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To understand how this is a violation of the abusive behavior policy, you need to first understand that not all people solve problems the same way. Some people, especially thosePeople in the autisticautism spectrum only know howtypically suffer from a Mnesic Imbalance limiting them to solvesolving problems in a detailsusing only top-down (concept-before-the-concept style calleddetails) or bottom up thinking. However, there is an equally large number of people in the allistic spectrum of people who can only solve problems in a a concept-up (details-before-the-details style called top downconcept) thinking. This does not mean that people with a Mnesic Imbalance are not intelligent, people at both ends of this disorder are both common and very capable thinkers given reasonable accommodation.

By enforcing a policy against High Concept Questions you are saying that to use this platform, you MUST be a bottom up thinker which discriminates against and excludes many allistic people Mnesic Imbalances because they literally can not get to the details until they have figured out the high concept. The high concept is not just an author's choice. Just like the smaller more specific rules, it must be cohesive with reality and/or the reader's expectations to create a believable setting. While some authors are better at building up the high concept from smaller details, this is not universal writing style and the differencesvariance in different author's cognitive abilities deserve to be respectedaccommodated.

To understand how this is a violation of the abusive behavior policy, you need to first understand that not all people solve problems the same way. Some people, especially those in the autistic spectrum only know how to solve problems in a details-before-the-concept style called bottom up thinking. However, there is an equally large number of people in the allistic spectrum of people who can only solve problems in a a concept-before-the-details style called top down thinking.

By enforcing a policy against High Concept Questions you are saying that to use this platform, you MUST be a bottom up thinker which discriminates against and excludes many allistic people because they literally can not get to the details until they have figured out the high concept. The high concept is not just an author's choice. Just like the smaller more specific rules, it must be cohesive with reality and/or the reader's expectations to create a believable setting. While some authors are better at building up the high concept from smaller details, this is not universal and the differences in different author's cognitive abilities deserve to be respected.

To understand how this is a violation of the abusive behavior policy, you need to first understand that not all people solve problems the same way. People in the autism spectrum typically suffer from a Mnesic Imbalance limiting them to solving problems using only top-down (concept-before-the-details) or bottom-up (details-before-the-concept) thinking. This does not mean that people with a Mnesic Imbalance are not intelligent, people at both ends of this disorder are both common and very capable thinkers given reasonable accommodation.

By enforcing a policy against High Concept Questions you are saying that to use this platform, you MUST be a bottom up thinker which discriminates against and excludes many people Mnesic Imbalances because they literally can not get to the details until they have figured out the high concept. The high concept is not just an author's choice. Just like the smaller more specific rules, it must be cohesive with reality and/or the reader's expectations to create a believable setting. While some authors are better at building up the high concept from smaller details, this is not universal writing style and the variance in different author's cognitive abilities deserve to be accommodated.

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Solution: High Concept Questions need High Concept AnswersA Few Frame Challenges

If youThere are a bottom up thinker, it is simply your style of thinkingseveral common misconceptions in the OP's question that makes it hardhave lead him to imaginebelieve there is a simple answerproblem with asking High Concept questions.

Two obvious problems with this kind of question:

Too broad

Opinion based

There seems to be a high level conceptmisunderstanding here about what "too broad" means. A question because you want tocan itself be very broad, but still compel a simple and concise answer it with all the hundreds of low level details. High Concepts are by definition ideas that YOU naturally start withencompass a lot of other ideas, but forcan itself be treated as a single idea. So, if you ask a broad question about the average top-down thinkertree density in a forest, these sorts of questions are very easy to conciselythen an answer which meansbreaks down every type of forest and all the hundreds of different kinds of trees that live in each one... it's is not really answering the question isas asked; so, it's not the problem: it isOPs fault that the people who do not know how to answerperson answering him sees it as "too broad" when a simple statistical average would have answered the question just fine.

IfOpinion Based means that the OP is asking for your opinion, not that a question might be answered with an opinion. If you aredo not personally qualifiedknow HOW to answer a question withinwithout just stating an opinion, then you as the guidelines of WBperson answering should just not try.SE Leave it open and let the next guy try to figure it out. I've seen countless questions over the years get VtCed as opinion based because someone could only think of opinions to answer with and then go on to be answered with an extremely factual, well researched, and highly rated answer. Opinion Based VtC means that is okayyou are expressly asking for an opinion, just skipnot that it might be answered with an opinion.

NOT OPIONION BASED: Assume Earth and move onhistory as we know it, but in my world, Hitler died from whooping cough as a baby. ThereWhat is no judgment in skippingmy world like after this change?

OPIONION BASED: In my world, Hitler died from whooping cough as a question about quantum mechanics ifbaby. Is this a good idea for a story?

Nevertheless: in practice they have just asked us to do their work as an author for them.

No they haven't. If they ask for a High Concept, and you don't knowcan only figure our how to answer questions about quantum mechanics, but it with a list of details, that is wrong to VtC questions about quantum mechanics because topicsyour fault, not theirs. If they ask for help with a High Concept, then just address the High Concept. There is still tons of work that you don't know how to answer make you uncomfortablecomes after that in filling out the details that they can do on thier own.

