something and others doubt & disregard your advice. As a Master Dog trainer I have had this problem with people thinking they know their dogs better than a Canine Psycologist. Sometimes it just makes you want to cry cause they refuse to even try to understand. Or want to argue over a point that they simply don't understand.

Their total ignorance is astounding and their refusal to believe the truth as if it were made up makes me want to shake some sense into them.

I know canines like the back of my hand and I, too, know a lot about fish, cats, wolves, ferrets & people too. The total ignorance is what gets to me and their refusal to learn something they never knew before.

I know what you mean. I'm right beside you on this one.

Answer 7

All good answers.

Being a parent and young once myself, Once must ask themselves did you ever listen to the wise advice of your parents? I find the older I get, the smarter my parents become. It is unfortunate hind sight is always 20/20. No one ever wants to admit they were/are wrong.

Some people are just stuck in the "old school" or "their way" of doing things. Once they have tried it their way and fail, then they will try it your way and tell themselves it was their idea all along.

People are funny. I've come to realize if you ask me for my advice or opinion and I give it, what you choose to do with that information is up to you. I could be wrong I could be right. At this point in my life Even the "I told you so's" are more like an eye roll.

I wouldn't get my gutchies in an twist over it. If we allknew everything there was to know, MM would be out of a job and the rest of us would actually have to do some work during the day!

Answer 8

It's all in the presentation. You've got to make them think that they thought of it. Not so much giving the answers,but getting the learner to ask the right question. People are such dummies. Good luck from a guy with a lot of old fish.----PeeTee

Answer 9

Maybe you're coming across as know it all in all the wrong ways. You can't force your knowledge on people,if you try they will NOT listen and seek answers elsewhere. Try communicating your knowledge in different ways.