Yeah, but the methodology isn't correct. For instance, there was a study that involved a lot of extrapolation from a small number of interviews, and people were regularly bringing that up as a criticism.
Also, regardless of what you think, Zenz being a nutcase does cast doubt on what he says and is a very convincing argument for many people.
Just to add: I know his methodology is flawed and the data is poor. Because I read his fucking papers. That is what allows me to talk intelligently about it, and then go on to explain that he is likely motivated by ideological reasons. This is far more effective.
“The methodology is flawed in these ways which invalidate the conclusions.”
Not ad hominem.
Ad hominem on the other hand:
It’s persuasive some of the time, but it leaves you with nothing if the source is anyone but Zenz. Also it’s still fallacious. I mean, I find Zenz fucking abhorrent and am highly confident that his wacko religious views motivate his work, but if I tried to argue that in any kind of intellectually serious sphere I’d be laughed out of the room, and rightly so.
but it leaves you with nothing if the source is anyone but Zenz
Yeah, this is the real problem with the Zenz stuff. It's not really an "intellectually serious" setting in, say, a Reddit thread, so it can convince people. But if it's not Zenz then it's useless - though it's Zenz a surprising amount of the time.
Yeah, but the methodology isn't correct. For instance, there was a study that involved a lot of extrapolation from a small number of interviews, and people were regularly bringing that up as a criticism.
Also, regardless of what you think, Zenz being a nutcase does cast doubt on what he says and is a very convincing argument for many people.
Just to add: I know his methodology is flawed and the data is poor. Because I read his fucking papers. That is what allows me to talk intelligently about it, and then go on to explain that he is likely motivated by ideological reasons. This is far more effective.
Yeah, you're right that that's a better approach in some contexts, especially (as you say) more serious ones.
See that’s a real argument though.
“The methodology is flawed in these ways which invalidate the conclusions.”
Not ad hominem.
Ad hominem on the other hand: It’s persuasive some of the time, but it leaves you with nothing if the source is anyone but Zenz. Also it’s still fallacious. I mean, I find Zenz fucking abhorrent and am highly confident that his wacko religious views motivate his work, but if I tried to argue that in any kind of intellectually serious sphere I’d be laughed out of the room, and rightly so.
Yeah, this is the real problem with the Zenz stuff. It's not really an "intellectually serious" setting in, say, a Reddit thread, so it can convince people. But if it's not Zenz then it's useless - though it's Zenz a surprising amount of the time.