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MAX PLANK:

An important scientific innovation rarely makes its way by gradually winning over and converting its opponents; it rarely happens that Saul becomes Paul. What does happen is that its opponents gradually die out and that the growing generation is familiarized with the idea from the beginning.

    Dear Gene,

    Thanks, I'm quite amazed and humbled by the current results. I don't think any official announcement has been made, so I won't take it for granted that these are the final standings for this round, but in any case the degree of hospitality and positive feedback has been very heartening. Thanks again, and take care,

    Ben

    Dear Edwin,

    Thanks for the message, and more generally for your cordial and constructive approach to the whole contest! The numbers have moved around a bit since they were first posted, so I won't take it for granted that these are the final standings for this round, but I'm nonetheless quite humbled by the hospitality and positive feedback I've found here. Take care,

    Ben

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    Dear Sir:

    Sergey G Fedosin is bombing entrants' boards with the same "why your rating has dropped" message. They are all dated Oct. 4... same message.

    WTH? I've seen one fine essay drop 89 (eighty-nine) positions, in "Community Rating" in the past 24 hours, and "Sergey's note" came BEFORE it plummeted. Hmm.

    The vote/scaling of this contest is quite nebulous.

    "Hackers Rule!", I suppose!

    Well??? What else is one to think? The General Public is... Watching...

      Well done Ben, you deserve it. Not just for the essay, but also for pulling the discussions together and focussing people's thinking.

      As 'Concerned public' says above, some essays have shot down - mine dropped from 31 on thursday, after 2 weeks in the top 35, to somewhere I can't count to! I don't know why, but whatever. It was a very good forum, and I think most of us have learned a lot from the exchange of ideas.

      Good luck in the finals....

      Best wishes, Jonathan

        Dear Ben,

        Yes, I know you have to wait till November 16, but no matter what these expert judges will decide, you still won according to the community. And, honesty, I think this is what counts the most, because it's done based on scientific reasons alone...

        It is true that the judges have the power to choose differently, and they might based on more reasons than just science, but the true winner is already here and nobody could take that from you. And I am confident nobody will!

        So be happy anyway!

        Gene!

        Dear Concerned,

        I noticed at least three different major shake-ups in the ratings, the first one around 11 AM EDT Wednesday, when most of the essays at the top (including mine, which was #1 at the time) fell around 15 places and were replaced at the top by entries from as far down the list as 30 or lower.

        Sergey Fedosin's message came after this, and I can't see any reason why someone intent on manipulating the vote would choose to draw attention to himself. When I first saw the message, before even seeing who had sent it, I interpreted "why your rating dropped" as some childish person gloating over down-voting my essay, but after reading it I realized that he was just trying to explain his displeasure with the voting procedure, and that the way in which the message was expressed was merely a reflection of the fact that English is not his first language.

        As you pointed out, more grotesque changes in the rankings continued after this. I noticed yesterday that essays I knew I had already rated displayed the "do you want to rate this essay?" message at the top. A number of submissions went unrated by me at the end because I did not want to risk double-voting. I am sure others felt the same way, and this itself affected the process.

        It would be too great a demand on human nature to expect those near the cutoff who were left out in the end not to feel cheated, particularly if they appeared above the cutoff when the clock ran out. In my opinion, there were many more than 35 deserving essays, including two or three in particular that did not make the final round, yet will likely prove to contain some of the most important ideas of any in the contest. Take care,

        Ben

        Dear Juan,

        Thanks for the message. I am glad to see you in the finals! Take care,

        Ben

        Dear Jonathan,

        It's a little hard to understand. Whenever I wanted to look at your thread over the last few weeks, I clicked on the "community rating" link because you were up near the top. I lost track of this when the chaos started on Wednesday (my essay fell from #1 to #13 in a few minutes, having been in the top five for much of the last two weeks). It's true, as Brendan pointed out, that one would expect heavy voting in the last few days, but it still would have taken multiple very low ratings to push you down so far.

