[Swizec]

> Did you try X?" > "Uh yes I did" (then to be polite I repeat my explanation of doing X)

As somebody who often does this, it’s because 8 times out of 10 it works. Magically when you try again and go meticulously through the steps with someone watching, they work even though they didn’t before. I don’t know why but it works on me too.

I’m not being condescending, I’m trying to be your rubber ducky. Because it works. Many times when you’re explaining it to me, you’ll realize the thing you thought you tried you actually didn’t.

Being your rubber ducky is more important than just telling you the answer (which I often don’t even know so I’m bringing you along to my thought process)

[l0b0]

It's still frustrating to be at the receiving end of this. It's infuriating when this is the response after spending hours or days researching, then trying and retrying various things, being meticulous in recording every step involved.

I've been on Stack* for a while now, and generally take people at their word when they say they've done X. The results are often surprising. For example, they've copied code from a blog which auto-formats <pre> contents, replacing hyphens with en dashes. You'd only notice if your font makes this noticeable or by running the actual code.

One reason it would be OK to ask someone to try X again is if they haven't included enough information for anyone to replicate the issue. However, the better response in these cases is usually to ask for supplementary information until it can be reproduced.

[Swizec]

> The results are often surprising. For example, they've copied code from a blog which auto-formats <pre> contents

Perfect example! Often if you tell me “I tried to copy this and it didn’t work” I don’t know why. But if you show me how you copied and what exactly, things like this immediately pop up as possible clues.

I know it’s frustrating but it really does work on everyone. Half the time I show someone what I’m struggling with and I try to show them what I tried, the act of showing them reveals where I went wrong and I figure it out without them saying a word.