Why I dislike TAG, and why I dislike social media
I saw a tweet a week or two ago about the upcoming TAG ("Theoretical Archaeology Group") conference. I made an offhand negative comment, which set off a series of negative tweets about me. "Wow, not a single session I'd want to attend! Am I just out of it, or is "theoretical archaeology" out of it??? I tried to engage with my critics, but it just led to accusations that I am a troll and a bully. Finally I tweeted "I give up." So, I thought I would put down some of the reasons I dislike TAG, and some comments on social media. Social media first. Here are a few things I dislike. Please note that my reference here is social media in relation to professional and scholarly issues. (1) Ad hominem attacks. As soon as I made a negative remark about TAG, I was attacked personally. I must be a bad person. I should shut up. This attitude is antithetical to science and scholarship. It's really unfortunate when senior scholars would rather bully and t...