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Ask HN: How to ask a good question?
- cimmanom 8y agoProvide context. For instance, more context than this question includes. I’ve always appreciated this guide: http://www.catb.org/esr/faqs/smart-questions.html http://www.catb.org/esr/faqs/smart-questions.html
- afarrell 8y agoJulia Evans has a great blog post on this, which is much better suited for asking good questions of a TA, friend, or coworker than ESR’s post: https://jvns.ca/blog/good-questions/ https://jvns.ca/blog/good-questions/ One key mindset to have is to take a breath from the frustration that motivates the question and put a few minutes thought to how you can set your answerer up for success.
- factorialboy 8y agoIf it's a genuine question (you want to learn not not indulge in verbal power play) then it's good no matter what it is.
- afarrell 8y agoNah, there is definitely a gradient of well-framedness to questions. A bad question is one without context for why it is being asked or which merely hints at the asker’s confusion without directly tackling it.
- tmaly 8y agoWarren Berger was interviewed on the FS podcast about this topic. It is worth a listen. The title of the podcast was Improve Your Life by Improving Your Questions