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Questions tagged [discussion]

The question you're asking is designed to solicit opinions or best-practices on a particular topic, with the goal of reaching community consensus.

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Is the history of opinions on science the same as being "opinion-based"? (re: Closure of question on "Freud and Science")

I'm writing this in order to get clarity why a question was voted closed. I have already voted to reopened and want to state my reasons but also want to ask for clarification why members of the ...
Georg Essl's user avatar
  • 1,771
2 votes
1 answer
102 views

Should optics and light be the same tag?

I just found out that we have a optics tag and a light. I think we should merge them.
Mauricio's user avatar
  • 3,997
3 votes
0 answers
96 views

2023: a year in moderation

It’s that time of the year again! As we wave goodbye to last year and welcome the new one, we have a tradition of sharing moderation stats for the preceding calendar year. As most of you here might be ...
JNat's user avatar
  • 101
0 votes
0 answers
157 views

Are helpful articles involving long history not ON-TOPIC on HSM?

I recently completed reading most of the important parts of Papers involving philosophy of atomism and wrote a summary of major Events into my notes which gives pretty fair idea of what and how did ...
Dheeraj Gujrathi's user avatar
0 votes
0 answers
155 views

Should the examples and big lists tags be the same?

Independently on how good or relevant are this type questions, frequently there are questions looking for as many examples as possible of some historical happening or some type of personalities. Usual ...
Mauricio's user avatar
  • 3,997
5 votes
2 answers
225 views

What is HSMSE policy on ChatGPT?

Are we allowed to answer by asking ChatGPT? even if given credit, it can lead to partial answers but without any citations see https://hsm.stackexchange.com/a/15268/6609 Edit: the example above has ...
Mauricio's user avatar
  • 3,997
4 votes
0 answers
78 views

2022: a year in moderation

As we say goodbye to the old year and welcome the new one, we have a tradition of sharing moderation stats for the preceding calendar year. As most of you here are aware, sites on the Stack Exchange ...
JNat's user avatar
  • 101
5 votes
3 answers
157 views

Do we want to change the link about MathJax help?

Stack Exchange sites with MathJax enabled have a section in the editing help page on how to use LaTeX. This section contains a "MathJax help" link at the end. By default, this "MathJax ...
HDE 226868's user avatar
  • 8,513
1 vote
0 answers
198 views

Any objections to adding a [sophie-germain] tag?

I have just started reading about the life, work, anonymity and discrimination towards the French mathematician, physicist, and philosopher Sophie Germain. I've added it to my new question and three ...
uhoh's user avatar
  • 2,107
6 votes
0 answers
107 views

Request to let [reference] reference [reference-request]

Currently, there is a reference tag with 9 questions tagged so. However, not only the tag has no tag wiki/excerpt but also is being used similarly to the reference-request tag. Therefore, let the tags ...
Big Brother's user avatar
  • 2,197
2 votes
1 answer
147 views

What to do after a question is partially answered and/or new information is available?

I have a question about my History of Science and Mathematics Stack Exchange post: Source documents for Bronstein's Cube of Physics When I posted the "reference request" question, I was ...
ccampisano's user avatar
2 votes
1 answer
105 views

Do we have a recommended limit on edits per day?

Having looked at the answer to this Q&A on the site Blacklisted [history] tag has reappeared I thought I would start to edit out the remaining history questions. However I do not want to flood the ...
mdewey's user avatar
  • 618
0 votes
2 answers
100 views

I pointed out definite science mistakes in an answer, but my comments were deleted without a trace. Why?

This answer writes You describe an imaginary measurement which could not be performed at the time of Columbus or before. There are several reasons for this. 1. Atmospheric refraction at the horizon ...
MWB's user avatar
  • 191
6 votes
0 answers
38 views

2021: a year in moderation

As we say goodbye to the old year and welcome the new one, we have a tradition of sharing moderation stats for the preceding calendar year. As most of you here are aware, sites on the Stack Exchange ...
JNat's user avatar
  • 101
1 vote
0 answers
26 views

What is the purpose of the "social history" tags?

I am not at all saying that we should remove these tags, and I am not trying to imply that there's no purpose in having these tags. However I noticed that this recent question: Have there been ...
Nike Dattani's user avatar
0 votes
1 answer
43 views

Why was my suggested edit to remove irrelevant stuff rejected?

I suggested an edit to this question, in order to remove what I considered to be irrelevant meta-commentary: I recently asked this question on Math StackExchange however, I, now, like many others ...
desertnaut's user avatar
4 votes
2 answers
269 views

Will our Beta label be removed?

