So, a teddy bear takes a shit and science bloggers go nuts…
If you don’t know what I’m talking about, start here and follow links therein.
I have to admit that I’m genuinely conflicted about this. Hmmm, who do I dislike more – pompous-types or douchebags?
Some points that come to mind:
1) There’s a lot of handwringing about what is essentially a moot point. Science blogging isn’t going away. And if you think you can stop snarky critiques on the interwebs, you need to lie down until your head clears.
2) I think Bora Zivkovic is a good guy (not to mention an excellent – and prolific – blogger). But in his defense of Isis, he ends up providing the best criticism of her. Bora’s critique of the Jansky and Ljung paper is clear, informative, frank and tough. In other words, he shows how wonderful blogging can be as an alternate means to analyze, interpret, critique science. Compare that to Isis’ review – a kind of bloggery drive-by shooting. I think it was the filmmaker Jean-Luc Goddard who said that the most effective way to criticize a film is to make another film.
3) I disagree with Bora when he says:
Making a mistake in one paper is not the end of one’s career. But many people perceive criticism as if they are just about to be sent out to join a leper colony. This is, in part, due to the formal rhetoric of science: outwardly polite, but underneath it is an attempt to destroy the person. In comparison, a light-hearted joke with a Teddy Bear acknowledges the failability of humans, allows for everyone to make a mistake and move on (we all shit, don’t we?). It is actually much more normal, and much less dangerous for one’s career to receive such a funny form of criticism than a formal-looking destruction of all our work and our personna.
Sorry, but there is no way for Bora or anyone else to know what sort of effect a widely-distributed internet-driven campaign of ridicule will have on the careers of the authors. It may be negligible, it may be all-encompassing. Who knows?
4) Perhaps I’m the only one who can’t stomach Isis’ brand of snark, or self-aggrandizement. She’s so smart, and so cool, and oh, we’re so stupid because it’s all so self-referential… Look, I don’t have a problem with bloggers going after flawed science (it’s silly that one has to even say that), but who is she going to ridicule next? A grad student publishing his/her first paper? Well, it’s all in the service of her brilliance.
Tags: Isis
November 9, 2008 at 2:58 pm |
Number 4 made me laugh, you’re not the only person. I liked it at first but now the writing is just a steriotype and a pretty poor one at that. Thing that bothers me more is that this cartoon personality makes female scientists sound like shoe fettish ignorant bimbos.
November 9, 2008 at 9:07 pm |
Yes. And the Transient Reporter is so not impressed with her third person schtick.
November 10, 2008 at 3:13 am |
Oh, man… I have struggled all day to write something barely passable on this subject, only to find out that you had already said the same things in less space and more clearly… now, I am depressed. Thanks a LOT !
;-)
November 10, 2008 at 10:59 am |
Well, it looks like Dr. Isis is a tad upset at this post and my comment. To clarify, I do not state that Dr. Isis is a bimbo, I suggest that her writing style makes her sound like one. There is a difference, perhaps a little subtle for some people, but a clear difference none the less.
November 10, 2008 at 4:55 pm |
And all I get is an “eh”?
November 10, 2008 at 5:49 pm |
Your point #3 vitiates your point #4. Point #4 criticizes Dr. Isis on the basis of an unpredictable future — the same argument Point #3 criticizes Bora for making. DrBubbles would like to say she is underwhelmed by the critical thought evinced thereby, but she thinks a Nelson Muntz response would be far more apt.
November 10, 2008 at 6:10 pm |
KH, I almost posted on Isis’s thread saying that that’s what I thought you’d meant, but I didn’t want to put words into your mouth. I was on my way over here to see if you’d spotted the other post and email you if you hadn’t!
November 10, 2008 at 6:13 pm |
Point 3 says that no-one actually knows what the effects will be.
Point 4 says Isis is unnecessarily nasty.
The Transient Reporter thinks Dr. Bubbles is doing mental gymnastics to find contradictions where none exists.
The Transient Reporter has no idea who Nelson Muntz is, but is absolutely certain the reference is an incredibly clever one.
November 10, 2008 at 7:37 pm |
The Transient Reporter might want to re-read the second half of their Point 4.
(And start watching The Simpsons.)
November 10, 2008 at 8:05 pm |
The second half of Point 4 is a rhetorical question, to illustrate the point that Isis is a meanie. This should be obvious given that grad students – generally – don’t publish on their own, and hence would be unlikely targets of Isis’ charms.
The Transient Reporter does not watch the Simpsons. The Transient Reporter is far too busy changing diapers and cooking dinner in the evenings. The Transient Reporter sees that this post is somehow being drawn into a discussion about the very real difficulties of being a female scientist, and he deeply resents the implication that he – as an ethnic minority scientist in the United States – is unsympathetic to their concerns. He hastens to add that DrBubbles did not imply this in any way.
The Transient Reporter does believe that DrBubbles is far too clever by half, which actually makes her kinda dumb.
November 11, 2008 at 2:10 am |
Dr A thinks this is a great post. To demonstrate the supreme hotness of this post, Dr A will see to it that you are added to our already uber-hot blogroll. xoxo.
November 11, 2008 at 4:07 am |
The Transient Reporter thanks both Dr. A and Dr. J, and believes both Drs are also incredibly hot – especially whichever one is female. The Transient Reporter will likewise add their blog to his blogroll.
The Transient Reporter is particularly appreciative of a Chicago Cubs fan gracing us with their presence. The Transient Reporter once wrote a blog post praising Kosuke Fukudome which he now deeply regrets. He now believes Fukudome is a huge tool and should get lost. The Transient Reporter should warn any lurkers out there that any snide remarks about the Cubs will result in a punch to the face. He has invested too many years (and tears) to find any comments about the Cubs remotely amusing.
November 11, 2008 at 4:07 am |
This is what happens when people are on Facebook too much — speaking in the third person becomes normal (That is Okham’s opinion anyway).
November 11, 2008 at 6:01 am |
It is kind of addictive, isn’t it?
I’m softening towards Isis, somewhat…
November 14, 2008 at 2:44 pm |
Transient Reporter-
I see Isis has taken a turn toward the more serious now that she has moved her domicile to scienceblogs. I think this is a good thing as from her previous blog I felt that she didn’t address the issues women face in science in a serious or particularly useful way- although I’m sure she has issues to cover, they just got lost under all the shoes/makeup/cake/ the many uses of the word vagina/penis/and other sexual references- that of course make one popular but don’t add to the discourse at all. I’m pleased that she’s at least come a bit in a more serious direction…
November 15, 2008 at 4:06 am |
Facebook? Ugh.
High-heeled shoes don’t fit my talons very well, and make it impossible for me to catch and grasp lab mice properly.
Besides, I don’t believe that workers in China and Brazil should have to demyelinate their brains or develop leukemias, just so that I can have a closet full of cheap-ass shoe bling.
November 18, 2008 at 1:46 pm |
Sadly a good chunk of the science in this argument is either missing or a bit wrong.