Are poorly thought-out posts helpful?

Question

The Stack Exchange prides itself on hosting a community of experts who volunteer their time and knowledge to assist others in understanding concepts they are inquiring about. In this, and other online forums, there are often numerous posts that seem hastily composed, lacking coherence, or demonstrating a lack of critical thinking. While it's easy to dismiss these contributions as unhelpful, many of which are quickly voted closed by the community at large, could there be value in these poorly thought-out posts?

I could argue that poorly thought-out posts contribute little or nothing to the quality of discussion, and indeed they distract from more substantive conversations, propagate misinformation, and waste the time of those who engage with them.

However, an alternative perspective could suggest that even poorly thought-out posts serve a purpose in fostering dialogue and critical thinking. They may prompt others to articulate counterarguments, clarify misconceptions, or even inspire more thoughtful contributions in response. Also, what resident experts may consider off topic, or too open of a question might bear the fruit of an intelligent and thought-provoking response that otherwise will go unnoticed.

This question raises several issues regarding the nature and function of discourse in SE spaces including: the contribution to overall discussion that poorly crafted questions provide; the possibility of productive or enlightening discussions derived from those questions; balancing the need between free expression and the quality of discussion; and, how to alleviate the natural curiosity of those visiting the site who ask out of desire to understand or learn without stunting that enthusiasm.

So, I guess the question is two-fold. 1) is there value in poorly thought-out posts; and 2) if there is possible value then isn’t closing them preventing that valuable discourse?

Please note that I do understand the need of reducing the number of posts deemed off topic or otherwise closed for the process of finding relevant answers to the questions that are of higher interest. The alternative of simply ignoring the posts you don’t feel are worthy of response very well might make the site unusable in time. This question is theoretical and does not express a desire to keep “bad” posts.

Answer 1

I have answered poorly thought out questions, and when I do so, I try to explain what the weak/invalid assumptions are that are behind the question, and what a better assumption set and framing would be. As thinking thru philosophic problems appropriately is -- often not straightforward -- I have considered such answers to be potentially useful for both the poster, and the community at large.

Answer 2

I have three parallel examples.

The first is that I used to volunteer as a 'beta reader', whose task is to review draft manuscripts and provide feedback to their authors. It was easy to spot faults in the drafts but it was altogether more difficult and taxing to provide accurate and unambiguous explanations of exactly what each fault was, especially since I was having to get the message across to someone who clearly didn't appreciate the relevant principles- otherwise they wouldn't have made the mistakes in the first place. That experience really sharpened my own understanding of style and grammar.

The second is a book I used to enjoy browsing which was about wood-working joints. The author- who was so clearly an expert- had worked for more than 30 years in a repair shop, and had learned how to create strong joints by encountering thousands of weak ones. Examining so many failed joints made him a quick and accurate judge who was able to pinpoint flaws and explain how they can be avoided.

On Physics SE, I often encounter questions from people who mis-understand Special Relativity in a way that is 'not even wrong', as one famous physicist put it. Isolating the specific faults in their thinking from the surrounding jumble of ideas, and drawing their attention to them in a way they might stand a chance of understanding, can be a huge challenge, but the more you do it, the better becomes your own understanding of the issues.

Given that, I could not agree more with Dcleve's answer.