Brilliant becoming annoying!?
I was solving this week's problems and I noticed that-
- There are spelling mistakes in the questions! Quadratic is written as quartic, that is written as thst.
- Two more problems by the same user (Muhammad A.) He has published 4 problems in last two weeks. I donot have anything against the guy, but this is just plain unfair. The third one is not a complaint...I just want your views on this one!
- Level 4 questions have become increasingly difficult. Or is it just me?
Please let me know your thoughts, guys!
Brilliant boasts about its "high quality and standards" but that does not really seem to be true, you guys should get your spellings checked first..
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Arshdeep Duggal
7 years, 11 months ago
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Thanks Arshdeep for your feedback. Thanks everyone for your support.
We try and minimize the extent of spelling mistakes. I'd admit that spelling mistakes do slip through our proof-reading process, as there is a lot of material that we have to cover. You are welcome to send us clarification requests to point out (perceived) spelling errors.
In the example that you are referring to, "Quartic polynomial" refers to a degree 4 polynomial. Your first response to a term that you have not seen should not be to think that it is a spelling mistake; I can assure you that you have not seen the entire universe of terms yet.
I would hope that you have better manners than to complain "This guy is contributing actively to Brilliant, I want you to stop him from doing so." I do not think that it is unfair for students to be rewarded for their hard work. Submitted problems (and solutions) are evaluated independently of the author (or their Brilliant level). Is it unfair that I chose to feature a solution that is properly written with the appropriate mathematical syntax, which would make it easier for others to understand, as opposed to a one-line equation that has no meaning to someone who can't solve the problem?
The set of problems that you receive is different from the set that others receive. We cycle through several user submitted problems each week. We tend to receive much fewer Geometry and Combinatorics questions, hence users who had 4-5 accepted at a go would result in the bunching effect that you saw.
(Let me note that you have only used the site for 3 weeks.) The problems have not gotten more difficult across all levels (with the exception of level 5, where sometimes anything goes, and it could vary week to week.) There could be several reasons why you think the problems are more difficult. The best explanation is that you have improved and are now able to understand the problem and come up with initial approaches. However, you have not crossed the threshold of being able to solve the problem, which can be frustrating. Compared to the past where you simply looked at a problem and thought "oh I can't do this, so let's not bother", it would appear that you're now spending much more time and still not making any progress. This is a great state to be in, and often indicates that you are on the cusp of a breakthrough.
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First and foremost, I take back the "quartic" argument, I should have googled it before. After revisiting my discussion post, I think I may have sounded "cocky" to some people, but I assure you that is not the case. I wrote what I felt in a manner that could have been more polite, but then English is not my mother tongue, so excuse me. Regarding your second point, if problems are selected on a n author independent basis, then I guess Its fine. But what you could do is collect all the "good" problems you receive and publish them week by week, instead of throwing them in all at once, which is exactly what's been happening. And finally I think that you have misunderstood what I wanted to point out in my last case. I was and am able to solve all the problems. But now days problems require more time, maybe that's a good thing; and I am not complaining either!!I just wanted opinions. I assure you, I have no problems with difficult questions!!And why is my discussion off the main discussions list?And you do a great job. Hats off ; Mr. Calvin, Arshdeep D.
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I noticed that you are relatively new to Brilliant, so might not have a complete sense of developments that have been happening. Note that the 8 problems which you see every week, involves a small subset of topics that students at your level are exposed to. Over time, you might see topics which do not know about, and are encouraged to explore.
Your suggestion about "collect all the good problems you receive and publish them week by week" is exactly what we are doing. Since you are new to Brilliant, you may not be aware that the "Contribute to Brilliant" is a new feature that we recently introduced. And as with all new features, it takes time for students to respond to the fact that it exists, and that there is something they can do about it. Muhammad just happened to submit a good batch of problems in the initial weeks, and so we're cycling through those problems now. Now that more students are actively submitting problems, we would be able to work towards displaying the greater variety.
Your discussion was tagged as support, since it reflects the essence of your post. Your questions had to do with the Brilliant product, as opposed to discussing about the nature of mathematics or sciences. You can access your discussion through the "Support" tab listed to the side.
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Nice response. Approximately how long would you say it takes for a submitted problem to be reviewed and accepted?
Don't blame them directly! Isn't maintaining such a huge website with so many users difficult? And regarding the difficult questions, isn't it a good thing? They are indeed maintaining high quality and standards. I am thankful to them!
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He said that he is not complaining about the level of questions!!And I strongly agree on the second thought.
If u r talking about the question Probability of Distinct Roots , then everything is correct .Bi-quadratic is also known as quartic.It is a fourth degree polynomial.
For the third,I'd suggest you to enhance your level to adapt with the difficulty.Practice makes a man perfect.As for the system,yes.Even I feel the same that Brilliant is becoming increasingly haphazard.The practice part is incomplete,all sections of a subject are not being covered,important subjects like chemistry are still the need of the hour.
first of all, you are in level 5 of number theory and you don't no the difference between quartic and quadratic function. that's a really great flaw.
1st point - i didn't found any spelling mistakes in any of the questions. If you do so please report it.
2nd point - Muhammad A. submits goog problems so his questions are selected to be featured. if you find interesting question, you can also submit them.(CHances are more that they get featured)
3rd point - Level 4 is lvl 4, you don't know difference between quartic and quadratic, so you will think that level 4 is difficult, indeed it is easy if you have complete knowledge.
(Note for you - I also get levelled up to level 5 in number theory, but since I know that I am not capable of solving those level problems that's why I report it to bradan@brilliant.org, and I get levelled down)
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Grammar Nazi
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i really wanted to correct it but your comment stopped me :P
All right; time to get Personal. Mr .whatever, Yes, I don't know what a "quartic" is. I was never taught the definition and hence I don't know it. Does that stop me from being a level 5 guy? I don't associate myself with fancy terminology, my goal is to solve a problem and learn whatever I can in the process. And level four is difficult does not mean I am not able to do it, I am able to solve every problem in level four. I am just pointing it out that the problems have gotten difficult. You and your stupid preconceptions;