Why are scientists filing lawsuits against their critics? (2017)

https://www.theverge.com/2017/11/27/16687956/mark-jacobson-stanford-critique-lawsuit-retraction

by Tomte • 4 years ago

54 12 4 years ago

theverge.com

Ballas• 4 years ago

For those interested, here is the outcome of the case: https://retractionwatch.com/2020/07/09/stanford-prof-ordered...

TLDR: He dropped the case and said he expected them to settle. They were awarded costs in an anti-SLAPP suit.

DennisP• 4 years ago

Despite all that, Jacobson's work gets uncritical acclaim in the popular press to this day, even as other scientists keep pointing out problems with it.

dahdum• 4 years ago

Last I can find is that Stanford has been ordered to cover ~$70k of Jacobson’s legal fees by the CA Labor Commissioner.

If that holds I wonder if we can expect more spurious lawsuits from CA professors, knowing their employer will be forced to backstop them.

https://retractionwatch.com/2022/09/12/stanford-prof-appeals...

nottorp• 4 years ago

Regardless of what The Verge or the court system says, how can you trust a scientist that needs a lawsuit to defend their hypothesis?

SuoDuanDao• 4 years ago

While I'm not familiar with the particulars of this case, I could see a scientist suing for misrepresenting his research in a libelous way. The publication in question could have been attacking a strawman with his name attached (not saying it was, just that this isn't a glaring issue with the scientist to me unless I know more).

marginalia_nu• 4 years ago

Not entirely unheard of for brawls to break out over scholarly disputes in the old days.

shagie• 4 years ago

How about the really old days?

How Imaginary Numbers Were Invented - https://youtu.be/cUzklzVXJwo?t=300 (jumped directly into the math battle part)

photochemsyn• 4 years ago

The oddest thing about Stanford's renewable energy program is that it's funded by something called the GCEP (Global Climate and Energy Program) which in turn counts ExxonMobile as a major sponsor. Does ExxonMobil really have any interest in seeing its fossil fuel market destroyed by renewable energy competition?

https://gcep.stanford.edu/about/exxonmobil.html

There are also some interesting provisions about Exxon having some control of intellectual property arising from GCEP work in the details of the agreements. Not really surprising that nothing much has come out of that program.

googlryas• 4 years ago

Sure, they would love to be in the place with renewables that they are with fossil fuels. They see themselves as an "energy provider", not an "oil company".

vlovich123• 4 years ago

Yes, because renewables are not a serious threat to fossil fuel companies and the transition period is long enough that they can pivot into the space. Nuclear fission on the other hand would be enormously disruptive. Culturally, the anti nuclear movement has a lot of links to oil companies [1].

[1] https://www.forbes.com/sites/kensilverstein/2016/07/13/are-f...

Kudotap• 4 years ago

Truly beats me. I mean, if you were confident in your hypothesis, then why in Heaven's name would you file a lawsuit (a lawsuit!) against fellow scientists who are poking holes in the theory.

Truthfully, these days it's really beginning to seem as though I'm living through the wrong century. I mean it's like something broke in the world, and basic common sense went took a looong vacation.

maxk42• 4 years ago

If you file a lawsuit against your critics then you're not a scientist.

Why are scientists filing lawsuits against their critics? (2017)

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