The Restaurant at the End of the Universe

xkcd

04:15

We've also developed the semi-semi-log scale, where the Y-axis for the left half of the graph is a log scale but on the right half it isn't.

b_jonas

07:38

Wow, so many featured questions.

Jenayah

<imstupid><rant>Wow, my answer to this question went so unnoticed that I forgot I wrote it and when I saw the question bumped to the homepage (again!) I thought "yeah, I was wondering that too!"</rant></imstupid>

TheLethalCarrot

08:01

I do that all the time when looking through old GoT/ASOIAF Qs to answer

Think oh hey I could answer this, scroll down and see my answer sitting at the bottom with no votes or one haha

Jenayah

^^

TheLethalCarrot

Got gold now though so my days of sifting through old stuff are behind me :P

Jenayah

As if :p don't you keep on editing some questions?

And answers

Mithrandir

08:22

@Marvin This site has a really bad habit of misinterpreting duplicate closure reasons. The thing about answers was as a litmus test if it already seems to be the same question - not that "this was tangentially answered in this other question that's a totally different question but the answer is mentioned there, so we'll close it as a dupe".

3

Unless the question is the same, it shouldn't be closed as a duplicate.

> To avoid looking silly then, I would strongly recommend using answers as more of a litmus test than as a policy: if you're already pretty sure the questions are duplicates, testing the answers of one against the other can easily confirm your suspicions. But don't close completely irrelevant questions as duplicates of one another simply because there's an animated gif that happens to apply to both...

(from here)

Honestly, this is as ridiculous as the time that Why was Harry's scar lightning-shaped? was closed as a duplicate of What was the exact shape of Harry Potter's scar?.

Mithrandir

08:41

It's not a duplicate answer system, it's a duplicate question system

TheLethalCarrot

Read my answer for an explanation of why I see the questions as duplicates and how the answers made it clearer. Though I won't get into a full discussion here, I've already spoken about it at length on that meta

Mithrandir

@TheLethalCarrot Yeah... you haven't convinced me. At all.

TheLethalCarrot

@Mithrandir Well it's convinced enough other people

Mithrandir

> The scope of the original question, "Do Hogwarts Houses have quotas?", is broad enough that to answer it talking about the number of students at Hogwarts seems important, if not necessary.

TheLethalCarrot

@Jenayah I bump a few every now and then, some to add info, some to improve formatting and some just cos I think they deserve more UVs but I don't really answer old questions nowadays unless I run into one by accident

Mithrandir

08:47

Sure, yes. Of course. But that's not what the question is about.

> In this case @Slytherincess' answer can be copied over to the dupe without changing it and it would answer the question fine, sure it would have some extra rambling but it would answer the question.

TheLethalCarrot

@Mithrandir But it is important or necessary? So it's scope allows to talk about numbers and so dupe? I don't see the argument...

Mithrandir

Sure... but since that's not the main question, you lose the other answers provided to the question of how many students there are. When you close it as a dupe of a question that just provides a single answer, you can't get the other answers to that question, because that's not the main question.

Edlothiad

@Mithrandir Funny though that the answer on the "wrong" target provides better canonical information then the one in your question.

Mithrandir

Look at the answers to the closed question. There are a few different numbers provided.

TheLethalCarrot

And?

Mithrandir

08:50

You lose that information when closing it, as those answers don't fit on the supposed main question.

TheLethalCarrot

Wrong answers don't mean something should be reopened

How do you lose those answers? They're still there...

SQB

@Mithrandir Also see scifi.stackexchange.com/q/161516/19561

Mithrandir

But they're not on the supposed main question. Non-logged in users even get redirected to the main question when visiting a duplicate question.

TheLethalCarrot

Right they're not there, but do we care to reproduce incorrect information?

I don't think we do

Mithrandir

There are a heck of a lot of users who visit SE sites and never create an account. Say someone Googles the question, finds the duplicate question, and gets redirected. Do those answers address the query that they were looking for?

@TheLethalCarrot Why do you say they're incorrect?

TheLethalCarrot

08:52

Yes in the very first paragrapgh of the very first answer

3 mins ago, by Mithrandir

Look at the answers to the closed question. There are a few different numbers provided.

