Why should I flag a question as a duplicate, instead of answering it? Background: I have recently begun answering more questions on Stack Overflow. I have already learned new things about programming languages I use on a daily basis and have had an overall excellent experience with answering questions. That being said, the more questions I answer, the more I see duplicate questions, which upon some research have already been very thoroughly answered. As I become better at answering questions, I see that for the good of the website, and to assist users, I should flag more questions as duplicates. Issue: However, here in lies the crux, as I get better at answering questions and identifying duplicates, I answer fewer questions, and flag more questions as duplicates. Therefore I answer fewer easy questions, receive less reputation, and get no thanks from the original poster. In other words, to play the devil's advocate, why should I flag a question as a duplicate? And as a direct consequence, do we need a mechanism to encourage flagging questions as duplicates? Extra details: I want to stress that the only factor isn't reputation. When I answer a question in a way that helps someone out and they respond with 'thanks', or accept my answer, I can't deny I feel some sense of accomplishment. I don't see many people saying 'thanks' if I vote to close their question as duplicates. I also don't feel like finding a duplicate question is a non-trivial task. Recently I saw an obvious duplicate about the JavaScript File API. It took me a few minutes to read the question, a minute to find the MDN reference page, and then 15 minutes to find a good Stack Overflow answer that describes the answer.
What's the incentive to flag duplicates? I only say duplicates but I think this could be extended to several other flagging reasons. Since accepted answers/upvotes don't get reverted on questions I see people sometimes cut and paste the answer from a duplicate question without flagging as duplicate. In the end they can usually score a few upvotes and even an accepted answer.  Found this related question:   Seems to have a lot of popularity but nothing ever happened  Jeff on Dupes     Those arguing for “remove reputation from dupes” have no idea of the   Frankenstein monster you’d be creating.      That would be an awesome rep-denial tool for griefing others, first of   all.      Second, it creates a MASSIVE disincentive to participation — even if   you had no idea there were duplicates, you could be bushwhacked at any   time even if you contributed a fantastic answer. Oops sorry dupe!   Zero rep, buddy! Bzzzzt! Go away! Take your awesome answer elsewhere!      Incentives are fine, but penalties are an incredibly bad idea and   would actively hurt users and the network.   I guess this answers my question, even if I disagree with jeff.
Is $\mathbb{Z}[x]/(x^2+1)$  isomorphic to  $\mathbb{Z}[i]$?   My attempt is that try to define a mapping $g$ from $\mathbb{Z}[x]$ to $\mathbb{Z}[i]$ by $g(f(x))= f(i)$, for $f(x)\in\mathbb{Z}[x]$. If it is possible then $\ker g$ is $(x^2+1)$? Am I on the right track? Please Help. say by has the meaning of      6. indicating the period in which something happens: ‘this animal always hunts by night’   Then do we need to say, ‘Why does the sky glitter by night?’ And can’t we say, ‘Why does the sky glitter at night?’?   If we can use both, what’s the difference between the two? Shell Script - how to scp into remote server and download files and protect password A question about E12 series resistors I'm trying to calculate E12 resistor series myself.  