Answering people in stackexchange

[MathematicalPhysicist]

I wonder what's the point of answering someone in stackexchange if the OP eventually removes the post? and you don't get the points.

I guess he asked his question for a class he's taking, so he's afraid of the competition...

 

[mcastillo356]

Hi, @MathematicalPhysicist, what kind of competition is he afraid of?
I don't manage with Stack Exchange as well as I do with PF. My experience is that the website is hard to understand. I posted (and later answered) a question, but the post is closed

 

[MathematicalPhysicist]

Hi, @MathematicalPhysicist, what kind of competition is he afraid of?
I don't manage with Stack Exchange as well as I do with PF. My experience is that the website is hard to understand. I posted (and later answered) a question, but the post is closed

I guess if his question was from HW then he doesn't want others to find the solution to this exercise.

 

[Hamiltonian]

Maybe his post was removed by mods?
The Physics Stack Exchange is a horrible place for people just getting started. Two years back when I was new to studying physics, I posted a few questions on there(these weren't even HW questions), I was really excited as this was my first time typing something in $\LaTeX$ and imo, the questions were interesting and thought provoking, after half an hour or so the posts were removed by the mods basically saying that Stack Exchange isn't a place for such trivial questions(they weren't even nice about it), also they have a weird rule that if your post gets taken down you can't post anything else for three days!
But long story short someone on there told me to ask my questions here on PF, so it all turned out ok in the end;)

 

[MathematicalPhysicist]

Maybe his post was removed by mods?
The Physics Stack Exchange is a horrible place for people just getting started. Two years back when I was new to studying physics, I posted a few questions on there(these weren't even HW questions), I was really excited as this was my first time typing something in $\LaTeX$ and imo, the questions were interesting and thought provoking, after half an hour or so the posts were removed by the mods basically saying that Stack Exchange isn't a place for such trivial questions(they weren't even nice about it), also they have a weird rule that if your post gets taken down you can't post anything else for three days!
But long story short someone on there told me to ask my questions here on PF, so it all turned out ok in the end;)

Well it was in math stackexchange, don't know what happened to the post and my answer.

 

[Wrichik Basu]

Stack Exchange is a Q&A site, while PF is a place for discussion. The founding principles are different, so is the moderation team and the moderating guidelines. PF has a dedicated homework help section, while the policies on homework questions is a bit shabby in SE. Stack Exchange relies on the principle that the questions should be such that future users will find them helpful. In most cases, homework questions do not serve that purpose. On the other hand, PF is designed to help each and every person, so we do not necessarily allow only those posts which will be relevant to future users.

I mainly go to Stack Overflow only because there are many users there in my fields of programming (Android). I have had questions that were voted down and closed, but even then, a Google search on anything programming-related will first bring up results from Stack Overflow, so SO is unavoidable. I also like to read questions and answers on Academia SE, and sometimes visit Android Enthusiasts SE, but that's about it. For anything else, PF is my place.

It's best to discuss problems about SE in the Meta of the particular site.

 

[pinball1970]

Stack Exchange is a Q&A site, while PF is a place for discussion. The founding principles are different, so is the moderation team and the moderating guidelines. PF has a dedicated homework help section, while the policies on homework questions is a bit shabby in SE. Stack Exchange relies on the principle that the questions should be such that future users will find them helpful. In most cases, homework questions do not serve that purpose. On the other hand, PF is designed to help each and every person, so we do not necessarily allow only those posts which will be relevant to future users.

I mainly go to Stack Overflow only because there are many users there in my fields of programming (Android). I have had questions that were voted down and closed, but even then, a Google search on anything programming-related will first bring up results from Stack Overflow, so SO is unavoidable. I also like to read questions and answers on Academia SE, and sometimes visit Android Enthusiasts SE, but that's about it. For anything else, PF is my place.

It's best to discuss problems about SE in the Meta of the particular site.

There is a write up about pf on one of those sites accusing the site of being rude and stifling creative thinking or something. It actually mentions one of the mentors by name!
After being on the site for a few years I found it hilarious reading about this impression and getting so wrong.
Firstly I thought there is no such thing as bad publicity, if I was a budding physics student I would be curious and check out this harsh site!
Secondly the poster obviously did not read the rules and then either ignored a request to read them and or warning about 'creative' speculation and earned himself a ban.

 

[Wrichik Basu]

There is a write up about pf on one of those sites accusing the site of being rude and stifling creative thinking or something. It actually mentions one of the mentors by name!
After being on the site for a few years I found it hilarious reading about this impression and getting so wrong.
Firstly I thought there is no such thing as bad publicity, if I was a budding physics student I would be curious and check out this harsh site!
Secondly the poster obviously did not read the rules and then either ignored a request to read them and or warning about 'creative' speculation and earned himself a ban.

I haven't come across that post, but most people who are rejected by PF on the basis of personal theories and speculative posts have the same opinion of PF.

Another important difference between PF and SE is that Stack Exchange is a company, and it's main source of income is the SE group of sites. Though most of the revenue comes through Stack Overflow, the other sites, too, generate revenue; otherwise they wouldn't have been allowed to take up space on their servers. PF, on the other hand, is maintained by Greg as a part of his passion, and he is not aggressively looking forth to generate revenue from the site. This outlook is fundamental to the difference between the two sites.

