cunninghams-lawlisted

# Cunningham's Law > "The best way to get the right answer on the internet is not to ask a question; it's to post the wrong answer." > — Ward Cunningham, ~1980 (attributed) ## The core idea People are more motivated to correct a wrong statement than to answer an open question. An open question requires someone to do mental work from scratch. A wrong answer hands them something concrete to push against — and people love pushing against wrong things. This is counterintuitive but reliably true. It works in forums, in Slack, in code reviews, in design reviews, and in meetings. ## Why it works - Answering an open question requires generating content from nothing. That's cognitively expensive. - Correcting a wrong answer requires only spotting the error and fixing it. That's easier and, frankly, more satisfying. - There's a social element: correcting someone is a chance to demonstrate knowledge and be helpful simultaneously. - The specificity of a wrong answer gives people a clear target. "Is X the right approach?" generates more engagement than "What approach should I take?" ## How to apply it in practice **Getting answers in forums or Slack:** Instead of: "Does anyone know how to configure Redis persistence?" Try: "I'm pretty sure you configure Redis persistence by editing redis.conf and setting `appendonly no`, right?" The people who know will correct you immediately — and you'll get a better answer. **In code reviews and design docs:** Post a draft with a specific (pos