I used to think it was at least somewhat appropriate; now I think it’s snobbish and purports to assume that a given thread-starter is somehow inferior to the rest of the board if he should ‘merely’ ask a question.
I like to conceptualize a message board as a room; a round-table discussion. Each thread, in turn, represents a fresh conversation. I am at a loss trying to rationalize saying to someone in such a circumstance, ‘Don’t just ask a question’.
On the contrary, I think a ‘Question-only’ post is just as viable a beginning to a fruitful discussion as a five-paragraph ramble. If four or five of us were sitting together in a room, would anyone among us have the nerve to say ‘Don’t simply ask a question - we’re much better than that’?
Question-only posts can (and do) invite fresh, original obeservation and opinion; they don’t depend on the thread-starter, they depend on the board as a whole. These ‘other’ posts, what with their esoteric and ‘professional’ attitude - shit! - I rarely even read them; though I can only speak for myself, of course.
Still, is the goal to challenge ourselves, or is it to deconstruct the arguments of others?
Question-only posts ought be encouraged, not discouraged.
There has been discussion of a change to how ILP deals with such new threads but it has so far remained inconclusive. I’ll flag this thread for the staff.
I remember one of my first topics opened on the forum was a question only post, but I got away without being reprimanded. Back then I was, obviously, oblivious of the rules.
I suppose forum rules are devised with the golden rule of conversation in mind, which is basically “don’t be an ass-hole”.
By requiring a bit of discussion of the topic by the poster, other posters can actually understand the question. What is one person’s clever one liner is another’s obtuse and meaningless statement. It imbues the question with some meaning and direction, a starting point that others can follow on from.
However you’ll might find that a well worded question is left alone because a start to the discussion is clear, the next poster can easily start a discussion going.
It also stops those annoyingly broad questions (e.g. What is philosophy?).
I take your points and as SIATD has mentioned it is something that we are still wrestling over to find a solution. My issue is with members who will simply go into every forum and post one-liner questions with very little thought behind it. i.e. (What is love? then What is religion? then What is justice? then What if were in the matrix? ad infinitum). It is not for, as you rightly suggest, those who provide some real insight into a topic with their question. Having said that I would also always recommend that people put their own thoughts into the questions they raise too.
The result of that mishmash is, we don’t just stop one-line questions, a lot of them get through depending on the context. However, people who consisently just post one-line questions to get their post count up, will get a swift metaphorical kick up the backside.
can you also stop people from starting threads with four or five paragraphs about what a certain philosopher said, without asking any questions or making any points about it? that’s a bit frustrating sometimes.
