3 ms·

The problem is the standard for reviews. It cannot become mandatory to read Reddit before publishing a paper. Reddit has an endemic issue of publishing sensatio

by pekk 12y ago

The problem is the standard for reviews. It cannot become mandatory to read Reddit before publishing a paper. Reddit has an endemic issue of publishing sensational results with major distortions, Reddit contains frequent major errors which will effectively leave you less knowledgeable than you started. It makes no sense to avoid scientific journals, but then trust whatever you read on Reddit.

lomnakkus 12y ago
I don't necessarily disagree, but there's a certain amount of due diligence that editors must do and, as I recall, this idea + rebuttal made a bit of a splash even on non-HN/Reddit media back when the original came out. Even if we ignore that, there's a massive a-priori improbability for the claimed result being true given the current state-of-the-art knowledge by experts in the field. Claiming to "solve" N=NP is definitely a red flag and anyone modestly acquainted with the field, as editors probably should be, would know to consult a larger group of people within the field before publishing this. Let's not forget Sagan's advice to require extraordinary evidence for extraordinary claims. Either way, I think the editors should at least publish a/the rebuttal at this point. (At the very least.) EDIT: I should say: I know this isn't -- per se -- claiming that P=NP, but it's in the same league in terms of boldness since they're claiming that there's a physical machine that can solve NP problems in P, but there's, as yet, no plausible explanation for why no N-TM has yet been realized in physical reality. (Given current QC theory, at least.)
duaneb 12y ago
> It cannot become mandatory to read Reddit before publishing a paper. No, but if reddit does better than your review team, your journal is less worth reading than reddit. That's not a good place to be.

3 ms·

The problem is the standard for reviews. It cannot become mandatory to read Reddit before publishing a paper. Reddit has an endemic issue of publishing sensatio

by pekk 12y ago

lomnakkus 12y ago
I don't necessarily disagree, but there's a certain amount of due diligence that editors must do and, as I recall, this idea + rebuttal made a bit of a splash even on non-HN/Reddit media back when the original came out. Even if we ignore that, there's a massive a-priori improbability for the claimed result being true given the current state-of-the-art knowledge by experts in the field. Claiming to "solve" N=NP is definitely a red flag and anyone modestly acquainted with the field, as editors probably should be, would know to consult a larger group of people within the field before publishing this. Let's not forget Sagan's advice to require extraordinary evidence for extraordinary claims. Either way, I think the editors should at least publish a/the rebuttal at this point. (At the very least.) EDIT: I should say: I know this isn't -- per se -- claiming that P=NP, but it's in the same league in terms of boldness since they're claiming that there's a physical machine that can solve NP problems in P, but there's, as yet, no plausible explanation for why no N-TM has yet been realized in physical reality. (Given current QC theory, at least.)
duaneb 12y ago
> It cannot become mandatory to read Reddit before publishing a paper. No, but if reddit does better than your review team, your journal is less worth reading than reddit. That's not a good place to be.