user295: What is the level of similarity for a question to be judged a duplicate?
If 2 questions are such that you end up with a similar answer does this mean the questions are duplicates:
E.g.

Why do planets form into spherical objects? vs
Why do soap bubbles form spherical objects? 


user295: I think SE thinks duplicate answers are OK.

One thing I want to be clear about, though, is that duplication is not necessarily bad. Quite the contrary -- some duplication is desirable. There’s often benefit to having multiple subtle variants of a question around, as people tend to ask and search using completely different words, and the better our coverage, the better odds people can find the answer they’re looking for. And isn't that, really, the whole point of this exercise?
Furthermore, it's OK for duplicate questions to have duplicate answers. While you could argue that the duplicate questions could all be merged into one question with a "master" set of answers, this is kind of irritating from the perspective of the user looking for an answer. Put yourself in their shoes. Instead of finding ...

Source: Dr. Strangedupe: Or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying And Love Duplication

As for the treatment of the following question:
On the other had I just closed one of the following two questions as a duplicate:

Does the level of awareness of an awakened buddhist also stay the
same event when he
sleeps?
But when an enlightened person lives he could be in the present all
the time. But when you sleep your conscious/awareness may be different
or just disappear.
So does the level of awareness of an enlightened person also change or
stay the same even when sleeping.

And:

Do Arhats sleep?
I have read somewhere that Arhats (people who attained Nirvana) do not
sleep like normal people do. Instead they just stay calm in a suitable
position to give the rest required for the physical body, but their
mind is always alert...
Is this true?

I don't agree with what happened on couple of fronts:

The terminology and what exactly being asked does differ significantly to leave it open.
I do not agree with the deleting of my answer to this question despite the rational given. I think moderators should be more sensitive to topics of controversy and debate including topics around: on or linked to fallibility of an Arhat, unconscious, subconscious, Luminous mind, but not limited to such topics. Or any other topics which there are variations among schools / lineages or are subjected to debate and disagreement where not everyone holds the same POV. Such questions either should not be closed so all can add their POV or close without answers. In case of answers which are not spam should be allowed especially if it is strongly tied to a specific POV. (My answer in this case represented a POV and I did not want to put more effort than needed.) If it is a closed question with some answers users will get only the POVs represented with no ability to add any more from different schools. If a POV is removed while other remain it will disadvantage the particular school / lineage being represented properly. Having a link in a comment is not a solution if there are other answers as the chances of people going through these links are less than scrolling. Every POV should have a fair chance to be represented, especially there is variations.

either on this site. E.g. The impact of the subconscious mind on the conscious mind, What's the difference between a "primordial consciousness" and a soul?, What are the positions of the different schools on a primordial mind?
among schools. E.g. see discussion in https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bhavanga
historically being a point of schism and debate which perhaps lead to splits among schools and lineages





I suppose it's subjective (i.e. it's something which we must use our intelligence to decide, machine-like rules can't decide that for us), and so it's something we vote on.

Subjectivity and judgement is double edged sword. If used wisely it is good. But this can also be used as means to justify prejudice, discrimination or furthering one's own agenda or POV or means of censorship or bias.

I (personally) don't like to see copy-and-pasted answers (exactly the same answer in more than one topic).

This is a personal opinion and you should not let personal opinions get into moderation decisions. There may be instance this should be discouraged. There is definitely manpower shortage regarding contribution from Ledi traditions. Once we reach a critical mass of contributors perhaps maybe this can be the case. Until such time there is so much effort one can put.

The SE software raises a moderator flag when an answer is copy-and-pasted, so I suppose that SE too doesn't like or is suspicious of copy-and-pasted answers.

Copy and past maybe spamming. In my case it is not spam. It validly answers the  question also. Since there are answers I believe it should be open and my answer also represented.

Instead of copy-and-pasting an answer it might be better to vote-to-close as duplicate

This is sufficiently different. Also depending on the topic as noted before I do not feel this is in some cases the best action when there are answers or incase there no enough close voted where your close vote will close the question before answers.

