# If you don't understand a question, you probably don't have a valuable answer **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [August 9, 2024, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-dont-understand-a-question-you-probably-dont-have-a-valuable-answer/1005505 "2024-08-09T21:16:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2024, 12:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-dont-understand-a-question-you-probably-dont-have-a-valuable-answer/1005505/81 "2024-08-12T12:13:51Z")
But does Google Translate give you the **C O N T E X T**? (It’s the punchline of an old, old joke). (And I apologize for posting in a foreign language. I know it’s against the rules). Look, any question I can ask in GQ/FQ, I can also ask Google, and probably get a faster answer. But if I do that, why does this board even need to exist? All of us here have made the conscious choice to get our answers through actual human interaction instead of a faceless search engine, despite the fact that doing so makes no logical sense. It’s the only reason we’re still here. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2024, 12:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-dont-understand-a-question-you-probably-dont-have-a-valuable-answer/1005505/82 "2024-08-12T12:30:16Z")
My problem isn’t with people asking questions, my problem is with people giving answers when they clearly do not know what they are talking about. If someone asks, for example, how to clear their DNS cache in Windows 11, someone insisting that you explain what a DNS cache is probably doesn’t have the answer to that question, and the questioner shouldn’t have to feel the need to provide a remedial lesson in Domain Name Servers just to ask a simple question. I think this is a symptom of this being such a small forum–on a massive forum like Reddit nobody would assume that every post there needs to be fully comprehendable to every member there or else it is rude and inappropriate. My mind was primed to this topic already a couple of days before I posted by seeing a very useful Facebook image post made by a relative: [![](https://i.postimg.cc/x80x0kRL/FB-IMG-1723464735047.jpg) ](https://i.postimg.cc/x80x0kRL/FB-IMG-1723464735047.jpg) (To which “I replied I’m not familiar with this philosophy, but it sounds wrong.”) ---
**Author:** ![Babale](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/babale/32/15666_2.png) [@Babale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Babale)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2024, 12:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-dont-understand-a-question-you-probably-dont-have-a-valuable-answer/1005505/83 "2024-08-12T12:58:44Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > But sometimes I’m not trying to bring anything to the thread; sometimes I’m trying to get something from it. Or is only the OP allowed to learn anything? > > ?אם לא תשאל, איך תדע Honestly, I don’t have any problem with someone asking “what does this concept mean?”. What I take issue with is the attitude “I don’t know what this means, and that’s a YOU problem, not a ME problem”. I don’t think anyone would complain about a post that reads: “AGI is Artificial General Intelligence, right? I looked it up, but I still don’t really understand - what exactly does it mean for intelligence to be ‘general’?” While that poster probably will not contribute much to the topic of “Is AI overjoyed”, they may still start an interesting spin off conversation. I guess what bothers me is the attitude “Why don’t you take the time to spell out acronyms for me?” asked by someone who’s not willing to take the time to Google three letters. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2024, 1:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-dont-understand-a-question-you-probably-dont-have-a-valuable-answer/1005505/84 "2024-08-12T13:10:09Z")
> [@Babale](#): > > “AGI is Artificial General Intelligence, right? I looked it up, but I still don’t really understand - what exactly does it mean for intelligence to be ‘general’?” You know, my personal issue is often getting to “artificial general intelligence”, not wondering what “artificial general intelligence” means. As i said above, i often don’t recognize acronyms. I’m astonished at how some people do. I honestly think it’s a difference in language processing. (Human language processing, not machine language processing.) For me, every acronym is effectively a new word, and only loosely tied to the words it came from, if it’s tied to them at all. And… Google isn’t great for translating acronyms, because there are too many acronyms and they often overlap. Asking a human being in the thread what an acronym means seems perfectly reasonable to me. I’m always surprised how much hostility it provokes. And fwiw, i am not saying you shouldn’t use acronyms. I’m not suggesting the OP should have spelled it out. I’m just saying that asking what it means is generally a reasonable strategy, and a hell of a lot less frustrating than googling acronyms, and no one person has the responsibility to answer, but no one should take offense at the question, either. ---
