Just on Mr O.

I've adopted a policy of utterly ignoring him on the basis that he is an utter fraud in terms of his claims about being credientialed.

A small anecdote...A little while back one thread devolved into a discussion about the Athenian constitution. Mr O asserted with full confidence that the Athenian leadership was chosen by lot. Its the sort of error someone would make if they based their knowledge on some reader's digest style history or perhaps a misunderstanding of the history channel.

Anyway it was utterly wrong and completely bonkers. While some inconsequential positions were chosen by lot nothing approaching leadership was.

So I pointed out the error and offered a few facts that demonstrated the error.

Mr O's response wasn't to defend his claims with data. It wasn't to admit error.

Instead he suddenly proclaimed that he had academic credentials in ancient Greece and therefore anything he said about Athens was correct. He'd created these supposed credentials out of thin air as a means to defend the indefensible.

I assume all his other claims are equally invalid. He's simply someone who is incapable of maintaining a logic argument and seeks to gain advantage by claiming special knowledge. But every time he gets locked down to actual testable data he's shown to be wrong. So he makes wild untestable claims and prances around as though he's got great insight.

As another example, he claims to be an environmental sociologist. But if you look up the functions of that profession, you'll find it requires a very large degree of and understanding of population statistics. Yet he's the person who reject all ABS data as second-hand tripe and relies on walking around various suburbs estimating Chinese populations in those regions. Its all rather pathetic.

So I ignore him even as he tries to provoke a response. I also somewhat pity him.

If you want to engage, do so. But do it with your eyes wide open and don't fall for his claimed expertise shtick.

Aidan,

Yes, I think having Arts degrees encompassing history, anthropology, sociology, archaeology, philosophy, etc., makes a person smart.

Josephus,

How much research have you done into the Arts things like history, anthropology, sociology, archaeology, philosophy, etc?

Mr O, I have a library of hundred of books dealing with each of those subjects plus weekly papers dealing with archaeology, society and justice, morals and philosophy. My research goes back to pre history, and unrecorded historical facts developed by archaeology. My time of research covers 65 years of my life and writings. From my research I could give you question for which you have never researched.
All of that is of no value unless you have wisdom on how to apply your knowledge to benefit others and society

Mr 0,
Why do you think your smartness depends on formal qualifications?

Josephus,

It's great to see that you are so enthusiastic about all the Arts things like history, anthropology, sociology, archaeology, philosophy, etc.

What level do you rate your knowledge? BA or MA?