Is Yahoo! Answers really a place to gain knowledge? (or....)?

There are no overt actions. EVERYTHING is ulterior. Even Mother Theresa had selfish reasons for her charitable work. People function under two basic precepts... avoidance of pain, and acquisition of pleasure. I'm giving you this answer right now because it makes me feel good to educate people. Educating people means I have less stupidity and ignorance to deal with on a daily basis - even if I never meet you. It's my little contribution to the human adventure.

I also get a slight ego boost knowing that others will read my answer and think, "wow, she's really smart!"

Y!A is my procrastination tool of choice right now. I get a nice self-esteem hit from being able to contribute something that I think is helpful (even if no one else thinks so), so it doesn't feel as pointless as watching YouTube, which is my 2nd-favorite procrastination method.

Also, I am in graduate school for psychology, a career I chose so I can get to talk to people and help them, but at this stage of my dissertation I don't get to talk to or help actual people, I have to sit in a room by myself and analyze data and write abstract academic stuff no one will ever read. So it really helps me feel less frustrated, though I spend too much time at it.

I like when mine is chosen as the best answer, and I tend not to answer back randomly or in a snarky way, so as to preserve my percentage. If they did the leaderboard with percentage of best answers, not most activity in general, I would be more motivated by points. Which is silly, but true.

It's true, Yahoo! Answer is a place to gain knowledge. Sometimes, you want to know what things are, but you can't find it on the net. So your only choice to ask your question on Yahoo! Answers. People of different kind come together, bring their knowledge and putting it into one. There are many material you could learn and read from. You could never go wrong with this destination. You could find way of communicating to other that you didn't know it existed, by asking questions. Sure there are silly answers and questions here, but most of these are good people, trying to bring the correct answers.

So, I hope this helps with your question!!!

It is just a mixture of all three. I find it a pleasure to help people, but I also admire when other people have "top contributor" under their names and I hope that some-day that will be under mine too. It is sometimes annoying when people ask stupid questions, but you know there are a lot of people out there and no-one is the same.

I think many people (perhaps most) do care enough to answer a question seriously--they may not answer it wisely, but they do try to be helpful. And I think that the feeling of satisfaction one gets from helping another person is the real reward, not the points.

Depends on the question. Sometimes you get good answers, sometimes not. Just realize that if you are asking a homework question that the answer you get might not be right.

depends if your going to represent yourself