Carl T. Bergstrom

There's a certain poetry to the narrative.

1. a group of ideologues submit a terrible paper about how science is too woke

2. it gets rejected because it is crap

3. they feel feel horribly aggrieved because surely they are entitled to publish this shit where ever they choose

4. these subaltern voices—silenced victims of cancel culture—air their grievances in the NY TImes, WSJ, etc

5. the whole episode disproves their thesis. In science, if not op-ed pages, quality clearly still matters

May 5, 2023 at 1:29amWeb
Show threadCarl T. BergstromMay 5, 2023

Meanwhile, I had to send a version of the timeless James Bailey letter to my coauthor Jevin D. West—who is, for the avoidance of any doubt, not an author on the paper.

(For those of you who don't know the James Bailey letter, it's worth two minutes to read the story: https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/cleveland-browns-letters/)

FACT CHECK: Letter Exchange Between Law Firm and Cleveland Browns

A lawyer received a caustic response after complaining to the Cleveland Browns about fans' throwing paper airplanes during home games.

Snopes
Show threadCarl T. BergstromMay 5, 2023
I do love how, even with 29 authors on the paper, they still mangled the first sentence into saying what is true (we live in an untrustworthy time) instead of what they meant (we live in the best of times.).
Show threadDon CruseMay 5, 2023
@ct_bergstrom Seeing the word “incredible” always sends me back to the park bench scene in S1E13 of The Americans. Indelible.
Show threadKistaro WindriderMay 5, 2023

@ct_bergstrom

So, this paper turns out to be too stupid for even HackerNews (news.ycombinator.com), one of my favorite sources of infuriatingly bad takes, to have cared, despite being submitted twice. But I did like this conversation about an article in the 2021 edition of this "illustrious" journal:

Show threadfsanMay 5, 2023

@ct_bergstrom "We live in an incredible time" ummm citation needed?

Also it's extremely funny to start a paper about how bad science is by stating a irrefutable subjective opinion

Show threadKatherine Alejandra CrossMay 5, 2023

@ct_bergstrom Hah, when I first saw this paper a few days ago and saw that name I raised an eyebrow and said "no way; no way in HELL." Thankfully, I looked it up, finding it's some schmuck at a very different university and was immensely relieved.

I'm sure the better/cooler Professor West was pleased at your japes, by the way. *snickers*

Show threadGarden Variety LinguistMay 5, 2023

@Quinnae_Moon @ct_bergstrom
Unfortunately there can only be one J. H. McWhorter out there, & he badly needs to receive a Bailey letter. How did this guy go so quickly from educator to ignoramus?

His research & hypotheses on language contact are pretty interesting, even though he's most well-known for explaining well-understood linguistics concepts in plain language. Unfortunately he seems to lack the empathy to understand that other people's life experiences differ drastically from his own.

Show threadsneedy maccreedyMay 5, 2023
@ct_bergstrom i love the comment from the guy who got bailey's letter: 'No [I wasn't angry with his response]. I thought it was pretty cool. I've used that letter a couple times myself since.'
Show threadCarl T. BergstromMay 5, 2023
@crumbleneedy yes, I really appreciated that as well. I hadn’t heard that part of the story before.
Show threadHannes BoekhoffMay 5, 2023
@ct_bergstrom At least an interesting flow of information.
Show threadWarrenMay 5, 2023
@ct_bergstrom I assume this is what the Pamela Paul piece in the NYT was about. I never read her tripe, but I saw the title of her piece and my first thought was “of course the paper was probably garbage.”
Show threadJulia JaniszewskiMay 5, 2023
@whabib @ct_bergstrom Hah, was just about to post a comment about that article. Yep, the one and only Pamela Paul.
Show threaddangrsmindMay 5, 2023
@ct_bergstrom believers still believe. Not everyone is a sophisticated analyst. That's why spreading misinformation is still a problem even if we believe the specific item has already been debunked.
Show threadWndlBMay 5, 2023
@ct_bergstrom I do love how those who complain loudest about their own cancellation are more than able to issue jeremiads about their cancellation on multiple platforms... #MyHeartBleeds
Show threadJeff JarvisMay 5, 2023
@ct_bergstrom
I couldn't get it up to respond to Paul's column.
Show threadArend BayerMay 5, 2023
@ct_bergstrom You weren't impressed by their revolutionary approach to mitigating bias in subjective judgements of merits?