Conversation

Some citation pattern give me a strong vibe of a closed upvote cartel, even without checking to see if the citation graph is a small world, or sprawly like I would expect for more genuine citation patterns. Tells are usages like “as X has argued/shown” or “what Y calls ‘widget’”
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Particularly common in argumentation on politicized topics. A writer who just wants to use an argument for an unknown audience will summarize it. A writer who is unconsciously writing for the like-minded will gesture vaguely at mutually trusted authority.
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This pattern really turns me off for some reason. You don’t have to choose between hostile, defensive writing and self-congratulatory ingroup-choir writing. You can… just write to clearly think through something for yourself and whoever is curious enough to read.