Yes! We had a particularly explosive conversation at the pub salon a couple of weeks ago. The context is that everyone
who attended was easily classified as "liberal", though some leaned pretty far right in some slices of their
culture (guns, hunting, political correctness, etc.). Two of the attendees identify as non-cis, one
"non-binary" and the other "queer". Because we had 2 actual biologists there (both aggressive
arguers), the conflations between sex and gender were rampant. The most vociferously ("gametes are real!")
sex-is-overwhelmingly-binary biologist is, ironically, very lefty, almost socialist.
Nobody was actively trying to shut anyone down. But the more conservative
biologist actively claims the non-binary and queer participants *were* trying
to shut down the biologists and had clearly shut down their reasoning. I
disagree completely. The non-binary and queer participants are extremely robust
people used to, comfortable with, being confronted with all sorts of rhetoric
and physical threats for their entire lives. The *snowflakes* are the 2 white,
well-off, high cognitive power, cis *men* with full-time jobs who are so
invested in their Scientism that they cower like wilted flowers when their
perspective is challenged. (To be clear, their cowering consists of ape-like
chest pounding, posturing ... but it's still an affect of fear.)
Everyone's so sensitive these days. >8^D
On 3/3/22 10:39, Prof David West wrote:
"Academic Freedom" is an issue that I would love to discuss in the tavern
sometime. My side of the conversation would necessarily be personal—based on 25 years as
a professor; ten years at a conservative Catholic University and fifteen years at public
universities in New Mexico.
Lot's of anecdotes about threats—including some that are not typically included in the
discussion, like the Kinko's lawsuit that intimidated universities and prevented fair use
of material that copyright owners did not want included in course
discussions—"bullshit" defenders like the AFA, cases of cowardly
self-censorship, and more.
It was interesting, to me, how often it was the content of my software design courses
that caused problems; e.g., the lecture on "cultural hard coding," with
examples like two values for sex and five for 'race', and last names limited to seven
characters excluding hyphens.
davew
On Thu, Mar 3, 2022, at 8:21 AM, glen wrote:
Here's why I think the Academic Freedom Alliance (and similar things
like the Heterodox Academy) are bullshit [⛧]:
In a defamation lawsuit, the hype around digital health clashes with
scientific criticism
https://www.statnews.com/2022/03/02/health-fertility-thermometer-valley-polis/
There's a *legitimate* case of the expression and defense of academic
freedom. But what's occupying the attention of the "Academic Freedom
Alliance"? [sigh] The suspension of an "anti-Woke" professor from a
Christian propaganda outlet <https://www.cuw.edu>:
https://academicfreedom.org/letter-to-concordia-wisconsin-on-gregory-schulz/
along with professors facing blowback for "adult child sex" comments,
stances on abortion, "critical race theory", confederate statues, etc.
They (the AFA) may have good intentions to some extent. But by ignoring
actual academics, cases of actual academic freedom, and focusing on
peripherally kinda-sorta academic divisive issues, they effectively
incite the divisions rather than treating them. They're directly
responsible for turning the "academy" into the equivalent of a Rupert
Murdoch gossip rag. Chelsea Polis deserves way more defensive attention
than anyone the AFA is claiming to defend.
[⛧] And I mean bullshit in the technical sense, not false, not true,
but designed to target divisive "culture war" type stuff, designed as a
confidence trick.
--
glen
When elephants fight, it is the grass that suffers.
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