Nobody knows how to cite 4chan mathematicians who solved an interesting problem
1–10 of 205 posts
Re: Nobody knows how to cite 4chan mathematicians who solved an interesting problem
#2This is fantastic. Imagine having to cite "Anonymous user on 4chan" on your paper.
I'd probably just do it for the novelty (who else can say they have a more unusual source??)
Re: Nobody knows how to cite 4chan mathematicians who solved an interesting problem
#3This tweet is misleadingly worded. The solution was not posted on 4chan, but rather by an anonymous user on a “wiki mainly devoted to anime” as the original tweet quoted by this tweet makes clear.
Re: Nobody knows how to cite 4chan mathematicians who solved an interesting problem
#4This tweet is misleadingly worded. The solution was not posted on 4chan, but rather by an anonymous user on a “wiki mainly devoted to anime” as the original tweet quoted by this tweet makes clear.
It was indeed posted on 4chan, as you can see here - http://4watch.org/superstring/
That's the whole thread
Re: Nobody knows how to cite 4chan mathematicians who solved an interesting problem
#5This is fantastic. Imagine having to cite "Anonymous user on 4chan" on your paper. I'd probably just do it for the novelty (who else can say they have a more unusual source??)
Ethically do you even have to cite something properly when the person who solved it was intentionally anonymous? If the concern is that people will think the person writing solved it, they can just write a sentence where it came from.
Re: Nobody knows how to cite 4chan mathematicians who solved an interesting problem
#6Also lending strong support for the infinite number of monkeys theorem.
Re: Nobody knows how to cite 4chan mathematicians who solved an interesting problem
#7An "academically correct" solution (i.e., not to taint the prestige of a scholar who cites the solution) would be to cite a real, proxy scholar who checks the solution, but gives all credit to the anonymous 4chan user.
Scientists often abhor citing from blogs, forums, and Wikipedia, as those publications "are not peer-reviewed by trustworthy professionals".
Re: Nobody knows how to cite 4chan mathematicians who solved an interesting problem
#8This tweet is misleadingly worded. The solution was not posted on 4chan, but rather by an anonymous user on a “wiki mainly devoted to anime” as the original tweet quoted by this tweet makes clear.
The follow-up to the other tweet says it was copied to that wiki from 4chan.
Re: Nobody knows how to cite 4chan mathematicians who solved an interesting problem
#9This tweet is misleadingly worded. The solution was not posted on 4chan, but rather by an anonymous user on a “wiki mainly devoted to anime” as the original tweet quoted by this tweet makes clear.
change "wiki" to "message-board" and "mainly" to "originally" and it becomes accurate. It came from the /sci/ board on 4chan.
Re: Nobody knows how to cite 4chan mathematicians who solved an interesting problem
#10An "academically correct" solution (i.e., not to taint the prestige of a scholar who cites the solution) would be to cite a real, proxy scholar who checks the solution, but gives all credit to the anonymous 4chan user. Scientists often abhor citing from blogs, forums, and Wikipedia, as those publications "are not peer-reviewed by trustworthy professionals".
They are also prone to disappearing, post-citation editing, etc.