Stating my opinion about the author's opinion isn't slander. Take it easy. And there's no reason to compare the author and me. We're talking about the opinion here, not about who holds it.
I'll state just once more, in order to be absolutely clear that I harbour no ill intent: I have no reason to doubt, having been told, that the author can be regarded an authority on the matter. I'm simply saying that, approaching it fresh, it's not obviously the case, and other commenters' disregard should not be treated as that for a household name.
Why are you attacking the author’s character rather than refuting the author’s words? Seems like a dishonest way to undermine another person’s opinion.
No, actually it's not. This isn't ignoring the issue at hand and just attacking the author's character, it's attacking the authors authority on a subject matter.
Thoughts and ideas stand on their own merit, and are worth sharing or criticizing regardless of who produced them. You shouldn't need to know the background of the author to agree or disagree with them, just as credentials aren't required from you to participate in this forum.
I'm not personally attacking the author, I'm attacking his writing. There's nothing wrong with that. In fact, I'd argue any implied personal attacks in my comment are far milder than those in Raymond's post.
You say you distrust the author's views and opinions because of his politics.
I say: good! You should never take an author's work at face value. Every bit of nonfiction you read should be read critically. Nobody's judgment is infallible – not even Nobel prizewinners.
If I were claiming that I agreed with the article and found it to be convincingly true, and so should you, I’d agree. I am not doing any of those things.
Judging how incredulous one should be of an author’s writing based on their reputation is something else.
reply