tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-91165745722864282652024-03-18T07:08:06.891-05:00Strange MatterMy thoughts, ideas, notions, beliefs, assessments, calls to action and generally impassioned statements.Strangelethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00750375109270713658noreply@blogger.comBlogger55125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9116574572286428265.post-20799294483589106522012-05-29T22:14:00.001-05:002012-05-29T22:15:12.071-05:00This blog has moved!To wordpress. URL, for now, anyway is<a href="http://www.themerelyreal.wordpress.com/"> www.themerelyreal.wordpress.com</a>. The current name, mostly a joke but not totally, is Campus Crusade for Bayes. That's an inside joke from my Secular Alliance, but you can probably figure it out. Bayes is important to me, and so is rationality, which is why the name is taken from this Less Wrong post: <a href="http://lesswrong.com/lw/or/joy_in_the_merely_real/">http://lesswrong.com/lw/or/joy_in_the_merely_real/</a>. If you don't know less wrong, I'd check it out. The summary of this post is that the 'merely' real is both all there is and not mere at all. If we accept the second, we can accept the first without worrying that we are missing out. Which is important, if we want to be happy in this amazing universe we're in. Reality is a thing to be treasured.<br />
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The name might change, to Strange Matter or The Merely Real. It's not clear yet, but I'll update if there are any changes. The links will probably be screwy for a while, but I'm sure it will all work out.<br />
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Thanks for following me to this point, and please join me over at <a href="http://www.themerelyreal.wordpress.com/">Campus Crusade for Bayes</a>!Strangelethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00750375109270713658noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9116574572286428265.post-20531304273741195762012-05-17T01:13:00.001-05:002012-05-17T11:04:34.291-05:00In the Night Kitchen: Part 2<span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 115%;">The project continues! I'm really enjoying this opportunity to reread a valued childhood book and rexamine it with fresh and overly analytic eyes. I hope to finish before the end of the week. Unlikely, I know,
but the goal remains. In case you don't know what I'm talking about, <a href="http://fantasticastoria.blogspot.com/2012/05/in-night-kitchen-part-1.html">here's Part 1</a>. Without further ado!</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Page 5</b>Source: Maurice Sendak</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 11.5pt;">I remember very little about my
reactions to this page as a child, which is understandable given that it serves
mostly as transition. I wonder a great deal about Sendak's choice of jams and
other kitchen objects, whether they are from his memory, or imagination, or
something else. I do want to point out the visual aspect of the text
"Mickey Oven" which evokes<a href="http://www.yukji.com/img/productImages/1106120066_1_300.jpg"> Disney</a>, alluding to a darker side,
perhaps, of that other children's favorite, demonstrating with just a subtle
symbol that most children's fantasy is grimmer than it appears. The rhyming
and compound word "Mickey-cake" seem to come straight out of the
<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pat-a-cake,_pat-a-cake,_baker's_man">pat-a-cake</a> rhyme game, reclaiming the excitement of a child at having a cake, a
real life physical object, marked with the name that signifies their identity
and in that marking becomes a part of the universe that is cordoned off just
for them. That world in which the cakes are all for you, brought into existence
by singing games, is the real-life analogue of the Night Kitchen, that
exotic but almost-close-enough-to-touch world where bakers make cakes for the morning,
cakes that are in fact, not only for you and named for you, but made of you,
too.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijaY2CgSEzGVWTK9IeFKy-1P3jXPySkM1ho3P1THtNf55QNn91vfOhlbcMObqmQyYaoWol0qKFRTeMXN4U4KdxupOR21AhYM4zIW_nbBW-O3Tle-sO8gX53-ADoAeVe6omZEyjcepR7sc/s1600/nightkitchen7.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijaY2CgSEzGVWTK9IeFKy-1P3jXPySkM1ho3P1THtNf55QNn91vfOhlbcMObqmQyYaoWol0qKFRTeMXN4U4KdxupOR21AhYM4zIW_nbBW-O3Tle-sO8gX53-ADoAeVe6omZEyjcepR7sc/s320/nightkitchen7.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Page 6</b><br />
Maurice Sendak</td></tr>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 11.5pt;">Oddly, I don't remember this page
at all. Reading it now felt like reading it for the first time, and this first
time reader thought, look how empowered Mickey is! There is this fanciful world
in which the cakes are for you, but what if that's not what you want? What if
the conventional path laid out, in which things (clothes coming off, falling
into another world, being folded into a batter) simply happen to you, without
your say. What if, even though, because this is fantasy, you are delighted at
all of these lovely things, and there's nothing wrong with them at all, you
want to act? It remind me greatly of<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Eager#Knight.27s_Castle"> Knight's Castle</a>, by Edward Eager, in which
the protagonist children become part of the world of their knights and dolls,
and occasionally things go quite dangerously awry. The way to get out of the
danger is to remind yourself that it is fantasy and not real, and , there is a
scene in Knight's castle in which Ann, the youngest child, petulantly cries out
the words that end the magic, and while the other children are upset with her,
it is her way of asserting herself and her power over the events transpiring
that affect her. Similarly, Mickey is defiant, changing the course of the
story, disturbing the calm, nightly patterns of the bakers, and proudly
stating, "I'm not the milk and the milk's not me! I'm Mickey!" There
will be no denial of identity in Maurice Sendak's book, not like the polite
children in most children's literature, who could be replaced easily by their
counterparts in similar formulaic books. No, Mickey knows who he is, and
encourages readers, by example, to know who they are, too, and to shout it
unashamedly.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Page 7</b><br />
Maurice Sendak</td></tr>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 11.5pt;">This I remember. This I remember as
being a splendid set of instructions for any life task, as if if you only could
pound and pull and work enough, you could build anything, even a plane made of
bread dough. It's important, I think, that the bread dough was simply lying
around; it emphasizes the completeness of the Night Kitchen. It is not only a
vehicle for the story, but an entire world with characters and objects we
haven't necessarily heard about yet. In any fantasy story, the protagonist
meeting new characters from the world reminds the reader just how complex it
is, just how real it is, just how much there is to discover. It allows the
reader to consider the world as one to discover, rather than to create, a
beautiful fiction (since authors and readers do, in fact, together construct
these worlds) that lets us truly fall into the magic of fantasy.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 11.5pt;">Mickey's facial expressions are important here. He begins, as
he has been most of the story, idyllically tranquil, then
becomes frustrated and scared in the third panel. That's not
mentioned in the text at all, so we have to divine it for ourselves, noting
the brief uncertainty before sheer determination and talent set in.
After all, Mickey is no conventional protagonist. He is
not serendipitously perfect. He is in a world that is not of his
creation, and though his intent to escape is pure, he's not quite sure how to
do it. Soon enough, though, he devises a plan, and executes it. All the while
the background changes, showing us more and more of this strange world, even if
it doesn't quite accord with spatial physics.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGcr6NEgB1RqCQi-gITkFPw9XxprT0U03FJHSdEgvDUUCareO0egokl69oAbi5GR3A23-QHy479ZW0AMICzp6U0SAplA5h0YFWsb-crn-muQCp1KgOBYv-hsbHXEF9NnEYK-skqHAWuTc/s1600/nightkitchen9.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGcr6NEgB1RqCQi-gITkFPw9XxprT0U03FJHSdEgvDUUCareO0egokl69oAbi5GR3A23-QHy479ZW0AMICzp6U0SAplA5h0YFWsb-crn-muQCp1KgOBYv-hsbHXEF9NnEYK-skqHAWuTc/s320/nightkitchen9.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Page 8</b><br />
Source: Maurice Sendak</td></tr>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 11.5pt;">And he does it! He succeeds in his
crazy plan and manages to fly, fulfilling the imaginations of countless
children. Two things of note on this page: the plane is neither purely nor
fully functional. That is to say, Mickey wants the plane to "look[]
ok", to have a decorative star, simply because he wants it
there. We notice that the mobile on the first page has something that could be
a star on it, but on the body instead of the wing. Secondly, the plane drops
pieces of dough as it flies, because Mickey isn't perfect, and neither are his
creations. What are a few pieces missing when you've just made a plane out of
nothing but bread dough and will?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 11.5pt;">The next page doesn't make any sense except in the context of
the flow of the plot, so I'll stop here for now. This is really great fun, and
I hope my readers (the few that there are) are enjoying it as well. It's so
nice to reminisce about great books.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>Strangelethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00750375109270713658noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9116574572286428265.post-34006447777261158362012-05-09T17:51:00.001-05:002012-05-17T11:05:05.792-05:00In the Night Kitchen: Part 1<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span id="internal-source-marker_0.5661846313159913" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Though psychology has unequivocally swept away Locke’s theory of the tabula rasa, the blank slate with which we are born, in the imagination of children’s book authors, the minds of children are still sunny, white-washed and tranquil, disturbed only by the absence of food or a blanket, or the transient difficulties faced by a beloved character. But this is nothing more than an obsession with purity worming its way into our socializing processes. No adult knew better than Maurice Sendak that to be a child is to be constantly disturbed, bewildered and terrifying by an ever-changing landscape over which one has no control. Do other people have minds and thoughts? Where do my parents go when I don’t see them? What if the monsters are real? How much can I imagine? To be a children’s author is to work at remembering what it was like to be a child; an incredibly difficult procedure. It requires truly the best of minds to speak to the mad and wild complexities of internal life in language suitable for young ones. </span></span></div>
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<span style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><b id="internal-source-marker_0.5661846313159913" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></b></span></div>
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<b id="internal-source-marker_0.5661846313159913" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">My copy of In the Night Kitchen is sitting in my home in Miami, Florida, currently thoroughly unloved, though still showing signs of the tens of times I eagerly tore through it (not always figuratively) or asked that my parents do so aloud. In honor of Maurice Sendak, that brilliant, unconventional, controversial children’s writer, I am going to blog through a rereading of the book. The pdf is available online <a href="http://www.bontonschool.com/nsboard2/file/sub_050306/In_the_Night_Kitchen.pdf">here</a>, though the effect is far diminished when the pages are not in front of you, adamantly demanding attention with their glossy shine, intense colors and larger-than-your-head size. Follow along, and add your own recollections or thoughts in comments!</span></b></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Cover Page. <br />
<span style="font-weight: normal;">Source: Maurice Sendak</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 15px; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">There are no bright colors. None. This is unheard of for a children’s book. There are greys, muted reds and greens, and a great deal of brown. The effect, frankly, is one of uneasiness, perhaps fear. The image of of our hero, flying in a clearly not airworthy vessel, with a facial expression of sheer contentment gives a sense of delicious fun (he’s wearing something on his head!) and delightfully contrasts with the dirty, grimy city below. And yet! What is this city but all the things one might find in a kitchen, alluding to all of the playful childhood imaginations of anthropomorphic household items. I certainly remember wishing I were small enough to see my house as a whole world, being absolutely certain that the vantage point of an ant or toy soldier would be infinitely more interesting. </span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Page 1</b><br />
Source: Maurice Sendak
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</span><span style="font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">As a child, I never noticed the mobile above his head, which foreshadows the plane he flies in later, but I absolutely loved this font, as well as the rhythm, begging to be read aloud by the very spacing of the words.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7jLiKhagaJUu-D2Yh6Q9PipLTYyRYS8DYZ_XW8tJnc8_bOrxFn6ncYtxBIyhE8fD6NxsBUfuschJwTcshBZO0iraWGtjpXQbMcKBtLjJ5qkDhwWPF6su96ahQADqOKtyUNtS_Lgn0ODM/s1600/nightkitchen5.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><br /></a><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/n69U_x0ln06u_gOQ6vD0_ua5oC3K4_ePkgxO63PLrVziP1C7LmkowORH16Dz3_Epoz0SSkbi-QJe2m-r1GjANWtrEASxJ_S3kiwF8QJHqocZtP7zEtY" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><br /></a><b style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></b><span style="font-family: Tahoma;"><span style="font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img height="245px;" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/tXCRI_4WnL5XgibDTY9d_fLjVkTWsf5zUandJReIV2Al-diC0iDJFuuHjuACcEyzr0Hs-0ORCFIxMQjxjq639UKC7nxKgw1jVsD2DgUXfw9xlcpUBTE" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="518px;" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Page 2</b><br />
Source: Maurice Sendak</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Definitely one of my favorite pages. I think it’s the suddenness with which reality changes to something more fantastic, and the total nonchalance of Mickey, who’s just enjoying the ride. And being awesomely buck naked.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><span style="font-family: Tahoma;"><span style="font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/n69U_x0ln06u_gOQ6vD0_ua5oC3K4_ePkgxO63PLrVziP1C7LmkowORH16Dz3_Epoz0SSkbi-QJe2m-r1GjANWtrEASxJ_S3kiwF8QJHqocZtP7zEtY" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="276px;" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/n69U_x0ln06u_gOQ6vD0_ua5oC3K4_ePkgxO63PLrVziP1C7LmkowORH16Dz3_Epoz0SSkbi-QJe2m-r1GjANWtrEASxJ_S3kiwF8QJHqocZtP7zEtY" width="447px;" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Page 3</b><br />
Source: Maurice Sendak</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I mean, just look at that face. He is so comfortable, so content. It’s like he always knew where he was going. And that batter always looked so soft and inviting. I notice now, as I didn’t then, that in addition to common ingredients, the structural architecture in the background is tools, peelers and mixer paddles and the like. And always that moon, illuminating and watching, promising the reader that the connection to the real world remains intact, since it is the same moon we saw earlier, but simultaneously introducing a whole new world, the world of the Night Kitchen. Mickey’s ease of entry combined with the construction “did you hear” at the beginning suggests the tantalizing notion that the Night Kitchen has always existed, it’s just that most of us haven’t found it yet.</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Page 4</b><br />
Source: Maurice Sendak</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">And here comes the chefs. They always looked so cheerful and friendly to me, although Maurice Sendak has claimed that they and their moustaches were intended to represent Hitler. I’ll go into that later.</span>
<span style="font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I realize now that the image of being baked into a cake by chefs so oblivious or uncaring as to not notice your presence could be the stuff of nightmares. To me as a child, though, there was nothing frightening at all. Instead, there a sense in which these were simply the chefs going about their nightly work. There was something delightful about a parallel universe which was completely devoid of conflict and hubbub, which ran completely smoothly, without a hitch, and without our knowledge, to deliver cake in the morning. Worlds of our imagination do not need drama to enthrall. The fireworks of fantasy are replaced by the endlessly exciting idea of normalcy, of a consistent and unremarkable pattern, thoroughly different from our own, simply existing. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">This, I think, is true genius. To understand that a world of strange creatures doing unbelievable things and having gripping adventures all the while comes second only to a world populated with people more or less like us, doing things more or less like us, just different enough to bewilder, who care not a whit for our existence. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">There is also brilliance in the tension of the possibility of abject terror from being buried alive in hot batter existing side-by-side with the nonchalance of the everyday workings of a different world. Of course, this neatly fits into the extended Holocaust reference, which adds another layer of meaning. For those, including myself, who wonder whether children were expected to understand such allegory, remember that </span><a href="http://entertainment.time.com/2012/05/09/from-times-archive-maurice-sendak-on-childrens-books/#ixzz1uPiLB5xs" style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">once said</span></a><span style="font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“I don’t write books for children. I write them for myself. Children happen to like them.”</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">We do indeed, Maurice. RIP.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img height="250" src="http://i.telegraph.co.uk/multimedia/archive/02213/sendak_2213828b.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="400" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Maurice Sendak<br />
Source: Telegraph.co.uk</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Parts 2 through however many to come. UPDATE: <a href="http://fantasticastoria.blogspot.com/2012/05/in-night-kitchen-part-2.html">Part 2 here!</a></span></div>Strangelethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00750375109270713658noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9116574572286428265.post-78471160777072481262012-05-07T16:39:00.000-05:002012-05-08T14:22:38.900-05:00Atheism is fun, but that's not why we do it<b id="internal-source-marker_0.09234818653203547"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">One of the problems with being an atheist is that your very existence is offensive.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">One of the other problems with being an atheist is that everyone knows that your very existence is offensive, so they expect you to be exciting and radical, even when you’re not.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Catch-22, anyone?</span><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgD33is8sRPIPQMfgPDdBbRVRynKaA8s4pnZvSylFt-pfO71K3XprHJHV9aY0sJSLTIwFNNoS2M19HCMcUaOewD39J0iaAxwphy0Unx2sf1tNLUjxA8wa7Hxmv9UbMGOgVUdmwDguBJEB8/s1600/670px-Atheism_symbol_svg.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="171" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgD33is8sRPIPQMfgPDdBbRVRynKaA8s4pnZvSylFt-pfO71K3XprHJHV9aY0sJSLTIwFNNoS2M19HCMcUaOewD39J0iaAxwphy0Unx2sf1tNLUjxA8wa7Hxmv9UbMGOgVUdmwDguBJEB8/s200/670px-Atheism_symbol_svg.png" width="200" /></a><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Greta Christina’s been talking about </span><a href="http://freethoughtblogs.com/greta/2012/04/25/atheism-and-a-catch-22/"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Catch-22’s </span></a><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">lately (catches-22?), and I wanted to add one to the mix. Being an atheist is a statement that you believe a claim about the world that is relatively uncommon, and so that identity is a message to most of the people around you that they are wrong. That’s a difficult barrier to overcome. There’s something about believing “there is no god” that is more combative to theists than “I believe in a different god” is to a fellow theist of a different religion. Given that, many atheists refrain from making their atheism known when it’s not absolutely necessary. Or, when the context is one of tolerance and diversity, we might tone down our rhetoric.</span></b><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhm2_vJcgEqtk9SWD6L9PiIRhioRKY0UNuqElSBLsKJUb4uBPOhnBiNtRsJicAJ9cOo4qMfmSAkJGy6S3y6LXXDekS7Pjhf5bh0Bj4RELvGiesM_gSdNKhqFrJTyr7KNG1eAJ87MGp2tY8/s1600/moreatheists.gif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhm2_vJcgEqtk9SWD6L9PiIRhioRKY0UNuqElSBLsKJUb4uBPOhnBiNtRsJicAJ9cOo4qMfmSAkJGy6S3y6LXXDekS7Pjhf5bh0Bj4RELvGiesM_gSdNKhqFrJTyr7KNG1eAJ87MGp2tY8/s200/moreatheists.gif" width="181" /></a><b id="internal-source-marker_0.09234818653203547"></b></div>
