Have you ever received the perfect answer to a question?

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   John Sarkisposted 10 years ago

   Have you ever received the perfect answer to a question?
   
   I've had problems with this...  You ask a question (HP or someplace else) and receive indirect answers...Freud had clinical terms i.e., when you introduce and pass on subjective ideas in your answers which had nothing to do with the question asked.   The human mind is a storage of information, feelings, and ideas which surface up  - unconsciousness.

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2. 56

   DannoManposted 10 years ago

   I am not sure what you had in mind as a Freudian term for indirect answers, nor am I sure what you had in mind for this question. Yes, I have received direct (highly functional, purposefully useful) answers to questions. But I have received even more helpful answers to other questions that did not merely directly address what was asked. For an answer to be considered helpful there is typically more to it than supplying only a strictly-adhering conformity to the structure of the question. Depth and breadth of answers are sometimes (if not usually) appreciated as much as precision.

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      John Sarkisposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      Your third sentence is precisely what I want to avoid.  Thank you for your input.

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   m abdullah javedposted 10 years ago

   Hi sir, Human intellect is an articulation of limitation of senses, with limitations, lofty expectation for excellence and perfection is quite unrealistic. if this is understood, expectations will be within that. So if any question for which we find Divine guidance answer will quench our thirst. Or if it is based on particular subject or personal details, we get the same level of satisfaction. But as far the queries pertaining to observation, knowledge, analysis, perceptions, theories, human achievements etc are concerned, you may never get what you expect, or not all the time at least. Every one will try to answer as per his level of understanding. So one has to have expectation in view of the limitations of human intellect.

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      John Sarkisposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      Good answer, but a bit profound.  It doesn't work when people become too philosophical on hypothetical imperatives, which are 95% of our daily human functions.  Thanks

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   tsmogposted 10 years ago

   Many times. The question sets the boundaries. The purpose determines acceptability of answers. A specific question section is still a forum with a more disciplined decorum than an open forum or chat forum. Questions can prompt offering inspiration, they can seek open answers as dialogue, they can be specific with intent, they may be purely social, they can be research with the eye of an eagle, and other possibilities too.
   
   An example for boundaries is when I was a manager of a warehouse I use to preface a question with employees. That worked best for me to get the answer I needed or wished for. It was very simple and is as follows:
   
   To employee: This is a yes or no question. (No explanation required!!!)
   
   To employee: I would like your opinion.
   
   To employee: Please explain . . .
   
   To employee: Not business related
   
   In a decorum such as HP the motivational intent is two fold IMHO. One it is to spawn a hub article and it is to create dialogue. Overall I personally view and again IMHO view the question as a seed or seeds planted. One or more seeds does offer difference.
   
   A crop will arise and it is determined by the seed(s). With the crop comes the weeds. Not every plant will be good to harvest, though the bounty/fruit is evident. One may ponder philosophically the 'fruit of the poisonous tree' too.
   
   Next, comes tending the crop. Many to most never tend the crop here in the answer section. That is followed with actually harvesting the crop. Some of the crop is fodder, some of the crop is marketable, some is suitable for the dinner table with the excess stored for tomorrow. After the harvest comes gleaning. Others are allowed to go through the crops for their purposes. Finally like corn the parts of the plant are useful too.

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      John Sarkisposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      "yes or no question" seem to work at times.  When in argument, you can cut down airtime by implementing this rule.  I've done it and it works, sometimes.

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      tsmogposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      Agreed and fully. Yes or No provides direct information. With the employee an example is "Did such and such get done?" The supervisor only wishes to plan with knowledge for work flow. An explanation is not needed & may lead away. Argument ends.

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      John Sarkisposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      Ditto - I'm in customer service field and whenever I foresee an argument in the horizon I tell the customer to calm down and then start asking "yes/no" questions to them and it does work sometimes.

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      tsmogposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      I was a Tire/Service store mgr. how finessing Yes/No questions helped. Knowing at the corp level our Customer Relations mgr I really appreciate what you do John and admire those who do it well. Hat off to you John

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5. 85

   Electro-Denizenposted 10 years ago

   Only when asking a question regarding an issue in computer programming.... i.e. something highly technical.
   
   More generally, perhaps some people answer questions when they don't really know the answer, for a variety of self-interested reasons. And often people are not into incisive answers anyway! :-))  The subjective ideas get passed on.
   
   In a broader sense, it seems you're touching on a subject that has no solution at all. We all have a different understanding to a question, and we're trapped by our use of language, when our ability to conceptualize goes way beyond what rubbishy language has to offer. In fact, I'd go as far as saying that really no-one knows what they're talking about ( i.e. concepts/feelings cannot be matched by words and so use clumsy word scaffolding as a make-do) and it's a miracle that there is coordination between humans at all. (In that regard, interesting how humans from different language groups know how to cooperate without understanding each other at all, verbally).
   
   So this was yet another subjective response for probable self-motivated reasons...

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      John Sarkisposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      You hit the nail on the head; and, you brought up an important point on your second paragraph: it's hard for people to say "I don't know."  And yet, in my opinion this answwer is so much better than lying.

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      Electro-Denizenposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      Probably many social problems in the world would be solved if people freely admitted they had no clue whatsoever. We're located somewhere on the outer edge of a galaxy and have no idea where this galaxy is located. We know nothing about anything :-))

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   dashingscorpioposted 10 years ago

   The vast majority of questions I ask are to gage other people's opinions about various topics. I have never posted a question seeking advice for a personal issue I was dealing with. Therefore I would say "no" to your question. I've never gotten a "perfect" answer but I have come across opinions I agreed with more than others!

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      John Sarkisposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      Well said!

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