Quote-Faker Jonah Lehrer on Why He Became a Journalist: ReasonTV Exclusive!

After being unmasked at Tablet by Reason Contributing Editor Michael C. Moynihan as a quote-faking fabulist, Jonah Lehrer - the author of the widely praised Imagine: How Creativity Works - has resigned his post at The New Yorker and his publisher is pulling his best-selling book from store shelves.

Why did Jonah Lehrer get into journalism in the first place?

In an exclusive ReasonTV interview that was taped on May 7, 2012, Lehrer told Paul Detrick that he would have preferred to be a scientist but "I sucked at being a scientist….I realized I was very bad at the actual experiments….I still miss science…I miss the hardness of fact."

Read more Reason on the Lehrer scandal.

About 30 seconds.

Comments

[RBS]

How creativity works

Apparently it didn't on his book cover.

[Caleb Turberville]

Are you sure that's not Ezra Klein?

[Kaptious Kristen]

Speaking of hipster douches.

[John]

I am blocked. What is that?

[JW]

Jeebus. They actually make LARPers look cool and dignified.

[John]

Is it this?

http://gothamist.com/2012/07/2.....league.php

And yeah, at least the nerds have someone they can pick on now.

[Tman]

Yeah, it's a cardboard tube fight.

With epic levels of hipster douche.

I think even nerds would take pity on them.

[John]

I hadn't been to Die Hipster.com in a while. This is appalling. Good thing Bloomburg's police policies are not overtly racist or anything.

http://diehipster.wordpress.co.....-hipsters/

[Tman]

I can't go to that site too often. It just depresses me.

Unless I want to be reminded why I won't ever live in New York, in which case it's awesome.

[John]

That story is appalling. We all know the stories of the NYPD harassing minorities and other undesirables with the stop and frisk policy. These fuckwads have opened a weed based restaurant and no one is doing anything. Talk about selective enforcement.

[Dunphy (the real one)]

stories are nice.

robust facts are better

we all know NYPD 's stop and frisk policies are unconstitutional.

however, in order to show they were racist, at a minimum, you would need to show that they occurred at a rate significantly disproportional to a given race/gender demographics identification as crime perpetrator BY THE VICTIMS OF CRIME (iow NCVS data).

iow, nobody denies cops, for example, stop/frisk men far more often than women

men also commit far more part I crimes.

i have seen no data either way, but heather mcdonald has extensively crunched the data nationwide and proven that cops stop people of different ages, races, gender, etc. disproportionately.

however, they stop them disproportionately consistent with the disproportionate OFFENDER RATE as identified by VICTIMS (not cops), and remember a lot fo that crime is intraracial.

if cops were making racist choices for stop and frisk, we would see substantially disproportionate stop rates.

i have seen nobody present such evidence, which would be easy to compile IF it is in fact the case

[John]

Go fuck yourself Dunphy. I have walked all over New York and never once been stopped and frisked. I could walk there until my feet fell off and never be stopped and frisked. Why because I am a respectable looking white guy. If I were a 20 year old black guy, I would not make it five blocks. And you know that.

This is why people hate you on here Dunphy, because you deny the obvious and apparently think we are all stupid and will believe anything.

[Dunphy (the real one)]

john, you are so bad at reading comprehension

i'm not denying they are racist

i am saying IF they are racist, it's relatively easy to establish that case, but that one establishes it by showing their stop pattern is disproportionate to relative offender patterns.

it's THAT simple.

iow, assume arguendo demographic X makes up 6% of the population

but demographic X as identified BY CRIME VICTIMS commits 43% of part I crimes

if cops stop demographic X in 43% of their stops, is that evidence of racism, even though demographic X makes up only 6 % of the population?

no

again, i never denied anything. your issue is that you see what you want to see, NOT what i actually write.

consistently

NYPD *may* be racist in their SF policy (which is blatantly unconstitutional, regardless of whether it's racist)

but it is EASY to provide stats to prove or disprove that

i see a constant trend towards ignoring stats when it comes to alleged police misconduct

like here.

if they are racist, compile the stats and prove it. easy peazy lemon squeezy

i'd be the first to admit it - IF the stats support it

i already think they are a bunch of constitution violating thugs.

racism wouldn't surprise me at all

but you can continue to wallow in ignorance, both of what i ACTUALLY said and of police practices or you can seek facts

i prefer the latter

wallow away

[John]

It is obvious they are racist you baboon. They are forcing black kids to take their weed out of their pockets so they can bust them for public display. And meanwhile hipsters in Brooklyn have started a restaurant serving weed and no one is saying a word. That is called selective enforcement.

And the stats are below.

[Dunphy (the real one)]

i have explained to you the stats needed.

you haven't provided them

heather mcdonald did nationwide (and in new jersey to debunk the racial profiling myth by showing that objective recording of offender rates roughly matched the stop rates, but yet were disproportional)

i will be the firs to admit they are racists fucksticks IF the evidence supports it.

1) what are the offender rates PER CRIME VICTIMS (see: National Crime Victimization Survey)

2) what are the stop rates?

do they roughly correlate or not

simple

[Hyperion]

Stop lying John, you know that can't be true in King Bloomies liberal bastion of NYC. It is just whitey crackers like you always spreading this propaganda based on racism.

[Dunphy (the real one)]

it may or may not be true

contrary to the liars here i never said the stop and frisk program was or wasn't racist.

i said the way to prove it was using crime victimization stats - the stats provided by crime victims, which are tabulated at the NCVS

by pip etc's "logic", robbery laws must be clearly sexist and racist. since certain minorities are arrested and men are arrested FAR MORE OFTEN than women for robbery.

same with murder

disparate impact chicanery 101

i guess murder laws are sexist because cops aren't equally stopping and arresting men and women proportional to their representation in society.

lol

again, the program and the cops MAY be racist.

that is easily supportable via NCVS data, which no proponent of "they are obviously racist fucks" has compared to stop rates.

