Download “Best of Quora 2010-2012” PDF
Yoav Perry’s answer to Food: Why is it safe to eat the mold in Bleu Cheese? Brian Lee’s answer to Food Industry: How do supermarkets dispose of expired food? Jonas M Luster’s answer to Cooking: If there were ten commandments in cooking what would they be? Madeline Puckette’s answer to Wine: Why do American winemakers produce mostly varietals, while French winemakers produce blends? Andrew Roberts’s answer to Food: Why are the chocolate chips in chocolate chip ice cream generally “chocolate-flavored chips”?
Education
Jae Won Joh’s answer to Medical School: What is one thing that you regret learning in medical school? Joshua Engel’s answer to Education: Are general requirements in college a waste of time? Melinda T. Owens’s answer to Choosing Colleges: How does a star engineering high school senior choose among MIT, Caltech, Stanford and Harvard?
International
Wael Al-Sallami’s answer to Iraq: Is Iraq a safer place now compared to what it was like during Saddam Hussein’s regime? Anon User’s answer to Misogyny: Is Islam misogynistic? Kaiser Kuo’s answer to Chinese Culture: Do the Chinese people currently consider Mao Zedong to be evil or a hero? Mark Rowswell’s answer to Learning Chinese: Why do so many Chinese learners seem to hate Dashan (Mark Rowswell)? Navin Kabra’s answer to Indian Diaspora: How do Indians feel when they go back to live in India after living in US for 5+ years? Adrianna Tan’s answer to Travel and Tourism in India: Is it safe for a single American woman to travel in India? Yair Livne’s answer to Investing: If developing countries are growing faster than developed countries, why wouldn’t you invest most of your money there? Ryan Romanchuk’s answer to North Korea: What is it like to visit North Korea? Domhnall O’Huigin’s answer to Irish People: What are some common stereotypes about Irish people that are largely untrue? Patrick Collison’s answer to Irish People: Do Irish immigrants to the Bay Area feel guilty for living in such an amazing place?
Law
Ryan Lackey’s answer to 99 Problems (2004 song): How valid is the implied legal advice in Jay-Z’s “99 Problems”? Ani Ravi’s answer to Iron Man (2008 movie): In the movie Iron Man, could investors sue Tony Stark for acting against the interest of the shareholders? Ti Zhao’s answer to China: Is it true that in China, you can hire someone to serve your prison sentence? Antone Johnson’s answer to Attorneys: Why are lawyers so expensive even with the excess supply of lawyers?
Life Advice
Lee Semel’s answer to Human Behavior: What are some stupid things that smart people do? Kat Li’s answer to Dating and Relationships: What are the disadvantages of dating highly intelligent men? Alison Stone’s answer to Love: How do you know if you’ve found “the one”? Dave Cheng’s answer to Dating and Relationships: How do I convince my girlfriend (possibly future wife) that a diamond engagement ring is a waste of money? Lex Cooke’s answer to Dating and Relationships: How do boys feel about girls who don’t expend much effort on appearances (e.g., clothes, makeup)? Brandon Gregg’s answer to Security: What should you do if you suspect a car has been following you? Alecia Li Morgan’s answer to Motherhood: What is some advice every new mother should know? Jimmy Wales’s answer to Parenting: My kids (11 and 8) have started learning chess. Is it a good idea to let them beat me sometimes to encourage them? Matt Dotson’s answer to Economics: How would you explain to a five-year-old that higher taxes on the rich don’t fix everything? Andy Johns’s answer to Bereavement and Mourning: When should someone be finished grieving? Matthew Manning’s answer to Tips and Hacks for Everyday Life: How can you overcome your envy of people who are your age but are far more successful than you?
Literature
Cristina Hartmann’s answer to Attraction (interpersonal): What book should I read to make girls think I’m smart in a hot way? Stephanie Vardavas’s answer to Jane Austen (author): Which Jane Austen heroine most embodies feminist principles? Shan Kothari’s answer to Jane Austen (author): What is so great about Jane Austen? Danielle Maurer’s answer to Harry Potter Book 5: Order of the Phoenix: Toward the end of Harry Potter Book 5: Order of the Phoenix, why don’t the kids just gang up on and overpower Umbridge? Tyler Borchers’s answer to The Hunger Games (2008 book): Is The Hunger Games a pro-girl / pro-woman story, the way Brave is? Monika Kothari’s answer to The Hunger Games (book trilogy & creative franchise): Does race or ethnicity play a role in The Hunger Games series? If so, how?
