> I corrected a wrong answer on a question in C++ once, which was immediately reverted with “nope, your answer is too different from the original, make a new answer”.
This is how Stack Overflow is designed to work. One single user is not supposed to be able to edit a top answer and change it into a different answer.
The Stack Overflow Way™ is to post a new answer that tells the correct answer and why the other answer is wrong. Then the community has two separate answers and they can vote on which one is more correct.
Confusing? Yes. Arcane? Yes. Did the system fail in this specific circumstance? Absolutely yes.
But they can't just let people edit highly voted answers into fundamentally different answers. That's why your edit was not approved.
This is how Stack Overflow is designed to work. One single user is not supposed to be able to edit a top answer and change it into a different answer.
The Stack Overflow Way™ is to post a new answer that tells the correct answer and why the other answer is wrong. Then the community has two separate answers and they can vote on which one is more correct.
Confusing? Yes. Arcane? Yes. Did the system fail in this specific circumstance? Absolutely yes.
But they can't just let people edit highly voted answers into fundamentally different answers. That's why your edit was not approved.
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