[Dunphy (the real one)]

oh, and if people "hate me here" (but love me in the real world), i'm doing my job

i don't expect love from the KKK, based on who i am and what i say

and i don't expect it from anti-cop bigots who jump to a conclusion IT'S RACIST (much like kneejerk liberals) without supporting evidence

again, the evidence is simple:

1) what is the stop rate of various demographics
2) what is the same demographics offender rate PER CRIME VICTIMS (not cops).

note that crime is disproportionately intraracial. black victims of black criminals are not fabricating the race of the offender out of racism.

that's pretty clear

[John]

if cops were making racist choices for stop and frisk, we would see substantially disproportionate stop rates.

And that is exactly what we see

By 2011, approximately 700,000 police stops took place. Because the overwhelming majority of those stopped were black or Hispanic men, civil liberties groups have argued that the stop-and-frisk program amounts to racial profiling. In May 2012, United States District Court Judge Shira Scheindlin agreed by giving class-action rank to a suit alleging that race dictated which residents the New York Police Department targeted for stops and frisks. The evidence to support this is staggering.

http://racerelations.about.com.....filing.htm

Shove that up your ass sideways and choke on it Dunphy.

[Dunphy (the real one)]

again

1) i never denied they are racst

2) that doesn't prove it

you need to compare disproportionate stop rates WITH DISPROPORTIONATE OFFENDER RATES AS MEASURED BY CRIME *** VICTIMS ***

if they are substantially disproportionate to THOSE stats, then that's strong evidence of racism.

heather mcdonald has already debunked racist claims on a nation basis. not sure if NYPD falls under that criteria or not

again, you are making the claim, it's an easy burden to meet, and i'd love to know IF they are racist.

no skin off my back either way

they may well be, but again... try reading comprehension

nobody claims they are sexist for disproportionately stopping men despite the fact men are a minority of the population

because we accept men commit crime more than women

well, guess what, according to crime VICTIMS (disproportionately certain minorities), crime offenders (especially part I) are disproportionately certian minorities

when you get over lying about my position ( i have no position because you have presented no data), get some understanding

hth

[John]

God you are stupid Dunphy. Drug use rates among whites and blacks is nearly identical. So the offender rates are the same. The NYPD is racist as hell. And you know it.

[Dunphy (the real one)]

but again, the issue is stop rates vs. part I offender rates NOT stop rates vs. drug usage rates

[John]

If you are using drugs, you are breaking the law and thus an "offender". Give it up Dunphy.

[Dunphy (the real one)]

no, terries are made for disparate reasons.

terries often end up in a drug arrest when the reason for the terry is totally unrelated

again, i have no opinion on whether stop and frisk is racist until evidence is presented.

the evidence needed is very simple and robust.

and you have yet to provide it

i have NEVER denied it is racist.

it very well may be.

but evidence will prove that. not childish name calling, that you seem to devolve to at the drop of a hat

[John]

Shut the fuck up Dunphy. I have worked in law enforcement. Terrys are done for the simple reason that the cop doesn't like the look of the person he stopped. That is all there is to it.

The evidence is clear. Nearly a hundred thousand Terry stops and 80% of them minorities. No way are 80% of the offenders minorities and no way are those stops all done for legitimate reasons other than being black in the wrong neighborhood.

My God you have turned into a troll.

[Dunphy (the real one)]

the evidence is not clear. i note you made the unfounded assertion and probably have not even checked NCVS data

NCVS data shows the race, gender, age (roughly) of the offender as noted by the VICTIM of crime, not cops

and they are VASTLY disparate

just like cop stop (and arrest rates)

you could provide evidence, but you haven't

it's already been debunked on a nationwide basis and in several other locales by heather mcdonald

feel free to research

and i will continue to make terry stops based on evidence.

not race, gender, or any of that shit

[Pip]

What a fucking idiot. If the people you're frisking are disproportionately black and brown, the of course they will be disproportionately represented in the offender rate.

And knock it off with the upper-case shit you stupid fuck.

BTW:

More than 80 percent of those stopped in New York are black or Latino

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07.....trial.html

Are you saying that more than 80% of the crime in NY is committed by no-whites? Are you really that full of pig shit?

[Dunphy (the real one)]

many latinos ARE white.

jesus, pip, you can't even get basic facts right.

and for at least the third time, i am speaking of

WAIT FOR IT

NCVS OFFENDER STATISTICS.

THAT IS THE RACE/GENDER/AGE OF THE OFFENDER AS DESCRIBED BY ***CRIME VICTIMS***

NOT COPS

that is why NCVS data is so compelling. it's a survey of crime VICTIMS and the data they provide on the offenders (robbers, burglars, etc.)

and year after year, they show vastly disparate offender rates for different demographics.

some minorities are less likely than whites to be offenders, and some are more likely

hth

again, offender rates PER VICTIMS of crimes, not cops.

[Pip]

"NCVS OFFENDER STATISTICS"

You can say that all you want stool-sucker, but until you provide clear proof that more than 80% of the crimes in NY are perpetrated by blacks and Latinos (of any fucking shade they come in) you are full of fucking shit.

And again, fuck off with the uppercase shit. It is considered to be tantamount to hollering.

Stupid cunt (very proper use of "cunt".

[Dunphy (the real one)]

i'm not making any claims, thus i have no burden of proof.

AND I'LL HOLLER ALL I WANT LITTLE MAN

back to it...

what are the offender rates as noted by victims vs. the stop rates?

a simple question, you refuse to answer and one that you obviously don't know, despite the fact it's a completely objective robust indicator of racist or not racist.

as an example, young black males ARE stopped disproportionately nationwide via terry

they make up less than 4% of the population but ACCORDING TO CRIME VICTIMS, they offend part I crimes at about a 45% rate.

so, if cops stop black males disproportionately to their presence in the population, but proportionally to their offender rate PER CRIME VICTIMS , that's strong evidence of NOT racism.

again, i never made ANY claim about stop and frisk except that it's blatantly unconstitutional and that bloomberg is a statist asshole.

if it's racist, provide the stats

[Pip]

"a simple question, you refuse to answer and one that you obviously don't know,"

Well if you know, you diseased cocksucker, then fucking tell us.

