Questions tagged [discussion]

This tag is used for questions that ask users to discuss an idea, concept, or problem in an abstract way. A discussion question may not necessarily have a clear-cut right or wrong answer and is often subjective. On Meta, you do not need to use community-wiki mode for subjective topics unless you are asking a "poll" question.

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2 votes
0 answers
38 views

Why does "Similar questions" rarely ever show similar questions?

While posting questions, I always make sure to write an appropriate title, explain it well, and format my questions clearly, and I always go through all the questions shown under 'Similar questions.' ...
8 votes
2 answers
379 views

Posting a solution from elsewhere and asking whether it's correct

I have seen postings on math.stackexchange starting "I found this solution somewhere on the internet to [problem x.y in textbook]" (often without information about where they found it, just ...
1 vote
2 answers
151 views

Should my comment have been deleted?

This MathSE posted question is excerpted below: $$\int \frac{x+3}{x^2+5x+2}$$ besides going with imaginary numbers how should I proceed to solve this integral? I was trying to factorize the ...
5 votes
1 answer
98 views

What should I do if I am asked to close an old question that does not meet current standards?

I now realize that many of the closure proposals I was voting for are from posts that date back several years (in this case I received a report from someone who flagged a post from 2016 but I can't ...
28 votes
66 answers
8k views

Requests for Reopen & Undeletion Votes (volume 01/2022 - today)

The purpose of this thread is to focus the attention of the community on posts that may require reopen and undeletion votes. A request should be posted as an answer below (one request per answer). ...
1 vote
0 answers
81 views

What is wrong with my question on the definition of tangent plane?

I asked this question yesterday, and edited it today to include clarification. It is - I think - a fairly honest and straightforward question, and I have provided a detailed explanation of my thinking ...
87 votes
2 answers
4k views

Dealing with answers in comments.

I have noticed, of late, people providing answers/copious hints to the question in comments instead of actually adding an answer on their own. Other people might choose not to answer, as the ...
7 votes
1 answer
467 views

Several posts on the same topic in a short amount of time - check for suspicious activity

Question I was wondering if there was a rule that prevented the same account from asking many similar questions (essentially the same type of problem but with different functions) in a short period of ...
53 votes
0 answers
3k views

A list of questions on Boyd & Vandenberghe

Work in progress. To be updated whenever the opportunity arises. I take the liberty of compiling a list of questions on Math SE pertaining to theorems, lemmas, examples and exercises from Boyd & ...
-7 votes
1 answer
251 views

I asked A question On MSE, Which I now think can receive more attention from MathOverflow

I recently asked a question On MSE, which was answered by one user, after I used bounty for first time. Later I re-bountied it for more clarification. Still I think it lacks more details, And can ...
6 votes
17 answers
844 views

Tag management 2023

New year, new tag management thread. Rules of the game are basically the same: Post your suggestion as an answer here if you see A particularly bad tag (a rule of thumb: “if I can't imagine a person ...
0 votes
2 answers
456 views

Why are fundamental questions dismissed on MSE?

I was not allowed to ask questions once before and followed the site recommendations of editing posts and answering questions to regain the right to ask questions, which I did regain successfully. ...
-6 votes
0 answers
92 views

Listed unanswered question appearing as answer.

Answered or unanswered? Please suggest what changes need be made to consider my answer as answered. Thanks
-1 votes
0 answers
56 views

Mathematical modelling of good forces and bad forces [closed]

In reference to this paper. $A(t)$ : the accomplishment of a mission $F(t$ : functionality defined as time derivative of $A$ $F_N$ : normal functionality $F(t_0) = F_N$ $M(t$) : bad forces degrading ...
5 votes
1 answer
310 views

What happened to the Protect/Unprotect button?

I have noticed that the "Protect/Unprotect" button no longer exists where I was used to see it. Has this functionality been eliminated (site-wide or network-wide)?
0 votes
1 answer
135 views

Why do I get a down vote when asking for clarification about notations and explanations about proofs?

