Signal boost: SurveyFail redux

[tzikeh]

Hey, remember SurveyFail, that perfect storm of arrogance and stupidity from a couple of pseudo-researchers who were going to use sexually explicit fanfic to prove that -- um. In their own words, "We're deeply interested in broad-based behavioral data that involves romantic or erotic cognition and evinces a clear distinction between men and women. Fan fiction matches this criteria perfectly."

In fandom's own words: FAIL. SO, SO MUCH FAIL.

Well, the book is still being published, although the title has been changed from "Rule 34: What Netporn Teaches Us about the Brain" to A Billion Wicked Thoughts: What the World's Largest Experiment Reveals about Human Desire. It will be released this May, but it already has an Amazon page for preorders, of course.

And the page has had some tags added to it. A few examples: "mansplaining," "pseudoscience," "biased heterosexist and wrong," "who needs peer review?"

I think we could bump those tag numbers lots higher, don't you? Go on, you know you wanna.

(Post copied pretty much entirely from the_shoshanna. Please take the post, whole or in part, and post it to your lj or dw if you're of a mind to. Or you can just link people here, or to shoshanna, with an explanation if you like.)

ETA: Check out the "people who viewed this book also viewed" section, then click those books! Oh, and then go to this one. We need to add that to the display. :D

EATA: Someone posted a discussion thread at the book's main Amazon page that's chock-full of links to blogs, journals, and other websites of reputable scientists, all refuting (if not outright rolling their eyes at) the methodology and "science" in this book.

Comments

[tzikeh.livejournal.com]

I like the word "imprimatur." It makes me sound ALL KNOWLEDGEABLE. Just as writing a book like this would.

Can we post reviews of books on Amazon before they come out? Because they would be just as accurate (if not moreso) than the book itself.

[the-shoshanna.livejournal.com]

I dunno; I've never even tagged something on Amazon before today. But there's always the related discussions page, I guess!

[tzikeh.livejournal.com]

Have you seen the product description? That's where the authors write their own blurb, basically. It's killing me.

Two maverick neuroscientists use the world's largest psychology experiment-the Internet-to study the private activities of millions of men and women around the world, unveiling a revolutionary and shocking new vision of human desire that overturns conventional thinking.

Revolutionary and shocking? Hm... here are some examples of this "revolutionary and shocking" vision:

•The male sexual brain resembles a reckless hunter, while the female sexual brain resembles a cautious detective agency.

NO! YOU DON'T SAY!

•Men and women have hardwired sexual cues analogous to our hardwired tastes-there are sexual versions of sweet, sour, salty, savory, and bitter. But men and women are wired with different sets of cues.

GET OUT OF TOWN!

•Men form their sexual interests during adolescence and rarely change. Women's sexual interests are plastic and change frequently.

#1 - SAY IT AIN'T SO!
#2 - I THINK YOU MEANT "ELASTIC," NOT "PLASTIC!"

[mirandir.livejournal.com]

Wait, they actually referred to themselves as "maverick?" Really?

[tzikeh.livejournal.com]

I know, right?

[mirandir.livejournal.com]

Can we find two Iceman neuroscientists to shoot them down and/or have sex with them?

[luminosity]

"Maverick" is *so* 2008.

[jackiekjono.livejournal.com]

2000 late even

[rednwhiterose.livejournal.com]

For the win!

[the-shoshanna.livejournal.com]

No, um, actually, and much as it pains me to admit it in this context, "plastic" is correct there: "capable of being shaped or formed; malleable" is the word's primary meaning as an adjective.

But...

•Women enjoy writing and sharing erotic stories with other women. The fastest growing genre of erotic stories for women are stories about two heterosexual men having sex.

GET OFF MY FUCKING INTERNET, CHUMPS.

[tzikeh.livejournal.com]

I concede plastic.

But I beg you to go to the page, and then go here, so we can add that book to the "also viewed" section full of books on bullshit. ;)

[bkwyrm.livejournal.com]

MY SEXUAL INTERESTS ARE PLASTIC.
This explains so much. Women are plasticsexual.

[tzikeh.livejournal.com]

Women are plasticsexual.

Barbie: Giant tits included. Womb sold separately (property of Mattel).