I sense you're very gently chiding the folk who need to sent a link to lmgtfy, while I take a much harder, but not less polite (IMHO) stance on the matter. I refuse to ask a question there or on any forum until I have researched it as deeply as I possibly can, or am faced with such a step learning curve that I figure a pointer might save he many hours of reading and study.
In fact, what I find is I only post half of the questions I write! Why? Because as often as not, in asking a question properly, in covering the clues you have, the research you have done, and what it is you're stuck on, suddenly, the nswer istrikes me ... or I find it, while I'm revisting links and writing it up my efforts.
So I would much sooner write something like:
"Research your problem well, beforehand"
The word "minimum" doesn't sit well with me. The minimum is generally 0 ;-).
Yes, you are right. When I say minimum actually I mean: "type something in a search engine". I swear there are people who don't do it. And the reason I wouldn't even expect much more than that is because a lot of beginners don't even know how to properly research their own problems... and "How to do your own research" could perfectly be another whole post. So if I get someone to just copy-paste an error message in a search bar, hey it's something.
Edit: I actually changed that section name xD That "the minimum is generally zero" stuck in my head.
Yeah, you should try watching like Arduino forums and such on different platforms. I cringe at the number of posts by noobs across the globe that are litterally "What's wrong?" and a photo of their screen. Blows my mind it really does. Still I'm not sure what blows my mind more, the incredible audacity fo the question or the people climbing over each other to answer ... I just sit back and watch. If I'm feeling a little cheeky I reply to these with "What's wrong? You posted a screenshot."
One of my favourite aphorisms is in fact: You know how they told you all through your schooling that there's no such thing as a stupid question? They lied.
In fact science itself is more about asking the right questions the right way than it is about answers as are otehr human endeavours (math, philosophy and law for example). I mean literally across all levels of inquiry. So often today online in diverse fora we can watch huge debates roaring be it on health, religion, politics, science, whatever, and because there are so few, if any, particpation requirements or barriers, people of all ages and skill levels are in the fray and almost always talking right past one another so clearly banding about ill defined, ill understood and or diversely interpreted terms and claims. And always it takes someone to stop and ask a good question ...
And in IT, the way to ask a question well is somethingt hat should be taught indeed.
You can see the frustration the broader community has around this in fact when you post an issue on github nowadays. A repo of any size or popularity generally pops up with a template right away and you spend the next 5-10 minutes finding all the info they insist you provide or they'll ignore and close your issue. You see it how on SO itself, at two tiers, first when you type the question, and then when you submit it, it shows a pile of (presumeably AI matched) existing questions asking if it's already been asked.
We see barrier rising against the endles stide of ... stupid questions ;-).
They are as old as the hills, so old in IT in fact that the Support Desk trope of course is: Is it plugged in? Have you restarted it?
I look forward to seeing if you write an article on it (it would ironically, take a little research to do well, and could in a sweet irony, be delivered as, a question).
It's actually as deep as you portray it. In abstract terms, a question is the realization of a problem or a deficiency. Properly asking a question (even to yourself) is half of any problem-solving process (learning included) at any scale of life, from the most personal level to any professional or scientific field, to the most high level politics and philosophy. Problem solving is asking + answering. I don't know where, but I remember reading something like "A good stated problem already has half the solution".
I believe that, for that reason, the quality of the questions asked in any space is a good measurement of how much that space could help a community (or a society) grow, so the best spaces must have high standards for their questions. No wonder why popular repos use strict templates. About stupid questions... maybe there not stupid questions per se, but stupid, inconvenient, incomplete or improper formulations in certain contexts, of course.
If asking is already the very half of the process, I don't think it's an exaggeration to say that learning to ask actually learning to learn... with all the powerful implications of that. No doubt it should be taught in IT, it should be taught in elementary school!
I'd love to write more extensively about these topics but in the end this is a tech site and english is not my native language, so I stick to this kind of posts. However, it's great to have comments like yours. Thank you!
