When do we need to answer our own questions for clarity purposes?

Question

When do we need to answer our own questions for clarity purposes? I mean, when do we need to explain our "motivation" beyond the question itself? Is there some sense we need to be relatable as philosophical minds not to invite hostile / vacuous voting patterns etc,?

The original question that prompted this asked something like "what does person X say about concept A with respect to B". Why do I need to quote their take on A and B to clarify the question?

Tying together these meta threads: isn't this supposed to be a site for people to help each other? No sense of that right now.

Answer 1

You never need to. You're free to edit your question. But if you don't make your meaning clear somehow and soon you'll get misunderstandings which lead to irrelevant answers that make it harder to edit clarification into your question.

Which is also why your question will get closed. To prevent such answers. And since the reopen voting system is terribly broken you'll likely be forced to abandon the question all together. So if you think of a clarifying edit, get it in fast.

Answering your own question only helps if you can pull off a lifeboat effect. Sometimes answers reframe how a question is seen and improve it's reception. But it's not the only way to achieve clarity. So it's not a need. It's an option.

It's a good option when you have a good answer.