Questions tagged [specific-question]

Please use this tag when you want to draw attention to a specific question on the main site. For example, if you want to draw high-rep users to close/reopen/edit a question, if you want to discuss the necessity of locking/protecting a question, etc. Do not use if your intention is to discuss/ask about a general issue, and you merely use questions as examples.

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62
votes
6answers
2k views

Why do users give answers using alternative method when I'm asking what went wrong with my solution?

I'll just put this out here. This is a sock my main account is Avnish Kabaj and user619072(now deleted sock). I've asked a couple of questions as to why my method is wrong. For some reason, users ...
41
votes
8answers
2k views

On the Bachelor/ette “correction”

Two days ago the question “The Bachelor Problem” (from Tao's Google+ account) was posted on MSE. It received a lot of positive attention, solutions and comments until an MSE user voted to close on ...
35
votes
6answers
3k views

Why was “Rational numbers - sticks and stones” deleted?

Could some 10k or ♦ mod shed some light on why this question was deleted? I understand that there may have been a good reason for it, but the error page I'm getting doesn't really explain it, beyond ...
32
votes
2answers
2k views

What's going on with this Batman question?

Can somebody explain to me how the question Is this Batman equation for real? has come to grow so immensely popular in such a short time? I mean: it was posted 17 hours ago and it already approaches ...
32
votes
2answers
990 views

Guerilla reposting of a question that no one answered

Recently, a question and its variants were posted on MSE (and cross-posted on MO as well, if that matters) using different new user accounts: https://math.stackexchange.com/questions/1422693/a-...
29
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7answers
2k views

Voting to close a question because one thinks it is extremely specialised

My question was recently voted to be closed. One member said it was because the question is extremely specialised. I don't think it is extremely specialised. It's a criterion of a prime being ...
29
votes
1answer
1k views

Kafkaesque question closure(s)

This question seems about to be closed (4 votes currently), because it is (supposedly) "not about math as defined in the help center." Can anyone explain this to me (if there is an explanation)? I ...
28
votes
3answers
1k views

What is the real reason for closing math.stackexchange.com/q/218571/12042?

Why was this question actually closed? Those who closed it chose not a real question from the admittedly rather limited menu, but in fact the question is perfectly clear: Let $G$ be a group, and ...
27
votes
5answers
764 views

What if the duplicate has a better answer than the original?

I have recently asked a question (The original did not turn up in my search): Show that there are infinitely many powers of two starting with the digit 7 which was marked as a duplicate of: Starting ...
27
votes
1answer
2k views

Is this knee-jerk downvoting of anything related to $1+2+3+… = -1/12$, or does this question actually need improvement?

This question of mine is currently sitting at a score of -2, but no one left any comments on how it can be improved. I wonder if some others could weigh in with any suggestions for how the question ...
26
votes
4answers
1k views

On the reception of “Real World Application” questions

I have come across a couple of questions which have asked about the "Real World" applications of things (specifically, of the Fibonacci series and of Groups, Rings and Fields). It seems to me that ...
26
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1answer
1k views

Asked a trivial question, got a simple answer,was put on hold. Should I delete it?

I was sleepy eyed when reading a text and a statement did not register in my mind. Asked it on MSE, and promptly downvoted,but got a detailed answer. It was later put on hold for lacking context. I do ...
25
votes
2answers
705 views

Is a question about “Best books/papers on X” appropriate?

I’ve recently become interested in rational right triangles — especially the relationship between their geometric and algebraic properties and possible applications to the solutions of Diophantine ...
25
votes
2answers
900 views

Trying to keep students from using MSE to do their homework

I'm working as a counselor at a summer math camp, and have been tasked with giving challenge problems for the campers outside of their classes (see this post at MESE) for more details. I am almost ...
25
votes
1answer
561 views

Is the 'sister' question on topic?

I suspect we've all seen My sister absolutely refuses to learn math by now - it's lodged at the top of the Stack Exchange hot questions list, it's been tweeted, it's got 27k views and hundreds of ...
24
votes
3answers
724 views

Is it a good thing to erase wrong answer?

