I should be the last person to make suggestions on FAQ improvement

Actually, since your conception of MO was just few days ago based only on the FAQ, this makes you one of the few people competent to make suggestions to the document.

How do u write something in bold?

I just looked the FAQ and, indeed, it's not there (you see, I was completely sure it's there, another good example of how a person who spent a lot time on the site perceives documentation). Anyway, the formatting reference appears on the side when you edit question or answer. Not all will work on meta, though.

I must say, I'm not sure what "essential" means: to my knowledge, no loss of life or property would result from not asking 99.99% math questions. Still, there is the idea that you're supposed to do enough work before posting to make question as good as you can. And if you're posting a lot of questions, people will not be tolerating minor mistakes or vague formulations that they would be happy to correct if you take it one at a time.

By the way, how would you improve the FAQ so that it reflects correctly whatever is current policy?

The other thing to keep in mind is that this is a young site. We're still having an ongoing discussion about what kind of questions are right for the site. Every time somebody tries a new kind of question (which you did), we have to have a internal discussion about whether it's right for the site. It probably seems a little raucous if you're not used to the site, but don't take it too personally.

I feel like the question should stay open, partially because there isn't a better place for it and it's not too bad for MO, and partially because it's received such an enthusiastic response. But I don't think there should be something in the FAQ that dictates it. It's genuinely borderline and such questions are a rare enough occurrence that it would be foolish to make policy about it. If something falls outside of policy, it may mean that it needs special attention, not that there needs to be more policy to handle it, and I feel like this is such a situation. I do like the idea of linking to other career advice pages in the FAQ, so that career advice questions appear on MO if there really isn't a better place for them. If I don't do it soon, please remind me to.

The question was made CW pretty quickly and a thread was opened here. It could have gone more smoothly if the question was CW from the get-go and written to provide a sharper question (I realize this is hard to do without revealing private information), but I'm very happy about how it was handled. I hit the post with the wiki hammer (converting all existing answers to wiki).

"Imagine doing something else and then realize how terrible you'd be at it." - whether it's a joke or not (it sounds like a half-answer half-joke), I don't see why it should be in the comments. But it would fit answers list well.

[lecture mode on]

@Ben, your idea to start a discussion on Meta is perfect, but I think one should also always post this in comments. Otherwise, it's easy to miss the fact.

@Anweshi, you really should have done your homework on why some questions are met with downvotes and discussion. Simply put, you should have spent a bit more time reading previous questions and meta threads. Then you would do the same thing -- post the question -- but you would know to (1) make it concise and provide background (2) make it Community Wiki (3) find the previous question and provide a link to it (4) meet downotes stoically and take all discussion to meta.

If you did that, you post would have a high chance of success. Some people might think it's not appropriate, but many people, me included, won't. In fact, put correctly, it's a wondeful question which could relate to many people.

(update for those who read after a while: I think this question indeed has evolved over time into a form where it benefits everyone)

@Qiaochu Yuan -- it's really a good idea to provide more info why you think question is not appropriate when the person is a newbie, especially in the case like this where a person has clearly read the FAQ but understands it differently.

@Harry -- please, let's not make jokes as a comment. If you post it as an answer, you can be up/downvoted, the discussion about your joke can continue there, and the valuable real estate below the post can be used for more important purposes.

@everyone -- Well, I personally think our FAQ should be improved. I gave some examples why I think it is confusing in this meta post. Whatever policies we currently have, it's better to reflect them correctly in the only document many people see.

[lecture mode off]. Hope everybody's ok with this.