Guilt by Association

Michael Crichton

Murray Gell-Mann

Marcel put up a post that mentions the Gell-Mann Amnesia effect. The description of the effect is enlightening and amusing and is all over the web, but where did the name come from? It took a little digging (okay, pointing and clicking), but I got to the root of the matter:

Media carries with it a credibility that is totally undeserved. You have all experienced this, in what I call the Murray Gell-Mann Amnesia effect. (I refer to it by this name because I once discussed it with Murray Gell-Mann, and by dropping a famous name I imply greater importance to myself, and to the effect, than it would otherwise have.) - Michael Crichton

A famous name? Perhaps in some circles. I had never heard of him before today.