Musings on STFW

I have some T-shirts that are like文化衫 (culture shirts). Most of them are used to show off my niche interests. For example, I used to have an Aperture Science T-shirt, and another one just like Roy’s — one of the main characters from the British sitcom The IT Crowd — a black shirt that says “I don’t work here”.

I bought it because it was the cheapest, only eight yuan. But what I really wanted was another T-shirt from Season 1, Episode 1. It features a great man holding a book with “最高指示” (Supreme Instructions) written on it. Above his head, four big letters stand out:

RTFM

It’s an abbreviation for Read The F**king Manual. There are many other variants, like STFW (Search The F**king Web), RTFSC (Read The F**king Source Code). In short, it all boils down to one thing: search for yourself.

I completely agree with this sentiment. Although it sounds like passing the buck, it’s actually a very accurate description of some netizens today.

If they have a problem, they won’t search for why it happened. Instead, they’ll latch onto someone and keep asking “why, huh? why.” They think answering their questions is a given, and not answering is a crime against nature. But they never consider that the other person is also a human being with their own things to do, rather than wasting time on their trivial issue.

Sadly, I feel like people today have lost basic information retrieval skills.

I have a few friends who always ask me for help with trivial matters, most of which fall into the category of basic computer operations or things they could look up online. Every time I see such a question, I pause for a moment, answer it, and then ask a soul-stirring question: “Can’t you just search for it online?”

Those earth-shattering questions were always brushed off with mumbles.

AI is developing rapidly now, and can even give accurate answers (or, relatively accurate ones) that search engines can’t. But for some reason, people don’t even want to use AI — they’d rather chase after a real person.

I once asked a friend why he keeps chasing me for answers. He said, “Asking you feels more personal.”

I’m speechless.

At least they don’t curse me out when I don’t answer.

I’m happy to help others. If an old lady falls, I might actually help her up. But I don’t like people coming to me with a stupid question asking how to do something. It’s a waste of my time and life.

Some people ask me, “Hey, how do you know all this?” I looked it up online, dude.

I’m not trying to say I’m superior or anything — I’ve never thought that. I’ve made the same low-level RTFM mistakes too. It’s just that this basic skill, which should be fundamental for any netizen, has become so rare that I can’t help but feel a sense of sorrow.

This article isn’t directly about searching, but it’s still a good example of how to ask questions properly. I think this article is worth a close read:

How To Ask Questions The Smart Way

The wording might be a bit messy, but I hope it gets my point across.

That is all.