Anonymous Submission

[xiagan]

Maybe we can agree that nobody is immune to (negative and positive) bias  but the impact on the contest is so small that it doesn't really matter (or balances out ).

There are thousands of factors like taste, current mood, author hit/missed the subject or formatting/typos that affect how one casts his vote more than who wrote it.

I still like to have anonymous submissions from time to time.

PS: Bradley, I'm a (cultural/social) anthropologist too! Not working in that field, though.

[J.R. Darewood]

I still like to have anonymous submissions from time to time.

PS: Bradley, I'm a (cultural/social) anthropologist too! Not working in that field, though.

Really? What do you do these days?

I usually work w NGOs but right now I'm just coming back from teaching an intensive course in applying anthropology to global problems-- tho my plane has been stuck on the tarmack in Denver w no un boarding in sight and my connecting flight left. They wanna send me to SF and then have a lay over there for 3 hrs... Heeeelllll naw

[ScarletBea]

There are thousands of factors like taste, current mood, author hit/missed the subject or formatting/typos that affect how one casts his vote more than who wrote it.

These are exactly what I base my votes on, not the author.

Maybe we can agree that nobody is immune to (negative and positive) bias  but the impact on the contest is so small that it doesn't really matter (or balances out ).

Yup.

We can sit here all day screaming why we are right and everyone else is wrong, or simply accept that there is no wrong or right here, it's simply a matter of personal opinion.

I'm getting to this point too. I think basically all arguments have been stated and we're now just kinda going around in circles, and maybe even getting upset

[The Gem Cutter]

Really? What do you do these days?

I usually work w NGOs but right now I'm just coming back from teaching an intensive course in applying anthropology to global problems-- tho my plane has been stuck on the tarmack in Denver w no un boarding in sight and my connecting flight left. They wanna send me to SF and then have a lay over there for 3 hrs... Heeeelllll naw

Getting sleepy, I misread that entirely. When I read "SF" I see "Special Forces", who employ a fair number of anthropologists and work with a lot of NGOs in rough places. Coupled with the "Heeeelll naw" I imagined an entirely different "they" 

[m3mnoch]

It looks like there's two camps 1) pro-Anonymous subs b/c bias and 2) anti-Anonymous subs b/c... don't care about bias. Maybe there should be a third camp... 3) Anyone else besides me not care about bias but still like Anon subs?

oooh!  oooh!  i think i'm a #3!

while i acknowledge bias, i don't care about it when it comes to the contest because i don't believe anyone here is manipulative about it -- i like the thought of an occasional, all-anonymous submission because it's fun.  but, if we do it all the time, it'll become less fun.

besides, i already know everyone here thinks i'm obviously the best writer ever and that i never miss big, glaring plot-holes or anything and they're only voting for other writers just to give them a chance.  and, i think that's really thoughtful of them.

[insert photo of me giggling like a schoolgirl here]

[eclipse]

  we're now just kinda going around in circles

You being biased to circles there's other shapes you could use.

[Raptori]

that being said, i've looked at a few as a qa step to make sure things were working correctly.  my favorite set of guesses?  the ones by "I'm so tempted to type m3mnoch here".

oh, yeah.  don't think i don't see you.

/squintyeye

Who on earth would do such a thing?

It looks like there's two camps 1) pro-Anonymous subs b/c bias and 2) anti-Anonymous subs b/c... don't care about bias. Maybe there should be a third camp... 3) Anyone else besides me not care about bias but still like Anon subs?

oooh!  oooh!  i think i'm a #3!

while i acknowledge bias, i don't care about it when it comes to the contest because i don't believe anyone here is manipulative about it -- i like the thought of an occasional, all-anonymous submission because it's fun.  but, if we do it all the time, it'll become less fun.

Same here - it's not a big deal either way, but anonymous is more fun. It'd probably get tiring if it was every time, so once every three months sounds perfect.

[J.R. Darewood]

Getting sleepy, I misread that entirely. When I read "SF" I see "Special Forces", who employ a fair number of anthropologists and work with a lot of NGOs in rough places. Coupled with the "Heeeelll naw" I imagined an entirely different "they" 

Human Terrain Systems? Nooooooooooooooooo... not for me. What I do would be impossible if people thought I was connected to the US govt. (aaaand I'll do my best to be polite and keep my opinions of the quality of that work to myself), and I have had to spend way too many hours of my life convincing people I'm not CIA.

Much more harrowing that being a special forces anthropologist-- like the third flight I got put on was cancelled last night and I'm STILL stranded in Denver... no open seats on a flight until 10pm.  There's ice and snow and shit here, it's awful.  They're claiming it was the weather (and not the fact they had no deicer) so they didn't give us accommodation 

[Peat]

It looks like there's two camps 1) pro-Anonymous subs b/c bias and 2) anti-Anonymous subs b/c... don't care about bias. Maybe there should be a third camp... 3) Anyone else besides me not care about bias but still like Anon subs?

Since I was the most vocal/only member of camp 1, Bradley, I request a different phrasing: "pro-Anon subs b/c it's more objective."  This is in line with my original statement "I am not suggesting we are overrun by bias, I am suggesting we are not immune from it."

*shrugs* For what its worth, I was in camp 1 originally. I then switched to anti-Anonymous subs when it became clear that bias wasn't perceived as a big deal.

Insofar as I can tell, camp 3 is the majority view here.

[xiagan]

Really? What do you do these days?

Oh well, after I got my master I decided against working in the field (reading about your job kinda makes me glad I did) and I'm the manager of a completely organic supermarket now. Has its downs too but is in general quite good.