Topic summary

How to ask about something you suspect is a bad idea

Start Here › How to Ask onboarding site feedback guidelines beginner friendly worked example Solved

This is a generated summary. It shows the 9 most-liked posts from a topic of 88, in their original order, with the accepted answer included where one exists. It is a reading aid and it will miss nuance — the full topic is the record.

e.vargaTL2 Moderator23 Aug 2025#4

r.aldana_pharmd, post #3: On the opening post — agreed on the reasoning, with one qualification. Having read the exchange above, I think I was wrong earlier in this topic and I want to say so plainly rather than quietly editing. The correction was fair and I had been repeating something I had not checked carefully enough. Go to post

post #3 answers the question as asked. The question underneath it is different.

Disagreeing with an answer you got: cite what you disagree with, say what contradicts it, and ask which one holds. Do not open with "I think you are wrong". Lead with the evidence.

32 likes in reply to #3 11mo

t.duarteTL2 Moderator Solution2 Sep 2025#6

Thank you for the correction. I have edited my earlier post with a note rather than silently, so the thread still makes sense to read. The error was mine and it was the kind that comes from remembering a figure instead of looking it up.

8 likes 11mo

so.cardosoTL2 Moderator6 Oct 2025#14

On post #10 — agreed on the reasoning, with one qualification.

Chromatogram questions: describe the method first. Column type, gradient, wavelength, detection method. Everything else follows from method. A chromatogram without method is a number without context.

30 likes 10mo

o.abrahamsenTL3Regular1 Nov 2025#21

Arithmetic questions: write out the steps. "I have a 10 mg vial, I added 2 mL, I want a 0.25 mg dose, and I get this number for the syringe mark" is answerable. "How many units" is not.

28 likes 9mo

k.ogunleyeTL2 Moderator1 Dec 2025 · edited#30

Avoid "any advice?" at the end. It is so generic that people do not know which part of the post it refers to. Pick the specific part and ask that specific question instead.

26 likes 8mo

PSundbergTL2Member17 Dec 2025#35

For anyone arriving from a search: the marked solution above is the direct answer, and the replies underneath it add the caveats that make it safe to use.

29 likes 7mo

l.aguirreTL2 Moderator5 Jan 2026#41

The specific question in the title is more useful than you might think. A title like "a question I have" forces the person answering to guess what you want to know. A title with the actual question gets you an answer in two hours instead of two days.

31 likes 7mo

WoodhouseTL2Member31 Jan 2026#50

Lab result questions: state the result, the reference interval, and what else is on the same panel. A single flag on a single draw is usually uninformative without context.

29 likes 6mo

l.cabreraTL2 Moderator11 May 2026#87

Avoid "any advice?" at the end. It is so generic that people do not know which part of the post it refers to. Pick the specific part and ask that specific question instead.

32 likes 3mo

Read the full topic (88 posts)

This topic was referenced in

Coming back to: How much context is too much context in a first post?Start Here › How to Ask · 6 replies
The anatomy of a question that gets answered within an hour — the long versionStart Here › How to Ask · 142 replies

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