Re: The Fourth Turning

Robin Hanson (hanson@hss.caltech.edu)
Mon, 10 Mar 1997 14:40:45 -0800 (PST)


I responded to Chris Hind:
> I really think you need to understand something at at least a basic
> level before you can reject it this strongly. Strauss & Howe do give
> a plausible causal influence story, they don't try to explain ...

Lee Daniel Crocker responded:
>This is really too much. You described the book as "resonating" with
>your own feelings, offering no epistemology by which it should be
>properly judged, and then you criticize someone else for dismissing it
>based on his feelings. ... I judged it by its flawed reasoning,
>and my emotional reaction to that evaluation followed.

I respect your grounds for rejecting the book, that they haven't
presented their theory and evidence in a formal enough way to meet
your standards of persuasion. Chris, on the other hand, seems to just
be seriously mistaken about what the book says.

I have said nothing even close to liking the book because of
`"resonating" with your own feelings'. Please provide a direct quote.

Robin D. Hanson hanson@hss.caltech.edu http://hss.caltech.edu/~hanson/