Yahoos asking questions

I've become addicted to Yahoo Answers (answers.yahoo.com). It's a great site - you can ask questions to the entire public about anything and people can answer back. The topics vary from books to cooking to relationship advice. The system operates on points (ask a question -5 points, answer a question +2 points, etc.).

Some questions are fun, some are lazy, some are strange, and some are just mind-boggling.

The lazy questions are most often posted by students who are essentially asking people to do their homework for them. I have to admit, I'm bothered by these kinds of questions. The kids are cheating, and people are helping them do it. I've answered a few questions where students have asked for help, but I've always tried to do it in a way that makes the kid think about the answer. So when I see students getting help from random strangers, it bugs me because they're not thinking for themselves.

The mind-boggling questions bother me in that the show how ignorant people can be. Often, I see these questions in the Pregnancy or medical categories of the site. It seems like there are so many teenagers asking "Gee, I did this and this in bed, could I have gotten pregnant?" When I read those I just want to slam my head on my desk. I get that the US promotes abstinence, but come on! Wikipedia can teach you about safe sex! Go! Educate yourselves! I also hate the questions where people list their symptoms and say, "What disease do I have?" I mean, would you trust a random stranger on the street to diagnose you? No? Then why would you trust a random stranger on the internet? It's just encouraging a whole generation of hypochondriacs.

Since the majority of the users are obviously American (with a dash of Europeans, Canucks, and Aussies) I'm dismayed by the lack of thought that goes into them. Is this an example of the general thought process of an American? Or is it just that all the stupid people are congregating in one area?

Despite all this ranting and raving I will continue to use and stalk the site. It is fun to find questions that ask, "In Canada, where do polar bears sit on the bus?" or "What's making you happy today?" It's also great to find cooking tips or suggestions on books to read. And in general, it's just fascinating to find out what's important to different people.