A Trap for Bloggers

In the continuing saga over at Pushing Rope, started by my linking to Billogblog's postings on his medical opinion on the Martin Anderson death, Liberal Mike Hussey and Billo exchange barbs and wow, Mr. Hussey really gets taken to task.  Its a great read.

But it brings up a trap I've seen many a blogger fall into.  In the Florida arena, I've seen it mostly in liberal blogs, though I am sure many Conservative bloggers are guilty of it as well, and too be fair, the Florida blog arena is mostly liberal to begin with.

The trap is when bloggers, wanting to argue a point, dive into concepts that they really don't understand.  Most issues that are discussed on blogs can be easily researched and fact checked, but every now and again there is a topic that requires a little more than a google search or reading a wikipedia article to grasp,  But all too often a blogger will take on a topic that puts him way in over his head.  The discussion between Mr. Hussey and Billoblog is a great example.  Not to pick on Mr. Hussey, but you will notice that he argues against the conclusion Billoblog reaches, but doesn't provide any really argument against the science Billo addresses.  I don't understand the medicine involved, so I can't really argue it either way, which is why I've stayed out of the debate.  But, Billo presents a scientific argument, Mr. Hussey responds with you're a racist and really isn't able to argue the science against someone who seems to really know his stuff.

Now I'm not saying people aren't entitled to their opinions without a detailed understanding of any given subject; but I think the blogosphere as a whole is strengthen when individual bloggers contribute based on their areas of understanding rather than attempting to be a Jack of all trades.  This is the reason I've pretty much stayed out of the Global Warming discussion, because I honestly don't understand the science enough and there is so much argument on either side that seems credible that I've not got anything to contribute to the conversation.  I'm often very tempted to join in the melee, and probably overstretch my own bounds more than I should, but this is a lesson we would all benefit from

Most political topics we can all contribute to, but when we begin to enter into those areas that require a special expertise to debate no one benefits from the mere personal insults that are almost always boiled down to when one without understanding of a subject attempts to attack one who does.

But hey, thats just my opinion.  You do what you want on your site, but be ready for Billo, the PEER Review Team and others to come down on you like fire from the sky when you demonstrate that you don't know what you are talking about.

Note:  This is not meant to be an attack on Mr. Hussey, whose blog I personally enjoy.  Honestly, he is guilty of this far, far, far less than other bloggers in the Florida arena but he provided the most recent example.  And I've said it before and I'll say it again, I visit his site daily and encourage you to do the same.

Comments

[Wiliam Oliver]

The problem is not that people talk about things they don't know. It's that they persist in arguing things they know are untrue.

If you say "2+2=5" and someone points out "2+2=4" the appropriate thing to say is "Oops," not "I don't care. Good people believe it's 5 and you are a racist if you don't go along with it."

Anybody can make a mistake. I've made many. It takes another kind of person to abandon their integrity and argue a "fact" he or she *knows* is untrue in order to engage in personal attacks in pursuit of an ideology.