Comments on: A Policy Question: Comments http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/cosmicvariance/2006/12/10/a-policy-question-comments/ Random samplings from a universe of ideas. Tue, 24 Nov 2009 12:05:09 -0600 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.4 hourly 1 By: Rudeness vs. science? « .. dotted and undotted dotterings .. http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/cosmicvariance/2006/12/10/a-policy-question-comments/comment-page-2/#comment-23088 Rudeness vs. science? « .. dotted and undotted dotterings .. Fri, 30 Mar 2007 16:15:12 +0000 http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/cosmicvariance/2006/12/10/a-policy-question-comments/#comment-23088 [...] March 30th, 2007 There’s an interesting discussion going on over at Cosmic Variance on what constitutes a scientific archnemesis. In the ensuing discussion, however an interesting side topic arose: does blatant rudeness –a common accompanying trait along with numerous other unfortunate qualities of an archnemesis– violate the norms of scientific conduct? As the discussion at CV indicates, not all scientists think that flagrant and intentional harshness in discourse steps outside the bounds of what science is. And I think I actually agree with that. Rudeness might be unnecessary and even counterproductive, but it can often have a sobering effect as well, acting as the veritable “kick in the pants.” Probably the most famous example of this, in physics at least, is Wolfgang Pauli’s infamous remark that some such proposal was “not even wrong.” The individual at whom this attack was directed may have thought of it as an unjustified personal attack on their intelligence. There is however another interpretation, which the Wikipedia article points out. Something could be said to be not even wrong in the sense that it does not rise to the level of falsifiability and is therefore not a scientific hypothesis. So at least some of what one might call rude can also be useful as it acts as a wake-up call. Furthermore many people use combative language simply as a provocation, so as to stimulate/instigate discussion. After all, healthy competition often leads to some of the best work. There is also of course the really nasty, hurtful kind of rudeness that serves no purpose other than to make you feel tiny and distract you from real work. This is certainly an impediment to science, but I don’t think it’s more than that. [...] [...] March 30th, 2007 There’s an interesting discussion going on over at Cosmic Variance on what constitutes a scientific archnemesis. In the ensuing discussion, however an interesting side topic arose: does blatant rudeness –a common accompanying trait along with numerous other unfortunate qualities of an archnemesis– violate the norms of scientific conduct? As the discussion at CV indicates, not all scientists think that flagrant and intentional harshness in discourse steps outside the bounds of what science is. And I think I actually agree with that. Rudeness might be unnecessary and even counterproductive, but it can often have a sobering effect as well, acting as the veritable “kick in the pants.” Probably the most famous example of this, in physics at least, is Wolfgang Pauli’s infamous remark that some such proposal was “not even wrong.” The individual at whom this attack was directed may have thought of it as an unjustified personal attack on their intelligence. There is however another interpretation, which the Wikipedia article points out. Something could be said to be not even wrong in the sense that it does not rise to the level of falsifiability and is therefore not a scientific hypothesis. So at least some of what one might call rude can also be useful as it acts as a wake-up call. Furthermore many people use combative language simply as a provocation, so as to stimulate/instigate discussion. After all, healthy competition often leads to some of the best work. There is also of course the really nasty, hurtful kind of rudeness that serves no purpose other than to make you feel tiny and distract you from real work. This is certainly an impediment to science, but I don’t think it’s more than that. [...]

]]> By: The Poor Man Institute » Behold Schrödinger’s cat! http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/cosmicvariance/2006/12/10/a-policy-question-comments/comment-page-2/#comment-23086 The Poor Man Institute » Behold Schrödinger’s cat! Tue, 27 Mar 2007 22:41:58 +0000 http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/cosmicvariance/2006/12/10/a-policy-question-comments/#comment-23086 [...] Via Cosmic V.   [...] [...] Via Cosmic V.   [...]

]]> By: 博客李淼 » 就中冷暖和谁é" http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/cosmicvariance/2006/12/10/a-policy-question-comments/comment-page-2/#comment-23084 博客李淼 » 就中冷暖和谁é" Sun, 07 Jan 2007 05:06:20 +0000 http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/cosmicvariance/2006/12/10/a-policy-question-comments/#comment-23084 [...] 最近弦论界著名wise man Joe Polchinski为《American Scientist》写了å...³äºŽPeter Woit的《Not Even Wrong》和Lee Smolin的《The Trouble with Physics》的评论，该文的修æ"¹ç‰ˆè´´åœ¨Sean Carroll的博客，想å¿...Carroll博客的常客已经看到了这篇文章。 [...] [...] 最近弦论界著名wise man Joe Polchinski为《American Scientist》写了关于Peter Woit的《Not Even Wrong》和Lee Smolin的《The Trouble with Physics》的评论，该文的修改版贴在Sean Carroll的博客，想必Carroll博客的常客已经看到了这篇文章。 [...]

]]> By: serial catowner http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/cosmicvariance/2006/12/10/a-policy-question-comments/comment-page-2/#comment-23087 serial catowner Thu, 21 Dec 2006 23:47:06 +0000 http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/cosmicvariance/2006/12/10/a-policy-question-comments/#comment-23087 I must have version 1.0 of this software, because life isn't long enough to type such long comments. Anyone who has the patience to type in this box deserves to be posted. It may be a valuable therapy keeping them from anti-social acts. Blog commenting is how we reach for the conversation of the 21st century. When people learn not to respond to trolls, that's one small step for a man, a giant leap for mankind. But, hey!- it's your blog, you can do what you want with it. I must have version 1.0 of this software, because life isn’t long enough to type such long comments. Anyone who has the patience to type in this box deserves to be posted. It may be a valuable therapy keeping them from anti-social acts.

