Report A Problem - What It Means - Calvin Lin

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We have released a way to keep you informed about problems which have potential issues in them. When several people have reported a problem, the above banner will be displayed.

As a problem solver,

be aware that the answer may not be correct.
this problem can still affect your ratings. However, if there are issues with the problem, then those who got it wrong will have their ratings refunded (see below).
help us identify such problems by actively reporting them.

For your reference, you can look at Example Of Reported Problem.

As a problem creator, respond to clarification requests and disputes in a timely manner by editing or deleting the problem. Once you see such a banner appear on your problem, you may no longer edit or delete the problems in the usual way. Instead, you choose from the following options in a dropdown menu:

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1) Delete the problem
This deletes the problem from your feed, and refunds the ratings for those who got it wrong.
2) Change the answer
Remember to explain why. You may reference the solution discussions. Once the answer is updated (after review), the corresponding rating changes will occur.
3) Adjust the wording of the problem.
Use this for significant changes which affect the problem. E.g. You used “integer” but meant “real number”. This will also refund the ratings for those who got it wrong.
4) Make no changes, explain existing problem to moderator.
Remember to explain why. You may reference the solution discussions. You can then make minor edits to the question, without affecting the ratings of others.

Once you have made the corresponding change, it will be reviewed.

Markdown

Appears as

*italics* or _italics_

italics

**bold** or __bold__

bold


- bulleted
- list

bulleted
list


1. numbered
2. list

numbered
list

Note: you must add a full line of space before and after lists for them to show up correctly

paragraph 1

paragraph 2

paragraph 1

paragraph 2

[example link](https://brilliant.org)

example link

> This is a quote

This is a quote

    # I indented these lines
    # 4 spaces, and now they show
    # up as a code block.

    print "hello world"

# I indented these lines
# 4 spaces, and now they show
# up as a code block.

print "hello world"

Math

Appears as

Remember to wrap math in $ ... $ or \[ ... \] to ensure proper formatting.

2 \times 3

2 \times 3

2^{34}

2^{34}

a_{i-1}

a_{i-1}

\frac{2}{3}

\frac{2}{3}

\sqrt{2}

\sqrt{2}

\sum_{i=1}^3

\sum_{i=1}^3

\sin \theta

\sin \theta

\boxed{123}

\boxed{123}

Easy Math Editor

This discussion board is a place to discuss our Daily Challenges and the math and science related to those challenges. Explanations are more than just a solution — they should explain the steps and thinking strategies that you used to obtain the solution. Comments should further the discussion of math and science.

When posting on Brilliant:

Use the emojis to react to an explanation, whether you're congratulating a job well done , or just really confused .
Ask specific questions about the challenge or the steps in somebody's explanation. Well-posed questions can add a lot to the discussion, but posting "I don't understand!" doesn't help anyone.
Try to contribute something new to the discussion, whether it is an extension, generalization or other idea related to the challenge.
Stay on topic — we're all here to learn more about math and science, not to hear about your favorite get-rich-quick scheme or current world events.

Markdown	Appears as
`italics` or `_italics_`	italics
`bold` or `__bold__`	bold
- bulleted - list	bulleted list
1. numbered 2. list	numbered list
Note: you must add a full line of space before and after lists for them to show up correctly
paragraph 1 paragraph 2	paragraph 1 paragraph 2
`[example link](https://brilliant.org)`	example link
`> This is a quote`	This is a quote
# I indented these lines # 4 spaces, and now they show # up as a code block. print "hello world"	# I indented these lines # 4 spaces, and now they show # up as a code block. print "hello world"

Math	Appears as
Remember to wrap math in `$` ... `$` or `\[` ... `\]` to ensure proper formatting.
`2 \times 3`	$2 \times 3$
`2^{34}`	$2^{34}$
`a_{i-1}`	$a_{i-1}$
`\frac{2}{3}`	$\frac{2}{3}$
`\sqrt{2}`	$\sqrt{2}$
`\sum_{i=1}^3`	$\sum_{i=1}^3$
`\sin \theta`	$\sin \theta$
`\boxed{123}`	$\boxed{123}$

Comments

Thank you for giving us the ability to change the answer to our problems! I've needed this don a couple times, and it was quite embarrassing while the answer was incorrect. This is a great change!

Trevor B. - 7 years, 1 month ago

As always, if you want to update your answer (especially if it hasn't been reported), please send me an email (Calvin@Brilliant.org)

Calvin Lin Staff - 7 years, 1 month ago

This is really cool.....Brilliant is getting more brilliant day by day!!!!!!!!!!!!

Rohit Nair - 7 years, 1 month ago

good work.. I appreciate team Brilliant for their vibrant challenging problems.All your changes are welcome.

Brahmam Meka - 7 years, 1 month ago

Can you see if any of your problems are flagged without clicking on it?

