Return to Answer

1. Try to think of answering questions as an exercise in persuasive writing.

Every question is a bit like a debate tournament in which you are fortunate enough to always be able to take whichever side you like. The way Stack Exchange ought to work, the answer that is most persuasive is the one that collects the highest score. Sometimes the most persuasive answer is wrong! And that's ok because at any time anyone can provide a new, better answer that will rise to the top.

2. Encourage questions that ask about a specific point of view.

If I ask, "Should I drive on the left- or right-hand side of the road?", I'll get a mess of answers. Half of them will be wrong and, paradoxically, that same half will also be right. It depends entirely on what context they are answering from. Instead I should ask, "Should I drive on the left- or right-hand side of the road in Australia?" Within the framework of Australia's vehicle code, there is a clear right answer. (FYI: left.)

3. Vote on quality of answers and questions, not on whether you agree.

Voting is really critical feedback on Stack Exchange and it's anonymous. So you are free to make your vote mean anything you like. While there's nothing stopping you from using your vote to discourage things you disagree with and encourage (regardless of other factors) things you affirm, it works best to encourage posts you want to see more of and discourage posts that are of poor quality. Downvotes, in particular, are very powerful.

4. Close boring, trivial, mindless, uninteresting, etc. questions.

It's taken me a long time to get here, but I'm convinced that you really need to shut down any question that wastes your top-users time and energy. Flag these questions. Vote to close when you get the privilege. Comment. Vote down as appropriate. Don't forget that you can always edit and reopen a question, but you can't refund the time and energy users spend answering unfocused questions or arguing about unsupported answers.

5. Require answers to back up any opinions.

This loops back to item #1. If I write an answer that's just my own opinion, the only people who will agree with me are those who already share my opinion. I'm just a random guy on the internet. But if I write an answer that draws on the opinions of experts, careful logical arguments, personal experience, and so on, I might persuade people who disagree with me a priori. That's powerful stuff. It's even more powerful when you consider that you might even persuade the anonymous Google visitors I mentioned earlier.

1. Try to think of answering questions as an exercise in persuasive writing.

   Every question is a bit like a debate tournament in which you are fortunate enough to always be able to take whichever side you like. The way Stack Exchange ought to work, the answer that is most persuasive is the one that collects the highest score. Sometimes the most persuasive answer is wrong! And that's ok because at any time anyone can provide a new, better answer that will rise to the top.

2. Encourage questions that ask about a specific point of view.

   If I ask, "Should I drive on the left- or right-hand side of the road?", I'll get a mess of answers. Half of them will be wrong and, paradoxically, that same half will also be right. It depends entirely on what context they are answering from. Instead I should ask, "Should I drive on the left- or right-hand side of the road in Australia?" Within the framework of Australia's vehicle code, there is a clear right answer. (FYI: left.)

3. Vote on quality of answers and questions, not on whether you agree.

   Voting is really critical feedback on Stack Exchange and it's anonymous. So you are free to make your vote mean anything you like. While there's nothing stopping you from using your vote to discourage things you disagree with and encourage (regardless of other factors) things you affirm, it works best to encourage posts you want to see more of and discourage posts that are of poor quality. Downvotes, in particular, are very powerful.

4. Close boring, trivial, mindless, uninteresting, etc. questions.

   It's taken me a long time to get here, but I'm convinced that you really need to shut down any question that wastes your top-users time and energy. Flag these questions. Vote to close when you get the privilege. Comment. Vote down as appropriate. Don't forget that you can always edit and reopen a question, but you can't refund the time and energy users spend answering unfocused questions or arguing about unsupported answers.

5. Require answers to back up any opinions.

   This loops back to item #1. If I write an answer that's just my own opinion, the only people who will agree with me are those who already share my opinion. I'm just a random guy on the internet. But if I write an answer that draws on the opinions of experts, careful logical arguments, personal experience, and so on, I might persuade people who disagree with me a priori. That's powerful stuff. It's even more powerful when you consider that you might even persuade the anonymous Google visitors I mentioned earlier.

So I thought it might help if I shared a few things I picked up while participating on Christianity.SE, Philosophy.SE, and (to a lesser extent) Biblical Hermeneutics:

So I thought it might help if I shared a few things I picked up while participating on Christianity.SE, Philosophy.SE, and (to a lesser extent) Biblical Hermeneutics:

I'm a complete outsider here, but I'm very interested in learning about Islam. If this site is at all successful, it's likely that thousands of people just like me will find this site via Google. In a small way, you might become the face of Islam to someone you will never meet. It is a solemn responsibility.

I'm a complete outsider here, but I'm very interested in learning about Islam. If this site is at all successful, it's likely that thousands of people just like me will find this site via Google. In a small way, you might become the face of Islam to someone you will never meet. It is a solemn responsibility.