# Suggestion: A "Random Questions" Thread **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [October 25, 2009, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suggestion-a-random-questions-thread/515019 "2009-10-25T01:33:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**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:** [October 25, 2009, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suggestion-a-random-questions-thread/515019/1 "2009-10-25T01:33:55Z")
Somewhere under General Questions, I think we should have a Quick Questions sticky, where people can post General Questions that don’t require a whole thread. For example: “What is the largest land mammal?” has a three word answer (The African Elephant), and doesn’t need to be discussed. Can we implement this? ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2009, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suggestion-a-random-questions-thread/515019/2 "2009-10-25T01:51:37Z")
If a question is that simple, it isn’t really appropriate for the General Questions forum on this board. From the [General Questions Rules.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=466202) > [@](#): > > 1. Please take some time to consider if your proposed thread is really a General Question; General Questions is for factual questions only. . . . Perhaps more importantly, many queries can be solved with a simple web search. Please give your favorite search engine a shot if you can before starting a thread. General Questions is most appropriate for questions that are difficult to answer, or which may require some discussion in order to get to an answer. If you can easily find the answer in Wiki or in a simple Google search, then it’s really unnecessary to resort to GQ for it. ---
**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:** [October 25, 2009, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suggestion-a-random-questions-thread/515019/3 "2009-10-25T02:21:22Z")
But some things are difficult to search, but do not require a discussion. For example, questions like, “What is a word meaning…” Since you don’t know the word, you can’t exactly Google it. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2009, 2:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suggestion-a-random-questions-thread/515019/4 "2009-10-25T02:35:08Z")
> [@Babale](#): > > But some things are difficult to search, but do not require a discussion. For example, questions like, “What is a word meaning…” Since you don’t know the word, you can’t exactly Google it. For one thing, that will almost surely require a discussion, since there will likely be multiple possibilities. In this case you should just post the question. The problem with a multiple questions threads is that fewer people who know the answer are likely to see a question than if it had its own thread. People are more likely to respond to a thread title than they are to check out a “random questions” thread just to see if there is a question there they can answer. I’m still failing to see any point to such a thread. ---
**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:** [October 25, 2009, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suggestion-a-random-questions-thread/515019/5 "2009-10-25T02:51:40Z")
OK. Criticism accepted. Thank you for being polite. I guess this thread can be closed, unless someone else can bring up a point I haven’t thought of. ---
**Author:** ![C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b2d939/32.png) [@C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C_K_Dexter_Haven)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2009, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suggestion-a-random-questions-thread/515019/6 "2009-10-25T15:29:18Z")
I can see the point if there’s a topic – e.g., “Some quick questions about the eating habits of African elephants” so that there could be multiple questions in a single thread, but about a single topic. That would be a sort of GQ variation on the “Ask the Airline Pilot” type of thread that appears from time to time in MPSIMS. So, I can envision a situation where someone might want to open a thread such as, “Ask the lepidoptorist” in GQ. ---
**Author:** ![ToeJam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/dfb087/32.png) [@ToeJam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ToeJam)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2009, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suggestion-a-random-questions-thread/515019/7 "2009-10-25T16:36:52Z")
Half the fun though is watching a thread derail and yet return to itself- you invariably have a discussion that pops up on a branch of the question, random anecdotes, or you get several puns or such for a question. That’s always fun to read (assuming the question has been answered of course) ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2009, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suggestion-a-random-questions-thread/515019/8 "2009-10-25T16:50:08Z")
> [@C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](#): > > I can see the point if there’s a topic – e.g., “Some quick questions about the eating habits of African elephants” so that there could be multiple questions in a single thread, but about a single topic. That would be a sort of GQ variation on the “Ask the Airline Pilot” type of thread that appears from time to time in MPSIMS. So, I can envision a situation where someone might want to open a thread such as, “Ask the lepidoptorist” in GQ. There’s no problem with asking a series of follow-up questions on the same topic once the question in the OP has been answered. However, when a bunch of completely unrelated questions are asked in the same thread, posters have no way of knowing whether they might have something to add to the discussion without opening the thread. > [@ToeJam](#): > > Half the fun though is watching a thread derail and yet return to itself- you invariably have a discussion that pops up on a branch of the question, random anecdotes, or you get several puns or such for a question. That’s always fun to read (assuming the question has been answered of course) There’s generally not too much of a problem with hijacks that are on related issues, which can be of considerable interest. The main time when I try to head off hijacks in GQ is when they raise highly controversial issues that are better dealt with in GD or the Pit. I prefer to keep threads in GQ when possible, and ask posters interested in debating side issues to open a new thread in a more appropriate forum.