Search found 387 matches

by heterodyne
Sun Mar 28, 2021 12:08 am
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: Fire is not a substance
Replies: 8
Views: 4742

Re: Fire is not a substance

I think that the scope of the word "substance" is relatively contentious and is used to make different distinctions in different places, but let's bracket that. I think context matters. In the discourses that make up mythology and religion, fire is (often) treated and talked about as a sub...
by heterodyne
Mon Mar 08, 2021 2:49 am
Forum: College area archives
Topic: NOVEL: A Long Fiction Only Tournament
Replies: 9
Views: 3990

Re: NOVEL: A Long Fiction Only Tournament (February 2022)

For what it's worth, I don't think you should shy away from ideas that have "been done" -- this is just a general pet peeve with quizbowl writing, but I think (for instance) something like Queequeg's tattoos can sustain (and has sustained!) multiple tossups. I like hearing a new take on an...
by heterodyne
Sun Mar 07, 2021 5:38 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: NOVEL: A Long Fiction Only Tournament
Replies: 9
Views: 3990

Re: NOVEL: A Long Fiction Only Tournament (February 2022)

Themed questions might focus on, for instance, a particular event (“the riot at the end of The Day of the Locust”), a specific character trait (phallic associations with "Caspar Goodwood"), or a notable thing/object ("Queequeg’s tattoos," "Ahab’s harpoon"), among many ...
by heterodyne
Sat Jan 30, 2021 5:02 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: 2021 ACF Nationals Qualifier
Replies: 19
Views: 11267

Re: 2021 ACF Nationals Qualifier

This seems pretty reasonable given the circumstances, though I'd like to make one suggestion. As a precaution for the possibility of a lot of demand and not enough slots to try out enough teams, I think it would be a good idea to initially restrict registration for this event to a school's A and B ...
by heterodyne
Fri Dec 18, 2020 12:06 am
Forum: College area archives
Topic: Scattergories 5 (Summer 2021)
Replies: 6
Views: 2402

Re: Scattergories 5 (Summer 2021)

would love to play this with people who are good at art and poetry especially, hit me up if that's you!
by heterodyne
Wed Dec 02, 2020 1:11 am
Forum: College area archives
Topic: 2020 FLopen - Specific Question Discussion
Replies: 55
Views: 19265

Re: Specific Question Discussion

Could I see the Nietzsche bonus (centered around The Antichrist I think? I can't remember exactly.) I'm rather sure that one of the answerlines needs to be altered or expanded, but I should double-check the text first.
by heterodyne
Tue Dec 01, 2020 3:03 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: 2020 FLopen - Thanks and Set General Discussion
Replies: 9
Views: 2892

Re: Thanks and Set General Discussion

I'm pretty bad at assessing a set without reading it over, but I want to second what Will said about the expanded distribution and the balance of the lit questions. I also felt like the "thought"-type stuff covered a refreshingly broad range of approaches and topics. For the most part, the...
by heterodyne
Sun Nov 22, 2020 2:15 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: (Format Poll Added) FLopen 2020 Open Main Site @ Discord (11/21/2020)
Replies: 15
Views: 9254

Re: (Format Poll Added) FLopen 2020 Open Main Site @ Discord (11/21/2020)

This tournament was, in general, very well run, and I want to thank the staffers who made that possible. Getting through 11 rounds of difficult 22/22 with 75 minutes of break time in about 11.5 hours would be commendable in person, let alone online! I also think the "hand visible" rule was...
by heterodyne
Sun Sep 27, 2020 12:27 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: Collegiate Preseason Poll 2020-1
Replies: 14
Views: 7810

Re: Collegiate Preseason Poll 2020-1

A combination of Tim and (in my opinion) Stanford being underranked in last year's postseason poll.
by heterodyne
Sat Aug 01, 2020 3:25 pm
Forum: Community Discussion
Topic: Y'all need to pay attention to your own community
Replies: 51
Views: 64112

Re: Y'all need to pay attention to your own community

One thing I would like to stress from Mahria's post is a point which has been repeatedly pointed out: men who perform well are repeatedly forgiven for their outbursts. Forgetting everything that Luke had done in high school, much of which was unknown at the time, how was anyone in club leadership o...
by heterodyne
Fri May 08, 2020 3:55 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: It's Time To D-D-D-D....Duel! (Challenge: Columbia vs. Chicago)
Replies: 49
Views: 17292

