Do avoid looking at the already present responses to a question you intend to post an answer to?

Question

Is it better not to read them so your answer is not affected?

Answer 1

yes, I do. Even though I don't want to post something that's already been said, I don't look at the answers because I don't want my answer to be affected or influenced in any way by other's opinions.

Answer 2

Im not-so-sure- that you should accept any answer
from a person who will not look up any other answer to
the same question.
I'll put it like this;are they afraid that they may be wrong?
Or do they like to think that they never make a mistake?
We all do make mistakes,even typing ones,and in a
question in math or even in philosophy,when emphasizing
some important point,the answerer owes-it-to the asker
and also to the facts.
And this may be relevant.When reading The Open Society and Its Enemies(by Sir karl Popper),i came across what at
first seems like an error;he was discussing the criticism
he had received for not seeing the "greatness"of the a writer
called Hegel;then,in chapter 12 there is a misspelling of
Hegel's name,to "Gegel".
I like to think that Sir karl was
definitely responsible for this-taking the liberty of poking
fun at a writer who's work he abhorred(Hegel's).
And of course, with some recent numerous replies(in response
to a question from the president of India)it would be virtually
impossible to read them all;nevertheless, this is still
important-to-realise because it could well(and therefore
definitely) mean that the question's Asker wasnt able or
didnt read all the answers too(i assume that this could
be a common problem with most Presidents).

Answer 3

I rarely read the other responses, unless there are a lot of answers, then I look to see if anyone said what I'm going to say. If a lot of people have, then I won't answer there, since it really makes no sense to have ten answers to the same question. So, In my case, reading the answers does affect my answer, mainly because I'm trying to give a different perspective or try to make a witty answer, and if I'm the eleventh person to say it, then my ideas are boring and overused.

Answer 4

Sometimes I do sometimes I don't. It all depends on the question. Sometimes the question is not cut and dry and maybe needs further interpretation, so I read what other's have wrote to see what the general understanding is. From time to time it helps to create those "AHA" type thoughts that help me answer more clearly. There are other times that I just have an answer come straight to mind and I just skip to that and post it. I don't want anything breaking my focus. I do however go back usually and read the other answers just out of respect for those who took the time. Sometimes you can learn something from the most unlikely of people.

Cheers,

Chris Lyons.
http://www.endlesshumanpotential.com/

Answer 5

It depends on the question. If it is an advice question, I do not read the answers until after I have answered the question. Then I go back and see what everyone else said. If it is a question with a definitive answer (homework, riddles, etc.) I will scroll the answers to see if someone has already correctly answered it.

Answer 6

I used to look at them just as a natural part of looking at the question. My answers come from someplace unknown; I just start typing and the perfect answer flows from another subconscious portion of my brain. But yes subconsciously answers can be affected and people are quite prone to group thinking so it would be best not to see the other answers until after you've given your own and that's what I've been doing since i've come back.

Answer 7

If there's just a few answers, I'll read them to see if someone has already said what I was going to say. If there's more than about 5 or so though, I won't, since that would take too long.

Hope no one has already said this. ;-)

Answer 8

I'll post an answer and if necessary, edit it based on what I read after I've posted. But yah, I definitely scan through them.

Answer 9

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Answer 10

Why would I want to repeat what someone else has already said? Wouldn't that just make it harder for different ideas to appear?

Though I sometimes have a problem with brevity, I have no interest in drowning others out. That would demean us both, and injure the asker besides.