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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Crazy Jerome" data-source="post: 5996020" data-attributes="member: 54877">As a kind of short-hand in passing, by someone that was just making a quick statement, I wouldn't have any problem with blurring the distinction.  After all, people do that all the time. Heck, I do it all the time.  It is understood to be a kind of short-hand, subject to clarification if and when it matters.  (Most of the time, it doesn't, because people know what was meant.)  OTOH, if someone writes something purporting to be a critical analysis of X, and then uses such shorthand, and then never corrects it, and then has several supporters flood message boards citing said theory as an authority--then not so much.  And that isn't even getting into the rather trollish behavior of some of the more rabid supporters, which would be enough to give the critical analysis a bit of a black eye even if it weren't deserved otherwise.  Nor does it address the ranting aspects of the original. If so inclined, I suspect that Nagol or Innerdude could write an alterate version of the essay that would be largely accepted by most everyone.  (We'd still have healthly quibbles around the edges, but then that's a useful thing in critical analysis--to suss out the nature of the boundaries.)  There'd be a lot less traffic generated, because a lot less controversy, but the signal to noise ratio would be significantly improved.   I could write an alterate version of the essay that would be much better than the original, but probably not hit that same level of acceptance.  I'm currently too irritated by the nasty parts of the original to let them pass, as an alterate should. (Knowing people with real "disassociation" issues from trauma will do that to you.)  Moreover, I don't value immersion strongly enough to give it a fair shake in such an essay. It also depends, of course, if the author cares more about generating buzz and traffic or getting closer to the truth, whatever it may be.  That's probably cynical, but I think warranted in this particular case.</blockquote>

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