What can I do if I am angry with everything in Stack Overflow

Question

This is a proposed FAQ question for those tearing their hair out on Stack Exchange sites.

Recently I asked a question and gave a bounty but nobody gave a good answer. I asked for help on Meta Stack Overflow, but with Streisand effect those answers only got upvotes! I decided to delete the question on Meta Stack Overflow, but the system forbade me...

(three thousand more words)

I am being driven crazy. What do I do?

Return to FAQ index

Answer 1

Calm down. Follow these steps:

1. Leave here for a while. Best ways:
   • Log out of Stack Overflow
   • Shut down your computer.
2. Make yourself comfortable:
   • If you are thirsty, drink something.
   • If you are hungry, eat something.
   • If you are tired after a day's work, sleep or take a nap.
   • If the weather is too hot for you, turn on an air conditioner.
   • If the weather is too cold for you, turn on a heater.
   • If your chair is too hard for you, go and sit on a sofa.
   • ...
3. Let yourself temporarily forget everything:
   • Play game with your smartphone or tablet.
   • Go to Twitter, Facebook, Line or something similar (except Stack Overflow).
   • Go outside, but not on a typhoon day.
   • Do some math, unless you can do math without all of your brainpower.
   • Watch television or read newspapers or books.
   • Sleep or take a nap.
   • ...
4. Estimate how much reputation you have lost:
   • All bounties are paid for up front.
   • If more than 30% of votes on your posts are upvotes, then you will gain reputation.
   • Even if you did lose reputation, it will be regained by answering more questions.
   • ...

5. Recall every maxim you have learned. This section is culture-dependent:

   • A poem in Traditional Chinese:

     千里送書只為牆，
     讓他三尺又何妨。
     長城萬里今尤在，
     不見當年秦始皇。

   • A haiku in Japanese:

     古池や
     蛙飛びこむ
     水の音

   • A fable in French:

     Un jour un Coq détourna
     Une perle qu’il donna
     Au beau premier Lapidaire.
     Je la crois fine, dit-il,
     Mais le moindre grain de mil
     Seroit bien mieux mon affaire.

     Un ignorant hérita
     D’un manuscrit qu’il porta
     Chez son voisin le Libraire.
     Je crois, dit-il, qu’il est bon ;
     Mais le moindre ducaton
     Seroit bien mieux mon affaire.

   • (Can you help add more languages?)

Answer 2

Context for poem:

Found at http://www.immanuel.net/cincc/chinese_worship/chinese_worship.asp?WorshipId=1252&Action=DETAIL:

In an old section of the the town, Tongcheng, Anhui, there is a monument with two characters, “Comity” inscribed on it. Below the momument, it is a six-foot wide alley with granite walls on both sides paved with stone tiles. There is a tree that gives shade and is full of the scent of flowers, it’s a beautiful ancient place to visit. At the entrance, is a stone tablet inscribed “Six-foot Lane” embedded in the wall. According to legend, during the Qing Dynasty of Emperor Kangxi, the head of the Educational Department, Zhang Ying lived there. Once his family had a dispute with a neighbor over a fence that incroached three-foot of their land. The family wrote a letter and delievered it to Zhang Ying at the capital to ask him to use his power to settle the case. Minister Zhang wrote a poem: “A letter from thousand miles, just for a wall that yields three-foot of no harm. The Great Wall still stands, but where is Qin Shi Huang?” The Zhang’s got the letter and made peace with their neighbor.