295: <p>What is the level of similarity for a question to be judged a duplicate?</p>

<p>If 2 questions are such that you end up with a similar answer does this mean the questions are duplicates:</p>

<p>E.g.</p>

<ul>
<li>Why do planets form into spherical objects? vs</li>
<li>Why do soap bubbles form spherical objects? </li>
</ul>
 295: <p>I think SE thinks duplicate answers are OK.</p>
<blockquote>
<p>One thing I want to be clear about, though, is that <strong>duplication is not necessarily bad</strong>. Quite the contrary -- <em>some duplication is desirable</em>. There’s often benefit to having multiple subtle variants of a question around, as people tend to ask and search using completely different words, and the better our coverage, the better odds people can find the answer they’re looking for. And isn't that, really, the whole point of this exercise?</p>
<p>Furthermore, it's <strong>OK for duplicate questions to have duplicate answers</strong>. While you could argue that the duplicate questions could all be merged into one question with a &quot;master&quot; set of answers, this is kind of irritating from the perspective of the user looking for an answer. Put yourself in their shoes. Instead of finding ...</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Source: <a href="http://blog.stackoverflow.com/2010/11/dr-strangedupe-or-how-i-learned-to-stop-worrying-and-love-duplication/">Dr. Strangedupe: Or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying And Love Duplication</a></p>
<hr />
<p>As for the treatment of the following question:</p>
<p>On the other had I just closed one of the following two questions as a duplicate:</p>
<blockquote>
<p><a href="https://buddhism.stackexchange.com/q/14947/254">Does the level of awareness of an awakened buddhist also stay the
same event when he
sleeps?</a></p>
<p>But when an enlightened person lives he could be in the present all
the time. But when you sleep your conscious/awareness may be different
or just disappear.</p>
<p>So does the level of awareness of an enlightened person also change or
stay the same even when sleeping.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>And:</p>
<blockquote>
<p><a href="https://buddhism.stackexchange.com/q/76/254">Do Arhats sleep?</a></p>
<p>I have read somewhere that Arhats (people who attained Nirvana) do not
sleep like normal people do. Instead they just stay calm in a suitable
position to give the rest required for the physical body, but their
mind is always alert...</p>
<p>Is this true?</p>
</blockquote>
<p>I don't agree with what happened on couple of fronts:</p>
<ul>
<li>The terminology and what exactly being asked does differ significantly to leave it open.</li>
<li>I do not agree with the deleting of my answer to this question despite the rational given. I think moderators should be more sensitive to topics of controversy and debate including topics around: on or linked to fallibility of an Arhat, unconscious, subconscious, Luminous mind, but not limited to such topics. Or any other topics which there are variations among schools / lineages or are subjected to debate and disagreement where not everyone holds the same POV. Such questions either should not be closed so all can add their POV or close without answers. In case of answers which are not spam should be allowed especially if it is strongly tied to a specific POV. (My answer in this case represented a POV and I did not want to put more effort than needed.) If it is a closed question with some answers users will get only the POVs represented with no ability to add any more from different schools. If a POV is removed while other remain it will disadvantage the particular school / lineage being represented properly. Having a link in a comment is not a solution if there are other answers as the chances of people going through these links are less than scrolling. Every POV should have a fair chance to be represented, especially there is variations.
<ul>
<li>either on this site. E.g. <a href="https://buddhism.stackexchange.com/questions/9189">The impact of the subconscious mind on the conscious mind</a>, <a href="https://buddhism.stackexchange.com/questions/9606">What&#39;s the difference between a &quot;primordial consciousness&quot; and a soul?</a>, <a href="https://buddhism.stackexchange.com/questions/9154">What are the positions of the different schools on a primordial mind?</a></li>
<li>among schools. E.g. see discussion in <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bhavanga" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bhavanga</a></li>
<li>historically being a point of schism and debate which perhaps lead to splits among schools and lineages</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
<hr />
<blockquote>
<p>I suppose it's subjective (i.e. it's something which we must use our intelligence to decide, machine-like rules can't decide that for us), and so it's something we vote on.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Subjectivity and judgement is double edged sword. If used wisely it is good. But this can also be used as means to justify prejudice, discrimination or furthering one's own agenda or POV or means of censorship or bias.</p>
<blockquote>
<p>I (personally) don't like to see copy-and-pasted answers (exactly the same answer in more than one topic).</p>
</blockquote>
<p>This is a personal opinion and you should not let personal opinions get into moderation decisions. There may be instance this should be discouraged. There is definitely manpower shortage regarding contribution from Ledi traditions. Once we reach a critical mass of contributors perhaps maybe this can be the case. Until such time there is so much effort one can put.</p>
<blockquote>
<p>The SE software raises a moderator flag when an answer is copy-and-pasted, so I suppose that SE too doesn't like or is suspicious of copy-and-pasted answers.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Copy and past maybe spamming. In my case it is not spam. It validly answers the  question also. Since there are answers I believe it should be open and my answer also represented.</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Instead of copy-and-pasting an answer it might be better to vote-to-close as duplicate</p>
</blockquote>
<p>This is sufficiently different. Also depending on the topic as noted before I do not feel this is in some cases the best action when there are answers or incase there no enough close voted where your close vote will close the question before answers.</p>