Stoopid Kant.

[gulo gulo]

i'm not making any claims

that is why NCVS data is so compelling. it's a survey of crime VICTIMS and the data they provide on the offenders (robbers, burglars, etc.)
and year after year, they show vastly disparate offender rates for different demographics.

So, it seems you are making a claim and are a liar.

And John's sockpuppet account Pip said it best, "What a fucking idiot. If the people you're frisking are disproportionately black and brown, the of course they will be disproportionately represented in the offender rate."

[Pip]

I am not John's sockpuppet.

[gulo gulo]

I am not John's sockpuppet.

Yes you are.

[John]

Pip is not a sock puppet. And stop calling him that Mary.

[gulo gulo]

Pip is not a sock puppet.

Yes it is.

[Marshall Gill]

The idiot WI didn't drive me to chrome and reasonable. Looks like a certain dick sucking full of shit LEO will do the trick.

Dude, everyone here already hates you so you don't need to keep it going with more posts. If being hated is your purpose, you have succeeded like you would when shooting a small dog! Or an unarmed man!

Since you have been so successful, why not go ahead and leave, or better yet, off yourself. Fucking piece of shit turd.

[SugarFree]

I seriously wonder if that GQ story is even real, or some species of satire.

The pine-nutty oil of the pesto was deeply complemented by the undercurrent of marijuana, which is not a shy flavor. Within ten minutes, I felt a polite little buzz from that one lick.

Within 10 minutes? No you didn't.

Being stoned 24 hours later? Bullshit. Shaking pot onto a pizza like oregano? Bullshit. Only the cocktails made any sense.

[RBS]

Within ten minutes, I felt a polite little buzz from that one lick.

It makes me think that guy has never actually used any marijuana before.

[The Hammer]

Including in his "research" for this story that seems like it was made up out of whole cloth.

[Zeb]

Well, I suppose as long as the rat is properly cooked...

The pot story is pretty appalling (I mean, they should be able to do what they are doing, but so should the young black man).

[John]

I have heard that rat makes a mean taco.

[Pip]

As with dog, consuming it elevates body temperature.

[The Hammer]

It makes a good burger.

[Pip]

Charlie didn't get much USO. He was dug in too deep or moving too fast. His idea of great RR was cold rice and a little rat meat. He had only two ways home: death, or victory.

[KalkiDas]

This is totally Seattle, Capitol Hill neighborhood. I never really put this all together. They have Capitol-hill-itized NYC

[Stormy Dragon]

Once again KK, JW, and Tman demonstrate perfectly how anti-hipsterism is itself really a form of hipsterism.

[John]

Hipsters deserve all of the hate and ridicule they get and then some.

[Stormy Dragon]

Why? So people are having fun in away you don't approve of. Who cares? The idea the rest of the world desperately needs to be informed of John's opinion of their hobbies is exactly the sort of narciscism that makes up the soul of hipsterism.

If a hipster is a person whose life is devoted to going "Look at me world, I'm too cool for you!", most anti-hipsters are people whose life is devoted to going "Look at me world, I'm too cool for you AND all the other hipsters!". You're really just a meta-hipster when it comes down to it.

[John]

Stating the obvious, that these people are morons, does not make you a hipster. We live in a world where 30 somethings live like 9 year old children. We all owe it to ourselves and the future of society to treat them with scorn and derision. In fact we owe it to them and their poor beleaguered parents. Maybe if we make fun of them enough they will snap out of it.

[Stormy Dragon]

Yes, truly the only thing between us and the abyss is John's snarky comments on the internet. Thank you dear sorry, for saving western civilization from the fall that would surely follow from people not confoming with the one true way.

You might as well go join the police, because this attitude that you're responsible for correcting the rest of society and making sure everyone behaves right would fit in perfectly with Dunphy.

[John]

Yes Dragon because locking people up is the same as making fun of them. Exactly the same.

[gulo gulo]

Stating the obvious, that these people are morons

I'm no fan of hipsters, but the few I know are anything but morons, and are actually quite intelligent.

That you dislike their style and whine so much about it is your failing, not theirs.

You were asked to explain why you dislike hipsters. You responded with "DERP!".

[John]

I'm no fan of hipsters, but the few I know are anything but morons, and are actually quite intelligent.

No they are not. If they were intelligent they wouldn't be living off of their parents or doing stupid shit like riding single speed bikes. If they were intelligent they would be smart enough to decide their own tastes rather than following their self appointed heard.

That you dislike their style and whine so much about it is your failing, not theirs.

No it is their failing. When we feel sorry for the guy who walks around DuPong Circle yelling at trash cans, that is not our failing. It is his. Some forms of behavior and taste are worthy of sympathy and other is worthy of scorn. These people are not sick they are just losers who never matured passed 7th grade. Every single thing they do, from the clothes they wear, to the beer they drink to the music that they listen to to the things they do for fun is purposely calculated to grate on every other person's nerves so they can get attention. Hipsters are pathetic. Everyone hates them. And everyone should hate them.

[gulo gulo]

No they are not. If they were intelligent they wouldn't be living off of their parents or doing stupid shit like riding single speed bikes.

I only know a few, but of that few, 2 own a software company.

And single speed bikes?

Jesus, gramps, I had no idea it was that awful what the hipsters were doing...

[John]

I only know a few, but of that few, 2 own a software company.

Supported by the bank of mom and dad no doubt. Everyone in society hates them. They really are the lowest caste. At some point the fad will blow over if for no other reason that their parents will finally cut them off. Some day after they have grown up, they will look back in shame.

[gulo gulo]

Supported by the bank of mom and dad no doubt.

Nope.

[Stormy Dragon]

No, locking people up would require having the balls to confront them RL. You're basically just the wussy version of Dunphy, so all you can manage is the "Internet Tough Guy" routine.

[John]

I laugh and ridicule hipsters in person whenever I see them Dragon.

[Stormy Dragon]

Yeah, and I'm billionaire playboy.

[John]

All of the time Stormy. Last I looked beardos were not exactly like biker gangs.

[Loki]

Maybe if we make fun of them enough they will snap out of it.

