What's your reason for asking this question? Are you hoping that this site will get rid of the category? Do you have suggestions for how to make things better?
Here's a suggestion: for folks who don't want a childlike metaphor, request that when you ask your question. Something like "I'm having trouble understanding this, please explain to me as you would to a {5,10,15,20}-year-old."
Not everybody here is a professional programmer at the same skill level. So it helps to clarify if you want something different from the norm.
I didn't understand why anybody would ask for explanation like they were five. To me this is saying:
I haven't done ANY research on a topic that I am interested in (huh?). Or I have but I am so overwhelmed by it that I don't even grasp the fundamentals but please explain the advanced stuff simply to me. Again - huh?
Why would I bother answering? To me this is for one of two reasons, maybe more - to prove that I am super duper smart so I can deconstruct an advanced topic in super easy constructs. This is a common motivation I guess as I have come across "childish" explanations not only in blog posts here, but in books as well, that are so contrived that their only utility is boosting the author's ego rather than helping the reader grasp a difficult concept. The other reason - for fun as mentioned in one of the previous comments.
As suggestions go - maybe people could do a little bit of work before asking questions -> "I have gotten so far, I just don't get that next piece...could you help me."
I haven't done ANY research on a topic that I am interested in (huh?). Or I have but I am so overwhelmed by it that I don't even grasp the fundamentals but please explain the advanced stuff simply to me. Again - huh?
As an introvert, I agree with you. People like me (and I'm guessing like you as well) tend to do a lot of research before they ever would consider asking a question. However, not everybody's brain works that way. Some people process thoughts better in a group, and they think to themselves "why would I look in some book or read some article when I can better ask a question from a smart human that's available?" For many people (extroverts), asking questions of people is the very first step, not the very last, on a new project.
It follows then that there might be people on the other side, who have learned a lot, that would want to answer questions more socially for the same reasons. As has been stated here on Dev.to a few times, we have Stack Overflow for folks who are well into their research + knowledge phase but need specific answers. We have Dev.to for folks that need or prefer more qualitative conversations about / perspectives on these topics.
By taking a more charitable view of folks with a variety of learning styles and preferences, you'll probably enjoy this site more.
What's your reason for asking this question? Are you hoping that this site will get rid of the category? Do you have suggestions for how to make things better?
Here's a suggestion: for folks who don't want a childlike metaphor, request that when you ask your question. Something like "I'm having trouble understanding this, please explain to me as you would to a {5,10,15,20}-year-old."
Not everybody here is a professional programmer at the same skill level. So it helps to clarify if you want something different from the norm.
I didn't understand why anybody would ask for explanation like they were five. To me this is saying:
Why would I bother answering? To me this is for one of two reasons, maybe more - to prove that I am super duper smart so I can deconstruct an advanced topic in super easy constructs. This is a common motivation I guess as I have come across "childish" explanations not only in blog posts here, but in books as well, that are so contrived that their only utility is boosting the author's ego rather than helping the reader grasp a difficult concept. The other reason - for fun as mentioned in one of the previous comments.
As suggestions go - maybe people could do a little bit of work before asking questions -> "I have gotten so far, I just don't get that next piece...could you help me."
As an introvert, I agree with you. People like me (and I'm guessing like you as well) tend to do a lot of research before they ever would consider asking a question. However, not everybody's brain works that way. Some people process thoughts better in a group, and they think to themselves "why would I look in some book or read some article when I can better ask a question from a smart human that's available?" For many people (extroverts), asking questions of people is the very first step, not the very last, on a new project.
It follows then that there might be people on the other side, who have learned a lot, that would want to answer questions more socially for the same reasons. As has been stated here on Dev.to a few times, we have Stack Overflow for folks who are well into their research + knowledge phase but need specific answers. We have Dev.to for folks that need or prefer more qualitative conversations about / perspectives on these topics.
By taking a more charitable view of folks with a variety of learning styles and preferences, you'll probably enjoy this site more.
Thanks for the great reply. I agree with your reasoning :)