[beebeepka]

This is no doubt the weirdest thing I've read all week. Why wouldn't I answer a call from an unknown number?

There has to be some context here because the way you worded this implies what I consider "normal" is completely inconceivable to you.

[pama]

I have not answered unknown call numbers by using my voice for about ten years now. I start muted or I whistle to see if a spammer is on the other end, but mostly I simply let them go to voicemail, then block and report the caller. It was clear for many years now that voice prints would be a useful thing to spammers or other adversaries and I certainly don’t want to pair my phone number with a voice print on a random machine. I have probably lost a couple reminders from dr offices, especially in recent years when people started using automated call systems, but things feel simpler than a decade ago when the spam load was unbearable.

[simonbw]

For a lot of people (like me and everyone in my friend group), close to 100% of calls from unknown numbers are scam calls.

I think many people also don’t think someone they don’t know has the right to speak to them just because they have their phone number.

[b112]

Many people receive calls from legit, unfamiliar numbers maybe once a month.

Meanwhile, I receive half a dozen spam calls on some days.

So logically for me, it makes little sense to respond to unknown numbers. I presume the OP is in the same boat.

[Timwi]

I don't wanna make assumptions, but this sounds like you're probably not American. Americans are completely inundated with spam calls every day. It is hard for me as a European to imagine this kind of life, but that's what it is like for them.

As a result, I as a European cannot fathom how one can even live a life with a phone in America, while for Americans it's unfathomable that we would actually use our phones as phones by answering calls.

[bombcar]

I only answer an unknown number if very particular circumstances (from the area code I live in which is far from the area code of my phone) - otherwise, it goes to voicemail and if important I will call back.

Otherwise it’s all about my extended warranties and other scams.