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Scott Aaronson summarizes it well when he says, of papers that have signs of being by 'cranks' -- > If I read all such papers, I wouldn't have time for anythin

Scott Aaronson summarizes it well when he says, of papers that have signs of being by 'cranks' -- > If I read all such papers, I wouldn't have time for anything else. [1] Crank papers often take a long time to read, by virtue of some combination of (i) using non-standard notation and terminology, (ii) lack of familiarity with the established literature, (iii) tortured writing style. If you claim to have proved a big new result, and you don't already have the credentials that will ensure you get taken seriously, then it is up to you to write in such a way that makes it easy for other academics to verify your work. Part of being an academic is interacting with other academics. [1] http://www.scottaaronson.com/blog/?p=304 http://www.scottaaronson.com/blog/?p=304

jseliger 14y ago
If you claim to have proved a big new result, and you don't already have the credentials that will ensure you get taken seriously, then it is up to you to write in such a way that makes it easy for other academics to verify your work. Part of being an academic is interacting with other academics. This reminds me of the introduction to Thomas Kuhn's The Road Since Structure: "Kuhn develops further the theme, which again goes back to Structure, that science is fundamentally a social undertaking. This shows up especially in times of trouble, with the potential for more or less radical change. It is only because individuals working in a common research tradition are able to arrive at differing judgments concerning the degree of seriousness of the various difficulties they collectively face that some of them will be moved individually to explore alternative (often—as Kuhn likes to emphasize—seemingly nonsensical) possibilities, while others will attempt doggedly to resolve the problem within the current framework" {Conant and Haugeland "Road"@3}.
raverbashing 14y ago
Well, scan it and put it on the internet! The usenet groups will have fun with it.

jseliger 14y ago

If you claim to have proved a big new result, and you don't already have the credentials that will ensure you get taken seriously, then it is up to you to write in such a way that makes it easy for other academics to verify your work. Part of being an academic is interacting with other academics. This reminds me of the introduction to Thomas Kuhn's The Road Since Structure: "Kuhn develops further the theme, which again goes back to Structure, that science is fundamentally a social undertaking. This shows up especially in times of trouble, with the potential for more or less radical change. It is only because individuals working in a common research tradition are able to arrive at differing judgments concerning the degree of seriousness of the various difficulties they collectively face that some of them will be moved individually to explore alternative (often—as Kuhn likes to emphasize—seemingly nonsensical) possibilities, while others will attempt doggedly to resolve the problem within the current framework" {Conant and Haugeland "Road"@3}.

raverbashing 14y ago

Well, scan it and put it on the internet! The usenet groups will have fun with it.