Re: It's Time To D-D-D-D....Duel! (Challenge: Columbia vs. Chicago)

A Yu-Gi-Oh match is composed of three duels. I suggest that Columbia and Chicago B have a play-in game to conclude ours– the winner can then play Chicago A. Yeah the goofiness of my post aside, I do mean this sincerely - I think a lot of folks want to see this happen, I'd obviously like to see this...
by heterodyne
Fri May 08, 2020 3:17 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: It's Time To D-D-D-D....Duel! (Challenge: Columbia vs. Chicago)
Replies: 49
Views: 17292

Re: It's Time To D-D-D-D....Duel! (Challenge: Columbia vs. Chicago)

A Yu-Gi-Oh match is composed of three duels. I suggest that Columbia and Chicago B have a play-in game to conclude ours– the winner can then play Chicago A.
by heterodyne
Fri Apr 03, 2020 1:17 am
Forum: College area archives
Topic: This Time, A Stern Warning
Replies: 179
Views: 146938

Re: This Time, A Stern Warning

You say that there is not enough evidence to make "a formal accusation", which suggests that you believe you have met some lesser standard of evidence which warrants only anonymous accusations. You are mistaken. There is no such standard. Anonymous accusations are irresponsible and harmful...
by heterodyne
Sat Mar 14, 2020 4:50 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: College Nationals and Its Problems
Replies: 132
Views: 54059

Re: College Nationals and Its Problems

From a perception perspective, people generally feel better about getting thrashed by their "equals" than by people with a perceived advantage - whether real or not (and it could very well be real). Is this true? I have always felt better about losing to people with more experience than m...
by heterodyne
Sat Mar 14, 2020 1:13 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: College Nationals and Its Problems
Replies: 132
Views: 54059

Re: College Nationals and Its Problems

Without regards to difficulty this is a good bonus. With regards to difficulty, you have to have the knowledge of a grad student in the field to 30, and the knowledge of a physics student who has taken the right upper division classes to 20. This bonus doesn't strike me as a very good example. For ...
by heterodyne
Fri Mar 13, 2020 9:17 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: College Nationals and Its Problems
Replies: 132
Views: 54059

Re: College Nationals and Its Problems

Working hard to improve at an activity because you enjoy participating in it, even though it might give you no material benefit, is good. It strikes me as quite odd that your post presents this as bad.
by heterodyne
Fri Mar 13, 2020 7:56 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: College Nationals and Its Problems
Replies: 132
Views: 54059

Re: College Nationals and Its Problems

I've said this elsewhere, but I'd like to note that the chance to play the best people in school was quite attractive to me when I started college quizbowl. Playing better opponents is more fun, I think. I suppose we could make things less fun, by limiting the field to only a portion of the people i...
by heterodyne
Fri Mar 13, 2020 7:34 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: College Nationals and Its Problems
Replies: 132
Views: 54059

Re: College Nationals and Its Problems

I whole-heartedly agree with this post. The difficulty of ACF Nats is absurd. Hard bonus parts and early tossup clues are essentially wasted in distinguishing teams. There's no reason to expect writers to write lines and lines of clues that maybe 3 people are going to get any information out of wha...
by heterodyne
Fri Mar 13, 2020 3:08 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: College Nationals and Its Problems
Replies: 132
Views: 54059

Re: College Nationals and Its Problems

I would, in general, echo what others have suggested in saying that middle parts are a good place to target if you want to make your set feel subjectively gentler. I appreciate that ACF Nats hard parts can get into interesting and unexplored territory, but those are a lot easier to stomach when you ...
by heterodyne
Fri Mar 13, 2020 11:49 am
Forum: College area archives
Topic: College Nationals and Its Problems
Replies: 132
Views: 54059

Re: College Nationals and Its Problems

300 teams know who's gonna dominate HSNCT and that it's not them; a solid 200+ of them still have "fight for 6-4" as a legitimate aspiration, and I think a lot of the kids in the neighborhood that Dylan's quoting are among those 200 teams. There's nothing for those kids in college nats; t...
by heterodyne
Sun Mar 08, 2020 9:43 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: Reforming Tournament and Set Announcements
Replies: 5
Views: 2222