Edlothiad

@SQB A perfect example of dupes.

Mithrandir

But there are different ways of calculating, as the answers to the "duplicate" should show.

@TheLethalCarrot And none of them are actually wrong.

TheLethalCarrot

@Mithrandir Well they must be if they give different numbers...

And if they are all correct then the Q is too broad right?

SQB

@Edlothiad Not really. One question is about a misinterpretation of the word "desolation", the other one asks about dramatic timing.

Edlothiad

Both ask about the timing, if you read the actual questions.

Mithrandir

08:54

@TheLethalCarrot Nope. It means that the answer isn't as simple as it would appear at first glance.

TheLethalCarrot

@SQB Same Q different premise from your interpretation

Edlothiad

> So why doesn't Smaug perish by the end of the 2nd Hobbit film if the film's title was made to describe his end?

Because Jackson wanted it to end on a cliff hanger. There's more to a question then it's title.

TheLethalCarrot

@Mithrandir If there are multiple correct answers with no way to pick one over the other then that is the very definition of Too Broad

SQB

@Edlothiad Because querant's interpretation of the film's title is completely wrong.

Edlothiad

The OP themselves closed it as a dupe...

Mithrandir

08:55

@TheLethalCarrot No... otherwise we wouldn't have the option of giving more than one answer.

Edlothiad

"Hey your question was answered here"

"Oh thanks!"

Other users: "NO IT WASN'T ANSWERED RE-OPEN IT"

Ummm.....? Wha...?

Mithrandir

Think of, say, SO. If I find a question there are often multiple different methods to solving the problem I was having.

TheLethalCarrot

@Mithrandir Well you can give multiple answers but only one is usually correct, here there are multiple correct ones which means it is actually too broad... I don't see how you can argue against that

SQB

@Edlothiad after being told their interpretation of the title was wrong.

Edlothiad

I'm not sure how that's relevant?

doppelgreener

08:57

peer pressure

Edlothiad

What?

TheLethalCarrot

@doppelgreener Who even opened this again? I marked it as a duplicate already... – Lampham

Edlothiad

That's a wild claim to throw around

TheLethalCarrot

Doesn't look like that to me

And then read the OPs further comments from there saying the dupe closure is warranted and that there Q is answered on the dupe

Edlothiad

> _Excuse me, but I believe I'm the one asking the question here, and I'm completely satisfied with the answer provided in the linked dupe, so I closed this.To make stuff clear, my question has been edited _

> _truly amazing a 2 sentence answer with no quotes garners 96 upvotes, while I got over 8 downvotes to my question.. amazing how you dont get 96 votes as well for your well-researched post here @Edlothiad. Id accept SQBs answer but the 2 sentence post owner would be getting the populist badge for that..._

Ok don't italicise...

@Edlothiad Your man knows talent when he sees it </humble brag>

@Rand y, I've missed you

Rand al'Thor

09:02

@TheLethalCarrot No, that's not how fiction works.

TheLethalCarrot

@Randal'Thor No, that's how interpretation works, Fiction will always have one answer

doppelgreener

In one school of thought about how fiction works, sure

Edlothiad

What?

You're saying there could be more than five Istari because it's fiction?

Rand al'Thor

@TheLethalCarrot Huh? Of course there isn't always one correct answer.

Edlothiad

#EdForSixthIstar!

Rand al'Thor

09:04

@Edlothiad No, because that's an example where there is one correct answer.

Edlothiad

But you just said that's not how fiction works.

doppelgreener

Man, don't strawman :U

Edlothiad

Or is this an example of their not being one correct answer of how fiction works?

Mithrandir

It's completely different if it's stated directly in the text and if it's not.

Edlothiad

How-fiction-works-ception!

@doppelgreener you watch the RWC7s?

Or the Super Rugby Playoffs?

TheLethalCarrot

09:05

@Randal'Thor How many students are at Hogwarts? Has 1 correct answer... it isn't variable unless you look over time and then technically the question is Too Broad because the answer changes

doppelgreener

@Edlothiad I don't?

