I'm only this old, please excuse my....

[Baby Astronaut]

...grammar, wild ideas, etc.

 

i.e. those online people who claim to be a younger age, usually in order to excuse their post's grammar or a wild idea.

 

But on a psychological level, do you think it completely natural for a kid to even highlight their age in such a circumstance?

 

I wouldn't think so. Actually seems like a cover either for asking (what they perceive to be) a "stupid" question, or their partly illegible grammar.

 

But let's hear what the experts say

[iNow]

I think it could also represent intimidation and insecurity. When young, and seeing some of the caliber of posters here or elsewhere, the thrust and force of some of the arguments regularly put forth, it can make one uneasy dipping in a toe... especially when young and struggling to find themselves socially and intellectually in this wild world.

 

In essence, my interpretation when I read those comments is, "I really want to learn, and I know I barely know anything, and I've also seen how crazy smart some of you are, so please be nice to me."

 

 

Obviously, it depends on the specific case... but overall I'd say it's just a person acknowledging their own limitations, showing respect to the audience of their post, and an implicit request not to be flamed.

 

I could be wrong, though. That's just my initial impression.

[A Tripolation]

In essence, my interpretation when I read those comments is, "I really want to learn, and I know I barely know anything, and I've also seen how crazy smart some of you are, so please be nice to me."

 

 

Obviously, it depends on the specific case... but overall I'd say it's just a person acknowledging their own limitations, showing respect to the audience of their post, and an implicit request not to be flamed.

 

Exactly what I think as well. I don't think it is a cover-up. One of the first posts I saw here was of Swansont destroying what I now know to be what you all consider crackpots...and to this day I still don't post in the physics forums...

[iNow]

One of the first posts I saw here was of Swansont destroying what I now know to be what you all consider crackpots...

 

Hey! He was responding to ME in that post, you jerk!

[Phi for All]

I think it's the pre-teen/teen equivalent of "I know my story isn't very good, but I wanted to know what you think". It's a way of lowering the expectations of the authority figure so they will adjust their standards downward, modifying an uncertain outcome and avoiding disappointment from the authority.

[Baby Astronaut]

Probably everyone's correct.

 

But I thought having seen it elsewhere other than here, for instance on gaming boards. However a search on google turned up just one page of hits for such requests.

 

http://www.google.com/#hl=en&q=forums+"im+only+15"+"so+please+excuse"+my+spelling

[jake.com]

That's why you pay attention in English class and learn your language well enough to competently display what you want to say.

[Cap'n Refsmmat]

I suppose you can use me as an example to study. I joined SFN when I was twelve, though I didn't admit my age to anyone for several years. But I was a special case; I thought I knew everything, so I just flung ideas out there with no "I'm only twelve, so..." When reprimanded I grew defensive and angry.

 

This is why I hate reading threads with my posts from 2004.

[A Tripolation]

When reprimanded I grew defensive and angry.

 

This is why I hate reading threads with my posts from 2004.

 

Cap'n, you were a troll????

Oh...this is better than the time when I found out that I could skate across my laundry room if I wore my old sandals.

[mooeypoo]

Cap'n, you were a troll????

Oh...this is better than the time when I found out that I could skate across my laundry room if I wore my old sandals.

The best troll EVAAAAAH.

 

(Capn, where's my promotion?)

 

 

Anyhoo I thought I'd point out, also, that internet forums are, quite often, a nasty, brutish, mean place to discuss weird ideas. Kids might preface their weird-ideas with "sorry, I don't know much" to avoid having people rip their heads off for saying something that might sound stupid to more knowledgeable folk.

 

Of course,that neeeevvvveeerrr happens in this forum.

Never.

[Baby Astronaut]

This is why I hate reading threads with my posts from 2004.

Wow, I jumped back in time to read some of your posts, and discovered a few somethings.

 

Like if anyone doubts evolution, we can now show them the indisputable evidence below (in order)...

 

2002

 

2003

 

2004

 

last year

 

 

 

And here's some cool links I picked up along my journey.

 

Planetary Highways (fafalone)

In various regions of our solar system, competing gravitational forces virtually cancel each other out, leaving corridors though which spacecraft can travel with little effort

 

"New Form of Life" Claim (Sayonara³)

Doctors claim to have uncovered new evidence that the tiny particles known as "nannobacteria" are indeed alive and may cause a range of human illnesses

........

"But if you go back to how we defined life prior to our knowing about DNA, our criteria was that things multiplied in culture. This is what we have."

 

Human Cloning Go-Ahead for UK Scientists (Sayonara³)

Scientists there believe this is the first time such a licence has been granted in any European country.

 

 

 

And more blasts from the past of SFN 2002

 

New Meaning to Fuel Effeciency (kenel)

Pich drove the 1-liter car from Wolfsburg to Hamburg, 110 miles, averaging 264 miles per gallon on the way.

 

So long second law.. (blike)

One of the most important principles of physics, that disorder, or entropy, always increases, has been shown to be untrue.

 

Scientists...carried out an experiment involving lasers and microscopic beads that disobeys the so-called Second Law of Thermodynamics, something many scientists had considered impossible.