last day (15 days later) » 

The Chaz
The Chaz
03:27
Proposed: That we - as a culture - change the way that we handle questions that aren't worded to our liking.
Henning Makholm
Henning Makholm
For future reference: kb100's deleted question
The Chaz
The Chaz
That we become more gracious, understanding, and patient with users who: post in the imperative, don't show work, etc.
Henning Makholm
Henning Makholm
Discussion in main Math chatroom started at this post and moved to this room later.
The Chaz
The Chaz
Quote = @HenningMakholm: "What I think is that we have an internal cultural feedback loop brewing, where "question in the imperative" is being used by active users as a shorthand for a whole syndrome of problems with a post -- and we run a risk of non-communication if it gets so bad that we throw it at newbies who have no chance of understanding all the unspoken implications."
Quote = Arturo Magidin: "Could this particular incident been sparked by the fact that the original poster was not a "newbie" but rather someone who had already been in the website for a while? I know my reaction is different with someone who has no reason to know the basics (though, having "grown up" in Usenet, I knew the 'lurk a bit before posting' precept which seems to have gone the way of dinosaurs) than someone who has already participated for a while."
Quote = t.b.: "Maybe this is heretic, but I'm thinking that maybe one should simply stop editing questions that haven't sparked some interest already, ignore lousy formatting and simply don't answer. People want to be helped, so it is their responsibility to deliver something presentable and understandable. They can always ask for help in formatting and formulation if they need it."
(Just a few relevant quotes from the other/main room)
Srivatsan
Srivatsan
Quote = Henning Makholm: "...that's why I proposed a new meta thread. At least, a solution would need to include Arturo's canned comment about imperatives. That one is nice and friendly, but I think it's being interpreted by too many (coming from such a legend) as a license to hate imperatives in general. It would be good if it was rephrased as being about the difference between questions and exercises instead of a grammatical nitpick."
(answering J.M.'s question: What do you think we should do?)
Quote = Arturo Magidin: "Welcome to MathSE. I see that this is your first question. So I wanted to let you know a few things about MathSE. We like to know the sources of questions - if it's homework, please add the [homework] tag. People will still help, so don't worry. We also like to know what you've tried on a problem. [cont]

These sort of pleasantries usually result in more and better answers. Finally, I should add that posting questions in the imperative (i.e. Compute all such, Prove that...) is considered rude by some of the members, so it would be nice of you to change that wording.…
Henning Makholm
Henning Makholm
03:37
My own favorite quote from myself: "The main problem is questions that simply quote an exercise problem without further. Piling on the imperative-mood aspect seems to me to be missing the point, really."
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J. M.
J. M.
As I said in the main room: what about using "... many members will react badly to questions that simply copy an exercise without adding thoughts of the poster's own" for that boilerplate? It does sound nicer...
Or is there a shorter way of saying that?
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The Chaz
The Chaz
04:01
Would anyone else care to express their opinion on the matter and/or start a meta thread?
If the suggestion is to ("just") commit to and use a standard response (e.g. Arturo's, above), then that thread already exists on meta.
Of course, we can pound out the details of such a response, bur I think a more *radical*/core change is necessary.
J. M.
J. M.
Maybe we can start afresh later. A few of the dudes retired (I called Arturo too late I guess.).
The Chaz
The Chaz
@JM That's fine. Just wanted to kick it off before retiring myself (again, that is!)
 
10 hours later…
The Chaz
The Chaz
13:36
I answered an existing question on meta. meta.math.stackexchange.com/questions/1707/…
@HenningMakholm .
Henning Makholm
Henning Makholm
14:00
@TheChaz Yes?
The Chaz
The Chaz
I only meant to alert you to the latest developments.
 
6 hours later…
Henning Makholm
Henning Makholm
19:36
Continuing the evidence collection: t.b. found this question, which I think is a good example of the focus on imperatives distracting attention away from the real problem (no work/initiative shown).
(Note how even Gerry thought the problem complained of had been cured by a mere rephrasing)

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