Doubtful. Making fun of them is a form of attention, which is sweet, sweet nector to the typical urban hipster. Also, they just convince themselves that you're only making fun because deep down you're just jealous that they're soooo much cooler than you.

The best way to deal with them is to just ignore them, but since no one else seems to be doing that, making fun of them at least allows me to vent, and keeps me from beating them to death and going to prison.

[Restoras]

The best way to deal with them is to just ignore them, but since no one else seems to be doing that, making fun of them at least allows me to vent, and keeps me from beating them to death and going to prison.

Natural Selection is going to take care of the hipsters. I look forward to all the sweet, salty ham tears of the hipster lifestyle dying a slow, horrible death.

[RBS]

Awesome.

[JW]

Gosh, Stormy, what got your vintage panties in a wad?

[Tman]

The frilly part kinda chafes, I imagine.

[Loki]

The banana seat on his vintage single speed Schwinn?

[John]

The banana seat on his vintage single speed Schwinn?

Well it does sit six feet high.

[Stormy Dragon]

Your mom didn't use enough fabric softener last week.

[JW]

My mom said that she's tired of you using her strap-on. Bring your own.

[SugarFree]

Gosh, Stormy, what got your vintage panties in a wad?

He's got a livejournal account. He either is a hipster (NTTAWWT) or a suicidal depressed teenage girl who has no other outlet for her thirteen-poem cycle about how rain is actually her tears.

[RBS]

He's got a livejournal account.

Current Mood: Uncomfortable.

[Kaptious Kristen]

Free country, dude. They want to go into a public park and act like fucksticks, it's all good. But I get to ridicule them. Hard. And I don't expect them to change. I hope to fuck they don't.

Your finger-wagging, pearl-clutching and admonishments ain't gon' change my mind. Quite the opposite, in fact. Your sanctimony makes me want to try harder.

[Stormy Dragon]

Free country, dude. We want to go into a public park and act like fucksticks, it's all good. But I get to ridicule us. Hard. And I don't expect us to change. I hope to fuck we don't.

FTFY. You're one of them.

[gulo gulo]

Your sanctimony makes me want to try harder.

Funny, that's what I would think they'd say about you.

Why do people give a shit about stupid looking hipsters? They actually matter to you?

Because I'm way too busy to play "high school fashion police/clique monitor".

[John]

Why do people give a shit about stupid looking hipsters? They actually matter to you?

Because we have to live near them and they are grating and annoying. Why do you care that we hate them so much.

[gulo gulo]

Why do you care that we hate them so much.

Because you spam the thread about it, when it's completely off topic.

Because we have to live near them

AT GUNPOINT YOU'RE FORCED!

[John]

You don't like the thread, go to another one Mary. And yeah, some of us have jobs and lives and that requires living in places we would prefer not to. And some of us like where we live and don't want to see it ruined by hipsters like Brooklyn was ruined.

[gulo gulo]

You don't like the thread, go to another one Mary

I don't like you spamming it. Why do you get to have an opinion about hipsters, but I can't have an opinion about trolls?

And yeah, some of us have jobs and lives and that requires living in places we would prefer not to.

So you admit you choose to live near them, and that you aren't forced to.

[John]

You can go on the thread and defend hipsters all day long Mary. We are just going to laugh at you for it. But don't let that stop you.

[Stormy Dragon]

Because we have to be on this comment board near you and you're grating and annoying.

[John]

Just read Die Hipster.com and see what they have done to Brooklyn. Fucking assholes drive up the rents, trash the place out with idiotic graffiti. All for what?

[gulo gulo]

Just read Die Hipster.com and see what they have done to Brooklyn. Fucking assholes drive up the rents, trash the place out with idiotic graffiti. All for what?

"You don't like Brooklyn, go to another city Mary"

[John]

So showing up at a place and ruining it an acting like an asshole is not grounds for everyone else despising you?

Got it Mary. And don't you have a pillow fight to go to this afternoon?

[gulo gulo]

So showing up at a place and ruining it an acting like an asshole is not grounds for everyone else despising you?

You choose to live there.

[John]

Not if you were born there like the guy in Die Hipster. Those fuckers just moved there and ruined the place.

Everyone who lives near them hates them. It is one thing that brings all races and religions together. The Orthodox Jew and the Palestinian, the white red neck and the black kid from the ghetto, the Asian kids, you name it, all of them can put aside their differences and agree and get along on the basis of how much they hate fucking white upper middle class Megans and beardos.

[John]

And lets talk about the bee problem in New York now. Thanks to these retards finding "urban bee keeping" to be the next look at me trend, New York now has a real problem with bee swarms. Of course Megans and beardos wouldn't last five minutes on an actual farm and most of them end up fucking the hive up and bees end up escaping and swarming on someone's stoop. Have a deadly allergy to bee stings? OOOPS. We wanted free range organic honey, so too bad for you.

[gulo gulo]

Not if you were born there like the guy in Die Hipster.

Yes John, him too, he's an adult.

Let your envy flow.

[Stormy Dragon]

Fucking assholes drive up the rents

Ah, so this really about the fact you're getting priced out of the local housing market and your anti-hipsterism is just the expression of your populist sense of entitlement.

And you like to pretend they're all living off their rich parents because the idea most of them are independent adults who just act weird when they're not at work would force you to deal with the reality most of them must be more financially successful as well in order to be outbidding you.

[John]

Fuck you Dragon. I don't live in hipster neighborhoods. I am too old an live in nicer ones than that. But I sure as hell sympathize with the people who don't have the money I do and suffer because these self entitled little bastards sponge off of their parents and ensure no normal person can live in the neighborhoods anymore.

[Stormy Dragon]

Gosh John, what's got your sensible granny pants in a wad? Too many kids on the lawn?

these self entitled little bastards

I'd rather them then the self entitled bastards who expect society to freeze in time because change sometimes pushes them out of their comfort zone. "I've lived in this house for 30 years! How dare someone offer the landlord more money and expect me to move! And how dare those yungins have more money than me!"

