# Would I be permitted to run this experiment? **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [April 16, 2010, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-i-be-permitted-to-run-this-experiment/536389 "2010-04-16T20:35:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Happy\_Poster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c89c15/32.png) [@Happy\_Poster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Poster)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2010, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-i-be-permitted-to-run-this-experiment/536389/1 "2010-04-16T20:35:54Z")
This is certainly breaking no rules I’m aware of, but I want to be doubly sure. Basically what I propose to do is compare and contrast how the SDMB compares to the[Wikipedia Referfence Desk](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Reference_desk) and [Yahoo Answers](http://answers.yahoo.com/) , by asking the same questions. This may include asking questions I know the answer to, and possibly some slightly silly ones. This could lead to excellent publicity for the SDMB. I have a pretty good feeling that the answers here will be better - and most importantly **more interesting**. Small message board takes on Wikipedia and Yahoo - and wins 🙂 I’m also amenable to suggestions on how this could be improved. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2010, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-i-be-permitted-to-run-this-experiment/536389/2 "2010-04-16T20:53:56Z")
If they say yes, try to find out what’s the answer to **14 k of g in a f p d**. ---
**Author:** ![I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/i_love_me_vol.i/32/521_2.png) [@I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/I_Love_Me_Vol.I)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2010, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-i-be-permitted-to-run-this-experiment/536389/3 "2010-04-16T21:09:04Z")
Also, maybe we can finally get a coherent answer to something I’ve always wondered about: How is babby formed? How girl get pragnent? ---
**Author:** ![Happy\_Poster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c89c15/32.png) [@Happy\_Poster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Poster)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2010, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-i-be-permitted-to-run-this-experiment/536389/4 "2010-04-16T21:19:57Z")
> [@I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](#): > > Also, maybe we can finally get a coherent answer to something I’ve always wondered about: > > How is babby formed? How girl get pragnent? Ah, you’ve seen Yahoo Answers before:D ---
**Author:** ![Contrapuntal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e274bd/32.png) [@Contrapuntal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Contrapuntal)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2010, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-i-be-permitted-to-run-this-experiment/536389/5 "2010-04-16T21:24:21Z")
E-mail TubaDiva at [TubaDiva@aol.com](mailto:TubaDiva@aol.com). ---
**Author:** ![Oakminster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/77aa72/32.png) [@Oakminster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oakminster)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2010, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-i-be-permitted-to-run-this-experiment/536389/6 "2010-04-16T21:55:43Z")
Seems to have some potential for a board war. Posters loyal to one of the sites involved may show up for rabble rousing here or vice-versa. Also don’t like the idea of asking questions you already know the answer to…that’s not fighting ignorance, it’s marketing a product. ---
**Author:** ![Happy\_Poster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c89c15/32.png) [@Happy\_Poster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Poster)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2010, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-i-be-permitted-to-run-this-experiment/536389/7 "2010-04-16T22:35:12Z")
> [@Oakminster](#): > > Seems to have some potential for a board war. Posters loyal to one of the sites involved may show up for rabble rousing here or vice-versa. I can’t see a board war emerging. The other places don’t really have anything like the same type of community as here. Also, I don’t intend to announce in them the nature of the experiment. > [@Oakminster](#): > > Also don’t like the idea of asking questions you already know the answer to…that’s not fighting ignorance, it’s marketing a product. I’m not sure what you’re getting at here. Let’s suppose hypothetically I make Widgets. I’m not going to ask a question like “Who makes the best Widgets, is it me?”… ---
**Author:** ![PatriotGrrrl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/9dc877/32.png) [@PatriotGrrrl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatriotGrrrl)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2010, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-i-be-permitted-to-run-this-experiment/536389/8 "2010-04-16T23:10:06Z")
I thought we were supposed to be fighting ignorance, not wallowing in it. ---
**Author:** ![Oakminster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/77aa72/32.png) [@Oakminster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oakminster)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2010, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-i-be-permitted-to-run-this-experiment/536389/9 "2010-04-16T23:16:16Z")
> [@Angry Lurker](#): > > I’m not sure what you’re getting at here. Let’s suppose hypothetically I make Widgets. I’m not going to ask a question like “Who makes the best Widgets, is it me?”… What I’m getting at is I oppose “false questions” for lack of a better word, meaning questions you don’t really need answered. It’s like you serving up batting practice pitches for us to knock out of the park, in some sort of attempt to improve the image of the board and/or draw traffic to it. I’m not here to put butts in seats. I’m here to entertain myself, and hopefully, whoever reads my ramblings. ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2010, 1:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-i-be-permitted-to-run-this-experiment/536389/10 "2010-04-17T01:47:07Z")
> [@Oakminster](#): > > Seems to have some potential for a board war. Posters loyal to one of the sites involved may show up for rabble rousing here or vice-versa. > > Also don’t like the idea of asking questions you already know the answer to…that’s not fighting ignorance, it’s marketing a product. [posted as a poster, not a mod] That would probably be my take on this idea. ---
**Author:** ![PlainJain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/5daacb/32.png) [@PlainJain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PlainJain)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2010, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-i-be-permitted-to-run-this-experiment/536389/11 "2010-04-17T01:50:41Z")
> [@PatriotGrrrl](#): > > I thought we were supposed to be fighting ignorance, not wallowing in it. A common misconception around here. Personally I see nothing wrong with what’s being proposed here. As I understand it it’s a one time thing and not everyone minds the “batting practice”. ---