Recently in some of my posts, also here, and here, I have been getting down votes. The latter two, others have voted back up to make it zero. I am just wondering if people on MSE don't like questions ...
20 votes
15 answers
2k views

The duplicate thread

This thread is intended to help with closure of duplicates. The main use case are situations where a first attempt at duplicate closure was not successful.1 The creation of this thread was decided ...
42 votes
5 answers
2k views

What's the deal with Lambert W function questions?

I have seen a large amount of questions that are: solve $x^2=2^x$ Why are there so many of these questions? Who's assigning these questions? Why did I never see them when I took high school ...
16 votes
0 answers
983 views

Why was my question down voted and deleted, even though I mentioned my level (learning on my own in the Internet) and showed source and my reasoning?

I have a question about my Mathematics Stack Exchange post: Can a residue class $(a \textrm{ mod } n)$ have a negative $n$? My question is: could someone provide me feedback on why this question was ...
9 votes
4 answers
1k views

Addressing Questions with Zero Effort and Detachment from Mathematics: Community Guidelines

I've noticed an increase in questions where the OP claims to have been detached from mathematics for a long time and provides zero effort in their question, here is an example. How should our ...
1 vote
0 answers
79 views

How do I get unblocked from answering questions? [duplicate]

I was blocked from answering questions and am wondering if and how I can get unblocked. If anybody knows how to do that please tell me.
34 votes
1 answer
1k views

Someone's answer is completely copied and pasted from my answer, and their answer got accepted.

Someone's answer to a question is completely copied and pasted from my answer (except they didn't use Mathjax), and their answer got accepted. I don't mind, but I just think it's strange behavior, for ...
280 votes
10 answers
29k views

List of Generalisations of Common Questions

Here is a list of generalised faqs to which other questions may be deduped against, split by topic (please edit the question). Arithmetic arithmetic Laws of signs (minus times minus is plus): Why is ...
9 votes
3 answers
532 views

Clarification on Including Solution Attempts in Questions

I have a question regarding the guidelines for providing context in questions. Specifically, I'd like clarification on whether mentioning solution attempts (no complete step by step solution) falls ...
-1 votes
2 answers
225 views

What question (or answer) of your own are you most proud of on MathSE? [closed]

I'm sure many of them will go over my head but have you posted a question or answer on MathSE that you were really proud of, and if so what was it? I recently just had my first question that, and I ...
7 votes
0 answers
607 views

Should I leave my question open?

I have a question posted here which is relatively unanswered. It's understandable as I have really been trying to figure out a way to phrase a question in a subject area I know next to nothing about. ...
-2 votes
0 answers
118 views

You have a history of asking low quality questions [duplicate]

I asked a question yesterday it was this. But now when I am asking a question now it says an error that I have a history of asking low quality questions and I am now allowed to ask question only once ...
1 vote
0 answers
60 views

How to draw Venn Diagrams in Math Stack Exchange?

How to draw Venn Diagrams in MSE using MathJax? Please help me out.
110 votes
7 answers
14k views

Enforcement of Quality Standards

Math SE has a long-standing policy regarding what constitutes a Good Question. The policy is intended to ensure that the collection of questions and answers here is of high quality, is searchable, ...
16 votes
3 answers
586 views

Common mix up between tags [homotopy-theory] and [homotopy-type-theory]

I have noticed a very common missuse of tags: the tag [homotopy-type-theory] is frequently used where the tag [homotopy-theory] should be used instead. Just in the last few questions, two questions (...
5 votes
0 answers
365 views

How can I improve my question on the factorial formula?

I thought I asked a decent question but it has been downvoted. I don't know how I can improve it. Please provide suggestions.
9 votes
0 answers
726 views

Is this number-of-subsets question appropriately structured for Math.SE?

This question has apparently been kicking around for about a week now. While the core content is interesting, at this point it seems to be mostly an opportunity for the poster to go on at length about ...
0 votes
0 answers
270 views

Isn't this question opinion-based?