Music
Aaron Ellis’s answer to Jay-Z: What is so great about Jay-Z? Josh Siegle’s answer to Music: Is it possible at this stage of human culture to create a new genre of music? Mark Rogowsky’s answer to Mobile Phones: Why don’t cell phones work at music festivals? Jess Lin’s answer to Violins: How do you know when to switch positions on the violin? Daniel Rosenthal’s answer to U2 (band): Why is U2 so popular?
Professions & Careers
Michael Janke’s answer to Snipers: What is it like to be a sniper? Tim Dees’s answer to Law Enforcement and the Police: What have you learned as a police officer about life and society that most people don’t know or underestimate? Justin Freeman’s answer to Law Enforcement and the Police: What’s the best way to escape the police in a high-speed car chase? Michael Shinzaki’s answer to Poker: What is it like to earn a living through poker? Lou Davis’s answer to Doctors: Why does it seem most doctors are not compassionate? Yank Rutherford’s answer to Aircraft Carriers: What is it like to be the commanding officer of an Aircraft Carrier? Michael Forrest Jones’s answer to Hotels: How do good hotels always feel so clean and fresh? Anon User’s answer to Venture Capital: What is the worst part of being a VC? Anon User’s answer to Airlines: What are some things that airline pilots won’t tell you? Anon User’s answer to Recreational Drugs: What’s it like to be a drug dealer?
Science
Matan Shelomi’s answer to Insects: If you injure a bug, should you kill it or let it live and not die? Brad Porteus’s answer to Black Widow: What does it feel like to be bitten by a black widow spider? Marc Srour’s answer to Spiders: How does a spider decide where to put up its web? Jay Wacker’s answer to Higgs Boson Discovery and Announcement (July 2012): If I want to look smart, what do I need to know about the Higgs Boson discovery? Alia Caldwell’s answer to The Universe: How has our understanding of the universe changed in the last 100 years? Oliver Starr’s answer to Animal Behavior (Ethology): Would a lone adult wolf be able to take down an athletic adult human? Nan Waldman’s answer to Mind Hacks: Does bouncing your leg improve cognition? Bradley Voytek’s answer to Neuroscience: What is the neurological basis of curiosity? Paul King’s answer to Life: Why do living things die? Ben Golub’s answer to Economics: What are the economics of lying? Anon User’s answer to Mathematics: What is it like to have an understanding of very advanced mathematics?
Movies
Mark Hughes’s answer to Superheroes: Given our current technology and with the proper training, would it be possible for someone to become Batman? Mac Booker’s answer to The Dark Knight (2008 movie): In The Dark Knight, how did the Joker really get his scars? Marcus Geduld’s answer to Actors and Actresses: How do actors’ spouses feel about love scenes in film and TV? Oren Jacob’s answer to Pixar Animation Studios: Did Pixar accidentally delete Toy Story 2 during production? JJ Abrams’s answer to Movie Making: How do directors conceive and think through monster and action scenes? Richard Stern’s answer to The Godfather, Part II (1974 movie): Why does one of the goons trying to kill Frank Pentangelli in the bar say “Michael Corleone says hello”? Neville Fogarty’s answer to Jeopardy! (TV game show): What is it like to be a contestant on Jeopardy? Sean Hood’s answer to Screenwriting: How do screenwriters feel about bad reviews, in particular claims of formulaic writing? Ashton Kutcher’s answer to Movie Making: What determines whether an actor is cast in a part in Hollywood?
Politics
Jennifer Miller’s answer to U.S. Presidential Elections: How early do politicians and presidential political campaigns begin quietly promising/planning cabinet seats and vice president positions? Peter Marquez’s answer to Air Force One: What’s it like to fly on Air Force One? David Hood’s answer to 1968 U.S. Presidential Election: What if Richard Nixon had won the 1960 Presidential election? How would history have been different? Craig Montuori’s answer to U.S. Immigration: Should highly skilled international students (including Bachelors, Masters, Doctorate) be given Green Cards? Paul Ryan’s answer to Economics: What are the chances of a debt crisis on the scale of Greece hitting the United States?
Prison Life
Tommy Winfrey’s answer to Murder: What does it feel like to murder someone? James Houston’s answer to San Quentin State Prison: Do inmates in San Quentin have access to computers and the Internet? What kind of access? Kenyatta Leal’s answer to Incarceration: What does the first day of a 5+ year prison sentence feel like? David Monroe’s answer to Incarceration: Do you remember when the gavel dropped in court with the verdict and what that felt like at that moment? Flash forward to today looking back on that moment — how have you changed your life behind bars?
