I mostly agree with you.
> Some people prefer asking actual people
We all love to do that.
So far those experts have not yet answered. I did. In my experience experts find it rude and tiring to be asked questions if it appears that the questioner hasn't done the basics for themselves. "How To Ask Questions The Smart Way" by Eric S. Raymond and Rick Moen seems relevant: https://archive.ph/duRkf
> Just saying to ask AI is the most useless and rudest response of all
Most definitely rude.
But unfortunately useful.
The AI answer I got appeared plausible to my very basic engineering taste.
It is unfortunately true that AI can give better answers than many HN users.
Obviously AI doesn't usually beat an expert answer.
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To go meta: is up to Tossrock to become the expert they want by learning the metaskills they need.
I actually thought Tossrock's question was really interesting.
There underlying problem is that we have no polite way to suggest someone try AI. RTFM was historically impolite too.
And posting an AI response (even if filtered and edited) is socially destructive.
FYI: The answer given was something like an outer ring would interfere with lift twice as much, plus that putting weight at rim causes more inertia affecting control. I suspect there's a better question about just using a very fine cable (which would give rigidity without much interference with downdraught). I also suspect that we evolve optimal configurations, and that the underlying reasons are often unclear, and I'm left with too many questions that only an expert could answer.