Nalini Joshi
What a gorgeous and brilliant but whacko idea by Erik and Martin Demaine 👇🏼
[2304.01393] “Every Author as First Author”
https://arxiv.org/abs/2304.01393
Every Author as First Author

We propose a new standard for writing author names on papers and in bibliographies, which places every author as a first author -- superimposed. This approach enables authors to write papers as true equals, without any advantage given to whoever's name happens to come first alphabetically (for example). We develop the technology for implementing this standard in LaTeX, BibTeX, and HTML; show several examples; and discuss further advantages.

arXiv.org
Aug 18, 2023 at 12:15amWeb
Show threadRowena BallAug 18, 2023
@monsoon0
Well I've developed a macro which cross-references each author with motor vehicle licence plate databases and replaces author names with whatever is on their car number plate, which are then listed in alphanumeric order. If an author does not own a car, or has paid for personalized number plates, their name is replaced with bus numbers.
Show threadMatteo CapucciAug 18, 2023
@monsoon0 this is the best thing ever lmao
Show threadNalini JoshiAug 18, 2023
@mc Lovely isn’t it? But, apart from legibility, the trouble is how to refer to a cited paper verbally?
Show threadMatteo CapucciAug 18, 2023

@monsoon0 well, this can't be more than a joke... it's an eyesore and, as you point out, doesn't really solve the problem (eventually one needs to read the authors and they are going to be in some order)

taking a leaf from the CS book of tricks to represent an unordered list in an ordered medium, you impose a standard order (e.g. alphabetical) and normalize everything to that.
once you stop pretending you can communicate meaningful information about authorship simply through the order of authors, then you can start having 'authorship' sections listing what each author did, like you see in ML papers nowadays

Show threadAmir Livne Bar-onAug 18, 2023
@monsoon0 pretty funny! personally I like the "file credits" proposal from this article
https://medium.com/@sjb015/when-pigs-fly-changing-author-lists-on-scientific-papers-c143af826bcb
Show threadđť“™. đť“ś.Aug 18, 2023
@monsoon0 to slightly butcher Syndrome's remark from the movie "The Incredibles": "when everyone is first author, no one is first author".