Vindication of a scientist?

2008-07-28 · Original WordPress address

People are saying Larry Summers is "vindicated" by a study showing males have higher variance in math ability than females. Does it make sense to talk of vindication for a scientist when data is found supporting his or her hypothesis? According to Google:

Definitions of Vindicated on the Web: * absolved: freed from any question of guilt; "is absolved from all blame"; "was now clear of the charge of cowardice"; "his official honor is ... wordnet.princeton.edu/perl/webwn * "Vindicated" is a song by Dashboard Confessional released on the 2004 soundtrack for the movie Spider-Man 2. This track can be considered the theme for the Spider-Man 2 movie. The song is also featured on the Bonus Track edition of their 2006 album, Dusk and Summer. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vindicated * justified, avenged or cleared of blame en.wiktionary.org/wiki/vindicated

Larry Summers isn't a song and people aren't saying his claims are vindicated (and they're not because these data were more or less known at the time of the controversy) and Summers hasn't been avenged. So why all the drama? Larry Summers has only been vindicated if you're playing the same game the Harvard faculty was when they had Summers fired, i.e. engaging in a War on Science. So internet, stop saying this study vindicates him!