Condescending Reveal

Framing a correction or disagreement as "bad news" or revelatory knowledge the other person lacks, positioning yourself as the educator.

• "I may have bad news for you on how compilers typically work."
• "You might want to sit down for this..."
• "Hate to break it to you, but..."
• "Someone should probably tell you that..."

Why It's Unproductive

Treats disagreement as ignorance rather than a difference in perspective or priorities. The "let me educate you" framing is condescending and makes the other person defensive before they've even heard the point. Often happens when someone sees an opportunity to demonstrate expertise, but the superior tone damages the conversation more than the information helps it.

The Better Move

• "Compilers actually have some non-deterministic aspects like optimization heuristics, though I get your concern about LLMs."
• "Modern compilers aren't fully deterministic either, but you're right that LLM unpredictability is a different category."
• "Interesting point. Traditional compilers have some non-deterministic optimizations too. Here's how..."
• "I see your concern about determinism. Worth noting that even C compilers have some undefined behaviors."

Why It's Better

Shares the information without the condescending framing. Acknowledges the other person's concern as legitimate while adding your perspective, creating space for actual discussion rather than correction.

Example

OP: "IDK how everyone else feels about it, but a non-deterministic 'compiler' is the last thing I need."

Antipattern reply: "I may have bad news for you on how compilers typically work."

Better: "Modern compilers actually have some non-deterministic aspects (optimization heuristics, etc.), though I get your concern about LLM unpredictability being a different level."