Re: Reforming Tournament and Set Announcements

Who do you suggest perform the work of building and maintaining this site? That is, do you take this as a suggestion aimed at organizations, a suggestion aimed at particular individuals, or a suggestion aimed at any individual who desires to use their time and energy executing your recommendations?
by heterodyne
Mon Mar 02, 2020 4:02 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: 2020 Terrapin Open: Thanks and General Discussion
Replies: 43
Views: 8054

Re: 2020 Terrapin Open: Thanks and General Discussion

We literally offer more classes on the philosophy of physics than we do on continental philosophy. This is a useful fact for illustrating the degree to which your department is not representative of the norm in the way that you clearly take it to be. For instance, PhilPapers indexes about 31k paper...
by heterodyne
Sun Mar 01, 2020 10:16 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: 2020 Terrapin Open: Thanks and General Discussion
Replies: 43
Views: 8054

Re: 2020 Terrapin Open: Thanks and General Discussion

Looking through course listings for a binary "is there Nietzsche, or is there no Nietzsche?" metric seems silly -- it says nothing about the degree to which continental thinkers like Nietzsche or Foucault are emphasized in academic philosophy, or the ways in which they are engaged with by...
by heterodyne
Sun Mar 01, 2020 9:12 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: 2020 Terrapin Open: Thanks and General Discussion
Replies: 43
Views: 8054

Re: 2020 Terrapin Open: Thanks and General Discussion

Compared to other Anglo-American institutions, Chicago has an extremely odd department with very nonstandard course offerings. I don't think your experience is generalizable. You're right! That's precisely my point; taking my experience to be the norm would be quite foolish, just as taking yours to...
by heterodyne
Sun Mar 01, 2020 5:00 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: 2020 Terrapin Open: Thanks and General Discussion
Replies: 43
Views: 8054

Re: 2020 Terrapin Open: Thanks and General Discussion

Moreover, the "philosophy" you encounter in comparative literature or English departments is usually completely divorced from the undergraduate philosophy curriculum: Butler, Lacan, Derrida, etc. You'd be hard pressed to find a major university in the English-speaking world where you'd re...
by heterodyne
Sun Mar 01, 2020 10:23 am
Forum: College area archives
Topic: 2020 Terrapin Open: Thanks and General Discussion
Replies: 43
Views: 8054

Re: 2020 Terrapin Open: Thanks and General Discussion

At UMD and most major Anglo-American universities, there aren't philosophy classes where you read Nietzsche or Foucault, and I don't think they should be included in the philosophy distribution. I think you're far more likely to engage with them in comparative literature classes or somewhere else. ...
by heterodyne
Tue Feb 11, 2020 12:29 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: 2020 Division I SCT: specific question discussion
Replies: 78
Views: 16699

Re: 2020 Division I SCT: specific question discussion

I think the clue about English translations of "ousia" is potentially misleading, since Heidegger's argument for translating "ousia" as "Being" is pretty significant and has been taken up by a good swathe of subsequent continental metaphysics.
by heterodyne
Mon Dec 02, 2019 12:39 am
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: Best Song of the 2010s Bracket
Replies: 349
Views: 2323227

Re: Best Song of the 2010s Bracket

Robyn - Dancing on My Own vs. Lil Nas X (ft. Billy Ray Cyrus) - Old Town Road - Remix I like both of these songs a lot, but went with my inner Pitchfork on this one Drake - Hotline Bling vs. Angel Olsen - Shut Up Kiss Me Sufjan Stevens and Gallant permanently ruined Hotline Bling for me so Shut Up ...
by heterodyne
Tue Nov 19, 2019 8:37 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: Fall Open @ UIUC (11/16/2019)
Replies: 13
Views: 5825

Re: Fall Open @ UIUC (11/16/2019)

This tournament was fun and well-run. Thanks, UIUC! One note: one of my club-mates who played for a different team said that they were deprived of a game because Chicago D left before the last round, apparently to catch a train. This is, uh, not great of them. The tournament didn't really go abnorm...
by heterodyne
Sun Oct 27, 2019 3:27 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: 2019 Penn Bowl - Specific Question Discussion Thread
Replies: 60
Views: 10258

