When a reader has a specific question or objection, they can click on the "New question/objection" button to create a query mark. As they type the text of their question/objection, Arbital will dynamically match it with possible answers. If none of those answers work, the reader can submit their query, and Arbital will notify the page authors. Just like with all marks, the reader's name won't be shown, but the authors will be able to see a snapshot of the user's requisites.
A few examples:
- "The World Bank forecasts that 702.1 million people were living in extreme poverty in 2015." A potential question a reader might have: "Why can't we solve poverty by printing lots of money and giving it to poor people?"
- "Given the current economic model, built on GDP, it would take 100 years to bring the world's poorest up to the previous poverty line of $1.25 a day." A potential objection a reader might have: "Predicting poverty reduction rate based on GDP, especially 100 years out, is absurd."
Resolving a query
There are several ways to resolve a query:
- Edit the page. A few ways to do this:
- Edit the relevant part of page to make it more clear.
- A small change like adding a link or moving some text around might work.
- Adding a requirement for the page.
- Connect the query to a new or existing question.
- The query owner won't be notified until that question has at least one answer.
- Dismiss the query if it's nonsensical.
If you aren't sure what to do, just leave the query for other authors to fix.