He lied repeatedly. He was either mentallly ill or a grifter or some combination. This is on Cambridge, not Coftas. Yes, he was a human being, but he used his lies to make money and gain prestige. He put himself in this position. He sought fame and money. No one went after him in seclusion. He had a book coming out! He was on TV. Come on. He lied and cheated and didn't do the job he was paid for. He went after journalists and academics with lawyers and police. He was either a very bad man or a totally crazy one. Either way, that is not on any of us or the people who unmasked him. This self flagellation is depressing and wrong. What should we have done? Apologize for him? Cover for him? Sweep it under the rug? He never admitted to any of it. He never apologized. If he was that mentally ill, why didn't his family or Cambridge help him? Because they were still pretending. This should be a lesson, but I worry it won't be.
You seem to have missed the point of my article which was not to defend Arday but to point out that Cofnas made himself the story. This was bad for Cofnas and will make it more difficult to uncover all the other Ardays. There are many of them.
It’s not Arday’s fault he’s dumb and delusional. I suspect he was so unintelligent he didn’t even realize what plagiarism was. It’s Cambridge’s fault they hired him. It’s Simon & Schuster’s fault they’re publishing him. (They’re also publishing a writer who regularly calls Jews “cockroaches.”) Our institutions are corrupt. No argument with that. I’m saying those of us who want to fight this need to police our own behavior better.
There are worse people at Cambridge, such as Farah Ahmed. It’ll be harder to get rid of them now.
You're right. I misread you. But I don't agree that Arday was too dumb to know what he was doing. That may be true, but I interact with a lot of dumb people and they know what lying and cheating are. And I still don't see how Cofnas' well deserved victory lap is a problem. I'm in the US so it may be my news is different, but Cofnas dropped off my radar immediately. My fear is that the lesson will be that we shouldn't pursue frauds because they don't know better and might hurt themselves. That's the wrong lesson.
The real fraud here is Cambridge and the entire university system (and publishing industry) that rewards people like him. Again: I never said Cofnas shouldn't have published his Substack.
I don’t necessarily disagree with your assessment of the press tour that Cofnas launched but the minute I read the first story about Jason Arday, it was clear to me he had serious mental health issues. The likelihood that the outcome for him would be what has transpired was obvious. Is it anyone’s fault? He had many enablers but in the end, someone who lived a false and magical life story was never going to be able to survive being exposed. It’s too bad but totally expected. And from the reactions I’ve read, his family is still in denial.
Sadly, there is now an entire generation or 2 or more of misfits, mostly the college educated, who have a distorted view of 1) their importance 2) their influence 3) reality
They are wildly conceited, and they think the world owes them something in order to pay back their heavy grossly inflated college-debts.
This fellow was a victim, but also a player.
I don't grieve for him. I grieve for the messed up world his manipulators have created.
He lied repeatedly. He was either mentallly ill or a grifter or some combination. This is on Cambridge, not Coftas. Yes, he was a human being, but he used his lies to make money and gain prestige. He put himself in this position. He sought fame and money. No one went after him in seclusion. He had a book coming out! He was on TV. Come on. He lied and cheated and didn't do the job he was paid for. He went after journalists and academics with lawyers and police. He was either a very bad man or a totally crazy one. Either way, that is not on any of us or the people who unmasked him. This self flagellation is depressing and wrong. What should we have done? Apologize for him? Cover for him? Sweep it under the rug? He never admitted to any of it. He never apologized. If he was that mentally ill, why didn't his family or Cambridge help him? Because they were still pretending. This should be a lesson, but I worry it won't be.
You seem to have missed the point of my article which was not to defend Arday but to point out that Cofnas made himself the story. This was bad for Cofnas and will make it more difficult to uncover all the other Ardays. There are many of them.
It’s not Arday’s fault he’s dumb and delusional. I suspect he was so unintelligent he didn’t even realize what plagiarism was. It’s Cambridge’s fault they hired him. It’s Simon & Schuster’s fault they’re publishing him. (They’re also publishing a writer who regularly calls Jews “cockroaches.”) Our institutions are corrupt. No argument with that. I’m saying those of us who want to fight this need to police our own behavior better.
There are worse people at Cambridge, such as Farah Ahmed. It’ll be harder to get rid of them now.
You're right. I misread you. But I don't agree that Arday was too dumb to know what he was doing. That may be true, but I interact with a lot of dumb people and they know what lying and cheating are. And I still don't see how Cofnas' well deserved victory lap is a problem. I'm in the US so it may be my news is different, but Cofnas dropped off my radar immediately. My fear is that the lesson will be that we shouldn't pursue frauds because they don't know better and might hurt themselves. That's the wrong lesson.
The real fraud here is Cambridge and the entire university system (and publishing industry) that rewards people like him. Again: I never said Cofnas shouldn't have published his Substack.
Thanks for contributing.
I don’t necessarily disagree with your assessment of the press tour that Cofnas launched but the minute I read the first story about Jason Arday, it was clear to me he had serious mental health issues. The likelihood that the outcome for him would be what has transpired was obvious. Is it anyone’s fault? He had many enablers but in the end, someone who lived a false and magical life story was never going to be able to survive being exposed. It’s too bad but totally expected. And from the reactions I’ve read, his family is still in denial.
“I don’t necessarily disagree” - I’ll take that as “I agree.”
The lesson is: don’t become part of the story.
Take responsibility.
Yes, and I guess my reason for saying that is that whether he launched on the press tour or not, I believe the outcome would have been the same.
Sadly, there is now an entire generation or 2 or more of misfits, mostly the college educated, who have a distorted view of 1) their importance 2) their influence 3) reality
They are wildly conceited, and they think the world owes them something in order to pay back their heavy grossly inflated college-debts.
This fellow was a victim, but also a player.
I don't grieve for him. I grieve for the messed up world his manipulators have created.