tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2222630007427380394.post6767590273280009009..comments2023-12-20T04:18:41.617-06:00Comments on The Hunting of the Snark: Strawman vs. KrugmanSusan of Texashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00076915322771385454noreply@blogger.comBlogger15125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2222630007427380394.post-51182290219116416392011-05-06T11:21:19.781-05:002011-05-06T11:21:19.781-05:00@Lurking Canadian --
Don't forget that among ...@Lurking Canadian --<br /><br />Don't forget that among Megan's many other qualities is the utter inability to use a calculator. <br /><br />@Battochio --<br /><br />Yes. Although that probably is an insult to real hedgehogs, who are assuredly smarter than McBlargle and her fans. I am particularly amused by the many who insist that Megan is the fox and Krugman the hedgehog (argument by assertion, I guess).David in NYChttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00493832668051350697noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2222630007427380394.post-34984164475355712332011-05-06T08:56:02.118-05:002011-05-06T08:56:02.118-05:00"People like Lindsay Graham cannot go on Meet..."People like Lindsay Graham cannot go on Meet the Press and say "Yup, we're going to lose on November 2nd" even when it is completely obvious that this is what will happen; they need to present an optimistic bias for their base."<br /><br />So McArdle basically admits that pundits/politicians (at least the ones like Lindsay Graham) prognosticate based on ideology rather than facts, but does not see that she is supporting rather than undermining the study's conclusions.Rugosanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2222630007427380394.post-87295855788689652572011-05-05T18:26:48.157-05:002011-05-05T18:26:48.157-05:00speaking of David Brooks, has anyone seen this blo...speaking of David Brooks, has anyone seen this blog post at the London Review of Books? <a href="http://www.lrb.co.uk/blog/2011/05/03/christopher-tayler/yo-douche-bag/" rel="nofollow">The 10 Worst Sentences in David Brooks' book.</a><br /><br />A taste: <i>Like most women, she got lubricated even while looking at nature shows of animals copulating, even though consciously the thought of being aroused by animals was repellent.</i><br /><br />I honestly cannot believe he got paid to write that shite.<br /><br />-AWSAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2222630007427380394.post-84850375172778485842011-05-04T20:05:51.653-05:002011-05-04T20:05:51.653-05:00Appeal to authority is not a logical fallacy when ...Appeal to authority is not a logical fallacy when the person in question really is an expert. Sometimes, the fallacy is called "Appeal to Misleading Authority" to make this distinction. McMegan is a classic example of a "misleading authority".Syznoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2222630007427380394.post-76397847753508729462011-05-04T19:09:33.122-05:002011-05-04T19:09:33.122-05:00In this corner, we have a Nobel laureate.
And in ...In this corner, we have a Nobel laureate.<br /><br />And in this corner, we have someone who took a few Econ classes in b-school and believes nobody can know anything ever.<br /><br />At the risk of committing the fallacy of appeal to authority, I know where my money is going.Lurking Canadiannoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2222630007427380394.post-74321706445914275782011-05-04T18:41:31.785-05:002011-05-04T18:41:31.785-05:00Uncertainity vice principle--
That was a thing of...Uncertainity vice principle--<br /><br />That was a thing of beauty. The only thing I don't like about your analogy is that the dog doesn't think its doing anything very brave or thoughtful when it pees while Brooks always has that smug air of one who thinks he's enlightening his inferiors. All the more annoying as he is endarkening them.<br /><br />aimaiAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2222630007427380394.post-91542187571352863822011-05-04T18:21:24.731-05:002011-05-04T18:21:24.731-05:00aimai
That's exactly what reading those peopl...aimai<br /><br />That's exactly what reading those people has always felt like to me, and I had exactly the same experience with Brooks in particular, it became so predictable that even wondering how he would turn the rambling pseudo-philosophical musing into supporting some ultra right wing point was just not fun anymore.<br /><br />After a while it's like watching a dog roam around on his twice daily walk; you don't know when exactly he'll stop sniffing around seemingly aimlessly and just piss on something, but you know he will.UncertaintyVicePrincipalnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2222630007427380394.post-57851788760436854522011-05-04T18:05:08.605-05:002011-05-04T18:05:08.605-05:00I wonder if ArgleBargle has ever taken Krugman on ...I wonder if ArgleBargle has ever taken Krugman on in person, on TV? THAT would be something to see. And after she polishes <i>Him</i> off, lets watch her debate Chomsky.Kathyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03176801494652946278noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2222630007427380394.post-67968790028181163842011-05-04T15:26:34.931-05:002011-05-04T15:26:34.931-05:00McCardle and Douthat both reason backwards from th...McCardle and Douthat both reason backwards from the conclusion they want to reach--and its always a conclusion based on serving the interests of the powerful. In Megan's case its corporations and the rich, two groups for whom she has an almost sickeningly slavish devotion. In Douthat's case its to the Catholic Church and a bodiless notion of morality which floats free of everything except for concern about how to control women's sexuality and fertility.