Why would people choose to be negative in answering questions at this site?

Guess I am a bit confused and disappointed when I see people who could add interest and their experience to respond to a question here... instead they choose to insult the person asking the question! Why even bother responding... just move on!!

The internet is becoming just another place for negative people to show their lack of intelligence and prove that they will never "get it"

Just a note... I think it's really ignorant when someone votes a thumbs down on an "Opinion" I mean, if you disagree that's fine, but voting a person's opinion down is just like shooting a person for saying that they believe road rage is wrong... think about it people.... Are you someone who would bomb a clinic where they perform abortions, killing innocent people who might come into the clinic for medical care? Does that make any sense? We are all on the same team here... and in the same race.... the human race that is... Why show your ignorance here when you can share it with your "friends" ?

Why would people choose to be negative in answering questions at this site?comedy club

Bless your heart for asking this question! I sense just how earnestly you wish to participate in constructive discussion.

There is no one answer, and I know I don't have all the answers. Two that come to mind are (1) some people are inflexible ideologues who demand that all of society "shape up"; and (2) some perhaps relate the context or tenor of a question to someone whom they dislike, and, in doing so, take out their hostility on someone they do not even know.

The fact is that Yahoo! Answers has a set of standards but it has no apparatus for admitting only people who are serious about respecting and helping each other. Not that disagreement is to be shunned; if everyone agreed, who would learn?

Yahoo! Answers also has a destructive point system; the incentive is perverse: the reward is for quantity and for answers the questioner WANTS to get. This is too subjective.

I suggest you filter out the tomfoolery; you have good judgment--use it to read the serious questions and answers and to ignore the rest.

Since the story of Eden, man has been given the choice of living in harmony or of trying to exalt himself over others. Wanna guess which is in his nature to choose?

Why would people choose to be negative in answering questions at this site?sheet music opera theater

its a glass half empty point of view
Some people lead unhappy lives and feel the "need" to "share" their miserable existences by being rude and letting their dissatisfaction with life shine through.
Bless your innocent heart. I'm afraid you plea will fall on deaf ears.
I agree that there are many people who have little insight into the concept of this site. But I don't necessarily agree with your opinion on "thumbs down" to another opinion. If we shouldn't thumbs down, then we shouldn't thumbs up either. Like I've said before, I frequently thumbs up opinions of which I don't agree because I admire the literacy and thoughtfulness of the answer. I also frequently thumbs down opinions of which I do agree when they're not quite up to par (e.g. rude, without substance or intelligent thought).
I so agree with you - and you said this so very well. There are obviously questions that don't warrant the time of day, but others are genuinely looking for an answer, opinion, etc. I don't see why people can't share that without being negative.

I guess some of us see the world through rose colored glasses and others don't.
that's a good Question i think that they do not have any thing to do but be negative it mite be the way thy have been brought up
First of all, giving someone a thumbs-down vote is not equivalent to bombing a clinic and killing people.

I agree that making cruel or racist/sexist comments isn't appropriate. However, not all "negative" answers are meant to be cruel or malicious. Sometimes the answer is just "no!"; other times, the person answering the question is trying to help the other person see that the responsibility for what's going on in the life of the questioner rests with the questioner, and that might sound negative to some people.

Further; not all people share the same "opinion". Saying someone is ignorant just because they choose to voice a different opinion (such as voting someone down) sounds pretty...um, negative to me.
I think you are taking others too personally. I don't mind a thumbs down. I don't mind a thumbs up. While I don't know what type of questions you are referring to, I think that you are a part of the problem if you don't report horrible verbage on this site.

Another thing is that you can't really know the emotion behind letters on a screen, and the people may not mean to offend. There is no tone to analyze, so it's easy to think others are being rude or mean. Some people who think others are being mean miss the message and upon a second glance the person they thought were mean was, in fact, stating a fact that they may have experienced without sugar coating it.

Why is it that everyone seems to need sugar coating, because they cannot accept the truth no matter how bad it may tastes?
You need to lighten up. Just because someone gives a few thumbs down doesn't make that person an abortion clinic bomber.

Why negative answers? Sometimes I give negative answers because the questions are so outlandish that they demand a negative response (like comparing people who give thumbs down to abortion clinic bombers). I give a lot more positive answers than negative ones. I even tell people I'll pray for them sometimes. I'm sorry that this site is not all bunnies and rainbows. If you don't like it, follow your own advice and just move on.
So mothers who murder their children are innocent? Is convenience really that much more valuable than human life?

If unborn children deserve to die, then we all do because they haven't even been born yet so they have done nothing to warrant not being granted the right to live.

Furthermore, how can you even remotely compare voting a person's opinion down to shooting a person for saying that they believe road rage is wrong? Are you saying thin-skinned, immature people like you should be catered to just because you refuse to grow up and realize that people have the right to disagree with what you have to say? If not, what's the big deal if someone gives you a thumb down? Why do you feel the need to take it personally?

EDIT: How can you compare a thumb down to shooting someone? It just doesn't make any sense unless you're extremely easy to offend to compare something as trivial as a thumb down to someone being shot. If you can't handle negative interactions then you might as well just stay off Y!A, lock your doors, and stay inside your house for the rest of your life. If you don't want your question to be misunderstood, then be more direct instead of going all over the place. Y!A isn't a dictatorship; everyone has the right to oppose other people's opinions, and you make yourself sound extremely ignorant and thin-skinned by making such a big deal about what somebody else thinks of your answer.
I agree, it can be disappointing

Trolls

two... every body has a bad day some may take it out here

Its just an online Q/A.. dont take it too personally
To add to what Purdy EP said they are childish in that they think they can do and say what ever they want and you can't do any thing about it. They need to grow up.

I agree with you on the thumbs down issue. I was given a thumbs down just for saying I had hazel eyes. Go figure!
I sometimes answer questions in a negative or funny way because I am so surprised at how naive or downright ignorant people are.

Other people just use YA as a ranting board.
i agree some jackass jiffy was saying crap that had nothing to do with what i asked. but thats ok its people like him that sit on the computer behind a screen to talk crap to people. how many of them can say it to someones face?
Many people are simply looking for affirmation at this site of opinions they have or actions they have already done. Joining in with the Warm Fuzzy Answer Brigade of non-thinking idiots who automatically take the side of the Questioner, as opposed to logically thinking and perhaps realizing that this question is a ruse, is not my bag.

Few questions in Etiquette have a clear objective answer, most are subjective. I seldom will even answer a question in which I agree, and the WFB have already been there with their "oh you poor, poor darling" answers. But if I disagree, or can play the Devil's Advocate, I generally will.

So if you want nice sweet affirmation of any silly or even horrendous opinion you have, there are some idiots here to support you; and some of us will tell you what we ACTUALLY think, as well. Ignore the answers you don't like is about the only other choice you have, expect for blocking them. And that will save you a lot of trouble as well, perhaps lulling yourself into the false notion that you are oh so special and perfect.
If you expect people to agree with you, and that is the reason you post, then you are naive, not to mention in the wrong forum.