The U.S. government’s new definition of sex

There will be a few posts on the definition of sex today, as everything “dropped”—as the kids say—at the same time. First, on January 20, the Trump administration issued an executive order, “Defending women from gender ideology extremism and restoring biological truth to the federal government”—an attempt to efface gender ideology from the government and […]

The U.S. government’s new definition of sex

Selfishly Speaking, Who Should Skip College?

The central thesis of my The Case Against Education is that actually-existing education is a terrible waste of taxpayer money. Since signaling, not building human capital, is the main function of education, the main effect of government subsidies is credential inflation. In economic jargon, my claim is that education has a low (indeed, negative) social…

Selfishly Speaking, Who Should Skip College?

Our letter to the three societies on the definition of sex—with signers

Six days ago I posted a group letter to the Presidents of three ecology/evolution/systematics societies who had issued a joint statement that many of us found deeply misguided. As I wrote at the time: The Presidents of three organismal-biology societies, the Society for the Study of Evolution (SSE), the American Society of Naturalists (ASN) and […]

Our letter to the three societies on the definition of sex—with signers

A poll of UK scientists shows most agree that sex is binary

Take this for what you will, since my first view came from the New York Post. However, the Post reported a piece by the science editor of the Telegraph, a more respectable paper. Both sites are below; click on the headlines to go to the articles. NY Post: Telegraph: An excerpt from the Telegraph: The difference […]

A poll of UK scientists shows most agree that sex is binary

RODNEY HIDE: Schooling Through a Te Ao Maori Lens

Last week my 13-year-old at Wakatipu High studied in English “An introduction to culture and identity in literature”. The class guide was as follows: Below are some links to helpful clips that may be useful for understanding ‘The Why’ when it comes to teaching and learning about all things culture and identity through a Te…

RODNEY HIDE: Schooling Through a Te Ao Maori Lens

Apparent independent and multiple evolution of binary sex

My friend Phil Ward at UC Davis found this reference and called it to my attention. It’s from the Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society (B), and access is free (click on title below).  The pdf with the numbered references is here. The paper is about how the evolution of two different types of gametes […]

Apparent independent and multiple evolution of binary sex

A group letter to the presidents of three evolution/ecology societies objecting to their characterization of sex as a spectrum in humans and all other species

As I reported recently, the Presidents of three organismal-biology societies, the Society for the Study of Evolution (SSE), the American Society of Naturalists (ASN) and the Society of Systematic Biologists (SSB) sent a declaration addressed to President Trump and all the members of Congress. Implicitly claiming that its sentiments were endorsed by the 3500 members […]

A group letter to the presidents of three evolution/ecology societies objecting to their characterization of sex as a spectrum in humans and all other species

Future unemployment will be (mostly) voluntary unemployment

A shortage of electricians means that those willing to endure long shifts and live on remote sites can potentially earn up to A$200,000 (US$124,000) a year — double the national average salary and not far off the average MP salary. “It’s a cup half full/half empty life. You do 12-hour shifts, there’s the heat, the […]

Future unemployment will be (mostly) voluntary unemployment

More on the “three-societies letter” about sex

Here’s a quick update on my critique of a letter issued by three organismal-biology-society Presidents claiming that sex isn’t binary—not in humans and, indeed, not in any species. The signers were the Presidents of the Society for the Study of Evolution (SSE), the American Society of Naturalists (ASN), and the Society of Systematic Biologists (SSB), […]

More on the “three-societies letter” about sex

Does the Gender Wage Gap Actually Reflect Taste Discrimination Against Women?

One explanation of the gender wage gap is taste discrimination, as in Becker (1957). We test for taste discrimination by constructing a novel measure of misogyny using Google Trends data on searches that include derogatory terms for women. We find—surprisingly, in our view—that misogyny is an economically meaningful and statistically significant predictor of the wage […]

Does the Gender Wage Gap Actually Reflect Taste Discrimination Against Women?

Free Sociology

I met Fabio Rojas in January of 1990 when we were both freshmen at UC Berkeley. In 1994, he was the best man at my wedding. Now he’s the chairman of Indiana University’s Sociology Department. Last year, he and Charlotta Stern published Sociology and Classical Liberalism in Dialogue: Freedom is Something We Do Together. Here,…

Free Sociology

Alex and I consider how to reform the NSF in economics

Here is a redux of our 2016 Journal of Economic Perspectives piece.  Here is the abstract: We can imagine a plausible case for government support of science based on traditional economic reasons of externalities and public goods. Yet when it comes to government support of grants from the National Science Foundation (NSF) for economic research, […]

Alex and I consider how to reform the NSF in economics

Science is science

Science, fundamentally, is a universal methodology grounded in observation, experimentation, and evidence. The term “Western science” can be misleading as it suggests a geographical or cultural monopoly over scientific inquiry, which is not the case. Science transcends regional and cultural boundaries; its principles are based on empirical evidence that is objective and replicable, regardless of […]

Science is science

“Crucial Conversations”: Federal Court Rules Against Ohio State in Free Speech Case

We have previously discussed cases (here, here, here, here, and here) of professors being fired or suspended for using offensive terms such as the n-word in discussions or tests. I have generally argued that such usage is protected on free speech and academic freedom grounds. Now, a federal judge has ruled against Ohio State University […]

“Crucial Conversations”: Federal Court Rules Against Ohio State in Free Speech Case

Identity-based hiring goes wild in New Zealand

Just to show you how, in the hiring process, New Zealand gives much more weight to identity than to merit, I enclose part of the job description for the position of Chief Operating Officer of Wellington Water, the water utility for the Greater Wellington region (Wellington, a lovely city, is the capital of New Zealand).  […]

Identity-based hiring goes wild in New Zealand

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NOT A LOT OF PEOPLE KNOW THAT

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