<b id="internal-source-marker_0.09234818653203547"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b id="internal-source-marker_0.09234818653203547"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline;">On the other hand, atheism is becoming better known. Atheist books are bestsellers, atheist blogs get thousands and millions of hits, secular groups are growing and increasing in number. Unsurprisingly, this has led to more and more awareness, and thus more and more intellectual and </span></b><b><span style="font-family: Arial; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline;">political conflict. Articles in newspapers, debates, scandals all point to a massively exciting culture war, which can completely erase the fact that day-to-day lives of atheists are generally calm and normal. As Greta Christina </span><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GUI_ML1qkQE"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline;">says</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline;">, “it’s not like we walk around angry all the time.” But sometimes, people are itching for a fight, and we’re supposed to provide one, because as is well known, when an atheist and a theist walk into the same room, hijinks always ensue. And that can really detract from one of the main thrusts of our cause, which is that atheists are normal people. Some of us are activists, of course. Many more of us are very angry. But that doesn’t erase the fact that what we’re asking for is simply common sense: separation of church and state, no discrimination against atheists, and evidence based politics.</span></b></span></b><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">This all came to mind during the University of Chicago’s Multifaith Celebration, which was intended to showcase the diversity of practices and beliefs on this campus. Various religious groups said invocations and sang songs, while the Secular Alliance read from Carl Sagan’s brilliant essay, the </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pale_Blue_Dot_(book)" style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Pale Blue Dot</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. Before we were set to present, someone came over and asked what we were going to present. Upon reading our print-out, he complained that it wasn’t particularly atheistic, nor was it very radical. He was certainly wrong on the first point; Sagan makes it clear that he feels that belief in god is nothing more than superstitious mysticism. But taken together, this points to a subset of the American population which is not surprised by secularism and atheism, but rather excited by the prospect of conflict. While my friend Mike would say that progress only comes through conflict, I think that to see atheism as a spectacle is to undermine its power. Atheism is not a sport; it is an idea, and a powerful one. Secular politics may be unpopular in this country, but it is the very opposite of radical. Those who want atheism and secularism to thrive should indeed encourage unapologetic displays of nonfaith, but, please not for the sake of entertainment.</span></div>Strangelethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00750375109270713658noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9116574572286428265.post-51125975072849685922012-04-30T23:50:00.002-05:002012-05-08T13:44:13.480-05:00How to Stop Bullying<br />
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Nicholas Kristof <a href="https://teenink.com/KristofContest/">ran a contest</a> which ends today about bullying. I love that he decided that American teens were the experts on teen bullying. I know when I was in middle school and <a href="http://fantasticastoria.blogspot.com/2010/10/date-of-manufacture-26101992.html">being bullied</a>, I would spend my time in class critiquing every one of my teachers' bungling attempts to make it all better. Most of their failings came from the fact that they were more interested in ridding their lives of conflict than of making my life easier or less painful, but they also lacked any understanding of teenage social dynamics and had forgotten what it was like to be a teenager. So I composed lists in my head of things I would do differently when I was a teacher. I'm not sure I'm going to be a teacher anymore (though still a definite possibility), but I still have plenty of ideas on how to stop bullying. I'm technically still a teenager, but I'm three years out of high school and it's possible all my advice is hopelessly out of date. I wrote this as an open letter to teacher, and it's a little didactic (I had a lot of options for format, and I decided against heartwrenching anecdotes from my bully-stricken past), but I like it anyway. Let me know what you think!</div>
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<b>Open Letter to Teachers: Here's How You Actually Stop Bullying</b></div>
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Hey there teachers,<br />
Bullying is complicated, so I don’t blame you for not
knowing how to stop it. You’re wrapped up in the immense difficulty of being
friendly enough to be liked, strict enough to be respected and spectacular
enough to be remembered. That is the job of a teacher, and it’s hard enough to
teach the material effectively and walk the tightrope of student perception
without getting involved in the nitty-gritty of student interpersonal
relationships, especially if you have as much chance of doing harm as good. <o:p></o:p></div>
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So here’s what you need to know: students, bullies and
bullied alike, need friends and advocates, and to varying degrees, teachers can
be both. Students who are being bullied are hurt by far more than the words
hurled at them; they are also being harmed by the loneliness of going through
the experience alone. If you see students being bullied, reach out to them
gently, reminding them that the teacher is always available for talking,
comfort and a safe space. Then follow through, listening, giving advice and
affirming that bulling is unacceptable and that it is not a reflection of the
worth of the bullied. And do the same for bullies. Bullies gain social power by
taking it away from others; they could use a friend. As a teacher, as an authority figure but also a
kind presence, you can speak firmly against the behavior of a bully, retreating
not a bit from your position against the bully’s actions while still reaching
out to a student, a child, who might need nothing else than a trusted adult to
remind them that they are a worthwhile person and can be popular and respected
without doing harm. <o:p></o:p></div>
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The advocate aspect of the your role is important,
too. Any time bullying, of any degree, is witnessed, you should make it clear
that such behavior is unacceptable. Importantly, it is the behavior that is
being attacked, not the bully, and the bullied student is not being made a
focus of attention. Rather, the mistreatment of fellow students is simply not
to be tolerated at any time. The fact that the bullying can shift to times and
places where you are not around is to be addressed by being a resource for any
students involved in bullying, even as bystanders, as mentioned above. Students
should know that you can be trusted, and that you will go to the administration
or parents only when necessary, but then without hesitation, for example if
there is any physical violence involved. This fairness and ability to analyze a
situation serves you well when they suspect plagiarism or cheating, and it will
serve you well here. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Bullying is a problem. It hurts children on either
side of conflict as well as those who are not involved, and if it continues to
stymie teachers, then children will have to fend for themselves while facing
treatment that no person, let alone a teenager, should ever have to endure at
the hands of their peers. The job of a teacher already encompasses the roles
necessary to stop bullying; you must only appropriately act on them. No more
excuses. Start now.<o:p></o:p></div>Strangelethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00750375109270713658noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9116574572286428265.post-91589993180987788472011-11-25T20:21:00.002-06:002011-11-26T16:53:15.154-06:00Breaking News: There is Sexism on Twitter<div style="background-color: transparent;"><span id="internal-source-marker_0.9474844082724303" style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">(cross posted on the <a href="http://galsgalatea.wordpress.com/2011/11/24/women-in-leadership-fed-up-with-no-shave-november/">GALS blog</a>)</span></div><div style="background-color: transparent;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br />
</span></div><div style="background-color: transparent;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“Gross”, “disgusting”, “nasty”. “Get away from me”.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">What could the internet have found so revolting? You’d think the subject matter of the twitterati’s latest target was a new sex tape that involved both necrophilia </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">and</span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> bestiality and was thus finally shocking enough to horrify the mainstream judgement cloud that is Twitter (until the next trending topic came up, of course). Or perhaps it was an Actual Bad Thing like a celebrity domestic abuser.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Ah, me, no. The grossest thing the internet could imagine was a woman somewhere out there in the world, not applying sharp metal blades or hot melted wax to her skin. The horror! </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">We, the reasonable majority, might start to think about the women that we know, how in particular, they are not one unshaven day away from causing us to vomit every time they walk into a room. We might start to think that a twitter storm implying such a thing might start to make women put down, self-conscious and shamed. We might come to believe that sentiments expressed with such internet behavior are foolish and harmful, and that we need to push back. And we would be right. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Occasion: No Shave November. Also known as Movember, or Novembeard, NSN is a yearly tradition in which people don’t shave for a month, in an effort to raise awareness and money for prostate cancer research. As you may be able to tell from the latter naming options, it has traditionally been focused on men. I don’t really have a problem with that. I understand that cancer research and awareness can be best served by snazzy, hip campaigns that appeal to people’s self-interest and sense of identity. This tactic can go terribly wrong, of course, as we’ve seen in the ‘pinkification’ of breast cancer. But in general, it’s fine for Movember to involve mainly men and market the idea mainly to men and even to emphasize the manliness of beards in order to do it. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">But. But! When a phenomenon like No Shave November goes viral, it becomes so decentralized as to lack any organization that could alter the event to be more inclusive. This has obvious benefits, since it’s supposed to be, in some ways, something that people (read: men) just do because it’s fun and silly and exciting and yes, also because it’s for a good cause. Unfortunately, this means that the public face of No Shave November, as analyzed through twitter, becomes a cesspool of male privilege and pangendered body shaming.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #444444; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">No</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #444444; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #444444; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">shave</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #404040; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> November does not apply to females... I repeat: No shave November DOES NOT apply to females. That is all”</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #404040; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“Just Witnessed A Female Who C L E A R L Y Started -No Shave November-. Ughhhh. Nasty AF” </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #404040; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“No shave November doesn't apply to women. That's </span><a href="https://twitter.com/#!/TheIndy400/status/134447127307894784"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000099; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">disgusting</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #404040; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“No Shave November is meant for men, NOT </span><a href="https://twitter.com/#!/AidaTavera/status/133990483499298816"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000099; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">women</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">!!!”</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">And I could go </span><a href="https://twitter.com/#!/jordyisabird/status/133732184413581312"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000099; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">on</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> and </span><a href="https://twitter.com/#!/joshmtucker/status/133258909002629120"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000099; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">on</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> and </span><a href="https://twitter.com/#!/SHAD_BASH/status/136118499163643904"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000099; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">on</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> and </span><a href="https://twitter.com/#!/RealDwill7/status/135563239718260736"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000099; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">on</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">...(note: these came from all genders).</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Seriously, now? Has women’s body hair been killing people? Engaging in public urination? Eating people’s hamsters without justifiable cause? No? Oh, it’s just existing on women’s bodies in a totally sanitary and natural way in the same way it does on men’s bodies. And that is apparently enough to provoke an onslaught of self-indulgent narcissistic personal preference sharing tweeting, all of it entirely oblivious to the vast social and political consequences of such an overwhelming condemnation of women who do not shave their bodies. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I, for one, am fed up. Fed up with the silliness of caring so much about what other people look like, even when it doesn’t affect you. Fed up with the totally unfair beauty standards to which women are held and shamed if they do not. Fed up with the internet helping to create a society where it’s ok to make a perfectly normal preteen girl feel like she’s less of a woman if she doesn’t pull out the razors immediately on her twelfth birthday. And really really fed up with a culture that focuses more on the fact that women aren’t shaving than on the fact that they’re fighting prostate cancer. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">But what is to be done? The internet is a devastatingly unappealing place at times, but it would be politically lazy to therefore do nothing. We have the choice to let the internet conquer feminism, or to make feminism conquer the internet.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Sexists may be all over the internet for now, but remember: their public forums are ours as well. We can use the same tools and turn their awful messages on their heads. We can call out sexism where we see it. We can spread supportive, healthy messages to the entire Internet community. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">And we already are! The feminist blogosphere exists, of course, but even just in this case, check out </span><a href="https://twitter.com/#!/DanielleJolayne/status/131540736142348288"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000099; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">this woman</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, who is calling out sexism. And this guy was </span><a href="https://twitter.com/#!/JustinIsBland/status/131559028269654016"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000099; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">really happy</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> we, the anti-sexists, existed. Sure I received </span><a href="https://twitter.com/#!/Woodsy_/status/132135676161425408"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000099; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">some</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><a href="https://twitter.com/#!/charlie__SH33N/status/131564738617409537"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000099; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">unpleasant</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><a href="https://twitter.com/#!/charlie__SH33N/status/131562637057200128"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000099; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">replies</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><a href="https://twitter.com/#!/meena_beena_/status/131553569475276802"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000099; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">to</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><a href="https://twitter.com/#!/Kimberly_Inc/status/131562405183492096"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000099; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">my</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><a href="https://twitter.com/#!/callmeJIMMER_/status/131556120002174976"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000099; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">requests</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><a href="https://twitter.com/#!/GotUr_MindBlown/status/131541864015859712"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000099; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">for</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> a saner, less misogynistic world, but again, if the sexists can use twitter as a public forum, so can we. We can </span><a href="https://twitter.com/#!/ChanaMessinger/status/131557935104016384"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000099; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">say things like</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, “Stop shaming women for their personal choices. Especially if they’re trying to fight prostate cancer” We can even </span><a href="https://twitter.com/#!/_SimplyVintage/status/131555373818720257"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000099; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">change</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><a href="https://twitter.com/#!/KatherineGoble/status/131565444724310016"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000099; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">some</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><a href="https://twitter.com/#!/KatherineGoble/status/131566278325436416"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000099; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">minds</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. We can hopefully reach many who may be made hopeful by the sheer existence of those willing to question the assumption that women must naturally have a higher standard of beauty inconvenience.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">A woman who doesn’t shave her legs does not harbor the seeds of destruction of a civilized and hygienic society, and one who does it in the name of raising money for prostate cancer research is praiseworthy, not disgusting, and she should be lauded, not shamed. This is worth saying. Over and over again, in conversation and on the internet. It may be saddening or disturbing that it has to be said at all, but that is no excuse for inaction on our parts. If feminism has done anything, it has given us a voice. Let’s use it to make a more equal society, 140 characters at a time. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br />
