[thih9]

I’ve also noticed that in threads about stack overflow people often complain that questions are answered with “do something else”.

And here, “do something else” seems a popular answer too. Perhaps it’s how we approach problem solving in general.

[ratg13]

It’s because tech people are often fed XY problems.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/XY_problem

The person asking the question is asking how to do something, instead of explaining what the problem is.

Without an explanation of what the problem actually is, you have to guess.

Solving XY problems without getting at the root issue can create endless amounts of needless effort for many people, which is why discussion and communication are so important.

[da39a3ee]

I think it's laziness: rather than solving a specific problem, it's much easier to pick from an infinity of other problems you can solve.