        Anyway, I appreciate your kind words. We have had some good (and I trust mutually enlightening!) discussion, and I hope we can stay in touch. I don't see an email address on your paper, but mine is bdribus@math.lsu.edu. Take care,

        Ben

        Dear Jin,

        Unfortunately, this seems to be true more generally, not only in science. The fact that each new generation tends to repeat the whole process over again shows that to know history is not the same as to learn from it! Take care,

        Ben

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        Ben,

        I have read several complaints and analyses about the voting system since this morning. I think that the others could have been anticipated both from the rules and the wide range of expertise allowed. Perhaps not all of it for first timers. This is the fourth year and those kinds of effects on the ratings are known and need to be learned. I accept them because if things were tightened up I might not be permitted to participate. My lowly finish this year was consistent with my finishes in each of the previous three years. Personally I don't think that it reflects the value of my work. But it does reflect how these contests rate my work. So be it. However, This one that you mention concerns me:

        " I noticed yesterday that essays I knew I had already rated displayed the "do you want to rate this essay?" message at the top. A number of submissions went unrated by me at the end because I did not want to risk double-voting. I am sure others felt the same way, and this itself affected the process."

        It shows that the system did not work as could have been expected. I care very much that the results be correct however they turn out. Your words tell me that it didn't happen that way this time, and, I think that nothing can be done to make it right. I think it has to be accepted knowing that the administrators will have it in mind for future contests. I am confident that high quality essays will be selected by the juding system as has been the case in the past contests.

        James

        Dear James,

        Thanks for the thoughts. I certainly don't wish to level blame at anyone, I just feel a bit sick for those who saw their submissions drop out of the top 35 after the clock ran out. I believe that the administrators tried to do the best they could under the circumstances, and I agree that doing anything further now would probably just open another can of worms. Something I do wonder about is how many additional authors actually saw their entries fall below the cutoff sometime after midnight. If it were only three or four, I would wish that these could be added to the list. But I know that in this case, anyone currently ranked above one of these would feel cheated. Anyway, this is my first year of participation, and I'm sure no one needs or wants my advice on the subject! Take care,

        Ben

        Congratulations Ben!

        It is good to see you with a top ranking. You had kind things to say about my essay, and I am pleased to report also being among the lucky few (assuming there are no more oscillations). Now you can impress your students with the fact that you ended the qualifying round scoring above a scientist who co-authored a book with Stephen Hawking. But I digress.

        Yours was a very interesting essay, which demonstrated a deep understanding, and it will be intriguing to see what other ideas you have to share - and compare notes.

        More later,

        Jonathan

          Dear All,

          I appreciate the opportunity I've had over the last two months to read your essays, which represent a broad cross section of current scientific thought. I have attempted to assimilate the principal ideas by disciplining myself to try to understand your papers well enough to engage in at least rudimentary discussions about the main points. With very few exceptions, you've been unfailingly hospitable, and have in many cases given me significant extra clarification and references. You've also been very open-minded concerning my own ideas about fundamental physics, which I admit take some getting used to, and which will require significant further development to determine their scope of applicability to the real world.

          What I'd like to do in the coming weeks is respond more adequately to some of the important points that have been raised by some of you on my thread and in conversations we've had on your threads. First I would like to address some of the points raised in this thread by Jonathan Dickau on October 3. However, I imagine that no one will be paying much attention over the weekend, so I'll hold off on this for a day or two. Take care,

          Ben

            Dear Jonathan,

            Thanks for the kind remarks. I actually wrote the message just below this one before I refreshed the page and saw yours... "comparing notes" was exactly what I had in mind! As I said there, however, I expect no one will be reading this for the next day or two anyway, so I'll hold off until early next week. It's good to see you in the final round as well... thoroughly deserved! Take care,

            Ben

            Thanks Ben,

            Well it may be that the positions up to the last 24 hours are more indicative, but that's all in the margin in some ways anyway. My email address is on my thread but I forgot to put it on my essay, it's jonathan.kerr@to-gl.net . Have a well earned rest!

            Best wishes, Jonathan

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            Dear Ben,

            Thank you a lot of for your attentions and comments. Please accept my apology for delay.

            As you correctly mentioned, we reviewed all non-local hidden variable models which simulated quantum singlet state by non-local hidden variables. We derived inequalities which are based on these models and showed that they violated by quantum correlation function.

            Unfortunately, my essay has typos at first paragraph of page 5 (is equal to one...), however, equation 6 and fig. 3 are correct.

            As you mentioned at your essay, there are some physical models which are based on the Extra Dimensions and compactification of extra dimensions. However, please pay attention that these models take place at high energy physics (about 10^{18} Gev). I can accept your opinion if you find rationalization for it. In other words, how space-time microstructure is changed at low energy physics (about 1 kev)?

            I am ready to see your work at more detail.

            Thank you in advance

            Sincerely yours.

            Akbar