Now I Am Become Blog

On Thursday, I wrote about Susan Fiske's upcoming article in the APS Observer. Today, Neuroskeptic, published its own response to Fiske's article. Unlike other bloggers (such as Andrew Gelman), Neuroskeptic seems to agree with my interpretation that Fiske was not talking about just anyone who criticizes scientific research, but people who do so in an unethical manner. However, he takes things one step farther than me by demanding that Fiske name names:

We should hold the offenders accountable with reference to specific examples of their attacks. After all, these people (Fiske says) are vicious bullies who are behaving in seriously unethical ways. If so, they deserve to be exposed.

Yet Fiske doesn’t do this. She says, “I am not naming names because ad hominem smear tactics are already damaging our field.” But it’s not an ad hominem smear to point to a case of bullying or harassment and say ‘this is wrong’. On the contrary, that would be standing up for decency.