Monday, May 28, 2007
A biologist from Rutgers had his talk at Harvard canceled. He said it was because he called Alan Dershowitz a Nazi, but it was a bit more than that: Scientist says Harvard canceled talk
Robert Trivers said he had been invited to speak at Harvard to celebrate a prestigious international award he recently won. He planned to discuss his research on self-deception, including how self-deception factored in Israel's invasion of Lebanon last year.
His letter in the Journal quoted from a missive he had sent directly to Dershowitz: "Regarding your rationalization of Israeli attacks on Lebanese civilians, let me just say that if there is a repeat of Israeli butchery toward Lebanon and if you decide once again to rationalize it publicly, look forward to a visit from me. Nazis -- and Nazi-like apologists such as yourself -- need to be confronted directly."
Dershowitz said in a telephone interview yesterday that he had sent Trivers's letter to Harvard police because he regarded it as a threat, but that he knew nothing about Trivers's talk being canceled.
But Trivers told the Globe on Friday that the letter was not a physical threat.
"Under no circumstances would I have threatened him physically," he said. "I would go see him in person."...
Here's a clue to idiot geniuses: Never call someone a Nazi (what would you DO to a real-life Nazi?) and say that you'll come see them in person if they continue their Nazi-like "butchery" unless you make it very clear your intent will be to talk. No, scratch that...never combine angry "you're a Nazi" talk with any hint of a personal visit. This is pretty much always a bad idea.
Should Harvard have canceled the talk? It's created one more idiot martyr who now has another topic for his speaking engagements. OTOH, If what's presented in the Globe article is accurate, a reasonable man who received such a note would be justified in my view of punching first and asking questions later if the author showed up at his door. It's a dangerous thing to start throwing around such rhetoric.
