2018-11-04T13:40:20-08:00 http://mathoverflow.tqft.net/ Lussumo Vanilla & Feed Publisher http://mathoverflow.tqft.net/discussion/256/should-you-delete-a-bad-answer/?Focus=3554#Comment_3554 2010-03-01T04:47:59-08:00 2018-11-04T13:40:20-08:00 José Figueroa http://mathoverflow.tqft.net/account/68/

Certainly! It was not a bad answer.

http://mathoverflow.tqft.net/discussion/256/should-you-delete-a-bad-answer/?Focus=3544#Comment_3544 2010-02-28T16:51:04-08:00 2018-11-04T13:40:20-08:00 Akhil Mathew http://mathoverflow.tqft.net/account/54/

I put it back but as a community wiki answer and with an explanation that it was not technically relevant, but answered a related question and had a useful reference. Do you think this is better?

http://mathoverflow.tqft.net/discussion/256/should-you-delete-a-bad-answer/?Focus=3543#Comment_3543 2010-02-28T16:42:43-08:00 2018-11-04T13:40:20-08:00 José Figueroa http://mathoverflow.tqft.net/account/68/

@Akhiil: I was wondering why you deleted your answer. You linked to a paper I didn't know and I think it would have been useful to leave it. As it it turned out, I too misunderstood the question and ...

http://mathoverflow.tqft.net/discussion/256/should-you-delete-a-bad-answer/?Focus=3526#Comment_3526 2010-02-27T19:13:13-08:00 2018-11-04T13:40:20-08:00 Akhil Mathew http://mathoverflow.tqft.net/account/54/

@Jonas: Whoops, you're right. I think this was a slightly different issue than David Speyer's, though.@Douglas: I agree and have deleted it. Interestingly, the answer by José Figueroa-O'Farrill ...

@Douglas: I agree and have deleted it.

Interestingly, the answer by José Figueroa-O'Farrill seems to be along similar lines (at least, the terminology "analytic subgroups" is the same). In any case, his is a much better answer than mine was, so I do not regret having deleted it.]]> http://mathoverflow.tqft.net/discussion/256/should-you-delete-a-bad-answer/?Focus=3523#Comment_3523 2010-02-27T18:14:30-08:00 2018-11-04T13:40:20-08:00 Douglas Zare http://mathoverflow.tqft.net/account/130/

If others read the question, would they want to see your answer or not? If it would waste their time to read even an edited version which points out the flaws, tend to delete it. It's particularly ...

It's particularly important to delete an unhelpful answer if it is the first answer to a question. Unanswered questions may get more attention. Also, you can only get the "enlightened" badge if your answer is first and well-received. That shouldn't be too important, but it's an extra reason to delete an answer, so that you don't block someone else from having the first answer.

If the comments others make on an answer are particularly insightful, then lean toward trying to salvage the answer.]]> http://mathoverflow.tqft.net/discussion/256/should-you-delete-a-bad-answer/?Focus=3520#Comment_3520 2010-02-27T17:43:24-08:00 2018-11-04T13:40:20-08:00 Jonas Meyer http://mathoverflow.tqft.net/account/87/

This is closely related tohttp://tea.mathoverflow.net/discussion/237/deletion-versus-correction/

http://tea.mathoverflow.net/discussion/237/deletion-versus-correction/]]> http://mathoverflow.tqft.net/discussion/256/should-you-delete-a-bad-answer/?Focus=3518#Comment_3518 2010-02-27T17:40:38-08:00 2018-11-04T13:40:20-08:00 Akhil Mathew http://mathoverflow.tqft.net/account/54/

This came up at http://mathoverflow.net/questions/16622/using-topology-to-characterize-subgroups-of-lie-groups/16642#16642I gave the OP an answer to what I thought was his question. However, I ...

http://mathoverflow.net/questions/16622/using-topology-to-characterize-subgroups-of-lie-groups/16642#16642

I gave the OP an answer to what I thought was his question. However, I didn't realize he wanted embedded submanifolds rather than immersed ones. Thus, my answer is invalid. I didn't know whether to delete it. Incidentally, I think the result I pointed to is rather interesting in itself, just irrelevant here.

I was curious what the protocol was when one has answered something badly, especially when there are comments below. For now, I just made an edit telling people that the answer did not address the question.

This is somewhat related to
http://tea.mathoverflow.net/discussion/219/entire-question-deleted-by-fpqc/#Item_0
but that was more related to deleting questions.]]>