3 ms·

The thing is - On chat GPT I don't need to worry about silly things such as "is my question actually a stupid one?", since it won't berate me for being a moron.

The thing is - On chat GPT I don't need to worry about silly things such as "is my question actually a stupid one?", since it won't berate me for being a moron. I actually feel free there to explore things I don't know that well. And for someone who asks and is curious about things, this is a godsend. I am using it as a learning tool, and some of its answers contained information that would take a long time for me to find myself, and it triggered me to look for actual tutorials and documentation that actually improved me as a developer. You argue that SO makes answering worthwhile, but ChatGPT actually makes asking worthwhile. And as a sidenote, I have expertise in a bunch of things, but I don't answer questions on SO, as I'm not interested in dealing with people interested in competing on it for internet points. I write tutorials on places like Medium or Hackernoon instead.

Arnt 4y ago
Good for you. FWIW I'm not interested in the internet points either; if some other site were the one that manages to appeal to both askers and experts, I'd be there. SO is the one that manages to appeal to both askers, experts and search engines. Where a ten-year-old question/answer stays visible in the search engines and be read.
- surgical_fire 4y ago
  I didn't want to imply that you were one that was interested in internet points, and I apologize if this is how I came across. But it would be foolish to deny that this is a demographic that exists, with a lot of drama attached to it (e.g.: https://meta.stackexchange.com/questions/331513/lets-take-a-look-at-the-interaction-between-staff-and-the-power-users-of-the https://meta.stackexchange.com/questions/331513/lets-take-a-...) Just the mention of "staff" and "power users" gives me the feeling that this is a place to avoid. I go there to fetch existing answers, and of none are found, I just go elsewhere.
  - Arnt 4y ago
    No offense taken; I don't think caring about Internet Points is particular good or bad, anyway. I lean towards thinking they're good even if I don't get the point personally, since I still remember expertsexchange.

Arnt 4y ago

Good for you. FWIW I'm not interested in the internet points either; if some other site were the one that manages to appeal to both askers and experts, I'd be there. SO is the one that manages to appeal to both askers, experts and search engines. Where a ten-year-old question/answer stays visible in the search engines and be read.

surgical_fire 4y ago
I didn't want to imply that you were one that was interested in internet points, and I apologize if this is how I came across. But it would be foolish to deny that this is a demographic that exists, with a lot of drama attached to it (e.g.: https://meta.stackexchange.com/questions/331513/lets-take-a-look-at-the-interaction-between-staff-and-the-power-users-of-the https://meta.stackexchange.com/questions/331513/lets-take-a-...) Just the mention of "staff" and "power users" gives me the feeling that this is a place to avoid. I go there to fetch existing answers, and of none are found, I just go elsewhere.
- Arnt 4y ago
  No offense taken; I don't think caring about Internet Points is particular good or bad, anyway. I lean towards thinking they're good even if I don't get the point personally, since I still remember expertsexchange.