alt Hacker NewsHmmm... seems to me that if you can find a solution without creating the desired explanation - then that's a problem with the original question - not the solution itself.
And discovering a bad question leads to the correct question. No?
Hmmm... seems to me that if you can find a solution without creating the desired explanation - then that's a problem with the original question - not the solution itself.
And discovering a bad question leads to the correct question. No?
> then that's a problem with the original question - not the solution itself
I think there's a good counterexample to this:
Atiyah/MacDonald proove the Nullstellensatz ultimately by using some trick involving determinants.
They give a very nice theoretical treatment of the content and context of the theorem. But the proof at one crucial point uses techniques that live conceptually outside of this context: While its possible to see that the argument is sound, it does not give a good explanation of _why_ it's true within the context of the theorem.
(You could of course argue that they did not give enough context ... but that's exactly my point: the trick makes the proof work but hides the explanation)