tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24761391.post3370320944511579816..comments2023-10-26T22:06:11.166+11:00Comments on Metamagician3000: My magnificent 7 posts of the yearRussell Blackfordhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12431324430596809958noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24761391.post-14344851680913435932011-12-26T14:20:24.712+11:002011-12-26T14:20:24.712+11:00The Exhibit A thing always seemed very implausible...The Exhibit A thing always seemed very implausible to me. It set off my bullshit detector. <br /><br />Here, I do disagree with Jean. I just couldn't see this story as anything other than clumsy fiction - perhaps confabulated from real incidents, but in a way that was grossly false overall. It didn't add up psychologically.<br /><br />It's interesting that some people - including Mooney but also others such as Jean - found it plausible. In my view, that showed bad judgment, and it would have been nice if Mooney could simply have admitted this.<br /><br />Now, I'm sure I have also showed bad judgment now and then. I can think of examples. But this was a rather egregious case. It was a case where the bad judgment was fairly important, and Mooney had gone a long way out on a limb in his unwise reliance on Exhibit A. His later attitude, when the story fell apart, of, "How was I supposed to know?" is not impressive. I can't think of a case where my own bad judgment has <i>mattered</i> so much, but I can certainly think of cases where it has been bad.<br /><br />Importantly, Exhibit A was supposed to be a key exhibit in the case for shutting up about some things, such as alleged tensions or incompatibilities between religion and science. Although I'm not an absolutist about it, I do think you should be pretty sure of your ground before you start publicly telling people to stop expressing their viewpoint on a topic (as opposed to arguing against their viewpoint).<br /><br />I suppose we should commend Jean for her attempts to get people to moderate their language, but I do think this was a case where her bad judgment about an important aspect undermined those efforts. Many of us felt - with some justification - the impulse to say, "But, but, Exhibit A was always obviously bullshit." If only there had been some admission of this from Jean's side it would have helped a lot.<br /><br />But that doesn't excuse the most excessive language from "my" side, including my own at some of the most heated moments. Even my initial taunting of Mooney over Exhibit A was unnecessary: I could have made the same point in a more civil way. On the gripping hand, attempts to be civil didn't get far with Mooney and his supporters, either.Russell Blackfordhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12431324430596809958noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24761391.post-31165848643084614532011-12-26T13:04:11.622+11:002011-12-26T13:04:11.622+11:00On Mooneygate, I have a particularly American pers...On Mooneygate, I have a particularly American perspective.<br /><br />During the 2008 presidential campaign, some party or another claimed to have seen video documentation of Michelle Obama addressing some group where she made reference to "whitey". Anybody with any access to black professional Americans knew that assertion to be ridiculous; she wouldn't even use that word among friends while drunk. Nevertheless, there were numerous conservative commentators willing to assume that the claim might have some validity. Needless to say, it turned out to be bullshit.<br /><br />And that's how Exhibit A felt to those with access to American scientists. Those who assumed that the claim might have some validity (including, I'm afraid, Jean Kazez) revealed themselves to be uninformed.Ken Pidcockhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15236539087094493564noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24761391.post-77743866765415659152011-12-23T17:30:16.653+11:002011-12-23T17:30:16.653+11:00You, too, Thoraiya.You, too, Thoraiya.Russell Blackfordhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12431324430596809958noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24761391.post-39541166876670480052011-12-23T16:18:33.862+11:002011-12-23T16:18:33.862+11:00Probably the reason why your blog has a "mode...Probably the reason why your blog has a "modest" number of views is because it's so bloody reasonable. How can you start a good flame war that way?? If you can't even offend me, you're doing something right. Merry Christmas :D Thoraiya.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24761391.post-87479555971976433842011-12-23T14:15:55.322+11:002011-12-23T14:15:55.322+11:00That would be an interesting outcome.That would be an interesting outcome.Russell Blackfordhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12431324430596809958noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24761391.post-56672685250779325492011-12-23T13:31:20.527+11:002011-12-23T13:31:20.527+11:00Am I the only one hoping this recap post gets enou...Am I the only one hoping this recap post gets enough views for it to be added to the list...?@blamerhttp://twitter.com/blamernoreply@blogger.com