<br /><br />This is what makes reading McCardle or Douthat (or, for that matter, David Brooks) both incredibly fun and tedious. Its like doing some kind of intellectual sudoku (I'm not a player so forgive me if this comparison is inapt) or perhaps I mean like a non intellectual "where's waldo?" or accrostic. Once you know what the key word or concept is going to be you can rapidly navigate through the maze--perhaps a better example would be moral paint by the numbers?<br /><br />I gave up reading Brooks when I was able to determine exactly what lies he would adduce to produce what propaganda point within the first two sentences of any given essay. Even though by that time Brooks had mastered the art of beginning with a piece of pseudo intellectual boilerplate that would appear to be heading in some other direction. He'd modeled himself on the incomperable Stephen Jay Gould and so he'd begin with baseball, or some recent piece of misunderstood science or philosophy and then work his way rapidly to the point: rich people good/working class people bad or whatever meme he was being paid to propagate.<br /><br />I should add that saying that he'd modeled himself on Steven Jay Gould is like saying that a lump of unworked clay is modeling itself on Michaelangelo's David.<br /><br />aimaiAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2222630007427380394.post-49942606026810797762011-05-04T15:12:11.008-05:002011-05-04T15:12:11.008-05:00As I outlined here, McArdle analyzes based on ideo...<i>As I outlined here, McArdle analyzes based on ideology, not facts...</i><br /><br />I call that "making up sh!te" so you can get paid by our corporate overlords.<br /><br />AKA b.s.<br />~ifthethunderdontgetya™³²®©https://www.blogger.com/profile/06252371815131259831noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2222630007427380394.post-89388206709098235262011-05-04T14:48:36.357-05:002011-05-04T14:48:36.357-05:00"No one can really know anything" is a s..."No one can really know anything" is a sophomoric cop-out of dullards.Kathyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03176801494652946278noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2222630007427380394.post-31292256339239924572011-05-04T14:38:46.292-05:002011-05-04T14:38:46.292-05:00Her commenters are absolutely adorable. Can you pu...Her commenters are absolutely adorable. Can you put an IPad into a Trapper Keeper so you can scribble "Mr. Megan McArdle" on the cover?charles piercenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2222630007427380394.post-45103143098480792482011-05-04T13:35:41.110-05:002011-05-04T13:35:41.110-05:00Interesting review, Susan of Texas. I can't b...Interesting review, Susan of Texas. I can't bear to go over there and watch McMegan and crew tear up an actual scholar. There's one other thing I think needs to be mentioned before I go off and re-read the Isaiah Berlin--radical humility. The true scientist, in any field, is radically humble in the face of the uknown while still pursuing the goal of pushing back against the darkness and shedding light even into the penumbra around that which we don't know.<br /><br />I disagree with Perlstein's radical scepticism because although its true that the future is unpredictable in a generic sense the future of any system is not unpredictable. Think of it as the difference between forecasting the absolute future for an immense and unpredictable and chaotic system that includes the universe as a whole to predicting the outcome of republican and democratic negotiations over the budget? We can't confidently state that the earth will be hit/or not hit by an asteroid propelled by the demon zorg tomorrow. But we can confidently predict that Democratic Senators and Republican Senators will probably do this or that tomorrow during session X based on their previous behavior.<br /><br />aimaiAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2222630007427380394.post-64285057584371847592011-05-04T12:25:39.194-05:002011-05-04T12:25:39.194-05:00And a purple heart. The condescension and insults ...And a purple heart. The condescension and insults in comments are unbelievable.Susan of Texashttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00076915322771385454noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2222630007427380394.post-56703458696329052142011-05-04T12:06:10.049-05:002011-05-04T12:06:10.049-05:00I hope Evan got an A on the project.
EmilyI hope Evan got an A on the project. <br /><br />EmilyAnonymousnoreply@blogger.com