The idea that SO is "educating" anyone is laughable. It's mostly the place where one gets information about poorly documented APIs.
What's especially repulsive to me is how well trained SO users are, spending many minutes nicely formatting their questions and answers for those worthless internet points.
This is a very cynical way to look at it. Some people may just like helping people and sharing knowledge, and maybe they've also received help themselves and want to give back to the community. I don't think this is repulsive. There's many great questions that aren't about undocumented APIs. Take this [0] for example.
As a side benefit, I'm sure the active contributions can give contributors something to show to prospective employers.
i got question banned for 10 downvotes spread across 3 questions-2 of which are still unanswered but have been "edited for grammar". not one comment as to why the downvotes. stack is little more than a toy for answering straightforward questions now
What's especially repulsive to me is how well trained SO users are, spending many minutes nicely formatting their questions and answers for those worthless internet points.