</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="white-space: pre-wrap;">Also check out a friend'</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="white-space: pre-wrap;">s take</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="white-space: pre-wrap;"> on the same issue at <a href="http://teenskepchick.org/2011/11/02/no-shave-november/">Teen Skepchick.</a></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;">If you want to donate to the cause, check out the<a href="http://www.pcf.org/site/c.leJRIROrEpH/b.5822013/k.C005/Donate.htm"> Prostate Cancer Foundation</a></span></div>Strangelethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00750375109270713658noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9116574572286428265.post-34891747125626308742011-11-15T19:50:00.002-06:002011-11-15T22:49:52.448-06:00Atheism: Questions and Answers<div style="background-color: transparent;"><span id="internal-source-marker_0.14537892979569733" style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">So SA got a bunch of emails from an English class in Chicago asking us about our religious beliefs. Apparently they’re doing some kind of project on religion, so<a href="http://inspirationalfreethought.wordpress.com/"> Mike Mei</a> and I I gave them our answers on the condition that I could post them. Here they are; I’d love to know what you think! (Note: Yes, there is some overlap, which I warned them about, and yes they are fairly short. Whatever.) If you have other questions you want us to ask about atheist (or in my case, Jewish atheist) identity, please ask in comments! Similarly if you disagree with any of my answers. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGsb-ax2cpR5jBu-IDpt6eAuLJkdyCB1WgQlpj291teqkyY0HURjfbG1xMrRpvwlEXwWAvh2_LM6yq_I-rp85C1vgUGBT3StNp7ZmLXT0HEGqE8rXBjBjWC1VpAc5ReNJVgBImabU8OwA/s1600/question2-724662.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGsb-ax2cpR5jBu-IDpt6eAuLJkdyCB1WgQlpj291teqkyY0HURjfbG1xMrRpvwlEXwWAvh2_LM6yq_I-rp85C1vgUGBT3StNp7ZmLXT0HEGqE8rXBjBjWC1VpAc5ReNJVgBImabU8OwA/s200/question2-724662.jpg" width="160" /></a></div><div style="background-color: transparent;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">(Partially cross-posted at the <a href="http://ucsecular.blogspot.com/2011/11/atheism-questions-and-answers.html">UCSecular Blog</a>)</span></span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Question Set 1:</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">1. What made you want to follow the faith that you are following?</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I am an atheist, and I identify as such because I desire powerfully to have an accurate and true understanding of the world around me and my best rational inquiry has led me to the belief that there is no god.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">2. How has your religious belief affected you and those around you?</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">My atheism, perhaps surprisingly, affects my life relatively little. Most of the time, the notion of god happening not to exist is not on my mind. However, the secular community has become one of my communities of choice, and spending time with such people has enriched my life, the way that such communities do. Similarly, I feel that my atheism has not affected those around me, except that I perhaps engage in more friendly debates about religion than I otherwise would.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">3. What is the main concepts/pathways your religion follows?</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">There is almost certainly no god, meaning is to be found by individual humans through choice and ethics are to be derived from science and human values.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">4. How do you define the relationship between the sacred and its followers?</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The sacred is a cluster of powerful human intuitions and emotions surrounding these intuitions; followers of the sacred are people who have decided to dedicate some portion of their physical or mental lives to considering and engaging with these intuitions, either individually or in groups with shared tenets or practices.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">5. How do you know that you have accomplished your purpose on Earth? Why do you believe you were put on Earth?</span><br />
<a href="http://www.drakeinnerprizes.com/BlueBearBlog/Newsletters/black_white_earth_globe_lw.gif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://www.drakeinnerprizes.com/BlueBearBlog/Newsletters/black_white_earth_globe_lw.gif" /></a><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I do not believe I was placed on Earth; I believe I was born. I have no external purpose, and the only guidepost I can use to decide whether I have achieved any purpose at all is my own reason and judgment.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">6. Describe how you find meaning in your life? What steps have you taken to achieve completion?</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Meaningfulness is also a constructed social understanding of shared human intuition, and so I find it in many of the ways that most humans access those satisfying and powerful emotions: I learn about the things I find interesting, I spend time with people I admire and care about, I set goals for myself that I think are useful, ethical and challenging and try to achieve them and I try to think deeply about the world.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">7. Describe how the followers of your religious belief find meaning in their life? What are the steps necessary? </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Because atheists are not bound by a series of strict beliefs, tenets and laws, they all find meaning in their own ways. Some are existentialists, who find meaning through choice and experience, some are humanists, who find meaning through ethical practice and community building, some are nihilists, who do not believe in meaning, and some are something else altogether. There are no prescribed steps, nor prescribed meaning.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Question Set 2:</span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">1. What kind of religion do you believe in? ex. : Christian, Jewish, Buddhist</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I am an atheist.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">2. How long have you been practicing this religion?</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I have been an atheist since I was approximately 11 years old (8 years ago) but have been actively engaging with the atheist community for 3 years.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">3. Do you participate in daily or weekly meetings/worship services? If so, how often?</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Yes, I go to weekly secular meetings at my school.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">4. Why are you drawn to this particular religious philosophy? Why do you choose it?</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I desire powerfully to have an accurate and true understanding of the world around me and my best rational inquiry has led me to the belief that there is no god.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">5. In your personal experiences, what did this belief bring to you? How does it influence your life? Why this is important to you?</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Atheism has been tremendously liberating and satisfying belief to hold. It makes me feel like a more rational person, a more consistent person, and a more thoughtful person. I can feel proud of this belief, knowing that it is supported by evidence and that it is commensurate with a worldview in which empiricism, science and critical thinking are privileged above dogmatism and tradition. It is a progressive approach to the world, and best of all, it is true.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">6. Can you list and briefly explain some specific events that happened in your life, which this specific religion was involved? (it helped you to make decisions, it told you how to deal with the relationship with people, etc.)</span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Because atheism is simply the lack of belief in a god, it has never helped me make a specific decision, but the belief that there is no afterlife has certainly made me have much more of a concern for human life now.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">7. How do you identify the word “God”? How do you describe your relationship with the god?</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The word God refers to our cultural understanding of a being which satisfies intuitions and emotions we have about the need for objective truth, meaning and morality, the existence of vast and majestic power and the desirability of the existence of an eternal onlooker, judge, king and parental figure.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">8. (Optional) Do you have any friends or family members who are also believe in the same religion?</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Yes. Both of my parents are atheists, as are many of my friends and community members. </span></div><div style="background-color: transparent;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br />
</span></div><div style="background-color: transparent;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">To check out Mike Mei's answers, click<a href="http://inspirationalfreethought.wordpress.com/"> here</a>, and to check out his blog, click<a href="http://inspirationalfreethought.wordpress.com/"> here</a>. </span></div>Strangelethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00750375109270713658noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9116574572286428265.post-88998383199051635512011-11-13T22:19:00.004-06:002011-11-26T20:52:30.060-06:00Surface Level Thinking Bores Me to Tears: NOMA, Evolution and the Philosophy of Religion<div class="separator" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; clear: both; letter-spacing: normal; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; orphans: 2; text-align: center; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirZ2t2p8t3IB9A6JynebyWCD54WCtg6E_9u000x6W0weHKTgB2-20DP1O0WAEGD-muckRtsWHvZUV-mrXRyBCbEQVHLSd2lfGJ2wnTZV0Jyn8PCv9-e3dQBowcDFf4pLnCs6itmaliWIck/s400/tmp.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; color: black; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; white-space: normal;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirZ2t2p8t3IB9A6JynebyWCD54WCtg6E_9u000x6W0weHKTgB2-20DP1O0WAEGD-muckRtsWHvZUV-mrXRyBCbEQVHLSd2lfGJ2wnTZV0Jyn8PCv9-e3dQBowcDFf4pLnCs6itmaliWIck/s200/tmp.jpg" width="200" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5L5PCP5dt_8FzzE_iD2Vj-sUXfglYDcoonISJOMuYqetkXWQo1-KXX7hqvACIt5lny0rKcJRcYrtVRntl5CDcOaK8ocq1u8eQNdw3Lw3ClH8ie2R6fIFh9S-1Tzw4nzp7NeYLw9mAcnGY/s320/Ruse+dodo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; color: black; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; white-space: normal;"><img border="0" height="181" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5L5PCP5dt_8FzzE_iD2Vj-sUXfglYDcoonISJOMuYqetkXWQo1-KXX7hqvACIt5lny0rKcJRcYrtVRntl5CDcOaK8ocq1u8eQNdw3Lw3ClH8ie2R6fIFh9S-1Tzw4nzp7NeYLw9mAcnGY/s200/Ruse+dodo.jpg" style="cursor: move;" width="200" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5L5PCP5dt_8FzzE_iD2Vj-sUXfglYDcoonISJOMuYqetkXWQo1-KXX7hqvACIt5lny0rKcJRcYrtVRntl5CDcOaK8ocq1u8eQNdw3Lw3ClH8ie2R6fIFh9S-1Tzw4nzp7NeYLw9mAcnGY/s320/Ruse+dodo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; color: black; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; white-space: normal;"></a></div><div style="color: black; text-align: left; white-space: normal;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000099; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Ruse" id="internal-source-marker_0.9385037147440016">Michael Ruse</a></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, who recently came to speak at the University of Chicago, seems to have exactly the kind of deeply reasonable ideas which are entirely correct and yet useless precisely because they never engage with the more difficult aspects of the topic. Because these kinds of ideas are so obvious in theory, all of their flaws arise in application. That’s probably uncharitable. Knowing the atheist community as I do, it actually is a </span><a href="http://wwjtd.net/?p=2118"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000099; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">controversial notion</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> that in order to be better, more convincing, not to mention more ethical arguers and persuaders for our truth claims about the universe, it helps to understand the other side. And when I say understand the other side, I mean take religion seriously, possibly as seriously as it takes itself. In human history, ideas tend not to last this long unless they are very compelling, either because they are true or because they have something else, and dubbing that something else ‘comfort’ or ‘usefulness’ and then completely ignoring it when you make arguments (either because you</span><a href="http://www.reason4living.com/articles/totw0131.htm"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000099; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> don’t acknowledge the need</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> for comfortable/useful/something else ideas and thus fail to</span><a href="http://www.spencergreenberg.com/2011/09/your-beliefs-as-a-temple/"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000099; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> build back up pillars</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, or because you don’t take it into account when you’re discussing the very question of how religion has lasted so long) is really not acceptable. So I was gratified to hear Ruse say </span><a href="https://twitter.com/#!/ChanaMessinger/status/134698278393626624"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000099; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">something very much along these lines</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, though I harbor little of the hatred of New Atheists that seems to burn bright in his chest. (Though he did say </span><a href="https://twitter.com/#!/ChanaMessinger/status/134697057817600000"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000099; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">this</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, interestingly enough).</span></div><div style="color: black; text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br />
</span></span></div><div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: transparent; color: black; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Nonetheless, because I am entirely convinced of this proposition and I think any intellectually honest and curious person should be, too, it strikes me as an argument without an insight, a talk without a catalystic novelty at its base, and this is disappointing. Especially since it soon became clear that Ruse falls prey to a common trap: in order to emphasize the similarities or compatibilities of two worldviews or philosophies, </span><a href="https://twitter.com/#!/ChanaMessinger/status/134697465797545984"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000099; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">only criticize the most egregious wrongs of either side and claim that the middle is really anyone’s game</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. Please, people, do not do this. Do not claim that you are both a </span><a href="https://twitter.com/#!/ChanaMessinger/status/134713878377541633"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000099; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Baarthian and a Kierkegaardian</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> but also a </span><a href="https://twitter.com/#!/ChanaMessinger/status/134714178425462785"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000099; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Humean</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, and therefore believe that </span><a href="https://twitter.com/#!/ChanaMessinger/status/134714344595402752"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000099; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">resurrection-believers are nuts</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. Do not claim that so far, religion (qua religion) has donated nothing of use to science, but perhaps in the future, </span><a href="https://twitter.com/#!/ChanaMessinger/status/134703082813665281"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000099; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">it very well might</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. Do not appeal to the strawman of ‘scientism’ and then grasp the remaining scraps of straw in the form of </span><a href="https://twitter.com/#!/ChanaMessinger/status/134711762485383168"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000099; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">wrongly</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">-</span><a href="https://twitter.com/#!/ChanaMessinger/status/134712075866996737"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000099; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">asked</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><a href="https://twitter.com/#!/ChanaMessinger/status/134712154497617921"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000099; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">questions</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> (why is there something rather than nothing?) or examples of where religion might be of some descriptive use. And, while this is a but off-topic, do not sweat arrogance and pomposity out of every pore by claiming to be a </span><a href="https://twitter.com/#!/ChanaMessinger/status/134707682878816257"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000099; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">conservative</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Protestant atheist, and thus better than the religious by being an atheist and better than the atheists by claiming that if you were religious, you’d be better at it then them. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<a href="http://rationalwiki.org/w/images/thumb/4/41/NOMA.png/180px-NOMA.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://rationalwiki.org/w/images/thumb/4/41/NOMA.png/180px-NOMA.png" /></a><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Ruse actually did have some really interesting things to say about </span><a href="https://twitter.com/#!/ChanaMessinger/status/134700677409669121"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000099; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">metaphor and its use in science</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, but I’m going to leave that to another piece. I really want to focus on this question of the philosophical intersection between science and religion, how they conflict and why, and whether NOMA, which Ruse seems to generally favor, should be taken seriously.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">No, I don’t, actually, because H. Allen Orr did it better. Read this: </span><a href="http://bostonreview.net/BR24.5/orr.html"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000099; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">http://bostonreview.net/BR24.5/orr.html</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. (hattip: <a href="https://twitter.com/#!/deadlinguist">Charles Huff</a>). Now. Then come back.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Let me be absolutely clear: I love (almost) everything about this piece. This piece needs to be spread far and wide. I will begin to try to emulate this piece through my blogging. It is fantastic. </span><br />
