Timeline for Revising the help page on "What topics can I ask around here?"
Current License: CC BY-SA 4.0
17 events
| when toggle format | what | by | license | comment | |
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| May 2, 2021 at 14:31 | comment | added | Joel David Hamkins | @WillSawin I believe that you are converging on an excellent answer here. | |
| Apr 30, 2021 at 22:40 | history | edited | Will Sawin | CC BY-SA 4.0 |
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| Apr 30, 2021 at 21:52 | comment | added | Dmitri Pavlov | @WillSawin: Yes, because there are way more undergraduate students than graduate. And both American and European-level undergraduate-level questions about real and complex analysis are likely to be closed on MathOverflow. | |
| Apr 30, 2021 at 20:36 | history | edited | Will Sawin | CC BY-SA 4.0 |
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| Apr 30, 2021 at 20:35 | comment | added | Will Sawin | @DmitriPavlov You're saying that "undergraduate" is clear but "graduate" is not? | |
| Apr 30, 2021 at 20:08 | comment | added | Dmitri Pavlov | "real and complex analysis that are commonly required for a Bachelor's degree (B.A. or B.S.).": few universities require complex analysis for a Bachelor's degree in the US. One could simply say "undergraduate real and complex analysis". | |
| Apr 29, 2021 at 15:33 | history | edited | Will Sawin | CC BY-SA 4.0 |
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| Apr 29, 2021 at 15:17 | comment | added | user44143 | I also like this suggestion. I agree with @JoelDavidHamkins that "what have you tried" is not needed, though for different reasons: "I tried X and it didn't work" is not very predictive of whether someone else will get a result by trying X (or what they mean by "X"). If they have a good answer to "are similar results already known", that's good enough for me. | |
| Apr 28, 2021 at 22:07 | history | edited | Will Sawin | CC BY-SA 4.0 |
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| Apr 28, 2021 at 21:19 | comment | added | Dmitri Pavlov | @WillSawin: I do not think that saying things like “explain your mathematical question well” can change anything (it's not like anybody is trying to explain it badly, and users typically do try their best). Providing context, on the other hand, is something that can be done easily, but is often omitted, despite its usefulness. | |
| Apr 28, 2021 at 21:13 | comment | added | Will Sawin | @DmitriPavlov Can you elaborate on that? | |
| Apr 28, 2021 at 21:10 | comment | added | Dmitri Pavlov | @JoelDavidHamkins: I think providing appropriate context for the question is by far the most important of these items. (There is always a danger of listing too many requirements.) | |
| Apr 28, 2021 at 7:11 | comment | added | Joel David Hamkins | I agree with all that. I am mainly hesitant only about the particular phrase "what have you tried?" because of the manner this particular phrase is abused on math.SE, and I'd hate to see that practice here. How about: ...the best thing you can do to improve its chances are to explain your mathematical question well, with accuracy and precision. Provide the definitions of mathematical terms or notation that you use. Describe the mathematical context in which your question naturally arises. Mention the mathematical techniques that you think might be relevant for a solution. | |
| Apr 28, 2021 at 1:21 | comment | added | Will Sawin | More fundamentally I think including the information makes a variety of polite responses easier to give and a variety of impolite responses harder to give. (In particular, including the information in a question that is otherwise on the borderline between a good and bad response.) I definitely want to give people advice of some kind, that is somewhat helpful, because I am imagining someone who has heard that MO is a mean place considering whether to write their first question, and I imagine getting some simple, easy-to-follow advice on how to get a good response will make them more confident. | |
| Apr 28, 2021 at 1:21 | comment | added | Will Sawin | @JoelDavidHamkins Thanks! I would like to here you say more about this - in particular, which language do you think should be included early in this page? I am still thinking about how I would formulate my suggestion. Certainly my intention is not to get more people to ask for that. I agree that "what has been tried" is not usually so relevant. My goal is certainly not to change the culture of what people ask for! But it sometimes is relevant. | |
| Apr 27, 2021 at 17:27 | comment | added | Joel David Hamkins | I completely agree with the main part of what you say, and I believe it is extremely important to encourage posts by graduate students who might otherwise be hesitant---their contributions are the lifeblood of the site. But I am a little hesitant about the "what have you tried" suggestion, in light of the way this admonishment is often used on math.SE; it is often a kind of harassment there. Although they are quite insistent about the OP stating what has been tried, in my experience, this information is often just not relevant. | |
| Apr 26, 2021 at 18:58 | history | answered | Will Sawin | CC BY-SA 4.0 |