Above is an illustration of the idea where such equation can be written:  x = r3 + r3 * %tol = r4 - r4 * %tol  form that we can derive:  r4 = r3* [(1 + %tol)/(1 - %tol)]  hence in generalized form we can write (%tol = 0.1 for E12 series);   r(i+1) = ri* [(1 + %tol)/(1 - %tol)]  But when I iterate the above formula in a for loop I obtain the following results for the first resistor values:  1.0000    1.2222    1.4938    1.8258    2.2315    2.7274    3.3335    4.0743    4.9797    6.0863    7.4388  Then I take [(1 + %tol)/(1 - %tol)] = 1.2 rounded value instead of 1.222222 and write the formula as:  r(i+1) = r(i)*1.2  But again when I iterate the above formula in a for loop I obtain the following results for the first resistor values:  1.0000    1.2000    1.4400    1.7280    2.0736    2.4883    2.9860    3.5832    4.2998    5.1598    6.1917  But the real values for E12 should be as:  1.0, 1.2, 1.5, 1.8, 2.2, 2.7, 3.3, 3.9, 4.7, 5.6, 6.8  What am I doing wrong here? Solve $\sin(z) = z$ in complex numbers Show that $\sin(z) = z$ has infinitely many solutions in complex numbers. Little Picard theorem should help, but using big Picard theorem is undesirable. Thanks a lot! Execute vs Read bit. How do directory permissions in Linux work? In my CMS, I noticed that directories need the executable bit (+x) set for the user to open them. Why is the execute permission required to read a directory, and how do directory permissions in Linux work? Should I buy an original manufacturer battery, or is a generic brand OK? I need another LP-E5 type battery for my Canon 450D. Should I buy an original Canon battery or one of the many generic brands available? There are loads of cheapos on , for example.  I should add that the new battery will be added to my existing Canon battery in a battery grip.  Does anyone have any experience (good or bad) of using generic batteries? A floor is paved with rectangular marble blocks,each of length $a$ and breadth $b$.A circular block of diameter $c(c&lt;a,b)$ is thrown on the floor at random.Show that the chance that it falls entirely on one rectangular block is $\frac{(a-c)(b-c)}{ab}$  I thought over this problem,i found total number of cases as area of rectangular marble block,but i cannot find the favorable number of cases.Favorable number of cases cannot be area of rectangular marble block$-$ area of circular block,as the answer suggests.What should be the correct logic,please help. How to create a new figure in MATLAB? Return multiple values from a SQL Server function How would I return multiple values (say, a number and a string) from a user-defined function in SQL Server? Positive operator has a positive spectrum? RSA: Fast factorization of N if d and e are known Rewiring a switch controlled receptacle to a ceiling light Evaluating the integral $\int \frac{x^2+x}{(e^x+x+1)^2}dx$ I have read in a book that the limit of the ratio of consequent Fibonacci numbers is the golden ratio. However, it was just mentioned thus not justified. So, my question is how would you derive the following limit: $$\lim_{x\to\infty}{\frac{F_n}{F_{n+1}}}=?$$ Where $F_n$ is the nth Fibonacci number? How can I restart a Windows 7 computer without screen or mouse? I've recently had problems with my work computer not recognizing either of its attached screens.  I've also had problems with my home computer "locking" the mouse to one app, and no longer acknowledging clicks on, say, the start menu.  In both cases the computer is still running, and I can close apps and so forth with the keyboard.  Restarting usually addresses the problem.  What's the simplest way to restart a Windows 7 computer by the keyboard alone?  Something consistent across all versions would be super.  In Win XP, I believe it was Ctrl-Alt-Delete; pause; Alt-R for Restart; Enter to select.  But on 7 Ctrl-Alt-Delete no longer brings up the same menu.  