Edlothiad

Was it not you who I talked to about rugby here in the early days of this feed room?

doppelgreener

@TheLethalCarrot Unless it has several correct answers

TheLethalCarrot

@Mithrandir Exactly so if it's not stated directly that's where interpretation takes over rather than there being more than 1 correct answer

Mithrandir

@TheLethalCarrot Except that it does have more than one correct answer, as the answers to the question should show.

Edlothiad

09:06

I'm not sure how one could have several correct answers?

doppelgreener

@Edlothiad Yeah, but that's American rugby. It doesn't get broadcast here.

TheLethalCarrot

@doppelgreener Then it's too broad because there's no way to pick one over the other

Mithrandir

@TheLethalCarrot Is there a problem with interpretation?

doppelgreener

(unless I specifically subscribe to some American sports channels)

@TheLethalCarrot That doesn't make it too broad.

Edlothiad

The Rugby World Cup didn't get broadcast to Australia?

TheLethalCarrot

09:07

@Mithrandir No but saying there's more than 1 correct answer because I interpret it differently is wrong

doppelgreener

If an answer says "we've been given these numbers at different times:" then that's a single concise correct answer.

Rand al'Thor

@TheLethalCarrot No, it doesn't have one correct answer. There are different ways of arguing which might yield different results - especially given JKR Maths.

Edlothiad

Or the UK as your profile says?

doppelgreener

@Edlothiad Only on American channels.

which means basically having a foxtel subscription or something like that

Edlothiad

Oh I watched it on my computer, I see

Mithrandir

09:07

@TheLethalCarrot "how do I edit a file on GitHub" can have more than one answer (terminal, web, this isn't my domain of expertise). Is that too broad?

Edlothiad

They had free streaming on Youtube for the brits as well

doppelgreener

Ooh

That is neato

TheLethalCarrot

@Mithrandir Sorry are we on SO or SU here? I thought I was arguing about SFF context....

Edlothiad

Yeah, World Rugby helping the boys out.

doppelgreener

The only games of American rugby I've seen recently though are the ones where an Australian football player had newly joined the team. :)

Mithrandir

09:08

@TheLethalCarrot It's the same network.

Rand al'Thor

@TheLethalCarrot Haven't you heard of "argument by analogy"?

Edlothiad

Yeah, supposed to be reasonably money there, although I haven't watched the American stuff religiously yet

TheLethalCarrot

@Mithrandir Okay then too broad isn't a thing anymore because of PPCG

doppelgreener

:l

Mithrandir

*sigh*

TheLethalCarrot

09:09

@Randal'Thor Yes but using a site with different policies and cultures isn't analogous

doppelgreener

This is some stellar argument tactics for getting people to not want to continue talking to you about it.

TheLethalCarrot

(Is that a word?)

Mithrandir

What benefit is there in closing the question?

Yes. I want you to explain them, as they apply to this specific case, not in general.

Edlothiad

What benefit is the duplicate system in the first place then?

Walked into a bloody corner there you did...

doppelgreener

I'm going to call this discussion to a halt

Rand al'Thor

09:12

@Mithrandir That's an excellent point. It's clear why people arguing for "leave open" are committed: they want an answer to the question, rather than having to go and look at a completely different question. Less clear why people arguing for "close" actually care so much. What harm does it do them if a question is left open?

doppelgreener

The lack of respect in it is mindboggling

(or at least, very strongly suggest it ought to end)

Edlothiad

@Randal'Thor Same reason we close exact question duplicates

doppelgreener

(and for my part I'm leaving it)

TheLethalCarrot

@Mithrandir I've already outlined that at length all over the meta post, I don't see the need to do it all again

Edlothiad

Now I do hope rude words aren't being said in private channels behind the backs of users who wouldn't have access to those channels. That wouldn't be very "moderator-like".

Jalapeno Nachos

09:18

hello :)

Edlothiad

Ooh I do like Nachos, but I don't like Jalapenos

Jenayah

Hi :)

Mithrandir

*waves*

Edlothiad

@Ankit Long time no see! Hope all is well!

Mithrandir

I'm going to clear the starboard a bit, as starring all messages in a conversation isn't really what stars are for.

Edlothiad

09:20

Ooh gosh this star board is being cleared quick!

