> Ironically, bringing this topic up always turns the conversation to ad-hominem attacks about the messenger while completely ignoring the subject matter.
This is not a fair or accurate characterization of the criticism you're referring to.
> All of the comments dismissing the content because of the author or refusing to acknowledge the arguments because it feels like a "smear" are admitting their inability to judge an argument on their own merits.
They are not doing any such thing. The content is being dismissed because it has been repeatedly evaluated before and found baseless. The arguments are acknowledged as specious. Sandifer makes claims that are not supported by the evidence and are in fact directly contradicted by the evidence.
This is not a fair or accurate characterization of the criticism you're referring to.
> All of the comments dismissing the content because of the author or refusing to acknowledge the arguments because it feels like a "smear" are admitting their inability to judge an argument on their own merits.
They are not doing any such thing. The content is being dismissed because it has been repeatedly evaluated before and found baseless. The arguments are acknowledged as specious. Sandifer makes claims that are not supported by the evidence and are in fact directly contradicted by the evidence.