Re: Specific Question Discussion Thread

I was also wondering about the "decisive moment" clue in the walking tossup. I buzzed knowing that the clue was talking about Cartier-Bresson's photo of Giacometti, but I had absolutely no idea what the question was asking for. I'm not sure if the picture has a specific title, but I felt ...
by heterodyne
Mon Oct 07, 2019 10:18 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: A Plea for No More Excuses
Replies: 11
Views: 7670

Re: A Plea for No More Excuses

The original philosophy editor for this year's NSC ended up doing the philosophy for this year's Chicago Open (quite well, I might add). I guess editing 1/1 isn't really that "major" from my perspective, but for others I'm sure it's a big deal. Just want to clarify some things, since (spo...
by heterodyne
Thu Aug 08, 2019 12:52 am
Forum: College area archives
Topic: CO 2019 Discussion
Replies: 48
Views: 31823

Re: CO 2019 Discussion

I'd also like to push back on the idea that "only 14 out of 34 questions on analytic content wouldn't be sufficient" or that 3/2 contemporary analytic content isn't enough, or the general trend of asking a lot of analytic philosophy at many hard tournaments. If we think about the ways tha...
by heterodyne
Wed Aug 07, 2019 4:43 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: CO 2019 Discussion
Replies: 48
Views: 31823

Re: CO 2019 Discussion

This set's difficulty was mostly fine. By and large I thought it "got things right" outside of having a bit much bonus variation in the too-hard tail direction and social science / philosophy being a bit more daunting than the other areas - your mileage may vary, but I don't think our tea...
by heterodyne
Wed Aug 07, 2019 4:10 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: CO 2019 Discussion
Replies: 48
Views: 31823

Re: CO 2019 Discussion

I edited the philosophy for this tournament, and am very happy to have received largely positive feedback on it (although I would certainly like to hear from anyone who didn't like it, since it was far from perfect.) This was my first outing editing submitted packets, as well as my first attempt at ...
by heterodyne
Thu Jul 25, 2019 11:35 am
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: Different Styles of Making Flashcards
Replies: 11
Views: 8870

Re: Different Styles of Making Flashcards

In addition to the great points other have made above, one reason you might want to use flashcards is if you have trouble regulating your studying. A given number of flashcards is an easily measurable daily benchmark, and will keep you from having to think about study time and efficiency in the same...
by heterodyne
Wed Jul 24, 2019 1:15 am
Forum: Community Discussion
Topic: Climate change and quizbowl
Replies: 29
Views: 26526

Re: Climate change and quizbowl

Also, from a pragmatic point of view, air travel is going to have to become drastically less common in the near future or we're all screwed -- might as well start adapting to it.
by heterodyne
Tue Jul 23, 2019 11:41 pm
Forum: Community Discussion
Topic: Climate change and quizbowl
Replies: 29
Views: 26526

Re: Climate change and quizbowl

I endorse these posts.
by heterodyne
Fri May 10, 2019 7:36 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: The Quizbowl discord, and why cheating on it is still cheating and still bad
Replies: 18
Views: 12271

Re: The Quizbowl discord, and why cheating on it is still cheating and still bad

Jakob admitted in his post that this was not proof, nor has he talked to the tournament director. Your commitment to intransigence is really stunning. Have you, perhaps, considered that things might be slightly more complex than "is it conclusive proof or is it not?" Recognizing that the ...
by heterodyne
Fri May 10, 2019 7:12 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: The Quizbowl discord, and why cheating on it is still cheating and still bad
Replies: 18
Views: 12271

Re: The Quizbowl discord, and why cheating on it is still cheating and still bad

Suggesting that the stats Rama put up are in the same neighborhood of implausiblity as those Jakob cited is idiocy at best and intellectual dishonesty at worst. Yes, I agree that saying Rama cheated would be absurd, but nonetheless people did say he cheated, so I was using it as an example of why a...
by heterodyne
Fri May 10, 2019 7:02 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: The Quizbowl discord, and why cheating on it is still cheating and still bad
Replies: 18
Views: 12271

Re: The Quizbowl discord, and why cheating on it is still cheating and still bad

Yeah, I think winning ICT versus not even making top bracket at states is dramatically different. Also, did the Andy Watkins story emerge because people looked at the stats again, or did it emerge because NAQT found actual evidence that was a smoking gun? Once again, the stats provided are far more...
by heterodyne
Fri May 10, 2019 6:47 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: The Quizbowl discord, and why cheating on it is still cheating and still bad
Replies: 18
Views: 12271