Blog commenting is how we reach for the conversation of the 21st century. When people learn not to respond to trolls, that’s one small step for a man, a giant leap for mankind.

But, hey!- it’s your blog, you can do what you want with it.

]]> By: The Big Media, The Big Book and the Big School at http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/cosmicvariance/2006/12/10/a-policy-question-comments/comment-page-2/#comment-22976 The Big Media, The Big Book and the Big School at Thu, 21 Dec 2006 01:43:17 +0000 http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/cosmicvariance/2006/12/10/a-policy-question-comments/#comment-22976 [...] The Big Media, The Big Book and the Big School Published December 20th, 2006 in Science, Authority, Physics, Marketing, Doctors of Philosophy, String Theory, Newton, The Org, Humans “As most of you know, we pride ourselves here on being a top-down blog…. Our attitude is, we know what’s best for you, and we’re taking time from our busy schedules to provide it, and you’ll like it or learn to. At Cosmic Variance that’s just how we roll.” http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/cosmicvariance/2006/12/10/a-policy-question-comments/ [...] [...] The Big Media, The Big Book and the Big School Published December 20th, 2006 in Science, Authority, Physics, Marketing, Doctors of Philosophy, String Theory, Newton, The Org, Humans “As most of you know, we pride ourselves here on being a top-down blog…. Our attitude is, we know what’s best for you, and we’re taking time from our busy schedules to provide it, and you’ll like it or learn to. At Cosmic Variance that’s just how we roll.” http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/cosmicvariance/2006/12/10/a-policy-question-comments/ [...]

]]> By: Scott H. http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/cosmicvariance/2006/12/10/a-policy-question-comments/comment-page-2/#comment-23047 Scott H. Wed, 20 Dec 2006 02:11:59 +0000 http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/cosmicvariance/2006/12/10/a-policy-question-comments/#comment-23047 Hi Sean --- Late arrival here, though that's not uncorrelated with my point ... I've pretty much stopped reading cosmicvariance (at least regularly; just noticed this thread since I haven't checked in for a while), and it's essentially because the noise level is too high for my taste. Comments are my favorite part of the handful of blogs I read, and I haven't really enjoyed comments here for a long time. Hi Sean —

Late arrival here, though that’s not uncorrelated with my point … I’ve pretty much stopped reading cosmicvariance (at least regularly; just noticed this thread since I haven’t checked in for a while), and it’s essentially because the noise level is too high for my taste. Comments are my favorite part of the handful of blogs I read, and I haven’t really enjoyed comments here for a long time.

]]> By: David Moles http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/cosmicvariance/2006/12/10/a-policy-question-comments/comment-page-2/#comment-22972 David Moles Fri, 15 Dec 2006 16:32:20 +0000 http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/cosmicvariance/2006/12/10/a-policy-question-comments/#comment-22972 Plato, 50 isn't actually very high on the Crackpot Index. The Time Cube gets <a href="http://www.kuro5hin.org/comments/2006/10/31/161746/39?pid=74#80" rel="nofollow">530 points</a> before even considering items 2, 3, and 4 (statements widely agreed upon to be false [1 point], clearly vacuous statements [2 points], logically inconsistent statements [3 points]). And don't forget the -5 point starting credit. Plato, 50 isn’t actually very high on the Crackpot Index. The Time Cube gets 530 points before even considering items 2, 3, and 4 (statements widely agreed upon to be false [1 point], clearly vacuous statements [2 points], logically inconsistent statements [3 points]).

And don’t forget the -5 point starting credit.

]]> By: PZ Myers http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/cosmicvariance/2006/12/10/a-policy-question-comments/comment-page-2/#comment-23085 PZ Myers Thu, 14 Dec 2006 22:35:47 +0000 http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/cosmicvariance/2006/12/10/a-policy-question-comments/#comment-23085 Here's another helpful solution: <a href="http://www.scienceblogs.com/pharyngula/2006/04/an_even_better_killfile_for_ph.php" rel="nofollow">a killfile for blogs</a>! My readers also got fed up with some of the more annoying commenters, so one wrote a Firefox add-on that stripped out user-selectable commenters. It would need to be tweaked to work with CV, but it's always nice to move some of the editing off into the hands of the readers. Here’s another helpful solution: a killfile for blogs! My readers also got fed up with some of the more annoying commenters, so one wrote a Firefox add-on that stripped out user-selectable commenters.

It would need to be tweaked to work with CV, but it’s always nice to move some of the editing off into the hands of the readers.

]]> By: Chinmaya Sheth http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/cosmicvariance/2006/12/10/a-policy-question-comments/comment-page-2/#comment-23083 Chinmaya Sheth Wed, 13 Dec 2006 14:29:57 +0000 http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/cosmicvariance/2006/12/10/a-policy-question-comments/#comment-23083 schustenberg, yes very funny, but what was your opinion about the post if you had one? schustenberg, yes very funny, but what was your opinion about the post if you had one?

]]> By: schustenberg http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/cosmicvariance/2006/12/10/a-policy-question-comments/comment-page-2/#comment-23082 schustenberg Wed, 13 Dec 2006 14:19:50 +0000 http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/cosmicvariance/2006/12/10/a-policy-question-comments/#comment-23082 it is really funny to see crackpots and out-of-contests comments (this one included) in a post which deals with this problem...it's a kind of self-consistent stuff. Very appropriate. it is really funny to see crackpots and out-of-contests comments (this one included) in a post which deals with this problem…it’s a kind of self-consistent stuff. Very appropriate.

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