In a recent post, brother graff raised an issue that I think is important: should we just answer the question that was asked, or should we also ask the meta-question "Why are you doing it that way?"

Another monk posited that such meta-questions were unsuitable and perhaps even irritating to the OP; I disagree.

One my the many values of this community is the diverse backgrounds we have, both from life experience and more narrowly, our technical experience. I think many of us are qualified enough to ask meta-questions, and I also think that's an added bonus -- not only does the OP get feedback about the technical issue they have raised, they also hear about related matters (Amazon: Other people who bought this book also bought ...). That's terrific value, isn't it?

--t. alex
Life is short: get busy!

In reply to Answering questions and questioning questions by talexb

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