Re: The Quizbowl discord, and why cheating on it is still cheating and still bad

More recently, some of the same people that Jakob has cited in his exposé of Shubham have told me and other people that they believed that Ramapriya cheated at the online mirror of Stanford Housewrite. While he did indeed have some potentially suspicious buzzes, and (so I've been told) he's had a &...
by heterodyne
Sun May 05, 2019 2:00 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: UPDATE - All the Lit We Cannot See (2020)
Replies: 10
Views: 4200

Re: Announcement - All the Lit We Cannot See (Winter 2019)

I am quite excited for this tournament's existence, and would be happy to either contribute to its completion or play it.
by heterodyne
Wed Apr 24, 2019 1:18 am
Forum: College area archives
Topic: Player Poll 2019
Replies: 92
Views: 63830

Re: Player Poll 2019

Here are some facts about my teammates that will hopefully make you rank them higher. John Lawrence deals with some of the most overlap of any top scorer in the field. Matthew and I are buzzing on lit, I am buzzing on philosophy, Kai is buzzing on music and art, all of us doing so pretty well (but s...
by heterodyne
Thu Apr 18, 2019 5:03 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: ACF Nationals 2019 discussion: Logistics/format
Replies: 37
Views: 22191

Re: ACF Nationals 2019 discussion: Logistics/format

Essentially, this is the classic "pick 2 out of 3" situation: * Large ACF Nationals, with more than 40 teams * Championship bracket with 10+ teams playing a full round-robin * Tournament of a length that writers and editors can produce at a high quality; that moderators can read without l...
by heterodyne
Mon Apr 15, 2019 2:55 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: Where are you going next year? (Collegiate 2019)
Replies: 37
Views: 27859

Re: Where are you going next year? (Collegiate 2019)

I will be starting an two-year MA program at UChicago's Divinity School. I intend to continue to play.
by heterodyne
Wed Apr 03, 2019 12:32 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: ANNOUNCEMENT: Michigan Winter Tournament (Winter 2020)
Replies: 16
Views: 13257

Re: ANNOUNCEMENT: Michigan Winter Tournament (Winter 2020)

Does this tournament have a head editor? If not, how do you plan on handling the well-documented issues that arise in the absence of one?
by heterodyne
Tue Mar 26, 2019 2:06 am
Forum: College area archives
Topic: 2019 PIANO/MO Specific Question Discussion
Replies: 110
Views: 292280

Re: 2019 PIANO/MO Specific Question Discussion

Hylomorphism is the core concept of Aristotelian metaphysics and substance-based metaphysics continued to be influential until the early modern period - if you've taken an intro to ancient philosophy or intro to medieval/early modern metaphysics you've engaged with a substance metaphysics. In fact, ...
by heterodyne
Wed Mar 20, 2019 9:08 pm
Forum: Quizbowl History Forum
Topic: Happy 6th Watkinsgate Anniversary!
Replies: 18
Views: 18211

Re: Happy 6th Watkinsgate Anniversary!

Edit: I've asked a few non-involved science people about this (withholding names) and they unanimously agreed that it was not my place to jump in; obviously, this is a different community with a very defined set of justified beefs. I agree with this; the fact that he cheated at quizbowl is a matter...
by heterodyne
Tue Mar 19, 2019 12:57 pm
Forum: Community Discussion
Topic: How We Treat Each Other: 2019
Replies: 32
Views: 26374

Re: How We Treat Each Other: 2019

OK, but if someone has a friend group who you see only in an extremely limited window of time, one would think that friend group would make a point of socializing after the event that has attracted them. I've said this before, but I think it's bizarre, to say the least, that quizbowl regularly conv...
by heterodyne
Tue Mar 19, 2019 12:25 pm
Forum: Community Discussion
Topic: How We Treat Each Other: 2019
Replies: 32
Views: 26374

Re: How We Treat Each Other: 2019

Why is it like pulling teeth for me to show up to ICT and convince people to leave the tournament at the end of the day and go eat a good dinner and then go out to enjoy a little nightlife in one of the largest cities in America? Isn't that what friends do? I enjoy the Chicago dining and nightlife ...