I saw this question. But I'm surprised to see it's not closed for being opinion-based. It looks like a poll actually. It doesn't cope with math itself. There can even be 1000 answers and each answerer ...
7 votes
2 answers
294 views

About [probability-theory] tag

Almost four years after this discussion, and I think that the current situation is not ideal and we need some rethinking. Users keep tagging with probability-theory questions that should be tagged ...
-4 votes
1 answer
236 views

Proposal for an informal "side room" for the StackExchange Mathematics forum

I would like to propose an informal side room the mathematics forum maybe called "Mathematics_SideRoom" or "Mathematics_Informal" or "Mathematics_Opinion" or "...
11 votes
1 answer
594 views

What should I do with my downvoted duplicate post?

My post has been downvoted, and I'm not sure what the appropriate action is for me to take. On the one hand, there's contribution from other users so the post can't and shouldn't be deleted. On the ...
-3 votes
1 answer
140 views

How to write limits with single dollar signs?

When I want to write limits with single dollar signs the index ($x\to n$) goes after the $\lim$ sign: $L=\lim_{x\to 0}f(x)$ But when using double dollar signs the index (correctly) goes below the ...
25 votes
2 answers
1k views

What can we do to deny bot-users a platform for their content?

I hardly ever visit Meta so forgive me if this has been addressed already. I just wanted to flag an issue: The user Statistics Tutorial is a bot. So far I have deleted, along with other community ...
11 votes
1 answer
715 views

Math Stackexchange vs CrossValidated

I know that the website for statistics and machine learing related questions is Cross Validated. And there is a separate website for Data Science. However, questions in the past on statistics that I ...
0 votes
1 answer
201 views

What is this font for the numbers?

I recently commented on a question and I used the proper MathJax formatting for the numbers and letters: Some minutes later my net became a little laggy and I refreshed the page. Then I lost my ...
28 votes
5 answers
2k views

What is our policy on AI-generated content?

The author of this answer (now deleted) claims that it was generated by AI (artificial intelligence). This claim could certainly be false (for example, if the user wants plausible deniability for an ...
3 votes
1 answer
153 views

Edit Recent Posts to Display HTML-Tables with Markdown

Users have been using $\rm\LaTeX$'s array environment for displaying tables. For instance, in the MathJax Tutorial's "Table" section, ...
6 votes
2 answers
387 views

Searching for a deleted answer to my question

A week ago I posted this question: anonym (https://math.stackexchange.com/users/1060773/anonym), How do I compute the Fourier Coefficients of a Riesz Product?, URL (version: 2023-09-06): How do I ...
19 votes
1 answer
690 views

What types of mathematical writing questions are suitable for Mathematics Stack Exchange?

I find it quite strange that every time I discuss mathematical writing, some people suggest closing the topic. For example: Does 'hence' (thus, therefore) need a comma after it? How to avoid ...
15 votes
2 answers
232 views

Should the tag "generalization" be blacklisted?

The generalization tag contains no real mathematical content and does not help to organize the site in any meaningful way. Despite that, the tag has been recreated and deleted multiple times. It has ...
1 vote
1 answer
154 views

Stack exchange goes to different question than in URL

When I type in https://math.stackexchange.com/questions/47 into safari/chrome, checking its suggestions did not replace the URL, stack exchange goes instead to Can you recommend a decent online or ...
1 vote
0 answers
75 views

Is it a bug that post score differ in user's page and post page?

I noticed this in a user's page (the top post has a 28 score): But in the post page it has a score of 27. Of course, before I up-voted it, the score was still 28 in the user's page.
3 votes
1 answer
110 views

Is it possible to have conjunction of certain "favorite tags"?

In a related post, it was suggested that I answer homework questions. However, there are still certain subjects I don't have a strong understanding of. And so I would like to know if it was possible ...
9 votes
1 answer
663 views

Should I delete a partial answer when someone else posts a complete answer?

Recently I edited and bumped this question; I thought it was interesting and it had garnered no attention in over two years. I wasn't able to solve it, but I mentioned I solved a problem with a ...
7 votes
1 answer
576 views

Question about 'Missing context or other details' as a reason for closure

I just got this as an audit in the close vote queue and voted it for closure because of 'Missing context or other details'. To me this looks like one of these common homework questions that lack ...

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