[John]

It is not old people Dragon. It is the single mother who cleans offices for a living who used to live close to her job and now has to take a huge commute because Megan and Berdo just had to live in the city and they couldn't be expected to live around minorities or anything. The neighborhood must turn entirely white within two years of the hipsters arriving.

[Stormy Dragon]

Is John short of John Edwards? Because that sounded like something straight out of one of his two americas bits. I hate having to live out in the boonies and commute a long way to work too. It never occured to me this was the result of some conspiracy of the people who own houses I can't afford nearby.

[gulo gulo]

Keep in mind Stormy, he also thinks that all hipsters everywhere get everything they own from their parents for perpetuity.

It looks more and more like he's just jealous and looking for an excuse for being envious.

[John]

Gulo,

when I drive by hipsters waiting to get on the subway in my Mercedes, I never feel jealous. Just contempt.

[Randian]

I cannot for the life of me understand anyone defending hipsters.

If you want to do your own thing on your own time, be my guest. Behind closed doors, you can be a furry or a swinger or make organic free-range mayonnaise blended with raspberry chutney, for all I care. But when you're out in public, as a grown-up, you need to act like a fucking adult. The streets are not your circus; we're not all here to watch you perform and draw attention to yourself. Drawing attention to yourself is what four-year-olds do, not fucking grown men and women.

[John]

Well said Randian.

[Stormy Dragon]

I cannot for the life of me understand anyone defending hipsters.

No one is defending them. They're just mocking people who obssess with them.

[Randian]

Actually, no, if that is all you were doing, there wouldn't be 150+ comments on the subject.

The only way to teach people how to act in public is through social pressure. This is a form of social pressure. Some groups (hipsters) deserve social pressure; other groups (gays, for example) do not.

[gulo gulo]

there wouldn't be 150+ comments on the subject.

There aren't.

[gulo gulo]

The streets are not your circus

They pay taxes just like you do crybaby.

If you want to do your own thing on your own time, be my guest. Behind closed doors

My own thing is in my front yard. In full view.

What now? Gonna cry more?

[gulo gulo]

Nevermind, just saw that you're John's sockpuppet.

[gulo gulo]

Gulo,

when I drive by hipsters waiting to get on the subway in my Mercedes

Looks like I struck a nerve.

[John]

Facts are what they are Gulo. I may not like where I live, but it pays well.

[gulo gulo]

I may not like where I live, but it pays well

Not well enough to stop you from being envious, or buy a house in the burbs away from hipsters apparently.

[John]

Contempt is not envy Gulo. They are two different concepts. I love the defense mechanism you losers use. People hate you because you are losers not because they envy you. I would rather be a transvestite whore than be a hipster. At least as a whore, I would be providing a useful service.

[Stormy Dragon]

Yeah seriously. A Mercedes driver wants to criticize other people for douchiness? Talk about the pot calling the kettle black...

[John]

Mercedes are fabulous cars. Owning one just says you know something about and appreciate cars.

People who like cars, are not hipsters. That means they buy cars for rational reasons, like they are well made or fast or beautiful or rare. If hipsters were into cars, they would be driving Yugos because they are "ironic" and a way to say "look at me!!"

[gulo gulo]

We get it now John, you're low-rent and hate it, and need to blame someone.

Get a better job so you can afford to move and not shorten your life with irrational, school-lunchroom style hatred.

[John]

LOL No Gulo, I am anything but low rent. Low rent is wearing skinny jeans, a wool cap in August and drinking cheap shity beer.

I drink expensive beer and really expensive wine, don't wear a wool but do wear wool suits. And live in the neighborhood where the hipster's parents live.

[gulo gulo]

LOL No Gulo, I am anything but low rent. Low rent is wearing skinny jeans, a wool cap in August and drinking cheap shity beer.

I drink expensive beer and really expensive wine, don't wear a wool but do wear wool suits. And live in the neighborhood where the hipster's parents live.

So you waste time ranting about living near people you don't live near?

I must have really struck a nerve.

[Stormy Dragon]

Owning one says you're willing to pay three times what a car is worth because you think it'll make you look cool. Mercedes is just single-speed bike for hipsters who have evolved past the larval stage.

[John]

You clearly don't know cars Stormey. Mercs are not over priced at all, especially if you buy one a year or two old. My MERC cost less than a comparable Audi, BMW or Lexus.

[gulo gulo]

My MERC cost less than a comparable Audi, BMW or Lexus.

Chrysler's are like that.

[Stormy Dragon]

You clearly don't know cars Stormey.

I know the guy in the Mercedes next to me in rush hour traffic isn't get there any faster or more comfortably than I am in my Mercury even though he could have bought three of my car for what he paid for his.

[gulo gulo]

Why do we keep calling them Mercedes when he admitted it was used, it's probably a Chrysler.

Which explains all his angst, why he can't move, and why he's trying so hard to prove he's not low rent.

[Stormy Dragon]

His Mercedes isn't used. It's just a vintage artisnal Mercedes.

[Loki]

More Hipster doucheiness (because who ever gets tired of bashing those fuckwads):

Art imitates life.

[Loki]

And Diehipster is already making fun of them as well.

[Sudden]

I was stupid enough to click on the music video he made.

Dear God, the entire cast of Nickelodeon in the early 90's made a cameo in that video. It gives me grave concern that they all turned hipster scum too.

[John]

I call Shenanigans. That can't be real. No one does "free lance illustration" for a living.

[RBS]

"free lance illustration"

In my day we called that graffiti.

[John]

Or vandalism.

[John]

Or "living off of my parents retirement".

[Zeb]

No one does "free lance illustration" for a living.

Probably not, but lots of people give it a try.

[Loki]

No one does "free lance illustration" for a living.

Sure they do. But most of us would just call it "mooching off their parents", aka "funemployment".

[John]

What the hell is wrong with their parents. I would gladly support my kid if they are going to school or just down on their luck. But the day they decide they must live in New York and pursue their dreams doing some stupid and impractical job, is the day they pay for it themselves.