Ankit Sharma

@Edlothiad I am pretty active om screening room but TREU stay calm so I just check and go away

All well with me

Edlothiad

@AnkitSharma I don't appear much on this platform anymore so I never see you around! Good to hear that all is well!

Jenayah

TREU?

Edlothiad

TREU is the initials to this room

Jenayah

Ok now I feel stupid

Edlothiad

09:22

@Mithrandir Then I suggest you clear all the stars and not just some.

Jenayah

puts on hat of shame

Jalapeno Nachos

it feels dramatic in here :(

Edlothiad

You can get pretty colourful hats of shame though, sometimes they're fun to have on.

@JalapenoNachos Don't read above your entry and it's all good!

SQB

Disclosure: I've just removed the pin from an old floof-of-the-day.

Jalapeno Nachos

@Edlothiad ok :(

Ankit Sharma

09:23

@Edlothiad to be frank I feel more chilled lately.

SQB

There is now an opening for a new floof.

Edlothiad

Doses and Mimosas, Champagne and Cocaine

Am I allowed to say Cocaine

Jenayah

Now that's a good idea @SQB : let's post the daily floof to ease the tension. Anyone up to it?

Edlothiad

Daily floof - today

3

POO

Jenayah

ahah

Edlothiad

09:24

Cmon Ed you can do it!

SQB

@Edlothiad Impressive.

Edlothiad

Is this one working for people? Mines frozen

Jenayah

same

Edlothiad

Guess I'll just leave it as a link

SQB

@Edlothiad mine's frozen as well, but I don't mind that — I much prefer it to constantly moving content.

Edlothiad

09:26

OI OI look whos pinned, miao!

Rand al'Thor

@Edlothiad Some things fit better on a star-board than others.

@Edlothiad applauds

Edlothiad

I'd like to thank everyone who made this possible, like the dog, the stick, the photographer, the reddit user who found the gif and of course Kool Aid Man

2

@Randal'Thor Good to know it's up to select users to decide what's appropriate and what isn't...

Jenayah

@SQB co-intern shared that and I have to say it's true for all Netherlands ahah:

SQB

@Jenayah Needs to be a comment by itself.

Rand al'Thor

@Edlothiad Well, yes. That's why select users are elected precisely in order to make such decisions.

doppelgreener

09:29

On reviewing the previous conversation: I've removed some messages that got way too rude. I was reticent to not moderate them on the spot.

Mithrandir

On a different note...

Has anyone read The Island of Doctor Moreau?

Jenayah

Yup

Three or four years agao

Mithrandir

Was it any good? Like, is it better than War of the Worlds?

SQB

@Jenayah those are the instructions for tourists. Instructions for residents is to look at oncoming traffic to acknowledge that you've seen them and to ascertain that they've seen you, then cross. If they want to avoid a collision, they'd better stop.

Rand al'Thor

@doppelgreener To add to this: the messages weren't that rude in themselves, but their tone, especially within the wider context, was very problematic. Sometimes we have to moderate based on overall patterns even if they're more subtle than actual abuse. (Just in case support from a local mod makes a difference.)

Jenayah

09:33

Haven't read War of the worlds but it was overall pretty good! (I suck at describing how good things are and convincing people, so I've learned to just throw a "yeah you should read it" and expect people to do it ^^)

Mithrandir

@Jenayah heh

Well, it's on the list.

Jenayah

And if it's a matter of having the time, it was pretty thin.

SQB

<rant>Unless it's at the end of the Kalverstraat, coming on to Muntplein. Then you just ignore all signs, lights, and rules, and pour out of the Klaverstraat like a bunch of lemmings.</rant>

Jenayah

ahah

Rand al'Thor

@Mithrandir Ooh, yes! This room needs more discussion of classic SF/F literature :-)

It's not all Star Wars and Marvel :-P

SQB

09:35

@Mithrandir I probably should.

Especially as a fan of Orphan Black.

Mithrandir

I recently procured a set of 4 HGW books, but it's been sitting in the corner waiting for me to get around to them - The Time Machine, The Invisible Man, The War of the Worlds, and The Island of Doctor Moreau.

