How can yahoo users not care that some chosen answers are not impossible right?
February 16th, 2008
Eva Selena asked:
Every time I see an incorrect answer that couldn’t possibly be true and it was chosen, it depresses me. Have you ever watch the Canadian tv comedy variety show “This Hour Has 22 Minutes” where reporter Rick Mercer goes to the US and asks US citizens ridiculous questions to dupe them into showing their lack of knowlege of Canadian goverment and politics? I’ve heard that “ignorance is bliss”, but aren’t we taking it too far??? Why don’t people care?
I must have been tired. Heh, heh. I meant to say “How can yahoo users not care that that the best answers are actually wrong or simply impossible?” Thanks for ignoring the slip up. These answers are pretty good. It will be hard one to choose…
Bulk O,
I have to disagree with you because not everybody has friends or family who have the expertise to answer technical questions. In addition, for psychological questions, many people prefer a non-judgemental answer which means they prefer not to tell their friends and family and they want a serious answer.
There’s so many pitfalls in this world and but atruism does exist.
The good thing in life is there are some absolutely nice people out there with real advice for people with real problems. In life, I’ve seen people help strangers.I take the yahoo seriously because there’s lot of crap out there in this world. If people need help, why can’t an expert help them if it costs is a little time to type in a thoughtful response. I wish people who half heartedly not know what the answer is, to refrain from answering. I believe there are a lot of bad and a lot of good. Man and woman should be helping each other out, not discouraging them from trying to find an honest way out.
I just find it absolutely selfish that people would not help people but themselves. I try to answer all the questions with sincerity and effort because people wouldn’t be asking them for nothing. If someone wants to ask something like what’s the weather like right now, say in New York, then if they didn’t know anyone who lived there or how to find the information on the Internet and some prankster gives a false information, I’d say that was mean, but if more people said the same thing, that is even more cruel. Information is valuable. Most people agree they want quick, honest answers from experts but it’s not always easy for everyone to. People who give dumb or sarcastic answers are just wasting other people’s time and they should just get their kicks somewhere else.
P.S. When I talk about altruism, the self-sacrifice I am talking about is a few minutes of ones time to write a very thoughtful answer. If you’re an expert in a particular area where you know the answer, the better! Sharing your expertise is the best gift one can give in this world. What comes around, goes around. Maybe someone will help you return, even though they don’t know you. Selfishness and cynicalism annoys me more than Rick Mercer trying to prove how ignorant citizens are about Canada.
Every time I see an incorrect answer that couldn’t possibly be true and it was chosen, it depresses me. Have you ever watch the Canadian tv comedy variety show “This Hour Has 22 Minutes” where reporter Rick Mercer goes to the US and asks US citizens ridiculous questions to dupe them into showing their lack of knowlege of Canadian goverment and politics? I’ve heard that “ignorance is bliss”, but aren’t we taking it too far??? Why don’t people care?
I must have been tired. Heh, heh. I meant to say “How can yahoo users not care that that the best answers are actually wrong or simply impossible?” Thanks for ignoring the slip up. These answers are pretty good. It will be hard one to choose…
Bulk O,
I have to disagree with you because not everybody has friends or family who have the expertise to answer technical questions. In addition, for psychological questions, many people prefer a non-judgemental answer which means they prefer not to tell their friends and family and they want a serious answer.
There’s so many pitfalls in this world and but atruism does exist.
The good thing in life is there are some absolutely nice people out there with real advice for people with real problems. In life, I’ve seen people help strangers.I take the yahoo seriously because there’s lot of crap out there in this world. If people need help, why can’t an expert help them if it costs is a little time to type in a thoughtful response. I wish people who half heartedly not know what the answer is, to refrain from answering. I believe there are a lot of bad and a lot of good. Man and woman should be helping each other out, not discouraging them from trying to find an honest way out.
I just find it absolutely selfish that people would not help people but themselves. I try to answer all the questions with sincerity and effort because people wouldn’t be asking them for nothing. If someone wants to ask something like what’s the weather like right now, say in New York, then if they didn’t know anyone who lived there or how to find the information on the Internet and some prankster gives a false information, I’d say that was mean, but if more people said the same thing, that is even more cruel. Information is valuable. Most people agree they want quick, honest answers from experts but it’s not always easy for everyone to. People who give dumb or sarcastic answers are just wasting other people’s time and they should just get their kicks somewhere else.
