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My answer was converted to a comment, but looking at the according FAQ, I cannot figure out "why?".

The FAQ states:

Answers that do not fundamentally answer the question may be removed. This includes answers that are …

  • commentary on the question or other answers
  • asking another, different question
  • “thanks!” or “me too!” responses
  • exact duplicates of other answers
  • barely more than a link to an external site
  • not even a partial answer to the actual question

I wonder which of these criteria my answer fulfills. Can anybody please tell me?

[The question contains one inaccuracy (greater means "greater or equal") and one typo (the terms in the divisibility relation should be switched) as already pointed out be comments to the question.]

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  • $\begingroup$ Were you asking or answering that question? $\endgroup$
    – Asaf Karagila Mod
    Apr 24, 2012 at 14:52
  • $\begingroup$ Writing something in the answer box doesn't necessarily means it is an answer. $\endgroup$
    – Asaf Karagila Mod
    Apr 24, 2012 at 19:17
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    $\begingroup$ none: "something written in an answer box is more likely an answer than a question..." - for guys with rep 1, not necessarily. You don't see that many examples since such "answers" here are converted with extreme prejudice if judged insufficient... $\endgroup$
    – J. M. ain't a mathematician
    Apr 25, 2012 at 11:49
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    $\begingroup$ Indeed. none, you have no idea how many "answers" I have flagged for moderator attention because I judged them not to be answers. $\endgroup$
    – Gerry Myerson
    Apr 25, 2012 at 13:19

1 Answer 1

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"Include" does not imply that the list is exhaustive. Your answer was flagged by the system as low quality. I took a look at it, and it appears to be a query to the OP. Since it is common that low reputation users (without the ability to comment) often post an "answer" when they just meant to comment and/or ask for more information, I converted the "answer" to a comment.

Edit: as apparently the query is meant to be a Socratic type indication of a counterexample, I have reverted the comment conversion.

For future reference: this could be resolved much quicker by (a) flagging for moderator attention and (b) giving a clear reason why my action should be reverted. For example, flagging it with "why was my counterexample converted to a comment?" would've sufficed in this case. Mind-reading is hard work and prone to error, you should not assume that moderators are capable of it.

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  • $\begingroup$ Was it flagged low quality by the system or by users? $\endgroup$
    – none
    Apr 24, 2012 at 16:07
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    $\begingroup$ That "query" is by the way a counterexample. $\endgroup$
    – none
    Apr 24, 2012 at 16:09
  • $\begingroup$ @none: it was flagged by the system. My apologies if you had meant that to be a counterexample. Perhaps try phrasing it so it is more clear next time? (In context, with possible errors in the question statement, it is not entirely and immediately clear that you were providing a counterexample or what you were providing a counterexample to.) $\endgroup$
    – Willie Wong
    Apr 25, 2012 at 7:38
  • $\begingroup$ Willie, the way I read it, @none was suggesting her/his answer as a counterexample. The question was very ambiguous, so it was not clear, whether it was intended to be a counterexample to OP's incorrectly formulated claim, or to the more interesting version of the claim, where divisibility was going the other way (and the $>$ vs. $\ge$ was fixed, too). The way I see it, the proposed counterexample works whichever way you formulate the question. I can understand, why you converted, but upon further reflection I would reconsider. $\endgroup$
    – Jyrki Lahtonen
    Apr 25, 2012 at 7:42
  • $\begingroup$ @Jyrki: I was just in the middle of "reconsidering" when you made that last comment :-). My last comment is meant as a suggestion, sort of a "for future reference". $\endgroup$
    – Willie Wong
    Apr 25, 2012 at 7:48
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    $\begingroup$ @Willie: Thanks for the reconverting. I'll try to make your (and the other moderators') job easier in future by considering your tasks when posting questions and answers (many thanks also for your service to the community!). $\endgroup$
    – none
    Apr 25, 2012 at 8:55
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    $\begingroup$ For the sake of nitpicking: none was/is not in position to flag, you need to have 15 rep and be registered for that... $\endgroup$
    – t.b.
    Apr 25, 2012 at 9:00
  • $\begingroup$ /me slaps forehead: thanks @t.b. That's rather unfortunate. $\endgroup$
    – Willie Wong
    Apr 25, 2012 at 9:15

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