I really just want to close it and be rid of it, it's too distracting and hasn't once helped me do my job. I'd like a checkbox in the user preferences, not a script or some other work-around.

This was my thought too. I don't feel grateful that someone asked a question, I feel grateful that someone answered it! I'm not saying a good question is not important, It's just not The Thing That Solved My Problem so I don't think about it. Perhaps every upvote to an answer should give the question 1/5 of an upvote to represent the question's helpfulness?

@skomisa You are right, however they think what they are doing is for the good of the site--and our rules generally discourage the kind of behavior they are generally complaining about (or at least that's an excuse they can tell themselves). (Fixed my username, your last comment was to me)

I don't disagree with this post at all, but isn't it amusing that we respond to people criticizing posts in comments by criticizing the comments? If we didn't have these "quality" restrictions on posts then people wouldn't be commenting on post quality. The "mean" commenters are simply trying to enforce the rules we have devised (albeit in the worst way possible). A more welcoming response would be to allow and encourage dupes and low quality answers as a learning experience but filter them from searches, but being welcoming is not our primary goal here, is it? (hence these comments)

Rather than adds for Open Source Projects, I'd really appreciate a list of projects that need help with a quick summary of what needs to be done in each one--what they are hoping to accomplish with this additional manpower. If there is such a site, advertise that!