[BretLudwig]

Pseudonyms

Elsewhere, I got into an argument with a blogger who wants to publish the
real name of a moderately well known pseudonymous Internet pundit. A
couple of years ago, I publicly pointed out that this self-assured
opinion
writer had once been a close associate of a famous crackpot. That
information provided readers some useful perspective in how seriously to
take his complicated views on foreign policy. But I didn't publish his
name because that kind of thing has a "chilling effect" on free speech.

In general, in this era of Watsoning, I am against revealing the
identities of pseudonymous writers, especially ones with day jobs. My
blogroll has a lot of pseudonyms on it, and I don't make much of an
effort
to figure out who is La Griffe du Lion or Audacious Epigone. Five years
ago
I put some effort into figuring out who the War Nerd really was, but then
I
stopped. I knew who clander of Stuff White People Like was, but didn't
tell
anybody until he started giving interviews as Christian Lander.

We're in an era when there's not much you can reveal about your behavior
that can get you into trouble, but there's plenty of danger in speaking
your mind honestly.

Indeed, I advise anyone thinking of becoming a regular opinionator to
strongly consider picking a pseudonym and sticking with it. If I had to
do
it again, I would have picked a pen name, although that raises its own
problems, such as depositing checks from editors made out to your
pseudonym. And there is the fear that somebody else would horn in on your
work -- that's why, when Vladimir Nabokov was considering publishing
Lolita anonymously, he created the anagrammatic character "Vivian
Darkbloom" to prove his authorship.

My published articles are archived at iSteve.com -- Steve Sailer
By Steve Sailer on 6/12/2008 Cited by 33 comments

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