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</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><strong>More specifically: </strong></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">1. The exquisite self-awareness redolent in the acknowledgement of not only weak or shoddy but simply pathetically overused arguments is so refreshing I can't even stand it. I have arrived at a point in my intellectual life where I find novelty and creativity in thinking so very much more important than being right by sheer virtue of never saying anything that borders on unreasonable, which is mostly a result of cowardice. Orr's quip about the Natural Law of Scientists (by which he really means atheist internet arguers) Mentioning Crusades made me want to cheer.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">2. The entire first paragraph is just...right. Exactly and fundamentally correct.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">3. Of course I deeply appreciate Orr's call against an oversimplification of religion, but what's so funny is even to call it that would be an oversimplification. A charge of oversimplification only makes sense when it is brought against an argument which has made attempts to sincerely understand and categorize a topic or phenomenon, and has made some unfortunate and grievous mistakes by overlooking important analytic distinctions. But, that's not even the issue here. Gould undertook a radically absurd redefinition of religion. To call it an oversimplification would be a compliment.</span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://jfnet.files.wordpress.com/2011/08/david-deutsch_the-beginning-of-infinity.jpg?w=132&h=200" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://jfnet.files.wordpress.com/2011/08/david-deutsch_the-beginning-of-infinity.jpg?w=132&h=200" /></a></div><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">4. The bit about Gould's nonsensical use of pseudo-Aristotelianism: LOVE. LOVE times a million. I mean, really. No only is that a bastardization of Aristotle, a philosopher who should really be taken more seriously insofar as he is revered but in my opinion not well-understood, but I also read David Deutsch's book </span><a href="http://beginningofinfinity.com/"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000099; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Beginning of Infinity</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> this summer, and he along with many others in the rationalist community are pretty sick of the idea of truth as an average. When two predictions come about as a result of two entirely different explanations of how the world or something else works, picking and choosing bits is really not the way to go. In fact, you're just going to get shoddier data. How this relates to politics is a fascinating set of confusions I currently have bouncing around.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">5. Orr's incisive analysis of Gould's conception of religion coming squarely out of a scientific tradition is not only right on, but is something I'm especially sympathetic to since I'm reading Abraham Joshua Heschel's </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abraham_Joshua_Heschel#God_in_Search_of_Man"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000099; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">God in Search of Man</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, which is decidedly not materialistic in its philosophical approach. Really beautiful book, by the way. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">6. I didn't know that, as Orr says, "J.B. S. Haldane was an unabashed mystic" but it makes so much sense! </span><a href="http://www.sweetspeeches.com/s/338-richard-dawkins-queerer-than-we-can-suppose-the-strangeness-of-science"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000099; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Dawkins quotes his</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, "Now my own suspicion is that the Universe is not only queerer than we suppose, but queerer than we can suppose." all the time as an example of positive scientific awe and wonder, but it's always struck me as pretty mystical and anti-scientific. It depends on how you interpret it, of course. The context is that the prior sentence is "I have no doubt that in reality the future will be vastly more surprising than anything I can imagine." which may imply that the second sentence is simply a furthering of the thought that the future will be exciting and progress between now and then will be so wonderfully expansive that we simply cannot even conceive now of the questions that will be asked in the future, let alone the answers. But if the first sentence is a personal opinion which is drawn from the larger philosophy explicated in the second sentence which appears to posit fundamentally ineffable concepts, we have a problem.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">7. The offhand description of different spheres as a probably "bastardized legacy of Kuhn's" is right on and also hilarious.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><strong>Small points of disagreement:</strong></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.kyrene.org/schools/brisas/sunda/ma/GRALKN01.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://www.kyrene.org/schools/brisas/sunda/ma/GRALKN01.JPG" width="189" /></a></div><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">1. "The point is that it is dishonest to pretend that the Crusades count against theism but that Stalin doesn’t count against atheism." Possibly true, but possibly not. There's a different between incidental truths and relevant truths, and which is which depends largely on the neurobiology of religion and what your philosophy of religion is. So...not quite as clear cut as he's making it out to be. Maybe I should write to him!</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">2. I get seriously annoyed when people bring up 'scientism' as a thing, as I said above. It's not a thing. Yes, there are logical/mathematical truths. Some people have made what I find to be compelling arguments that those are in fact <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Is_logic_empirical%3F#cite_note-0">themselves empirical</a>. You can make all kinds of logical systems if you want; logical is not a single thing. All the other examples are or could be scientific (if they were done more rigorously). Certainly not everything is scientific, but everything is subject to reason. If you don't believe that, that's fine, but seriously, people, it's not a weakness of the rational worldview. Ruse got this totally wrong.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">That’s all for now; if you think I got something wrong, or right for that matter, please tell me!</span></div>Strangelethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00750375109270713658noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9116574572286428265.post-28602547611412205262011-11-08T12:51:00.001-06:002011-11-08T12:55:14.373-06:00The Dark Arts, or How to get more rational by taking online quizzes<div style="background-color: transparent; clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span id="internal-source-marker_0.2292861684691161" style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Remember that quiz you all took?<a href="http://fantasticastoria.blogspot.com/2011/10/think-youre-rational.html"> This one</a>?</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Let’s talk about it.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">1. How long will this quiz take you?</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I realize that it’s hard to estimate when you have no idea what the quiz is about, and I’m also aware </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">that I may have skewed this by promising it would take under 10 minutes, but this question was meant to illustrate </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Planning_fallacy"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000099; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">the planning fallacy</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. (A paper about it </span><a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0191886906002194"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000099; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">here</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> and more information <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Planning_fallacy">here</a>). People tend to underestimate how much time something will take them, even if they have experience of going over time. This applies to a wide range of activities, from carpentry to origami, and does not apply to disinterested observers guessing about how long something will take someone else.</span></div><div style="background-color: transparent;"><a href="http://www.3quarksdaily.com/.a/6a00d8341c562c53ef0120a4fcd8a6970b-300wi" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: center; white-space: normal;"><br />
</a><a href="http://www.3quarksdaily.com/.a/6a00d8341c562c53ef0120a4fcd8a6970b-300wi" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center; white-space: normal;"><br />
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</a><a href="http://bigshanty.blogs.com/.a/6a00d83451ff3169e201347fcea6b1970c-800wi" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://bigshanty.blogs.com/.a/6a00d83451ff3169e201347fcea6b1970c-800wi" width="188" /></a><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">When we were discussing it at our club meeting, one of the club officers, Mike Mei, pointed out that this might also be an example of the </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunning%E2%80%93Kruger_effect"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000099; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Dunning-Kruger effect</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, in which unskilled (in a given area) people overrate their abilities in that area, essentially because they lack the knowledge to see where they have failed. There is a corrollary effect, in which skilled people underrate their abilities, because they spend time with people even more skilled than they are and have a better understanding of their own limitations.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The answers I got from SA were, in minutes: 10, 2, 10, 2, 5, 3, 2, 1 (possibly a 10), and blank. They all took between 3 and 7 minutes, so it’s possible the Dunning-Kruger effect was stronger than the planning fallacy here</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">(1.b.) On the original quiz, which I gave to the SA, the first question also had: How many questions do you expect to get right? which was meant to illustrate much the same points. I took this off since not all the questions have right and wrong answers.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">2. Samantha was part of the Intervarsity Christian Fellowship in college and was abstinent until marriage. She has four children and does not use birth control. Is it more likely that she is a teacher, or a Christian and a teacher?</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">This is a spin on Jane being a feminist and a bank teller, which is a classic thought experiment/trick question in psychology. One example in a psychology presentation can be </span><a href="http://arts.uwaterloo.ca/~sspencer/psych353/lecture3/tsld007.htm"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000099; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">found here</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. It is a demonstration of the </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Representativeness_heuristic"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000099; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">representativeness heuristic</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, in which people estimate probabilities of events by analyzing the data they have available to them, rather than by being aware of all the data they don’t have. In this case, people focus on the information I gave, which points strongly to Samantha being a Christian. This gives us a deviance from a </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bayesian_probability"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000099; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Bayesian calculation</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, in some cases because we neglect the base rates of an event (this would be a prior), but in this case because of the </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conjunction_fallacy"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000099; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">conjugation fallacy</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. This fallacy occurs when we assume that a more restricted situation is more likely than a more general one. In particular, if we say that Samantha is more likely to be a Christian and a teacher, then we are claiming that the probability that Samantha is a Christian AND that Samantha is a teacher is less than the probability that Samantha is a teacher of any kind, which is clearly false. The wikipedia article has the math, but what you really need to see is this:</span><br />
<div style="text-align: center;"><img height="120" src="http://www.sdcoe.net/score/actbank/Venn.GIF" width="200" /></div><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">If A is the probability that Samantha is a teacher of any kind and B is the probability that Samantha is a Christian, we see that the overlap (C) can’t be larger than either A or B.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">To my disappointment, SA answered with 2 saying teacher, 5 saying christian and teacher and two people rebelling against the two options I gave them to say:</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“Just a Christian. Women must be oppressed and pregnant. Quote the Bible”</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">And</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“The probabilities seem similar, though one should never take professed faith at face value.”</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">To be fair, these answers actually have a lot of merit. Even though it wasn’t the point of the question, it probably is much more likely that Samantha is a Christian than that she is either a teacher or both. Given that, it’s probably also true that the probabilities of her being a teacher and both being a teacher and a Christian are similar (if the probability of her being a Christian is high enough). Don’t believe me? Pick some probabilities at random and do the math! It’s just multiplication, I promise.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I find the last bit particularly intriguing. Perhaps this intrepid secularite is referring to the phenomenon of </span><a href="http://lesswrong.com/lw/i4/belief_in_belief/"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000099; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">belief in belief</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">?</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">By the way, if you were confused about all that Bayes talk, </span><a href="http://yudkowsky.net/rational/bayes"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000099; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">here’s a fairly simple explanation of Bayesian probability</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. </span><br />
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<div style="text-align: right;"><a href="http://www.travelnotes.org/Africa/images/africa2.gif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><br />
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<div style="text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">3. Do you think the percentage of countries in the UN that are African countries is higher or lower than 65%/10%? What is the percentage of countries in the UN that are African countries?</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br />
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<div style="text-align: right;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="http://www.zarachiron.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/04/africa.gif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: center; white-space: normal;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://www.zarachiron.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/04/africa.gif" width="180" /></a></span></div><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">If you’ve already checked out both instantiations at the quiz, you probably realized this is one of the places they deviated. This is supposed to illustrate the </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anchoring"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">anchoring effect</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, in which our analysis of what answer is reasonable is </span><a href="http://www.psychwiki.com/wiki/Anchoring-and-Adjustment_Heuristic"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">heavily affected</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> by the information we’re given to start with. Sometimes this is because we adjust from that number, and sometimes because our brains remember information consistent with the number we start with. This can occur in context, as in this question or a starting bid for a salary, or out of context, as in spinning a </span><a href="http://www.hss.caltech.edu/~camerer/Ec101/JudgementUncertainty.pdf"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Wheel of Fortune before answering the question</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> (this link goes to a generally great paper). Crazy, isn’t it? But it’s true. It’s also worth pointing out that, despite the claim of some SA members that science people might be less prone to the fallacy than humanities people, even those who are reminded of the anchoring effect and told to avoid it are subject to it, at least when the anchor comes externally (as in this quiz). However, with internally created anchors (if I hadn’t given the first part of the question), warnings and high Need for Cognition do </span><a href="http://www.psych.cornell.edu/sec/pubPeople/tdg1/Epley_&_Gilovich_(2005).pdf"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">lower the extent of the effect.</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">SA Answers:</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">65%: 10%, 10%, 30%, 30%, 20% - Mean: 20%</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">10%: 18%, 52%, 8%, 13% - Mean: 22.75%</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Oddly, the SA at UofC appears to be immune to the anchoring effect. Or something.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">4. (5 seconds) Guess the value of the following arithmetical expression: 8 x 7 x 6 x 5 x 4 x 3 x 2 x 1 = ? OR 1 x 2 x 3 x 4 x 5 x 6 x 7 x 8 = ?</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">This is the same issue. People tend to look at the first few numbers, multiply, and then adjust, since they’re asked to do it in 5 seconds. </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Answers from SA</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Descending order: 400,000; 1,000; 1,024; 500 Average: 100,631 (obviously not particularly useful given the high variance). Without the outlier, the average is 841.33</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Ascending order: 1,000; 900; 16,320 (calculated, not guessed); YAY MATH!; 4,000; Average: 5555</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Again, not entirely expected, but that’s ok.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Source: I got both of these questions straight from here: </span><a href="http://lesswrong.com/lw/j7/anchoring_and_adjustment/"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">http://lesswrong.com/lw/j7/anchoring_and_adjustment/</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">5. 1% of women at age forty who participate in routine screening have breast cancer. 80% of women with breast cancer will get positive mammographies. 9.6% of women without breast cancer will also get positive mammographies. A woman in this age group had a positive mammography in a routine screening. What is the probability that she has breast cancer?</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">6. 1500 out of every 10,000 men at age forty who participate in routine screening have prostate cancer. 1300 of these 1500 men will get positive screening tests. 8,000 of the men who do not have prostate cancer will also get positive screening tests. A man in this age group had a positive test in a routine screening. What is the probability that he has prostate cancer?</span><br />
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<div style="text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">You probably noticed that these are the same question, one with percentages, one with numbers. Apologies for the typo in the second question, by the way; that’s been fixed. These questions ask for a Bayesian calculation of probability. As someone has pointed out in the comments, it might seem like the test is asking for mathematical proficiency rather than rational abilities. I take the criticism willingly, but nothing on this quiz requires more than basic multiplication. Knowing how to set up a Bayesian calculation may be mathematical in some sense, but I would argue that it’s also simply something a rational person should know how to do, in the same way that calculating iterated probabilities of coin flips requires multiplication but if you think that the probability of getting heads at least once when you flip a coin twice is .5 + .5 = 1, there’s a problem that goes beyond arithmetic. This will become even more clear when I demonstrate the answer to this problem.</span><a href="http://www.3quarksdaily.com/.a/6a00d8341c562c53ef0120a4fcd8a6970b-300wi" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="http://www.3quarksdaily.com/.a/6a00d8341c562c53ef0120a4fcd8a6970b-300wi" /></a></div><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The way this works is as follows. We know that some people have cancer and some don’t, and some people get positive tests and some don’t. So we set up a table. The answers will be put in as (breast cancer problem numbers, prostate cancer problem numbers).</span><br />
