Timeline for Why are trivial answers upvoted more than answers that actually contain substance?
Current License: CC BY-SA 3.0
15 events
| when toggle format | what | by | license | comment | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 28, 2013 at 18:58 | comment | added | Manfred Weis | It took me some time to realize that not everything follows mathematical rules in the world; winning a casting show doesn't guarantee success and, in some respect MO is a casting for mathematical questions. | |
| Aug 27, 2013 at 13:42 | answer | added | Alexandre Eremenko | timeline score: 10 | |
| Aug 26, 2013 at 22:46 | comment | added | Jonas Meyer | "If you worry too much about voting patterns on this site, you will lose your sleep." | |
| Aug 26, 2013 at 21:17 | answer | added | fedja | timeline score: 18 | |
| Aug 26, 2013 at 19:55 | comment | added | Benjamin Steinberg | My guess is that for the particular case that we guess is under discussion the high number of upvotes for an answer that should have been a comment may have been exactly because the OP publicly downvoted it. There is a wide, but by no means universal, sentiment that downvoting answers should in general be reserved for answers that are flawed. The trivial answer was correct for the question the OP literally asked and it is not the fault of the answerer that the OP didn't ask the right question. So I suspect people upvoted the trivial answer for this reason. Nb. I didn't vote on this question. | |
| Aug 26, 2013 at 17:11 | comment | added | Todd Trimble | I agree with TL's sentiment in his comment under what I presume is the answer being referred to: the question was in fact flawed (and it's no good to say "well obviously OP meant such-and-such class of spaces" because maybe OP simply didn't think matters through). Whether the trivial counterexample is pointed out in a comment or in an answer is up to personal taste; one can sneer at the rampant upvoting but it doesn't seem right to me to punish what is in fact a correct answer to the question as stated. (Also: in MO.1 lingo, this meta post could be closed as "subjective and argumentative"). | |
| Aug 26, 2013 at 16:26 | answer | added | Yemon Choi | timeline score: 8 | |
| Aug 26, 2013 at 8:55 | comment | added | Kaveh | @Joseph, I don't think it is a problem even if users prefer short answers to longer answers. It is not bad quality for an answer to be shorter/simpler/more readable/more accessible. | |
| Aug 26, 2013 at 8:50 | comment | added | Kaveh | @Yemon, it is not difficult to find :) and I think the second comment on the answer explains the reason: it answers the question though not in a way that Joseph would like. If the OP of that question is assuming something extra as Joseph explains then it should be clarified in the question. ps: I think it is a good practice to give examples to support claims like the one that Joseph is making (unless there is good reason not to do so). | |
| Aug 26, 2013 at 1:35 | comment | added | Yemon Choi | I think I've found an answer that may have prompted Joseph's post, but I am a bit hesitant to link to it since this question is perhaps intended to be general rather than specific. That said, I'm a bit puzzled by all the upvotes on that particular answer | |
| Aug 26, 2013 at 0:59 | review | Close votes | |||
| Aug 30, 2013 at 3:03 | |||||
| Aug 25, 2013 at 21:58 | comment | added | François G. Dorais Mod | There are many facets to what you are observing and the facet you're explicitly pointing out is not the prevalent one. Here is another one: generalist answers that any mathematician can understand get more upvotes than technical answers for specialists. | |
| Aug 25, 2013 at 21:57 | comment | added | user9072 | It is not pure laziness. Relatively standard answers are also understood by more. (And, for in some sense good reasons, not few I think rather hesitate to upvote things the do not understand.) But what you refer to as laziness also plays some role I think. I even believe that it is relevant if an answer is short enough so that on a typical display the voting arrows are still visible at the end of the question. Welcome to MO, this is how it works. :-) [On the positive side, it averages out a bit over time.] | |
| Aug 25, 2013 at 21:54 | comment | added | Stefan Kohl Mod | Well -- my guess is that answers which many people can understand and verify quickly are upvoted more likely in general. Unless they are too easy, of course. | |
| Aug 25, 2013 at 21:45 | history | asked | Joseph Van Name | CC BY-SA 3.0 |