To quote the ornery David Bentley Hart, “Journalism is the art of translating abysmal ignorance into execrable prose.” I find it odd that Scott holds the Pravda

To quote the ornery David Bentley Hart, “Journalism is the art of translating abysmal ignorance into execrable prose.” I find it odd that Scott holds the Pravda on the Potomac in such high esteem [0], though I have no personal animus toward Vivek, only the usual confusion about why journalists insist on expounding on topics they have no basic comprehension of. The mass media must always be read in the same spirit one might read a less vulgar version of the National Inquirer. In this regard, Vivek’s article does not depart in terms of quality from the standard fare of popular science books and magazines. [0] Crichton’s “Gell-Mann Amnesia” quote is fantastically apropos in this regard, and certain kinds of specialists ought to recall it so that it might temper snobbery and inspire a more charitable response. I can’t tell you how often specialists, often competent in their own narrow areas of expertise, produce some of the most absurd and ignorant nonsense ever put to paper when they falsely presume to have anything of value to say about topics outside of their fields.