Dear Efthimios Harokopos,
I saw your complaint about scoring on your thread before I commented on your essay, so I knew that you were already upset about scoring. What I had not realized was that you think you can, in general, correlate comments with voting behavior. It is upsetting when low scores are received for no apparent reason. During the first weeks of this contest I was the top paper with a 10 (every time I looked at it I reminded myself that there was nowhere to go but down) and then I received at least two 1s and a couple of 2s. I was of course not happy about this.
There are no rules for how one "should vote". After several essay contests I have a voting strategy that I think is most effective. I typically wish to see all essays before I decide how they should be ranked. I think it is presumptuous for you to assume that my voting behavior should match your ideas of voting but if you are hostile over this point it's probably best you not read my essay.
You have written an essay in an earlier contest, and you should therefore be aware that no one is happy with FQXi voting. There is always some vote trading going on and the best policy is not to discuss votes in comments and not to combine the timing of comments and votes to 'send messages'.
Your implication that I would give high praise and low scores is unwarranted, and there is no basis for you even to suggest this. The fact is that I have not scored your essay, nor most essays, as I have my own policy or voting strategy. I think your complaint about voting is valid, but your assumptions about how I should vote are invalid and not appreciated.
Edwin Eugene Klingman
PS, After you posted your unhappy comment on my thread, someone gave me a 3 vote. By your logic I should suspect you, but I don't think your logic is good. I also note that the other top-rated essays seem to have received low votes at the same time, so it's probably someone either trying to pull the top down as a way of raising their own status, or it could be simply someone who resents anyone having a higher score. My point is, there is no way of knowing, and it is inappropriate to make the suggestion you did that I would give high praise and low scores. That is personalizing an issue in a very uncalled for manner.