Thanks @mattjbrent, that’s an interesting perspective.
I do not agree with it. I don’t think the world needs another discussion platform. If you want discussion, what’s wrong with Reddit? And human-ness is more of a thing that happens (and must be let happen) than a goal: if you want a hug, get off your computer.
What drove me to Stack Exchange (initially Stack Overflow) in the first place was in part the lack of discussion. (There’s chat but it stays out of the way.) It was all about building a place where you can find answers right below the question, and not on page 27 of a thread in a message that’s incomprehensible out of context. Being part of a community came later — it started when I joined a beta site where I was one of the top users and got involved in curation.
But I don’t think our points of view are incompatible! It’s perfectly fine if discussion exists. As long as the answers can be found below the question, as long as I can ignore the discussions, I’m happy. A vast majority of Wikipedia visitors don’t look at talk pages. A vast majority of Stack Exchange visitors don’t look at chat and don’t pay much attention to comments.
Who we want to be using our product(s)
Everyone who can read. Eventually. (Catering to illiterate people here is beyond my imagination horizon.)
Why they will want to use our product(s)
To find knowledge that they can’t find elsewhere. And more for a small minority, but for the vast majority, it’s the knowledge.