I hope you're right on Berlinski's excellence. The little I've read of
Berlinski on this subject didn't impress me much. He was very heavy on
literary eloquence, but light on scientific or philosophical precision and
substance. He struck me as a continental-style intellectual, rich with
eloquence and turns of phrase, rather than an Anglo-American-style analytical
intellectual, emphasizing logic and rigor. In my view, the former is
impressive for its sophisticated entertainment value and cleverness, but it's
the latter that really helps us see the truth more clearly.
So Berlinski might be more effective in debate, but in the same way that Johnny
Cochran (?) was.
I hope I'm wrong on this.
--John