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What motivates people to answer questions?
I have participated here for about 3 and 1/2 months. Over that time I have wonder why so many offer high quality professional tutoring on a voluntary basis and do so much of it without any compensation.
Recently I was contacted by Tutors.com inviting me to apply. I am not sure how they got my name but I decided to look into it. To qualify as a tutor there you have to pass at least two exams in your subject area. Passing requires a score of 88% or higher. After that ypu have to provide a writing sample explaining how you would approach tutoring. Then you fill out some forms and do some mock tutoring sessions before you are hired.
It strikes me that except for the fact that students have 600+ tutors here compared to one to one tutoring at Tutors.com the two sites provide roughly the same service except that employees at Tutors.com are compensated. I have a good job and a side consulting business but I also have a wife and two sons in college and have difficulty making ends meet. I assume many others here are in similar situations.
So my question is "Why do we provide so much service free of charge?"