Finn Hulse - 7 years, 1 month ago

As this is a new feature, we have not built out nice capabilities like this. If reporting works well, we will make it much easier to review. This could include being sent an email (digest?) for problems that are being reported.

Hmm. I think it'd be nice if the problems themselves had a nice glowing, light red color when viewed from a feed or a set.

Very nice feature.

But what if a valid problem is reported by multiple members who didn´t solve it correctly? Just a moderator will be able to change a problem status to "flagged" or is automatic feature?

Eloy Machado - 7 years, 1 month ago

If a problem is "wrongly" reported (or has a history of being wrongly reported), we have a way to prevent further banners from showing up. This would apply in cases where people easily misunderstand the conditions / misread the problem.

Unless the problem is very badly worded, the problem creator should not need to make repeated edits. This would make it fairer to people who are working on the problem.

thnkx for making this change...

Max B - 7 years, 1 month ago

Is there a way to change the options (not necessarily the answer) of a multiple choice question?

Shabarish Ch - 7 years, 1 month ago

No. My suggestion would be to delete the problem and start over.

It is unlikely that we would implement such a change.

But at least can we see what the options were after posting the problem? It helps in writing a solution, explaining why the other options are wrong...

@Shabarish Ch – We are working on giving everyone the ability to see the options in a condensed way after they solved the problem.

@Calvin Lin – That's nice..

I have a question: How many is 'multiple members'?

Mursalin Habib - 7 years, 1 month ago

It depends on how 'reputable' the source is.

For reliably good members (a clear example would be me), 1 report would be sufficient to trigger the banner. For new members with a low rating, it could take 3 reports before a Level 1 problem is flagged, and several more before a Level 5 problem is flagged.

We're also playing around with this algorithm, and will consider other making it stricter or more relaxed. I'm currently against "banner once anyone reports" reports do arise from misreading / misunderstanding the problem / terminology.

To brilliant sir i have reported a bug in this brilliant website. This is not only affecting the person doing the problem but also making the person gain more points by a wrong method. A person is creating 2 accounts and he/she is using one account as a guide and the other as an original account. They are typing the answer in the 1st account and if the answer is wrong then they r seeing the correct answer and typing the answer in the other account. Due to this the people who have really worked to get an answer are really of no use.so i request u to immediately take an action on this issue and solve this problem. HOPE TO GET A BETTER RESULT.

Vishwa Tej - 6 years, 5 months ago

Hi Vishwa, Thanks for raising your concerns. Unfortunately, I am not able to police how everyone uses the internet, nor am I enable to enforce any kind of moral code amongst everyone. If I could, I would happily be ending all wars (and thus not be working here).

At the end of the day, how one person decides to use resources is up to him/her. The person who cheats and merely gets the momentary satisfaction of a green screen, is not going to have any long term value. The person who puts the effort into thinking about these interesting questions and deciding that math and science is actually useful and fun, would have a whole world of opportunities open to them. Furthermore, the Brilliant community praises, and values, written solutions to a problem, which help shed light on the thought process. This is something that the latter can contribute and benefit from, but not the former. As such, I strongly disagree with "the people who have really worked to get an answer are really of no use".

Calvin Lin Staff - 6 years, 5 months ago

knowing an answer is not important. how we arrived at an answer is important. bluffing will not serve any purpose. it is a cool place where we get to a challenge. face it. in the way you learn many things. if , any body cheats that is his problem. he is not here to learn .points are not the real count. what we learn is remains with us always.

Brahmam Meka - 6 years, 5 months ago

yes sir u r truly right! it is hard work that makes them success...

When I open it(the wrong problem), it will be add to the list of (started problems)? & is it will be better if the wrong problem have a sign like ⛔or 🚫behind the head line of it?, to notify us there is some issues with this problem before we open it.

Mahdi Al-kawaz - 7 years, 1 month ago

As with any other problem, it will be added to your list of started problems.

As mentioned below, we have not built out any nice capabilities as yet.

What if I found a good problem somewhere (website, olymbiad,..etc) and I can't find the right answer because it's higher than my ability to solve it but I know others will like it..what I suppose to do then ? Put a random answer then wait to someone report it to correct it?

Mahdi Al-kawaz - 7 years ago

@Mahdi Al-kawaz – You can post it as a note, and ask others how they would approach it.

Calvin Lin Staff - 7 years ago

Math	Appears as
Remember to wrap math in `\(` ... `\)` or `\[` ... `\]` to ensure proper formatting.
`2 \times 3`	$2 \times 3$
`2^{34}`	$2^{34}$
`a_{i-1}`	$a_{i-1}$
`\frac{2}{3}`	$\frac{2}{3}$
`\sqrt{2}`	$\sqrt{2}$
`\sum_{i=1}^3`	$\sum_{i=1}^3$
`\sin \theta`	$\sin \theta$
`\boxed{123}`	$\boxed{123}$