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One closing option is primarily opinion-based: Many good questions generate some degree of opinion based on expert experience, but answers to this question will tend to be almost entirely based on opinions, rather than facts, references, or specific expertise.

I have recently seen a number of question where the OP provides/relays an abusively strong opinion, which sometimes would give a strong bias on the question, and on what we could answer (because comments/answers are likely to address the OP's claims). Sometimes it even seems that the post is mostly a rant and that it finishes with a rhetoric question just to appear as a question.

I'd suggest that the rationale of this primarily opinion-based closing option would be expanded to encompass such cases, even when the question, isolated from such premises, would not qualify.

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  • $\begingroup$ "I have recently seen" - got any links? $\endgroup$
    – user140765
    Commented May 23, 2019 at 12:51
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    $\begingroup$ I have several in mind, but on purpose didn't include then to avoid focussing the discussion to such particular cases (but they are mostly closed). $\endgroup$
    – YCor
    Commented May 23, 2019 at 13:14
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    $\begingroup$ OK, I see. But then it is very hard to understand what you are asking about if there are no examples. Can you include (a short approximation of) an example of what you have in mind in your question then? $\endgroup$
    – user140765
    Commented May 23, 2019 at 13:16
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    $\begingroup$ @kartop_man A bit simplified (and pure invention), but "Topologists seem to consider that algebra is crap, and algebraists understand nothing to algebra. Are there any connections between algebra and topology?" Well a more realistic example should be rather 20-line long; also here the question by itself would be closed as too broad, but this is a sample... Maybe another "Gromov was the first to see a connection between groups and geometry. [Insert here a reasonable question]?". $\endgroup$
    – YCor
    Commented May 23, 2019 at 13:25
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    $\begingroup$ This sentiment is understandable, but I think the type of opinion based questions you're discussing here have a place on MO. I've seen it expressed by moderators that MO is meant to be viewed as an online 'tea-room' of sorts for professional mathematical discussion; the majority of what gets discussed over tea is good hard mathematics, but we sometimes turn towards softer topics like how we perceive our own discipline or others, and I enjoy that human side of things -- I would be sad to see it go. $\endgroup$
    – Alec Rhea
    Commented May 27, 2019 at 3:42
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    $\begingroup$ @AlecRhea I don't mean every question expressing an opinion to be closed. Especially if this opinion is clearly stated as an opinion. I mean cases where the bias is too strong/polemical to make the question reasonable, or likely to concentrate all the answers on these polemical aspects rather than on the question. The limit does not have to be defined very formally, it would be determined by closing votes. Actually I think it's not likely to change the closing votes, but just give a better "closing reason" to such votes than "This question does not appear to be about research (...)". $\endgroup$
    – YCor
    Commented May 27, 2019 at 7:07

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