So many people think their opinion is fact .. just ask them!

I think I just did that with your last question. I'm sorry Troll I was just trying to be helpful but I did acknowledge that I was not certain about my information and asked to be corrected if I was wrong.

Maybe they think they are really truly correct.

Guilty. But I think I do say that it's my opinion and do say I'm not sure when I'm not sure. Not sure if I did it every single time, usually if the question is more conversational then I do write some crap just for conversations sake.

Sometimes I suggest things...so I'm probably not right those times...

People have a tendency to guess when they don't know but think they have a vague idea. I have no problem with this, provided it is clearly signposted as being a guess, something they "think might be right but accept might not be", because this can often set the questioner thinking in the right direction and help them along the road to finding the answer for themselves. However there are a group of people that exist known as "morons", who fire out not very good guesses like a machine gun without any rider that they don't know what the hell they are on about; if you could see them typing their answer you would realise before they even hit return that it would be moronic... the stains on their vests and the home shopping network playing on tv in the background would tip you off. Sadly we don't have these handy clues on AB though, so it can cause some confusion. When pressed by someone who points out the incorrectness, they compound their foolishness by saying "just my opinion" (as if the name of the person with the most rushing yards in NFL history is a matter of opinion!), or worse, "I was just guessing, I don't really know about (insert name of category here)". So my considered opinion is that some do it because they are either morons, and some do it because they are lazy and can't be bothered to research and check whether their answer is actually correct but feel they may as well throw it out there as gospel anyway. Actually, these second lot are morons as well. Perhaps a lower grade of moron though... the kind that is dumb enough to watch the home shopping network but never actually buys from it.

Because it's vitally important that they answer as many questions as possible, with the least possible effort. Research? Facts? You're asking an awful lot, aren't you? ;)

If I think I know the answer to the question then I will try and answer it but I will also say that I may be wrong. It just happens that I am rarely wrong! :) What really gets me is people that come along, answer as the first answer with "I dont know" thus removing the question from the unanswered questions list and possibly preventing it from being answer at all.

1) You are free to do what you like. If the asker is asking for a fact, and even insists about it, nobody have to do what they say. Such an answer could be considered as not useful and a lack of politeness, not only from the asker. However, a question which is asked on AB is in this very moment no more the private property of the asker, it belongs to the community. 2) AB-Answers which are no real answers to the question could eventually be of some interest, for instance because they question the validity of the question, or because they have some humor. A good laugh will sometimes be appreciated. However, it could also be unfair to laugh at the cost of the question or of the asker. Anyway, the community will appreciate if they consider this AB-answer as valid or useful, even if it is not a real or valid or informed answer. 3) A guess is certainly not so useful as a good researched answer, but possibly better than no answer at all. And because of the way Answerbag functions, any answer will have at least the advantage to push the question again at the top of the list. 4) For people who have also some interest in collecting points, and I know that many of us are like this (I am no exception), any submission that you make gives you a new chance of getting some points. However, I would not give such an answer myself if I was not assuming that it could be of some interest. I don't want just to make useless noise.

You're going to get downrated by me if you fire off a guess in my tax category if you're wrong. I have a short fuse with people who guess in the tax area because many of these questions come from people who are relying on their own judgment in preparing and filing their own returns and would be very likely to rely on another average Joe. I want to knock that answer down a couple notches so my answer can appear above it (hopefully). I used to be a little kinder, adding a comment that said something like "kindly withdraw your answer" but when I got lectured a few times by testy ABers, I gave up the diplomacy.

Because there are a lot of New members that join us everyday and it 's up to us to guide them through -- or just different people , different styles of thoughts and facts - Some right , some not so right - This is Answerbag and I keep seeing the message posted " Use common sense when following any advice you read here " Then it says ' Read Full Disclaimer ' LOL -- Did I do this right ?

The ones that floor me are the ones with links posted that are related to the answer and question, but have no bearing upon the ones at hand. Guess it makes the answer look "smart". I don't get that. I am happy when people acknowledge an error they have made. Upon realizing the error, they really should update their answer instead of hoping that the comments section will suffice. The error gets buried and the answer is STILL wrong. The worst are the I don't know types. Then don't answer. Duh!

maybe they think theyre right

I only give quality answers.

Your question calls for an opinion, BTW (just for the record). Facts are something that can be proven. Many people aren't interested in facts because they're unwilling to educate themselves on a particular subject. And when they're presented with the facts, many develop a case of cognitive dissonance and want to deny everything anyway.

Answer: Some people just can't get enough of having other people listen to them. *** Aside: I really "love" the answers I find at Home Depot. Someone asks a question about a product, and if the answer is not obvious 1 or 2 people are guaranteed to answer, "I don't know" and ramble on about some other topic...while 1 or 2 other people will read the stats on the same page and give those as an answer (even though those stats definitely do NOT answer the question asked). *** The answers here are WAY better than the stuff you often find at Home Depot.