Why do you think people feel compelled to answer questions in the math section with...?

Question

an admonishment to "do your own homework," instead of either answering the question or not answering the question. Do these people not understand the community guidelines? Do they feel so outraged that someone would ask for help with homework on Y! Answers? Does anonymity embolden them to be rude when they would be civil in an analogous real-life situation?
What do YOU think it is?

I guess I get it that people feel the questioners are being lazy and not making an honest attempt to learn, but then if that's the case, why answer at all? Does the "Do your own work" poster really believe that he or she can get the asker to do her or his own work?

Answer 1

The "do your homework" reflex is stirred in me when I see 3 or more questions withing a question... or then the question is obviously retyped or pasted from an exercice book... this is a sign that the asker may not have tried before resorting to Y!A.

I don't know which is least helpful, though... "Do your homework" or just the plain answer without any explanation.

Answer 2

Yes, sometimes "do your own homework" is rude. However, there are times when I think the response is justified, as it is apparent the poster really IS just trying to get someone else to do his or her homework.

One of the red flags for me is when I see a series of very similar questions from the same poster. If the poster has made a sincere effort to understand the material but just doesn't get it, fine - ask one question from the homework, study the solution, and then try to figure out the others.

Another is when I see the phrase "show all work". Now, here we have posters that not only do not want to understand the problem, they just want to cut and paste the answer rather than put it in their own words. Talk about lazy.

Answer 3

I think its b/c they feel that everyone on here is cheating, having every question of their assignment answered by someone else. I look at it as someone needing a boost or assistance for some problems they find difficult. We as the answerers may find them simple and of easy nature but we must remember how we were when attending school. We didnt know every answer, know where to start on some questions, or even understand the subject we are currently studying. Knowing that math is the most troubling subject for the general public these people who comment with nonsense should know that you only better yourself by asking. I agree some people abuse this system but at the same time what would the world be if someone of some sort didnt abuse a system put into place for good nature?

Answer 4

As a person who answers some of these questions
Answering these questions does not help the questioner as the correct answer is not that important. it shows that the person understands the process that gives the right answer.
All it does is give a false impression to the teacher and piles up problems further down the line.
A certificate saying you can swim may get you the job as a lifeguard but if you can't swim it doesn't help the person who's drowning.

Answer 5

I like to answer whatever interesting questions I come across and I also don't see the point of people repeatedly posting "do you own homework." With that said, there are times when you see the asker posting question after question verbatim from a homework assignment. Those questions I just avoid because I want to help someone who's interested in learning, and it seems to me the time they spend transcribing their entire homework assignement onto Y! answers, they could have looked up the midpoint formula in their textbook and probably figured it out. But I agree with you, I don't like the homework police; just don't answer the question at all!

Answer 6

Part of the problem is that you cannot see the questioner. All you see is: What is 2+5? (I have actually seen that question).

Now, if I were to see a 5-year old kid sitting at his home computer asking the question, I would not hesitate to answer it. But, if it were some teenager, who was otherwise and obviously intelligent and 'should' know the answer (barring that he/she was just bored and typing joke questions), I can see typing those words, "do your own homework".

Since I don't know who is asking (the apparent simple questions), I just avoid them for the most part.

.

Answer 7

Yes, completely agree with you. I really wouldn’t mind helping, however, if the person is asking too much… for example: give us 20 equations and asking for all the answers, I don’t think I would do them all. I would usually do one, give the instruction and I’ll ask that person do the rest of them so that she/he can learn to solve the problem, isn’t that the point- in the first place?

SMILE.. =)

EDIT:

Well- some are just probably being rude and they probably don't know the answer either... LOL! . As for me, I've never wrote something like "do your own work" or something like that... just isn't right, but that's just my opinion. =)

Answer 8

I think answerers to those kinds of questions really don't know the purpose of Yahoo! Answers to answer questions other may not know, but not others' homework! Then again, some questioneers may not have the equation for homework and are simply using the Yahoo! Answers sub- section, Mathematics as a helpful tool to a question they may have in real life. But, I doubt it.

Answer 9

im betting most of the people that answer the questions in the math section were the kind of people that had people always asking them for the answer in school bc the other people always knew they did it and they knew they could get the answers from them. the might hold some kind of resentment for people that take the easy way and go directly for the answers instead of the understanding. personally, they just cheat themselves in the end so why not answer them.

Answer 10

Depends - if someone is asking for _help_, I'll gladly give them assistance in understanding how they can proceed to do their homework. On the other hand, if someone is asking the Yahoo community to do their homework for them (solving the actual problems, writing essays, or whatever), then I'm going to consider the asker a lazy, intellectually-challenged bozo who want to slough their responsibilites off on someone else, and if I'm moved to answer at all, it would probably be to tell them that.