[RBS]

I think on my way home from work today I'm going to stop by my parents house and tell them I'm leaving the legal profession for good so I can pursue my dreams of freelance illustrating and interpretive puppeteering.

[John]

I hope your dad kicks your ass.

[RBS]

Oh he would. I'm amazed that some parents let their kids do this shit on their dime.

[wareagle]

consider who a good many of these parents are - they are the generated that bred into their children the "everyone gets a trophy" mentality. The question is not why so many in that age group have an outsized sense of entitlement; it's why they don't all have it.

[Loki]

^THIS^

I hate to admit it, but I'm part of that generation. It amazes me that anyone in their late 20's to mid 30's are anything but smug self-entitled little dickstains with over-inflated senses of of their own usefulness to society.

It's an entire generation raised on scoreless soccer games, participation ribbons, and everyone's a "winner" pop psychology bullshit. And people wonder why I have no faith in the human race.

[Restoras]

It's an entire generation raised on scoreless soccer games, participation ribbons, and everyone's a "winner" pop psychology bullshit.

I got into a heated arguement with two women in my town over this nonsense. My entire arguement was that by depriving kids of the experience of losing, we deprive them of real-life lessons: what are you going to do when you lose, or lose out? Quit? Or are you going to try harder? Persevere? No one who ever achieved anything, much less anything great, ever "won" at everything, all had to deal with failure, and learn from it.

They were so appalled at my "insensitivity" (but the kids will fell bad! how can you be so insenstive???) that my wife and I have been ostracized. Oh, the irony...

[John]

Restoras,

I got in big trouble with my wife's family over her nephew. They gave us the whole "we must be nice at all times to little snowflake because of his complexes". I was little drunk and finally, after years of listening to this shit, said, "he doesn't have a complex, you do. He is just a nine year old kid and you people are so paranoid you won't let him go to the bathroom in a restaurant alone. Give the kid a break and start treating him like he is 9 not 4." They about fainted.

[wareagle]

along the way a few - seems loki is in that group - figure out that they are being done no favors. Those are the young folks who are going to be okay. Unfortunately, I fear that is the minority.

A few weeks ago, when football concussions were all the rage, a few pearl-clutching tv bobbleheads were apoplectic about little junior even saying the word football, let alone playing it. Good grief. Life is a contact sport and it carries risk.

[Restoras]

They about fainted

Well done, sir.

[$park?]

My entire arguement was that by depriving kids of the experience of losing, we deprive them of real-life lessons: what are you going to do when you lose, or lose out? Quit? Or are you going to try harder? Persevere?

I've been working my ass off driving this into my kids' heads. If you keep failing at something either keep trying until you stop failing or pick something else to do that you don't fail at. Knowing when to do one is just as important as knowing when to do the other.

[wareagle]

sparky,
that is a damn good point. One of failure's values is in teaching folks that there are certain things they may not be very good at doing. Why bang your head against the wall unnecessarily.

[General Butt Naked]

It's an entire generation raised on scoreless soccer games, participation ribbons, and everyone's a "winner" pop psychology bullshit. And people wonder why I have no faith in the human race.

This meme is extremely popular. I guess because it gets the righteous hackles up, but I wonder how true it is.

Maybe I'm having a Pauline Kael moment, but me and my friends growing up were working class kids and no one went out of their way to make us feel special; quite the opposite usually. And the people I know now, some of whom I knew in childhood, are all working people. Some are more successful than others but everybody has a job and works for what they have.

I think the 'special snowflake' meme grew out of the 'all baby-boomers were hippies' meme in that one begat the other.

[John]

Butt Naked.

I think there is a lot of truth to that. I think the "special snowflake" meme came out of a certain breed of particularly contemptible upper middle and upper class parents.

[$park?]

I'll tell you what, it's fucking scary being a parent. Your kids are your responsibility and you'd hate for something bad to happen to them. Many people realize that bad things happening are the only way to learn, the rest can't bear the thought so they freak out and wrap their kids in bubble wrap then force their views on everyone else.

[wareagle]

GBN,
you can probably draw a straight line from one meme to the other because the hippies were the key perpetrators of snowflakism. These were folks steeped in "question authority." Well, who's the biggest authority figure in most people's lives? Parents. So instead of parenting their children, they chose to be their friends, to protect them from life's unfairness, to prevent all skinned knees, Little League losses, less-than-good grades, etc. The meme is only popular because it is demonstrably true.

[General Butt Naked]

WE, I'm not denying that it happens and is probably the norm in some places; I'm just saying it's not universal, i.e. 'an entire generation'.

We have a very diverse nation and to lump the kids from Appalachia in with the entitled Williamsburgers hailing from Connecticut is unfair, and wrong.

[T]

I was informed by one of my younger relatives (currently attending college on a baseball scholarship) that the only people who don't keep score in the 'scoreless' sports are the adults. The participants know damn well who won, they just can't talk about it in front of the big people. This makes the entire exercise worse, in my mind, because we're teaching the kids all kinds of bad lessons.

[John]

I would imagine that is true T. Kids are still kids.

[General Butt Naked]

Hell yes, T. Because kids are smart enough to know that sports without competition is fucking pointless. Might as well just run around in circles for an hour.

[RedDragon6009]

My God, I've seen jackasses like this here in Tampa. They "battle" once a month near Lowry Park Zoo. Some of them have far more realistic looking weapons made of foam or something. I pretty sure it's the same douche bags that go hog wild for Renaissance fairs.

[Pip]

"Some of them have far more realistic looking weapons"

And someday a cop will open fire on them.

[RedDragon6009]

One can only hope.

[Mensan]

If you're going battle with carboard weapons, this is how to do it.

[Whiterun Guard]

What the hell, he would have made a GREAT climatologist...

[Lord Humungus]

or a cop - he has that hunted, dweeby look.

[Brett L]

So, too lazy to do experiments, too lazy to do research. Got it. Come on over heah, boy. We got a exciting career for you in gummint service.

[Pip]

No, Certified Life Coach.

[Zeb]

Meh. That's pretty much the reason I'm not a professional scientist. Science is fabulously interesting, but actually doing it is incredibly tedious.

