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Why was this question Did Trump say “going loco”? closed as off-topic for for “not challenging notable claims such as pseudoscience”, while the following one was not? Did Barron Trump wear a “I'm with Stupid” shirt next to his father?.

What notable claims does the latter question challenge which the former does not?

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You are right, the other question was also non-notable (even searching for the image leads to our site first...)

In the case of "going loco", the point is: who cares if he said those exact words? Have they any significance that it's worthwhile exploring? If he said "going nuts" or "going crazy" what would change?

There's perhaps a notable claim in there, like "did Trump accused Federal Reserve of going crazy?", but asking about the exact quote, in my opinion, is not really notable at all.

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  • I agree, the reason I asked is that I could find only headlines and not the video in which he actually used that expression. Who cares if he really said that? Well, I did..but I probably posted the question on the wrong site.
    – user
    Commented Oct 19, 2018 at 13:27
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    "Who cares" is a reason to downvote and find a more interesting question to answer, not a close reason. I'm equally baffled that anyone cared to ask or answer that question - but for whatever reason, plenty of people did find it interesting. We have no grounds to say "My opinion of what is interesting is valid, yours isn't". I think you're mixing up (objective) notability with (subjective) interestingness. Commented Oct 19, 2018 at 18:03
  • On Skeptics, there's a concept of notability which pretty much encompasses "who cares". We only accept questions about topics where a lot of people care - unlike other sites. I did not mean to offend by it. It's literally a legitimate question we need to answer.
    – Sklivvz Mod
    Commented Oct 19, 2018 at 18:07
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    Yeah, the definition of notability has changed so often I can't keep track. It used to be "Is this an idea that people are being actively exposed to and believe, not just someone's misunderstanding or pet theory?". There were objective criteria for that. Now apparently it has to be "Is this interesting to every moderator, and every user who sees it and has close privileges, bar four"? That's completely subjective and luck-of-the-draw. Also, voting patterns clearly prove that many people don't share our opinion that the question isn't interesting. I'm baffled as to why, but it's a clear fact. Commented Oct 19, 2018 at 18:13
  • Notability has never changed definition: it's "something that many people believe to be true". We might disagree on whether something fits the bill, but the definition is what it always has been. And -- as users of the site -- moderators will vote according to conscience and bringing that into the discussion is just pointless
    – Sklivvz Mod
    Commented Oct 19, 2018 at 20:11
  • If there are many articles that say that Trump described the Fed using the specific word "loco" (which there are, as can be verified by Google search), isn't it reasonable to suppose that many people believe this to be true? If the exact choice of word is not important and wasn't part of the information that these articles intended to communicate, then why bother to use quotation marks in their titles?
    – paradisi
    Commented Oct 22, 2018 at 6:06
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    You seem to give different definitions of notability in your answer and your last comment: "who cares if he said those exact words" is different from "do many people believe that he said these exact words".
    – paradisi
    Commented Oct 22, 2018 at 6:09
  • @sumelic Well, the gist of the article is not "outrage! he said 'loco'" but "outrage! he thinks they are crazy". The emphasis on the specific word is not in the article but it's all in the OP's personal perspective. Of course, perhaps there is such a notable claim but it's up the the OP to convince us of it.
    – Sklivvz Mod
    Commented Oct 22, 2018 at 6:44
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    @sumelic - I guess that this “notable” issue is on this site a very fine point which, apparently, only long-standing users have able to fully anderstand in all its aspects. As a new user I am confused, but as they said, who cares if.....
    – user
    Commented Oct 22, 2018 at 10:18
  • @user070221 the reality is that the rule is not a specific, objective criteria, it has never been and probably will never be. As such, there are different opinions for different people.
    – Sklivvz Mod
    Commented Oct 22, 2018 at 12:48
  • Notable (N or n) and who cares (C or c) are two different things. Draw a 2x2 square and the actions are obvious: nC and nc: close. NC: upvote. Nc: downvote.
    – user22865
    Commented Nov 22, 2018 at 12:24
  • That only works if n and c are unrelated, but in fact I posit that c is necessary for n. If people don't care, it can't be notable because people don't believe stuff they don't care about.
    – Sklivvz Mod
    Commented Nov 23, 2018 at 10:09
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    This obligatory XKCD comic was unfortunately published a bit too late, but I think captures the spirit of "who cares": In view of the fact that nothing of importance hinges on the truth or falsity of this statement, not much time need be consumed to ascertain whether this is truth or fiction. Commented Feb 2, 2020 at 15:10

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