Does a thorough, extensive answer which is almost entirely cut & pasted from other (credited) sources deserve a “Great”?”
When I ask a question I’m usually looking for other people’s experience or opinion, so a cut and paste answer defeats the purpose. Unless it’s an exceptional piece of information or the person melds her own experience into the answer, I rate C&P answers ok. The same for answers that are just a list of links with brief explanations. When I answer a question, I’m usually trying to give the person my perspective. I may include a resource if I want to back up my opinion, but my answers usually are my own writing and come from what I know. The exception to this is when the answer requires detailed instructions for something and there aren’t a whole lot of right ways to do it. I know how to prune roses or do a manicure, for instance, but other people have already written it up and even included pictures. There’s no reason for me to spend an hour or so reinventing the wheel when it’s already been done well. For situations like that, I’ll cut and paste. Even so, I’ll include something from my
