Why do people answer questions without actually answering questions?

If somebody asks "what's your favorite kind of pie?," and you don't like pie, maybe take a second to understand the question was not directed at you. You don't need to go in the thread and pipe in that you don't like pie.

If somebody asks, "does anyone have a pet guinea pig?," they don't need to hear from everybody who doesn't have a guinea pig. They're looking to connect with people who DO have a guinea pig. A negative response to the question isn't needed.

Someone looking for a hot sauce recommendation doesn't need to hear about your acid reflux. The question wasn't for you.

Someone asking what clothes to pack for Athens in the summer doesn't need to hear about your trip to Moscow in the winter. If you've never been to Athens in the summer, they weren't asking YOU.

I don't know what it is about this site, but I've been reading through threads and so many of them are just filled with these sort of non-answers.

bijouxbroussard · F

I know exactly what you’re saying. I asked the question once,
"If you have any life regrets, are they more around mistakes you’ve made, or things you haven’t tried ?".

So of course, those who apparently have no regrets felt the need to weigh in. Some even advised me why I should have no regrets (which was yeah, thanks—but not the question).

I didn’t want to be rude, but I kept thinking, "If you have no regrets, the question was not directed towards you !" But that’s how it goes…