
Ask YC:  Should computer books contain intentional technical errors to keep the reader's attention? - amichail
The publisher could even have a contest to reward readers who find the most technical errors.<p>Unlike what Knuth has been doing, these technical errors would be intentional.
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rglullis
Amichail, would you please, _please_ , stop or slow down with your Ask YC
posts? I went on to look at your submissions: probably more than 80% of your
posts are of the "Ask YC" genre.

Maybe you are trying to initiate a discussion. Maybe you are just trying to
get the community attention. Maybe you are just putting your ideas "out
there"... I really don't know what it is. But it's annoying as hell!

I even don't think that you are just karma-whoring. It seems that you lose
more karma after entering in the discussion than by posting your (usually
pretty inane) questions.

If you really want to test your ideas or get the community feedback, I suggest
you to keep a blog, write essays, put everything you may think interesting
there. The process of writing will probably get you much more valuable
information than people here ever will. All you're getting (and we're getting)
is noise.

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cperciva
No. Should news.yc contain crazy questions to keep the reader's attention? No.

~~~
amichail
You don't believe in learning by debugging?

Computer books can be pretty boring. This would be a way to encourage deeper
reading and understanding.

~~~
tptacek
If it's boring, it's not what you're meant to be doing. Read up on a subject
you actually enjoy.

~~~
amichail
Whether something is boring often depends on whether you need it in your
present task.

This means that you are more likely to skim material that does not seem highly
relevant.

But that's not a good scenario for expanding your horizons.

~~~
josegosdin
You're right. This is a great idea.

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mechanical_fish
My colleagues and I spent several sleepless nights in grad school tracking
down sign errors in our stat mech problem sets, only to find that they arose
from typos in the textbook.

I'm very glad you are safely on the other side of the internet, because your
suggestion gives me the overwhelming urge to impale you with a mechanical
pencil. ;)

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bbb
This is a terrible idea.

While it may be adding some suspense when reading a book sequentially (for the
first time), intentional errors are absolutely confusing whenever you intend
to use the book as a reference.

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edw519
This is actually a very old tradition.

One notable example in popular culture is in Chaim Potok's novel "The Chosen"

[http://www.amazon.com/Chosen-Chaim-
Potok/dp/0449213447/ref=p...](http://www.amazon.com/Chosen-Chaim-
Potok/dp/0449213447/ref=pd_bbs_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1210038016&sr=8-2)

From a review here:

[http://litmed.med.nyu.edu/Annotation?action=view&annid=1...](http://litmed.med.nyu.edu/Annotation?action=view&annid=1311)

"At Reb Saunders’s synagogue, he experiences Hasidism in practice, especially
the practice whereby the Reb makes an intentional mistake in his sermon every
week and challenges Danny to identify the mistake and elucidate it from the
Talmud and commentaries."

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carterschonwald
No, theres this idea called "exercises and their solutions", which are
designed for provide a mechanism for deepening understanding after reading a
text. Beyond that, theres the whole mechanism of in appropriate social or
research forums posing questions to one's social peer group, which is at a
whole 'nother level!

~~~
amichail
The problem with the exercises is that they are voluntary. But intentional
errors will irritate you until you figure out what's going on.

~~~
euccastro
Did you know that banging your weenie with a hammer is intensely pleasurable--
when you miss?

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aneesh
Similar to this story:

"Now I know some of you have already heard of me, but for the benefit of those
who are unfamiliar, let me explain how I teach. Between today until the class
right before finals, it is my intention to work into each of my lectures ...
one lie. Your job, as students, among other things, is to try and catch me in
the Lie of the Day."

<http://www.overcomingbias.com/2008/02/my-favorite-lia.html>

EDIT: Didn't see that someone already posted the essence of this story below.

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ola
Yes thats a fantastic idea! In fact in my next book "Avionics and Applied
Rocket Science" I've added an insidious little snippet that all O-rings should
be stored in sub zero temperatures to preserve their integrity, that aught to
keep those bongo playing physicist on their toes!

~~~
amichail
The technical error should be something that an alert reader could pick up
given what was written elsewhere in the book.

Also, you would tell the reader that errors have been introduced intentionally
to encourage a deeper reading.

The reader could perhaps be referred to an online discussion forum where
he/she could search for and discuss potential errors.

~~~
ola
I'm sure nobody could _challenge_ that fact.

~~~
amichail
This approach would work better with computer science and mathematics.

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dkokelley
I like the thought. I heard about a professor who, on the very first day of
class, told his students that in every lecture, there would be one lie. It
might even be regarding information on the tests.

It was the job of the class to figure out what the lie was and call him on it
and the end of class. This kept the students attentive and on edge.

From what I remember, there were some sessions where the students could not
figure out what the lie was, so they went home with a potential error in their
notes.

The trick was, the professor was also lying when he said that there would be a
lie in _each_ session.

In the end, knowing that there might be a blatant lie in each lecture kept the
students paying attention and ultimately getting more out of the class. Doing
something like this with books (not even computer books, necessarily) might
really help people to pay attention. I'd think something like this would sell
well too, just because of the marketing angle it would have.

If anyone knows where the story of the professor came from, please let me
know. It was a great story.

~~~
alex_c
That is similar to what my AP English teacher used to do. He warned us that he
will occasionally start making ridiculous statements and it is our
responsibility to call BS on him. Of course, he also warned us to consider the
consequences if we happen to call BS while he is making a genuine analysis of
a text.

I loved that class (and this is only a small part why).

~~~
ryanmahoski
It is also a perfect cover should he ever make a genuine mistake.

~~~
alex_c
Absolutely. English isn't the only thing I learned from him ;)

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sidsavara
<http://www.overcomingbias.com/2008/02/my-favorite-lia.html>

What made Dr. K memorable was a gimmick he employed that began with his
introduction at the beginning of his first class:

"Now I know some of you have already heard of me, but for the benefit of those
who are unfamiliar, let me explain how I teach. Between today until the class
right before finals, it is my intention to work into each of my lectures ...
one lie. Your job, as students, among other things, is to try and catch me in
the Lie of the Day."

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falsestprophet
Books will contain errors whether you want them to or not. Adding more is
insane.

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izak30
No. That would have confused the hell out of me. I mostly learn from computer
books the first time, the reading isn't for puzzles, it's for reading and
learning.

Giving bad information isn't fun, or a learning style.

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fourlittlebees
Sure, because then all the git coders will replicate that same error again and
again in production code. You can't assume that all readers are smart enough
to spot the error.

