As I wrote on February 13, three important societies representing evolutionary biology, ecology, and systematics issued a grossly misleading statement aimed at the government. (It is dated February 5, but I don’t think it’s yet been sent): As I reported recently, the Presidents of three organismal-biology societies, the Society for the Study of Evolution (SSE), […]
Our updated letter to the three ecology/evolution societies who claimed that sex was a spectrum
Our updated letter to the three ecology/evolution societies who claimed that sex was a spectrum
04 Mar 2025 Leave a comment
in economics of education, health economics, liberalism, Marxist economics, politics - USA Tags: conjecture and refutation, free speech, gender gap, philosophy of science, political correctness, regressive left, sex discrimination
Alex Byrne on sex, the history of its definition, and assorted misconceptions
03 Mar 2025 Leave a comment
in discrimination, economics of education, gender, liberalism, Marxist economics, politics - USA Tags: free speech, gender gap, political correctness, regressive left, sex discrimination
I guess the number of papers and articles people send me about the definition of sex is one sign that it remains an important issue for the populace. Indeed, I think that in future decades people will see the kerfuffle about a simple and widely accepted definition (the gametic one) as a tempest in a […]
Alex Byrne on sex, the history of its definition, and assorted misconceptions
Upcoming talk and new book on ideology and science
02 Mar 2025 Leave a comment
in discrimination, economics of education, gender, liberalism, Marxist economics, politics - USA Tags: free speech, gender gap, political correctness, regressive left, sex discrimination
I have two announcements this morning: a.) First, next Monday, Mar 3 at 12:30 Chicago time (1:30 Eastern time), I am having a 1-1½-hour discussion with DIAGdemocrats (“DIAG” stands for Democrats with an Informed Approach to Gender. And their slogan is “Liberals guiding our party back to reason and reality.” It’s tailor made for me!) […]
Upcoming talk and new book on ideology and science
Another gender gap
28 Feb 2025 Leave a comment
in development economics, health economics Tags: economics of smoking, gender gap
Bill Maher vs. Jon Lovett on trans rights
26 Feb 2025 Leave a comment
in discrimination, economics of education, gender, health economics, labour economics, law and economics, liberalism, Marxist economics, politics - USA Tags: free speech, gender gap, political correctness, regressive left, sex discrimination
Jon Lovett is identified by Wikipedia as . . . . an American podcaster, comedian, journalist, and former speechwriter. Lovett is a co-founder of Crooked Media, along with Jon Favreau and Tommy Vietor. All three formerly worked together as White House staffers during the Obama administration. Lovett is a regular host of the Crooked Media podcasts Pod Save America and Lovett or Leave It. […]
Bill Maher vs. Jon Lovett on trans rights
More tacit recognition of two sexes in humans
26 Feb 2025 Leave a comment
in discrimination, economics of education, economics of media and culture, gender, health economics, human capital, labour economics, liberalism, Marxist economics, politics - USA Tags: free speech, gender gap, life expectancies, political correctness, regressive left
This article was mentioned in a comment by reader Ted Gold, but I thought I would highlight it just to show that when the rubber meets the road, people recognize that, yes, there are just two sexes. This is from the NYT on Feb. 25th. Click headline to read, or find the article archived here. […]
More tacit recognition of two sexes in humans
The fundamental fallacy of the “sex spectrum”
24 Feb 2025 Leave a comment
in discrimination, economics of education, gender, law and economics, liberalism, Marxist economics, politics - USA Tags: Age of Enlightenment, conjecture and refutation, free speech, gender gap, philosophy of science, political correctness, regressive left, sex discrimination
While thinking about about objections to the sex binary—usually discussed in humans but sometimes in other species—they all seem to come down to a single assertion: “Sex is complicated in both development and expression, involving chromosomes, behavior, hormones, genitals and even psychology. Therefore there are more than two sexes.” One example of this is from […]
The fundamental fallacy of the “sex spectrum”
Richard Dawkins on the “tri-societies” fracas on sex (and a call for signatures)
22 Feb 2025 1 Comment
in discrimination, economics of education, gender, liberalism, Marxist economics, politics - USA Tags: Age of Enlightenment, free speech, gender gap, political correctness, regressive left, sex discrimination
And so we come to the last sex post of the day—about a new piece by Richard Dawkins on his Substack site, The Poetry of Reality. Richard points to what he sees as arrant hypocrisy in the statement on biological sex by the Presidents of the SSN, ASN, and SSB. As I mentioned in my […]
Richard Dawkins on the “tri-societies” fracas on sex (and a call for signatures)
Our letter to the three societies on the definition of sex—with signers
20 Feb 2025 1 Comment
in discrimination, economics of education, gender, law and economics, liberalism, Marxist economics, politics - USA, property rights Tags: Age of Enlightenment, conjecture and refutation, free speech, gender gap, philosophy of science, political correctness, regressive left, sex discrimination
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
17 Feb 2025 1 Comment
in economics of education, health economics, liberalism, Marxist economics Tags: free speech, gender gap, political correctness, regressive left, sex discrimination
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
Apparent independent and multiple evolution of binary sex
15 Feb 2025 Leave a comment
in discrimination, economics of education, gender, liberalism, Marxist economics, politics - USA Tags: free speech, gender gap, political correctness, regressive left, sex discrimination
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
14 Feb 2025 1 Comment
in discrimination, economics of education, gender, liberalism, Marxist economics, politics - USA Tags: Age of Enlightenment, conjecture and refutation, free speech, gender gap, philosophy of science, political correctness, regressive left, sex discrimination
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
Ideology trumps biology: Three evolution societies again issue a misleading statement about the definition of sex (Post #30,000)
10 Feb 2025 Leave a comment
in discrimination, gender, liberalism, Marxist economics, politics - USA Tags: 2024 presidential election, free speech, gender gap, political correctness, regressive left, sex discrimination
I wish I had a happier post for number 30,000, but you’re stuck with this one. However, it’s in line with the kind of stuff I’ve been writing about for a while, so it’s appropriate. Today we must deal with a letter from the Presidents of three organismal evolution and ecology societies (The Society for […]
Ideology trumps biology: Three evolution societies again issue a misleading statement about the definition of sex (Post #30,000)
In which I go on Piers Morgan Uncensored (sex and gender issues, of course), followed by a debate
21 Jan 2025 1 Comment
in discrimination, gender, health economics, liberalism, Marxist economics, politics - USA Tags: free speech, gender gap, political correctness, regressive left, sex discrimination
When I was invited to go on Piers Morgan Uncensored, I was deeply undecided. I knew Morgan was quite conservative and religious, and I’ve seen clips of him bullying his guests. So I had a back-and-forth with the producer, trying to discern what Morgan wanted to ask me about. I got a long list of […]
In which I go on Piers Morgan Uncensored (sex and gender issues, of course), followed by a debate
Forcing people to choose between reality and trans rights is a bad idea
07 Jan 2025 Leave a comment
in economics of crime, law and economics, liberalism, Marxist economics, politics - New Zealand, politics - USA, property rights Tags: Age of Enlightenment, conjecture and refutation, free speech, gender gap, philosophy of science, political correctness, regressive left, sex discrimination
Jerry Coyne writes: When I wrote yesterday about my critique of Kat Grant’s “What is a woman?” piece, a critique published on the Freedom from Religion Foundation’s (FFRF) website, I had no idea that what I wrote was being removed by the FFRF at that moment! … One part of what Coyne wrote resonated with me: The first […]
Forcing people to choose between reality and trans rights is a bad idea
Utopia, you are standing in it! 
Recent Comments