why do people ask questions and never look at answers?
A serious question. I enjoy answering questions and hope that I am helping the poser (ie the one that asks the question). However its very dispiriting to put a bit of effort into providing a full detailed and accurate answer, only to find that in many (even most) cases, even months after answering there are no votes at all for best answer. This is true of many different types of question, even when the poser has specifically asked for a response by a deadline. It makes me feel my time and effort was wasted. Can anyone suggest a solution? I personally feel there should be a penalty (ie a points charge) for failing to grade the answers (ie assign a best answer or no best answer) I've put this in the Science category because that's the category I'm answering questions in, so its relevant.
2012-06-06T00:42:23Z
I agree with a lot of what you say chicken, but my issue is that getting NO response is demotivating. banana, I feel if points were removed, when the questioner was notified of this it would encourage them to vote in the future. Prometheus - have you read Michael Crichton's State of Fear? Looking back there have been many "crises" - eg bird flu, and even the cold war - that in the end came to nothing. And now astronomers warn of near earth objects and that our galaxy will collide with Andromeda in only 4 bilion years - well I'm quaking in my boots! .. "if the truth is known, he could easily answer for himself." yes I get fed up with these; LMGTFY is a great resource.
Adaviel, .."don't generally ask factual questions that I can answer quicker myself" true, but there are many factual questions you can ask that lie outside ones field of expertise. If you ask algorithmic questions then (with the gift of omniscience) the answer is predictable. H
Frank N2012-06-06T16:54:19Z
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I think most look at the answers but don't bother to vote. In most cases, I think it's laziness and ingratitude, a sign of the prevalent entitlement mentality. This has been discussed many times in the appropriate channels, but the Yahoo Answers administrators have not chosen to implement anything effective. My motivation to answer comes from those who do choose to acknowledge it, plus others who might later find my answers.
As I recall, there is a penalty. It costs you points to ask. When you select a best answer, you get points back. I have almost 100,000 points, nearly all from answering questions in science. With all that, plus a dollar, I can get a cup of coffee in a few places.
Just because the asker has not chosen a best answer does not mean he/she has not read your answer. I know this first hand from Youtube. I only respond to like 1% of the comments but I read every single one of them. Here on Yahoo it's the same. Tough I have only asked a few questions, there have been 2-3 among those in which I found that none of the answers gave me the information I needed, even tough the answerers probably all thought their answer was full detailed and accurate. In that case I will not pick a best answer and leave it to the Yahoo community to decide for me. What you say about months passing with no votes for the best answer I don't understand. I have never seen a question remaining open for months, there are always a couple of votes from people on their own answers, who think they could use an extra 10 points. If I were you I wouldn't worry so much about getting the best answer or getting thumbs up. It's not all black and white here, in that the answer that is actually best gets the 10 points or the most thumbs up. I am not in favor of penalties for failing to grade an answer because this forces people to reward answers that they actually find unfulfilling. I can't say this for sure but I think the majority of answerers read your answer and appreciate your effort, even though they might not show it.
Now, how about those 10 points? I could certainly use them. Or do I need to vote for it myself?
I know what you mean ! I thuink part of the problem is that people in this age have low attention spans. This is a condition mostly created by the movies we watch which flash rapidly from one scene to another without giving us pause to understand what is going on in each scene. Likewise the dialogue is barely comprehensible, as if someone had erased half of the script. This creates a condition whereby an individual is incapable of focussing on specific issues and resolving them to the end. I would also suggest that songs which have incomprehensible lyrics but lots of howling and boom-boom is another cause. Compare this noise with the talented popular songs produced in the fifties and sixties. By the time you have spent the effort answering the question, the other individual has likely forgotten about it and is dreaming up another question which, if the truth is known, he could easily answer for himself. This technique by the way is done deliberately to keep the population confused, disoriented, and hence stupid and easy to control. This is the "moderrn" condition of Man and it is not likely to change for some time. For the present we must live with it and just be thankful that there are people like yourself who have a greater ability to communicate.
I do eventually look at all my answers, though I often miss the deadline to give a best answer or "not doing it" because I'm waiting for more answers. I can still vote, if I think an answer good.
To be honest, I don't generally ask factual questions that I can answer quicker myself, so I'm less likely to attract the kind of detailed answer you are talking about.
No. Not handiest do I consistently seem at my endeavor, I most likely opt for a BA as an alternative than placed it to vote. Voting on questions about here's damaged to the nth measure. It does not exhibit whatever important approximately the correctness and even repute of an reply.