Sweetie, we love you to death but for fuck’s sake, have you not heard of Google at all? You posted a question on creatine and caffeine absorption. Google returns the answer in 0.17 seconds. Another question on whether oil and water can be made to mix. Google returns the answer in 0.18 seconds. Haven’t googled on every one of the approximately one hundred thirteen thousand threads you’ve started since you got here, but I do seem to recall thinking that for a tremendous chunk of them you could have found the answer for yourself with extreme ease.
Not saying don’t ask questions. Lord knows that’s what part of what we’re here for. But it’s really not so much to ask that you make a literal half-second effort to find it yourself before burdening the hamsters by asking it here.
I generally hate the “Google is your friend” line, because a lot of times it’s applied unfairly, IMO. So I looked up Thin Lizzy’s posting history - still a guest, has managed to start 88 threads in 20 days, all but six of which are in GQ. I just looked at his/her first day of posting - the 26th of July - and there were over 14 (I stopped counting out of boredom) posts opened by this person - in one day.
Rather than looking up his/her posts, look up how many pit threads have been directed Thin Lizzy’s way. This has to be at least the third or fourth I’ve seen. Not bad for a newbie who’s only been around for a couple of weeks.
Yeah, I guess we can completely shut down the GQ section of the Straight Dope now. This will reduce traffic, ensuring that the hamsters get adequate rests, allowing them to run the wheels faster for the debates place and the pit.
And after all, Google don’t bite. It is just an impersonal search system functioned by a cold and emotionless relational database system. It does not get snarky, angry or tired of being asked the same question over and over again.
So, shall we just shut down GQ, if all we have to do is to google, if we follow the logic of the OP?
As I said before, I don’t really support the “Google is your friend” sentiment as it usually is applied. A lot of times, the answer I look for when I post in GQ is more than just a stream of facts that I could get from Google, I’m looking for a way to understand those facts, and make them fit in my head.
That being said, there are indeed some questions that could just be googled. And it seems to me that the occasionaly “Googleable” question will escape notice or scorn, but when a person starts 80+ threads in GQ in less than a month, they’re going to be scorned for not doing at least a little footwork themselves, and instead just spewing every random question that occurs to them onto the board. Seriously - we’re talking about a poster who started a dozen threads in GQ in a few hours of one day.
I really hate the “Google is your friend” line. Asking a question here is different from doing a websearch. Here, you can ask followup questions, you get a sense of community, everybody adds their personal touches, and so on and so forth. You have actual people giving actual answers to your actual questions.
If these threads bother you so much, just don’t open them. If you don’t want to answer questions, just don’t. It’s not difficult at all.
Personally, I’m counting the days till 30, but that’s just me. Admittedly, I have a chip on my shoulder about people who sign up and then post a million times. It’s like the virgin who just discovered sex feels good and now wants to do it every waking second! Give it a rest.
Yes, but is it really so much to ask that people Google first to at least get an idea of the basics? No one is stopping them from saying, “I want to know more about X. I Googled on it and I found out Y and Z. Is that accurate? What does it mean? etc.”
And, if they find the simple answer they wanted in the first place without making somebody else Google it for them, another hamster earns its wings. Or something.
