3 ms·

I find it really hard to judge her - on the one hand I have read papers of hers that I enjoyed but equally she seems to be courting this weird populist movement

by mhh__ 6y ago

I find it really hard to judge her - on the one hand I have read papers of hers that I enjoyed but equally she seems to be courting this weird populist movement by positioning herself as an outsider despite being a professional researcher in physics.

DetroitThrow 6y ago
I think she is one of the brightest I've found communicating to laymen on social media platforms, but I agree, she definitely blurs the line of "anti-establishment entertainer" and "educator/professional" in her communications. I still don't think I could come to any conclusions about her without trying to understand how she communicates with peers outside of social media.
andrewflnr 6y ago
Those are not at all contradictory in actual practice. Outsiderness is multi-dimensional. And really, you want a populist leader who has a firm grip on the facts if you can get one. I don't think that's a good basis for criticism.
- mhh__ 6y ago
  > I don't think that's a good basis for criticism. I think it is if considering that she is one of the loudest voices talking negatively about the FCC - I'm personally not convinced either way, but when she is publishing slightly snarky things like this (http://backreaction.blogspot.com/2020/12/well-actually-10-physics-answers.html http://backreaction.blogspot.com/2020/12/well-actually-10-ph...) it just seems like there's a personal vendetta of sorts going on. I'm not saying she's wrong but rather that it just leaves a bad taste in my mouth. Most /r/physics threads where she is mentioned have fairly good dialectics about her
  - andrewflnr 6y ago
    I'm not sure what you mean re the FCC, but that sounds like a different criticism than what I was responding to, which was based on her positioning herself as an outsider. I'm not necessarily disputing that she causes problems: I don't follow her closely enough to have an informed opinion.

by mhh__ 6y ago

DetroitThrow 6y ago

I think she is one of the brightest I've found communicating to laymen on social media platforms, but I agree, she definitely blurs the line of "anti-establishment entertainer" and "educator/professional" in her communications. I still don't think I could come to any conclusions about her without trying to understand how she communicates with peers outside of social media.

andrewflnr 6y ago

Those are not at all contradictory in actual practice. Outsiderness is multi-dimensional. And really, you want a populist leader who has a firm grip on the facts if you can get one. I don't think that's a good basis for criticism.

mhh__ 6y ago
> I don't think that's a good basis for criticism. I think it is if considering that she is one of the loudest voices talking negatively about the FCC - I'm personally not convinced either way, but when she is publishing slightly snarky things like this (http://backreaction.blogspot.com/2020/12/well-actually-10-physics-answers.html http://backreaction.blogspot.com/2020/12/well-actually-10-ph...) it just seems like there's a personal vendetta of sorts going on. I'm not saying she's wrong but rather that it just leaves a bad taste in my mouth. Most /r/physics threads where she is mentioned have fairly good dialectics about her
- andrewflnr 6y ago
  I'm not sure what you mean re the FCC, but that sounds like a different criticism than what I was responding to, which was based on her positioning herself as an outsider. I'm not necessarily disputing that she causes problems: I don't follow her closely enough to have an informed opinion.