Remember what happened a few years back with Monica? It was a storm that shook the very foundations of the SE company, and many users of SE, especially some moderators, still have on their username phrases like "reinstate Monica". Can't think of something like that in PF.

As a side note, I discovered that Physics Stack Exchange Meta has quite a few questions that mention PF. One of them even talks about partnering with PF.

 

[pinball1970]

I haven't come across that post, but most people who are rejected by PF on the basis of personal theories and speculative posts have the same opinion of PF.

Another important difference between PF and SE is that Stack Exchange is a company, and it's main source of income is the SE group of sites. Though most of the revenue comes through Stack Overflow, the other sites, too, generate revenue; otherwise they wouldn't have been allowed to take up space on their servers. PF, on the other hand, is maintained by Greg as a part of his passion, and he is not aggressively looking forth to generate revenue from the site. This outlook is fundamental to the difference between the two sites.

Remember what happened a few years back with Monica? It was a storm that shook the very foundations of the SE company, and many users of SE, especially some moderators, still have on their username phrases like "reinstate Monica". Can't think of something like that in PF.

As a side note, I discovered that Physics Stack Exchange Meta has quite a few questions that mention PF. One of them even talks about partnering with PF.

No idea about the Monica stuff. I will dig the quote out, I think I have mentioned it to Greg previously who found it amusing.

 

[pinball1970]

I haven't come across that post, but most people who are rejected by PF on the basis of personal theories and speculative posts have the same opinion of PF.

Another important difference between PF and SE is that Stack Exchange is a company, and it's main source of income is the SE group of sites. Though most of the revenue comes through Stack Overflow, the other sites, too, generate revenue; otherwise they wouldn't have been allowed to take up space on their servers. PF, on the other hand, is maintained by Greg as a part of his passion, and he is not aggressively looking forth to generate revenue from the site. This outlook is fundamental to the difference between the two sites.

Remember what happened a few years back with Monica? It was a storm that shook the very foundations of the SE company, and many users of SE, especially some moderators, still have on their username phrases like "reinstate Monica". Can't think of something like that in PF.

As a side note, I discovered that Physics Stack Exchange Meta has quite a few questions that mention PF. One of them even talks about partnering with PF.

Quora. It is from 2015 if you Google.
Another site puts pf at number 13 in terms of best physics sites.
Before anyone raises an eyebrow Caltech is number 12! Also pf has moved up 5 places according to that list this year.
'sciency' is number one. Is that even a word? It's for kids, would be a start if they used real words if they want to teach kids but that's just me.

 

[wrobel]

I wonder what's the point of answering someone in stackexchange if the OP eventually removes the post? and you don't get the points.

I wonder what's the point to get the points

 

[robphy]

I wonder what's the point to get the points

Earning points is a part of "social media".

 

[wrobel]

Earning points is a part of "social media".

please excuse my ignorance and what will one do with these points then?

 

[robphy]

please excuse my ignorance and what will you do with these points then?

Nothing.. but collect them... akin to getting positive-likes to posts here at PF.

To me (and I might be being misguided), at stackexchange and here at PF
"high point-counts" or "many likes" suggests that there is some level of quality in the user's posts.
So, it's a type of reputation score.

...admittedly, it's a little bit of a game.
..it's a challenge...
can I write a reply that convincingly teaches someone something useful?

 

[MathematicalPhysicist]

I wonder what's the point to get the points

I also wondered about it. I blame FaceBook on this.
But then again what's the incentive to reply to someone?

What's also the point in money if you can hunt for your food and drink polluted water?

The answer to all these questions is:"Human Civilization".

 

[Tom.G]

I wonder what's the point to get the points

It gives the poster an endorphine spike, which makes them feel good.

IIRC, those tiny rewards about triple the posting volume on the strictly-social sites; probably not so much here.

For some (many?), it also makes them a little more careful about the quality of their postings; as in "Will my response get enough Likes/Points to boost my statistics?"

People are funny that way!

 

[robphy]

It gives the poster an endorphine spike, which makes them feel good.

IIRC, those tiny rewards about triple the posting volume on the strictly-social sites; probably not so much here.

For some (many?), it also makes them a little more careful about the quality of their postings; as in "Will my response get enough Likes/Points to boost my statistics?"

People are funny that way!

Although the context of the thread is stackexchange and (more generally) social media [e.g. "likes" here a PF],
earning "rewards" and feeling good about doing so was around
before Facebook, before the internet...

Yep, there's something psychological about it...
but rewards
[whether they be "points" (upvotes on posts)
or the feeling of seeing someone learn or some other form of appreciation ]
encourage people (in general) to do more of the same.

This reminds me of Feynman's dislike of "honors"... which suggests he is, in some sense, above it all ...
but, then again, he's Feynman.

 

[MathematicalPhysicist]

Feynman is humble by not being humble...

I mean a person cannot say he's humble and be truly regarded as humble by others.

 

[Vanadium 50]

In the words of Mac Davis...

Oh Lord it's hard to be humble
When you're perfect in every way
I can't wait to look in the mirror
Cause I get better looking each day
To know me is to love me
I must be a hell of a man
Oh Lord It's hard to be humble,
But I'm doing the best that I can