Wikipedia:Don't stuff beans up your nose

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This is an essay. It is not a policy or guideline, it simply reflects some opinions of its authors. Please update the page as needed, or discuss it on the talk page.

Shortcut: WP:BEANS WP:DSBUYN

This page in a nutshell: If they haven't done it already, don't tell a user not to do a specific stupid thing. It may encourage them to do it.

Discouraging the insertion of these beans into nasal passages may seem like a good policy, but may lead to unintended consequences when told to a person with a naïve and adventurous mind.^[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 beans 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 him 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 Wikipedia") because this may actually tempt some people to do it.

This rule applies only to meta-content such as project pages and talk pages, not to articles. Wikipedia is not censored for anyone's protection, and dangerous ideas in articles are covered by the risk disclaimer.