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<tr style="height: 0px;"><td style="border-bottom-color: rgb(170, 170, 170); border-bottom-style: dotted; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-left-color: rgb(170, 170, 170); border-left-style: dotted; border-left-width: 1px; border-right-color: rgb(170, 170, 170); border-right-style: dotted; border-right-width: 1px; border-top-color: rgb(170, 170, 170); border-top-style: dotted; border-top-width: 1px; padding-bottom: 7px; padding-left: 7px; padding-right: 7px; padding-top: 7px; vertical-align: top;"><div dir="ltr" style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></div></td><td style="border-bottom-color: rgb(170, 170, 170); border-bottom-style: dotted; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-left-color: rgb(170, 170, 170); border-left-style: dotted; border-left-width: 1px; border-right-color: rgb(170, 170, 170); border-right-style: dotted; border-right-width: 1px; border-top-color: rgb(170, 170, 170); border-top-style: dotted; border-top-width: 1px; padding-bottom: 7px; padding-left: 7px; padding-right: 7px; padding-top: 7px; vertical-align: top;"><div dir="ltr" style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Has Cancer</span></div></td><td style="border-bottom-color: rgb(170, 170, 170); border-bottom-style: dotted; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-left-color: rgb(170, 170, 170); border-left-style: dotted; border-left-width: 1px; border-right-color: rgb(170, 170, 170); border-right-style: dotted; border-right-width: 1px; border-top-color: rgb(170, 170, 170); border-top-style: dotted; border-top-width: 1px; padding-bottom: 7px; padding-left: 7px; padding-right: 7px; padding-top: 7px; vertical-align: top;"><div dir="ltr" style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Doesn’t Have Cancer</span></div></td></tr>
<tr style="height: 0px;"><td style="border-bottom-color: rgb(170, 170, 170); border-bottom-style: dotted; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-left-color: rgb(170, 170, 170); border-left-style: dotted; border-left-width: 1px; border-right-color: rgb(170, 170, 170); border-right-style: dotted; border-right-width: 1px; border-top-color: rgb(170, 170, 170); border-top-style: dotted; border-top-width: 1px; padding-bottom: 7px; padding-left: 7px; padding-right: 7px; padding-top: 7px; vertical-align: top;"><div dir="ltr" style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Positive Test</span></div></td><td style="border-bottom-color: rgb(170, 170, 170); border-bottom-style: dotted; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-left-color: rgb(170, 170, 170); border-left-style: dotted; border-left-width: 1px; border-right-color: rgb(170, 170, 170); border-right-style: dotted; border-right-width: 1px; border-top-color: rgb(170, 170, 170); border-top-style: dotted; border-top-width: 1px; padding-bottom: 7px; padding-left: 7px; padding-right: 7px; padding-top: 7px; vertical-align: top;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></td><td style="border-bottom-color: rgb(170, 170, 170); border-bottom-style: dotted; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-left-color: rgb(170, 170, 170); border-left-style: dotted; border-left-width: 1px; border-right-color: rgb(170, 170, 170); border-right-style: dotted; border-right-width: 1px; border-top-color: rgb(170, 170, 170); border-top-style: dotted; border-top-width: 1px; padding-bottom: 7px; padding-left: 7px; padding-right: 7px; padding-top: 7px; vertical-align: top;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></td></tr>
<tr style="height: 0px;"><td style="border-bottom-color: rgb(170, 170, 170); border-bottom-style: dotted; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-left-color: rgb(170, 170, 170); border-left-style: dotted; border-left-width: 1px; border-right-color: rgb(170, 170, 170); border-right-style: dotted; border-right-width: 1px; border-top-color: rgb(170, 170, 170); border-top-style: dotted; border-top-width: 1px; padding-bottom: 7px; padding-left: 7px; padding-right: 7px; padding-top: 7px; vertical-align: top;"><div dir="ltr" style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Negative Test</span></div></td><td style="border-bottom-color: rgb(170, 170, 170); border-bottom-style: dotted; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-left-color: rgb(170, 170, 170); border-left-style: dotted; border-left-width: 1px; border-right-color: rgb(170, 170, 170); border-right-style: dotted; border-right-width: 1px; border-top-color: rgb(170, 170, 170); border-top-style: dotted; border-top-width: 1px; padding-bottom: 7px; padding-left: 7px; padding-right: 7px; padding-top: 7px; vertical-align: top;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></td><td style="border-bottom-color: rgb(170, 170, 170); border-bottom-style: dotted; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-left-color: rgb(170, 170, 170); border-left-style: dotted; border-left-width: 1px; border-right-color: rgb(170, 170, 170); border-right-style: dotted; border-right-width: 1px; border-top-color: rgb(170, 170, 170); border-top-style: dotted; border-top-width: 1px; padding-bottom: 7px; padding-left: 7px; padding-right: 7px; padding-top: 7px; vertical-align: top;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></td></tr>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">So for prostate cancer, the numbers are all given</span><br />
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<tr style="height: 0px;"><td style="border-bottom-color: rgb(170, 170, 170); border-bottom-style: dotted; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-left-color: rgb(170, 170, 170); border-left-style: dotted; border-left-width: 1px; border-right-color: rgb(170, 170, 170); border-right-style: dotted; border-right-width: 1px; border-top-color: rgb(170, 170, 170); border-top-style: dotted; border-top-width: 1px; padding-bottom: 7px; padding-left: 7px; padding-right: 7px; padding-top: 7px; vertical-align: top;"><div dir="ltr" style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></div></td><td style="border-bottom-color: rgb(170, 170, 170); border-bottom-style: dotted; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-left-color: rgb(170, 170, 170); border-left-style: dotted; border-left-width: 1px; border-right-color: rgb(170, 170, 170); border-right-style: dotted; border-right-width: 1px; border-top-color: rgb(170, 170, 170); border-top-style: dotted; border-top-width: 1px; padding-bottom: 7px; padding-left: 7px; padding-right: 7px; padding-top: 7px; vertical-align: top;"><div dir="ltr" style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Has Cancer</span></div></td><td style="border-bottom-color: rgb(170, 170, 170); border-bottom-style: dotted; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-left-color: rgb(170, 170, 170); border-left-style: dotted; border-left-width: 1px; border-right-color: rgb(170, 170, 170); border-right-style: dotted; border-right-width: 1px; border-top-color: rgb(170, 170, 170); border-top-style: dotted; border-top-width: 1px; padding-bottom: 7px; padding-left: 7px; padding-right: 7px; padding-top: 7px; vertical-align: top;"><div dir="ltr" style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Doesn’t Have Cancer</span></div></td></tr>
<tr style="height: 0px;"><td style="border-bottom-color: rgb(170, 170, 170); border-bottom-style: dotted; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-left-color: rgb(170, 170, 170); border-left-style: dotted; border-left-width: 1px; border-right-color: rgb(170, 170, 170); border-right-style: dotted; border-right-width: 1px; border-top-color: rgb(170, 170, 170); border-top-style: dotted; border-top-width: 1px; padding-bottom: 7px; padding-left: 7px; padding-right: 7px; padding-top: 7px; vertical-align: top;"><div dir="ltr" style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Positive Test</span></div></td><td style="border-bottom-color: rgb(170, 170, 170); border-bottom-style: dotted; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-left-color: rgb(170, 170, 170); border-left-style: dotted; border-left-width: 1px; border-right-color: rgb(170, 170, 170); border-right-style: dotted; border-right-width: 1px; border-top-color: rgb(170, 170, 170); border-top-style: dotted; border-top-width: 1px; padding-bottom: 7px; padding-left: 7px; padding-right: 7px; padding-top: 7px; vertical-align: top;"><div dir="ltr" style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">( , 1300)</span></div></td><td style="border-bottom-color: rgb(170, 170, 170); border-bottom-style: dotted; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-left-color: rgb(170, 170, 170); border-left-style: dotted; border-left-width: 1px; border-right-color: rgb(170, 170, 170); border-right-style: dotted; border-right-width: 1px; border-top-color: rgb(170, 170, 170); border-top-style: dotted; border-top-width: 1px; padding-bottom: 7px; padding-left: 7px; padding-right: 7px; padding-top: 7px; vertical-align: top;"><div dir="ltr" style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">(, 8000)</span></div></td></tr>
<tr style="height: 0px;"><td style="border-bottom-color: rgb(170, 170, 170); border-bottom-style: dotted; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-left-color: rgb(170, 170, 170); border-left-style: dotted; border-left-width: 1px; border-right-color: rgb(170, 170, 170); border-right-style: dotted; border-right-width: 1px; border-top-color: rgb(170, 170, 170); border-top-style: dotted; border-top-width: 1px; padding-bottom: 7px; padding-left: 7px; padding-right: 7px; padding-top: 7px; vertical-align: top;"><div dir="ltr" style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Negative Test</span></div></td><td style="border-bottom-color: rgb(170, 170, 170); border-bottom-style: dotted; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-left-color: rgb(170, 170, 170); border-left-style: dotted; border-left-width: 1px; border-right-color: rgb(170, 170, 170); border-right-style: dotted; border-right-width: 1px; border-top-color: rgb(170, 170, 170); border-top-style: dotted; border-top-width: 1px; padding-bottom: 7px; padding-left: 7px; padding-right: 7px; padding-top: 7px; vertical-align: top;"><div dir="ltr" style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">(, 200)</span></div></td><td style="border-bottom-color: rgb(170, 170, 170); border-bottom-style: dotted; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-left-color: rgb(170, 170, 170); border-left-style: dotted; border-left-width: 1px; border-right-color: rgb(170, 170, 170); border-right-style: dotted; border-right-width: 1px; border-top-color: rgb(170, 170, 170); border-top-style: dotted; border-top-width: 1px; padding-bottom: 7px; padding-left: 7px; padding-right: 7px; padding-top: 7px; vertical-align: top;"><div dir="ltr" style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> ( , 500)</span></div></td></tr>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<div dir="ltr" style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">For breast cancer, we have to do some calculations. For ease’s sake, let’s pick 10,000 as our total number of people (though it doesn’t matter). So of 10,000 women, 1%, or 100, have breast cancer, so our left column must add up to 100. 80% of these women will get a positive test, so 80 of them will and 20 won’t. Now we’re considering 9900 women who don’t have breast cancer, 9.6% of whom (or about 950) will get a positive test anyway leaving 8950 for the final quadrant.</span></div><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
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<tr style="height: 0px;"><td style="border-bottom-color: rgb(170, 170, 170); border-bottom-style: dotted; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-left-color: rgb(170, 170, 170); border-left-style: dotted; border-left-width: 1px; border-right-color: rgb(170, 170, 170); border-right-style: dotted; border-right-width: 1px; border-top-color: rgb(170, 170, 170); border-top-style: dotted; border-top-width: 1px; padding-bottom: 7px; padding-left: 7px; padding-right: 7px; padding-top: 7px; vertical-align: top;"><div dir="ltr" style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></div></td><td style="border-bottom-color: rgb(170, 170, 170); border-bottom-style: dotted; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-left-color: rgb(170, 170, 170); border-left-style: dotted; border-left-width: 1px; border-right-color: rgb(170, 170, 170); border-right-style: dotted; border-right-width: 1px; border-top-color: rgb(170, 170, 170); border-top-style: dotted; border-top-width: 1px; padding-bottom: 7px; padding-left: 7px; padding-right: 7px; padding-top: 7px; vertical-align: top;"><div dir="ltr" style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Has Cancer</span></div></td><td style="border-bottom-color: rgb(170, 170, 170); border-bottom-style: dotted; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-left-color: rgb(170, 170, 170); border-left-style: dotted; border-left-width: 1px; border-right-color: rgb(170, 170, 170); border-right-style: dotted; border-right-width: 1px; border-top-color: rgb(170, 170, 170); border-top-style: dotted; border-top-width: 1px; padding-bottom: 7px; padding-left: 7px; padding-right: 7px; padding-top: 7px; vertical-align: top;"><div dir="ltr" style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Doesn’t Have Cancer</span></div></td></tr>
<tr style="height: 0px;"><td style="border-bottom-color: rgb(170, 170, 170); border-bottom-style: dotted; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-left-color: rgb(170, 170, 170); border-left-style: dotted; border-left-width: 1px; border-right-color: rgb(170, 170, 170); border-right-style: dotted; border-right-width: 1px; border-top-color: rgb(170, 170, 170); border-top-style: dotted; border-top-width: 1px; padding-bottom: 7px; padding-left: 7px; padding-right: 7px; padding-top: 7px; vertical-align: top;"><div dir="ltr" style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Positive Test</span></div></td><td style="border-bottom-color: rgb(170, 170, 170); border-bottom-style: dotted; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-left-color: rgb(170, 170, 170); border-left-style: dotted; border-left-width: 1px; border-right-color: rgb(170, 170, 170); border-right-style: dotted; border-right-width: 1px; border-top-color: rgb(170, 170, 170); border-top-style: dotted; border-top-width: 1px; padding-bottom: 7px; padding-left: 7px; padding-right: 7px; padding-top: 7px; vertical-align: top;"><div dir="ltr" style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">(80, 1300)</span></div></td><td style="border-bottom-color: rgb(170, 170, 170); border-bottom-style: dotted; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-left-color: rgb(170, 170, 170); border-left-style: dotted; border-left-width: 1px; border-right-color: rgb(170, 170, 170); border-right-style: dotted; border-right-width: 1px; border-top-color: rgb(170, 170, 170); border-top-style: dotted; border-top-width: 1px; padding-bottom: 7px; padding-left: 7px; padding-right: 7px; padding-top: 7px; vertical-align: top;"><div dir="ltr" style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">(950, 8000)</span></div></td></tr>
<tr style="height: 0px;"><td style="border-bottom-color: rgb(170, 170, 170); border-bottom-style: dotted; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-left-color: rgb(170, 170, 170); border-left-style: dotted; border-left-width: 1px; border-right-color: rgb(170, 170, 170); border-right-style: dotted; border-right-width: 1px; border-top-color: rgb(170, 170, 170); border-top-style: dotted; border-top-width: 1px; padding-bottom: 7px; padding-left: 7px; padding-right: 7px; padding-top: 7px; vertical-align: top;"><div dir="ltr" style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Negative Test</span></div></td><td style="border-bottom-color: rgb(170, 170, 170); border-bottom-style: dotted; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-left-color: rgb(170, 170, 170); border-left-style: dotted; border-left-width: 1px; border-right-color: rgb(170, 170, 170); border-right-style: dotted; border-right-width: 1px; border-top-color: rgb(170, 170, 170); border-top-style: dotted; border-top-width: 1px; padding-bottom: 7px; padding-left: 7px; padding-right: 7px; padding-top: 7px; vertical-align: top;"><div dir="ltr" style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">(20, 200)</span></div></td><td style="border-bottom-color: rgb(170, 170, 170); border-bottom-style: dotted; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-left-color: rgb(170, 170, 170); border-left-style: dotted; border-left-width: 1px; border-right-color: rgb(170, 170, 170); border-right-style: dotted; border-right-width: 1px; border-top-color: rgb(170, 170, 170); border-top-style: dotted; border-top-width: 1px; padding-bottom: 7px; padding-left: 7px; padding-right: 7px; padding-top: 7px; vertical-align: top;"><div dir="ltr" style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> (8950, 500)</span></div></td></tr>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">So if you get a positive test, you know you’re in the top row. If you’re a women who got a positive mammography, you have an 80/(80+950) = 7.76% chance of having cancer, and if you’re a man who got a positive test for prostate cancer, you have a 1300/(1300+8000) = 12.9% chance of having cancer.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">From SA, who only got the breast cancer problem: 8/9 = 88%, 9.8%, 70.4%, 9.5%, 90.4%, 10%, 90.4%</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Not to engage in scare rationalism here, but this is a problem. This means that women who go and get positive mammographies might be overestimating their probability of having cancer, and therefore undergoing possibly unnecessary biopsies, tests, chemotherapy, radiation, hospital visits, with the fear, stress and bills that come along with them, by an order of magnitude. Not good, people, not good.</span><br />
<h1 dir="ltr"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">And look what just came out: </span><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/30/health/cancer-screening-may-be-more-popular-than-useful.html?src=me&ref=general"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000099; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">NYTimes: Considering When It Might Be Best Not to Know About Cancer</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></h1><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">7. There are four cards on a table. Every card has one side which is white or black and one side with a number on it. The Rule: Every card with a white side must have an even number on the other side. How many cards (and which ones) must you flip in order to check if all four cards follow this rule? </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">8. You are an employee at an all age party venue, and people are allowed to come in with drinks. You see a group of four guys coming in, all carrying red Solo cups. One has an ID which says he’s 19, one is drinking orange juice, one is drinking beer, one has an ID which says he’s 24. Assuming you are accurate in your assessment of the drinks and all the ID’s are real, whose IDs/drinks do you check in addition to the information you already have to make sure no one is drinking illegally? </span></div><div style="background-color: transparent;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b><br />