Btw I'll keep your last idea for another article, I like it hahahaha
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You are much kinder than I! When you write:
"Do a minimum of research first"
I sense you're very gently chiding the folk who need to sent a link to lmgtfy, while I take a much harder, but not less polite (IMHO) stance on the matter. I refuse to ask a question there or on any forum until I have researched it as deeply as I possibly can, or am faced with such a step learning curve that I figure a pointer might save he many hours of reading and study.
In fact, what I find is I only post half of the questions I write! Why? Because as often as not, in asking a question properly, in covering the clues you have, the research you have done, and what it is you're stuck on, suddenly, the nswer istrikes me ... or I find it, while I'm revisting links and writing it up my efforts.
So I would much sooner write something like:
"Research your problem well, beforehand"
The word "minimum" doesn't sit well with me. The minimum is generally 0 ;-).
Yes, you are right. When I say minimum actually I mean: "type something in a search engine". I swear there are people who don't do it. And the reason I wouldn't even expect much more than that is because a lot of beginners don't even know how to properly research their own problems... and "How to do your own research" could perfectly be another whole post. So if I get someone to just copy-paste an error message in a search bar, hey it's something.
Edit: I actually changed that section name xD That "the minimum is generally zero" stuck in my head.
Yeah, you should try watching like Arduino forums and such on different platforms. I cringe at the number of posts by noobs across the globe that are litterally "What's wrong?" and a photo of their screen. Blows my mind it really does. Still I'm not sure what blows my mind more, the incredible audacity fo the question or the people climbing over each other to answer ... I just sit back and watch. If I'm feeling a little cheeky I reply to these with "What's wrong? You posted a screenshot."
One of my favourite aphorisms is in fact: You know how they told you all through your schooling that there's no such thing as a stupid question? They lied.
In fact science itself is more about asking the right questions the right way than it is about answers as are otehr human endeavours (math, philosophy and law for example). I mean literally across all levels of inquiry. So often today online in diverse fora we can watch huge debates roaring be it on health, religion, politics, science, whatever, and because there are so few, if any, particpation requirements or barriers, people of all ages and skill levels are in the fray and almost always talking right past one another so clearly banding about ill defined, ill understood and or diversely interpreted terms and claims. And always it takes someone to stop and ask a good question ...
And in IT, the way to ask a question well is somethingt hat should be taught indeed.
You can see the frustration the broader community has around this in fact when you post an issue on github nowadays. A repo of any size or popularity generally pops up with a template right away and you spend the next 5-10 minutes finding all the info they insist you provide or they'll ignore and close your issue. You see it how on SO itself, at two tiers, first when you type the question, and then when you submit it, it shows a pile of (presumeably AI matched) existing questions asking if it's already been asked.
We see barrier rising against the endles stide of ... stupid questions ;-).
They are as old as the hills, so old in IT in fact that the Support Desk trope of course is: Is it plugged in? Have you restarted it?
I look forward to seeing if you write an article on it (it would ironically, take a little research to do well, and could in a sweet irony, be delivered as, a question).
It's actually as deep as you portray it. In abstract terms, a question is the realization of a problem or a deficiency. Properly asking a question (even to yourself) is half of any problem-solving process (learning included) at any scale of life, from the most personal level to any professional or scientific field, to the most high level politics and philosophy. Problem solving is asking + answering. I don't know where, but I remember reading something like "A good stated problem already has half the solution".
I believe that, for that reason, the quality of the questions asked in any space is a good measurement of how much that space could help a community (or a society) grow, so the best spaces must have high standards for their questions. No wonder why popular repos use strict templates. About stupid questions... maybe there not stupid questions per se, but stupid, inconvenient, incomplete or improper formulations in certain contexts, of course.
If asking is already the very half of the process, I don't think it's an exaggeration to say that learning to ask actually learning to learn... with all the powerful implications of that. No doubt it should be taught in IT, it should be taught in elementary school!
I'd love to write more extensively about these topics but in the end this is a tech site and english is not my native language, so I stick to this kind of posts. However, it's great to have comments like yours. Thank you!
Btw I'll keep your last idea for another article, I like it hahahaha