Timeline for Anonymity Policy
Current License: CC BY-SA 3.0
17 events
| when toggle format | what | by | license | comment | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nov 20, 2015 at 14:27 | comment | added | Asaf Karagila Mod | @Christian: Someone once jokingly said that being a mathematician is being wrong 99% of the time, and hoping to be remembered only for the other 1%. (Okay, cards on the table, that someone was me.) | |
| Nov 20, 2015 at 1:02 | comment | added | Gottfried William | (1) I agree with EJI. Many papers in experimental psychology on this is. (2) While this is decisive, I do agree with C. Remling. Scientists often makes plenty of errors in public, should learn not to fear this, agreed. I've been wrong in public with utterly trivial (in hindsight) absent minded calculation errors. People point it out, I say thank you. Two questions on MO like that. I deleted those once I realized the mistake. If many nontrivial hypotheses are made, they can't all be right. Worst case all are wrong, best case all but one. That doesn't stop publishing. (1) is decisive tho here. | |
| Nov 19, 2015 at 2:48 | comment | added | Christian Remling | @YemonChoi: I had meant this as a rather light-hearted remark, along the lines of: if you do math for a living, you'll be wrong a lot, and some of the time in public, so why not get used to it now. (Also, by "you" you mean the OP? I was quoting from the OP.) | |
| Nov 19, 2015 at 1:50 | comment | added | Yemon Choi | @ChristianRemling Once I was afraid in the way you describe. Should I have been told mathematics was not for me? I like to think I have done tolerably well at it, eventually, since those days | |
| Nov 19, 2015 at 1:16 | comment | added | Christian Remling | If you're afraid of being wrong in public, then mathematics is not for you. | |
| Nov 18, 2015 at 5:27 | comment | added | user82419 | Your post is definitely me here. | |
| Nov 17, 2015 at 19:53 | comment | added | Gerhard Paseman | @quid, I've chosen to edit my answer rather than continue in comments. Feel free to move this over to a comment thread on my post. :|| | |
| Nov 17, 2015 at 19:17 | comment | added | user9072 | @GerhardPaseman I agree that the distinction should be emphasized. And, I tried to give you some reasons why somebody might hesitate to give the data. Furthermore, what is "evade the moderators" supposed to mean exactly? What can they, what should they, do beyond the realms of the site? Specifically, what could the moderators do about your behavior that they cannot do about mine? Please be specific. (There may be situations where this could be relevant, but they should be extremely isolated and really even then it is truly not obvious what can be done.) | |
| Nov 17, 2015 at 19:01 | comment | added | Gerhard Paseman | If I intend to reproach anything, it is the conflation (anon. username and anon. registration), not the question, answer, or their makers. I think the distinction should be emphasized. My major reason for personalized registration is accountability. I do not see either your reasons or EJI's as good reasons to "evade the moderators". Of course, there may be a good reason that benefits the forum and its community: let's see it. :(( | |
| Nov 17, 2015 at 18:53 | comment | added | user9072 | But, it is not unheard of that supposedly confidential account data gets compromised and made public. Now, I do agree that it is not all that likely, but still somebody might be worried about it (not I). What I agree about is that providing false information is an odd thing to do. Yet, I think you ask the wrong question: you ought to give reasons for personalized registration not the other way round. Especially in light of events that seem to show that this is not only pointless but rather causes problems the onus is more than ever on those that want it to present an argument. @GerhardPaseman | |
| Nov 17, 2015 at 18:51 | comment | added | user9072 | @GerhardPaseman Two things: first, the question among others asks "Should we require using real names?" (it says "using" not "providing"). While I agree it makes sense to keep these two separate. The question does not. I do not see why you would reproach this the answer. Second, depending on circumstances one may or may not be comfortable to provide such details even if it is claimed not to become public. I have confidence in the MO mods that they do not leak such info willingly or accidentally, and in SE that they set up the site so that it will not be comprised. | |
| Nov 17, 2015 at 17:02 | comment | added | Gerhard Paseman | I see these as reasons to allow people to post on MathOverflow using ( nonharmful ) user names. I do NOT see these as reasons to register with moderators using false or misleading credentials, or even no credentials. Can you give reasons for anonymous registration? :\ | |
| Nov 17, 2015 at 9:34 | comment | added | user9072 | @TobiasKildetoft point 2. seems fully applicable (and much less applicable to math.se), and point 1. too, depending on the interpretation (but I can see that the word "children" might have caused associations that lead to your comment). | |
| Nov 17, 2015 at 8:19 | comment | added | Tobias Kildetoft | But MO does not have an educational mission in any sense like implied in this answer. The cases listed are not generally applicable to those for whom MO is meant (this is the sort of thing MSE is good at). | |
| Nov 17, 2015 at 6:47 | comment | added | Vectornaut | If real-name usernames were required on MO, I would not have joined as early in my career as I did, and it's likely I would never have joined at all. I suppose each user can weigh my reputation and decide whether that's a point in favor of real names or a strike against them (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Book_of_the_Dead#/media/…). | |
| Nov 17, 2015 at 6:39 | comment | added | Asaf Karagila Mod | For early career mathematicians, not to say grad students, MathOverflow can be a wonderful opportunity for increasing their networking skills. I always recommend the site, and always recommend to use real names. My experience with it had been great. Despite the bad things that happened, and would have been avoided if I had used a pseudonym. | |
| Nov 17, 2015 at 3:00 | history | answered | EJI | CC BY-SA 3.0 |
