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My issue is that he implies that there’s something nefarious going on because of a lack of discussion of genes. I claim he lacks critical thinking because he ig
by afpx 7y ago
My issue is that he implies that there’s something nefarious going on because of a lack of discussion of genes. I claim he lacks critical thinking because he ignores that the book’s primary audience is a person with past trauma, not someone with sufficient biological understanding to get the nuances of “genes”. So, instead of implying some political agenda, it’s safer to infer that the author left out the discussions to prevent an overly-generalized explanation that may cause more harm. For example, see what happened with BRCA. Look also what happened with “The Bell Curve”. It’s easy for a lay reader to view genetics as the cause rather than one (extremely nuanced) factor of many. And, when we see that many victims of trauma are, by circumstance, at the lower end of the social class spectrum, this leads down a slippery slope.
Second, medical doctors aren’t usually also research scientists. They’re specialists in clinical treatment of physiology. He’s probably smart and well educated. But, not a scientist. As an analogy, it’s similar to when I cringe when I see a programmer try to write a new cryptography protocol or algorithm. Some things are complex and risky enough to leave to the experts.
- skybrian 7y agoI haven't read the book so I don't know who's right. But this sounds a little too much like "how dare he question authority?" The reviewer is a doctor and doctors are supposed to be able to understand genetics and read the scientific literature. Maybe not at the same level as a specialist, being able to follow along and tell good science from bad is useful. As a programmer, I wouldn't be so foolish as to write my own cryptography code, but I understand the basic principles, I do try to keep up, and I expect a researcher writing a book to discuss security issues without dumbing it down too much. If I were reviewing a book saying something about cryptography that seems wrong I would definitely point it out. (Though, not being an expert, it might be in the form of asking questions.) We can't get anywhere without trusting experts, but that doesn't mean we can't read critically.