Not for the first time, I have received a foul and abusive message from somebody who should know better, cursing me for daring to criticise -- in my post of the other day -- a scientific paper that has not yet been published.....
I kid you not.
https://brian-mountainman.blogspot.com/
So the paper that has been garnering headlines all over the world has not actually seen the light of day. That confirms what I suspected, having spent some hours looking for it all over the place. The link given in some of the press reports does not work.
The UCL press release, subject to a strict press embargo until 20 December, went out to a huge mailing list, with an expectation of vast media coverage, without anybody being able to check on the quality of the paper that was being so heavily promoted. Some of the key media people were sent pre-publication copies of the paper, and I obtained one of these. My post was based on my reading of that draft. I acted quite responsibly and in good faith, read the article carefully, and did not break the embargo.
But this is quite extraordinary. Just think about it. A group of quite senior academics has set up and orchestrated a huge marketing and media campaign, designed to grab the attention of gullible science and archaeology reporters all over the world -- but in circumstances where nobody could actually get a sight of the actual published article. That is unbelievably arrogant.
The article of course contains nothing new. It is essentially an opinion piece, packed from beginning to end with speculations and assumptions. In the absence of any other evidence about what has gone on here, we can only assume that the authors (Parker Pearson, Bevins, Ixer, Bradley, Pearce and Richards) simply wanted to get maximum media coverage while the going was good, before anybody had a chance to subject their article to proper scientific scrutiny.
6 comments:
Yet again, motivated by hubris rather than humility.....
Those standing before steamrollers, manned by liars, are expected to get out of the way.
Perhaps you should publish the foul and abusive message? These guys hide behind the collective and it is becoming increasingly obvious that the emperor and his entourage are wearing no clothes.
That would not be very helpful. There are scores of such messages in my junk box, and to reproduce them would just make matters worse. I try to maintain high standards of behaviour and language, while encouraging hard scrutiny, honest criticism and finally robust discussion. I won't tolerate messages that are full of expletives and obscenities, and I won't tolerate trolling. That's why certain people, over the years, have disappeared from the comments section of this blog. Anyaway, a very happy Christmas to all, and best wishes for a peaceful New Year!!.
Good on yer, over the years!
Pope Francis will emphasise the importance of HUMILITY in a broadcast for Thought for the Day on BBC's Radio 4 on Saturday, December 28th: " A world full of hope and kindness is a more beautiful world A society that.....treats people with RESPECT and EMPATHY is more humane".
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