As much as it hurts to be wrong, all it means is that learning has occurred and we have become wiser by that much. But some people seem to think being wrong is an admission that everything they know is wrong and that they must now live in exile because of it. This is not the case, but here are some things you might want to realize about yourself.
PREFERENCE
Oh, good old reliable preference. The excuse to all who may challenge ones way of doing things. I hear it all the time when I confront people when they say a certain gun sucks. Well my friends, if you have to revert to saying "it's just my preference" after you get caught making a generalization, you might want to get in the habit of just not speaking to begin with. Until you are truly educated on how a gun works and what it takes to run the gun, you literally have no right to make a judgement of whether it is better or worse than some other gun. Especially if you are trying to apply what you do with some other gun on this new platform, you are dead wrong in trying to judge it accordingly.
For example, of course I will prefer a hammer to a drill if I never even used a drill before. But that doesn't mean I am going to say drills suck because I have never used one. So don't pull back to using preference as an excuse when you open your mouth and people call you on your ignorance. If you have never learned how, or even tried to run the gun your trashing, you literally just lost the preference excuse. In my opinion, you can not judge a platform or item until you have learned how to use it and actually ran it effectively. This is because once you are trained and practiced, you actually will know how well your body naturally functions with that platform under stress. You may find that your "preference" will shift, as mine did.
CONSISTENCY IN TRAINING
The argument to not switch to another gun because you want to "stay consistent" in your training is the next biggest excuse I hear. Here is the reality folks, so brace yourself. If you own and shoot a pistol, a shotgun, an M-4 style rifle, and a mag-less bolt action, you just exposed that you don't know what your talking about. Operating and reloading all the guns I listed take VERY different procedures far separated from the other. Therefore, every time you shoot that other gun, you are doing exactly the opposite of what you claimed you wanted to do. Enough said
PRIDE
This is basically what all this comes down to, folks. We are a prideful people and we like to stand alone. There is no greater feeling in the world than knowing something other people don't, and being that beacon of knowledge, am I right? But listen, the use of these two previously discussed excuses won't help your pride. If anything, it will cause a bigger hit when someone finally comes out and unveils your ignorance, inexperience, and lack of knowledge. The sooner you accept you're wrong, the better. If it is a discussion of bullpups vs M-4's, you don't have to convert one way or the other when you are proven wrong. Acknowledgement that you didn't know something that narrows the margin of advantage for the other platform is enough. This is how we maintain an adult conversation and learn as a community of rational human beings.
BAD REVIEWERS
As a writer and a reviewer, I find it hard to listen to other writers say something about a platform sucking, but they can't even tell me what sucked about it. All you get is the same old "It just isn't the same as my AR" argument. In my view, having been a consumer looking at reviews all over, I want someone who can study each and every product smartly and educate me on the fact of how to use it. Whether it is on the subject of guns, knives, or gear, my intent is to always give credit where it is due, and find a way to get the product to work for the consumer. If this takes 1,000 rounds or a month of straight usage, that is my job. I want to help the consumer get accurate information on how to use the product to perform as designed. And hey, if it fails, be fair and let the audience know that you had issues, and see if there are solutions or patterns. That is how I write, and how I review things, because those are the types of reviews I wanted to see.
WRAP-UP
In all, I hope that you learned a little something and were humbled. No matter how much you think you know, because some dude that was a SEAL told yuh so, you don't know enough. Tread lightly out there and be open minded. There are a million ways to skin a cat, but there is only one way to look like an ass, and that is to think you know it all and refuse to grow and learn. Stay smart, stay informed, keep growing, keep training, and keep an open mind.
Oh, good old reliable preference. The excuse to all who may challenge ones way of doing things. I hear it all the time when I confront people when they say a certain gun sucks. Well my friends, if you have to revert to saying "it's just my preference" after you get caught making a generalization, you might want to get in the habit of just not speaking to begin with. Until you are truly educated on how a gun works and what it takes to run the gun, you literally have no right to make a judgement of whether it is better or worse than some other gun. Especially if you are trying to apply what you do with some other gun on this new platform, you are dead wrong in trying to judge it accordingly.
For example, of course I will prefer a hammer to a drill if I never even used a drill before. But that doesn't mean I am going to say drills suck because I have never used one. So don't pull back to using preference as an excuse when you open your mouth and people call you on your ignorance. If you have never learned how, or even tried to run the gun your trashing, you literally just lost the preference excuse. In my opinion, you can not judge a platform or item until you have learned how to use it and actually ran it effectively. This is because once you are trained and practiced, you actually will know how well your body naturally functions with that platform under stress. You may find that your "preference" will shift, as mine did.
CONSISTENCY IN TRAINING
The argument to not switch to another gun because you want to "stay consistent" in your training is the next biggest excuse I hear. Here is the reality folks, so brace yourself. If you own and shoot a pistol, a shotgun, an M-4 style rifle, and a mag-less bolt action, you just exposed that you don't know what your talking about. Operating and reloading all the guns I listed take VERY different procedures far separated from the other. Therefore, every time you shoot that other gun, you are doing exactly the opposite of what you claimed you wanted to do. Enough said
PRIDE
This is basically what all this comes down to, folks. We are a prideful people and we like to stand alone. There is no greater feeling in the world than knowing something other people don't, and being that beacon of knowledge, am I right? But listen, the use of these two previously discussed excuses won't help your pride. If anything, it will cause a bigger hit when someone finally comes out and unveils your ignorance, inexperience, and lack of knowledge. The sooner you accept you're wrong, the better. If it is a discussion of bullpups vs M-4's, you don't have to convert one way or the other when you are proven wrong. Acknowledgement that you didn't know something that narrows the margin of advantage for the other platform is enough. This is how we maintain an adult conversation and learn as a community of rational human beings.
BAD REVIEWERS
As a writer and a reviewer, I find it hard to listen to other writers say something about a platform sucking, but they can't even tell me what sucked about it. All you get is the same old "It just isn't the same as my AR" argument. In my view, having been a consumer looking at reviews all over, I want someone who can study each and every product smartly and educate me on the fact of how to use it. Whether it is on the subject of guns, knives, or gear, my intent is to always give credit where it is due, and find a way to get the product to work for the consumer. If this takes 1,000 rounds or a month of straight usage, that is my job. I want to help the consumer get accurate information on how to use the product to perform as designed. And hey, if it fails, be fair and let the audience know that you had issues, and see if there are solutions or patterns. That is how I write, and how I review things, because those are the types of reviews I wanted to see.
WRAP-UP
In all, I hope that you learned a little something and were humbled. No matter how much you think you know, because some dude that was a SEAL told yuh so, you don't know enough. Tread lightly out there and be open minded. There are a million ways to skin a cat, but there is only one way to look like an ass, and that is to think you know it all and refuse to grow and learn. Stay smart, stay informed, keep growing, keep training, and keep an open mind.
RSS Feed