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Is this, or is this not, a question AND ANSWER site? What is the value in commenting to 'answer it yourself', 'calculate it yourself', etc.?

As this is a Q&A site, the way I perceive this is to either provide an answer, improve the question, or move along. I found this hostile and quite unhelpful in a question I asked, and now see it again from the same user in another user's question.

If the community cannot be 'bothered' to calculate anything or offer up answers, then why not reframe it into a 'we'll guide you to answer your own questions' site instead?

In my opinion, this behavior makes the community seem hostile and unwelcoming, and can be a great hindrance to new users, as well as an annoyance to regular users like myself. I come here to ask questions expecting answers, not snarky 'do it yourself' comments, and do my best to fully address the questions of others without this hostility or resistance to doing work.

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    $\begingroup$ If it is the case that these questions are "not welcome" here, and there is a general unwillingness to do simple calculations (which I don't think there is on a whole, I think it's a small subset of users), is anyone aware of a more welcoming community that involves answering ALL questions, even if that may include some trivial computation? $\endgroup$
    – Ehryk
    Commented Dec 30, 2014 at 22:23
  • $\begingroup$ The second question you link has 7 answers, some of which were posted before you posted this question. It does have two downvotes, which seems a bit petty to me but then I'm notoriously averse to downvoting. Still, this seems a poor example to choose to support your argument. $\endgroup$
    – John Rennie
    Commented Dec 31, 2014 at 8:01
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    $\begingroup$ Fundamentally, I'm of the mind that every question (even the 'stupid' or 'lack of effort' or 'homework' ones) deserve an answer, and IMO should be answered without derision for the OP. With many of them, it would take just about as much effort to just calculate it or provide the answer than it would to close it, downvote it, or add a comment telling them to show more effort. This is somewhat at odds with most SE communities; and it's unclear now as to whether or not that shift can be made from within the communities or I should look elsewhere. $\endgroup$
    – Ehryk
    Commented Dec 31, 2014 at 15:41
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    $\begingroup$ For the record, and speaking as someone with 2,914 answers behind him, I emphatically do not agree with you that every question (even the 'lack of effort' or 'homework' ones) deserve an answer. I suspect my view is largely shared amongst the members with enough rep to vote to close. In fact I would guess that most people with a decent grasp of physics got it by being strongly motivated and working hard, and they tend to be dismissive of people who are ill motivated and/or lazy. $\endgroup$
    – John Rennie
    Commented Dec 31, 2014 at 16:56
  • $\begingroup$ Incidently, note that I deleted the qualifier stupid from your quote as I think you have to be very careful before dismissing a question as stupid. $\endgroup$
    – John Rennie
    Commented Dec 31, 2014 at 16:57
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    $\begingroup$ That's exactly my point - for high rep users, those with enough rep to close, this sentiment may be shared. There are plenty (indeed a majority) of lower rep users, though, who could use the practice and points and may be willing to provide an answer. They may not deserve an answer from you, or a Ph.D. physicist, but (IMO) the deserve an answer from someone. $\endgroup$
    – Ehryk
    Commented Dec 31, 2014 at 17:03
  • $\begingroup$ area51.stackexchange.com/proposals/77677/… possibly, though I'll be surprised if it makes it to beta let alone full release. $\endgroup$
    – John Rennie
    Commented Dec 31, 2014 at 19:05
  • $\begingroup$ In the interest of clearing up the comment area for other feedback, I've moved the previous discussion to chat. $\endgroup$
    – David Z Mod
    Commented Jan 4, 2015 at 12:59

2 Answers 2

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First, note that asking us to do the math for you is actually considered off-topic here. The top-rated answer (52 upvotes, 0 downvotes at the time of writing) on the meta post Bite-sizing homework states,

Questions that can be summarized as "please solve this exercise" or "please plug these numbers into an equation for me" are OFF topic.

You had an equation (cf. your 2nd comment) and some numbers, yet you asked us to do it for you. So according to site policy, your question is actually off-topic (possibly the reason Qmechanic left the comment about reading the HW policy) and should be closed.

Second, asking why you hadn't done the math is certainly a reasonable request because it will give clues as to the direction an answer should take. The difference between a simple math problem (off-topic) and the reason behind the phenomena (on-topic) is vast. Diagnosing the issue of the mathematical aspect can help keep your question open or help further its closure.

