Question

Hypothetical question...is it considered answering directly if an asker is just asking someone to check his work (which would be a yes/no question) and other users answer yes/no. I ask because a lot of users are so afraid of getting punished if they answer yes/no so they give vague explanations which just confuse the asker.

Answer 1

I generally think this is fine - so long as the asker puts down their answer and you tell them if it is correct. Rather than just giving them the answer so they can check their work.

Answer 2

I believe the goal is to make users understand how to solve problems. if an asker just needs a confirmation about his work, a yes or no is fine to the best of my knowledge but certainly if the answer given is no, the person who says no should have some understanding what the problem is and then go ahead to help. so as @TranceNova said, it'd rather do the community more good if the asker puts down an answer for a check, rather than you giving out the answer just as is.

Answer 3

I agree with TranceNova's assessment, but it depends on whether someone is listing their work. If they just give a question and an answer, then there's little enough point to the question anyway. We'll talk about whether we should come up with an official response to that situation.

Answer 4

yes. i meant that the asker showed a solution. i understand that if the asker posts a question with an answer it could be a guess