I was meandering my way through the climate science wing of the internet the other day when I came across something that amused me. Besides my longtime, nerdy interest in actual science I also find the psychology of the participants quite fascinating. Not only do you get exposed to such exciting concepts as denialism, authoritarianism, projection, Morton's Demon (aka confirmation bias) and Dunning-Kruger syndrome - you also get to see them in action!
The following excerpt of a comment comes from someone claiming to be Tim Curtin (who?) on a climate science blog called, "My view on climate change". Hmm. What the name lacks in creativity it makes up for in simple honesty, I guess. Anyways, nobody else seems to have noticed this section of comment at all (or didn't feel it worth commenting on) and it's off-topic so I won't clutter that thread up. Also, I find it to be a subject worth a full posting of my own, so I'm writing about it here.
To give a little background, during a technical discussion on the use of statistics in climate science there was an argument between two people who call themselves "VS" and "tamino". Another person, who calls himself "Tim Curtin" (and really doesn't care for tamino at all) says the following:
What is reprehensible is the way "tamino" hides who he is from most of his readers when maligning others who do use their real names (like Anthony Watts to name just one).
I couldn't help but laugh. Out loud, even! I won't be surprised, however, if some people find it compelling. It's amazing what you can accomplish with a sense of outrage and confidence. You really get the sense that Tim Curtin loves the taste of righteousness on his tongue. But I do have to say that his point is complete garbage.
In spite of that, his is a strangely common complaint. The other man mentioned, Anthony Watts (a former weatherman who runs his own climate science related blog), seems to avoid answering questions posed by anyone without a real name:
Well unlike you, we at least put our names to our work. I’m never much impressed by lecturing from anonymous cowards.
This insistence on the use of "real names" strikes me as disingenuous, pointless and hypocritical. Let me explain...
In the first comment, Tim Curtin was backing "VS" and maligning "tamino". I can't help but wonder if "VS" is his or her real name... Hmm... And as for the maligning, I guess it's okay because Tim Curtin is using his real name! Or is he? How do we know if that's his real name? The short answer: we don't. The long answer: not only do we not know, we also don't care.
As I've said before (at tamino's blog, actually), the only difference between anonymous and onymous* on the internet is pronunciation... and since it's typed, even that doesn't matter! (And for the record, we're not really talking about anonymous - we're talking about pseudonymous.) Because anyone could post as Josh Gemmell, Tim Curtin, Anthony Watts or Dick Trickle and nobody could tell if that person was lying, what difference does a pseudonym make?
And why care? Whether that first comment was posted as Tim Curtin or sexyvixen69, it's still absurd. Besides, we're discussing climate science. Who's Tim Curtin? Who's Anthony Watts? They're two non-experts who want their views on a complicated subject to be taken just as seriously as the people who have spent decades doing actual research, but they can't accept serious commentary from someone posting under a pseudonym in a venue where everyone is essentially pseudonymous? Seriously? This is the same group that gets mad when others pull rank by pointing out that a climate scientist is more likely to know climate science than a non-climate scientist!
What really gets me is how obvious it should be that names are not an issue. In case you hadn't noticed, the internet is chock full of pseudonyms. There are a number of reasons to use one. You might want to be able to make comments or ask questions about embarrassing subjects without it coming back to haunt you. You might want to feel free to discuss any topic without it becoming a concern for your employer. Your name might be in use by someone else already. (There are at least two other Josh Gemmells that I know of.) You might like using a nickname. Or maybe you just realize that nobody on the internet gives a damn what your real name is and it comes across as pretentious that you think they should!
I can't help but say, in the end: welcome to the internet, Tim and Anthony! You'll find that people use pseudonyms a lot, especially on blogs and forums. It doesn't matter, though, because even when they don't... they still pretty much do! Also, trying to raise yourself to the level of expert simply by using a "real name" in a medium where it can't be confirmed that the name is really yours may not be your best bet for winning respect. You, of all people, should be willing to a respect the point that someone is making, regardless of their status - whether it's the name they use online or the letters following their real name.
* As I started to think about this post I found myself wondering if there was a word that means the opposite of anonymous. Turns out there is a word, and it's "onymous"! Now I wonder how many people are familiar with that word...
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