SocraticGadfly: Has Bora Zivkovic lost a bit of his science moorings?

June 30, 2013

Has Bora Zivkovic lost a bit of his science moorings?

Or, instead, is he simply making a move to get more chummy with Gnu Atheists, especially the Atheism Pluser kiddies?

I offer as proof this:

That's Bora, with Pluser kiddie Rebecca Watson.

If you follow modern "movement atheism" issues, and are of sound mind, no matter what you think about Watson's "Elevatorgate" concerns, if you're of sound mind and honest about it, you'll readily admit that she's no more scientifically, or skeptically, literate than the average American layperson.

So, what the hell was up with Bora Zivkovic, Scientific America's PR flak for its in-house and freelance bloggers, doing getting so fuzzy cute with Watson recently, at least per one of his recent Facebook pix? Bora: Really? Is she going to become a Scientific American blogger next? And, no, I'm not directly querying him about it. I'm in for a pound, not a metric ton, and while I like a fair bit of Bora, I suspect cuddling up to Watson is as much about boosting SciAm blog page views as anything else.

(Since Bora's Facebook posting status is not set to "public," I'm not posting the picture here. But, I have downloaded it! And, I have no problem commenting on it, because other people saw the photo being taken, and it's been shared, even if not on "public.")

I like Bora at times, certainly for his own blogging about bodily time rhythms in the animal world.

But, at other times, I'm definitely more critical.

He's way too much in bed with Jay Rosen-type thinking about how Gnu Media can do no wrong and Old Media can do no right. Now, I know his Gnu Media bread and wallet is buttered, but, on things like investigative journalism, as I've blogged before, Gnu Media simply doesn't have the overhead for that.

And, as I blogged a couple of years ago, his own magazine put out an arguably unethical special section about all-electric vehicles. The special section was entirely sponsored by General Motors and it falsely claimed the Chevy Volt was an all-electric, not a hybrid.

But, back to the point at hand.

Did Bora just chunk his critical thinking skills out the window?

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