In light of the whole James Somerton situation I still want to reiterate the importance of everyone having the right to post the little half-baked rambles that come to their heads. The problem with James Somerton wasn't so much that he "lacked rigor" or "didn't put in enough effort" so much as he completely underperformed in comparison to the authority he presented himself as, and propped up his image as a serious scholar by stealing passages from people who actually had done the work. Academic rigor and hard work are not in themselves obligatory, but honesty is. My posts all sound like first drafts because they fucking are, and yet you all get plenty of meaning and value out of them.
i mean no disrespect but how could you walk away from that video not thinking "the problem is that he is a deliberate, conscious, cynical thief who said to himself 'i will now begin stealing as a career' and then did that." i felt like that was pretty obviously the sole complaint. the fact he was also wrong was a side effect that tends to creep in if you're a deliberate, conscious, cynical thief. he is union carbide pouring 500 kilotons of fluorine into the ocean daily; someone making a research error, as long as they're putting in Any Good Faith Effort Whatsoever, is like dropping a paper straw wrapper
