Great points but in the discussions that I’m referring to, the “too many knobs for me” response isn’t really relevant to the topic. It seems to be more of an attitude of the responder of an attempt to slight someone or imply that they are somehow better than the person who has more. I used the following example in an attempt to explain.
A person acquires a new bass or has one that they feel really good about. A picture of the instrument is shared along with some commentary related to how they feel about their instrument. They don’t suggest that anyone needs to make a similar acquisition. They’re simply pleased with their bass.
Inevitably someone, and often multiple individuals, will post the knobs statement. Why can’t they just let the person who is happy with their bass live? Now, if someone had suggested that someone needed to add that type of bass I could better understand the response. Personally, I would just avoid saying anything if it wasn’t my preference unless I was asked for my thoughts directly.
Got it.
In your example... I think people respond like that for a couple reasons:
Number one, because they are angry, depressed, bitter, resentful, or maybe they are just "that kind of person." (we can get into a huge discussion about why people are like that... but that's a big can of worms).
When you feel that way inside, someone else's happiness or success is often a reminder of your unhappiness, failure, or lack of success. Rather than reflect on your own feelings (I have 6 basses, why don't I feel happy like the OP?), people lash out in anger.
When people post stuff like: "too many knobs," I think what they are really saying is "I feel unhappy with my own choices, and rather than taking time for introspection and reflection on my own feeling, I'm just going to lash out to try to make someone else feel bad."
When you are miserable, you incorrectly think that you will feel better if everyone is miserable with you.
-- Get down in the hole with me, then my feelings are validated - I'm unhappy, but so is everyone else, so this is normal.
Number two, which relates back to my first post, is that people respond with the "too many knobs" type comments because they don't have the thinking and language to express themselves any other way.
As I said, I am a HS teacher. When I ask my 14yo students a question: "what is better, this or that." All of them can answer "this" or "that",,,, but when you ask them WHY, many can't do it. "That is better than this because _________ ."
That type of response requires deep thinking, organizing my thoughts, putting my thoughts into language, and then making sure that language is accessible to others. Some people never got the skills (formally or informally) to actually have a conversation, which is not actually an easy task.
And, a whole lot of people were never taught - "if you can't say something nice, then don't say anything at all."