</b></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQAxo0Iy7sXbnkqsnTmtbyWyHrXn1IXIkGqzr1tdYllTcEeB2kuq4Df5UzzkaCmqqngSOMCQYNNn6wG-QK71Q0VeR8GUznJRorMOjRIMCQoc2OcVGA8ggEdLeKnKh2IqubQPaFdN93Jho/s1600/wason.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="66" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQAxo0Iy7sXbnkqsnTmtbyWyHrXn1IXIkGqzr1tdYllTcEeB2kuq4Df5UzzkaCmqqngSOMCQYNNn6wG-QK71Q0VeR8GUznJRorMOjRIMCQoc2OcVGA8ggEdLeKnKh2IqubQPaFdN93Jho/s320/wason.png" width="320" /></a></div><div style="background-color: transparent;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Congratulations to whomever realized that these are the same problem. In both cases you have four instantiations of an element of the problem with two pieces of information associated with it, only one of which you currently know. (4 cards, each has a number and a color; 4 people, each has a drink and an age). You are given a rule: If x, then y. If white card, then even number on opposing side. If drinking alcohol, must be 21. Now, if-then statements with x and y can be written four ways. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">1. If x, then y is the original statement.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">2. If y, then x is the converse.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">3. If not x, then not y is the inverse.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">4. If not y, then not x, is the contrapositive.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">What you’ll notice if you’ve taken logic is that 1 and 4 are equivalent, and 2 and 3 are equivalent. So we have a rule, so we have to check it and its equivalent form. In these cases, if white then even must be checked (so check the white card) and if alcohol then at least 21 must be checked (so check the guy with beer), and also the contrapositive: if odd (not even), then black (not white), so you check the ‘9’ card, and if 19 (not at least = less than 21), not alcohol, so you check the 19 year old. The other ones don’t matter! So what if the even number has a black face on the other side? That’s like saying that if you’re 21 and above you must drink alcohol!</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">If you totally didn’t follow this, check out </span><a href="http://www.jimloy.com/logic/converse.htm"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000099; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">this link</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The cool thing about this question, called the </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wason_selection_task"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000099; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Wason Selection Task</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, is that people are universally pretty bad at the card example and pretty good at the people example. The explanation given is that people are better at thinking about people and cheating (people possibly breaking rules) than abstract logical concepts. Maybe you agree?</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">SA Answers: Check the ‘2’ card, check the beer & juice; Check the ‘2’ and white cards, check the 19 year old’s drink and beer drinker’s ID; Check all the cards, check all the people except the 24 year old; Check the black card, and the one drinking orange juice and the one drinking beer; Check the ‘2’ card, check all of the people; Check the ‘2’ card, check the one drinking orange juice and the one drinking beer; Check all the cards, check the one drinking orange juice and the one drinking beer; Check the ‘2’ card, the ‘9’ card and the white card; check everyone’s drink.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Caveat: I phrased the question differently to them, and many thought that part of your job was to get the under 18’s out as well as check drinking legality, so you can’t draw that much from this sample. I would like to like to point out, though, that with the original Wason selection test part, no one got it right. Interesting...</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">9. A fair coin is tossed repeatedly until a tail appears, ending the game. The pot starts at 1 dollar and is doubled every time a head appears. You win whatever is in the pot after the game ends. Thus you win 1 dollar if a tail appears on the first toss, 2 dollars if a head appears on the first toss and a tail on the second, 4 dollars if a head appears on the first two tosses and a tail on the third, 8 dollars if a head appears on the first three tosses and a tail on the fourth, etc. This game can be played as many times as you wish (with a fixed fee paid every time). How much would you pay to enter this game? </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I won’t lie, this one’s pretty math-y. Basically, when you’re deciding whether to take a bet, you should calculate something called expected value, that is, what do you expect to win? If you have a 50% chance of winning $2 and a 50% chance of winning nothing, then your expected value is .5*2 +.5*0 = 1, so you should be willing to pay a dollar or less (probably less, since people are </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loss_aversion"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000099; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">loss averse</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">). </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Same thing applies. You have a 50% chance of winning $1 (if it’s tails the first time), then 25% of winning $2 (if it’s tails then heads), 12.5% of 4$, etc. The thing is that when you add up .5*1 + .25*2 + .125*4 + … you get .5 +.5 +.5 + .5 into infinity, and that adds up to infinity, which means the expected value from this bet is...infinity. Obviously there aren’t infinity dollars, and loss aversion plays a role here, but seriously, you should be willing to pay a lot of money to play this game. Crazy, huh?</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">SA Answers: $1, $1, $0.50, $3, 5 euro, $0, $2, $10, $2.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">10. A magazine you're interested in has three/two subscription options: Which do you choose? </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Last one, promise. This one’s pretty simple. It’s all here, really: http://tomyumthinktank.blogspot.com/2008/03/economics-of-irrationality-relativism.html. the basic idea is, we see that print/online sells for the same price as just print, so we think it’s a better deal, so we’re way more likely to pick it than if that second option isn’t there to favorably compare the third one to. Think about it next time you go to a restaurant! Cool, huh?</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">In SA, of the group that got three questions, 1/5 chose the cheaper one and of the group that got two questions, 1/4 chose the cheaper one. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">(Thanks to </span><a href="http://inspirationalfreethought.wordpress.com/"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000099; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Mike Mei </span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">for pointing me to this question)</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Thanks for sticking with me through all that. This was my first venture into quiz making. I welcome comments and criticisms in the comments. Please also tell me if you’d heard of the fallacies/biases before taking the test! If you’re interested in this stuff and want to try to become more rational, I recommend </span><a href="http://lesswrong.com/"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000099; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Less Wrong</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> and this </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_cognitive_biases"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000099; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Wikipedia Page</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. There’s a whole amazing world out there!</span></div>Strangelethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00750375109270713658noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9116574572286428265.post-14426139529900243362011-10-26T00:16:00.001-05:002011-10-26T00:25:09.106-05:00Think You're Rational?You're not.<br />
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That might be putting it a bit strongly. Too bad. Human beings are plagued with irrationality, and if you don’t believe me, well, it’s probably good to not to take my word for a whole lot. Let’s instead exchange likelihood ratios in the comments. That wasn’t a come-on, I promise.<br />
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If you really believe that humans aren’t irrational, or that in particular, you’re immune, you won’t mind making that belief pay rent. <br />
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So if your birth date (the day of the month on which you were born) is odd, click on this link: <a href="http://fantasticastoria.blogspot.com/2011/10/rationality-quiz.html">Rationality Quiz A</a><br />
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If it’s even, click on this link: <a href="http://fantasticastoria.blogspot.com/2011/10/rationality-quiz-b.html">Rationality Quiz B</a><br />
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Please try to take the quiz in full faith, and only take one.<br />
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They shouldn’t take you more than 10 minutes at the very most. Then come back and share your answers, thoughts, analysis, criticisms and guesses as to what exactly those questions were trying to suss about about common causes of human irrationality. <br />
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Next post, which will be up in just a few days, will go over the quiz, what the answers are, and the research behind these types of human irrationality. I'll also be sharing some gems from when I gave this quiz to a highly specialized focus group a.k.a. <a href="http://secular.uchicago.edu/">The Secular Alliance at the University of Chicago</a>Strangelethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00750375109270713658noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9116574572286428265.post-38835807616424090462011-10-26T00:12:00.001-05:002011-10-26T00:12:12.820-05:00Rationality Quiz B<iframe src="https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/embeddedform?formkey=dFBScnNaZndOQzhfYnZsTTI0Uk0zc3c6MA" width="550" height="1637" frameborder="0" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0">Loading...</iframe>Strangelethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00750375109270713658noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9116574572286428265.post-81177579592616977012011-10-26T00:07:00.001-05:002011-10-26T00:10:38.643-05:00Rationality Quiz A<iframe src="https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/embeddedform?formkey=dHRHZWNqTUFwX0FxWTZESEVEdUl4ZXc6MQ" width="550" height="1659" frameborder="0" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0">Loading...</iframe>Strangelethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00750375109270713658noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9116574572286428265.post-86349645116471942242011-10-20T16:52:00.000-05:002011-10-20T16:52:28.750-05:00Identity Confusion Part 2: Wading out of the mud<div style="background-color: transparent; background-image: url(data:image/png; background-position: 100% 0%; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span id="internal-source-marker_0.039002519799396396" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I realize that my last post was pretty incoherent, and so I want to write a follow-up piece, one I hope will be shorter and actually have a thesis. In particular, I want to respond to some excellent criticisms that my mother has levied at me.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.soulresearchinstitute.org/CONSCIOUSNESS.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="http://www.soulresearchinstitute.org/CONSCIOUSNESS.jpg" width="200" /></a></div><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">She pointed out, to begin with, that I didn’t even bother to define ‘identity’ and that’s true. I thought I had good reason not to, given that I was trying to explore intuition rather than give an exhaustive account, but perhaps I was wrong. So to begin with, I’d like to define identity as a composite of three major elements: the psychological and </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Personal_identity_%28philosophy%29"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000099; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">philosophical phenomenon</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> that is a result of memory and consciousness, the sense of ‘I’ that traces out a path through time and space, that is consistent and coherent and develops in a continuous fashion (by the way, note the last sentence of the first paragraph of the Wiki article); the </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_identity_theory"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000099; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">sociological position of existing at the intersection of various communities and societies</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> which help us define ourselves and choose our paths in life; and then the intuitive notion of identity as a deeply significant emergent property which is inherent in us from birth, which comes about as a result of the other two.</span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUvJRan72q3T7Hg_s-6n6IrtijFXjtNl26HLhRmkjK3sNFAx568S_tITG3sntIbz7VYLhTlPg0V15SCxQ69_D56R6RhjL_-jL9244DLpS8slLVXatxrEiJqy4sdDtgmKrBlxBv9_SIwRzr/s1600/self+awareness.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUvJRan72q3T7Hg_s-6n6IrtijFXjtNl26HLhRmkjK3sNFAx568S_tITG3sntIbz7VYLhTlPg0V15SCxQ69_D56R6RhjL_-jL9244DLpS8slLVXatxrEiJqy4sdDtgmKrBlxBv9_SIwRzr/s200/self+awareness.jpg" width="155" /></a></div><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The argument I’m proposing is that we gain a better understanding of where our intuitions about identity come from and acknowledge the utility and disutility that come about as a result. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">To the best of my knowledge, our psychological and philosophical conceptions of self and identity come </span><a href="http://www.rbjones.com/rbjpub/philos/classics/locke/ctb2c27.htm"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000099; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">mainly from consciousness</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, that state of being </span><a href="http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/self-knowledge/#3.1"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000099; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">self-aware</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> and having the capacity to recognize an autonomous self, and </span><a href="http://socrates.berkeley.edu/%7Ekihlstrm/SelfIdentityMemory.htm"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000099; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">memory,</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> the capacity to recognize this self as the same self that has existed at other times, in other forms and in other places. This psychological quirk of humans (and </span><a href="http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/consciousness-animal/"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000099; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">possibly other animals</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">) is, one might argue, the defining characteristic of our species. Even if it’s not unique to humans, it is what makes possible the vast majority of what we do. Without a conception of being individuals, of being autonomous beings, I can’t say that I know what humanity would look like. Without a doubt, then, this inborn identificatory mechanism does a great deal of good. Of course, this has a lot of problems. Where, for example, does consciousness come from? Well, the brain, but to be honest, we don’t really understand it (though </span><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Consciousness-Explained-Daniel-C-Dennett/dp/0316180661"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000099; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Dennett thinks he does</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">), and it seems difficult to say what is and is not important. When does someone in a </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terri_Schiavo_case"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000099; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">vegetative state cease to be a person</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">? If you are copied and </span><a href="http://stairs.umd.edu/308x/parfit.html"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000099; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">one copy is killed</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, is it murder? Of whom? More on this later.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://img.docstoccdn.com/thumb/orig/53230738.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://img.docstoccdn.com/thumb/orig/53230738.png" width="154" /></a></div><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Then there’s the sociological conception of identity, in which we are defined by the communities to which we belong, whether we are born into them or we choose them. This could be religion, ethnicity, subcultural interests, place of birth or something else. These are also important to humans, to being human. They give us communities of people similar to us in a variety of ways, they make us feel happy, they give us a sense of belonging. There is no doubt that a humanity without partitioning into subsections based on a number of characteristics would either be a singular community, one that some feel is the future of humans, or a vast network of unconnected autonomous agents, which would probably be undesired by most people. </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">So far, everything seems fine. Identity is shown to exist by natural and social sciences alike, it makes us human, and it does a great deal of good. Well, sure, but it’s what we do with that information that begins to disturb me. I mentioned a third aspect of identity above and it’s that one I think I was discussing last time. The intense significance identity holds in our lives bothers and frustrates me when it appears that we are giving it far more power than it ought to have. So let’s problematize the issue. </span><br />
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<b><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Who are you?</span></b><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Make a list, if you like, of all of the things you are. Maybe they’re nouns, maybe adjectives. Some of them will be capitalized. I’m sure you’ll object that there’s an immaterial general sensation of being yourself that is impossible to convey in a list, and that’s fine, write that down, too. </span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.manoneileen.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/brain-in-a-vat.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://www.manoneileen.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/brain-in-a-vat.jpg" width="193" /></a></div><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Now, let’s play Armchair Philosophical Thought Experiment. If you turned out to be a brain in a vat, would you still be you? If there were a </span><a href="http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/brain-vat/"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000099; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">brain in a vat </span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">that had all of your memories but was physically distinct from your brain, would that be you? How would you feel about being cloned? Would someone with all of the characteristics on the list be you?</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I hope what becomes clear is that what matters is the sense that you are you, not any ‘actual fact’ of </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">being</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> you, and that is really only in your brain. Which does not I repeat does not mean that you are not real, or that your identity isn’t real. As Dumbledore says, “Of course it is happening inside your head...but why on earth should that mean that it is not real?”. It just means that given the logical reasoning you’re able to accomplish, your identity is only based on you thinking you have one, having the ability to consider having one. And that means that your identity is a self-constructed object, pulled from selectively chosen and carefully framed memory, tempered and modified as contexts change. There’s certainly something real about your history, but what your mind chooses to recognize as itself is another thing entirely. Or else do you never feel like you do things that are ‘out of character.’ Are you you when you’re drunk, or high? When are you most quintessentially you, then?</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">More Thought Experiments. What kind of person are you? Are you kind, decent, nice to people? Above average in most ways? Intelligent, thoughtful, prone to changing your mind when you need to? Do you act in approximately similar ways at most times? Are you a special snowflake? Are you good at imagining what it is to be other people? Are you a tolerant, unprejudiced individual?</span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8xuG4cgMn9AH8taUaW6jyJkqDvErxytGezLL41PU_kcXITlJfU70BMWVQfkW4U8gckforbxT0EJ2dgvAPbGYoP1E37x-3SqdKZMlwolxjuutoZ0HBhLnPnLZmiaKsBFnyEqT9K24poRjS/s1600/ChangingMinds.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8xuG4cgMn9AH8taUaW6jyJkqDvErxytGezLL41PU_kcXITlJfU70BMWVQfkW4U8gckforbxT0EJ2dgvAPbGYoP1E37x-3SqdKZMlwolxjuutoZ0HBhLnPnLZmiaKsBFnyEqT9K24poRjS/s200/ChangingMinds.jpg" width="155" /></a></div><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Well, probably not, or at least not at all times. We think that we’re consistent, but we in fact behave in wildly different ways depending on our circumstances. We hate </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Confirmation_bias"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000099; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">changing our minds</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, rationalizing to infinity to avoid it, especially when it </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cognitive_dissonance"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000099; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">challenges any deeply or emotionally strongly held identity</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. We care about being kind to people in our </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/In-group%E2%80%93out-group_bias"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000099; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">in-groups</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> more than people in our out-groups. And none of this makes a bit of difference when you’re asked to describe yourself to others. Want more evidence? You’ve probably heard of the study in which people are given psychological profiles, which they </span><a href="http://www.skepdic.com/barnum.html"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000099; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">rank as highly accurate</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, not knowing that they all got the same one. We’re all pretty similar, even though we don’t like to admit it, and furthermore, in the ways in which we are different, we just imagine what we would do in any given situation and work based on that. All of these things we consider ourselves to be, all of these traits we pride ourselves on, they don’t appear to be all that true. And you’re </span><a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/scan-shows-how-brain-suppresses-latent-racism-735997.html"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000099; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">probably a racist</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">.</span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://rlv.zcache.com/smile_if_you_love_being_jewish_mousepad-p144059901301984761z8xsj_400.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://rlv.zcache.com/smile_if_you_love_being_jewish_mousepad-p144059901301984761z8xsj_400.jpg" width="200" /></a></div><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Finally, what do the groups you count yourself a part of say about you? Does </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Who_is_a_Jew%3F"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000099; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">being Jewish </span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">really say anything substantive about you? What does it even mean to be a </span><a href="http://www.the-philosophy.com/de-beauvoir-born-woman"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000099; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">woman</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, or a man, or </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gender_identity"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000099; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">neither</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">? There are countless words that we use to refer to concepts that seem to be simply indescribable; they simply are, and we associate powerful identities with these things we can’t explain. But given the vast diversity within the people who identify in a certain way (do Democrats all agree? What about neo-Platonists?), what are we really saying? Or are we muddling through, hoping people understand that intangibles we’re trying to get across?</span><br />
