Talk:Tim Hunt

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Is Hunt's "online shaming" a neutral fact?

In re Mvolz's edit here: [1]. I don't think it is merely some people's opinion that Hunt was the target of a shaming campaign. The controversy is about whether he deserved it. #distractinglysexy was a completely open effort to ridicule Hunt for what he (was thought to have) said. Also, it's not exactly true that his "remarks went viral". His remarks didn't leave the room until a journalist transcribed them (selectively) and tweeted them, with the intention of shaming him. The online shaming article explains this very clearly.--Thomas B (talk) 11:53, 13 April 2019 (UTC)

PS It was Mary Collins, Hunt's wife, not Hunt, who got a new job in Japan, occasioning the move.--Thomas B (talk) 11:54, 13 April 2019 (UTC)

As I recall, nobody had a recording of the presentation (hard for me to believe that in a meeting of journalists nobody recorded it), so it wasn't a transcript, it was somebody's recollection. Are there any sources to the contrary? --Nbauman (talk) 22:01, 1 December 2021 (UTC)

Agreed. "Transcribed" was a poor choice of word. As Deborah Blum explained it, she, St. Louis and Oransky reconstructed Hunt's offending remarks from their "notes" immediately after the event. [2].--Thomas B (talk) 08:46, 2 December 2021 (UTC)

Tim Hunt Controversy (again)

I followed the Tim Hunt controversy very closely at the time, and I think it's important to keep it both accurate and proportionate in his bio. He's a living person whose life was upended at the time it happened and I think we have to be very careful about how it is retold. The long version in the online shaming article is pretty good, and detailed enough not to mislead. But there's always a danger of unwittingly editorializing in a two-sentence summary. I've given it a shot. I've actually left Wikipedia, but I'm willing to put in some time on this issue. I'm happy to talk about it and I don't think there's great urgency about it. But, at the end of the day, I think it's important to leave no doubt about two points: (1) his remarks were in fact distorted by the coverage at the time and (2) Tim Hunt is not a sexist.--Thomas B (talk) 08:46, 15 November 2020 (UTC)

Every now and then someone adds the "trouble with girls" quote. It's important to keep in mind that it was spun in a wildly inaccurate way at the time and turned out to be much less offensive than it sounds out of context. All this is now known. He was was the target of a shaming campaign, and (though I don't propose to use the word) a victim of one. He was made out to be a sexist though he clearly is not a sexist. Any insinuation otherwise does not belong in a neutral bio. (The online shaming article gives the whole story for anyone who is interested in the details.)--Thomas B (talk) 19:15, 7 December 2020 (UTC)

I have once again returned this passage to a neutral but brief statement in keeping with WP:LIVING. The link to the online shaming article with all the details surely can't be considered biased. It is a fact that he was shamed online. There is no way to say more without either providing all the details, which is what the link is for, or favoring one side of the controversy (he was unfairly shamed vs. he was rightly shamed), which violates WP:POV. As always, I'm happy to talk about it.--Thomas B (talk) 09:08, 30 January 2021 (UTC)

I concur with Thomas Basboll. The smearing campaign was harmful and unfair to Dr. Hunt, but concealing key details, like who fuelled it or what was the accusation about only makes the article worse. It needs to inform the reader on this matter without making any wrong claims about Tim Hunt. The readers would inevitably want to learn what happened and may learn it from the wrong sources. Concealing the key information only does a disservice to Tim Hunt and to Wikipedia. Lelandykes (talk) 13:21, 10 March 2021 (UTC)

While we seem to agree about what happened, we unfortunately merely share the same POV, which is not, in this case, WP:NEUTRAL. There's another side to the story. In this article, we should only mention the effect the controversy had on his career, leaving the details to the linked article. --Thomas B (talk) 13:51, 10 March 2021 (UTC)

I have no strong feelings at the moment on the level of detailed needed, however I just reverted an addition by Lelandykes because it wasn't reliably sourced. Perhaps propose a change to the wording below and we can work something out? ----Pontificalibus 14:48, 10 March 2021 (UTC)

It occurred to me that the link to the "Tim Hunt controversy" section wasn't very informative. (It didn't make clear that there's a whole article on the details.) So I've added a section heading and a "see also" link. I hope that addresses some of these concerns.--Thomas B (talk) 15:24, 10 March 2021 (UTC)

Controversy section both too short and non-neutral

Honestly, ideally we wouldn't split off this incident into a separate section at all. But no matter where it is we should at least describe it in enough detail that a reader knows what he actually said. There's no possible justification for ignoring such a major part of the controversy.

I also don't see the words "online shaming" in the sources from anyone, even Hunt himself. I see a lot of "criticism", some "backlash" and one mention of a "vicious social media campaign", so to summarize all this as "online shaming" doesn't seem neutral to me. Loki (talk) 03:51, 25 January 2024 (UTC)

I have reverted the edit because your version is simply too long and detailed and therefore gives the event too much weight in his bio. And the exact wording of his remarks is actually not a neutral fact but was a point of contention throughout the controversy. Presenting it neutrally requires the level of detail in the linked article on online shaming. It is not appropriate in WP:BLP about a Nobel-prize-winning scientist.--Thomas B (talk) 05:31, 25 January 2024 (UTC)

I've reverted your revert because, looking at the page history, it appears the "consensus" you're talking about is basically just you. I'd like to get some more eyes on this article because I really can't believe you've kept this section so short when there are plenty of reliable sources for WP:WEIGHT.

I also don't believe for a moment that presenting it neutrally requires the level of detail in the other article. It would be truly extraordinary if that was the case. And that's not even to mention that the appropriate place for that level of detail, if it exists anywhere, is this article. It's an incident about Tim Hunt, it's not primarily about online shaming and yet somehow it's all over there instead of here. Loki (talk) 06:17, 25 January 2024 (UTC)

Please notice that you're adding what looks like a direct quote from Hunt without providing the source. But those words are actually only the recollection of an EU official, who cannot be a considered a neutral observer. This is a really tricky issue that I've been through many times and it always ends up the same way: with the short statement and a link to the detailed recounting of the whole debacle in the online shaming article. I'm reverting again, pending resolution here and at the notice board.Thomas B (talk) 06:54, 25 January 2024 (UTC)

Link to the NPV notice board discussion here.[3]

Controversy (after NPOV notice board discussion)

In line with the discussion at the NPOV notice board[4], I have added three scholarly sources (Hypatia, STP, and EJP) and described his remarks as "allegedly sexist". I don't think much more detail is warranted, but I'm willing to hear suggestions. If we are unable to resolve it here, I suggest we take it to WP:BLPN. There seem to be a lot of people who would like to hang this incident on Tim Hunt and therefore give a lot a space to it in his bio. My view is that this misunderstands the event (which merely used Hunt as an occasion for much broader activism) and violates WP:BLP. For the most part, this is not something Tim Hunt did; it is an unfortunate thing that happened to him. Thomas B (talk) 09:32, 2 February 2024 (UTC)