Recently, user answered this question Inequality for Distribution of points in space, but his solution was wrong. (I don't know in what detail am I supposed to explain things here since this is my ...
24
votes
1answer
768 views

“… including any attempts you have made to solve it.”

Me again. Blind application of that criterion "ideally including any attempts you have made to solve it" just seems silly for some problems. Consider this question. Seems like an excellent question ...
23
votes
1answer
532 views

Is this a good homework question? Is there anything like a good homework question?

This is the first time I have posted a homework question on M.SE: Solution of 2nd order linear ODE with regular singular points, and complex exponents at singularity I would like to post more, ...
23
votes
2answers
990 views

User defacing their question

I recently noticed a question, its title was "norm of the operator". I wanted to know what the question details were. To my surprise, I found this: Dghggfssrrrrtiij Ffhjhhh ggssfvg guijvcd I ...
22
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4answers
1k views

math.SE is no reddit… or is it?

I'm surprised and worried by the fact that the question about Collatz conjecture stays opened. Let me explain myself. There were many cases, when different people couldn't agree whether some ...
21
votes
2answers
1k views

I don't understand the deletion of a recent question

Recently, this question was deleted by the asker after I wrote an answer and added further clarification when the asker expressed some confusion about my answer. To be fair, I didn't have to think a ...
21
votes
1answer
862 views

Question having excellent answer marked as dupe of a newer question

A high rep user who posted an answer to this question asked in 2014 marked my question asked in 2012 as duplicate. As such there is nothing wrong with flagging older questions as dupes of newer ones ...
20
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1answer
503 views

Is it okay to ask a question about an old question that doesn't have answers

So there's a part of the proof of L'hopital rule given in Pugh's Real Mathematical Analysis that I don't understand. I was going to ask a question, but it turns out that another user had the same ...
19
votes
1answer
339 views

Why were new parts added to a question by “community” months after the original was answered?

In March 2014, the question Find the Nash equilibria for a joint project modeled as a strategic game was migrated here from MathOverflow. It was promptly answered and the OP accepted the answer. In ...
19
votes
1answer
794 views

Is there an issue with this question?

After spending quite a bit of time trying to crack a problem about the convexity of a multivariate function by myself, I asked this question a couple of days ago: Convexity of difference of log-sum-...
19
votes
1answer
633 views

What should I do with my “curiosity questions”?

I am interested in math as a hobby, and also as a tool related to other hobbies (in my case, games and game design, among other things). Some of my questions relate to mathematical puzzles of various ...
18
votes
1answer
865 views

Why was this on-topic question unilaterally closed and migrated by a moderator?

This question on context-free and regular grammars was unilaterally closed as off-topic and migrated to cs.stackexchange.com by one of the moderators; I should like to know why. We have a long history ...
18
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4answers
1k views

Why was the soft question on the beauty of mathematics closed?

Why was the following question closed: What was the first bit of mathematics that made you realize that math is beautiful? (For children's book) I ask because I cannot find any discussion about ...
18
votes
2answers
1k views

Why is “infinity minus infinity” a Community Wiki question?

I have an inquiry on the grounds of curiosity. The following question has been marked Community Wiki on August 31st: What is the result of infinity minus infinity? From my understanding, you have a ...
18
votes
1answer
441 views

What should I do when I get the correct answer to a question I didn't mean to ask?

So I recently asked this question. After reading the responses, and a day's worth of rabbit-holing, I've realized that I asked the wrong question (I also made the mistake of using the letter $\omega$ ...
18
votes
1answer
793 views

Infinite monkeys typing on infinite keyboards, will they ever produce silly answers like on this question?

I'm referring of course to Given an infinite number of monkeys and an infinite amount of time, would one of them write Hamlet? The question is legit and not bad, the first few answers were serious ...
18
votes
1answer
3k views

Reopening thread that I don't think is off-topic.

Sadly I don't have 5 reputation yet so hope this is the right place to post. I don't understand why this question https://math.stackexchange.com/questions/402407/how-to-convert-pdf-containing-math-...
18
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3answers
326 views

Closing a question on comparing books.

