After he read my paper, Anthony told me something that I already knew — that the Discussion section was brief, and the Conclusion sudden. I had been both sick of working on the paper, and having trouble thinking about it in natural language. So those parts were… lacking. Anthony's gentle remarks increased my sense that they were inadequate.

I have expanded and reörganized the Discussion section (cannibalizing part of the Conclusion), and added to the Future Work section between it and the Conclusion. In that context, the Conclusion should seem less sudden, and I have added some thoughts to it (as well as having taken one from it).

Anthony also suggested that the paper could be made more accessible by discussion of the historical background of the problem, and of real-world examples. But, as I told him, I fear to alienate experts by such discussion; and I have since learned that I am already bumping-up against the size-limits for a submission to the journal of my choice.

Anyway, the latest version of my paper is at

Tags: decision theory, papers, writing

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