Ask YC: Should computer books contain intentional technical errors to keep the reader's attention? | Hacker News Reader

Ask YC: Should computer books contain intentional technical errors to keep the reader's attention?

6 pointsamichail29 comments

The publisher could even have a contest to reward readers who find the most technical errors.

Unlike what Knuth has been doing, these technical errors would be intentional.

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.

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

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.

I don't think that boring books can be made better by injecting errors into them. There are probably better ways to achieve 'deeper reading and understanding' - see 'the Little Lisper' for example.

It depends on which market you are trying to attract: Deliberate errors would only encourage readers who aren't already motivated to find errors. More advanced readers would already be on the lookout for "errors" in case the author has made them inadvertently, or in case the reader can extend the state of the art known & described by the author.

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

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.

You're right. This is a great idea.

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. ;)

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.

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...

From a review here:

http://litmed.med.nyu.edu/Annotation?action=view&annid=1...

"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."

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!

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

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

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.

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!

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.

I'm sure nobody could _challenge_ that fact.

This approach would work better with computer science and mathematics.

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.

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).

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

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

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

This works great in a classroom because a prof is more interactive than a book. You can't shout 'Bullshit!' at a book and have it do anything other than inanimately mock you with its indifference. This is why I believe the idea of adding intentional flaws to reference / learning books is horrid.

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:

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

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.

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.

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