John Rennie's answer in the meta thread currently has ~3x the upvotes of ACuriousMind's accepted answer. This seems to indicate we should allow check-my-work questions.
Why do we still consider these questions off-topic?
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5$\begingroup$ Oh no... Not again... $\endgroup$– ZeroTheHeroCommented May 31, 2022 at 15:06
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1$\begingroup$ FWIW you can find plenty of largely negatively voted meta answers from mods/past-mods that support current site policy. Much of meta voting can come from misunderstanding of the policies, why they are in place, etc. In any case, do you really think any check-my-work question should stay open purely on the grounds that it is check-my-work? $\endgroup$– BioPhysicistCommented Jun 1, 2022 at 0:45
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2 Answers
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The way I look at a question is to ask whether the answer is going to be of interest to many members of the site or just to the one person asking the question. For example I've answered many questions on special relativity that are dangerously close to check-my-work because I felt I could explain a general approach that would help not only the OP but lots of other people trying to learn SR.
On the other other hand I've close voted many more check-my-work questions than I've answered because I felt the answer would achieve nothing but to get the OP a better grade on that week's assignments.
The problem is that check-my-work is a vaguely defined category that is not an especially useful way of classifying questions, and therefore your question is not a well defined one. The point of the answer of mine that you linked is that we should look hard at check-my-work questions and decide whether they are really asking for an explanation that is (a) conceptual and (b) will be of interest to lots of people.
answered May 31, 2022 at 6:15
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$\begingroup$ "The way I look at a question is to ask whether the answer is going to be of interest to many members of the site or just to the one person asking the question." Well said. This kind of question will just pollute the site and will make searching more difficult through dilution. $\endgroup$ Commented May 31, 2022 at 15:06
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$\begingroup$ Nothing like getting the person cited as evidence for something to come out and say "No, that something is not a good idea". Nothing more effectively quashes a conversation. :) $\endgroup$– JimCommented Jun 3, 2022 at 14:03
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A blatant "spot my deliberate mistake" question is always going to be off topic, but I would urge site members to consider whether the mistake is conceptual rather than arithmetical. If it's a conceptual mistake I think there is some justification for answering the question as long as your answer is mainly concerned with the concepts involved.
This isn't "check-my-work questions should be allowed." This is "please be discerning about what is a check-my-work question and what is actually a conceptual question."
