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Apparently you are only allowed to ask 6 questions a day and in this revision period, I am asking questions to help clarify some material that I don't understand. I have another question I want to ask on circlines but apparently I've used up my 6. Now what?

Can I delete other questions asked today and that means I can ask my new questions?

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    $\begingroup$ Don't delete anything, as that is not going to change anything. $\endgroup$
    – Mariano Suárez-Álvarez Mod
    Commented Dec 31, 2012 at 17:25
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    $\begingroup$ Votes on meta signify disagreement with the post. It has no effect on reputation anyway. Don't take downvotes too hard here. $\endgroup$
    – Asaf Karagila Mod
    Commented Dec 31, 2012 at 17:54
  • $\begingroup$ Oh, ok. I'll delete that edit then. $\endgroup$
    – Kaish
    Commented Dec 31, 2012 at 17:59
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    $\begingroup$ To elaborate on @Asaf's point, a meta-downvote means that a user read "Can I delete other questions asked today...?" and voted no, essentially saying "no, you should not do that" in one click. This is different from main-downvotes which can mean "this is not a good question". $\endgroup$
    – user53153
    Commented Dec 31, 2012 at 18:22
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    $\begingroup$ I'd appreciate hearing your thoughts and opinions on my very related question at meta.math.stackexchange.com/questions/11757/…. I of course would appreciate your support for it. $\endgroup$
    – user53259
    Commented Jan 23, 2014 at 7:17

3 Answers 3

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If your question does not require a long answer (e.g., "is this proof correct?"), it may be reasonable to ask it in the chat room.

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  • $\begingroup$ How do I get on to that? The majority of my questions today have simply been those kind, and me explaining what I thought and then asking "Is this corrcect?" $\endgroup$
    – Kaish
    Commented Dec 31, 2012 at 17:41
  • $\begingroup$ @Kaish My post has a link to the chat room. $\endgroup$
    – user53153
    Commented Dec 31, 2012 at 18:20
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    $\begingroup$ +1 for this answer. Why are always the dumb funny but offensive answers upvoted here, instead of the constructive more sophisticated anwers $\endgroup$
    – Kasper
    Commented Jan 1, 2013 at 22:46
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    $\begingroup$ @Kasper I suppose it's just a little bit of meta-humor. $\endgroup$
    – Emily
    Commented Jan 2, 2013 at 21:44
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Wait for tomorrow. ${}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}$

