In September I looked at the proportion of Marsden Fund grants that go towards actual science over time. The summary was: 200820172023Science88%80%72%Humanities8%11%13%Maori3%5%8%Identity1%2%5%Political0%3%2% We now have 2024 grants, and the big winner is of course anything to do with Maori. 2008201720232024Science88%80%72%73%Humanities8%11%13%7%Maori3%5%8%17%Identity1%2%5%3%Political0%3%2%1% Some examples include: We all aspire for a future that is fair, just and sustainable.…
Marsden Fund goes even more woke
Marsden Fund goes even more woke
15 Nov 2024 Leave a comment
in economics of education, politics - New Zealand Tags: conjecture and refutation, free speech, philosophy of science, political correctness, regressive left
Māori academics finally admit that their way of knowing is not science, but asserts that it is better than science because the truth is “both factual and ethically value-laden”
05 Oct 2024 Leave a comment
in economics of education, liberalism, Marxist economics, politics - New Zealand Tags: Age of Enlightenment, conjecture and refutation, free speech, philosophy of science, political correctness, regressive left
The “Listener letter” appeared in 2021, signed by 7 professors at the University of Auckland (see it here) in New Zealand. It was a response to the drive (still going on) to teach indigenous “ways of knowing”, Mātauranga Māori (MM), as coequal with science in science classes. The letter argued that while MM was of […]
Māori academics finally admit that their way of knowing is not science, but asserts that it is better than science because the truth is “both factual and ethically value-laden”
Proof that 1+1=2
29 Sep 2024 Leave a comment
in economics of education Tags: philosophy of science
There is no such thing as an empirical proof. Empirical observations and experiments are always open to doubt, even if to a miniscule extent. So the proof that 1+1=2 is not obtained by conducting a survey to observe all instances of 1 plus 1 objects, and seeing if they make 2. The proof that 1+1=2 […]
Proof that 1+1=2
Sixth Circuit Hands Down Major Free Speech Win for Professor Against the University of Louisville
13 Sep 2024 Leave a comment
in economics of education, law and economics, liberalism, Marxist economics, politics - USA, property rights Tags: conjecture and refutation, free speech, philosophy of science, political correctness, regressive left
The United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit handed down a major victory of free speech this week in favor of professor challenging his treatment by the University of Louisville. In Josephson v. Ganzel, a unanimous panel ruled for Dr. Allan Josephson who was subject to adverse actions after he publicly expressed skepticism […]
Sixth Circuit Hands Down Major Free Speech Win for Professor Against the University of Louisville
Promised debate at Auckland University on indigenous ways of knowing vs. science fails to materialize
22 Aug 2024 Leave a comment
in economics of bureaucracy, economics of education, law and economics, liberalism, Marxist economics, politics - New Zealand, Public Choice Tags: Age of Enlightenment, conjecture and refutation, free speech, philosophy of science, political correctness, regressive left
In 2021, the Listener Letter fracas erupted in New Zealand when seven professors at Auckland University argued that the indigenous “way of knowing,” Mātauranga Māori (MM), while valuable in anthropology and sociology classes, should not be taught, as the government planned, as coequal with modern science. The seven signers were right: while MM does contain […]
Promised debate at Auckland University on indigenous ways of knowing vs. science fails to materialize
More on the decline and fall of science education in New Zealand
22 Aug 2024 Leave a comment
in economics of education, liberalism, Marxist economics, politics - New Zealand Tags: Age of Enlightenment, conjecture and refutation, constitutional law, free speech, philosophy of science, political correctness, racial discrimination, regressive left
Skip this if you don’t care about science education in New Zealand, but plenty of scientists there are worried about it. And it’s a harbinger of what may happen to science education in the U.S. as science courses add requirements to teach indigenous “ways of knowing” and the curriculum itself pushes out traditional material to make […]
More on the decline and fall of science education in New Zealand
The censored school speech
20 Aug 2024 Leave a comment
in economics of education, law and economics, liberalism, Marxist economics, politics - New Zealand Tags: Age of Enlightenment, conjecture and refutation, free speech, philosophy of science, political correctness, regressive left
This is the speech by Oliver Jull that won him a spot in the speech competition finals, but then his school canceled as it was worried it may offend some people. You don’t have to agree with it, to think he should be allowed to express his beliefs.