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<b><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Some answers:</span></b><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Clearly, we have much more to learn about psychological identity, but it does seem that our intuition does alright by us, that generally our bodies circumscribe our identities, that our brains are the locus of self and that we are the same people as we move through time. So that’s not so bad. We’ve never really had to deal with aliens, Star Trek or teleportation, and so perhaps it doesn’t matter. But it should really be acknowledged that we don’t have good answers to these questions, and so maybe we shouldn’t put so much stock into the answers we have.</span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://calltoreason.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/MethodsofRationality_Yudkowsky.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://calltoreason.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/MethodsofRationality_Yudkowsky.jpg" width="196" /></a></div><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">As for how we think of ourselves in terms of positive characteristics, there are very good reasons for favorable self-conceptions. It’s how we stop ourselves from being depressed, it’s how we have the </span><a href="http://psycnet.apa.org/?&fa=main.doiLanding&doi=10.1037/0022-3514.75.3.617"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000099; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">psychological immune system</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> that keeps us happy most of the time, no matter what happens. And yet, if we ignore the facts about the ways we think and the ways we treat and think about other people, we’ll never be able to improve ourselves. If we think we’re excellent, rational thinkers, how will we </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_cognitive_biases"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000099; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">overcome our biases</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">? If we think we’re consistent and need to be, how will we change our minds when we need to? If we think we are the same around different types of people, how will we learn to act appropriately in different situations, or learn not to judge others for doing the same? And if we think that none of us are racists or sexists anymore, then we won’t respond well to being called out on it, and feminism will stay middle-class and </span><a href="http://eminism.org/blog/entry/41"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000099; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">white</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> and no one will think </span><a href="http://measureofdoubt.com/2011/10/20/what-is-objectification-and-whats-wrong-with-it/"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000099; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">objectification is a problem</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Also, while communities and identity labels are important and feel good and give us a sense of belonging, we can’t be giving up anything just to belong to an incoherent cluster concept. Most identities really are empirical dense spots in concept-space, but there’s plenty of variance in there, and while identifying yourself publicly can make an excellent political statement, there’s no reason to subscribe to the whole list just because you already fulfill a lot of it. If you’re a woman you don’t </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">need</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> to dress a certain way, look a certain way, have sex with men. If you’re a Jew you don’t </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">need </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">to believe in Biblical inerrancy just because you believe in god, or be halachically observant just because your mother was Jewish. These get pretty complicated, of course, but the point is that there’s no need to appropriate a whole set of characteristics for yourself just because they happen to be highly correlated over a population.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>In the final analysis</b>, identity is an emergent property, and the thing about emergent properties is that they vanish when you dig in a little. They are real, they are important, but they are not unquestionably fundamental aspects of our lives, unless we make them so. For all of the benefits they give us, there are drawbacks, and we should question these identities whenever they unduly affect us. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.soulresearchinstitute.org/CONSCIOUSNESS.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><br />
</a></div>Strangelethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00750375109270713658noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9116574572286428265.post-25986261509690237292011-10-17T01:12:00.000-05:002011-10-17T01:12:05.901-05:00Identity Confusion<div style="background-color: transparent; background-image: url(data:image/png; background-position: 100% 0%; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat;"><span id="internal-source-marker_0.6661009371746331" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">This is kind of about subcultures, kind of about narratives, kind of about self-deception, and mostly about me just trying to sort through a few things. I'm still not satisfied with this. It might be the kind of thing that arises from a wrongly asked question, and so all I need to do is yell about it for a while and it will cease to trouble me, but for now, this is what I have.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I’ve written about stories <a href="http://fantasticastoria.blogspot.com/2010/07/importance-of-stories-part-i.html">a few times</a>, <a href="http://fantasticastoria.blogspot.com/2010/07/importance-of-stories-part-ii-groups.html">now.</a> I think of them differently than I used to, giving them less inherent value but maintaining my belief that they are a deeply important element of a certain kind of affective human existence. Both from the perspective of wanting to understand humans better and to participate in that type of existence, I find that their critical role as a nexus of much of what humans do and are pops up again and again in my thinking.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I also wrote about <a href="http://fantasticastoria.blogspot.com/2010/08/subcultures-and-what-it-means-to-be.html">subcultures once</a> or twice, and in looking back, I find it frankly astounding that I didn’t connect the two. Because I can’t think of anything more predicated on the telling, imbibing and engendering of stories than subcultures. I’m not even sure that’s the word I want anymore. What I really mean, I suppose, and this word choice makes the connections much clearer, is identities. Identity is this strange beast of notion that grips us, consciously and subconsciously, that feeds itself on our every thought and action, and in doing so becomes powerful enough to effect those of our future. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">So what is identity? Not sociologically, historically, politically, academically, religiously. The thought-catalysts for this piece have come from all of those sources, and those are important, too of course, but because I’ve never heard a rationalist account, I have to assume that much of the less rigorous writing about this topic has come out of unacknowledged intuition manifesting itself in all sorts of ways.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Let’s see, then, if I can’t create a mental image of what an identity is. Small town white man. What does that make you think of? It doesn’t matter, really, except that I bet it wasn’t just a small town white man. You knew maybe what a set of possible names could be, hair color, political and religious affiliation. And that’s all fine, given that there are good statistical, rational reasons to expect all of those things to map onto each other. But the power of that image is such that it may override other rational considerations. Because this image of small-town America may be, if such is your image, a god-fearing Christian, a loving husband, maybe several kids, probably right-of-center politics. You could construct a whole story, narrative, existence out of so little information. Maybe Bobby Hunter was the varsity football player in college but his dad died so he never got to fulfill his dreams. How does he feel about his wife? Does he vote Republican? You know him as well as I do, and I bet you’d feel pretty comfortable answering those questions. You not only know him, you have feelings, positive or negative about him. You can think of songs written about him. That’s crazy. Almost as crazy as if I offered you an alternate narrative, forcing you into a gestalt shift. So maybe instead of small town white man, say, from Kansas who has a blond wife and hates immigrants, it’s small town white union man. Now, Bobby might still have xenophobic tendencies, but I’d be willing to bet your feelings about him just changed. Now he’s running with a whole different crowd, and he represents an entirely different facet of America. More than that, a different narrative, a different tone, and a different trajectory. Now you’re thinking Pete Seeger and Phil Ochs. And all sorts of other identities come popping up. The first Bobby Hunter was considered perhaps on his own, or maybe in contradistinction to the urbanite Jew, an indigenous peasant farmer, a young black family. The second, existing with the help of the contrasting image of evil capitalists with aquiline features and a healthy sense of greed. And that’s not even the half of it.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I’m not talking about stereotypes and the harm they do. That’s too simple. Stereotypes aren’t just problematic because they’re untrue, but also because they’re incomplete, and moreover, have devastating power over our brains, as illustrated above. We are each composed of uncountable threads of existing archetypes. A better way to put it, perhaps, is that we all are simply ourselves (as distressingly cliche as that sounds), and archetypes, stereotypes, identities are built out of statistically relevant and/or psychologically salient facets given a life of their own and rent-free lives in our heads. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">And these identities, these little nuggets of intuition generation with all their emotional power, they give us a deeply misguided sense of being whole, coherent selves. It’s actually probably more accurate to say that we create our sense of archetypal identity because our psychologies tell us we are in fact, these consistent beings, but the causality is irrelevant. The point is that we enjoy these psychological ticks so much, we derive such meaning from them, but they feel to me so arbitrary and based on such an incorrect conception of human identity.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">People on twitter, tumblr and other blogging platforms have the chance to write a very short autobiography, and what many, myself included, write, is a series of identifying labels, descriptors meant not only to evoke an activity, lifestyle or set of beliefs, but an overarching sense of the ‘kind’ of person your friendly neighborhood blogger is, to be all of these things in one. People talk that way, too, and it’s at once easy to understand and empathize and on the other hugely irritating, and I would be lying if I didn’t admit that those dual reactions map all too well onto how much I already like someone. But the point remains that we seem to act as if we were composed only of identities, rather than the other way around, and so to feel or feign surprise at their clashes within us is unimaginative and uninsightful at best, and actively harmful at worst, priming us to again and again think of ourselves as entirely consistent wholes.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">This is where cognitive dissonance comes from, and also fashion and styles. We have senses of who we are, of these one things that we are, and we do not want to give them up. So we talk about them, and act like them, dress like them and see them in each other. When we say we want to be like some badass movie character, let’s take Trinity as an example, is that true? Is it true in any sense? Do we want her characteristics, her moves, her life? Or do we want to feel about ourselves the way we are made to feel by the entire contextual reality evoked in our brains by the limited and carefully calculated information given to us by a movie? We go shopping and buy the things we buy because they feel right, because they fit into our senses of who we’re supposed to be, according to ourselves. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I’m not saying it doesn’t matter. But these considerations have begun to make the feelings of identity ring false in my ears. especially when such grave importance is placed on tradition, on birth, in religion, in identity politics, at rock shows, I question these consistent wholes. It’s one thing to respond to power with resistance. It’s another to not change your mind in the face of evidence because what would that mean to the kind of person you imagine yourself to be. It’s one thing to spend time with those most like you and come up with a language, hand signals, an understanding of each others’ behavior. It’s another to use the immensely meaningful sensation of the weight of millenia to justify certain actions. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Far be it from me to judge or deny the power of meaning, the deep wells of happiness and intensity that can arise from an objective consideration that one’s life fits a desirable or undesirable mold, however much I may question the provenance of the mold. I think the notion that it is irrational to derive joy from things that are arbitrary is a misunderstanding both of rationality and human happiness. But I do want to problematize the questions: “Who am I?” and “What sort of person am I?” and think about what we might replace them with.</span></div><div style="background-color: transparent; background-image: url(data:image/png; background-position: 100% 0%; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br />
</span></div><div style="background-color: transparent; background-image: url(data:image/png; background-position: 100% 0%; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br />
</span></div><div style="background-color: transparent; background-image: url(data:image/png; background-position: 100% 0%; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br />
</span></div><div style="background-color: transparent; background-image: url(data:image/png; background-position: 100% 0%; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">Sources of thought: Blu Greenberg's On Women and Judaism, Michel Foucault, Wendy Brown, friends, people, the world.</span></span></div><div style="background-color: transparent; background-image: url(data:image/png; background-position: 100% 0%; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><br />
</span></span></div><div style="background-color: transparent; background-image: url(data:image/png; background-position: 100% 0%; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">I have so much more to say. What do we tell ourselves everyday? How and when do we rationalize? How much do most people define themselves out loud? How does that affect things? Does it make it better or worse? Can we have an identity, a history, without narrative? Does ideology always accompany narrative? When are these things beneficial and when not? How does this work at the group level, with collective memory? I am so confused.</span></span></div>Strangelethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00750375109270713658noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9116574572286428265.post-39930938745595507082011-09-19T19:54:00.008-05:002011-09-19T23:21:45.891-05:00SSA Conference 2011 Point of Interest 2: Part and Whole<div style="background-color: transparent; background-image: url(data:image/png; background-position: 100% 0%; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="clear: left; float: left; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://www.religioustolerance.org/atheistsa.jpg" /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This has been cross-posted at the <a href="http://ucsecular.blogspot.com/2011/09/part-and-whole-how-communities-large.html">University of Chicago Secular Alliance Blog.</a></span><br />
<div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">-------------------------------------------------- </span><br />
