i agree, that was very courageous!

i hope i will never turn into the kind of person who "declines further correspondence" with people trying to talk to me... does a PhD do that to you or does it come later in the career?

obviously, that person cannot be very important. only unimportant people have to keep up the impression of being important by telling everyone how very busy they are. so, you are none the worse for not having the honour of correpsonding with this unimportant person

Its alright saying that Shani from you point of view, but you have also to see it from theirs. You have to bear in mind that top people in their fields will get 100's [I am informed] emails a day. If they were to reply to all of them fully what actual work would they get done.

I agree with golfpro.

It is a bit harsh to criticise the guy in Sydney simply because he doesn't want to correspond with Otto. Perhaps he is genuinely too busy to discuss/answer questions for some unknown student on the other side of the world. How many of us complain about our own supervisors always being too busy and not returning emails or our writing to us - well, chances are that guy is just as busy as them.

Also, we do not know exactly what Otto said in his email to this guy. From the information we have, we cannot conclude that what Otto said was not completely inappropriate, ridiculous and a waste of his time. Not saying it was, but you know what I am getting at.

Why does his response make the guy "unimportant"? From what Otto said, the opposite is in fact the case and the guy is "the leading expert". Weird conclusion to draw, shani, if you ask me.

Good on you, Otto!

Sounds like this guy is too flummoxed by your observations and wants to stay in his own bubble

Personally I welcome any critiques (good OR bad) on my work and ideas. I work in mental health research and involving service users/carers in research projects is an essential part of my working remit. It's not just people within academia who should feel able to challenge work, but the rest of the public as well. It can be quite a chastening experience to have someone say to you "well this is all very well, but I've no idea what this MEANS", but it makes you think carefully about the way you present your work.

In short, academics may not like criticism from "juniors", but whether they do or not, it's something they need to get over - fast.

I had to show that the prof at the head of our dept was wrong in one of his algorithms that he has been proud of for 10 years and teaches our masters students. He wasn't happy and made me waste 3 months going round and round until he finally accepted it. He got a publication in a top journal for something that was wrong and I got a crappy conference publication showing he was wrong and how to correct it.
Actually he always thought I was stupid and passed me off to another supervisor when he realised I wasn't going to do any great work so I loved it when he had to accept it.

I'm doing my lit. review too, so this has been quite interesting to follow. But, there is something my supervisor has written which is weak and subsequently questionnable. What do you think about commenting on your supervisor's work from a negative perspective?

piglet, golfpro, I thought I had signalled by tone and smiley that this was not a completely serious/objectiv post. obviously I didn't totally get the meaning across, and I apologize for any hurt feelings.
the whole point was to cheer up Otto. It was totally partial and without knowing the other side... but that is what I think emotional support should be like. after all, it is Otto who is on this forum and posted his question and not some unknown academic far away.
i don't know if that works for you, but when someone turns me down, it helps me if friends tell me "well he/she wasn't worth it anyway". it comforts my soul, even if in my brain I know it isn't so simple.

Funny how things can be misinterpreted.

Thanks Shani. I really appreciate your "emotional support".

After all, I agree with all posts on this forum. Of course I am realist enough that I did not expect a great response, but deep inside I was of course hoping for it, therefore my initial disappointment. 24 hours later, I just take it as an incentive to work harder, so that one day the holy professor will come down from this throne and talk to an 'unworthy' soul like myself. At least I got a response at all. In a way, I completely understand the professor's reaction. After all, he is probably really very busy. Thanks for all your comments, though.