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When I was looking at some deleted answers, I found out a deleted answer (2kers only). The answer was just a one word but it still answered accurately. There were upvotes on the answer and downvotes too. There were comments saying it is correct and accurate. At the same time, I noticed that there was a comment by a moderator talking about the answer quality.

Onliner answer doesn't considered here. Extend it into good answer by addidng explanation and then flag to undelete.

What is a good answer here? According to SE, a good answer is an answer with 25 votes and we are awarded a badge. A good answer, bad answer is subjective. There were users who praised the answer to be right in the comments and upvoted too. Whose opinion was considered while judging good or bad answer while judging?

Are we defining good and bad with the length of the answer? Does quoting long passages from external sources make it a good answer?

That answer addressed the question accurately yet it was deleted. Why is it deleted?

The reason given is other answer is already covering Bhagavad Gita but this was the first answer to be posted to the question and other answer was posted 2 hours ago. If copied content is the reason, the other answer should be deleted. Right? This was deleted showing the answer posted very much later.

What is the correct reason for deleting answer even though it was answering the question accurately?

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    Actually, answer doesn't the question. Question is not "Does Mahabharata have philosophical portions?" but "are there any philosophical meanings (metaphors) behind stories of Mahabharata"? BG exposition is conversation between Krishna and Arjuna, not interpreted from some story. – The Destroyer♦ Sep 16 '18 at 16:01
  • Your comment under the question says it all. The question asked if it is a mere itihasa and also if there are any philosophical teachings in it. BG is also a part of Itihasa, Mahabharata. One can't deny it. What can be more philosophical than Gita? Whole Mahabharata is in the form of conversation of someone or another. So, this is not a proper reason for deletion. Moreover, this is not the reason given while deletion. It said other part covered BG and this answer can't have it. Others answers are also giving conversations between Dhritarashtra and Sanatsujata. So, is it also NAA? – Sarvabhouma Sep 16 '18 at 16:19
  • Read the question again. If question is really whether Mahabharata has philosophical portions, then that answer answers the question. But looks like OP wants to know whether "are they just stories or are there any hidden meanings"... Let OP clarify first. – The Destroyer♦ Sep 16 '18 at 16:39
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    Even if the Q has a "Yes" as the answer shall we write only Yes in the answer box? @TheDestroyer For e.g if a Q asks "Is adultery a sin as per Hinduism?" can we write only Yes in the answer box? – Rickross Sep 16 '18 at 16:41
  • If the question itself is unclear, then why is the answer deleted so fast with the different reason? There should be benefit of doubt and should wait till the answerer improves the answer. There was already a banner on it. Other answers are also saying the same i.e the philosophical portions present in the Mahabharata. So,if this is a NAA, other answers will also become NAA. – Sarvabhouma Sep 16 '18 at 16:44
  • @Rickross Everyone who wrote answers understood question as "Are there any philosophical teachings in Mahabharata?" This is very straightforward question. But it looks like OP wants to know whether stories happened literally or "Are these stories metaphors". – The Destroyer♦ Sep 16 '18 at 16:44
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    Yes that is a different issue I mean one can't write " ............................... YES............................." as the answer right? What do u call such answers? Low Quality? @TheDestroyer – Rickross Sep 16 '18 at 16:46
  • @Rickross You can do that. That doesn't become NAA but it will have some banners on it. Explanation is recommended but not mandatory. It might get deleted due to lack of sources or something. See What to do with those type of questions whose answers are simple yes or no? – Sarvabhouma Sep 16 '18 at 16:46
  • @Rickross Low quality is something where the answers are gibberish or written in poor language and formatting which are impossible to improve through edits. VLQ can also be used when the answer is Non English, when the a clarification is asked in the answer box or there is just a link. It should not be confused with NAA. Above answer is neither a Low quality one nor NAA. – Sarvabhouma Sep 16 '18 at 16:51
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Update: The answer has been revised/improved by others and now it's un-deleted.

Reason for deletion

The answer was of very low quality. The length of answer is not meeting the minimum length criteria and answerer tried to fool the system by adding dots!

Secondly, it may be worthy to convert it into comment if there's no reply to the post but other answers have already covered it. So, it wasn't adding any value either.

The relevant banner was also added to notify the answerer.

Though the comment added (quoted in question) may not be effective, anyway, such an answer is not acceptable.

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    Yes that's what I am saying.. We can't write simply " ........................ Yes ..........................." as an answer..It is of low quality.. – Rickross Sep 16 '18 at 17:00
  • 1. Bhagavad Gita is an answer. Is it not? The main answer is that. Other words are not much useful. 2. What is the criteria for conversion of comments? How much time was given for improvement of the post? Is it asking clarification? 3. Why is it not acceptable? That is what I am asking and you are just saying not acceptable. If that is the answer, that should be written. Isn't it? Whose decision are we considering here? There are upvotes and comments for that answer too. So, why only that answer? The reason given by you and Destroyer are not matching. Whose reason should I consider? – Sarvabhouma Sep 16 '18 at 17:08
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    Other answers were posted after hours after this answer is posted. So, if this answer adds information, then what happens to those answers? Will they be deleted once this is improved? Because this is the first answer posted to that question. Others are just taking hints (we can say that. Just added other portions). First answer gets importance and not the later ones. There should be benefit of doubt. – Sarvabhouma Sep 16 '18 at 17:11
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    @Sarvabhouma You may consider this answer as a comment which got deleted after answer added. – Pandya♦ Sep 16 '18 at 17:25
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    But that didn't happen. Doing so will give unfair advantage and shows pariality to the users who posted answers hours later than this original one (this). There should be equal chance for everyone. Right? Others might have just improved instead of writing their own answer. Isn't it? What will be the answer if it meets minimum length criteria? Will that be undeleted and the answers which were posted later will be deleted because repetition of content? – Sarvabhouma Sep 16 '18 at 17:31
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.........it's self-explanatory.........

(Imagine if that was the only "explanation" I chose to give in my answer.)

Questions that can be answered in just one or two lines, still need to provide sufficient explanation to make the cut (see What to do with those type of questions whose answers are simple yes or no?). So, yes, on this site, it's not just the votes that determine the quality of an answer. Length is equally important.

Here are other equally short "answers" that should qualify if "...Bhagavad Gita..." type were allowed:

  1. .....Anugītā.....

  2. .....Sānatsujātiya.....

Users are expected to provide at least a link to the summary of topic in Wikipedia or write one in their own words. We need to remember that answers are primarily written with OP as the reader, in mind. It's possible here that OP doesn't know that Bhagavad-gītā is an integral part of the Mahābhārata, so you should at least tell them the parva of MBH where BG occurs and the relevant chapter numbers. This was missing in the answer that was deleted.

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  • That is the problem of the question then. It is too broad. Users are expected to write long answers but some write it short. There are banners to intimate the OP that their answer needs some more explanation why is it deleted immediately? Moreover, the reason given is repetition of the content. I am fully aware if the answer is simple yes or a no. But this is not a simple yes or no. It asked what philosophical portions are there in MB, then it is Bhagavat Gita, that is not a simple yes or no. If one wants to write lengthy answers with copied quotes, they should not impose it on others. – Sarvabhouma Sep 17 '18 at 5:06
  • Agree the question is too broad - I voted to close it. 'Users are expected to write long answers but some write it short.' - but they shouldn't be so short that it looks like a joke and others follow suit. Nobody's imposing the lengthy answer style on others but high rep. users are expected to show some effort/sincerity when writing answers. – sv. Sep 17 '18 at 22:07

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