Solution: High Concept Questions need High Concept Answers

I don't say any of this to in any way make bottom-up thinkers or people on the autism spectrum feal badIn summery, I myself amif you see a predominately bottom up thinker and on the autism spectrumquestion asking for help with a high concept, but I also recognizethen answer the value in top-down thinkersquestion as it is asked and know thatonly as it is asked. In your head you might be able to break down thier question into 100 parts and answer them each accordingly, and extrapolate a whole setting from thier one question... but if that's not what was asked, then just don't do it. Only if they are an essential part ofexpressly ask for all the World Building communitylow level details should you VtC it as being too broad.

Solution: High Concept Questions need High Concept Answers

If you are a bottom up thinker, it is simply your style of thinking that makes it hard to imagine a simple answer to a high level concept question because you want to answer it with all the hundreds of low level details that YOU naturally start with, but for the average top-down thinker, these sorts of questions are very easy to concisely answer which means that the question is not the problem: it is the people who do not know how to answer it.

If you are not personally qualified to answer a question within the guidelines of WB.SE, that is okay, just skip it and move on. There is no judgment in skipping a question about quantum mechanics if you don't know how to answer questions about quantum mechanics, but it is wrong to VtC questions about quantum mechanics because topics that you don't know how to answer make you uncomfortable.

I don't say any of this to in any way make bottom-up thinkers or people on the autism spectrum feal bad, I myself am a predominately bottom up thinker and on the autism spectrum, but I also recognize the value in top-down thinkers and know that they are an essential part of the World Building community.

A Few Frame Challenges

There are several common misconceptions in the OP's question that have lead him to believe there is a problem with asking High Concept questions.

Two obvious problems with this kind of question:

Too broad

Opinion based

There seems to be a misunderstanding here about what "too broad" means. A question can itself be very broad, but still compel a simple and concise answer. High Concepts are by definition ideas that encompass a lot of other ideas, but can itself be treated as a single idea. So, if you ask a broad question about the tree density in a forest, then an answer breaks down every type of forest and all the hundreds of different kinds of trees that live in each one... it's is not really answering the question as asked; so, it's not the OPs fault that the person answering him sees it as "too broad" when a simple statistical average would have answered the question just fine.

Opinion Based means that the OP is asking for your opinion, not that a question might be answered with an opinion. If you do not know HOW to answer a question without just stating an opinion, then you as the person answering should just not try. Leave it open and let the next guy try to figure it out. I've seen countless questions over the years get VtCed as opinion based because someone could only think of opinions to answer with and then go on to be answered with an extremely factual, well researched, and highly rated answer. Opinion Based VtC means that you are expressly asking for an opinion, not that it might be answered with an opinion.

NOT OPIONION BASED: Assume Earth and history as we know it, but in my world, Hitler died from whooping cough as a baby. What is my world like after this change?

OPIONION BASED: In my world, Hitler died from whooping cough as a baby. Is this a good idea for a story?

Nevertheless: in practice they have just asked us to do their work as an author for them.

No they haven't. If they ask for a High Concept, and you can only figure our how to answer it with a list of details, that is your fault, not theirs. If they ask for help with a High Concept, then just address the High Concept. There is still tons of work that comes after that in filling out the details that they can do on thier own.

Solution: High Concept Questions need High Concept Answers

In summery, if you see a question asking for help with a high concept, then answer the question as it is asked and only as it is asked. In your head you might be able to break down thier question into 100 parts and answer them each accordingly, and extrapolate a whole setting from thier one question... but if that's not what was asked, then just don't do it. Only if they expressly ask for all the low level details should you VtC it as being too broad.

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This ProposalThe Accepted Answer Violates SE's Abusive behavior policy

By enforcing thisa policy against High Concept Questions you are saying that to use this platform, you MUST be a bottom up thinker which discriminates against and excludes many allistic people because they literally can not get to the details until they have figured out the high concept. The high concept is not just an author's choice. Just like the smaller more specific rules, it must be cohesive with reality and/or the reader's expectations to create a believable setting. While some authors are better at building up the high concept from smaller details, this is not universal and the differences in different author's cognitive abilities deserve to be respected.

This Proposal Violates SE's Abusive behavior policy

By enforcing this policy you are saying that to use this platform, you MUST be a bottom up thinker which discriminates against and excludes many allistic people because they literally can not get to the details until they have figured out the high concept. The high concept is not just an author's choice. Just like the smaller more specific rules, it must be cohesive with reality and/or the reader's expectations to create a believable setting. While some authors are better at building up the high concept from smaller details, this is not universal and the differences in different author's cognitive abilities deserve to be respected.

The Accepted Answer Violates SE's Abusive behavior policy

By enforcing a policy against High Concept Questions you are saying that to use this platform, you MUST be a bottom up thinker which discriminates against and excludes many allistic people because they literally can not get to the details until they have figured out the high concept. The high concept is not just an author's choice. Just like the smaller more specific rules, it must be cohesive with reality and/or the reader's expectations to create a believable setting. While some authors are better at building up the high concept from smaller details, this is not universal and the differences in different author's cognitive abilities deserve to be respected.

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