**Author:** ![Babale](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/babale/32/15666_2.png) [@Babale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Babale)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2024, 1:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-dont-understand-a-question-you-probably-dont-have-a-valuable-answer/1005505/85 "2024-08-12T13:32:38Z")
> [@puzzlegal](#): > > You know, my personal issue is often getting to “artificial general intelligence”, not wondering what “artificial general intelligence” means. I understand that. > [@puzzlegal](#): > > And… Google isn’t great for translating acronyms, because there are too many acronyms and they often overlap. Asking a human being in the thread what an acronym means seems perfectly reasonable to me. I’m always surprised how much hostility it provokes. This is the part I have a problem with. As noted above, looking up AGI gives Artificial General Intelligence as the second result, and searching for AGI AI immediately gives you the correct result. Google does just fine at translating acronyms if you either add a second word to give Google context, or if you just glance at the results themselves and think about it for 30 seconds rather than picking the first one and returning to the thread to whine about how Adjusted Gross Income doesn’t make any sense in context. I just don’t think that dropping a technical acronym in a thread about a technical subject is a problem. Just google ‘[Acronym] [Subject]’ and you’re good to go. The only time I think naked acronyms are a problem is when they’re dropped almost completely without context, where you’d have no idea what [Subject] to Google alongside the acronym. An egregious example: > [@Peter Dinklage Rips Disney For ‘Snow White’ Remake: ‘What The F\*\*k Are You Doing?!’](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/peter-dinklage-rips-disney-for-snow-white-remake-what-the-f-k-are-you-doing/958359/935): > > I liked the original’s characters, and their charm. I liked the Goth, and the gross, weird, macabre. I don’t think it’s story is as “fleshed out” as I would’ve liked. It didn’t really explain a few things, that I believe were more ‘fleshed out’ originally. There’s, of course, some cringe, problematic stuff. I think it was first intended that Lydia to be SA’d, or something like that… crazy. I never watched the cartoon, but I’ve actually heard good things. Of course, rather than whine about it, I just thought it over for a while until it clicked that they mean “Sexually Assaulted”. Initializing that might be some kind of “trigger warning” thing? Which is why I didn’t call it out in the original thread. That being said, that’s a far more confusing acronym than any technical acronym in a thread on that technical topic would ever be. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2024, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-dont-understand-a-question-you-probably-dont-have-a-valuable-answer/1005505/86 "2024-08-12T13:52:46Z")
> [@Babale](#): > > I just don’t think that dropping a technical acronym in a thread about a technical subject is a problem. Just google ‘[Acronym] [Subject]’ and you’re good to go. Spoken as a man who has spent many fewer hours of his life googling acronyms than i have. I don’t think it’s a problem to use technical acronyms. I do it all the time. God knows i used lots of technical acronyms when i worked. But I do think it’s a problem to get bent out of shape if someone asks what one means. That’s a critical difference. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2024, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-dont-understand-a-question-you-probably-dont-have-a-valuable-answer/1005505/87 "2024-08-12T13:54:37Z")
> [@Babale](#): > > Of course, rather than whine about it, I just thought it over for a while until it clicked that they mean “Sexually Assaulted”. Initializing that might be some kind of “trigger warning” thing? Which is why I didn’t call it out in the original thread. Oh, and thanks for translating that. I neither whined over it nor figured it out. And I didn’t care enough to ask. But i didn’t get that one, either. ---
**Author:** ![Babale](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/babale/32/15666_2.png) [@Babale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Babale)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2024, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-dont-understand-a-question-you-probably-dont-have-a-valuable-answer/1005505/88 "2024-08-12T14:04:51Z")
Another danger of acronym use: > [@Yelling at each other about 9/11 (Split from the "How has Trump pissed you off today" thread)](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yelling-at-each-other-about-9-11-split-from-the-how-has-trump-pissed-you-off-today-thread/1005482/213): > > > [@Yelling at each other about 9/11 (Split from the "How has Trump pissed you off today" thread)](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yelling-at-each-other-about-9-11-split-from-the-how-has-trump-pissed-you-off-today-thread/1005482/61): > > > > […] CPs I’ve seen for 9/11 don’t make a lot of sense […] > > CPs? > > I tried Googling it but didn’t see anything related to this thread subject (it was mostly Cerebral Palsy). > > What does CP mean? Maybe conspiracy something or other? > [@Yelling