How Not To Do Forensic Linguistics

This video, by Dr John Olsson, the world's first full-time forensic linguist, describes the ad hoc, chaotic methods of those who claim a few selected phrases can identify an author. The video discusses phrases found in the suicide note and other letters in the Gilfoyle case and, as another example, the Trump Resistance letter published in the New York Times in September 2018 which so-called 'experts' have now attributed, on the basis of very flimsy evidence, to Victoria Coates, a senior, former, White House official. The video concludes that one might as well say the anonymous letter could have been authored by the President himself.

[jackbeaney]

Rest in Peace Jon. An outstanding man, Abscissa virescit..

[annaknysh]

This is one of the most difficult things - to accurately determine the level of someone's intelligence. There's a tendency to think people we dislike being dumber than they are, and people who we like, they seem smarter than they are...