Ankit Sharma

@Randal'Thor or we can make TREU the new AoN ;)

Mithrandir

I've read the first three already, and it's just the last one waiting.

Jenayah

Give a try to Jules Verne's works sometime, if you haven't already :)

Mithrandir

I've read a couple of 'em, although I don't remember if it was the full versions or not :P

Jenayah

09:44

Personal favourite from Verne is Two Year's Vacation. More adventure than sci-fi though!

Derpy

(... on this dark background, JNat spinning avatar is somehow hypnotic)

doppelgreener

Isn't it always?

Derpy

10:03

@doppelgreener I guess it is.... Maybe it is just the blueish background.

... nope, too big for oneboxing.

Mithrandir24601

10:20

@Randal'Thor I'm currently in the middle of Malazan, yet for such a brilliant series, it's not talked about a huge amount and for such a convoluted world, there aren't that many questions for some reason :/

Jenayah

10:30

Edlothiad

@Jenayah NEW FLOOF OF THE DAY!

Rand al'Thor

10:41

→ 6 messages moved to Discussion about message removal

@Mithrandir24601 There's a lot of really good (and even famous) SF/F franchises which have surprisingly few questions on this site.

Mithrandir24601

:/

Rand al'Thor

So go and post some questions about them! :-)

I jumpstarted a few tags that way.

Mithrandir24601

@Randal'Thor I've no idea where to start! :P

b_jonas

12:04

@Randal'Thor Sure. There are some where it's not easy to ask good questions.

@Jenayah I can't choose a single favourite Verne, it keeps changing.

Jenayah

@b_jonas Well that's a good thing he stopped publishing new books a while ago then. We don't hear much from the guy anyways, wonder what happened to him?

(^ joke :p )

TheLethalCarrot

@b_jonas There's usually always something to be asked and even if it isn't the best question kickstarting the tag can lead to good ones

I haven't been around too long but I have seen people thinking they couldn't ask about something just because there is no tag for it yet

Rand al'Thor

@TheLethalCarrot "usually always"? :-P

</pedant>

Yeah, just starting off the tag can sometimes be enough to inspire interested lurkers.

TheLethalCarrot

Surely that's synonymous to "most of the time"

But implies more "mosterererer"

b_jonas

12:20

Well, my conscience is clear here: I have asked multiple questions about Jules Verne.

And voted to close one of the questions about him, about a work that isn't sci-fi.

Mithrandir24601

I'm terrible at actually asking questions - in 2 years I've asked one question on all SE

TheLethalCarrot

Oh sure it doesn't always work, though 15 questions isn't too bad. Some higher profile works don't have that many or similar amounts

@Mithrandir24601 Me too, though most of my questions are tough ones on SO, or self answers here haha

Mithrandir

12:45

@Mithrandir24601 O_o

I think I've asked several hundred ;P

Jenayah

@Mithrandir @Mithrandir24601 Well the two of you bring balance to the Force then.

TheLethalCarrot

And you're two Miths so works out well

Mithrandir

@Jenayah (psst, I didn't like Star Wars) *runs*

Mithrandir24601

@Mithrandir You also have 10x the rep that I do :P

Jenayah

runs towards Mithrandir since that makes two of us and we're an endangered species, so stronger together!

Mithrandir

12:52

@Mithrandir24601 I've asked... 355 non-deleted questions, not counting meta sites (with the double-exception of Meta.SE, which I did count).

TheLethalCarrot

Third times the charm ;P

Jenayah

@TheLethalCarrot sshhhh

Mithrandir24601

@Mithrandir ... OK, I'm nowhere near that, even when talking about number of posts asked+answered

Mithrandir

Compare to 374 answers.

Jenayah

@TheLethalCarrot blimey if it wasn't for one letter, the Miths could both have been Siths.

Mithrandir24601

12:57

@TheLethalCarrot Most people start with something along the lines of "Wait a minute... There are two of you? Since when?" so it certainly works confusingly :P

Mithrandir

(729 posts, just on main sites? I really do spend too much time here.)

