Contribution to science of Regius Professor Sir Simon Wessely: a thirty year retrospective

[Wonko]

I think it's clear from the context that he does endorse it, but as to proving that, either legally or in the court of public opinion, that's a different matter. There is a tad too much wiggle room for a person such as him to exploit if he desired.

 

[Barry]

I think it's clear from the context that he does endorse it, but as to proving that, either legally or in the court of public opinion, that's a different matter. There is a tad too much wiggle room for a person such as him to exploit if he desired.

I think SW is a supremo at dropping ideas into the melting pot he wants people to pick up on, whilst maintaining the plausible deniability that he only said what someone else said. He's very good at it, because it is very hard to pin down or prove. But I strongly suspect it is what he does. Nevertheless, we must not quote people out of context, or endorse texts which do, else our credibility for seeking the truth and good science will go down the pan - the very things underpinning why we founded this forum, and why I am proud to be part of it.

 

[Esther12]

I think that Wessely is often evasive enough in his use of language that it's very hard to use short quotations to show the problems with his work. Unfortunately, it normally requires people to do much more reading than that, but attempting to take quick-cuts can back-fire and make it seem as if criticism of him is unfair. Than there's the problem of getting anyone to read the longer criticism!

So that people may judge for themselves whether or not certain quotations from the above chapter have been taken out of context in previous articles, it may be helpful to focus on one much-discussed quotation.

Thanks for posting the additional context.

 

[Sean]

I think that Wessely is often evasive enough in his use of language that it's very hard to use short quotations to show the problems with his work. Unfortunately, it normally requires people to do much more reading than that, but attempting to take quick-cuts can back-fire and make it seem as if criticism of him is unfair. Than there's the problem of getting anyone to read the longer criticism!

Agree.

Unfortunately fully catching Wessely out requires both solid familiarity with the background of it all, and a massive collation and cross-referencing job.

 

[Valentijn]

I think that Wessely is often evasive enough in his use of language that it's very hard to use short quotations to show the problems with his work.

He was a lot less cautious when he didn't think patients would hear what he was saying. Older papers before Sci-Hub or even when the internet was less common, as well as his correspondence with Aylward, had some pretty damning snippets.

 

[ukxmrv]

Hence the very old saying about him 'weasel words'