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.

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SandWitch · 26-30, F

I agree with you 100%. I think that people are so desperate for idle chit-chat on this website that they'll say anything to make that happen for themselves. But if you do respond to their non-answer of "I don't like pie", there is almost a 100% chance that they won't contribute anything further to anyone who responds to their non-answer.

You have to remember that the high level of illiteracy that is typically demonstrated by adults on this website is what one might typically hear spoken from a five year old pre-schooler who's scrambling to learn how to spell his name before his first official day of school. We therefore have to cut people some slack in this low-hanging fruit environment called SW, particularly those adults who have a chronic need to argue a point until the cows come home, regardless of their comprehension of the question.