[ale] OT

[James Sumners]

"What did I do wrong? I know that this question haunts evolutionary
biologists, and I
tried to start a dialog, rather than have a pertinent answer."

All Stack sites derive from the original StackOverflow. In Joel's
words, this is what a Stack site (of which only StackOverflow existed
at the time) is supposed to be[1]:

"Every question in Stack Overflow is like the Wikipedia article for
some extremely narrow, specific programming question. How do I enlarge
a fizzbar without overwriting the user’s snibbit? This question should
only appear once in the site. Duplicates should be cleaned up quickly
and redirected to the original question."

You stated yourself, in the above quote, that you "tried to start a
dialog, rather than" ask for a specific answer. That is not what a
Stack site is for, plain and simple. If you want to start a
philosophical, or theological, discussion, then you need to ask
elsewhere. Even if you are trying to start up some research into the
topic, ask elsewhere.

Most "back and forth exchanges" should be taking place in the
comments. And these exchanges should be trying to either A) get
clarification of the question so that an answer can be written, B)
suggest a correction or add support to an answer, C) point out that
the question is a duplicate. If you see some sort of exchange in the
form of "Question > Answer > Response in Answer > Response in Answer >
..." then you should report that question for moderation.

[1] -- http://www.joelonsoftware.com/items/2008/09/15.html

On Sun, Jul 10, 2011 at 3:17 PM, Cornelis van Dijk
<cor.angela0 at gmail.com> wrote:
> This sounds like the guru on a mountaintop, dispensing responses to
> stupid questions from stinking mortals! By the way, I have seen back
> and forth exchanges on that site. What was so different about my
> question? Suppose I were to pose a question about the nature of dark
> matter (physics alright!) would there be a definitive answer? Or about
> any direct evidence for the existence of neutrinos or gravitons? Or
> the internal state of a black hole, just to keep it simple.
> Cor

-- 
James Sumners
http://james.roomfullofmirrors.com/

"All governments suffer a recurring problem: Power attracts
pathological personalities. It is not that power corrupts but that it
is magnetic to the corruptible. Such people have a tendency to become
drunk on violence, a condition to which they are quickly addicted."

Missionaria Protectiva, Text QIV (decto)
CH:D 59