Peer Review

 

The fool doth think he is wise, but the wise man knows himself to be a fool.

—William Shakespeare

This chapter is included to demonstrate the importance of the process step called peer review and to demonstrate just one of the many, many times I was made a fool by these puzzles:

If “Ten by thirteen” has nothing to do with trees and isn’t ten times thirteen feet, then what does it mean? My first thought was that it might be 130 yards, rather than feet. Using Google Earth I verified that it was around 130 yards from directly in front of the Lincoln statue to where I’d estimated the fixture (post) to be. Unfortunately the post was covered by trees, so I had to estimate its location based on the Google Earth 360 degree picture taken from the approximate dig site.

Then I noticed that the direction from the Lincoln statue to the post embedded in the fence appeared to be around 313 degrees, which made me think—What if “ten by thirteen” combined both the distance and the direction? Ten o’clock could refer to 300 degrees, making “ten by thirteen” refer to ten o’clock plus 13 degrees giving us 313 degrees. This sounded like something Byron might do. I measured the angle on my computer screen and it came out exactly right.

When we’ve done our homework, got the answers we expected, and everything fits, we naturally conclude that we’re done—but we’re not. We still need to do peer review. Not having anyone in my circle of friends who knows much about The Secret, I turned to social media for a review of my analysis. I asked someone for whom I have a great deal of respect, a gentleman who goes by the online name Renovator. He graciously agreed to review my work and provided loads of constructive criticism. He described my interpretation of this particular clue as “fun with numbers” and “riddled with errors.” After getting over being offended, I pressed him for details, and I slowly came to realize that he was right! He had actually traveled to the location and taken measurements. The post (fixture) was 30 feet from the retaining wall to the north, farther than I had thought, making the distance from the statue to the post much less than 130 yards; and the direction to the post was actually 323 degrees, not 313. I had made an incorrect assumption and a math error. Each interpretation of these puzzles is a bit like a house of cards. It’s built on layers of thin clues stacked together perfectly supporting each other. If you pull out a card at the bottom, the whole thing collapses. I had to throw out my entire interpretation of “Ten by thirteen.” I was back to square one.

If you decide to venture onto social media to allow your peers to review your ideas regarding The Secret, I have a warning and a request. Time and time again I’ve seen “newbies” post their ideas on social media and be absolutely destroyed, become disillusioned, never to be seen again. Be prepared to be rebuffed! Experienced folks have a pile of arguments and details they will throw at you. They will call you names and berate you. Expect this. Be polite (even if they don’t deserve it), listen to what they have to say, look past the insults, and if after all that, you still like your ideas, or a version of them, stand your ground. Don’t back down. Feel free to agree to disagree.

Surprisingly, the few times that I’ve seen true brilliance posted online regarding these puzzles, it always came from a newbie and was always met with ridicule and condescension. Every rude response had a litany of reasons why the idea had to be wrong, and yet, in my opinion, the interpretation was dead on. In all of these cases, the litany of reasons were all incorrect, every one of them, assumptions and interpretations that fell prey to Byron’s amazing talent for deception. If a person posts an idea you disagree with, take the time to consider it, be courteous, positive, and helpful. Being rude in your response only serves to diminish everyone’s opinion of you. When participating in social media, expect there to be jerks, and do your best not to be one.