25
votes
Is over-vigilant monitoring of questions driving people away from the site?
I have a lot of sympathy with your position and I will generally put some effort into trying to interpret questions that are awkwardly phrased. However I think it's reasonable to expect someone asking ...
- 343k
23
votes
Allowing mathematical and homework questions on this site
I'm sorry, but the idea that our site policies are "controlling the learning of other less knowledgeable students of the universe" is just plainly ridiculous. That people on the internet won'...
ACuriousMindMod
- 116k
21
votes
Accepted
How can "torus shape" planet be "non-mainstream" physics?
Demanding that questions only deal with situations that unequivocally can occur in the real world rules out objects on infinite planes, point masses, Einsteinian trains, Maxwell's demon, supersymmetry,...
- 29.6k
17
votes
Why was my question closed for not being focused when it actually was?
I could be wrong, but it could be the case that users saw a really long post broken up into multiple parts and thought "this isn't focused". You do only ask one question, so I don't think ...
- 54.6k
16
votes
Why is Phys.SE so restrictive in the Q&A it is willing to accept?
For the same reason we weren't a homework help site before Physics Overflow was a thing: because we don't want to be that kind of site.
The user base of this site have debated the places that ...
15
votes
Can we stop closing questions as "unclear what you are asking" for OPs above certain reputation?
There is nothing about rep that magically makes some whose first language isn't English suddenly become a master at the language. Nor is there some way rep prevents someone from asking a meaningless ...
- 26.3k
15
votes
Care over closing "duplicate" questions
People should be encouraged to close questions as duplicates, but they should certainly take care to choose an appropriate duplicate target. Even if the target does have answers that correctly answer ...
- 10.6k
15
votes
Allowing mathematical and homework questions on this site
Personally, I think it is fine for a site to decide what is on-topic and what is off-topic for the site. A different choice wouldn’t have been wrong, but having a specific policy (whatever it is) ...
- 81.7k
15
votes
Allowing mathematical and homework questions on this site
What's wrong with a homework-like question? Homework questions are specially written to expand and question one's understanding - it's a totally valid way of learning. If you think someone's trying to ...
- 61.6k
14
votes
Closing a 10-year old answered question as off-topic
Closing questions is not an expression of disdain. It's merely saying that a question like this is not suitable for the site as it is today, in this instance because it is not inside the scope of ...
ACuriousMindMod
- 116k
14
votes
Careless mistakes in formulas shouldn't be treated the same as non-mainstream physics
I did not vote to close but I do not see a relation between the two comments pointing at the maths mistake and the closing vote. That is, I don't think the typo is what led them to close the question ...
SuperCiociaMod
- 23.9k
14
votes
Why is there a homework tag if the posts keep getting closed?
I think this post emphasizes, once more, a real problem of PSE: some inconsistency between the stated policy of the site and how it is applied in practice.
The stated policy says
"A 'homework ...
13
votes
Accepted
How do I ask a question about the state of current research without falling in the "primarily opinion-based" category"?
I feel your question was unnecessarily closed (and I've voted to reopen) but right now we are struggling to maintain the quality of the site under an onslaught of ill thought out, poorly phrased or ...
- 343k
13
votes
Accepted
Reserving the use of the 'non-mainstream' close reason
General comments:
When it comes to non-mainstream topics, such as, e.g., faster-than-light travel, tachyons, time travel, warp-drive, wormholes, antigravity, multiverses, parallel universes, pre-big-...
QmechanicMod
- 184k
13
votes
Too much closing (for missing "concepts")?
Why not take a deep breath here.
You have been member for all of three days, whereas the site has been around for 11+ years, yet you are comfortable in declaring that it "shouldn't how the things ...
- 42.4k
12
votes
Is over-vigilant monitoring of questions driving people away from the site?
But, surely there should be a way for answers to be allowed for questions that get closed?
Oh goodness no. That defeats the entire point of putting questions on hold (a.k.a. closing).
Actually, ...
- 74.8k
12
votes
Why was my question closed as too broad?
You are asking us to do a literature review on the subject of carbon dioxide and global warming. A student starting a PhD on the subject would spend weeks doing a review like this. Your question was ...
- 343k
12
votes
How should we handle "multidisciplinary" questions with subparts that are appropriate for different SE networks?
I think the fact that even the meta question here talks about different subquestions is simply an indication the question is not focused enough for the SE model: Yes, to answer the question you are ...
ACuriousMindMod
- 116k
11
votes
Why was this question considered "big list?"
A question of the form What is the biggest X? presumably means that an answerer should only answer if they are 100% sure that they know the unique answer (which btw may change in the future), and all ...
QmechanicMod
- 184k
11
votes
Should we re-word the homework-like close reason to better match how we actually deal with homework-like questions?
Here's my go:
Homework-like questions and check-my-work questions are considered off-topic here, particularly when they are about specific computations instead of asking about the conceptual ...
- 127k
11
votes
Why is the 'Physics' Stack Exchange site closing some interesting questions?
Well... to put it delicately, these are not anywhere near the mainstream. To put it less delicately, these are nutty questions.
This site is not the place to entertain this kind of unfounded ...
- 42.4k
11
votes
Closing a 10-year old answered question as off-topic
Since my motives are being questioned, let me add this.
I voted to close this question because I didn't think it was about physics as defined in the scope of this site. That's all.
I don't see that ...
- 120k
11
votes
Stop closing questions that are considered "homework type"
In the question you link, you explicitly ask for someone to find for you a solution method, exactly as if this question were part of a homework and you did not know how to solve it.
The community has ...
- 42.4k
10
votes
Is over-vigilant monitoring of questions driving people away from the site?
The following three points combine to contradict your thesis:
The number of questions asked per week has been steadily increasing for the entire duration of PSE's existence.
The number of users ...
- 26.3k
10
votes
Is "check-my-work" defined to be off-topic in the site's help? (Should it be?)
Yes, it should be.
The site's Help pages do a lot to define the scope of what can and cannot be asked here. New users who take the trouble to go to the on-topic help should expect a reasonably-...
- 127k
10
votes
Fixing the closed-question notices following changes to the software
Let's kick things off with the most important one - the homework close reason, which currently reads
Homework-like questions and check-my-work questions are considered off-topic here, particularly ...
- 127k
10
votes
Accepted
Why was this question on fiber switches closed?
I agree with you: while most questions about engineering are off-topic for us, we make an exception for engineering-like questions about experimental apparatus. I've retagged and reopened the ...
robMod
- 80.3k
10
votes
Accepted
Why was this question down voted and closed as non-mainstream?
It's all about phrasing:
"How are accelerated frames treated in special relativity?" is a perfectly fine question.
"Special relativity cannot work with accelerated frames! Prove me (or &...
ACuriousMindMod
- 116k
10
votes
Why was this vector calculus question closed?
That question is a poor fit to the site and not specific enough to answer.
At the time of writing, the question is:
I would like to know if this type of term is encountered anywhere in physics and ...
- 8,699
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