Mithrandir24601

@Mithrandir I'm at 28 non-closed answers on main sites, so I've got a long way to go

Mithrandir

gets sucked in to watching yet again

Jenayah

Make A 'Mon Out Of You (POKEMON MULAN PARODY)

►

better ^

TheLethalCarrot

@Jenayah Myabe they still are

@Mithrandir24601 Oh I know, I thought you were a sock initially haha

doppelgreener

13:14

@JalapenoNachos Sorry for the trouble from earlier. o/ I hope it'll be calmer next time you're around.

Jenayah

Isn't it the basics that things get spicy when Jalapeños are involved? :p

TheLethalCarrot

My teary eyes and runny nose tell me that is correct

Ash

13:53

Is there enough data about the Great Old Ones to work out if they could/would undertake a direct diaspora campaign so they could keep up the number of sentient beings in the universe such that they won't starve?

TheLethalCarrot

Daft question, which work?

Ash

The Mythos as a whole, Lovecraft actually says amazingly little himself on the matter.

Rand al'Thor

@TheLethalCarrot (your question is daft, or Ash's question?)

Phrasing issues again ;-)

TheLethalCarrot

Mine... hold on

Oh can't edit

Should be a colon not a comma

Ash

I'm totally aware mine might be daft too, that's fine.

TheLethalCarrot

13:57

@Randal'Thor Typo that time

@Ash So relating to Lovecraft then? No idea on my part haha

Ash

@TheLethalCarrot Yes sorry the Great Old Ones from Cthulhu Mythos.

SQB

> "Jaws was never my scene and I don't like Star Wars"

I'd link to the song, but the official video for it would be flagged as NSFW.

@Randal'Thor I've read books and seen films or TV series that I really liked, yet didn't have anything to ask.

TheLethalCarrot

@SQB We do rely heavily on new users and drive by users

Not a problem of course but I personally was trying, not so much now because of time, to ask a few myself

Ash

@SQB Any time you can quote Queen is a good time.

SQB

24

Q: What is the first mention of Star Wars in a hit song?

Jaws was never my scene And I don't like Star Wars "Bicycle Race" (1978) by Queen In the 1978 song "Bicycle Race" by Queen, off their album Jazz, the films Star Wars and Jaws are mentioned. When it comes to Star Wars, was this the first hit song to do so? If not, what was the first h...

Jenayah

14:07

Talking about Jaws, there's a funny anecdote on the theme song and the French.

One of the biggest TV channels in France is called TF1, and the evening news broadcast has a theme song everyone in France can recognize.

Here: youtube.com/watch?v=5SPnWwrGjpQ

Catchy, isn't it?

Well, some years ago there was a radio show who had someone explaining the musicology behind it.

Turns out if you fiddle a bit with the Jaws theme song... you get the theme song of the biggest evening news broadcast in the country :)

Commentary is in French, but you can hear the gradual transformation here!

Les dents du 20 heures... 1 min 42 de musicologie...

►

Ash

Question I could find the answer for, but I'm lazy, do you guys use a sandbox over here at all?

TheLethalCarrot

No we don't have one

We don't really have the need for one at the moment

It would be helpful for story id Qs but most of those come from new users who can't use meta

I think people usually bounce ideas around in chat or share links to external documents when trying to get a Q right, you could start a meta asking for help but that's not great

SQB

@Ash How about self-answering it?

Ash

@SQB As mentioned, being lazy.

TheLethalCarrot

When I self answer I generally take a few days to craft the answer and question over a bit and don't post the answer myself initially

SQB

14:16

@Ash So ask away, self-answer if/when you feel like it.

Or let someone else answer and get the rep.

TheLethalCarrot

You don't have to do everything at once of course

SQB

I have no problem asking lazy questions, since I know it'll help someone gain rep.

Ash

@TheLethalCarrot Thanks, I've cheated slightly anyway and sandboxed on Worldbuilding where I was going to ask until someone pointed out that if I ask it as a canon question here answers might be more useful.

TheLethalCarrot

@Ash As long as it is a bout a specific work sure go ahead

@SQB Lazy questions about hot topics are usually the ones to go to the HNQ anyway

Mithrandir

@SQB Exactly.

Alex

17:32

To those who have been arguing for the stricter duplicate policy (e.g. @TheLethalCarrot, @Edlothiad, @Valorum), should I flag this question as a duplicate?

