pull down to refresh
0 sats \ 6 replies \ @jbschirtzinger OP 13h \ parent \ on: Don't Trust Sheikhs With Horses --A Mathematical Allegory--Stacker Exclusive the_stacker_muse
The nose of the horse crossing the line is not the metric by which a horse wins the race. There are many ways to be disqualified and still have the nose cross the line, objectively, before others.
Supposing we adopt your allegory, though, I'd probably want someone who was very familiar with horses and what constitutes "The Good" where horses are involved. Otherwise, it comes down to people who are not very familiar with horses and their attributes, perhaps, and this proves problematic. People begin to select things on personal taste when this is so, more than actual craft.
reply
Usually, there is a panel of judges, and they typically can agree, if they are qualified, on what is "The Good".
If you don't agree with the other judge's opinion, then it might be good in the contest to put what the final tallies were--not necessarily which one belonged to whom--but to have some transparency in the contest so the people who entered horses have an idea of what's up. This is why the Supreme Court of the US publishes an opinion with the votes, and in that instance, names.
reply
reply
seeing as we are speaking candidly --about horses-- if i may --
had i entered a horse in such a contest-- i imagine i may have felt the same sense of accomplishment for having been shortlisted --by the sheikh himself-- as among those that entered the 10 most beautiful horses --as i would have for having received a consolation prize decided by another metric
--ill admit i dont have a very refined taste in horses --but if i had a horse that was so shortlisted by the sheikh's council then perhaps that would have given me a warm fuzzy feeling that might even have allowed me to justify the time and effort spent breeding and preparing my
horse (even though this decision be arrived upon by aid of a magik genie-lamp or others influencing the sheikhs taste) --it may even have elevated me to a higher status among the other horse breeders and afforded me certain graces and distinguishments in future contests
concerning the prize --for all intents and purposes --there can only be one winner so long as the sheikh has a grand prize -- for if there is one horse that our dear sheikh judges most beautiful from among the ten on his list then any consolation prize -- no matter the sum --will not remove the sting --i imagine-- of not having been selected as bringing the most beautiful horse even if --and perhaps more so --if i disagree with the sheikh's decision
now --in this hypothetical beauty contest --if there were a horse that was by the sheikh's standards ugly and limp --but which because of its popularity caught the sheikh's attention --then perhaps he may sway under this pressure from the populous--he may decide his taste is outdated and stands to be revisited
--but if he allowed his shortlist to be decided by another metric from the outset --let us say by the popular vote -- then any attempt to alter their decree by force might turn dagger on himself and end in his own demise
reply
I can only say that if I entered a horse that was "pretty good" and I did not place but see horses that appear to not be "pretty good" placing, then I'd rather simply write for the sake of writing than have a contest in the first place.
For the record, I've all ready been in these kinds of horse races for the majority of my life, and I've gotten pretty good at spotting where something is not representative but instead has some agenda lurking. One sign is that it violates the statistics one might expect in a reasonable situation.
Incidentally, I hope my speaking of horse racing has not made the fact of your win in a recent contest diminished in any way. You definitely earned it, and should I have placed in the top ten and had your piece won, I'd attribute that to the fact that you are a good writer and in this specific contest the tastes were such that you hit the spot for the grand prize that the judges liked. Different contest, different day, different judges, perhaps our roles would be reversed.
In my horse racing scenario, though, our roles are never going to be reversed, because something absurd has happened in the race itself. It is no longer a contest of beauty, as such. It is a contest of who you know--at least in some major way.
reply
And what would you do in the case where before the contest began, the Sheikh clearly announced to everyone that he would use a zap-genie from a magic lamp to pick ten horses?
Announce that due to the number of entries and unexpected volume, the deciding factor of the contest would have to be decided by zaps differently--as I suggested elsewhere perhaps by withholding all zaps until after the contest is over but before it was decided. Zero out the existing zaps and treat them like they didn't happen--sucks for the people who voted but sometimes democracy rattles along in ways were recounts happen.
Should the Sheikh have changed the rules when it came time for judging?
Yes, at the point it became clear the contest was going to be huge. Now there are people coming in who don't have the kinds of relationships in the channel that others do, perhaps. Writers come out of the woodwork for writing, since so few people ever ask them to. They are, by nature, a reclusive lot.
reply