Friday, July 21, 2006

 

Math world breaks own rules, questions

Supposedly publication in a peer reviewed mathematical journal is the standard that separates the legitimate researchers from the "crackpots" who make all kinds of outlandish claims, which reasonable adults can assume are false when the experts don't back them up.

But I had a paper published in a peer reviewed mathematical journal.

When someone posted that information on the newsgroup sci.math, there was an instant furor on the newsgroup.

Some of the posters went from maligning me and the journal—castigating the editors—to planning an assault on my paper with emails claiming it false.

The next day I got an email from the chief editor claiming publication had been a mistake.

So what can you do with a society that does not follow even its own rules?

You may wonder what details are there to this story I'm not telling that show that the withdrawal was correct.

More facts though, the journal had my paper for over nine months. I informed them early on that I was an amateur mathematician. They never sent me notice of any errors that they'd found. I've never had anyone find anything other than minor errors in the paper—to this day.

The chief editor yanked my paper overnight—clearly not enough time for a thorough check of all the facts, indicating he went with emotion.

Here's a link to a mirror site for the journal as after that debacle they managed one more edition before quietly shutting down:

http://www.emis.de/journals/SWJPAM/vol2-03.html

There it says "Withdrawn" about my paper, but I didn't withdraw it, the editors did.

There were about 10 mirror sites for the journal originally, but all others went away, and the original journal link at its home university no longer works.

I received an email from Mathematical Reviews (Never heard ot them? Google it.) a bit after the mess, as they were seeking author information to list me as a published author of a math paper, and I had to explain this situation and called them up, and talked to someone who had never heard of anything like it.

I did argue a lot of the ideas out on Usenet before writing a paper, as I naively used to think that talking out ideas was a good way to clear out crappy ones with the possibility that you could get pick up from experts who might help you write a paper, and afterwards I've found myself talking out ideas because it works for me in figuring them out.

The problem though with Usenet is that people can track you off Usenet, and come after you in other areas, like with what happened with my paper, and at this point, I don't see a solution.

It has been years since my paper was yanked.

So then, what do you do with a society that does not follow its own rules?

How can any of you truly know that I'm wrong in this situation and the math people—people not following their own rules—are right?

Yes, they call me names, like "crackpot", "crank", and "loon" among others.

And here I am on Usenet still, where I fear few will believe me, and even fewer will care.

But how do you know these people are telling you the truth about anything mathematical when they so casually break their own rules?

In retaliating against me and my paper, the sci.math newsgroup showed a weakness within the journal process and how EASILY a mob can take control over that process, and censor a paper.

That should have been news, but it wasn't, which is another troubling aspect of this story.

If I could get enough attention to the details of the paper, then people might see that it is correct, and should have been published, but math society has so much domination in this area that it simply can ignore competing views, and people like me are totally sidelined with little to do but grouse in what public spaces they can.

And math people stalk me in these spaces trying to intimidate me into silence, even telling me to stop posting—ever with the words "crank" or "crackpot" tossed about, or claims that I am mentally ill.

If you believe math people, posting when other people tell you to stop, is proof of mental illness. If you believe math people, daring to come up with your own mathematical ideas and hoping against hope that they are correct is a sign of mental illness.

And God help you if you admit failing repeatedly in your attempts to find a valid idea, as they'll attack you for that as well.

The only thing that would make these people happy is my total and complete silence.





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