Sports
Peter Cipollone’s answer to Olympic Games: What is it like to be an Olympic athlete after winning (or not winning) the Olympics? Carly Geehr’s answer to Olympic Games: Do Olympic or competitive swimmers ever pee in the pool? Daryl Morey’s answer to 2012-13 NBA Season: Why is Jeremy Lin so turnover-prone and how can he fix this? Drew Housman’s answer to Jeremy Lin: What’s it like to play on the same basketball team as Jeremy Lin? Hung Lee’s answer to UEFA Euro 2012: What makes the Spanish national football team so dominant right now? John DeMarchi’s answer to NFL: How effective would sumo wrestlers be as NFL linemen? Anon User’s answer to Professional Wrestling: Is wrestling fake?
Technology
Paul DeJoe’s answer to Startups: What does it feel like to be the CEO of a start-up? Steve Case’s answer to 1995-2000 Dot-Com Bubble: What factors led to the bursting of the Internet bubble of the late 1990s? Kevin Systrom’s answer to Instagram: What is the genesis of Instagram? David Cole’s answer to Video Games: Am I missing out by not playing any video or console games? Ramzi Amri’s answer to Steve Jobs: Why did Steve Jobs choose not to effectively treat his cancer? Tim Smith’s answer to Steve Jobs: What are the best stories about people randomly meeting Steve Jobs? Peter Clark’s answer to Silicon Valley Company Culture: Which of the Hogwarts Houses does each of the Gang of Four companies correspond to?
Women
Anne K. Halsall’s answer to Physical Appearance: What does it feel like to be an unattractive woman? Gayle Laakmann McDowell’s answer to Pick-Up Artists: Why are women so negative about the “picking up women” school of thought? Shannon Larson’s answer to Attractiveness and Attractive People: As a young woman, how can I shake the feeling that being good-looking is the primary thing that males will acknowledge and praise my existence for? Rebekah Cox’s answer to Women in Technology: What is it like to be a woman working in the tech industry? Nora Mullaney’s answer to Women in Technology: What advice would seasoned women in tech give to younger girls deciding to make a tech career for themselves?
The United States
Ashton Lee’s answer to 9/11: What did it feel like to be inside the World Trade Center at the time of the 9/11 attacks? Marq Hwang’s answer to Asian Americans: What does it mean to be Asian American? Matt Schiavenza’s answer to New York City: Why is NYC so great? Max Cohen’s answer to Travel and Visiting in New York City: What are good tips for hailing a taxi in Manhattan? Laszlo B. Tamas’s answer to Lincoln Assassination: How likely would Abraham Lincoln be to survive his wounds today? Chris O’Regan’s answer to RMS Titanic (ship): How could the sinking of the Titanic have been prevented? Anon User’s answer to Hipsters: What do hipsters know that I don’t know? Ben Newman’s answer to Burning Man: What facts about Burning Man do virgin burners not believe until they go? Gary Teal’s answer to American Culture: Why does the USA insist on doing things differently than the majority of other developed nations?
Work Advice
Ambra Nykol Benjamin’s answer to Recruiting: What do recruiters look for in a resume at first glance? Ian McAllister’s answer to Product Management: What distinguishes the top 1% of product managers from the top 10%? Kah Keng Tay’s answer to Productivity: How can you increase your productivity on side projects at the end of the day when you’re tired from work/college? Michael O. Church’s answer to Management: How do you fire an employee that just isn’t good enough? Michael Wolfe’s answer to Business: What are telltale signs that you’re working at a “sinking ship” company? Edmond Lau’s answer to Career Advice: How do you know when it’s time to leave your current company and move on?
Personal Experience
Faisal Abid’s answer to Trains (transportation service): What is it like to be in a train crash? Flemming Funch’s answer to Scientology: What is it like to leave the Church of Scientology? Anon User’s answer to Kidnapping and Ransom: What is it like to be kidnapped? Dan Holliday’s answer to Drug Addiction: What does it feel like to be addicted to drugs? Karen Opas’s answer to Alcoholism: What is it like to be an alcoholic? Alex K. Chen’s answer to Asperger Syndrome: What does it feel like to have Asperger’s Syndrome? Laura Copeland’s answer to Asperger Syndrome: What is it like to be in a relationship with someone who has Asperger’s? John Clover’s answer to Family and Families: What does it feel like to have your sibling die? John H. Hillman, V’s answer to Wealthy People and Families: What’s it like to come from a billion-dollar family? Anon User’s answer to Intelligence: What does it feel like to be stupid? Anon User’s answer to What Does It Feel Like to X?: What does it feel like to be both very physically beautiful and very academically intelligent? Anon User’s answer to Attraction (interpersonal): What does it feel like to be unattractive and desired by none? Anon User’s answer to Sex: What’s it like to pay for sex on a regular basis? Anon User’s answer to Weddings: What does it feel like to cancel your wedding? Drew Young Shin’s answer to Heroism: What is the most heroic thing you have ever done?
