Dear Andrew,
Yes, answers should be free, in the sense, that everyone should have
access to answers and the ability to find them.
An answer is defined as "A spoken or written reply, as to a question",
or "A solution, as to a problem" (see: Dictionary.com:
<http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=answer&r=67>).
Within the rules of the general reality, our Matrix, if you'd like,
answers are given all the time, free as the wind. The world is full of
answers, alas, sometimes not the right ones.
This is a holistic term that has not to do with someone else, but with
the individuals themselves and their needs and interests. When asking
a question - whether to yourself - you accept a certain mental frame,
in which you expect yourself to grant a solution to the problem posed,
or reply. This information that you receive, or your expectation to
receive it, is legitimate.
However, some limits apply. When you are not in the ability to find an
answer by yourself, you have to get assistance from others. Here,
answers differ. Some questions, like "What is your name?" could be
easily answered by most people. Some questions, like "I have a big dog
with two ears and a tail, who barks - what sort of dog is it?" (See:
"what type of dog do I have"
<http://answers.google.com/answers/threadview?id=45509>) may be more
difficult to answer. When you require someone else's time and efforts,
you might as well reward them. For some people and for some answers, a
simple "thank you" would be a reward. Many Internet forums and
newsgroups work that way. If you ask in a scouts Usenet, "what is the
matrix?", you might as well get answers free of charge
(http://groups.google.com/groups?hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&safe=off&threadm=3c6c2a2a%241_1%40mk-nntp-1.news.uk.worldonline.com&rnum=10&prev=/groups%3Fq%3D%2522what%2Bis%2Bthe%2Bmatrix%2522%26hl%3Den%26lr%3D%26ie%3DUTF-8%26oe%3DUTF-8%26safe%3Doff%26selm%3D3c6c2a2a%25241_1%2540mk-nntp-1.news.uk.worldonline.com%26rnum%3D10),
related to the film as well as to scouting. Other answers that
required much research and study, there are sometimes other rewards. A
question - such as "What is wrong with this blood-work?” - could cost
you, at the doctor's clinic, dozens, if not hundreds, of dollars.
Finally, we get to this place. This place is defined as a place where
users pay for research. You are in a certain place, which has its own
rules, just like a sub-unit of reality, where researches, or answers,
are rewarded with payment. In this set of rules, you pay for the
effort of a stranger to help you find correct information and a
listing fee, to maintain the service itself. Unlike Usenet, and
similarly to a paid service, this answer is answered usually with
responsibility and an attempt to grant the best answer possible.
Within the rules of this little world, answers are not granted free of
charge, and by posting a question, you acknowledge that you're aware
of that.
Therefore, as almost any question in the world, this is a question of
perception, or of understanding our environment and our sets of
realities. An answer and a question always belong to certain frames.
Within a children's play, when you - as an actor - ask the "wolf" why
he has such big teeth, you expect the fellow actor to "eat" you. I do
hope that in the "real world" you don't go around asking guys named
Wolf why their teeth are so big. Unless you're a dentist - which is
yet another frame and settings of reality - you might get really nasty
answers.
Therefore, the bottom line is that in different settings, we get
different answers - some are free and some are not - depend on the
internal rules of these settings.
I hope this answered your question. Please contact me if you need any
clarification on this answer before you tip/rate it. |
