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I have kind of problem that I keep asking for doubts until I understand the answer a good deal (one of the reasons is I'm not so good at English). On all SE sites where I ask questions. (Doesn't mean I don't do research while reading answers. I'm open to it as my ultimate goal is to find the answer, not to ask bad questions and break rules). I asked similar question on GDSE Meta. So I got answer in my favor. Since then I had assumed it's okay. But on my recent question here, the response made me feel I made a terrible mistake by asking questions in comments. It really made me feel bad because I had always believed it's okay to ask questions in comments.

I understand my main question might be off topic / poorly asked or rude. I'm just learning to improve things. Even if someone clears my doubt here about asking questions in comments, I'll keep that in mind for future.

Are these both ways okay to lower the flame in these types of gas stoves?

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In case of doubt, there’s the Help Center’s explanation of comments as first source:

You should submit a comment if you want to:

  • Request clarification from the author;

And

Comments are not recommended for any of the following: [...]

  • Secondary discussion or debating a controversial point; please use chat instead;

So if you have questions about an answer and ask for clarification, that’s fine according to the site’s guidelines - as long as it’s still about the original question and not drifting off in other directions.

However, not all posters will have the time, energy or patience to keep working on their answer for as long as it needs to clear up all issues. (Especially when language or cultural barriers are involved.) Please respect that.

Remember that the SE system is designed for multiple answers. If you simply wait a bit, maybe another user will answer differently or focus on other aspects, so that you will get your answer - possibly even though multiple posts.

In short, asking is fine, replying is optional and patience is wise.

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  • Fair enough. But the thing is, I did not force the user to keep replying me in comment. It looked like that he still wanted to point out that I made a terrible mistake. If I remember correctly, that user has shown similar behavior in past also (maybe GDSE, not sure I saw it for my question or someone else's). Once you ask a few questions for clarification, it feels to me that he is not willing to answer. Which is pretty fine like you say, but he would try to comment something like I am making a big mistake. So it made me wonder something is strange.
    – Vikas
    Commented Apr 5, 2021 at 1:04
  • @Vikas ^ and that would be an example of how the comments drift off quickly - we won’t be discussing a single user’s behavior here. That’s neither your original question nor good style. As I wrote: While it’s ok to ask, it’s up to the other user to respond or not. And responses may also be a version of “I think you misunderstood what I wrote”. There is a fine line between persistence and excess. If you sense that the comments are unwelcome by the recipient, it’s wise and polite to refrain from continuing.
    – Stephie Mod
    Commented Apr 5, 2021 at 6:39
  • Noted. Thank you
    – Vikas
    Commented Apr 5, 2021 at 7:38

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