How come all the stupid, pointless, retarded questions get the most answers instead of serious ones?

Question

this is for a fact (at least in my expericance) i recently asked a question "If im hungry...what should i do?" has 23 and possibly counting replies. before that i had asked a question about myspace and how long (on average) its takes for them to process a video (if you knwo please tell me!) doesnt have any replies. please..just someone tell me the logic in that!
Would you answer a silly question over a serious one?

Answer 1

I'm just guessing maybe nobody knows how long it take myspace to do the video.

The reason people answer the dumb question is because they can answer anything and not get it wrong... What I think it is.
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Answer 2

I answer both types, but I'm in Polls and Surveys most of the time, and most of those are silly! Other times, I go to Women's Health and help out the little girls asking about their periods.....lol. I enjoy more silly questions, I have an enormous sense of humor, so might as well use it, right? RIGHT?!!!! lol just kidding. or am I?! As for the logic, we as Yahoo Answer addicts are a simple people. Compare us to Homer Simpson!! lol. I'm sorry that your serious question has no replies.....oh here's some logic. Silly questions don't really take much thought, whereas serious questions do! What category did you put it under? Try a different category (one that still matches your question- I hate it when people miscategorize. If I was mean, I would report them!). Maybe that will help. Otherwise, seek help by searching on ask.com or yahoo or google. Good luck, and I'm sorry again that you're not getting answers to your serious question!

~*Toodles*~

Answer 3

It does often seem that way, doesn't it?

And it depends on my mood; I may answer a silly question, too, but certainly do not favor them over serious ones with real value.

Clearly one reason is just that people don't have an answer for you, but have an urge (motivated by points, boredom, or whatever) to respond to *somebody.* So they pick out the fluff questions. (It's also why you see people saying, "I don't know" instead of just passing on the question.)

Frankly I'm less bothered by fluff questions getting lots of answers than I am by fluff answers to serious questions. I'm happy to let users have their time-killing twaddle if they keep it to questions that deserve it.

Some people come here for the wrong reasons, in my opinion. They're looking to hook up or chat or shake their boredom (without really contributing anything), rather than help someone, learn something, or do some thinking.

Some have the attention span of a gnat. (It so happens they're about as annoying, too, and have about as much depth.) Not just here, but all around, you can see people who can't be bothered to do any real thinking, or have a meaningful conversation... just superficial crap.

The questions here that are "fun" and easiest to answer will grab that type's attention. Some have said it's a teen or pre-teen thing, and I think there's some truth to that. But I know people much older who are the same way.

I'm not suggesting one always has to be serious! We all need to laugh, play and have fun. But there has to be balance, especially in a forum like this where people need real answers and real help; not wisecracks, insults, jokes and ignorant one-liners.

The problem you mention extends way beyond Yahoo! Answers, I believe. It's no less than a profound problem for the *world*. In America, at least -- and I suspect elsewhere -- thinking seems to be the bane of modern life..

Answer 4

I answer questions that I have an answer to. A lot of the serious questions I don't know anything about, so I think it would be rude of me to give a pointless answer. But for silly questions there are only silly answers, and I have plenty of those. They don't require as much specific knowledge.

Answer 5

Probaby because you don't have to think to hard to answer them...you know the person isn't seriously looking for an answer and it's an easy two points. Personally I don't know how long it takes to process a video on myspace so I wouldn't answer that one...but I do know what you should do if your hungry.

Hope this helps!

Answer 6

Because they're usually shorter and easier to answer.

It depends with me. If I just want to get some points, I'll answer the stupid, pointless question. If I see a serious question without a long drawn out paragraph, I'll answer it, but if its too long I usually get bored and just go to a different question.

I guess I have a short attention span or something.

Answer 7

Yes, it all depends on how deep, I'm willing to get, but I do answer serious questions, when I am in the mood, mostly I like the silly ones. My days are dramatic enough, I need to lighten up every now and then. LOL

Answer 8

I answer the stupid ones because sometimes it fun to just be stupid and not serious all the time but i do answer serious ones to and i answer them with respect of the person asking really wanting to know

Answer 9

Not entirely true. My current open question would probably fall into the pointless category in your opinion and it only has 5 answers.
Silly questions are fun. Silly questions are a nice temporary break from reality.

Answer 10

i would rather answer a question i don't have to think too deeply about, since i only do this to kill a little time here and there. of course, i love answering many stupid questions with equally stupid answers, because it amuses me. then again, there is an overwhelming majority of stupid questions over thought-provoking ones, which explains the number of replies......