Comments on: The Ethicator on the Ethicist: Should I really write my own recommendation?

By: Bob

Bob — Tue, 29 Mar 2011 01:19:19 +0000

I work for a major pharmaceutical company and I am genuinely stunned that anyone takes your brother seriously. It’s pretty clear that those ideas are not original. When I read his book I could tell he was faking the whole thing. You should probably sue him.

By: Fanboy

Fanboy — Tue, 29 Mar 2011 01:14:46 +0000

Is there any way I could get you to send me a signed photograph? I’m willing to pay anything.

By: Dr. Smith

Dr. Smith — Mon, 28 Mar 2011 22:36:05 +0000

Dear Ethicator,

I’m a bioethicist, and I just want to confirm your suspicion that Carl is widely hated in our field. You might even say he is despised. If we could spit on him, we would. (But that would present hygiene problems, as I’m sure you are aware, since you are also a trained health care professional. So we don’t do it.) We in bioethics are also well-aware of the fact that Carl stole all his best ideas from you. This is an open secret. Anyway, I’m just glad that you have managed to put aside your justifiable sense of betrayal and have begun to disseminate your ethical ideas on the web, absolutely free of charge. Nice work. We all wish we could be more like you.

By: Matthew

Matthew — Mon, 28 Mar 2011 22:22:41 +0000

Dear Ethicator,

You are like a God to me. Do you need disciples? I am ready to serve.

By: Jake

Jake — Mon, 28 Mar 2011 20:26:51 +0000

Pulitzer-worthy. You rock!

By: Hermann Diehl

Hermann Diehl — Mon, 28 Mar 2011 20:21:26 +0000

You have a servant’s heart. God bless you.

By: Annie Knowby

Annie Knowby — Mon, 28 Mar 2011 20:17:29 +0000

Your warmth and brilliance never cease to amaze. I am a health care professional, and am constantly subjected to Carl Elliott’s cheap, sermonizing, second-rate hackery — and cannot help but shake my head in astonishment that the two of you could possibly share any genetic material. You, sir, are a genius.

By: Grady Moped

Grady Moped — Mon, 28 Mar 2011 20:05:37 +0000

Hello Ethicator, I would just like to say that I consider you a beacon of light. I work for a major pharmaceutical company, and you seem like just the person we need over here, speaking truth to power. At the very least, we should be buying advertising on your site. Rock on!

By: B Elliott

B Elliott — Mon, 28 Mar 2011 19:52:25 +0000

In reply to Carolyn Thomas. Thank you for your excellent comments, and especially for your explanation of astroturfing and sock puppetry. These both sound like worthy endeavours. Now, that said, could you please provide me the names of some firms where I can learn this trade? Thank you! The Ethicator.

By: Carolyn Thomas

Carolyn Thomas — Sun, 27 Mar 2011 20:48:27 +0000

This is a swell idea. In the public relations field, we call practices like this 'astroturfing' and 'sock puppetry'. For example, astroturfing refers to political, advertising, or public relations campaigns that are formally planned by an organization or company, but designed to mask their true origins to create the impression of being spontaneous, popular â€œgrassrootsâ€ behaviour. (The term refers to AstroTurf, a brand of synthetic carpeting designed to look like natural grass). Sock puppetry, on the other hand, is (usually online) when people pose as one user soliciting recommendations for a specific product or service. They then sign on as a different user pretending to be a satisfied customer of a specific company. In some jurisdictions and circumstances, this type of activity may be and should be illegal. Big Pharma employees have been widely accused of this practice in online patient forums. For example, last summer, The Times in London reported that the owner of the Drumnadrochit Hotel near Loch Ness admitted to posting a fake review of his own venue on the TripAdvisor website, calling it â€œoutstandingâ€ and â€œcharmingâ€. But the hotel owner told The Times: â€œMaybe I shouldnâ€t have done it. But I donâ€t think itâ€s that big a deal.â€ "No big deal" is likely what those who write their own job recommendations, award nominations, book reviews and medical prescriptions believe too, right? http://ethicalnag.org/2010/03/22/shill-game/

By: j.

j. — Fri, 25 Mar 2011 03:19:31 +0000

hume was totally down with writing reviews of his own books:

http://www.class.uidaho.edu/mickelsen/texts/Hume%20%20-%20Abstract.htm