Since we learned that Matter Modeling is graduating and Quantum Computing is graduating and Freelancing is graduating and Retrocomputing is graduating and Economics is graduating, I'm curious if HSM ...
Nike Dattani's user avatar
-1 votes
1 answer
84 views

Strategy to edit my "Plato 5040" question in order to get it reopened?

Just how much did Plato really know about the number 5040? was closed for "opinion-based" and I can see that "Just how much did Plato really know..." is impossible to answer. My ...
uhoh's user avatar
  • 2,107
4 votes
1 answer
135 views

Please help remove a spam post on the main site

I noticed that there is a spam answer that is lying undeleted on the main site for over 24 hours. Normally, I would try contacting a moderator in the main chatroom for some help, but since that has ...
The Amplitwist's user avatar
10 votes
1 answer
112 views

Those who do not know [history] are doomed to recreate it

Six months ago, the history tag was burninated as useless. The tag was supposedly blacklisted as early as 2014, but has come back repeatedly, including in 2020. The tag (at the time of posting of this ...
Robert Columbia's user avatar
2 votes
1 answer
69 views

Is it ok to ask whether a person is a descendants of a scientist?

In particular, I would like to know whether Anthony Bloch is a descendant of Felix Bloch or not. The Anthony Bloch's page on The Mathematics Genealogy Project only shows his advisory relationships, ...
Ooker's user avatar
  • 1,238
3 votes
0 answers
29 views

Are questions about the logistics/administration/practical matters in past research on-topic?

There is a recent question on Academia.SE about funding sources for mathematicians in the 19th century (https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/171714/did-mathematicians-of-the-19th-century-apply-...
Bryan Krause's user avatar
9 votes
2 answers
191 views

Make questions about counter-factual history off-topic

I propose making questions about counterfactual history (e.g questions of type "Suppose that such-and-such development in the history of science and math did not happen. What would be the ...
Moishe Kohan's user avatar
  • 1,755
2 votes
0 answers
57 views

Is here okay to post a question about computer science lore?

Is this an appropriate site to ask about computer science lore? I'd originally asked at the Computer Science Stack Exchange Meta whether there was okay to ask about a half-remembered story about two ...
StoneThrow's user avatar
2 votes
1 answer
122 views

Why is this question called opinion-based?

This question: When did it become a norm for mathematicians not to read proofs of all the results they use? I would expect answers to include evidence like "Mathematician X wrote that he had not ...
user avatar
1 vote
1 answer
119 views

Bounties on my question

I have put bounties on my question Names of the electromagnetic units in SI, first for 50 points and now for 100 points. In the process, I have lost my reputation to edit community wiki. I have even ...
Arunabh's user avatar
  • 177
-3 votes
1 answer
46 views

Let there be [contributions]

At the moment, there are 102 questions containing "contribution". Thus, I hereby propose that tag contributions be created.
Rodrigo de Azevedo's user avatar
-3 votes
1 answer
310 views

Where is Gottingen?

I have never heard of Gottingen. I have heard of Göttingen, however. Those who lack an umlaut-endowed keyboard usually resort to ö ⟶ oe. Thus, gottingen ⟶ ...
Rodrigo de Azevedo's user avatar
-2 votes
1 answer
86 views

Why can't [kepler] and Kepler get along?

Will someone please elucidate why the tag kepler is not on-topic on a question on Kepler himself? I am having some trouble understanding the inner workings of this community.
Rodrigo de Azevedo's user avatar
4 votes
1 answer
64 views

This tag is [history]

The tag history (currently 80 questions, no tag wiki) is utterly useless. If a question is on-topic on this site, then it is about history, and if it not about history, then it is off-topic and needs ...
Robert Columbia's user avatar
1 vote
0 answers
39 views

2020: a year in moderation

As we say goodbye to the old year and welcome the new one, we have a tradition of sharing moderation stats for the past 12 months. As most of you here are aware, sites on the Stack Exchange network ...
JNat's user avatar
  • 101
1 vote
0 answers
82 views

Is there something that needs to be done when the main chatroom is frozen?

