Where can I find popular sites? [Archive] - The Explosives and Weapons Forum

megalomania

January 26th, 2008, 12:54 PM

Here we have a fine example of a question so vague and broad that it boggles the mind why he even asked.

A question on The Forum needs to be specific, you need to demonstrate what research you already did yourself.

For example:

I am looking for information on thermobaric weapons. I would like to know what some of the chemical compositions are for the devices that reach over 2000 degrees if any. I checked The Forum, but I didn't see any threads on specific compositions. All I found on google were pages about thermobaric weapons, what they are for, but no concrete information on what the explosive material consists of. I checked the US patent database as well, but I didn't find anything useful there. Maybe I am searching with the wrong keywords? If anyone can help me, maybe provide a link, book title, or a few patents so I can find out more, I would appreciate it.

This question is perfectly acceptable for a newbie. It narrows the focus of the topic so you can attract the attention of those who know something about this topic, it explains what independent efforts you spent in trying to answer your own question, and it does not ask for everything to be handed to you on a platter, rather it askes for guidance to improve your research.

There is a psychological trick to getting information out of people. People are decent in general, they want to give back and help you with something that costs little, sharing knowledge. You have to make them want to give back to you, you have to ask a question that does not make others feel disgusted at your complete and total ignorance. Nobody wants to sit down and explain to you what you should have already learned, could easily learn by reading The Forum threads, or could learn by sifting through google searches.

You need to lower the activation energy for the human brain to want to answer a question. The less work you make someone do when you want them to give you information, the more likely they will give you information! This is just like trying to get a loan from the bank: the more you can demonstrate to them you don't need a loan, the better your chances are of getting one :)