P.S. When I talk about altruism, the self-sacrifice I am talking about is a few minutes of ones time to write a very thoughtful answer. If you’re an expert in a particular area where you know the answer, the better! Sharing your expertise is the best gift one can give in this world. What comes around, goes around. Maybe someone will help you return, even though they don’t know you. Selfishness and cynicalism annoys me more than Rick Mercer trying to prove how ignorant citizens are about Canada.
I believe in people doing things for the greater good of everyone and improving this environment and the people in it. If someone can share a little knowledge that costs a mere 5 minutes of one’s time without expecting a reward, that’s what I real hero.
Some of the answers given, especially in the religion section are actually true. But a lot of people out there do not want the truth heard. Also, a lot of questions are being asked that prove how ignorant and un knowledgeable some people are.
Sometimes the best answer says “chosen by asker” and that means the person who asked the question thought that answer was the best. If the answer says “chosen by voters” then voting determines the best answer. If the person who entered the incorrect answer comes back to the question during voting and votes for themselves (and no one else comes to vote) then he/she will win best answer with a bad response. It can’t be helped the way the system is set up. The part I don’t get is when someone asks a question and then picks their best answer and it is a horrible answer! I have no idea why that happens.
It always depends on the mindset of the questioner… Sometimes they are playing or enjoying it, so they just pick the coolest answers, but truth is not that all important for humans anyways, as we are used to be deceived, so we don’t attach it too much importance… It is sad, but its how the world is working, we always chose what we want to hear, no matter if its true or not…
Apathy. It’s part of the ‘dumbing down of America’. When Americans get so self-absorbed, and so into letting those in the government convince us that they know what is right for us; all we have to do is go about enjoying our lives; let them make our decisions; do whatever they like no matter what the voters say, until pretty soon people, instead of insisting on our government ‘Of The People, By The People and For The People’, will find that we have headed so far down the road to socialism that there will be no turning back. America, as we know it won’t exist.
I’ve seen Rick Mercer and also an American TV show ‘Street Smarts’. It is absolutely disgusting how stupid these people are and how they think stupidity is cute or funny. It isn’t. Stupid is stupid.
Hopefully there are more intelligent people who do care out there than there appears to be on y/a. (that includes the ‘buy into every crisis’ ; ‘everything is a conspiracy’ and ‘I asked a hateful question and I will only choose a hateful answer’ crowds.)
Some people ask questions but really don’t want an intellegent answer that they may not agree with. Just one to confirm their own view.
This is the beauty of yahoo answers.
It is up to you as the answerer (if you’re responsible enough), to convince people that your answer (or someone else’s) is correct and should be considered taken into thought.
Of course you don’t tell them directly that your answer is the best. You just have to rely on your own skills as a ‘disseminator’ of your own knowledge.
I don’t care because I would never take the advise of strangers that I have no idea if they are lying, incompetent, or whatever. I enjoy answering questions, so I do, but if there is any question I really cared about getting for myself I certainly wouldn’t ask it here.
P.S. Don’t like those shows where you are put on the spot. I tend to say, “that was stupid!”, but I know that I don’t think fast especially if someone just came up and surprised me. I don’t believe in that kind or answer, I believe in research and really understanding problems and solutions.
basic thing we have to understand about Q&A is that it is a forum for exchange of views. even if the views expressed are in answer forms, that is not supposed to be treated as authenticated. even when a reader finds it to be wrong, it is quite educative that we found the answerer to be wrong. i feel, participation in this activity has benefited me a lot.
Everyone will have different motives for using this site, and it’s up to the reader to disregard the rubbish.
When someone chooses a “wrong” answer as the best answer, maybe it was the answer they were seeking?
Truth isn’t necessarily what everyone wants all the time. Sometimes we need to hear what we want to hear, & I think that’s OK.
Don’t take it to heart! Accept that we’re all different, with different opinions, and yes, some really don’t care. Guess what? That’s life.
we can all use this service as a tool, and look at it for what it is, a meeting of many minds, with many varying outlooks and opinions. it’s good to see a question answered from so many perspectives, though many will be silly, or uninformed, or may seem irresponsibly misleading, in the end, it’s up to each of us to find the “nugget” of information that we feel is the “TRUE-BEST ANSWER”. If it’s a question that can be investigated, at least the answers can serve as a source of leads.