In view of Megan McArdle's recent comments about the laziness of teachers, I would like to point out Tom Levenson's recent post about her research problems. Mr. Levenson explains how McArdle links to a paper that disproves her own theory, namely that the nasty liberal academia is biased against conservatives and won't hire them.
We are left with two options: either McArdle read the paper and knew it disproved her theory and is a big, fat, lying liar who deserves to lose any credibility she might once have had, or she was too lazy to read the paper and had no idea that it refuted her entire thesis, thus making her look like an utter fool.
ADDED: In the past I have refrained from correcting her many spelling mistakes or criticizing her writing style. It seemed petty in view of the importance of her attacks on working people. I'll correct that error in the future. A person who is too lazy to click on spell-check deserves to have her errors pointed out.
She really publishes without spellchecking? I wish I'd known that- it tells one a lot about what she really is even without knowing the content: Lazy,sloppy, ignorant and conceited, too indifferent or contemptuous of her "readers" to even offer them a properly spelled essay, let alone a factual or thoughtful one.
ReplyDeleteVery interesting.
See also: Matt Yglesias
ReplyDeleteNot to get into too much elite-school-bashing of my own, but I've seen way too much of this kind of thing put forth from graduates of impressive schools. Poorly-thought-out, poorly researched crap from an Ivy grad gets published, while insightful, accurate material from the product of a state school languishes.
ReplyDeleteBoth McMegan and Bush the Lesser got prestige MBAs that appear to have brought about little learning on the part of their recipients; can we therefore open up a line of skepticism about the value of these degrees?
If people weren't so blinded by status they'd assess theories on their own merits.
ReplyDeleteSo much in life comes down to habits of obedience.
This is all a little too funny. My father, now retired, taught English in a Wisconsin public school. During the school year about the only thing I ever saw him do during the evenings was correct student writing. He thought practice and constant feedback helped them express themselves better. Alas, as Megan demonstrates, nothing can compensate for a writer unwilling to make basic efforts. Laziness indeed.
ReplyDeleteI wish I had had an English teacher like him. There was not a lot of writing instruction in my schools.
ReplyDelete