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That could equally well describe any essay. An essay is not a report on a controlled experiment. You have to work to decide which parts you agree with.

by pg 18y ago

scott_s 18y ago
It could describe most bad essays, yes. Good essays either stay out of falsifiability territory, or they invite formal exploration of the subject. In this essay, she makes claims that are supported only with anecdotes, when data could be used. This is important since I can easily think of counter-anecdotes that nullify her arguments. The biggest example is her claim that males are predominantly presented as emasculated in popular culture. I'm sure one can consume a subset of all popular culture where that is true, and I'm also sure one can do the opposite. But if someone were to actually come up with a metric and test this idea, then that would be worthwhile.
- pg 18y ago
  Good essays either stay out of falsifiability territory, or they invite formal exploration of the subject. It would be a mistake to write an essay using anecdotal evidence to argue about a precisely defined question in math or the hard sciences. But outside math and the hard sciences, falsifiability gets fuzzy. A statistical (surely you don't really mean formal?) analysis of this topic would be in the domain of "social science," and though such studies usually measure something precisely, it's never clear what. Often a thoughtful essay will come closer to the truth, despite containing no tables of numbers.
  - scott_s 18y ago
    I'd prefer an attempt at a statistical analysis (yes, that's what I was getting at) which is upfront about assumptions and methodologies. Essays are worthwhile, but are only honest if the author is upfront about their assumptions. This author presents her assumptions as fact. That's when I tune out. In particular, this essay is predicated on the assumption that our culture is more emasculated than in the past - if this is not the case, then the entire thing falls apart. I think there are reasonable ways to test this assumption, but the author, as a reporter, is probably not equipped to do so.

That could equally well describe any essay. An essay is not a report on a controlled experiment. You have to work to decide which parts you agree with.

by pg 18y ago

That could equally well describe any essay. An essay is not a report on a controlled experiment. You have to work to decide which parts you agree with.

scott_s 18y ago

It could describe most bad essays, yes. Good essays either stay out of falsifiability territory, or they invite formal exploration of the subject. In this essay, she makes claims that are supported only with anecdotes, when data could be used. This is important since I can easily think of counter-anecdotes that nullify her arguments. The biggest example is her claim that males are predominantly presented as emasculated in popular culture. I'm sure one can consume a subset of all popular culture where that is true, and I'm also sure one can do the opposite. But if someone were to actually come up with a metric and test this idea, then that would be worthwhile.

pg 18y ago
Good essays either stay out of falsifiability territory, or they invite formal exploration of the subject. It would be a mistake to write an essay using anecdotal evidence to argue about a precisely defined question in math or the hard sciences. But outside math and the hard sciences, falsifiability gets fuzzy. A statistical (surely you don't really mean formal?) analysis of this topic would be in the domain of "social science," and though such studies usually measure something precisely, it's never clear what. Often a thoughtful essay will come closer to the truth, despite containing no tables of numbers.
- scott_s 18y ago
  I'd prefer an attempt at a statistical analysis (yes, that's what I was getting at) which is upfront about assumptions and methodologies. Essays are worthwhile, but are only honest if the author is upfront about their assumptions. This author presents her assumptions as fact. That's when I tune out. In particular, this essay is predicated on the assumption that our culture is more emasculated than in the past - if this is not the case, then the entire thing falls apart. I think there are reasonable ways to test this assumption, but the author, as a reporter, is probably not equipped to do so.