Updates to the ratings algorithm

We are in the process of making updates to the ratings algorithm, so that if you are trying out problems rated significantly lower than your rating, you are immune from changes to your rating.

We want you to be able to try problems rated much lower than your rating for fun, and participate in the solution discussions, without being anxious that one misstep when entering your answer will cause a huge rating drop. I will update this thread when the update is released.

Thanks to everyone who reported this issue.

#FeatureRequests

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

I still feel embarrassed about picking up 100 points to knock off a Level 1 problem. But I'll live.

Michael Mendrin - 7 years, 2 months ago

You feel embarrassed!! Still it's fun to solve questions even if it is level one.

Ashtik Mahapatra - 7 years, 2 months ago

Yeah, that's why I do them.

Michael Mendrin - 7 years, 2 months ago

Sometimes when my internet connection is slow, I enter the answer and click on Submit more than once (say thrice). I have noticed that if the answer is wrong then my rating in that particular subject falls down too much (equivalent to entering the same wrong answer thrice). I would like to know why ratings fall if we entered the same wrong answer (I think they should be unchanged). Also bring some more subjects (Chemistry, Optics, Modern Physics,Logical Reasoning etc)

Sanjay Banerji - 7 years, 2 months ago

"More subjects", yes. For example, there are way too few probability problems under "combinatorics". Maybe "probability:" doesn't deserve its own category, but certainly it'd be nice to expand on that topic. It seems almost overlooked. Likewise, there's a lot more to physics than "Mechanics" and "Electromagnetism". How all of this is going to be categorized and sorted out as Brilliant expands, I don't know, but I'm sure people will think of something.

Michael Mendrin - 7 years, 2 months ago

Does this mean the ratings will not increase if we solve a lower level problem?

Shabarish Ch - 7 years, 2 months ago

Yes, if the problem is rated much lower than your rating, your rating will not increase if you get it right, and it will not decrease if you get it wrong.

Suyeon Khim Staff - 7 years, 2 months ago

What is the minimum difference between our rating and the problem for our ratings to not change?

Avineil Jain - 7 years, 2 months ago

Fair enough !!

Vishal Sharma - 7 years, 2 months ago

Well done staff.

Ashtik Mahapatra - 7 years, 2 months ago

On December in 2013, every problem had a tag of technique that could be used to get the solution. That was awesome for learning how to approach and I learned so many by those tags on Dec'13. If you think it is rational, please take it back

Tahsin Ahmed - 7 years, 2 months ago

Hello I wold like to inform that if you want to build audience then be back with the old format of brilliant

Anubhav Singh - 7 years, 2 months ago

Many people, like me, actually like this format a lot more than the old one. The old format was so limited, with 8 questions per week, then down to only 4 questions per week. Now with this type of format, I can browse through so many problems without limitations. I feel free to solve whatever I want with this new format. Do you see my perspective?

Daniel Liu - 7 years, 2 months ago

@Anubhav Singh , you've said this in a lot of places. The staff has seen all of your posts and gets the idea. Just saying because it's starting to look like you are spamming. If you send Calvin, Sue, Silas, etc. an email, then they will tell you exactly what they are doing to accommodate your requests. But in the mean time, this is definitely not the time to talk about the format of the entire website, just the ratings system.

Trevor B. - 7 years, 2 months ago

Good solution this. This would solve most of our problems with ratings.

Ashtik Mahapatra - 7 years, 2 months ago

Thank you! :D

Finn Hulse - 7 years, 2 months 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}`	$\boxed{123}$