What is it about repetitive questions that our brains find so annoying? For example, when the same users ask different versions of the same basic questions, again and again. Why is that annoying? (Just curious, not trying to offend anyone)
by 
Jodie44
ANSWERS: 11
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Because it's like a child tugging on his mother's sleeve. "Mom, mom? Hey mom. Mom? Mom? Hey mom." Ask a question, wait for an answer. Anything else is childish impatience. (Am I getting cranky in my old age?)
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If you don't have the smarts, or wit to think of it yourself, then why should you get the points, and or the glory? Just a different view on your question. Hope it helps.
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Hi Jodie!! I think alot of people want this site to be perfect. But that is really not very realistic. The world just can't be perfect.
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I believe we find it so annoying because it stultifies our thinking processes. There are so many similar questions that you can copy and paste your answers from one question to the next. The one word change is almost going back to "Cat or Shampoo " level from last summer. It truly is becoming very difficult to find questions that require any thought at all. I think that is why I am finding AB very tiring these days. JMHO
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It's just the startling lack of originality when people ask the same question over and over but just exchange the name of one person or place for another. It would be like having chicken for dinner every night. Even if you spot the occasional steak or piece of fish, someone keeps waving chickens in your face. It's rude and annoying!;)
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It's just the same questions with different versions over and over. I find myself going through the same thinking process and finding the same factors, facts and subjective values in all the questions. It gets repetitive like working on a complex assembly line where every 4 hours you complete the same functions you did in the previous 4 hours. After a time it becomes boring and requires a minimum of mental processes.
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In the psychology of torture, repetition is an instrument. The theory is that constant exposure to a similar stimulus over time encourages the brain to amplify the stimulus. That's why the old water drop torture can feel like an axe driving through one's skull over time. The reason for the amplification is due to the process of reinforcement. As organisms, we learn and grow via reinforcement, which is partly how we learn things. But there is a threshold to this, and when you feel annoyed by seeing the same thing over and over again, you're brain is over-stimulated by that element. The threshold varies from person to person. And this is why some people can annoy others by asking the same questions over and over, or repeatedly playing the same song. The threshold diminishes with age, which lends to the stereotype of grumpy old men.
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hm.. what annoys me about them is that they look like obvious attempts at point farming. And if there's one group of people I feel should be kicked out of AB with big, heavy steel boots, it's the point farmers
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Same reason we get annoyed when our children repeatedly ask us for the same thing.It seems like nagging/whining all rolled into one and doesn't say much for the person's intelligence and that gets to us because we feel we are wasting our precious time with them.
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I have to acknowledge how helpful some of the answers to this question have been. I think you can go about it from many angles: cognitive psychology, social behavior, the instinct to turn away from nagging, as well as good old fashioned ABing in poor form and bad spirit. I think, plain and simple, that it's because it's an insult to our intelligence for someone to force repetition on us. Repetition is for children learning their multiplication tables; children who need to write on the board 100 times that they will not throw things in class; for children who need the structure of a routine. You can see the theme there. Adults react to repetition as demeaning, unnecessary, or at least, highly agitating! Why, we have enough to think about -- why waste precious time and energy thinking about the same thing. Over and over. and over. and over. <snicker>
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I have noticed that the more we pay attention to our own details, we get that much more annoyed to those who do not. I guess then, by definition, that would make it our problem, not the repeat offenders. WHere's the justice?! hahahahahhha!
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