<p>Another useful principle is</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>Respect what the original poster asked</p>
</blockquote>

<p>SE's own  2015 statistics highlight the surprising fact that all questions posted on this (entire) domain are down voted once.  Given that not all SE forums are equally harsh, some must be worse than others to maintain the average.</p>

<p>Some of these down voted questions are asked by non-stupid people who have taken the time to register and ask what they feel are legitimate questions in areas they are not expert in.</p>

<p>Others ask simplistic questions (relative to expert standards) that then receive post doctoral level answers that are of absolutely no use to the originator.  If a child asks why is snow white, don't hand over a print out from a photo reflectivity analysis and a slideshow of electron energy jumps. </p>

<p>If the true purpose of SE is not to provide assistance to individuals, it might be worth while changing the access policy to not allow all and sundry to post questions.</p>

<p>I can well understand posters deleting questions that receive useless answers.  I have done the same, and have to convince myself to ask further ones.  I challenge you (as statisticians) to determine how many posters only post one or two questions, are patronised, and are never seen again.  Your example at the top is a case in point.</p>

<p>I finish with something I'd like all to dwell on: "Acceptable to whom?"</p>