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    $\begingroup$ Considered off-topic by WHOM? Does this speak for the entire community? $\endgroup$
    – Ehryk
    Commented Dec 30, 2014 at 22:04
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    $\begingroup$ @Ehryk: Considered off topic by the community, as decided by the community. $\endgroup$
    – Kyle Kanos
    Commented Dec 30, 2014 at 22:05
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    $\begingroup$ My question could NOT be summarized as '"please solve this exercise" or "please plug these numbers into an equation for me"', that was only a small portion of the scope of the question, which I then answered myself, leaving the remaining elements of the question. $\endgroup$
    – Ehryk
    Commented Dec 30, 2014 at 22:10
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    $\begingroup$ It was, and is, about a specific physical phenomenon, which may have had a certain name I was unaware of through searching, and/or had a full treatment on elsewhere on the web, including calculations, frequency, possibility, and resulting effects. Ultimately this is what I'm after, and only did the math after the inability to find additional information on something that should have additional information already in existence. $\endgroup$
    – Ehryk
    Commented Dec 30, 2014 at 22:33
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First some general preamble not specifically related to your question: the description of the site from the first page of the tour is:

Physics Stack Exchange is a question and answer site for active researchers, academics and students of physics and astronomy.

I interpret this fairly loosely because I consider everyone who wants to learn about physics a student regardless of whether they're in a formal course or not. So for me the key issue is whether the OP is interested to learn and is willing to put in the effort that learning requires. If I think they just want some gee whizz facts with which to impress their friends I'm likely to ignore the question.

Now let's consider the accusations you level. Your statement:

If the community cannot be 'bothered' to calculate anything or offer up answers, then why not reframe it into a 'we'll guide you to answer your own questions' site instead?

strikes me as petty and ill-informed. Every day I see busy working physicists putting in considerable amounts of their time for free to answer questions. It's all very well for me because I'm retired and have free time to burn, but I see answers from people who have to work (as physicists) to pay their mortgages or to pass their exams. To dismiss the contribution these people make with the phrase cannot be 'bothered' to calculate anything or offer up answers is exceedingly ungracious.

Now let's consider your question. I think it's a pretty good question, but the first part of it is one that I would expect anyone interested in physics to be able to answer themselves. After all, you just need Newton's law of gravity and the radii of the planetary orbits, which you can get from Google. If I were presented with this in a tutorial I would require the student to answer it themselves and I would provide hints only as required. Rereading the comments now, CuriousOne responded more or less exactly as I would in a tutorial. Admittedly that's in a formal teaching context, but then I tend to view the Physics SE as an informal teaching context and the same rules apply. So in this and similar circumstances I think it's entirely reasonable to make comments to the effect that you should answer the question yourself because that will benefit you more than just answering the question. Maybe that sounds a bit patronising, but isn't any teaching essentially patronage?

The second part of your question strikes me as fascinating and bloody difficult. In principle you can just take the orbital periods and current positions and try to calculate when the planets will line up. However one of the points in Schwern's answer is that the Solar System is dynamic and not just some clockwork mechanism, and there may well be effects that prevent a near perfect alignment and will gently perturb the orbits to avoid it. I didn't attempt an answer to this because I can't answer it!

And finally some footnotes that are entirely my personal opinion and unsupported by logical argument. What motivates me and others to put in so much effort isn't entirely clear to me. But then what motivates scientists in general isn't obvious - it's certainly not the money :-) But what demotivates people is clearer, and being taken for granted is one of the things. If I'm going to put in the work to answer a question I expect a reciprocal input from the student.

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    $\begingroup$ Thank you for your response. I never meant to imply that all answers are lacking calculation or effort; indeed I think a vast majority are excellent answers, with plenty of effort while simultaneously teaching the OP, which is why I stay in the SE communities I am a part of. My problem isn't with the answers; it's with the question editing, closing, and comments that offer no additional value (in my opinion) and are also unwelcoming (in my opinion). I'm not dismissing any earnest contributions; I am dismissing trite comments and things that are not answering the question (like closing it). $\endgroup$
    – Ehryk
    Commented Dec 31, 2014 at 15:32
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    $\begingroup$ As to my question, it only became clear gradually that I ought to calculate the gravitational effects myself, as it seemed no other reputable source had. What I was hoping for at the outset was, say, a name for said alignment if it had one that I could search for to find all the information I was looking for. From the extensive searching and in writing up the question, only then did it become clear that I might as well do it myself. $\endgroup$
    – Ehryk
    Commented Dec 31, 2014 at 15:36
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    $\begingroup$ As far as the motivational part, I somewhat agree with you; doing trivial plug and chugs IS demotivational to a Ph.D. Physicist. But there's more than just trained physicists here; and there are plenty of others at a lower level that could use the experience and also deserve some points providing they show their efforts. Instead of closing, downvoting or commenting on a question that shows a lack of effort; why not just move along and leave it for someone that would be willing to provide a comprehensive answer? $\endgroup$
    – Ehryk
    Commented Dec 31, 2014 at 15:45

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