I'd use Ctrl-Alt-Esc for the Task Manager, but it no longer has a Restart menu (at least on Win 7 Home). El Capitan froze and rebooted (Macbook Pro Retina Mid 2012) 2.3 Ghz Intel Core i7 8GB DDR3: Was running NetAdmin Pro which is monitoring  my office LAN, processors consumption was at  ~15 - 20%. Simultaneously I ran WiFI Explorer,  3.7% no more than 5% CPU usage. And I was  updating Xcode to v 7.3.1 and was browsing and  watching video from playground.ru Watch the videos until half of it (20mins) the Video froze I moved the mouse and turned out  the whole OSX is frozen. littleSnitch v 3.7 has no reaction I immediately pull the Ethernet adaptor and  MacBook just went to black screen. I then  switch off the wireless router. (My MacBook Pro  is connected to the network via Ethernet  adaptor and via WiFi router bearing different IP, I was thinking of cutting both network  communication, in case it was an intrusion) MacBook just restarted itself to login screen,  after 15-20 sec of black screen and total  silence) I again restarted and booted into Recovery  mode use disk utility. After completing disk  check. Login and previously opened programs resume  back (NetAdmin Pro, WiFi Explorer, Yandex  browser, Activity Monitor and AppStore) AppStore doesn't resume the download  everything else is functioning normally and in Addition I have got my calendar open after login (I did not launch accidental nor was it set to  start with system login)   Question 1: Are there any way to know what was happening and what was OS El Capitan last reaction before it froze and rebooted?  Question 2: Are there any software better than "Console" v10.11 to interpret what was going on before it crashes?  P.S. Thank you in advance, I will try to upload the Console messages later from the MacBook Pro    DDT-2:~ Chaleune$ syslog | grep -i "shutdown cause"  Jun 22 14:15:37 DDT-2 kernel[0] &lt;Notice&gt;: Previous shutdown cause: 5  Jun 22 20:34:46 localhost kernel[0] &lt;Notice&gt;: Previous shutdown cause: 5  Jun 23 15:18:23 DDT-2 kernel[0] &lt;Notice&gt;: Previous shutdown cause: 5  Jun 24 17:58:32 localhost kernel[0] &lt;Notice&gt;: Previous shutdown cause: 5  Jun 24 20:09:52 localhost kernel[0] &lt;Notice&gt;: Previous shutdown cause: 5  Jun 24 22:58:15 localhost kernel[0] &lt;Notice&gt;: Previous shutdown cause: 5Jun 25 14:43:36 DDT-2 kernel[0] &lt;Notice&gt;: Previous shutdown cause: 5  Jun 25 21:55:31 localhost kernel[0] &lt;Notice&gt;: Previous shutdown cause: 3  Jun 25 22:20:57 localhost kernel[0] &lt;Notice&gt;: Kext com.apple.driver.AppleOSXWatchdog failed to load (0xdc008012).Previous shutdown cause: 5  Jun 26 10:18:44 localhost kernel[0] &lt;Notice&gt;: Previous shutdown cause: 5  Jun 26 12:09:45 localhost kernel[0] &lt;Notice&gt;: Previous shutdown cause: 5  Jun 26 18:00:31 localhost kernel[0] &lt;Notice&gt;: Previous shutdown cause: 5  Jun 27 13:05:58 DDT-2 kernel[0] &lt;Notice&gt;: Previous shutdown cause: 5  Jun 27 22:56:11 localhost kernel[0] &lt;Notice&gt;: Previous shutdown cause: 5  Jun 28 14:18:27 DDT-2 kernel[0] &lt;Notice&gt;: Previous shutdown cause: 5  *Jun 29 18:56:21 localhost kernel[0] &lt;Notice&gt;: Previous shutdown cause: -128*  Jun 29 23:31:22 DDT-2 kernel[0] &lt;Notice&gt;: Previous shutdown cause: -128      shows the following   dsIllInstErr                  = 3,    /illegal instruction error/ dsChkErr                      = 5,    /check trap error/ userCanceledErr               = -128    gave the following interpretation:   03 Illegal Instruction The computer has a specific vocabulary of machine language instructions it can understand. If a computer tries to execute an instruction that isn't in its vocabulary, you see this error code. It's less likely than error 02, but still very common. 05 Range Check Error Programmers can use an instruction in the Motorola 68000 to check if a number is within a certain range. This error indicates that the number tested isn't in the specified range. -128  userCanceledErr         User canceled an operation Checking if array is multidimensional or not? What is the most efficient way to check if an array is a flat array of primitive values or if it is a multidimensional array? Is there any way to do this without actually looping through an array and running is_array() on each of its elements? Convert all text from uppercase to lowercase and vice versa? How many times to roll a die before getting two consecutive sixes? Basically, on average, how many times do you have to roll a fair six-sided die before getting two consecutive sixes?