I want to understand other people's intentions

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I have a great difficulty understanding other people's intentions.

For example, I recently joined a forum, asking some questions in a question-like manner with nearly a question mark after every sentence.

What happened is what happens too often for me:

People never respond to my questions by answering it, instead they are replying with nonsense.

This is my question for the day:

Why would anyone take their time to say a nonsense if they believe that what I say is nonsense and isn't worth replying to? Why do they not refrain from replying AT ALL?

Because it can be fun for people to troll.

But trolls are usually people who haven't been very active on a forum and isn't a seriously considered and highly valued member.

Those people who say such nonsense stuff to me appears to be well-established highly valued members of any given community, be it on internet forums or real life.
They seem very arrogant and refuse to answer my simple questions.

It is not arrogance to not reply to a post. If a question is indeed simple, then the answer should also be simple enough for the questioner to determine for himself.

Eh, I don't know why. I've just started to accept that people are confusing and that there's nothing to do about it besides what I already try.

If they could refrain from replying, I would understand it.

But they DO reply, but they don't answer my questions. So why do they reply at all?

Ohhhh, I think I understand what you mean now. I think it's because they didn't really have an answer, but they found your question interesting, so they decide to simply comment about it.

Maybe they feel they ARE answering your question and you just don't understand (or refuse to accept) the answer they're giving you.

Maybe you're getting answers that seem like they make no sense because you phrased the question awkwardly.

Maybe they're just amusing jokes and you're missing the humor.

Maybe they're just attention-seeking douchebags.

There are dozens of reasons why they might respond in a way confusing to you.

- they think you are a troll
- they are a troll
- they think you can figure out your own answer
- they think your question is too complex
- they think your question is too simple
- they think your question has too many answers
- they think your question is pointless
- they think your question is stupid
- they think your question has been answered several times before
- they think you're attention seeking
- they think you're drama spazing
- they think they are funny
- they think you're funny
- they think your question is funny but you didn't notice
- they think you post too much
- they think you were rude to them
- they think your question is offensive
- they think you're too smart and want to take you down a notch
- they think you're too stoopid and would be an easy target
- they think they're smart and want to show off
- they're bullies
- they think you're a bully
- they're drama spazing
- they're attention seeking
- they're trying to psyke you out
- they misunderstood your question
- you misunderstood their answer
- they're not very good at being clear
- you're not very good at being clear
- they have weird grammar
- they make simple spelling errors that look like they mean something else
- they use homonyms incorrectly warping the meaning
- they hate you
- they hate everybody
- English is not their primary language
- they don't proof read
- they didn't read your whole post
- they're responding to someone else's response to your post (for any of the other reasons)
- it's their brother's account and they're being silly on it
- they're at work and write it in disjointed segments
- they don't think you read their responses and they're testing
- they think you've ignored their other responses to other posts and they're annoyed
- they have only a very limited time before they have to get off the computer and cannot be thorough in their reply
- they think you're smart and they're trying to rise to your level but can't
- they think you say "but" too often, dismissing or arguing when other people answer you
- their browser locks up in the middle of rearranging their post but it posts for them anyway
- they think your title has nothing to do with your inferred question and answer something you didn't ask
- they have dyslexia and read your words in the wrong order making it a different question
- their cat walked over the keyboard while they're in the bathroom and it posted
- they think they're responding to a thread on a different tab
- they accidentally did a copy/paste of something else in a hurry and didn't notice
- they think you're somebody else and are mistakenly being rude to you
- they think you're somebody else and are mistakenly being funny with you
- they think you're somebody else and are mistakenly posting an "inside joke"


and lots more.
Does that start to answer you?
There, You've been answered at least once =)

Never assume that a "simple question" means there is a "simple answer," it is usually the other way around.

Trolls can be members who have been active for a while.

The shortest answer here is unquestionably the most relevant. We never finish accepting anything, or quantum physics would be old hat by now.

Well, I still question it; the answers I get are just never good, so I'm thinking that maybe there isn't an answer, and if there is, it's going to be confusing itself.

Some are regular members and then they troll when they feel like it.

on the other side of the coin, I offer my best answers (or say "sorry but I don't know, maybe consider if it's this or that?"), but no matter what I come up with, somebody will take it as offensive. if I knew what the OP was wondering about, i'd do my best to answer him/her. anyways, the other posters here basically covered why at least some of the people behaved as they did with the OP.