How to answer questions in a helpful way (2017)
<p><pre><code>  George: I’m doing X, and I got this error, how do I fix it

  Jasminda: Are you actually trying to do Y? If so, you shouldn’t do X, you should do Z instead
</code></pre>
Argh, this makes me so stabby. These days 90% of Stack Overflow &quot;answers&quot; are of this form, where the respondent does not respect the possibility that the questioner knows what they are asking and why. It is not always a sunk cost fallacy, where the questioner &quot;might be attached to the steps they’ve taken so far&quot; as the article states.  That&#x27;s <i>also</i> condescending!