1
$\begingroup$

When is it ok to have extended comments? I have a question that has many valuable comments and don't want them to disappear into chat.

Why are to many comments frowned on again?

I would like to keep the comments going here especially if it pertains to the question. Could a satellite in LEO "pump" or change mass distribution to gain forward momentum?

$\endgroup$

2 Answers 2

1
$\begingroup$

Comments are absolutely temporary; we are very lucky that the good ones stick around as some of them can be incredibly valuable to future readers, but impermanence is as true in Stack Exchange as (many believe) it is in the rest of the universe.

The doctrine asserts that all of conditioned existence, without exception, is "transient, evanescent, inconstant". All temporal things, whether material or mental, are compounded objects in a continuous change of condition, subject to decline and destruction.

Levity aside, I can recommend that you could consider copying the text of comments that you find helpful and paste them somewhere on your own internet device like a text file.

I once questioned the wisdom of deleting comments in a comment, only to then see an additional swath of comments disappear before my eyes in response. This was "the universe's" way of telling me about the "impermanent" nature of comments.

Comments being essentially temporary is just how Stack Exchange works, and one of the many reasons I include "let Stack Exchange be Stack Exchange" in my profile as a reminder.

Going with the flow and following the rules and guidelines will pay off better than looking for exceptions.


I'm quite sure no particularly useful comments were harmed in the making of this tutorial ;-)

$\endgroup$
2
$\begingroup$

Part of the design philosophy of Stack Exchange is that the site is different than a forum, in that you don't have to scroll through long conversations between users to get to critical information, you can find it right in the answers to questions. This is the key reason that Stack Exchange has a particular focus on avoiding long comment threads. They do acknowledge that sometimes a conversation is necessary--this is why there are mechanics to direct comment conversations to chat.

$\endgroup$
2
  • 1
    $\begingroup$ So rather than loosing vital information to chat is it ok to evolve a question to include relevant information? $\endgroup$
    – Muze
    Commented Oct 30, 2018 at 23:15
  • 3
    $\begingroup$ Yes, relevant information should be included in the question, answers, or new questions, depending on the nature of the information. $\endgroup$
    – called2voyage Mod
    Commented Oct 30, 2018 at 23:19

You must log in to answer this question.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .