More often than not I find Amazon reviews to be nearly useless. And sometimes I find them to be even worse than useless.
Take the following case. In a review of the book Darwin Strikes Back, one reader comments:
Considering that the ID movement pretends to be science-based and unconcerned with religion, their propensity for publishing with evangelical publishers certainly is odd isn’t it?
One doesn’t usually take too kindly to maliciously intended insinuations. So I replied:
What’s more odd is that the reviewer uses the logical fallacy of guilt by association to knock this book rather than pointing out flaws in the argument of this book (since he doesn’t appear to agree with the author’s position). That would’ve made for a far more helpful review to those considering it.
Yet I don’t necessarily look for reviews to agree with my own beliefs in order to find them helpful. In fact I’d likely be engaging in a type of censorship if I did. Or at the least such a bias would be rightly suspect.
Frankly, though, it’s becoming increasingly difficult for me to abide reviews which not only fail to contribute anything substantial whatsoever to those interested in the book or product but which actually detract from the book or product.
Didn’t your mama ever teach you that if you ain’t got nothing good to say, then don’t say nothing at all! This would probably be a good rule of thumb for many Amazon reviewers to follow.
On the other hand, the review from Fritz R. Ward is the polar opposite. It’s well worth reading. Among other things, it causes me to wonder whether I’m being too hard on reviews like the one cited above. After all, perhaps they’re merely symptomatic of the entrenched, dogmatic scientific establishment’s refusal to abide dissent from the party line — even though one of the original, major intentions of endowed professorships, tenure track appointments, etc. in the first place was to simultaneously encourage academic freedom and exploration as well as to guarantee protection for credible independent thinkers? HT: Steve Hays.
