I joined Quora—a questions-and-answers forum—in August 2013, and after an initial period of resistance, was quickly assimilated. Since then, I’ve answered 1622 questions (and counting), posted 30 of my own, and have accumulated a few views and followers.
It’s an addictive site, and I’ve learned much from many in-depth or insightful answers to interesting questions. But there’s also a lot of dross—a huge number of questions that have been asked and answered before, many banal ones, and quite a number of downright silly ones, which I decided in August 2016 to start collecting.
I’ve been wanting to share this list for some time, but since Quora itself discourages questions about its own content, and prompted by today’s doozy (‘Why do Brits speak English, an American language, rather than speaking some European languages?’) I’m listing them here, because they’re too good not to share. If you want to find them and their answers, just copy-paste them into the Search field at quora.com:
- What are Judaism followers called? What are their major beliefs?
- What are some sentence examples using “invent”?
- What are some examples of sentences using the word “discouraged”?
- How should I react when people make fun of my mashed potatoes?
- How do you find a nanny cam?
- What is a millwright?
- Who was Jesus, and why was he born?
- Why do most people in the United Kingdom have a strong British accent?
- Is male ejaculation real? [ January 16, 2017]
- Can you say Oy Vey if you are not Jewish? [ January 24, 2017]
- Why do numbers and alphabets in a mirror appear inverted? [ June 1, 2017, Alphabets]
- Should I buy a case of used toilet paper? [ May 26, 2017
- In the alphabet, which letter is midway between J and P? [ June 7, 2017]
- I’ve been on Quora for about 3 years now and I just came across a profile with the name, “God”. Is this the God? If so, why does he have 103 edits? [June 9, 2017]
- Why was Adam created with a Bris Milah (circumcision) but his descendants are not born this way? [ June 15, 2017]
- Does God think? What does thinking mean? [ June 21, 2017]
- What is the Iron Dome in Israel? Can everyday citizens purchase one with enough money? [ July 3, 2017]
- Is Italy a part of the UK? [ July 4, 2017]
- Why is my name Sabrina? [July 13, 2017]
- From a biblical standpoint, whose fault is it that that I’m an atheist? [ July 21, 2017]
- What are the capital letters of a to z? [ August 16, 2017]
- What is the first letter in the alphabet? [ Aug 19, 2017 ]
- What is the 16th letter of the English alphabet? [ August 20, 2017 ]
- How do I create a great research word doculation? [ September 8, 2017]
- How many letters are in the English alphabet? [ September 29, 2017]
- Will Allah ever punish Israel for occupying Palestine and not giving it to Pakistan? [ October 14, 2017]
- I was in a car accident where I was driving 87 mph down the highway and lost control of the car rolled down a hill and landed in a tree upside down. I survived. Was God looking after me? [ October 18, 2017]
- Why is Jamaica an Island? [ October 20, 2017]
- Is the pronunciation of Marcus identical to Marcus? [ October 26, 2017 ]
- Where is Great Britain located? [ October 27, 2017]
- What language does France speak? (November 20, 2017)
- Are there books where the text is written in a circle instead of in horizontal lines reading across? How does this change the reading experience, if at all? [ November 29, 2017)
- What are some ways that Jews were discriminated against during the Holocaust? [ November 29, 2017]
- If you had to give up one for the rest of your life, which would it be: air or gravity? [ December 1, 2017]
- How do I type a question on Quora? [ December 5, 2017]
- How is the Chinese language able to function with just 5000 characters, when Western languages need tens of thousands words? [ December 11, 2017]
- How many minutes does it take to fly to London, England? [ December 18, 2017 ]
- Is Texas in the South? [ December 29, 2017]
- Did Sean Kernan write the Bible, the Torah, and the Quran? [ December 29, 2017]
- How do I go about getting a book published on my experience not wearing makeup for a year? [January 10, 2018]
- Would you marry me if I was a girl? [ February 5, 2018]
- I’ve wasted my day and now I’m regretting it. What should I do? [ February 3, 2018]
- If a convert to Judaism and I’ m over 50 years old can I join the IDF? [ March 27, 2018]
- Does Europe still make a sense? [ March 27, 2018]
- Did atoms create the American accent so that they could understand the Roman Empire? [ April 1, 2018]
- Should I learn Georgian [ April 3, 2018]
- How do I convert 30 marks to 20 marks?
- How can I speak English when it is not my own language? [ April 16, 2018]
- Do people from England speak English? [ May 16, 2018]
- Which word will you write if you get a chance to write a word in English? [ May, 2018]
- What is the last letter of the alphabet? [ May 27, 2018]
- Is there anyone who got pregnant before marriage? [ May 29, 2018]
- Where is the Great Pyramid not located? [ June 4, 2018]
- What do you think of my writing style and stories? [ June 7, 2018]
- Why does the Bible end with the end? [ June 12, 2018]
- Did Jesus have a brother named Beavis? [ June 19, 2018]
- Why is France so close to Europe? [ June 21, 2018]
- Which part of onion is edible? [June 26, 2018]
- Where do most homeless people hang in Tel Aviv and its surrounding areas? [ June 27, 2018]
- How many years ago is 1,000 AD from 2018? [ 11 July 2018]
- What are the alphabets, and which finger is used for typewriting? [July 26, 2018]
- Is it true that the word pumpkin was invented by a dinosaur? My first-grader saw something on TV and asked me. [ August 12, 2018]
- How many letters in the alphabet? [September 11, 2018]
- Is Hebrew a newspaper? [September 17, 2018]
- How many numbers are in the alphabet on a Tuesday of Friday 30th? [October 15, 2018]
- Would I die if I jumped from an 8 story building? [October 15, 2018]
- Carlos Ghosn was arrested. I am sorry to read his books such as Renaissance as a fan of him. Did he really go to fertilize my clothes? [ November 25, 2018]
- When will the Gambian people finally own more than 51% of the alphabet? [ December 5, 2018]
- Is it possible that I am God? The psychiatrists say I have a psychotic delusion and want to medicate me. But is it possible? [ December 24, 2018]
- Is it selfish to eat a lot of avocados? [February 7, 2019]
- Would you say “Bloody Mary” three times in front of a mirror in the dark in your bathroom for one million dollars? [ February 9, 2019]
- Why do Brits speak English, an American language, rather than speaking some European languages? [February 12, 2019]
- I want to leave America but also don’t want to go through the process of learning a new language. Is Liberia my best option? [February 26, 2019]
Notes by Autumn Light 
I share some of your frustration with Quora. I have been tempted to drop out there is so much noise. The only thing is I might miss some of your gems! I am doing the Biblical Studies carnival again this month. I am, I think, playing the role of an angry old man. There are several new translations of TNK or parts of it out in the past few months. I have written 9 articles on Robert Alter’s literary translation – being hyped by the NY Times and several other sources. (all on my blog).
Have you seen any buzz on this or other stuff re Biblical Studies?
I will send you the beginning of the carnival (subject to editing, due out March 1)
Would you like to write a piece on Biblical translation on your blog?
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Hi Bob
The carnival sounds like fun. I’ll continue my reply by email.
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