I envy the knowledge that this guy has amassed.
Sure he probably goes through more material per day than 99.99999% of the population, but whether he remembers or understands is another matter.
The Shadow Scholar
51–60 of 115 posts
Re: The Shadow Scholar
#52Hmm, I suppose one way to go would be to require students to use a version-controlled word processor for their writing, and submit the version history. It could still be faked, but the difficulty of creating a good fake would make the economics less favorable.
If it's badly faked, then the version history would provide evidence that's more likely to hold up than a teacher's suspicion about the student's writing.
Re: The Shadow Scholar
#53Hmm, I suppose one way to go would be to require students to use a version-controlled word processor for their writing, and submit the version history. It could still be faked, but the difficulty of creating a good fake would make the economics less favorable. If it's badly faked, then the version history would provide evidence that's more likely to hold up than a teacher's suspicion about the student's writing.
So the shadow scholar submits his version history. And then?
Re: The Shadow Scholar
#54I can churn out four or five pages an hour. I'm utterly fascinated, is it really possible to produce that much text on an unknown subject? I write maximum about 1 page of academic text per workday. That is of course real, and contains a significant amount of math, but still producing the amount of material mentioned in the article consistently is very impressive. I wonder if one way to improve writing skills would be…
It could very well be a case of quantity leading to quality. http://www.lifeclever.com/what-50-pounds-of-clay-can-teach-y...
Re: The Shadow Scholar
#55That guy is a good writer!
Re: The Shadow Scholar
#56I envy the knowledge that this guy has amassed.
Sure he probably goes through more material per day than 99.99999% of the population, but whether he remembers or understands is another matter.
And there is also the sad fact that he has to hide all that under heavy layers of academic wording.
But even in the worst case scenario, he has some degree of familiarity with almost everything. Except math.
Re: The Shadow Scholar
#57Earlier quoted context omitted.
This is something we are doing just in the beginning to build credibility. Once we are a little more established we plan on being less selective with our editors and letting the market decide who the great people are.
The best people to do this work will be someone who has just passed (or is working on) a level high than that. A high school lab report can be much better drafted by a undergrad freshmen than a grad student as he has done this recently and is much more connected with it while the grad student has elevated in terms of language and lowest common denominator of knowledge in any subject. They also tend to forget the basi…
I agree completely. For this reason, there are undergraduate students, grad students, and professionals on the site.
We simply require that they attend a top 20 school at this point. This is mostly so that customers know that all editors meet that baseline measure of credibility (i.e. they made it through the same process that the applicant is pursuing, and thus probably know what it takes).
Re: The Shadow Scholar
#58"It would be terrible to think that your Ivy League graduate thesis was riding on the work ethic and perspicacity of a public-university slacker. So part of my job is to be whatever my clients want me to be. I say yes when I am asked if I have a Ph.D. in sociology. I say yes when I am asked if I have professional training in industrial/organizational psychology. I say yes when asked if I have ever designed a perpetual-motion-powered time machine and documented my efforts in a peer-reviewed journal."
It's quite funny that such utterly dishonest people are so willing to accept someone else's word at face value. Also, that they place such stock in the institutional accreditations that they are proving to be worthless through their actions.
Re: The Shadow Scholar
#59Earlier quoted context omitted.
> "You see, education, for most people, is NOT about learning . It's about getting a job. " That is exactly true. But I challenge that "learning for its own sake" is not normal; rather, the educational system is atrocious in its ability to foster "learning" in kids who never experienced truly mastering something in the first place. I daresay that the sense of accomplishment from solving a problem or truly learning so…
I don't think it is reasonable to lay this at the feet of the education system. In fact, it is somewhat difficult to lay this at the feet of any system, to be honest. It is a systemic failure of both the system, and the people who depend upon it to do either what they can't do, or what they wish not to do. As for the system encouraging people to get a job, it is just responding to popular sentiment. The gauge people…
"It's not that the schools want people to not learn, it's that the people who rely on the schools don't care if the schools foster this attitude."
Which is indeed a curious thing, given how much money they place on the line in all those jobs with a minimum degree attached to them. Are they just looking to employ only the successful liars and cheaters, and weed out the less competent ones?
Re: The Shadow Scholar
#60I can churn out four or five pages an hour. I'm utterly fascinated, is it really possible to produce that much text on an unknown subject? I write maximum about 1 page of academic text per workday. That is of course real, and contains a significant amount of math, but still producing the amount of material mentioned in the article consistently is very impressive. I wonder if one way to improve writing skills would be…
"Over the years, I've refined ways of stretching papers. I can write a four-word sentence in 40 words. Just give me one phrase of quotable text, and I'll produce two pages of ponderous explanation. I can say in 10 pages what most normal people could say in a paragraph."
I almost find this more depressing than the rampant cheating in which this author engages.