Simplifying a question

Question

I have a dilemma, which prompts my asking my first question on meta. I recently asked a question, which I think has some interesting aspects to it and I hoped the community would regard as well formed. Judging from the couple of up votes it has received others do too.

The question has yet to receive any comments or answers.

Since posting the question I've discovered some additional information that would enable me to reformulate the question, simplify it, and perhaps make it easier for someone to answer. Such a simplification would not require a bunch of the interesting background I put in the original question. It would change the character of the question, because it would likely draw solutions from a very different set of the possible solutions.

I could simply add the new information to the existing question, but the new information really makes much of the original post superfluous.

The question as it currently stands is OK. Adding to it, might make it too unwieldy.

I've hesitated to rewrite it completely or delete it and submit a new question, because others may have already invested some thought in answering it and I want to respect their effort.

Submitting a new question, might seem too close to a duplicate.

In some ways this dilemma stands almost opposite in spirit to that expressed in the earlier question: "Increase the complexity of a question once a good answer has been provided"

Any guidance in this appreciated.

Answer 1

In the case with no Answers or Comments, you should feel free to revise the Question to be more concise. You may find that a three part approach is useful: Give enough context(1) to be able to clearly state your problem(2), and then summarize what you've tried or learned about approaches(3).

In general we are more concerned with usefulness for future readers than past ones. You do not do the early "adopters" a disservice by revising the Question. The Edit History is there if any confusion arises. So I'd encourage more revision of Questions even if Answers and Comments have been posted, provided the wording is clearer and allows getting to better Answers.