at each other about 9/11 (Split from the "How has Trump pissed you off today" thread)](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yelling-at-each-other-about-9-11-split-from-the-how-has-trump-pissed-you-off-today-thread/1005482/214): > > Conspiracy Theories. I didn’t feel like typing it out. > [@Yelling at each other about 9/11 (Split from the "How has Trump pissed you off today" thread)](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yelling-at-each-other-about-9-11-split-from-the-how-has-trump-pissed-you-off-today-thread/1005482/215): > > Ok, but isn’t that abbreviated ‘CT’? > [@Yelling at each other about 9/11 (Split from the "How has Trump pissed you off today" thread)](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yelling-at-each-other-about-9-11-split-from-the-how-has-trump-pissed-you-off-today-thread/1005482/216): > > The P in Ptheory is silent, I assume? > [@Yelling at each other about 9/11 (Split from the "How has Trump pissed you off today" thread)](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yelling-at-each-other-about-9-11-split-from-the-how-has-trump-pissed-you-off-today-thread/1005482/218): > > Conspiracy Theories. I didn’t feel like typing it out. Should have been CT. ---
**Author:** ![Babale](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/babale/32/15666_2.png) [@Babale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Babale)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2024, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-dont-understand-a-question-you-probably-dont-have-a-valuable-answer/1005505/89 "2024-08-12T14:13:49Z")
> [@puzzlegal](#): > > Spoken as a man who has spent many fewer hours of his life googling acronyms than i have. Maybe, maybe not. I Google pretty much any word or name or concept I’m not familiar with, sometimes even if I can figure it out from context because I like to find out if there’s any nuance I might be missing, and let’s be honest - because having a guess confirmed is a dopamine rush. > [@puzzlegal](#): > > But I do think it’s a problem to get bent out of shape if someone asks what one means. That’s a critical difference. I have no issue with someone asking what an acronym means. I have a problem with someone acting like the fact that an acronym they are unfamiliar with was used is a personal insult or imposition on them in some way. “What does AGI mean?” is a very different post than: > [@Is AI overhyped?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-ai-overhyped/1005471/7): > > > [@Is AI overhyped?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-ai-overhyped/1005471/1): > > > > AGI is [gonna happen this year](https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=pUye38cooOE) > > Adjusted Gross Income? > > Look, I’m not enthused about having to watch a video to unpack your acronym. Apologizes if everyone who isn’t me knows WTF an AGI is. I can’t believe that people are up in arms because a snarky post got snarky replies. If AHunter had respectfully asked what AGI was, I probably wouldn’t have bothered to answer him, but I wouldn’t have a problem with it. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2024, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-dont-understand-a-question-you-probably-dont-have-a-valuable-answer/1005505/90 "2024-08-12T14:23:42Z")
Fair enough. He does get bent out of shape about acronyms, which is an overreaction in the other direction. That being said, I’ve pretty much given up googling acronyms. I suppose if you are often right, it might be fun. If you are just confused, it’s honestly pretty frustrating and annoying. And reminds me of the enshittification of the Internet. So I’ll scan the thread, or ask, it just move on. I’m probably not going to Google it. I Google unfamiliar words all the time. But I’ve mostly given up googling acronyms. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2024, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-dont-understand-a-question-you-probably-dont-have-a-valuable-answer/1005505/91 "2024-08-12T14:27:52Z")
One issue with googling acronyms is that they are often specific to the thread. They might be the initials of a person who posted earlier. Or a person who was referenced. Or some other random thing that was discussed. In another forum, someone routinely says, “stbx”, which i always read as “Starbucks” but it’s “soon to be x”. This particular time, sure, it works. Maybe if you are generally good at acronyms, the ones you don’t get can be googled. If you are bad at acronyms, you learn that Google is a bad tool for translating acronyms. ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2024, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-dont-understand-a-question-you-probably-dont-have-a-valuable-answer/1005505/92 "2024-08-12T14:57:53Z")
