This is also a problem in academia too. Very often I read papers that say that proofs are trivial, that we can easily get from one equation to another through algebra or that solving an equation is easy. It's something I try to avoid, instead I use "straight forward", which I think implies to the reader that this road has been travelled before but that it's still ok to ask questions because they haven't travelled it themselves.
Something I'd like to see in whatever replaces Elsevier & Friends is a community markup tool for all papers. Wherever a step has been omitted the community can step in and add a side note explaining and discussing the steps. This would have three huge benefits:
* Easier for neophytes to learn a paper's domain and assumed knowledge.
* Ready-made useful homework assignments for advanced undergrads and grad students: "Fill in the details of this paper."
* Ongoing "reviewing" of papers, leading to more corrected errors.
Comments
This is also a problem in academia too. Very often I read papers that say that proofs are trivial, that we can easily get from one equation to another through algebra or that solving an equation is easy. It's something I try to avoid, instead I use "straight forward", which I think implies to the reader that this road has been travelled before but that it's still ok to ask questions because they haven't travelled it themselves.
"Straightforward" is a great term.
Something I'd like to see in whatever replaces Elsevier & Friends is a community markup tool for all papers. Wherever a step has been omitted the community can step in and add a side note explaining and discussing the steps. This would have three huge benefits:
* Easier for neophytes to learn a paper's domain and assumed knowledge.
* Ready-made useful homework assignments for advanced undergrads and grad students: "Fill in the details of this paper."
* Ongoing "reviewing" of papers, leading to more corrected errors.