Not Helpful: Get the Help You Need Now!

  • Thread starter Thread starter GabrielStigmatic
  • Start date Start date
AI Thread Summary
The discussion highlights frustrations with the response time and relevance of help received on a volunteer-based forum. Users are reminded that contributions vary due to the all-volunteer nature of the site, and immediate assistance is not guaranteed. It is emphasized that most questions are typically answered within 24 hours, which is considered exceptional for a free service. The importance of allowing students to work through problems independently is also noted, with references to relevant resources provided. Overall, patience and exploration of available materials are encouraged for better outcomes.
GabrielStigmatic
Messages
7
Reaction score
0
You know, you guys aren't very helpful. Last week I posted some questions with the work that I did and what I neblack help with and I got one response that was completely irrelevant.
 
Physics news on Phys.org
Well, Gabriel, this is an all-volunteer site, and depending on the luck of the draw on a particular day, you may get stellar help or you may not get any. I went back and read your thread, and it did look like Astro's help was useful and you used it in your work. And your thread was only 2 hours long before you tied it off and said that you'd figured it out.

Give the site a couple more chances, and I think you'll find value in it. I know I sure get a lot of value out of the PF, and I don't mind giving some back in the form of Homework Helper. I do have a more-than-full-time job, however, so my contributions to the PF wax and wane with my other obligations.
 
If you expect to post a problem and receive stellar help within two hours, anytime, day or night, you're definitely going to be disappointed with this site, or indeed any service that you're not paying a hefty fee to use.

We manage to answer most questions within 24 hours (we live in time zones all around the world), and I feel that's pretty exceptional. I'm afraid it's simply unreasonable to expect a great deal of help within two hours.

- Warren
 
Besides, I don't see Astronuc's reply as irrelevant? :confused:
 
Hyperphysics is quite relevant to the problem and it seem GabrielStigmatic was working through the problem. It is our policy to let students' work through the problem, and we certainly do not do the students' work for them.

Also, we do not constantly monitor the same problem, since there are other problems with which to assist and other things to do.

I expected GS would explore the site, particularly the sections about waves, e.g.
http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/Hbase/waves/wavsol.html#c2
http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/Hbase/wavrel.html#c1

The last post seemed to indicate that GS had figured it out.
 
Last edited:
I want to thank those members who interacted with me a couple of years ago in two Optics Forum threads. They were @Drakkith, @hutchphd, @Gleb1964, and @KAHR-Alpha. I had something I wanted the scientific community to know and slipped a new idea in against the rules. Thank you also to @berkeman for suggesting paths to meet with academia. Anyway, I finally got a paper on the same matter as discussed in those forum threads, the fat lens model, got it peer-reviewed, and IJRAP...
About 20 years ago, in my mid-30s (and with a BA in economics and a master's in business), I started taking night classes in physics hoping to eventually earn the science degree I'd always wanted but never pursued. I found physics forums and used it to ask questions I was unable to get answered from my textbooks or class lectures. Unfortunately, work and life got in the way and I never got further the freshman courses. Well, here it is 20 years later. I'm in my mid-50s now, and in a...

Similar threads

Replies
1
Views
353
Replies
4
Views
2K
Replies
5
Views
3K
Replies
7
Views
1K
Replies
20
Views
3K
Replies
11
Views
2K
Replies
1
Views
3K
Back
Top