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    $\begingroup$ But I want to do my work now. Now I'm stuck for the rest of day. How do I go about understand the next bit if I don't understand what I'm doing now $\endgroup$
    – Kaish
    Commented Dec 31, 2012 at 17:25
  • $\begingroup$ Well, now you can't ask questions for some hours, because there is a rule that says there is a daily maximum and you seem to be passed that for today. So you have to wait until tomorrow. $\endgroup$
    – Mariano Suárez-Álvarez Mod
    Commented Dec 31, 2012 at 17:27
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    $\begingroup$ This rule is stupid $\endgroup$
    – Kaish
    Commented Dec 31, 2012 at 17:28
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    $\begingroup$ @Kaish: The rule is designed to allow everyone to ask questions, and not have one person flood the front page. I am sure that you wouldn't call it stupid if someone would ask so many questions that your questions would be gone from the main page within minutes. $\endgroup$
    – Asaf Karagila Mod
    Commented Dec 31, 2012 at 17:34
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    $\begingroup$ @AsafKaragila What you should do is once an answer has been accepted, then you "close" that question so it doesn't come up on the main page with every edit, etc, but you can still write on it and stuff. And the rule should be say no more than 6 question per 24 hours that haven't had an answer accepted. This way you can ask however many questions you want and it doesn't flood the main page. $\endgroup$
    – Kaish
    Commented Dec 31, 2012 at 17:37
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    $\begingroup$ @Kaish: Having spent a whopping 10 minutes thinking about this, please think further and deeper. Do you mean that if someone accepted a short answer, and someone else defaced the entire post - it shouldn't be bumped? Who could see the defacing and correct it? If I post a longer answer, does that mean that no one should see it on the front page? Does accepting one answer means that you no longer care for anything anyone has to say on the topic? That's counterproductive to the idea of a Q&A site. $\endgroup$
    – Asaf Karagila Mod
    Commented Dec 31, 2012 at 17:41
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    $\begingroup$ "But I want to do my work now. Now I'm stuck for the rest of day. How do I go about understand the next bit if I don't understand what I'm doing now." - There are books, websites, videos, lecture notes... There are other ways to find answers to your question besides asking here. $\endgroup$
    – TMM
    Commented Dec 31, 2012 at 17:42
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    $\begingroup$ @AsafKaragila No because once you've accepted the answer, then you lock that question and answer so no more edits can be made on these. You can still make more answers, comments etc and thats fine, it just won't come up on the main site. It's the same as someone posting a question in the morning and then by evening the post being off the main page and loads of people have now missed it.It could've been interesting/helpful/whatever to loads of people, they're just too late to see the question and so they won't know what's happened. You can't have everything on that one page. $\endgroup$
    – Kaish
    Commented Dec 31, 2012 at 17:49
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    $\begingroup$ @Kaish: So if someone accepted a wrong answer? Or if there is a typo? Then what? It makes no sense to avoid bumping a question. The idea behind bumps is that the community can monitor edits and changes continuously. Removing this feature means that it is impossible to see what's really active. I also don't see the reason why if someone wrote a simple and mundane answer that got accepted means that someone writing a long and deep answer should get less votes just because the question is not bumped to the front page anymore. The only solution is to limit questions quota. $\endgroup$
    – Asaf Karagila Mod
    Commented Dec 31, 2012 at 17:51
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    $\begingroup$ @AsafKaragila Nobody accepts an answer without reading it. If they didn't want to understand the answer then they wouldn't have asked the question. They go through the answers and more questions in the comments and when they're satisfied, they click accept. It's the normal thing to do, especially for maths at this level. At the end of the day, I asked a question and if the "mundane" answer is good enough for me then I can accept that. People aren't on this site just for votes. A deep answer shouldn't be just for the high votes, its too help the OP understand the material $\endgroup$
    – Kaish
    Commented Dec 31, 2012 at 17:59
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    $\begingroup$ @Kaish: I have no interest in having a discussion with someone which is offended by a feature. If you feel that you can come up with a better scheme of how the site should work, by all means write a detailed feature request and explain why do you think that your idea is better than the current way things work. If you can convince others that your idea is good, and in fact better than the current state, well done. But you have to think about it from all angles, otherwise it's gonna be easy to point out holes in your suggestions. $\endgroup$
    – Asaf Karagila Mod
    Commented Dec 31, 2012 at 18:02
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    $\begingroup$ @Kaish: perhaps most people read an answer before accepting it, but that doesn't mean there might not be something severely wrong with the answer that the OP did not catch. Even if the accepted answer is correct, another answer might be given that is much better (simpler or more comprehensive). In any case, perhaps you can modify one of your six existing questions to include more of your unanswered questions. Remember, this site exists to help people understand math, not to do their work for them. $\endgroup$
    – robjohn Mod
    Commented Dec 31, 2012 at 19:12
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    $\begingroup$ @Kaish: you might also try asking a quick question on chat. $\endgroup$
    – robjohn Mod
    Commented Dec 31, 2012 at 19:13
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    $\begingroup$ (off-topic) Actually, he did not have to wait only until "tomorrow", but until 2013 to ask a new question! That's harsh! $\endgroup$
    – TMM
    Commented Jan 1, 2013 at 1:43
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    $\begingroup$ @Kaish There is no such thing as "math at this level", MSE is open to all levels of math. And if your math education would be forced to end when MSE would cease to exist, it might be wise to change fields. $\endgroup$
    – Michael Greinecker
    Commented Jan 1, 2013 at 10:25
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There are people on this site who will be able to answer pretty much any question related to the course for which you are revising. However, the goal of your course is to enable you to answer the questions yourself.

This is mainly done by the course material, however delivered, and your tutors.

If you need to ask so many questions, it seems to me an indication that you didn't ask them the first time (in class) or the second time (working through problems and having your supervisor/tutor help with your gaps) - and that you haven't got to grips with the course material as you should have done. [Well, I was there once in April for May exams, and I worked 14 hours a day for six weeks - there is no substitute for doing as much as you can yourself]

I do not think you can expect a site like this to provide intensive exam coaching - though you will find people here very helpful in moderation. If you ask too many questions you will simply exasperate the people who might be most helpful to you. After all your tutors get paid; the contributors to this site give their time and wisdom free.

In short - pick your questions for this site with care - the ones which will advance your understanding are good to ask.

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    $\begingroup$ Paraphrasing Rudbeckia Hirta: "If you have minor pain, you can buy the ibuprofen that you need over-the-counter. In my analogy, this would be help from Math.SE. But if you have enough pain that you need 800mg of ibuprofen, you probably should get that checked out." $\endgroup$
    – user53153
    Commented Jan 3, 2013 at 22:31

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