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I asked a few questions on this website and I think all of them got deleted. I have no idea how to ask a good question on this site. I'm not a researcher. Maybe researchers have knowledge that I don't have from which they can figure out how to ask a good question. I read How do I ask a good question? and What topics can I ask about here? and neither of them helped.

Basically, I would like a detailed answer teaching me how to ask a good question. I don't really know how to explain what type of answer will help me. Maybe somebody could explain what's wrong with the question Is math useful for non-math-research (accessible to 10k+ users) I asked that got deleted. Maybe people never know for sure whether a question is worthy of deleting, and when somebody deletes a question, they do it because they're pretty sure that it's worthy of deleting and pretty sure that it would waste so much time more heavily researching whether that question is worthy of deleting.

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Firstly, it's worth you asking yourself why you are seeking to participate on this site. This is a forum about academia, where people can ask and answer questions about academia. This is not an "ask an academic" website... its goal is to help academics navigate the world of academia. If you're not in that field you may have a hard time participating, as there's a lot unfamiliar to you. That's not a judgment call, it's simply an observation; I'm not a plumber, so I would have a hard time participating in an advanced discussion about plumbing. The same is true here.

Secondly, the second page is really where you should be looking. Specifically:

If you have a question about...

  • Life as a graduate student, postdoctoral researcher, university professor
  • Transitioning from undergraduate to graduate researcher
  • Inner workings of research departments
  • Requirements and expectations of academicians
  • University-level pedagogy

... then you're in the right place!

Your questions should be about those things. If they're not your question will likely be closed. If it is on those topics but too broad, unclear, or any of other other close reasons, it will likely be closed.

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I don't have 10k rep so I cannot know what the question is really about, but base on the title I think it arguably falls into the category:

Requirements and expectations of academicians

Or in this case, non-math-researchers. The 404 page suggests me this question, and I think it's the same with the question in discuss: Is there a place in academia for a physicist who reads mostly about math? Therefore, I think this question is on-topic.

I find this question on Mathematics, perhaps it will help you reword your question: What fields of math would be most interesting for non-mathematicians?

If your question cannot be asked here, you can ask it on Reddit or other forums as well.

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  • The internet is unreliable. Maybe I'd be more likely to find accurate information if I read a scientific journal. Maybe really good researchers would realize that they can derive a contradiction if they make every assumption almost everybody would make so they would break assumptions and find that there's very little they can prove with certainty under those assumptions and would decide that stating that something is almost definitely true or is a simplified model of reality helps speed up research and publish it in a journal.
    – Timothy
    Commented Sep 1, 2018 at 16:39
  • I don't understand how that convey relates to the question or to my answer. Can you explain for me?
    – Ooker
    Commented Sep 2, 2018 at 8:08

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