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I just gave two answers (first, second) to this question.
Is this okay - to give two answers - or will I eternally be under the music SE curse of immoderacy?

I reasoned that they represent two different ways of explaining, where one might fit some people and the other might fit others. I felt that merging them both into the same answer would disturb their respective clarity (if there is any ;-) .

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  • Perhaps you feel that the answers I gave are not different as to justify two answers, but rather should be stated together to form a complete answer? – Ulf Åkerstedt Aug 7 '12 at 11:04
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    My general rule is that if two ideas are so different that people would likely downvote one and upvote the other, they should be separate options. Of course, different ideas can also be posed in the "if that fails then try this" format which more naturally goes together and is likely to be upvoted for its thoroughness. – user28 Aug 27 '12 at 18:07
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I think they would be a more complete answer together - the risk when keeping them separate is that one gets voted up and the other is effectively hidden by other answers.

You could always have your main answer, then a 'technical appendix' which the reader could peruse if they wanted that extra information.

That said - I don't think there is anything wrong with posting two answers in any case. I think they are both good.

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  • You've convinced me, especially since I was unsure. I have now merged the answers. My resistance to merging was also somewhat based on that the merged answer would be/is quite long which could cause a reading repellant effect, but I suppose I don't need to worry about that. – Ulf Åkerstedt Aug 7 '12 at 11:23
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    On various SE sites it is common practice to use the <tl;dr> phrase and provide a summary if necessary so that a reader could stop at that point, but in your example you have a title for that final section which makes it very clear to the reader. – Doktor Mayhem♦ Aug 7 '12 at 14:02

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