Celebrating humanity's flourishing through the spread of capitalism and the rule of law
15 Mar 2025 Leave a comment
in economics of education, law and economics, liberalism, Marxist economics, politics - USA, property rights Tags: Age of Enlightenment, conjecture and refutation, free speech, philosophy of science, political correctness, regressive left
The anti-free speech movement in the United States was largely an outgrowth of higher education where viewpoint intolerance has taken hold of many schools. Indeed, intolerance and orthodoxy are often defended on the left in the name of tolerance and pluralism. Harvard Professor Timothy McCarthy is one of those voices demanding the removal of faculty […]
Harvard Professor Calls for the Firing of Any Faculty Not Supporting “Gender-Affirming” Policies
09 Mar 2025 Leave a comment
in discrimination, economics of education, gender, law and economics, liberalism, Marxist economics, politics - Australia, property rights Tags: conjecture and refutation, free speech, philosophy of science, political correctness, regressive left, sex discrimination
It’s still International Women’s Day in some parts of the world. There are still people who believe their feelings about their gender can trump biological facts. There are still people who risk their jobs if they question gender ideology. But there are also people fighting back, among them is Sall Grover: The founder of a […]
Women’s rights vs men’s demands
06 Mar 2025 1 Comment
in discrimination, economics of education, gender, law and economics, liberalism, Marxist economics, politics - USA Tags: Age of Enlightenment, conjecture and refutation, free speech, philosophy of science, political correctness, regressive left, sex discrimination
I’ve written sentences like this many times: “While biological sex is a binary, gender in humans forms more of a spectrum.” But I was never really sure what “gender” meant. I know that it’s generally synonymous with “sex”, but that is clearly not what I meant when I spoke as I did above. What did […]
Should we ditch the word “gender”?
06 Mar 2025 Leave a comment
in economics of education, economics of media and culture, health economics, liberalism, Marxist economics, politics - USA Tags: conjecture and refutation, free speech, gender gap, philosophy of science, political correctness, regressive left, sex discrimination
I’ve written sentences like this many times: “While biological sex is a binary, gender in humans forms more of a spectrum.” But I was never really sure what “gender” meant. I know that it’s generally synonymous with “sex”, but that is clearly not what I meant when I spoke as I did above. What did […]
Should we ditch the word “gender”?
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
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
26 Feb 2025 Leave a comment
in economics of climate change, economics of education, economics of information, economics of media and culture, environmental economics, environmentalism, global warming, politics - Australia, politics - New Zealand, politics - USA Tags: conjecture and refutation, conspiracies theories, philosophy of science
Conspiracy theories and science denial are two phenomena that often intersect, influencing public discourse and societal trust in authoritative knowledge sources. This essay explores their connection, elucidates the psychological and social mechanisms underpinning them, and provides examples to demonstrate how these two manifestations of skepticism reinforce each other, often with deleterious consequences. The Connection At […]
Conspiracy theories and science denial
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”
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
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
07 Feb 2025 Leave a comment
in economics of education, liberalism, Marxist economics Tags: conjecture and refutation, philosophy of 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
05 Feb 2025 Leave a comment
in econometerics, economic history, law and economics, liberalism, Marxist economics, politics - USA, Public Choice Tags: Age of Enlightenment, conjecture and refutation, free speech, philosophy of science, political correctness, regressive left
I recently interviewed Mike Huemer on his new Progressive Myths. To repeat, I consider it “the best book on wokeness.” You know you’re reading a special book by page 3, when Huemer states:I will not give a neutral presentation in the following chapters, but I do aim to give an objective presentation. I am a…
*Progressive Myths*: The Caplan-Huemer Interview
29 Jan 2025 Leave a comment
in economics of education, liberalism, Marxist economics, politics - USA Tags: Age of Enlightenment, conjecture and refutation, free speech, philosophy of science, political correctness, racial discrimination, regressive left
This article actually appeared on the Museum of New Zealand’s website, and is about as explicit an argument for the country adopting indigenous “ways of knowing” (Mātauranga Māori, or MM) as I have found. You may remember that MM is a mixture of practical knowledge, religion, superstition, morals, teleology and guidelines for living. Despite this […]
Trying to reconcile indigenous ways of knowing with “white” ways of being in New Zealand
23 Jan 2025 Leave a comment
in economics of crime, Karl Popper, law and economics Tags: conjecture and refutation, philosophy of science
The aphorism “Where there is smoke there is fire” suggests that if there are signs or symptoms of a situation or problem, then there must be an underlying cause or reality. However, relying on this saying can sometimes be fallacious, primarily due to the hasty generalization or false cause fallacy it may imply. 1. Hasty […]
“Where there is smoke there is fire”
21 Jan 2025 Leave a comment
in economics of education, economics of religion, health economics, politics - USA Tags: 2024 presidential election, Age of Enlightenment, conjecture and refutation, free speech, philosophy of science, political correctness, regressive left, sex discrimination
This will be the next-to-last item I write about my entanglement with the Freedom From Religion Foundation (FFRF)—I hope. I am pretty sure that the joint statement below resulted from the fracas that ensued after the FFRF took down my post about biological sex, followed by my resignation and those of Richard Dawkins and Steve […]
Consortium of secular organizations attack scientists deemed transphobic, The Center for Inquiry responds
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
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Celebrating humanity's flourishing through the spread of capitalism and the rule of law
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