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I'm a frequent user of Math SE, and I think the SE community has people who have similar interests as me (in math) and are overall very insightful: so naturally, when I have "softer" questions about math (perhaps bordering on opinion-based), I wonder what people on the SE community have to say about it; yet, a lot of times these get put on hold because of being opinion based. While I understand that Stack Exchange is meant for productive and to-the-point questions on things relevant to an area, is there no scope for talking about questions requiring insight as opposed to a strict answer to a problem?

Examples include: asking Math SE for views on how the ideal math class should be structured, asking History SE about the "good things" done by people regarded as evil rulers, etc. These are all productive and constructive things to discuss among people interested in math or history, but are usually struck down. Is there any way to frame these questions to fit SE guidelines, or is there no place for such questions on SE?

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    "These are all productive and constructive things to discuss among people interested in math or history" Remember that SE sites are explicitly not discussion forums.
    – Ron Maupin
    Commented Feb 7, 2020 at 23:00
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    For questions about teaching math, you might want to check out Mathematics Educators.
    – Catija Staff
    Commented Feb 7, 2020 at 23:10
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    Depends on the particular site. Worldbuilding.se for example states in their help center: "Many good questions generate some degree of opinion based on expert experience, but answers to {a question closed as opinion-based} will tend to be almost entirely based on opinions, rather than on facts, references, or specific expertise.". You need to ensure that you're asking on the correct site and that you've studied the help-center to approach your question optimally.
    – W.O.
    Commented Feb 7, 2020 at 23:29
  • I believe there's a math education site. Small, but could be useful. Also if you ask for help with giving the question an acceptable twist, Academia might work. // For the history question -- did you ask for help at the local Meta?
    – aparente001
    Commented Feb 8, 2020 at 1:33

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There is scope for opinion-based questions on SE; the close reason for what used to be called "Primarily opinion-based" reads:

Many good questions generate some degree of opinion based on expert experience, but answers to this question will tend to be almost entirely based on opinions, rather than facts, references, or specific expertise.

It's worth reading that a few times because it not only tells you what kind of question to not ask, it also tells you what kind of question to ask. And it tells you that opinion-based questions are OK so long as they're not entirely opinion-based, and so long as they can generate specific answers.

Thing is, SE sites aren't discussion forums. They're for questions about specific problems, and answers to those questions. If every answer to a question could be equally valid, or if answers generate a lot of back-and-forth arguing in comments, then SE is probably just the wrong platform for those questions. Just like a screwdriver is the wrong tool for banging in a nail.

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