<p>From the perspective of a beginner trying to gain a foothold in machine learning through CrossValidated, a reasonably lenient policy on things like &quot;thank you&quot;s seems to be helpful, for several reasons that I haven't yet seen brought up in this thread:</p>
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<li><p>I haven't seen any of this yet at CrossValidated, whose members have impressed me with their civility and generous help so far, but that isn't the case at a lot of other forums for related topics at StackExchange and other sites, particularly programming ones. There are two principal temptations which can ruin sites like this (both of which come from hubris): the experts who think they can't possibly be wrong and let everyone else know it, and their nemeses, amateurs who pretend to know a lot more than they do. If either one gets out of control, people become reluctant to post because they have to brace themselves for what sometimes amounts to outright abuse (I can name specific forums where semi-famous experts in various fields make a sport of ridiculing newbies and engage in shocking public meltdowns, but I won't). The damage from that sort of atmosphere is incalculable because we'll simply never know how many lurkers never signed up for the site or posted (as I have for many years in the forums I'm referring to). It can occur silently, with no outward signs like falling membership numbers, but with devastating effect.</p>
<p>Newcomers like me can't do much about the problem of supercilious experts (which I've seen no signs of so far at CrossValidated), but we can put a drop in the bucket towards solving its polar opposite by short expressions of gratitude and the occasional short disclaimer of inexperience. I would be less comfortable about posting if such niceties were regulated too aggressively, because it allows me to consciously nip a potential source of tension in the bud. Other posters, particularly ones who've spent years earning the right to speak on these issues, are less likely to misconstrue posts and take offense if gratitude and humility are expressible in reasonable proportions.</p>
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<li><p>The subject matter in forums like these can be highly technical and taxing to think about, plus working with data mining software can be frustrating at times. This can raise the tension level further, whereas the occasional expression of basic courtesy can reduce it.</p>
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<li><p>Tone of voice is difficult to get across in Internet discussions, where people tend to freely mix on-point information with casual conversation; that's why in chat I consciously use emoticons a lot to avoid misunderstandings. &quot;Thanks&quot; etc. sometimes serve the same purpose.</p>
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<p>All three points suggest that an overzealous approach to editing out &quot;thanks&quot; and disclaimers etc. can actually reduce the quality of the answers in the long run. Why? If people don't post questions, there are <em>no</em> answers, regardless of quality or length. Fanatical text slashing can be as self-defeating as fanatical accounting, where 0 expenses and 0 income also equals a balanced budget. I don't see that happening here: in fact, the moderators have been generous in letting me ask questions verbosely, which can also end up reducing the amount of text in the long run by avoiding unnecessary replies based on misreading of questions. &quot;Thanks&quot; are in order for maintaining that balanced policy so far...when in doubt, I'd always lean towards a more lenient response.</p>