[Stormy Dragon]

Most jobs ended up being far more tedious when you have to do them than they are when you imagine other people doing them. Afterall, if there was a job that was fun all the time, you'd be paying the employer to do it rather than vice versa.

[NotSure]

This guy should have become a politician, where faking things creates success.

[JW]

So, he pretty much sucks at everything.

[TheIronSheik]

People who give TED talks should be banned.

[Tman]

YEs, this. Except for the Mike Rowe one with the sheep testicle part. That was awesome.

[John]

Shorter Lehrer

I needed to go into a field where my dishonesty would be embraced as fact.

[Restoras]

Politics?

[John]

That too.

[John]

I would think that someone who understood how creativity worked would be too busy out being creative to write a book about it.

[Heroic Mulatto]

And smart enough not to make up quotes from someone who is still alive.

It's not like, tomorrow, Bob Dylan can't just pick up the phone to any newspaper or magazine and say, "I didn't say that."

[John]

And Dylan is well known as a real hard ass to journalists. When this broke I figured it was Dylan's people who busted him. Dylan is just not the guy you want to fuck with. He has a lot of money and doesn't mind using it to hire good lawyers.

[Zeb]

And he doesn't seem to give a fuck what anyone thinks of him at this point.

[Killazontherun]

That should have been evident the first time he performed live.

[Tim]

I'm not familiar with the guy's lifestory, but he's ruined. Why the glee?

[John]

Because a Reason writer outed him. And Reason loves a good snark.

[Tim]

John, apparently it's "reason" as of today.

[Tman]

I wouldn't say he's ruined, after all he sold a shit ton of books, so if he hasn't pissed away his advance yet he should be doing ok.

All this will do is blacklist him from a profession he defiled, which is the way it should work. He'll have to start over somewhere else, which is what happens to tons of people.

Hell, I'm on my fourth life career.

[Tim]

I'd say they're going all "Wrath of Khan" on him but we did every conceivable Khan joke yesterday.

[RedDragon6009]

I'm sure everyone is going through is work with a fine-tooth comb now. Probably just a matter of time before people find more made up shit or even evidence of plagiarism.

[Brett L]

Uh, because people who make shit up and attribute it to someone so that they can sex up their "non-fiction" book are committing fraud and deserve scorn and humiliation. Think of it as a check on getting more of that type of behavior.

[Tim]

Brett do you know the Klingon proverb that tells us revenge is a dish that is best served cold?
It is very cold in space!

[Loki]

Since we did Wrath of Kahn yesterday, today it's Undiscovered Country?

"We need breathing room!"

[SIV]

What's wrong with reveling in the ruination of someone who soundly deserves it?

At least Lehrer just fabricated some quotes and all the other stuff that should be revealed shortly.Some of his neuroscience peers shot and killed a bunch of people at faculty meeting and a movie theater.

I just wish I could afford to buy Lehrer's house in a short sale.

[protefeed]

I'm not familiar with the guy's lifestory, but he's ruined.

He's not ruined. He's young, he deservedly got called on his bullshit, he can either learn from his mistake or go into a profession where lying and bullshitting isn't a huge liability.

[Tim]

Will you be voting for him then?

[Lord Humungus]

police officer?
DEA?
FBI?
DoJ?
ATF?

There's a world of opportunity out there.

[Heroic Mulatto]

Geez, what are you going to do next, Reason? Kill his mother and then seduce his wife?

[John]

And his daughter.

[A Serious Man]

Isn't that SOP when someone falls into disfavor with the Koch Brothers?

[John]

No, usually they wind up disappeared. This is just the staff having fun. If they were serious, Lehrer wouldn't be around anymore.

[Tim]

reason is now lower case. Even when you begin your sentence with it.

[Pro Libertate]

It's been lowercase for a while. Look at the covers.

[Tim]

I am one of those ignore history, destined to repeat it types. And by the way why shouldn't we give Hitler the Sudatenland?

[Pro Libertate]

It turns out that if Chamberlain had given Hitler a hug, none of the bad stuff would've happened.

[RBS]

"Then I'm gonna kill everybody. Then, I'm gonna dig up Scarn's dead wife and I'm gonna hump her real good. Ha ha ha ha!"

[Fist of Etiquette]

Journalists are ruthless.

[BoscoH]

Imagine you had slept in today and missed this spectacle!

[A Serious Man]

He dishonors the otherwise noble name of Lehrer.

[Pip]

As does Jim.

[PS]

I miss the hardness of fact

I miss the hardness of fact every time I read a MSM article on science. Especially if it has to do with health, nutrition, climate change, economics, oh hell, they even manage to fuck up physics.

[Heroic Mulatto]

You mean there is no "God" particle?

[PS]

It's all TEAM WAVE vs TEAM PARTICLE!!!

I'm no expert on physics but I often end up shaking my head when I read a MSM article on the subject. These science writers write about science for a living and they are almost invariably clueless.

[John]

It is not a wave or a particle. It is a tax.

[Heroic Mulatto]

Ah yes, the Roberts Uncertainty Principle.

[PS]

That wavicle, you didn't build it.

[Pro Libertate]

No. It's now the Obama particle.

[Apple]

Aw, crap, I just realized this is the same guy I listen to on WNYC's Radiolab all the time. I love that show. They might have to reedit their episode on Deception for rebroadcast.

[GILMORE]

I miss the hardness of fact

he must be relishing the bone of fact that has reamed his career.

Is there some kind of journalist-recipe? =

"Instant Asshole: Just Add New Yorker"

[Warty]

I miss the hardness of fact

Well, that's just unfortunate.

[Heroic Mulatto]

Faux-public intellectuals (public faux-intellectuals?), such as Lehrer and Gladwell, really rub me the wrong way. I have no problem with folks like Steven Pinker, Jared Diamond, or the Freakonomics boys gaining popular acclaim as they are presenting theories from their own research in disciplines they are trained in. Lehrer and Gladwell are mere compilers, the concepts, observations, and discoveries they present don't belong to them. Furthermore, since they are "reporting" on the theories and arguments of others, they often misrepresent them due to their ignorance of the finer points of the various disciplines they dabble in.