Well, I’m instituting a rule (unfortunately, I can only enforce it when I do it)… • Explain an acronym the first time you use it • If you encounter an acronym you don’t know, google it first (adding the subject as a search term) • Try reading the thread without knowing what it means (do you really need to know it to follow the discussion?) • Only after all that: ask politely (and succinctly. I’ll bet no one needs to hear about all the hoops that were jumped through… “I thought it might mean _Where The Figs?_, so I called my friend Free-Wheelin’ Frankie the Fig Farmer…”) • Still confused? Know when to give up. Chances are, there’s another good Pit thread to get lost in… ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2024, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-dont-understand-a-question-you-probably-dont-have-a-valuable-answer/1005505/93 "2024-08-12T15:57:51Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > Look, any question I can ask in GQ/FQ, I can also ask Google, and probably get a faster answer. Google is generally not as fast as this board on “identify this rock/insect/plant” questions, I think. Those searches tend to offer too much choice and need a SME to cut through the possibilities. ---
**Author:** ![Babale](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/babale/32/15666_2.png) [@Babale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Babale)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2024, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-dont-understand-a-question-you-probably-dont-have-a-valuable-answer/1005505/94 "2024-08-12T16:04:48Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > Those searches tend to offer too much choice and need a SME to cut through the possibilities. i DoNt GeT wHaT a SoCiAlIsT mArKeT eCoNoMy HaS tO dO wItH tHiS ETA: Although, I _am_ legitimately triggered by your decision to say **a** SME instead of **an** SME. S is not a vowel but when you sound it out it’s Ess-emm-ee not Smee. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2024, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-dont-understand-a-question-you-probably-dont-have-a-valuable-answer/1005505/95 "2024-08-12T16:23:28Z")
I don’t sound it out. I pronounce the words the letters are placeholders for, in that particular abbreviation, every time. Mostly because _an SME_ is also something used in my work, for something else entirely. ---
**Author:** ![gnoitall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bb73d2/32.png) [@gnoitall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnoitall)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2024, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-dont-understand-a-question-you-probably-dont-have-a-valuable-answer/1005505/96 "2024-08-12T16:56:42Z")
Alas, if you pronounce the letterism correctly, it starts with a consonant sound, because the correct pronunciation is “Smee”, as in Captain Hook’s first mate, because he was apparently the only subject matter expert aboard in the skills of actually running the _Jolly Roger_. Adding a more on-point comment: when you ask a Factual Question, you aren’t really allowed to drive out other posters who may not have an answer but still have a legitimate right to participate, even if for the purposes of learning. It’s not just _your_ ignorance we’re fighting here, and **it’s not your thread.** ---
**Author:** ![vbob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/vbob/32/4439_2.png) [@vbob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vbob)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2024, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-dont-understand-a-question-you-probably-dont-have-a-valuable-answer/1005505/97 "2024-08-12T17:18:11Z")
> [@wolfpup](#): > > That doesn’t apply to casual conversations on a message board. I thought we were here to fight ignorance, not have casual conversations. My favorite head-rush is stumbling across some new thing to learn about, and I hope and trust I can pay that forward, even when it takes longer than I thought it would. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2024, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-dont-understand-a-question-you-probably-dont-have-a-valuable-answer/1005505/98 "2024-08-12T17:22:15Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > > [@Alessan](#): > > > > Look, any question I can ask in GQ/FQ, I can also ask Google, and probably get a faster answer. > > Google is generally not as fast as this board on “identify this rock/insect/plant” questions, I think. Those searches tend to offer too much choice and need a SME to cut through the possibilities. I think an SME is often better than Google for open-ended questions. Even for potentially narrow questions, like, “what does this TLA mean”. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2024, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-dont-understand-a-question-you-probably-dont-have-a-valuable-answer/1005505/99 "2024-08-12T17:25:16Z")
Yes, I know exactly how this looks - but can someone please tell me what the _fuck_ an SME is? ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2024, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-dont-understand-a-question-you-probably-dont-have-a-valuable-answer/1005505/100 "2024-08-12T17:26:29Z")
(Also, I’d like to note that as a professional translator, acronyms are the banes of my existence). [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-dont-understand-a-question-you-probably-dont-have-a-valuable-answer/1005505.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-dont-understand-a-question-you-probably-dont-have-a-valuable-answer/1005505.md?page=6)