Feb. 4, 2011
For over four decades, I have received letters from strangers telling me I made a mistake in something I wrote. I don't mean spelling errors or grammatical errors or errors of fact, such as a date. I mean conceptual errors.
What drives them to do this? What kind of inner compulsion drives them to correct me? Do they think I care what some stranger thinks? Of course not. I have written about this before.
I sometimes send them my tar-baby article. http://www.lewrockwell.com/north/north49.html
I sometimes send them my "start a blog" article. http://www.lewrockwell.com/north/north866.html
This is a third version, written for those who failed to understand what I wrote.
Let me begin with two examples. In the first week of February, 2011, I wrote an article, "Hedonics and Information Costs." It was a narrowly focused article on statistical methodology. The Bureau of Labor Statistics imputes a quality factor in assessing the price of certain goods, mostly digital. This is a legitimate procedure. There are improvements in quality that are not reflected in retail prices. As surely as reduced cereal in a box for the same price indicates concealed price inflation, so does more power in a new computer chip for the same price indicates concealed price deflation. This should be obvious.
It is not obvious to the "Dear Sir, You Dummy" crowd.
I got an email telling me that the price of food has risen. Thus, the BLS indicator is wrong. There is price inflation. But my article was on information costs, not food. The example was therefore irrelevant. I wrote back explaining that the BLS does not apply the hedonics deflator to food.
Two days later, I got another one.
Gary,
Food, gasoline, heating and cooling prices are NOT falling.
The price of cars is NOT falling!
That was it. No explanation.
I wrote back: "How does this relate to the BLS's hedonics deflator?"
A few hours later, I received this:
My dear brother in Jesus,
Prices in those areas are increasing.
I know you're to smart to trust BLS info.
I should have known: a member of Jerks for Jesus, the largest parachurch ministry on earth.
My article was on a specific statistic related to quality improvements, especially digital technology. Here, we are all benefitting from the most extraordinary social process in man's history, an exponential curve of increased value that has been going on since at least 1890. I have written about this here: //www.garynorth.com/public/7497.cfm
I provided a link to this article in my hedonics article. But none of this registered with the critic. He just had to correct me.
These people do not understand what they read. They have an inner compulsion to show specialists that they -- the critics -- are far better informed than the specialists. They show this by typing up a quick note and sending it. They offer no explanations. They offer no links to articles or books that present the correct view -- correct, according to the critic.
I have been receiving these brief, unsubstantiated, off-the-cuff communications for four decades. Not once did one come from a specialist who had written something. Always, they are from unpublished critics.
The phrase, "get a life!" seems appropriate. But they think they have lives of great meaning, because they send brief emails.
Do not join them.
Why do I devote an article to this? Because it is easy to fall into this temptation to shoot from the hip. A bad habit extends into other areas of a person's life. It cannot be contained.
Offering criticism is good if the intent is to change a person's mind. But to do this, you must tread carefully, because people don't like to change their minds. You need three things: facts, logic, and rhetoric. Even then, it's not easy. People resist change, especially of their opinions.
If it is not worth time and effort to provide facts, logic, and rhetoric, just say nothing. Don't try to do something important -- changing a person's mind -- if it is not worth your effort to do well. This is a basic principle in life: don't do anything important without making a commitment. Pay the price.
If you do this consistently, you will be taken seriously.
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