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Changes To The Challenge

Moochie said:
I'm sure our learned friends can venture an opinion. You've just shown precisely what a proofreader needs to overcome before he or she is any good. :)

M.
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I know I'm adding to the thread derail, but it's a good point.
In "Consciousness Explained", Daniel Dennett talks of "hunt the thimble", the game in which you miss what's right in front of your eyes, because it isn't movng (i.e., it doesn't stand out). I think certain words are the same; they are so innocuous that you miss the fact they're out of place, misspelled, or just there at all. We all know the "keep off off the grass" example (if you missed that, re-read the phrase in quotes), and I think this is one more such example. The brain simply slides over innocuous words more than it does over violent words such as "blood", or "axe", or "murder". We're hardwired that way.
And now I've completely derailed the thread...
 
Kimpatsu said:
I know I'm adding to the thread derail, but it's a good point.
In "Consciousness Explained", Daniel Dennett talks of "hunt the thimble", the game in which you miss what's right in front of your eyes, because it isn't movng (i.e., it doesn't stand out). I think certain words are the same; they are so innocuous that you miss the fact they're out of place, misspelled, or just there at all. We all know the "keep off off the grass" example (if you missed that, re-read the phrase in quotes), and I think this is one more such example. The brain simply slides over innocuous words more than it does over violent words such as "blood", or "axe", or "murder". We're hardwired that way.
And now I've completely derailed the thread...
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Yes... And no. You can train yourself to see everything.

Apropos of nothing, at my last job someone showed me a variation of some text that was similar to text that had been on the packaging of a popular brand of cigarettes, text that contained multiple repetitions of the preposition "of."

The test was to count how many times the word "of" appeared in the text.

Most people, it seems, got it wrong. My guess is that they got it wrong because they read the paragraph for sense at the same time as they were counting the word, "of."

I always produced the exact number of iterations of "of." People were surprised. How did I do it?

Simple. I didn't read the text. I just tallied the number of "of"s.

When I told people this, I got glazed stares, similar to when you tell a Christian that there isn't a god. :)

M.
 
Kimpatsu said:
Everything? I doubt that. More? Certainly.
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To doubt is a good starting point.
To remain doubtful after the experience of my father-in-law is to be an idiot.

My father-in-law was a proofreader.
Before his retirement he had trained himself to poofread a hole book without eror.
He is also a walking dictionary - with nuances!
He reads seven books at a time.
To talk with him is to take a random walk through literary space.

BJ
 
Reager said:
Well, the good thing is that there is no "ticking clock" to worry about, ...
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Wanna bet?



Reager said:
... if things are such that Randi's April 1st date needed to be pushed back. The "offensive" portion of the new challenge can be implimented at any time.
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Oh come on. What kind of namby-pamby apologist rubbish is that?

The announcement about the changes as of 1st April were made months ago and if you check the date of this thread, it's over six months since the changes were mooted. We weren't promised a new wheel, just a change in focus for the challenge. Toyota would have a whole new line in production in six months.

I'd actually be very interested to know what has happening, is happening and what will happen from here on, given that we're already a week past the "commencement".

If there are holdups, it would smack of gross incompetence rather than, "Oh, they're doing the best they can".

The challenge itself is relatively meaningless as nobody's ever actually got to the challenge stage, but it is a focal point for JREF. Ignoring yet another deadline just makes JREF look shabby. I'll certainly be interested in what Jeff has to say. (if anything)

In fact, I'll PM him to ask for an update right now.
 
The Atheist said:
If there are holdups, it would smack of gross incompetence rather than, "Oh, they're doing the best they can".

The challenge itself is relatively meaningless as nobody's ever actually got to the challenge stage, but it is a focal point for JREF. Ignoring yet another deadline just makes JREF look shabby.
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I agree; I was referring to the 99% of the population who have never heard of the JREF or the challenge.
 
I sent a PM to Jeff on the 7th, as mentioned, and I see no reply yet.

I note that Jeff has posted elsewhere in the meantime.
 
Edge has been waiting since early February for a reply from Jeff, so I hope you have other things to do in the mean time. ;)

- he says he has too many things to attend to.
 
BillyJoe said:
Edge has been waiting since early February for a reply from Jeff, so I hope you have other things to do in the mean time. ;)

- he says he has too many things to attend to.
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Oh, I'm not holding my breath.

LOL, I just noticed your new address! Gotcha!
 
Response to my PM:

JeffWagg said:
Yes, we had hoped to do more. But illness and unexpected things cropping up got in the way. We will be having a bigger announcement of some sort in the future.
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There you go, timeframe all sorted out now - "In the future".
 
"We will be having a bigger announcement of some sort in the future."

This stinks!

There, I said it.
 
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