Why is it, that people don't look things up for themselves?

Good question, and one I ask myself about 20 times a day on here. Either people are too lazy, or they just don't know how google works, or what the search bar is for. It especially surprises me because I'm old enough to have never had anything to do with a computer until my late forties and it didn't take me long to figure out that the computer functions like a giant reference library. I'm amazed that people who are young enough to have grown up using a computer apparently don't know that. I wonder where all the tax dollars went, the ones I paid so students in my local schools could have access to computers and learn to deal with modern technology, the taxes I had to pay for them to have computers when I couldn't afford my own computer.

I like answering questions when it's something that's a little hard to find out, but when it's something that I can find out within 60 seconds by googling, my answer is sometimes something like "look up a recipe for chocolate cupcakes and follow that recipe", or "google chocolate cupcake recipe". Something along the lines of "you can feed a man a fish and he won't be hungry for one day, but teach a man to fish and he won't be hungry for the rest of his life."

I also think we have, lately, a culture of " I don't know how, and it's hard to learn, why don't you do it for me?", an unwillingness to do some of the hard work of developing your own skills. We seem to be, increasingly, people who just couldn't be bothered learning anything outside a few things we feel comfortable with already. The good old American work ethic, the one that says that whatever it is that has to be done we can do it, the one that built this continent, seems to be in short supply.

I've been a member of YahooAnswers for quite some time now. I used to think the same way you do until I figured out that some of the people asking the questions don't have English as their first language and they have no idea what to look up to find their answer - let alone the English word for it. So when I answer questions for others, even the simple ones, I come at the answers as if I am teaching a person from a different culture and way of life how we do things here.

You've no doubt seen questions about "Please give me recipes for real American food". The people asking for those don't understand we are a melting pot of a lot of cultures and have "American food" from all walks of life so I answer their questions with a little American history.

Some ask questions to do their homework for school because they would rather someone just give them the answer. With those I try to write the formula to figure the answer out - and not the answer. Giving someone instruction on how to solve a problem always works better than just giving them the answer.

That's how I look at YahooAnswers and my involvement with it.

Hope that helps.

you spotted that too? Typing your question in to a yahoo or Google seek in lots of cases would get the respond-authentic form the source--or utilising the telephone e book....How would i understand in the adventure that your coverage organisation would approve or conceal this or that technique? a similar attempt to ask us--would supply them the best internet site of the business enterprise that they desire--yet they arrive here...and ask like they do homework solutions. MY well-liked--and that i improve into talked approximately as a butt-insky for this--are people who write in that they have got chest pains...they'd desire to be calling an ambulance-no longer logging in-asking Their burning question-and arranged for an answer for a 5th grader who tells them they'd desire to call their dr...day after today......! Or the undesirable lady who's threatening suicide--back-911! I desire there improve right into a sprint element-that emergency help could be contacted--for the place ever in the international those everybody is---there have been 2 diverse ones of those merely this week! I understand this is merely Yahoo solutions--yet I do desire there improve into some protection internet-to spare childrens the accountability of desperate people who write it..with the combination of youngsters who slip in snide irrelevant solutions..it incredibly is remarkable-and that i believe you. human beings would desire to apply their telephone e book and their dictionary--or call a DR for medical problems--how would all of us understand if somebody has a uncommon effective vintage-from here-or testicular maximum cancers? My paintings degree-of path-qualifies me! it incredibly is strategies boggling. i think I merely shouldn't look.

I concur.

Although i guess some people find Measurement Conversion sites a bit of a pain (which i can sort of sympathise with).

Overall i'd say it was simple "Human Nature"

(after all if we all took the logical / sensible & most efficient Options all the time then we'd have no Wars / Famine or "Bankers" ; )

I think it's quite possible that people post such questions, not out of laziness, but because they want to interact with other people and feel a sense of community here. And yes, perhaps it's a bit silly to ask simple questions for that reason, but it isn't hurting anyone.

Look it up.

Hey!

I've only been on Y!answers since January, and I completely agree with you, I only ask questions when I can't find the answer myself.

Because not everyone is very egotistic like you and enjoys being a dick