**Author:** ![PlainJain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/5daacb/32.png) [@PlainJain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PlainJain)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2010, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-i-be-permitted-to-run-this-experiment/536389/12 "2010-04-17T02:08:38Z")
> [@PlainJain](#): > > A common misconception around here. Forgot the 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2010, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-i-be-permitted-to-run-this-experiment/536389/13 "2010-04-17T02:25:33Z")
> [@Oakminster](#): > > What I’m getting at is I oppose “false questions” for lack of a better word, meaning questions you don’t really need answered. It’s like you serving up batting practice pitches for us to knock out of the park, in some sort of attempt to improve the image of the board and/or draw traffic to it. I’m not here to put butts in seats. I’m here to entertain myself, and hopefully, whoever reads my ramblings. But if he doesn’t already know the answers, how can he compare? I’d suggest just taking questions already answered here, but we’re googlable, so that won’t work. ---
**Author:** ![CarnalK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnalk/32/486_2.png) [@CarnalK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CarnalK)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2010, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-i-be-permitted-to-run-this-experiment/536389/14 "2010-04-17T15:39:23Z")
From a scientific stand point, you really shouldn’t have asked/announced this little experiment. It doesn’t break any rules and you’ve kind of spoiled the results if people reading this thread decide to make sure you get good answers in GQ to beat yahoo or whomever. I really can’t understand these objections about the idea being deceptive and even less that “wallowing in ignorance” comment. ---
**Author:** ![Happy\_Poster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c89c15/32.png) [@Happy\_Poster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Poster)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2010, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-i-be-permitted-to-run-this-experiment/536389/15 "2010-04-17T23:01:08Z")
Sure, for a purely scientific experiment I would want to avoid the Hawthorne effect, but this is very much a qualitative thing. Anyway since there don’t seem to be any official objections I’ll start it relatively soon in an unobtrusive manner. Probably take a couple of months to complete then I’ll post results here. ---
**Author:** ![Ed\_Zotti](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/fbc32d/32.png) [@Ed\_Zotti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ed_Zotti)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2010, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-i-be-permitted-to-run-this-experiment/536389/16 "2010-04-18T17:54:11Z")
The staff discussed this briefly and no one saw any real problems, so go ahead. A board war of some kind seems unlikely but please use discretion. ---
**Author:** ![raindog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@raindog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/raindog)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2010, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-i-be-permitted-to-run-this-experiment/536389/17 "2010-04-18T18:35:51Z")
I’m not sure I understand the OP. Wouldn’t respondents likely reference the other boards (whether admitting to it, or citing it) for their answers anyway? (or at least have some probability attached to it…) ETA: What I mean is that often when a question is asked people naturally reference various web resources for their answers, whether in a Debate or a GQ type response. That seems to be a fairly standard and legitimate practice. ---
**Author:** ![Happy\_Poster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c89c15/32.png) [@Happy\_Poster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Poster)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2010, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-i-be-permitted-to-run-this-experiment/536389/18 "2010-04-18T20:39:15Z")
For what it’s worth I have the first set of questions here: > **[Is there any realistic danger to Europe from Icelandic Volcanos?](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=560069)** > > Ok, so at the moment we just have an ash cloud. No big deal. Anything else I should be concerned about, and if so, how concerned? > **[Yahoo | Mail, Weather, Search, Politics, News, Finance, Sports & Videos](https://www.yahoo.com/)** > > Latest news coverage, email, free stock quotes, live scores and video are just the beginning. Discover more every day at Yahoo! > **[Wikipedia:Reference desk/ScienceAugust 28\[edit\]August 29\[edit\]August 30\[edit\]August 31\[edit\]September 1\[edit\]September 2\[edit\]September 3\[edit\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Reference_desk/Science#Is_there_any_realistic_danger_to_Europe_from_Icelandic_Volcanos.3F)** > > Main page: Help searching Wikipedia >     > How can I get my question answered? (Wikipedia link will not be permanent. SDMB link will be. Not certain about Yahoo link) I won’t post anything more about this until it concludes, unless anyone asks me to in this thread. Cheers Ed! ---
**Author:** ![Cheshire\_Human](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/5f8ce5/32.png) [@Cheshire\_Human](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheshire_Human)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2010, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-i-be-permitted-to-run-this-experiment/536389/19 "2010-04-18T22:30:04Z")
> [@Angry Lurker](#): > > For what it’s worth I have the first set of questions here: > > [Is there any realistic danger to Europe from Icelandic Volcanos? - Factual Questions - Straight Dope Message Board](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=560069) Well, now I’m just pissed. I posted a perfectly legitimate answer in that thread, only to find out it was just your dipshit experiment. I retract my answer! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Cheshire\_Human](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/5f8ce5/32.png) [@Cheshire\_Human](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheshire_Human)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2010, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-i-be-permitted-to-run-this-experiment/536389/20 "2010-04-18T23:27:24Z")
> [@Cheshire\_Human](#): > > Well, now I’m just pissed. I posted a perfectly legitimate answer in that thread, only to find out it was just your dipshit experiment. I retract my answer! 😃 We need a “pout” smiley for this thread, because that’s what I wanted to do. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-i-be-permitted-to-run-this-experiment/536389.md?page=2)