The following question was closed because it was "too broad". What are the differences between Jacobson's "Basic Algebra" and "Lectures in Abstract Algebra"? The question ...
17
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2answers
993 views

Please undelete my answer

My answer to this question was deleted. I don't agree with banning a non-homework question showing no effort. What if someone asks a question like the Fermat's last theorem without showing no ...
17
votes
1answer
2k views

Should the old “losing Bill D.” thread be undeleted and re-locked?

In recent events Bill D. has left the site. During a now-closed thread pointing that out a comment was linking to the previous thread started by the user Math Gems when Bill was suspended for a month. ...
16
votes
2answers
641 views

Is this suggested edit I made on “Does Pi contain all possible number combinations” truly pointless?

I recently made the suggested edit to: Does Pi contain all possible number combinations? The edit transcribed the text of the image to the page to gain the following benefits: Visibility and ...
16
votes
1answer
657 views

A question bouncing in and out of the delete graveyard

Are there a finite number of trees with $k$ leaves and no vertices of degree $2$? In the 35 days or so since this question was asked, it has been closed, deleted twice, undeleted twice, and is ...
16
votes
0answers
897 views

What is the deal with this “troll” question? [closed]

About an hour ago, an apparently brand-new user posted this absurd question. Because I suspect it will be deleted soon, here it is in full: Physics teacher gave really hard math problem I ...
16
votes
0answers
754 views

Question “voluntarily removed by author” immediately after answer

So this topic has been discussed multiple times on Meta. I am posting this to report a specific incident. This homework question was deleted by its author shortly after an answer was posted. Yes, the ...
15
votes
2answers
367 views

Reference Request not a request for a reference?

I don't get this. The question asked for a reference to something explaining the point to the Hilbert transform. I provided a link to an excellent article explaining the point to the Hilbert ...
15
votes
1answer
369 views

What should I do if I think I have an answer to an on-hold question?

The Specific Problem I saw this question a couple days ago and started writing an answer, but didn't finish. When I came back to it, I reloaded the page to check if anyone else had answered and found ...
15
votes
1answer
628 views

Should I remove a link if given an external request?

In good faith, I posted a question about a paper which was published in an online journal, claiming to have proven a result about a well-known theorem. I naturally linked to the paper in question, ...
15
votes
1answer
610 views

Can we finally kill .999=1?

This has been mentioned before (notably, here by Akhil). But this question is tenacious indeed. For the past three(maybe four days), it has jumped up to the top. Frankly, I am tired of seeing it. I ...
15
votes
1answer
465 views

Question changed completely after another user started bounty

While browsing the featured question list I noticed that this question was edited by the asker to a completely different question, from something related to quantum field theory (I think?) to a ...
15
votes
1answer
371 views

Changing the question and invalidating previous answer.

I know that this is a common problem, one very much discussed in meta. But what I want to know is if I made a good call in this particular instance. I posted this question a few minutes ago on MSE. ...
15
votes
1answer
1k views

Why was my answer to a meta question deleted by a moderator?

Why was my answer to this meta question deleted by Moderator Alexander Gruber? I believe it has no proper reason to be deleted. Since it was deleted by a moderator, nobody except the moderators can ...
15
votes
2answers
539 views

Another questionable closure.

I hate to sound like a broken record, but closing this question as not constructive makes no sense to me. The canned explanation reads in relevant part: We expect answers to be supported by facts, ...
14
votes
5answers
2k views

Re: Mathematicians whose names are commonly mispronounced

I am strongly in favour of closing this question. There are other formulations that would have been appropriate: Are there any dictionaries, online sites, etc that give the correct pronunciation of ...
14
votes
3answers
950 views

On the closing of: “Does mathematics require axioms?”

On the closing of: Does mathematics require axioms? This question was first closed, and after changing the question, it was voted to be reopened again. I don't understand why it is now closed again. ...
13
votes
1answer
1k views

Creating a solutions manual within a single math.SE question

Very recently the following "question" was posted on the main site Solutions to "Vakil - Foundations of Algebraic Geometry" exercises The purpose of this "question" is to create a ...
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