It asks if Harry ever had classes with Ravenclaw, and my answer to the question about the number of students in Hogwarts states in the eighth paragraph that they did not ever have classes together.

Mithrandir

17:44

I've noticed that closing as duplicate for reasons like that is especially common in the harry-potter tag.

Napoleon Wilson

That's probably partly due to the sheer volume of Harry Potter questions.

Mithrandir

...

Napoleon Wilson

On the one hand, more questions generally means more duplicates.

And on the other hand:

> ...smells more of folks being bored with the topic than anything else

Mithrandir

I think it's more due to the number of gold tag badge holders who vote in that way.

Napoleon Wilson

Or that. But they ultimately come from volume, too, I guess.

Alex

17:48

But is it more likely to have questions that are tangentially addressed in answers to other questions?

Mithrandir

FWIW, my very first question, four years ago, was closed like this. I still can't find the actual answer.

Jenayah

@Alex if I may, flagging a question Q1 as a dupe because you've answered part of it in another question Q2, weeks after Q1 was asked, and your answer to Q2 leads to an answer in Q1... that doesn't seem really logic. :\

Alex

@Jenayah Why not? going forward, the other question has already been answered by my answer to another question.

Mithrandir

@Jenayah I think that was the point, that it doesn't make sense.

Jenayah

(agreed: the previous statement could use a Paint-drawn diagram!)

Alex

17:52

I'm not very good at drawing.

Jenayah

My WiFi is extremely buggy which is why my replies may be late - I'd rather forewarn you

Typical example ^ I was talking about my statement, but low WiFi makes it look like I was talking about yours, sorry about that...

Alex

@Jenayah For the record, though, I only linked to the other question as a courtesy. I only found the other question after I had put that point in my answer.

Mithrandir

Why can't Harry see the thestrals? (10k link) was my first question, asking why Harry couldn't see them from the very start, having witnessed his mother's death.

It was closed as a duplicate and I was pointed to this answer: scifi.stackexchange.com/questions/8182/…, which mentions nothing about his mother. This still doesn't make sense to me.

Jenayah

Yeah but then the linked one had "proof" while yours didn't, I think?

Then again I can't point out enough how sorry I am if you argued further by the time you get that message - I'm mostly throwing messages hoping they get through the network at this point. Damn connection

Mithrandir

So... I may be kinda biased in this duplicate discussion, having had that bad experience... or you could say that I've got experience in why it'd be a bad idea. ;)

Whee, asynchronous multiple conversations

Alex

18:02

@Jenayah It's kind of hard to prove a negative. Besides, if mine had no proof that would just mean that it wasn't a particularly good answer to the other question. But as per @TheLethalCarrot here it's still a proper answer and can therefore create a duplicate situation.

@Mithrandir Your question seems to have been deleted, not just closed.

Okay, I see you already preempted my comment with your parenthetical.

Jenayah

Ok, WiFi should be better now. If not I'll just kick more persons out of it.

Mithrandir

@Alex It was asked November 22, 2014. Closed November 22, 2014. Deleted August 27, 2016 by an automatic process because it received a downvote.

Jenayah

@Alex agreed. Stop me if I'm wrong but your point is to demonstrate than we can populate SFF.SE with dupes by rage-editing all existing answers with partial answers to other questions, da?

Alex

@Jenayah That's certainly part of it. But I don't think we need to even go to the point where we're deliberately editing to cause duplicates. With so much content out there it is inevitable that there will be slight overlaps, and such "duplicates" will be created without even trying.

Jenayah

No of course, that wasn't what I was suggesting.

(just that it is theoretically possible, as are a lot of things,but that's not the debate)

Alex

18:12

@Jenayah Well a theoretical possibility of destroying the entire site is certainly an important point.

TheLethalCarrot

Can you stop pinging me at this point I’ve said I want no further part in the discussion and to be honest some of what is worded here is condescending and rude. (Though like me you may just be wording it poorly)

Jenayah

@Alex I'll be honest, I won't browse through 10+ meta posts (on this site only!) regarding dupes, but I think that a "for now, the answer is here" isn't a bad thing. Furthermore it's not a one-person decision (ok, I mean, it can be) since most of the time this is done by vote. Call me naïve, but if it's a by the users, for the users thing, it falls in line with how I reckon SE works.

