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Comments on What should our policy be toward rudeness?

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What should our policy be toward rudeness?

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What should our policy be toward rudeness? I don't think being blunt is a problem, but I do think that calling into question the OP's intelligence is a problem.

For example, I don't think there's anything wrong with responding, "Your question is based on a false assumption." However, I think responses like "completely wrong!" and "nonsense" are unnecessarily harsh. The implication is the OP should have known better. That kind of wording doesn't add to the value of an answer, but it does discourage people from asking questions in the future.

I know people sometimes don't do sufficient research before asking a question, and I know that can be frustrating. However, there are tons of misconceptions out there about physics. It's easy for people to get misled, even if they have done the appropriate research. Also, something that's "obvious" to one person may not be obvious to someone else.

I would suggest that we avoid making value judgements in answers and comments. If we think a question is not well-researched, we can just ignore it. If it's clear that a question is low-quality, then we can downvote. However, I would suggest that using disparaging language doesn't add anything to this site.

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General comments (5 comments)
General comments
Olin Lathrop‭ wrote about 3 years ago · edited about 3 years ago

The OP had clearly done absolutely no research, and made several false statements in his question. It's OK to be ignorant, but not OK to be stupid. If you really want to get an answer, then you shouldn't be lecturing as part of the question. A kick in the butt is useful for these kinds of situations. It is unfortunate that this site has few other questions. If the site were more mature, the question would probably have been closed for no research without any answer at all.

Monica Cellio‭ wrote about 3 years ago

Let's try to be careful with negative characterizations. The OP wasn't intentionally misrepresenting things; the OP was (apparently) mistaken. I can't think of a case where it would be appropriate to refer to someone as "stupid", and "nonsense" should not be the first term we reach for when presented with something that is inconsistent or based on mistaken information. A little politeness goes a long way and needn't compromise integrity of content.

Technically Natural‭ wrote about 3 years ago · edited about 3 years ago

@Olin Lathrop The OP in the question you're referring to was expressing some common misconceptions. Regardless of whether it's true or not, I've heard many people claim that AC is more dangerous than DC, and that DC is bad for long-distance transmission. I think this is a great example of why it's important to be gracious when answering questions. People can be misled when doing research and end up with incorrect assumptions.

interested‭ wrote about 3 years ago

I must agree with the OP. He has stated exactly how one should behave on this site. Not well researched ignore. Low quality downvote

interested‭ wrote about 3 years ago

. Low quality in my book isnt not understanding the question, like the Judaism site to which I will belong in seven days time thinks. And Monica agrees with me. This should be made clear there, where downvoting new users is the norm and drives them away never to return. Maybe there should be some other sign for not understanding a question or answer not just downvoting which seems to include everything.