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Comment by toast76 | Hacker News Reader

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toast76·

Karma (to me) is about making a contribution.

A question doesn't make a contribution, but the answers may.

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"Karma (to me) is about making a contribution."

- absolutely true

"A question doesn't make a contribution, but the answers may."

- absolutely false

Good questions are the root of many great conversations.

As can a bad hypothesis, or a bad question.

The "great conversation" is the part that creates the value. Not the parent. My own point here has no value on its own other than the fact that it started further discussion. It doesn't make my comment any more valuable in its own right.

I disagree pretty strongly here. The right questions can be extremely powerful contributions.

Try this one:

What makes a contribution to HN valuable?

The contribution of a question is often defining a problem and framing further discussion.

Indeed, it has a social component embedded in its very nature. I don't see the same of comments. I could make comments about anything in life - code, food, movies, people, etc. - and it doesn't matter if anyone else cares. Questions though are pointless if they don't engender a response.

Socrates is generally thought to have made some contributions to philosophy despite the fact that the Socratic Method basically boils down to "ask lots of questions."

So you've never seen a thought-provoking question on HN?

Was that one? :P

good question

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