<p>Let me address it as if a similar comment had been directed at my own field.</p>

<p>If I'd been doing the review, I'd very likely have let the comment stand. </p>

<p>While personally offensive behavior would need to be removed (so "You're an idiot" as a comment would be removed without hesitation), broader classes of comment like "statisticians don't know what they're doing" would be more likely to stick around, even if a certain level of sarcasm and snarkiness might be present.</p>

<p>[In fact I'm all <em>for</em> controversial points of view if they support the point, and respond properly to counterargument. Are comments the right place for that? Possibly chat is better, but I wouldn't intervene for a single comment or a single response. An extended back and forth would lead to 'move this to chat']</p>

<p>What could lead me to consider deleting a comment of the second kind would be <em>relevance</em> (does it clarify something about the question, or give/point to useful information while not  being an answer?), but given the particulars of the topic and the nature of the question, I'd nevertheless tend to lean toward 'let it stand' (but also 'let a similar kind of response to it stand').</p>

<p>(On the other hand, a <em>question</em> that's primarily "<em>statisticians don't know what they're doing</em>" would constitute a "rant rather than a question", and closed on that basis. I've seen a couple. It's not that it's offensive -- it's that it's <em>not really a question</em>.)</p>

<p>Maybe psychology <em>can</em> be argued to be unscientific*, and maybe statisticians <em>don't</em> know what they're doing (sometimes I do wonder about us, so let's hear what the problem is).</p>

<p>*  (as a broad proposition, I really don't agree, but I'd want to tolerate the argument -- I'd simply look for more than mere assertion, and if the comment stands, a comment in response is a fair place to ask if they can support such a general comment)</p>
