How do you feel about the Maths forum?

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Finally, I will have been here for 10 years on 16th January. I'm just making you aware of this so that you can put my long service medal in the post.

When I passed the 10 year mark I received 10 gold bullions. Anything less for you would be an insult.

I've seen on multiple occasions, on this subforum, people asking for help with maths that other users deem "easy" and treat the user asking for help with disdain. I think people are scared to ask for help in fear of being treated badly, as there are clearly users on here that are mathematical geniuses (@notnek + @RDKGames ) but some people seem to feel intimidated by them (through no fault of their own!) because they are extremely superior to them in terms of maths.

I feel a need to defend myself.

I try to act completely opposite to this on TSR and challenge anyone who makes a poster feel inferior. I'm not saying that it doesn't happen on here but I feel very strongly that I am not one of those who does it. If you have an example of me making someone feel inferior, please PM me with an example.

Also, I am not definitely not a maths genius. If I appear to be good at A Level maths, it's because I teach it so am surrounded by it every day!

Wha!!! Oh gosh I'm so sorry I don't think I worded my post properly, the "through no fault of their own!!!!" part was directed at you and RDKGames.

It's like, if I were to walk up to Richard Dawkins I would feel "intimidated" by him as I know how amazing he is at Biology. I don't mean you actually directly cause intimidation, that's what I meant by "through no fault of your own"

I wish people would formulate their questions a bit better via Latex instead of uploading scans of their question sheets, for example, which is a lot of hassle to look through.

I tend to look at the latest discussions rather than looking in the Maths area.

When I post a hint often the posters takes hours to look at the reply so I wonder if people really need help.

I agree about a couple of people who think it is funny to show off' and be rude about maths teachers - hardly encouraging us to be here

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Yeah, but then replying to them requires a time investment I might not be prepared to give.

I don't insist on LaTeX - plain text is usually fine as well. But I am usually going to be less inclined to help someone who posts an attachment (things like diagrams, or page long questions are exceptions, of course).

Finally, I will have been here for 10 years on 16th January. I'm just making you aware of this so that you can put my long service medal in the post.

I'm new to this site and thankful for all the help I got so far in the Maths forum.

Yeah, but then replying to them requires a time investment I might not be prepared to give.

I don't insist on LaTeX - plain text is usually fine as well. But I am usually going to be less inclined to help someone who posts an attachment (things like diagrams, or page long questions are exceptions, of course).

Two reasons:

First, we all know it's pointless trying to help someone who hasn't actually thought about the problem themselves. And if they can't take the time to type it in, it raises questions about how much thought they really have put in.

Secondly (and more importantly), I find it significantly more troublesome to answer a question given via attachment. I generally have to load the attachment up in a new browser tab, and then continually swap between the tabs to make sure I'm answer the actual question. If I need to reproduce a long equation in the attachment, I have nothing I can cut+paste - I have to do it all by hand (even though the OP couldn't be bothered to).

Bonus gripe about attachments: If you do post an attachment, please have the courtesy to make it easily readable. If you post something that's blurry, seems to have the text printed in light dark grey on a dark light grey background, has lots of details cropped off the side of the page, or is sideways/upside down, then it's a massive disincentive for anyone to try to answer what you've written.

I think you are being too fussy - posting a hint does not need a massive effort.

Yeah, but providing detailed help (which I used to do a *lot*, on here) takes a lot more.