Someone is mean on the internet. No really?!
Yes but sometimes it is worth noting. When it’s part of an extended misogynist group-rant is one time; when it’s an ostensibly rational person going off the charts for months on end is another; when it’s a matter of singling out a few women is another.
What is it this time? Some guy called Ed Clint did a snide Facebook post about feminists always thinking people are telling them to shut up when really it’s just a matter of polite disagreement, linking to a post of Jen McCreight’s. Abbie Smith made a considerably more snide comment on Ed Clint’s post.
*newsflash* Watsons LIFE is fucking around on the internet. Thats all she does. Jen is well on her way to being in the same position. It is pointless to ask them to ‘shut up’ because bitching on the internet is *literally* all they have in their lives. Normal, sane humans with real lives, yes, we should pick and choose our battles carefully. Obviously. But this isnt an issue of asking a normal person to be more tactful. Youre talking to a loser-at-life and expecting them to react like a normal person. Be pragmatic. And dont fucking grow up to be a loser.
Jen did a post responding to what Abbie said. There was discussion – a lot of discussion. Ed Clint did another snide FB post, Abbie copied in a comment she’d posted on her blog. This comment is what it is this time.
Jen–
Rebecca Watson is a loser. She leeches off the skeptical movement to exist. Its disgusting.You have (had?) potential to be more. And you are flushing it down the toilet.
You are in graduate school. That is your job. You spend way too much time going to these stupid conferences (hey, like Skepticon this weekend), that are not even tangentially related to your job (contrary to what you wrote in the small portion of your proposal I read). You are behaving in an utterly unprofessional manner, posting pics of seminars you attend making fun of them, accusing your professors and classmates of being anti-science. The portion of your proposal I read was horrible, to the point of being shockingly horrible for someone of your education and writing experience. It bears absolutely no resemblance to my NIH proposal (which was funded).
Which brings me to the worst part of your behavior, and why I know you are well on your way to becoming a professional loser– your proposal sucked, and you blamed your critique on your colleagues supposed anti-science. Youve already said your proposal isnt going to get funded ‘because youre an atheist’ or something stupid like that. And do I remember right, you didnt get into Harvard ‘because youre an atheist’ too, right? When you were properly chastised for behaving inappropriately and unprofessionally, you declared that it was because they couldnt handle you speaking out. Poor you for fighting the system! Career suicide! Bitch, please. I killed a Godfather of Retrovirology, and Ive still got a career (technically, it opened up locked doors for me). Heaven forbid your brain entertain the thought, for a moment, that you just fucked up. You are too stuck up your own ass to take responsibility for your own actions. Youre too old for this kind of immaturity.
If you went to my uni and you were in my department, you would be kicked out this coming Spring. And it would have had jack shit to do with your atheism.
But I am not your mother and you are not my problem. If you want to bitch on the internet for a living, more power to you. But you need to deal with the fact that people are going to call you a loser if that is what you choose to do with your life. Because you will be.
If you want to grow the fuck up and be a professional scientist, I would be happy to have you and happy for you.
But I just dont think its going to happen.
Jen did a post on that comment. PZ did one. There are a lot of comments. They cover the ground well.
I have little to add; mostly I just want to go on the record. I think Abbbie Smith shouldn’t say things like that publicly. I think no one should. It’s vicious, and I don’t think people should say vicious things publicly, with a few partial exceptions for hugely powerful and/or influential people like the pope and Bill O’Reilly and Sarah Palin.
I particularly detest all this “loser” talk. It’s so high-school-bully. It’s so conformist. It’s so low.