I mean, it's possible that Sze Kui Ng is a bit of a wacko
mathematician pushing publications into arXiv Remember ArXiv
isn't peer reviewed, outside of putting things in the proper
categories. So I always take arXiv with a grain of salt. But
still, it's nice to have tantilizing possibilities... and I like
finding out that "I'm not the only one" when I get a brainstorm
about something and I want to see if someone else has at least
looked into it in some depth. == I thought about publishing
something in arXiv. I'd just have to get an endorsement from
someone else already published in arXiv, which just means
friending them on Facebook and convincing them my ideas have
some merit. Also, I'd have to crank up LyX and _really_ learn
how to use it well, because I've never worked much in Tex or
LaTex... but the editor seems easy enough to use. AND... I'd
have to write in that annoyingly stifled structured LANGUAGE and
FORMAT that these academic papers are written in. They're easy
to read but I really don't want to write it. [or I could just
get a semester at a college with a science dept - then I
automatically get accepted in arXiv without needing endorsement]
Anyway.. I thought about it. it'd look awesome to have some
papers up there. Street cred and stuff. == aybe. But that's just
copy/pasting other ppls formulas from THEIR papers. Find the
closest paper. Use their equations for all the stuff that's the
same. For everything that's different, make illustrations.
Graphs and stuff. OR - better better still: Find someone going
to University and give them co-authorship if they'll do the
calculus for you. == I mean you're great at providing convincing
arguments. Get someone excited enough who is a math-head and
they'll be happy to calculate for you. == I believe you can do
anything if you really want it bad enough. A lot of getting
things done is so much about appearance and impression and
selling yourself. Sucks but it's also an opportunity. For years
I stressed about being "An Author". Wanted to write The Book
That Changes Everything. Still do of course. But where to start?
What if nobody likes it? What if.. what if... what if... One
day, I said, "fuck it. It's a publication. No different than a
post on Facebook". So, I've got 5 books on Amazon - sold a
couple of copies that I can't believe anybody bought. They all
fall short of anything good. But you know what? It's up there.
If I had the gahones, I'd go around trumpeting, "Yes, I'm an
Author". I could set up a website. Promotional videos. All of
these things are in the range of doable. Even if you didn't want
to "go scientific", write a 10 page thing and shove it up on
Amazon. BOOM - just like that, you're* Author of
[_some-awesome-title_] Instant authority. Does it mean you know
things deeper than anybody else? Doesn't matter. Think about it:
For every author, there's somebody else who knows more. But..
there's more people who know LESS. The people who know less than
you can LEARN from you. You have as much right to have your
ideas heard as anybody and to get credit if you like. Most
authors go nowhere. They publish, electronic or pulp. They
promote. They strive. They get hurt and pained when they don't
succeed to the level they want. So, skip the hurt and pain. I'm
not saying you _have to_ - just saying, anything's possible.
Might not be _perfect_ but perfection is over-rated anyway.
smile emoticon
