Quote everything

[catsidhe]

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Pot calls kettle black:

In 1961 radio astronomer Frank Drake devised an equation to express how the hypothetical number of observable civilizations in our galaxy should depend on a wide range of astronomical and biological factors, such as the number of habitable planets per star, and the fraction of inhabited worlds that give rise to intelligent life. The Drake Equation has led to serious studies and encouraged the search for extraterrestrial intelligence (SETI). It has also provoked ridicule and hostility. Novelist Michael Crichton recently denounced the equation as "literally meaningless," incapable of being tested, and therefore "not science." The Drake equation, he said, also opened the door to other forms of what he called "pernicious garbage" in the name of science, including the use of mathematical climate models to characterize global warming.

Umm, yeah. Michael Crichton, that noted proponent of Scientific Accuracy, as in Jurassic Park, or Swarm, or Timeline. Yep. I'll believe him over any mere world-recognised expert in the field any day. Right after I discard my knowledge of European History in favour of the deeply plaguiarised well-researched theories of Dan Brown.

Good thing we're not relying on Climate experts to try and figure out what's happening to the environment, too. Why would we pay any attention to highly sophisticated computer models incorporating the current state-of-the-art in our understanding of the Global Climate, when we have a third-rate tinplated potboiler author to show us the error of that path?

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The Mainstream Media does what it does excellently:

One thing I repeat is that the mainstream media does a FANTASTIC job. Day in and day out, they turn in an extraordinary performance—at what they exist to do. And that is to make as much money as possible.

Of course, in terms of helping people learn about the world, they are an eternal catastrophe. But why would we ever expect any different? The mainstream media is made up of gigantic corporations. Like all corporations, they manufacture a product, which is their audience. They sell this product to their customers, which are other huge corporations.

Informing people about the world is not just irrelevant to the purpose of making money, but in many ways actually HURTS a corporation's profitability. No business goes out of its way to piss off its owners and customers.

Now, obviously it's true you hear constantly about the media's Unending Fight For Truth. But you also hear constantly that a fat man wearing a red suit breaks into America's homes at the end of each year to distribute new X-boxes. Neither of these things is real.

Anything I could add to this would be superfluous.

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Now go read this.

Comments

[taavi.livejournal.com]

Interestingly, I also had cause to describe Chrichton as "a third rate sci-fi hack" over this issue recently.
This gives rise to the question: how do we judge 1st, 2nd and 3rd rate in an author?
I suggest the following criteria:
1st rate: So good, it makes heaps of money: Eg Dickens, Douglas Adams, Tolkien, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Umberto Eco.
2nd rate: Average. 90% of books published.
3rd rate: So BAD, it makes lots of money. Junk food for the brain - Chrichton, Tom Clancey, Dan Brown, etc. As a rough guide, anything with a greek letter or a chess move in the title, containing more weapons systems than characters, or featuring the words "Templar", "Grail", "Odessa", "Plan", "Conspiracy" or "Plot".
Eg: The Omega Grail Gambit, by Dan Chrichton-Clancey "Tom sat nochalantly yet poised for action in the cafe. In a trice, he was on his feet, firing his RK-17 with model III laser sight at the jesuit/soviet/nazi agent across the street before the man could discharge his inferior ex-soviet Grisham-model assault rifle. Yet again the prophecies of Leonardo were thwarted". etc.
Fourth rate: Has won a Nobel Prize for Literature or is similarly venerated by an insular cult, eg The Rocky Horror Picture Show.

'The Omega Grail Gambit'

[catsidhe.livejournal.com]

I think there's a publishing executive here who wants to talk to you...