The censored school speech
STEM and matauranga Māori
18 Aug 2024 Leave a comment
in economic history, liberalism, Marxist economics, politics - New Zealand Tags: Age of Enlightenment, conjecture and refutation, free speech, philosophy of science, political correctness, regressive left
Professor John Raine notes: As regards STEM subjects, when European colonists arrived in the late 18th and into the 19th century, Māori scientific/technical knowledge was approximately at the stage of other developing societies at or pre-3,000 BC, acknowledging that the spiritual/vitalist/animist parts of matauranga Māori would have been differentiated form those of other societies by the…
STEM and matauranga Māori
The Anti-Science left
15 Aug 2024 Leave a comment
in economics of education, economics of media and culture Tags: Age of Enlightenment, Anti-Science left, conjecture and refutation, free speech, philosophy of science, political correctness, regressive left
Science versus religion
12 Aug 2024 Leave a comment
in economics of education, economics of regulation Tags: Age of Enlightenment, conjecture and refutation, Freedom of religion, philosophy of science
Restoring the Standing and Reputation of Science in New Zealand: a Letter to the Coalition Government
04 Aug 2024 Leave a comment
in economics of education, liberalism, Marxist economics, politics - New Zealand Tags: conjecture and refutation, philosophy of science
from David Lillis, John Raine, Peter Schwerdtfeger, Rex Ahdar, Cathy Downes The recent news that GeoNet has been merging science with the myth, mysticism and legend of Māori traditional knowledge in their 2024 Geohazard Information has provoked a scathing response from international commentator, Professor Jerry Coyne (University of Chicago). This follows close behind publicity around…
Restoring the Standing and Reputation of Science in New Zealand: a Letter to the Coalition Government
Unsettling the settler colonial university: a “feminist decolonization” of higher education in New Zealand
01 Aug 2024 Leave a comment
in economics of education, liberalism, Marxist economics, politics - New Zealand Tags: Age of Enlightenment, conjecture and refutation, free speech, philosophy of science, political correctness, regressive left
This link was sent to me by a despondent (and of course anonymous) New Zealander with the comment, “This is now unstoppable in NZ.” It’s from the Times Higher Education site, and the authors are Mahdis Azarmandi and Sara Tolbert, both on the Faculty of Education of New Zealand’s University of Canterbury. Click screenshot to […]
Unsettling the settler colonial university: a “feminist decolonization” of higher education in New Zealand
US attempt to “braid” indigenous knowledge with modern science collapses and is abandoned by the National Academies
29 Jul 2024 Leave a comment
in economics of education, liberalism, Marxist economics, politics - USA Tags: conjecture and refutation, philosophy of science
Last October I posted a critique of a new National Science Foundation (NSF) initiative designed to combine indigenous knowledge with modern science—in the U.S. this time, and to the tune of $30 million. The NSF was very optimistic, as you can see from the article below in Science (click to read; see also a similar […]
US attempt to “braid” indigenous knowledge with modern science collapses and is abandoned by the National Academies
The New Zealand government unites indigenous knowledge with “western science” by claiming that gods cause earthquakes
26 Jul 2024 Leave a comment
in economics of natural disasters, economics of religion, politics - New Zealand Tags: Age of Enlightenment, conjecture and refutation, cranks, free speech, philosophy of science, political correctness, regressive left
A comment by reader Chris Slater called my attention to this article from GeoNet, an organization described as providing “geological hazard information for Aotearoa New Zealand.” It’s also . . . . sponsored by the New Zealand Government through its agencies: Natural Hazards Commission Toka Tū Ake, GNS Science, Toitū Te Whenua Land Information New Zealand […]
The New Zealand government unites indigenous knowledge with “western science” by claiming that gods cause earthquakes
Dawkins talks to Kathleen Stock
24 Jul 2024 Leave a comment
in discrimination, economics of education, gender, health economics, labour economics, 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
Here we have a 55-minute (remote) conversation between Richard Dawkins and Kathleen Stock conducted during the “Dissident Dialogues” conference in NYC last May. Here’s a précis of Stock’s background from Wikipedia: Kathleen Mary Linn Stock OBE is a British philosopher and writer. She was a professor of philosophy at the University of Sussex until 2021. She has published academic […]
Dawkins talks to Kathleen Stock
Utopia, you are standing in it! 
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