If you look at the chat rooms associated with HSM you can see that there is a room called On the way to Damascus. The room On the Shoulder of Giants has been frozen. (As far as I can tell, this ...
Martin's user avatar
  • 203
0 votes
0 answers
63 views

Looking for a general academic term on "technology trees" and related research and not sure where to ask best

I'm not sure whether this question is well on topic at History of Science and Mathematics? My question: From computer games like Civilizations, we know the concept of the technology tree, i.e. ...
J. Doe's user avatar
  • 121
0 votes
1 answer
166 views

Why has my question been closed as "Opinion Based"?

Why has this question been closed as “opinion based”? What did I put in the question that is making it an opinion?
Arunabh's user avatar
  • 177
3 votes
1 answer
190 views

Are questions about the history of pseudoscience on-topic?

I have some questions about the history and development of theories that are widely accepted as pseudoscience, such as Orgone energy, Nibiru, Time Cube, modern Zetetic astronomy, the Bates Method, or ...
Robert Columbia's user avatar
0 votes
1 answer
139 views

Why was my answer deleted?

I am still waiting for a good answer.
Rodrigo de Azevedo's user avatar
6 votes
1 answer
109 views

Two tags for the 18th century

At the moment, we have tag 18c and tag 18th-century. Would it be wise to merge them?
Rodrigo de Azevedo's user avatar
4 votes
1 answer
199 views

Two tags for Middle Ages

At the moment, we have tag medieval and tag middle-ages. Should they be merged?
Rodrigo de Azevedo's user avatar
4 votes
0 answers
93 views

Is asking questions related to the statements in (religious) scriptures allowed?

There are many facts in scriptures across the world. They are mentioned very earlier compared to their formal verification with modern science. Assume that a fact has been proved by the modern ...
hanugm's user avatar
  • 373
0 votes
1 answer
74 views

Should we reduce the criteria for gold badges?

On going through the gold badges available on this site, I realised that most of the gold badges have zero awarding. This may be attributed to less active participation and, thus, fewer views and ...
Big Brother's user avatar
  • 2,197
-3 votes
1 answer
103 views

Why was my answer regarding the history of the concept of a tensor deleted?

The question referred to is here The OP asked for: Were there other related definitions defined around this time? How has today's definition of a tensor changed compared to its beginnings? My focus ...
Mozibur Ullah's user avatar
1 vote
0 answers
56 views

Criteria for considering questions 'duplicates' seem to need improvement

Repeatedly I have noticed that questions on HSM stack exchange are getting closed as 'duplicates' when it is at least highly arguable that they are anything but duplicates. The need for improved ...
terry-s's user avatar
  • 4,700
3 votes
0 answers
89 views

2019: a year in moderation

It's New Year's Day in Stack Exchange land... A distinguishing characteristic of these sites is how they are moderated: We designed the Stack Exchange network engine to be mostly self-regulating, ...
Shog9's user avatar
  • 101
4 votes
1 answer
107 views

Suggestion of tag removal

The tags physics-capitalism-technology and physics-capitalism-propaganda are being used by (and seem to have been created for) ...
José Carlos Santos's user avatar
0 votes
0 answers
76 views

What is meant specifically by "history" in history of science and mathematics?

So I recently asked the following: What did Sommerfeld mean by Bohr's magic wand? While I am aware of possible vulgarity. I try my best not to divulge into it. However, after the comment "I'm ...
More Anonymous's user avatar
2 votes
1 answer
88 views

Are questions about sources of jokes on-topic?

The question Is this Heisenberg joke actually real? is closed for the following reason: This question does not appear to be about history of science and math, within the scope defined in the help ...
Ooker's user avatar
  • 1,238
2 votes
0 answers
68 views

2018: a year in moderation

It's New Year's Day in Stack Exchange land... A distinguishing characteristic of these sites is how they are moderated: We designed the Stack Exchange network engine to be mostly self-regulating, in ...
Shog9's user avatar
  • 101
1 vote
2 answers
370 views

Please stop asking for sources

I'm sort of tired of seeing questions like this or this. I believe they show very little work and effort, and even if they did, they do not contribute to the overall HSM community very well. HSM ...
tox123's user avatar
  • 1,094
2 votes
1 answer
168 views

Errata for Jeff Miller's "Earliest ..."

The websites of Jeff Miller are a very valuable resource which get cited often here on hsm. Unfortunately, in a few occasion the information there has turned out to be incomplete or mistaken, so the ...
Michael Bächtold's user avatar
2 votes
1 answer
182 views

Questions about notation

There seems to be a disagreement about whether or when a question about mathematics notation is on-topic. For example, see the comments in \mathbb versus \mathbf one of which claims that this ...
Ben's user avatar
  • 802