Uncyclopedia:Don't stuff parakeets up your nose

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This is an essay. It is not an ignorable policy on Uncyclopedia, so you should ignore it even more and disregard the mad ramblings of its writer. Or you could submit it as an Uncycloversity assignment in lieu of actually doing any work.


Nutshell.svg This page in a nutshell: If you show people a way to do something, and tell them not to do it, they may be tempted to do it anyway.
Discouraging the insertion of birds into nasal passages may seem like a good idea, but may have unintended consequences when told to people with naive and adventurous minds.[1]
The little boy's mother was off to market. She worried about her boy, who was always up to some mischief. She sternly admonished him, "Be good. Don't get into trouble. Don't eat all the cabbage. Don't spill all the milk. Don't throw stones at the cow. Don't fall down the well." The boy had done all of these things on other market days. Hoping to head off new trouble, she added, "And don't stuff parakeets up your nose!" This was a new idea for the boy, who promptly tried it out.

In our zeal to head off others' unwise action, we may put forth ideas they have not entertained. It may not be wise to caution against such possibilities. Prophylactic admonition may trigger novel mischief. As the popular saying goes, "don't give 'em any ideas."

In other words, don't give examples of how to cause disruption (e.g. "don't click on this link or you will crash Uncyclopedia") because this may will actually tempt some people to do it.

  1. Foreign Body In The Nose. Kids Health. NBC11.com. Archived from the original on 2007-02-28.