To “shoot the messenger” is to reply to an argument by attacking the person presenting the argument rather than the argument itself. It is a time-honoured way of dealing with unpleasant messages. The underlying sentiment is perhaps best expressed by Sophocles: “How dreadful knowledge of the truth can be when there is no help in the truth”.¹

Dr Mason suggests that the criticism of Sen and Nichani’s BET is motivated by a dislike of the message itself rather than a deep and genuine concern about the strength and reliability of the underpinning evidence.² As a co-author of the letter …