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Updated meta question:

I asked a question (Original).

I asked how it could be improved (this meta question)

Someone kindly and patiently explained its faults. At least 10 others agreed with the explanation.

I tried to apply the answer I received (Edited).

With my edit, is the question a good fit for the site, yet?

What else needs changing?

Original meta question:

What's wrong with this question? How can it be improved?

How does Turing machine undecideability manifest in FOL?

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    $\begingroup$ The question you link to currently has one downvote, and one vote-to-close, which means that one user isn't happy with your question. One user out of several hundred thousand. It might not be worth worrying about. $\endgroup$ – Gerry Myerson Apr 22 at 6:32
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    $\begingroup$ @GerryMyerson to frame the numbers like this is unhelpful. Taken to the end it means basically everything that ever happened or could happen on the site is irrelevant. $\endgroup$ – quid♦ Apr 22 at 13:57
  • $\begingroup$ @GerryMyerson In addition to quid's comment, at the time that I am writing this comment, the post has 51 views, two downvotes, and three close votes (including my own). This means that at least 6% of those who have viewed the question are dissatisfied with it for some reason. I would attached a comment explaining my vote to close, but postmortes did an excellent job here. $\endgroup$ – Dr. Xander Henderson Apr 22 at 17:21
  • $\begingroup$ Yes, @quid, that's why we leave things where they are, rather than taking thme to the end, where they don't belong. $\endgroup$ – Gerry Myerson Apr 22 at 23:35
  • $\begingroup$ @Xander, OK, now it's time for OP to worry. $\endgroup$ – Gerry Myerson Apr 22 at 23:36
  • $\begingroup$ @GerryMyerson As Xander detailed a relevant metric could have been views. Plus from hundreds of thousands of users (or also from the few dozen that saw it) nobody had given positive feedback. How alarming. Your comment made little sense and is rather unhelpful for OP, especially given that the question clear was not presented well. Right, there can be case where one should not care about one vote, but the current case was clearly not one. $\endgroup$ – quid♦ Apr 23 at 14:54
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When asking these kinds of questions, it can be quite helpful to ask the converse as well: what's right with this question? What can't be improved? And when I look at your linked question I find myself unable to answer my own.

First off: what's FOL? It seems to be an important part of your question but you haven't explained it. If one of your links explains it that's lovely, but as a typical user of the site I'm not here to click through to other places; I'm here to ask or answer questions. So you've just lost anyone who could answer who doesn't understand the abbreviation FOL (I assume it's First Order Logic?) You don't have to write an essay, but the context that you're asked to provide for your questions should include explaining abbreviations, and maybe sometimes a sentence or two to provide technical details. (If there really is a lot of explanation need a link can be useful then, but again you should provide a summary first and then the link for people who want to know more).

And just before I leave the topic: English isn't everyone's first, or even preferred, language. FOL is meaningless to someone who is used to an abbreviation of words from a different language.

Second: this is essentially a PSQ: a Problem-Statement Question and they tend to be poorly received on the site. Explaining why you're interested in an answer is a good idea because it helps answerers understand the level at which you're at. If you ask a question about Functional Analysis for example, a good answer for a new graduate student might be "Use the Hahn Banach theorem" but for a undergrad it might be better to explictly show where the H-B theorem is applied. I have no idea from your question what you know or understand. And no, abbreviating FOL doesn't tell me anything either -- you might not have explained it because you've copied it from a homework exercise and have no idea yourself what it means.

So, and this gets said a lot in answers here on meta: help your answerers to help you. Tell them what you know, tell them what you want to use the answer for, and let them provide you with an answer pitched at the right level that will additionally benefit other people with similar questions later on.

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    $\begingroup$ Excellent answer, postmortes. $\endgroup$ – amWhy Apr 22 at 16:23
  • $\begingroup$ Does this summary include main points? Context + Summary + Links over extreme brevity; Consider non-English-centric worldviews; Include motivation behind question; Include enough context for someone to infer your expertise or lack thereof so they can accommodate $\endgroup$ – Words Like Jared Apr 23 at 1:29
  • $\begingroup$ Thank you for your time! Very helpful! (My (false) impression was people didn't want context) $\endgroup$ – Words Like Jared Apr 23 at 1:29

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