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The mentioned "duplicate" Link has actually nothing to do with my question.

GEdgar posted and actually similar post.

IF you are interested in an answer to my question. Do NOT look up the "duplicate" link, but actually the math-puzzle link.

I was looking back on my last year of studying mathematics and I noticed that I have some favourite questions.

Those questions mostly led to a better understanding of the subject.

Now I asked myself, IF I have a good question (that can't be found on MSE) and I would like to share it, without really searching for "the one" answer, rather looking for somebody else approach to the subject from maybe a different perspective. Should I post this question?

Or to be more precise:

Should I ask a good question, for the sake of sharing it with the community?

I know that answering a question you placed yourself, is fully accepted.

I am referring only to post the question, not the answer, since this would maybe hurt the variety of answers and approaches to a good question.

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  • $\begingroup$ If read this exact post before writing the question. I am actually referring to not answer the question myself. I would rather like to see somebody else approach to the question. Answering it myself, will most likely cause only my own approach to exist. I would maybe post my own approach after the community had some time with it, only to add more variety of approaches. $\endgroup$
    – Patrick Abraham
    May 24, 2016 at 15:30
  • $\begingroup$ See Puzzle question on "puzzle questions" $\endgroup$
    – GEdgar
    May 24, 2016 at 17:27
  • $\begingroup$ @GEdgar This actually is an answer, kind of, to my question. $\endgroup$
    – Patrick Abraham
    May 24, 2016 at 17:40
  • $\begingroup$ Could somebody delink the "duplicate" pst that has nothing to do with my question and actually link GEdgar post? Since moderators seem kind of triggered. MJD even deleted his post and still the link exists. The "duplicate" link has NOTHING to do with this question. $\endgroup$
    – Patrick Abraham
    May 24, 2016 at 17:42
  • 3
    $\begingroup$ If you post a question, and you already know a solution, and you don't mention that you have a solution, and you don't indicate how your solution goes, then you are going to cause one or more people to waste their time posting the solution that you already have. If you ever make me waste my time like that, I will never answer a question of yours again. $\endgroup$
    – Gerry Myerson
    May 24, 2016 at 23:48
  • $\begingroup$ @GerryMyerson, if an OP doesn't mention that he already has a solution, how will you know not to answer any more of his questions? $\endgroup$
    – Barry Cipra
    May 25, 2016 at 16:31
  • $\begingroup$ @Barry, I have my ways.... $\endgroup$
    – Gerry Myerson
    May 25, 2016 at 23:21
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    $\begingroup$ @BarryCipra: The way I've seen it happen a few times ... Someone will post a thorough and thoughtful answer, and the questioner will comment, "Yeah. I already did it that way myself. I was looking for a different approach." grrrrrr $\endgroup$
    – Blue
    May 26, 2016 at 13:29
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    $\begingroup$ @Blue, sort of like Gauss telling Bolyai, "Oh yeah, I did that a long time ago, I just didn't wanna hear the howls of the Boetians...." I basically agree with Gerry: If you have a solution but want to see other approaches, you should say, in detail, what your approach was, so that others don't simply duplicate it. I was just teasing Gerry on a point of logic in his comment. $\endgroup$
    – Barry Cipra
    May 26, 2016 at 13:44
  • $\begingroup$ @BarryCipra Sounds good to me. But I actually enjoy, that there is at least some discussion on this topic. $\endgroup$
    – Patrick Abraham
    May 26, 2016 at 16:31
  • $\begingroup$ @PatrickAbraham, it's true that seeing one way to solve a problem can make it difficult to come up with an original, alternative approach. So when a friend tells me about a problem, I often ask them not to tell me their solution until I've had a chance to think about it for myself. I sometimes do the equivalent on MSE: I'll intentionally not look at the existing answers to a good question until I come up with an idea of my own, then I'll look to see if it's "original" (and if it's not, I move on). So I don't mind duplicating the effort of thinking, but I don't care to duplicate... $\endgroup$
    – Barry Cipra
    May 26, 2016 at 17:11
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    $\begingroup$ ...the effort of typing. $\endgroup$
    – Barry Cipra
    May 26, 2016 at 17:12
  • $\begingroup$ @BarryCipra was the "... but I don't care to duplicate the effort of typing" meant to be a don't? P.S.: Interesting book you wrote Barry. Maybe going to give it a shot in the future. When I'm finished with Bhatia's Matrix Analysis. $\endgroup$
    – Patrick Abraham
    May 27, 2016 at 21:28

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