piece by Megan McArdle<\/a> with lots of context.)<\/p>\nOn a scale of 0 to 10, how likely do you judge it to be that Emma Sulkowicz is being truthful in her recounting of events, with 0 being \u201cI\u2019m quite certain that she\u2019s lying through her teeth\u201d and 10 being \u201cI believe her 100%\u201d (and 5 being, of course, \u201cthere\u2019s a 50\/50 chance either way\u201d)? \u00a0Really \u2014 tell me in the comments. \u00a0(Except Marsy or anyone else who wants to push an agenda rather than have a discussion.)<\/p>\n
In the case that she\u2019s truthful, the accused student committed a serious crime. \u00a0In the case that she\u2019s lying, she herself committed a crime (or what most people would consider a criminal act, even if we don\u2019t make a practice of jailing false accusers, and, in this particular case, she didn\u2019t bring a criminal complaint).<\/p>\n
Shorn of all context, to judge one case more likely than the other, you\u2019d have to believe that either men or women are more likely to commit crimes. \u00a0In the \u201cshe said\u201d version, hidden behind that mild-mannered college student exterior is a cruel, vicious, violent man. \u00a0In the \u201che said\u201d version, the crusader for justice is really a vindictive woman scheming to punish a man who rejected her.<\/p>\n
Conventional wisdom says that, yes, the \u201cshe said\u201d version is almost certainly the truth \u2014 which carries more than a small dose of assumption that men are more likely to be violent perpetrators than women are likely to be vengeance-motivated liars. \u00a0We look at such a situation and say, \u201cwhy would a woman lie?\u201d and assume that she has no motivation, but take it for granted that a man needs no motivation to attack a woman, because it\u2019s somehow just inborn. \u00a0Which is kind of troubling, isn\u2019t it?<\/p>\n
Of course, in the case of a woman who accuses a man in criminal court, and knows that, assuming he\u2019s convicted, he could be jailed for many, many years, perhaps even for life, we expect that the seriousness of the consequences of the charge (coupled with the fact that perjury is, in fact, a pretty serious crime) would discourage all but the most sociopathic of women from making a false accusation (though these pop up periodically, say, when a woman claims rape to explain a pregnancy when a boyfriend was out of town). \u00a0But in a university context, when an accusation means expulsion, not jail time, and when the charge is not made under oath, it would seem at least more likely for a woman to make a false accusation, if she wants to inflict harm on someone, and has the confidence of knowing that the harm she inflicts will be malicious but only metaphorically life-ending.<\/p>\n
Megan McArdle, last week, wrote about the lack of data <\/a>on the question of false accusations. And rape accusations have a completely different sort of character than, say, lying about theft to collect insurance money \u2014 it\u2019s an accusation against a specific individual.<\/p>\nSo what do you think? \u00a0Or is my perspective too colored by being the mom of three boys, the oldest of whom just finished his freshman year of high school, and who gives us a lot of worry in terms of his ability, three years hence, to navigate the college environment?<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
(If you\u2019re missing background on the Sulkowicz story, here\u2019s a piece by Megan McArdle with lots of context.) On a scale of 0 to 10, how likely do you judge it to be that Emma Sulkowicz is being truthful in her recounting of events, with 0 being \u201cI\u2019m quite certain that she\u2019s lying through her […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2209,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2163","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\n
Truth and consequences, Emma Sulkowicz edition<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"(If you're missing background on the Sulkowicz story, here's a piece by Megan McArdle with lots of context.) On a scale of 0 to 10, how likely do you\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/2015\/06\/truth-and-consequences-emma-sulkowicz-edition.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Truth and consequences, Emma Sulkowicz edition\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"(If you're missing background on the Sulkowicz story, here's a piece by Megan McArdle with lots of context.) On a scale of 0 to 10, how likely do you\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/2015\/06\/truth-and-consequences-emma-sulkowicz-edition.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Jane the Actuary\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2015-06-10T02:22:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Jane the Actuary\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Jane the Actuary\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/2015\/06\/truth-and-consequences-emma-sulkowicz-edition.html\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/2015\/06\/truth-and-consequences-emma-sulkowicz-edition.html\",\"name\":\"Truth and consequences, Emma Sulkowicz edition\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2015-06-10T02:22:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2015-06-10T02:22:00+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/#\/schema\/person\/ed9b99e0bd58c5eeeebae6b82fa5a77a\"},\"description\":\"(If you're missing background on the Sulkowicz story, here's a piece by Megan McArdle with lots of context.) On a scale of 0 to 10, how likely do you\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/2015\/06\/truth-and-consequences-emma-sulkowicz-edition.html#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/2015\/06\/truth-and-consequences-emma-sulkowicz-edition.html\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/2015\/06\/truth-and-consequences-emma-sulkowicz-edition.html#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Truth and consequences, Emma Sulkowicz edition\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/\",\"name\":\"Jane the Actuary\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/#\/schema\/person\/ed9b99e0bd58c5eeeebae6b82fa5a77a\",\"name\":\"Jane the Actuary\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8d6a493d380e87d49599d5487691c9fc?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8d6a493d380e87d49599d5487691c9fc?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Jane the Actuary\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/author\/actuaryjane\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Truth and consequences, Emma Sulkowicz edition","description":"(If you're missing background on the Sulkowicz story, here's a piece by Megan McArdle with lots of context.) On a scale of 0 to 10, how likely do you","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/2015\/06\/truth-and-consequences-emma-sulkowicz-edition.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Truth and consequences, Emma Sulkowicz edition","og_description":"(If you're missing background on the Sulkowicz story, here's a piece by Megan McArdle with lots of context.) On a scale of 0 to 10, how likely do you","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/2015\/06\/truth-and-consequences-emma-sulkowicz-edition.html","og_site_name":"Jane the Actuary","article_published_time":"2015-06-10T02:22:00+00:00","author":"Jane the Actuary","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Jane the Actuary","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/2015\/06\/truth-and-consequences-emma-sulkowicz-edition.html","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/2015\/06\/truth-and-consequences-emma-sulkowicz-edition.html","name":"Truth and consequences, Emma Sulkowicz edition","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/#website"},"datePublished":"2015-06-10T02:22:00+00:00","dateModified":"2015-06-10T02:22:00+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/#\/schema\/person\/ed9b99e0bd58c5eeeebae6b82fa5a77a"},"description":"(If you're missing background on the Sulkowicz story, here's a piece by Megan McArdle with lots of context.) On a scale of 0 to 10, how likely do you","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/2015\/06\/truth-and-consequences-emma-sulkowicz-edition.html#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/2015\/06\/truth-and-consequences-emma-sulkowicz-edition.html"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/2015\/06\/truth-and-consequences-emma-sulkowicz-edition.html#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Truth and consequences, Emma Sulkowicz edition"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/","name":"Jane the Actuary","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/#\/schema\/person\/ed9b99e0bd58c5eeeebae6b82fa5a77a","name":"Jane the Actuary","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8d6a493d380e87d49599d5487691c9fc?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8d6a493d380e87d49599d5487691c9fc?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Jane the Actuary"},"url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/author\/actuaryjane"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2163","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2209"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2163"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2163\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2163"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2163"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2163"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}