However if I may, it does appear indeed that you're solely concerned about the issue because it was aimed at your question, not just for the sake of the site. It's a touchy debate I'll admit!

Which, as said above, by Mithrandir I think, is mainly about the big big tags

Alex

18:49

@Jenayah It wasn't my question. It was already asked, answered, and closed before I ever heard of Science Fiction & Fantasy. I only happened to notice it a week or so ago, and when I saw the question it was a duplicate of, I was rather surprised to find a completely different question.

Jenayah

I meant "question" as in the meta one, but I should've been clearer!

Also WiFi's at full capacity now :)

Alex

@Jenayah Yes, I am continuing the discussion that I raised in Meta. But that is for the sake of the site. It's not like I stand to personally gain if questions are left open (beyond the cases where I personally would have an answer to those questions – but so could anyone else, and in this case I aready posted my answer).

Jenayah

Then correct me f I'm wrong but we're not talking about SFF.SE Meta anymore then, rather global Meta

@Alex Since it's a situation that can happen on virtually any topic

Alex

@Jenayah I think this issue is unique to this site. The other ones seem to grant that such situations are not duplicates.

Rand al'Thor

19:04

@Jenayah Individual sites have a fair degree of autonomy on a lot of policy issues.

Jenayah

I'm not familiar with all 150+ sites ahah

Yeah, indeed.

Rand al'Thor

In fact, this site's current policy (don't dupe-close based only on answers) was formed in response to someone asking about the apparent discrepancy between SFF policy and main meta policy:

13

Q: Does this Meta policy overrule our Meta?

This answer references this Meta:SE post, claiming that that Stack Exchange policy is to close questions only if the questions themselves are duplicates, not if an answer to one question contains an answer to another. On the other hand, users on this site frequently close questions that are ver...

discussion duplicate-questions

Jenayah

It's not overruling, it's overriding!

</occupationalhazard>

Gallifreyan

Overwalking?

Jenayah

Nah, just a bad Java joke

anyways

Thanks for the link btw.

TheLethalCarrot

19:11

@Randal'Thor To be fair I was personally arguing the questions themselves are duplicates due to their general scope

Rand al'Thor

@TheLethalCarrot I thought you wanted no further part in the discussion? ;-)

TheLethalCarrot

@Randal'Thor No further discussion with Alex because we’re just going round in circles in 10 differently places. And I just wanted to clarify my stance to you

Jenayah

19:30

Guys, I'm going to have to bring the cute puppy of peace again!

TheLethalCarrot

It isn’t a cute puppy

Is

my phone is poor

Jenayah

^^

Mithrandir

Alex - I get you're frustrated, and I totally sympathize with your position and happen to agree on the whole. However, it'd be best to maybe tone down the sarcasm a bit, to make sure things stay constructive.

Rand al'Thor

@Jenayah Yay, puppies!

TheLethalCarrot

My puppy isn’t cute (10 now so not really a puppy but he still is on the inside haha)

Is:what is wrong with my phone seriously

Jenayah

19:36

obligatory XKCD comic

Rand al'Thor

@Jenayah Fun fact: you can link directly to the comic instead of the image and SE will onebox it for you, mouseover text and all :-)

Jenayah

ooooh :o

I'm going to tell the manufacturer that their business practices are ADMIRABLE and ETHICAL and their developers are ATTRACTIVE and I'm going to report them to the FCC for their IMPECCABLE VIRTUE.

neato

should've expected that on Stack Exchange, though!

Rand al'Thor

Ha, I thought that was one of the recent ones.

Jenayah

yea, from two-three weeks ago.

Alex

21:54

Also the question Can a secret keeper be forced to reveal the secret with the Imperius spell? should be a duplicate of the question Did Dumbledore set the Potters up? because one

of the answers to the latter says in its fifth quote: the secret cannot be forced, bewitched or tortured out of a Secret Keeper who does not wish to give up their secret

Transcript for

The Restaurant at the End of the Univ…