Now, I'm not casting disdain on the whole concept of research synthesis. Just don't claim to be the "Sage on the Stage" for doing it.

[Warty]

Not even if you have WHIMSICAL HAIR???

[Heroic Mulatto]

Gladwell is no heroic mulatto. My hair could kick his hair's ass, and Cornell West's 'Fro's ass for good measure.

[Marshall Gill]

Hair yes, but do you have a beard like Harden?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xMbibT7nhEg

[John]

Lehrer and Gladwell are mere compilers, the concepts, observations, and discoveries they present don't belong to them.

In other times it was called pulling shit out of your ass. Yeah, what qualifies Lehrer or Gladwell to say shit about anything? And they are almost inevitably full of shit and their predictions universally wrong. But that doesn't stop them from writing books and being considered "sages".

[Heroic Mulatto]

Pretend there was a semicolon after "compilers" in my statement above please.

[SIV]

I'm not impressed by Pinker and I know Diamond is totally full of shit.

[Heroic Mulatto]

I'm not saying both men are correct in any of their arguments; however, they, at least, did the intellectual heavy lifting to formulate their theories.

[Jerry on the road]

I bought Guns, Germs and Steel some eons ago, but haven't had time to read it. So it's not worth it?

[Heroic Mulatto]

Actually, I'm curious as to SIV's criticisms of Diamond. (I assume he's referring to GGG?)

[Tim]

Have they fixed the bug where if you type AUUUUUUUUUUGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHH
It breaks the margins?

[Tim]

Apparently yes.

[Jerry on the road]

For more than a century, Rhodes scholars have left Oxford with virtually any job available to them. For much of this time, they have overwhelmingly chosen paths in scholarship, teaching, writing, medicine, scientific research, law, the military and public service. They have reached the highest levels in virtually all fields.

Time to edit the Wikipedia pages!

[Heroic Mulatto]

Don't forget to add the part where Rhodes intended his scholarship to create a secret society bent on reclaiming America under British rule and then wider Anglo-Saxon supremacy of the world.

[R C Dean]

Weren't Rhodes scholarships founded by uber-racist Cecil Rhodes, founder of apartheid Rhodesia?

Why are people using this blood money to advance their careers universally lauded?

[RBS]

That's just a rightwing wingnut am radio talking point.

[Espantapajaros]

Please. Like they couldn't tell from the glasses?

[Fist of Etiquette]

That's what she said.

[Warty]

You anti-hipsterers were beaten to the punch some time ago.

[Dunphy (the real one)]

noted: not a single "the copz are racist derp derp" knows or provides any NCVS data, yet they are certain of their beliefs.

i have no belief either way, on that narrow issue, since i have been presented with no data

the definition of prejudice, what bigots do- is to PRE JUDGE

iow, form opinion, before they get the facts.

i will be the first to admit stop and frisk is racist, why the fuck do i care, it very well may be. when evidence is presented

heather mcdonald has extensively debunked racial profiling myths with NCVS data

kneejerk liberals and anticop bigots HATE NCVS because it is an unassailable statistics that often rebuts their metanarrative

it shows that PER CRIME VICTIMS, crimes are committed by various demographics (age, race, gender, etc.) VASTLY disproportionately

that's an uncomfortable fact even jesse jackson has outright admitted

so, if cops are making stops disproportionately, the obvious question is - is the disproportionality consistent or inconsistent with disproportionate offender rates?

simple, and yet unanswered because facts are hard, but prejudice is easy

[John]

You are worse than 03. I am sorry you never got out of the third grade and never learned how to properly punctuate a sentence. But it really precludes anyone from engaging you. Other than a general sense that you like cops, I can't tell what the hell you are saying.

I would have never believed that people can get jobs on police forces without being able to write above a third grade level. But you have proven me wrong.

[Lord Humungus]

it's all the doughnuts, causing carb-induced confusion.

[RBS]

John, anything over a third grade level makes them overqualified. Sort of like having more than a high school diploma/GED.

[Ptah-Hotep]

You are more right than you know.

Too Smart

[$park?]

That page, you didn't link that.

[Ptah-Hotep]

try again

Non-sugerfree; I hope

[$park?]

since book smarts don't necessarily add up to street smarts or physical fitness or honesty or emotional intelligence, all traits I'd like to see in a police officer

Only in the Land of Make-Believe.

[John]

That is true Sparky. But a high IQ doesn't take away from those things either.

[$park?]

My point was really that physical fitness, honesty, and emotional intelligence are traits you'll only every find in an imaginary police officer.

[$park?]

*ever

[John]

Oh ok.

[Randian]

dunphy, still does not justify an 80% enforcement rate. That's prima facie evidence of discrimination that you have failed to counter with any sort of figure.

It is not incumbent upon those asserting that an 80% rate is outrageous; the 80% itself *is* facially outrageous. It's incumbent on you to rebut that figure, not just YELL ABOUT this number or that number.

[gulo gulo]

noted: not a single "the copz are racist derp derp" knows or provides any NCVS data

Neither did you.

it shows

Don't tell me, because I have already demonstrated that you are a liar earlier in the thread.

Post links to credible sources.

YOU and what YOU THINK are not credible sources.

EVER.

PERIOD.

GET IT?

[Warty]

Jesus Christ, Dunphy, just shut the fuck up already. No one gives a fuck what you're spewing about in your unreadable free-verse posts.

[$park?]

Needs more ATFPAPIC.

[Warty]

All The Fucking Pigs All Poop Into Cups? I mean, that's factually correct, but I don't see what bearing it has on this discussion.

[RBS]

Thanks, I was wondering what that stood for.

[$park?]

Dunphy wouldn't expect a civilian to understand.

[Pro Libertate]

We're all civilians. You mean Little People.

[RBS]

And just like that, as mysteriously as he appeared he vanished. Thanks reasonable!

[SIV]

If you scrolled to the bottom first I suggest you just skip everything above and move on to another post.

[Randian]

Oh, good, mary's off of her meds again.