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</span></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This is really only vaguely about the conference, but bear with me.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Why does the <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wYwNdBoXTEI&feature=related">Secular Movement</a> (or Skeptical, or Atheist, or whatever) exist? Well, that’s an interesting and complicated question, and people <a href="http://www.newatheistmovement.com/aboutus.htm">answer it</a> in <a href="http://www.atheistrev.com/2008/02/defending-atheist-movemement.html">a lot</a> of <a href="http://www.atheistrev.com/2007/06/blog-against-theocracy.html">different</a> <a href="http://gretachristina.typepad.com/greta_christinas_weblog/2011/08/we-are-atheism-gretas-video.html">ways</a>. The different visions that people have for their own communities or the movement are fascinating, and I imagine that they come out of differences not only in personal expectations, but also experiences of social communities and religious communities and how those are compared. All this is to say that I’m often curious about Secular Student Alliance affiliates across the United States and how they see themselves and the services they provide. I expect that some focus a great deal on their own communities, on their schools and on the community that they can provide for their members, which makes perfect sense in a variety of contexts, including, for example, a highly religious institution where there are few resources other than those who are already in the group. For my group, however, I take a different tack, which is to see our group as part of and inextricably linked to the broader movement. The reasons for this are several.</span></div><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://images.publicradio.org/content/2007/08/03/20070803_working_together_2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="150" src="http://images.publicradio.org/content/2007/08/03/20070803_working_together_2.jpg" width="200" /></span></a></div><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Firstly, I just think there are a lot of really good reasons to work with other groups and form regional alliances. I actually gave a talk at SSA on this very subject (link to <a href="https://docs.google.com/document/d/1stZZRn_O5j7s4c6uKMEDW_mYb3gOyChYqdMVTy-0zMk/edit?hl=en_US">notes here</a> and <a href="https://docs.google.com/present/edit?id=0AevGhUONnOs7ZGhtMnF3eHpfMWZjOTcycmZx&hl=en_US">slides here</a>). For the tl;dr among you, the ideas is all of the resources and ideas you and your group have have analogous counterparts in other groups, and putting those together can help out with all manner of problems, from lack of funds to lack of ideas to hostility from religious groups and people around you. </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<a href="http://ikesharpless.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/humanism.7375711_std.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://ikesharpless.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/humanism.7375711_std.png" width="200" /></span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Secondly, the University of Chicago is a secular university. I don’t just mean that it is not officially affiliated with a religious organization. I mean that ~60% of freshmen who fill out a certain form that asks about a great deal of demographic information every year pick nonreligious, or none, or spiritual on the religion question (unfortunately, I can't find a citation). That’s crazy. It makes our organization a totally different beast than one at, say, the<a href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/2234029305/?ref=ts"> University of Alabama</a>. Much of our discussions (at least in exec-land) focus on the question of ‘Atheism: So what?’ or, less bleakly, ‘Atheism: Now what?’ because, except perhaps for the new students at the beginning of the year (oh my god the first years all arrived yesterday. SO MANY OF THEM), most people are pretty set on atheism. There are a few agnostics, and there are some philosophical differences in approaches to naturalism and atheism and metaphysics in general, but there are rather extreme limits on the amount that people want to talk about those things, so we have to think and talk about other things. My approach has involved various aspects of thought, action and life that, while not necessarily explicitly atheistic, appeal to atheists in particular, by dint of the way the movement is going (<a href="http://www.secularhumanism.org/">humanism</a> and <a href="http://foundationbeyondbelief.org/vbb">volunteering</a>) or because once you don’t believe in god, other things become more palatable (<a href="http://humanityplus.org/">transhumanism</a>). </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://canadianatheist.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/SSA-Conference-Group-Picture.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="209" src="http://canadianatheist.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/SSA-Conference-Group-Picture.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Those are going to be integrated throughout this year, and I want to talk about them a lot more in a different post, but more than all of that, a great answer to ‘Atheism: now what?’ is now people! Now a movement! Now a blogosphere and conferences and people who are thinking further and arguing with each other and creating a community that <a href="http://drunkenachura.wordpress.com/2011/07/05/elevatorgate/">argues about gender issues</a> and <a href="http://www.patheos.com/blogs/friendlyatheist/2011/06/15/whats-happening-with-the-damon-fowler-money/">funds Damon Fowler’s college education</a>. And that’s why when I ran for president of this organization, my ‘platform’, as it were, was about connecting us to the larger movement, because there is so much out there, especially when you’ve satisfactorily answered the basic questions for yourself. If you haven’t, that’s fine too, and the community has plenty to offer you if that’s the case, but if there is a fear of running out of things to do or think about or talk about, the community *really* has a lot to offer. </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">So I really wrote this post in order to gush about the amazing things that are going to happen this year, and how this wonderful community has allowed them to happen. Essentially, I’ve decided that one of the focuses should be on bring in interesting speakers, because they provide us with new perspectives and tend to be really friendly and nice people. I’ve also decided, with help, that many of those speakers shouldn’t necessarily be The Big Bloggers of Atheism, because there are so many unsung heroes who have all kinds of interesting things to say and also while the abstraction we call a community is all manner of excellent, the actual community around this physical location is pretty spectacular too, and so I want to make use of that.</span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://nonprophetstatus.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/218178_10150226879404602_545759601_8607206_5781437_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://nonprophetstatus.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/218178_10150226879404602_545759601_8607206_5781437_n.jpg" width="139" /></span></a></div><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">To that end, we are bringing in, at minimum: <a href="http://majesty-of-being.blogspot.com/">Serah</a> <a href="http://nonprophetstatus.com/tag/serah-blain/">Blain</a>, <a href="http://hugmeimvaccinated.org/">Jamie Bernstein</a>, <a href="http://www.patheos.com/blogs/friendlyatheist/">Hemant Mehta</a>, <a href="http://www.centerforinquiry.net/speakers/goddard_debbie/">Debbie Goddard</a> (hopefully) and <a href="http://freethoughtblogs.com/greta/">Greta Christina</a>. Ok so it doesn’t look like that many written out like that (although there are many more we have in the works), but it is infinitely exciting to me, especially because of the ways in which these happened. Serah Blain works for the <a href="http://secular.org/secular-arizona-success">Arizona Secular Coalition for America</a>, and she’s also a good friend of mine, and she’s coming in three weeks (only three weeks!!) to talk to us about activism and lobbying (a great post-answering-the-question-of-no-god activity). And how did I get such a great speaker? Well, I met her at the AHA Conference last April (<a href="http://fantasticastoria.blogspot.com/2011/04/aha-2011.html">recap here</a>) and we got along quite well, and then we saw each other at <a href="http://fantasticastoria.blogspot.com/2011/08/ssa-conference-2011-point-of-interest-1.html">SSA Conference</a> this summer and, while I can’t speak for her, I kind of fell for her (in a mostly platonic way :) ) and we hit it off and now she’s coming! Similarly, Greta Christina, blogger extraordinare and major atheist celebrity, is actually, shocker of all shockers, a person, one who is so much fun to hang out with, and one who wants to come to Chicago and talk to us. And so she is. This is not an Everyone-Should-Go-To-Conferences post, because there are class and education issues with that, but it is evidence of how much the community is already doing for me. Jamie works in the area and in fact just graduated from the University of Chicago, Debbie Goddard and I have been talking about her coming out since the beginning of last year, and Hemant, while a big name, is also a local.</span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.plant-biology.com/University-Chicago-logo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://www.plant-biology.com/University-Chicago-logo.jpg" width="168" /></span></a></div><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">So..MASSIVE EXCITEMENT. Thank you, atheist movement. I think this year will be wonderful for me, and I hope for the rest of the Secular Alliance at UofC, and especially for the new members. First years, I’m looking at you.</span></div>Strangelethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00750375109270713658noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9116574572286428265.post-34675506181964621012011-08-20T12:23:00.000-05:002011-08-20T12:23:13.220-05:00SSA Conference 2011 Point of Interest 1: Male Feminists<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmJIklHoH-ClVSfoFv5XWynkZuhOAmMWWd-juNHoM1wcnldxa9j6ccv2LCIQVvsyuJWcgyV8DLGCadCVWahhR4KY8HEzJSqa4tsBNsZCp0pudSizNOBbs4Ibpceb43GqjwTeiBAgaS3zo/s1600/secular+student.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmJIklHoH-ClVSfoFv5XWynkZuhOAmMWWd-juNHoM1wcnldxa9j6ccv2LCIQVvsyuJWcgyV8DLGCadCVWahhR4KY8HEzJSqa4tsBNsZCp0pudSizNOBbs4Ibpceb43GqjwTeiBAgaS3zo/s1600/secular+student.jpg" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal">Three weekends ago, (I’ve been in the midst of writing this for a while) I went to the National Secular Student Alliance for the first time, and boy was it a blast. Doing recaps of multi-day events tends to either be tedious or incoherent, and while that was enjoyable (for me, and I hope for you) the first time, I won’t be doing it again. There are a million other recaps out there if you just want to know what happened and how great it was, but I’d actually like to discuss some things that surprised me and made me think.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><a href="http://tgem.files.wordpress.com/2010/07/male-feminist.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="296" id="il_fi" src="http://tgem.files.wordpress.com/2010/07/male-feminist.jpg" style="padding-bottom: 8px; padding-right: 8px; padding-top: 8px;" width="217" /></a>First thing: Male feminists. Everywhere. I’m sure I’m getting insanely obnoxious gushing about how awesome this was, because I’ve literally never experienced anything like it. There’s the feeling of finally being around people like yourself, which is comforting and exhilarating all at once, and that comes from going to the University of Chicago, or Comic-con or atheist/secular conferences, and that’s wonderful, especially for people who have always felt left out, different or misunderstood. But there’s an entirely different level of satisfaction that comes from watching certain battles go on without the need for your input. These battles which are important to you, which you’ve thought a lot about, studied in depth and know like the back of your hand, which you think are worth engaging in even for the millionth time, but then not having to engage in them because other people have your back. These other people who traditionally oppose and dismiss you (that is, men) are standing in support of you and your deeply held principles, fighting the good fight on your behalf and also because they believe it’s right. It’s awesome. And oh so gratifying, because you have all of the confidence that the arguments are being made, that the positions are being defended, without the emotional investment or arguing yourself, or the energy investment that it takes to debate and discuss, especially when it’s something you’ve done a million times before.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://campuscanoodling.files.wordpress.com/2011/07/pacmen.jpg?w=400&h=300" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="150" id="il_fi" src="http://campuscanoodling.files.wordpress.com/2011/07/pacmen.jpg?w=400&h=300" style="padding-bottom: 8px; padding-right: 8px; padding-top: 8px;" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Not the guy at the conference</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div class="MsoNormal">And I was totally not expecting it. By now, everyone knows that <a href="http://www.thefword.org.uk/blog/2010/03/sexism_in_the_a">atheism has a gender problem</a>, though it’s disagreed in what ways and to what extent. I knew that everyone was still reacting to <a href="http://fantasticastoria.blogspot.com/2011/07/sexism-and-rational-discourse-or-what.html">elevatorgate</a>, generally with disdain and humor, and I knew that <a href="http://sleepinginsundays.com/2011/04/13/if-we-claim-the-high-road/">conferences are often places where women are bombarded with sexual interest and men are sometimes too socially awkward to know when and how to sto</a>p. I also know that rationalist communities (though very much not the same as atheist and secular communities) are often very skeptical of feminism. All of this adds up to not a great deal of hope for positive affirmation of a political stance for women and gender equality. But that’s exactly what I found, with several men identifying themselves as feminists without prompting, in the middle of relevant conversations about politics or gender in atheism, with one guy wearing a This Is What a Feminist Looks Like T-shirt, totally respectful and boundary-respecting flirting, and me having a grin plastered on my face at all of it. They spoke up in conversations, argued vigorously but reasonably in favor of feminist ideas and principles and had a clear commitment to defending feminism, talking about it, convincing others, clearing up misconceptions, and listening, acknowledging when they were wrong. Male atheist feminists might just be the best people, according to my limited experience.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://msmagazine.com/blog/files/2011/05/Superobama_main.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" id="il_fi" src="http://msmagazine.com/blog/files/2011/05/Superobama_main.jpg" style="padding-bottom: 8px; padding-right: 8px; padding-top: 8px;" width="148" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Also not the guy at the conference</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div class="MsoNormal">Even better was the response of men who were not feminists to the discussions. I’ve seen a variety of attitudes to feminists from non-feminists, in particular male feminists, ranging from approving to outright hostile, but at the SSA conference, I mostly just saw interested, and a good bit of nodding. I hope very much that that’s not a result of the fact that a man was speaking, defending feminism, but it was exciting to see nonetheless. In fact, it wouldn’t be so bad if men responded better to men defending feminism, because it’s not always clear who the models for how to be a male feminist are, and men might very much benefit from having them. Especially if their initial impression of feminism involved any hint of man-hating, it might be helpful to see first-hand how untrue that is. And from the brief experience I had at the conference, it seems to work fairly well.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">So maybe atheism has a gender problem, maybe it has a misogyny problem, maybe the top is overwhelmingly male. But if the students I saw at the 2011 SSA Conference are the future of atheism, I think we’re on a great track to fix those problems, and I’m so glad to be able to say that after all of the feminist disappointments regarding atheism and atheist conferences of late.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Finally, this is hilarious.<br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="345" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/nrNkNBjBR3o" width="420"></iframe></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div>Strangelethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00750375109270713658noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9116574572286428265.post-14447902133853108712011-07-28T17:10:00.001-05:002011-07-28T23:48:18.529-05:00Pizza!Tonight, I made pizza. From scratch. Almost entirely. And I am so excited about it, I am going to blog about it with some anecdotes sprinkled in. Enjoy the break from blocks of overly analytical text!<br />
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So I'm living in New York City for the summer, and I cook for myself. I'm not a particularly good cook, and I don't like to work too hard at food most days, so in general I content myself with stir frying vegetables. Not to sound disappointed; I <i>love </i>stir-fried vegetables. But tonight I wanted to do something special, and I decided on pizza. I googled around for a pizza recipe and found a delightful one for <a href="http://www.cookstr.com/recipes/pizza-florentina">Pizza Florentina</a> along with a <a href="http://www.cookstr.com/recipes/basic-pizza-dough">pizza dough recipe</a> from the same site. But because I'm me, and I got distracted by the shiny-new shinyness of Google+, it was 8:30 by the time I actually got around to it, and I didn't want to wait 2 and a half hours for the dough to rise. So I used <a href="http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/quick-and-easy-pizza-crust/detail.aspx">this recipe</a> instead.<br />
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One of the best parts of living with a foodie grandmother who pays for groceries is that random things I wouldn't think to buy, like yeast, are just around. So here are the ingredients for the dough.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOeYdrBBgKFFgMscWusG-KsOoWDzn80E2f6AlSxe06CLxRTjpsjbEra3vQQOfMH3Z-y2OzJxqKMIjhHTLdFp5IixoONcxAXTsMj0HMBciB1SxSu9qTDWp2IlG7UvxWU-tcNhrESvMF670/s1600/Photo+83.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOeYdrBBgKFFgMscWusG-KsOoWDzn80E2f6AlSxe06CLxRTjpsjbEra3vQQOfMH3Z-y2OzJxqKMIjhHTLdFp5IixoONcxAXTsMj0HMBciB1SxSu9qTDWp2IlG7UvxWU-tcNhrESvMF670/s400/Photo+83.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>Then I mixed the yeast (little tiny facultatively anaerobic microorganisms...in a jar!) with the sugar (they need food, right?) and dissolved in water, then let stand for ten minutes. Then you get this sexy looking substance.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIDqaJ3UYwgB8nTB0FMUw2TOqUHdyL_-NReNHDj0mvAFwNeFGDeC9h6FXzHFQlneB5tnWWoE_y4zEIIbkPMTpyG7hf4wsUZ9FKq9n4vRMDwNrn84QMSIZnH7-yntBtS0PO3HReJex8hQU/s1600/Photo+93.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIDqaJ3UYwgB8nTB0FMUw2TOqUHdyL_-NReNHDj0mvAFwNeFGDeC9h6FXzHFQlneB5tnWWoE_y4zEIIbkPMTpyG7hf4wsUZ9FKq9n4vRMDwNrn84QMSIZnH7-yntBtS0PO3HReJex8hQU/s400/Photo+93.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div>Then add the flour, salt and oil, mix a little, and you get this:<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEje3lD7G5nUU6yVN1Ugn_B5lhqokD17TGCmgINbEA7eg7nuvy7vjnXf8ZPuACigOvqoitUS40dzyKdadcMQCbfy7hDzvYYSBjDr_YCq1QgcL7XnotYuK4chCP0ba9zV_mbKWMjcesfWDW0/s1600/Photo+95.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEje3lD7G5nUU6yVN1Ugn_B5lhqokD17TGCmgINbEA7eg7nuvy7vjnXf8ZPuACigOvqoitUS40dzyKdadcMQCbfy7hDzvYYSBjDr_YCq1QgcL7XnotYuK4chCP0ba9zV_mbKWMjcesfWDW0/s400/Photo+95.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />
Fun fact: this stuff is delicious. I always figured raw cookie dough was so amazing was because it had, you know, sugar and butter and sometimes chocolate chips and you can't really go wrong with those things, but this has none of those things (well, a tiny bit of sugar), and no raw eggs, but it is amazing. I promise I only know that because it gets stuck to your fingers and not because I take little pieces or play with it or anything. Anyway! We are off track. Back to the cooking.<br />
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The recipe promised to make a 12-inch pizza, which sounded like too much, so I thought about making half of it, but then I decided to throw caution to the winds and make all of it. That's me, living on the edge. Of course, it turned out my initial caution was totally justified since all the dough rolled out looked like this.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXhJiIc__T2WLBuZI5jYRCUisRoHGWmV32sCyeAUlmq50yWSgo1u_bLk7zxVfui3fXtY6YF9nEoi22Mj30La1QmSpge5K2rnszBsfwYlVya4KG8aU8pAmdKYl82X7PU_5_854HQBhfGpE/s1600/Photo+97.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXhJiIc__T2WLBuZI5jYRCUisRoHGWmV32sCyeAUlmq50yWSgo1u_bLk7zxVfui3fXtY6YF9nEoi22Mj30La1QmSpge5K2rnszBsfwYlVya4KG8aU8pAmdKYl82X7PU_5_854HQBhfGpE/s400/Photo+97.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div>It actually doesn't look that big in the picture, so you'll have to take my word for it that it was too big for just me, and more problematically, too big for my baking sheets (no pizza stone, I'm sorry to say). So I cut it in half and rolled it out again. Time for the toppings! The recipe called just for spinach, but I decided to add mushrooms as well. This part totally plays to my strength as an epic stir-fryer.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpumUl3nRhQIY4fayNP0vzsKsR7eQUad4i-9TS70a2PNPcx1IFErVzUPYnjBBaSvEwhvcR7NHrTu9YKYFNZBPpCC-2oxEKZ8LS5l2ReDEou5lkoXWtkK5XM2BXRSubxqqGNm_2sUiFRcE/s1600/Photo+99.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpumUl3nRhQIY4fayNP0vzsKsR7eQUad4i-9TS70a2PNPcx1IFErVzUPYnjBBaSvEwhvcR7NHrTu9YKYFNZBPpCC-2oxEKZ8LS5l2ReDEou5lkoXWtkK5XM2BXRSubxqqGNm_2sUiFRcE/s400/Photo+99.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />
The tomato sauce is the only part of this I got from a can. I would have been happy to make my own, but to make the rich, creamy stuff, you have to let things simmer for upwards of an hour, and I didn't have that kind of time. For a different, fresher styler of pizza, it's a great idea to just throw together chopped tomatoes, olive oil, garlic, onions and maybe some green peppers with yummy spices and let it sit in a hot frying pan for 10-20 or so minutes until the tomato juice and olive oil mix well, but that's not what I was going for here. So I spread it out with expert knife skills, carefully leaving a perfect inch around the sauce.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZiC7mVF0nVOMqv5xMjHbwRA5P03nYvgGDRh7c3LqxFDyWcFP66EQaWJPEhzsenz5CCa8PbhxWJIkHAEVt5ZHmlv2MJrKQgv44kMk7glDCrIC7kG1qNAzvpAl88oUGqoDnHaps2SzNiJg/s1600/Photo+102.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZiC7mVF0nVOMqv5xMjHbwRA5P03nYvgGDRh7c3LqxFDyWcFP66EQaWJPEhzsenz5CCa8PbhxWJIkHAEVt5ZHmlv2MJrKQgv44kMk7glDCrIC7kG1qNAzvpAl88oUGqoDnHaps2SzNiJg/s400/Photo+102.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div>Sheer perfection, no? I'm not sure how it'll show up on your computer screen, but the sauce was a really nice, eye-catching red. Now toppings! I really have no eye for design or beauty, but I had some fun with the layout anyway. I was confused by the recipe calling for the vegetables to be placed on the sauce before the cheese, but this was actually sheer genius. They were like hidden treasures.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2BxlZZYeFuqYj74TRAvI5CYu655hbYg1x6mzaiqir4wNN6AU_yQ0jEP3bPyqiv9iyZR83amq28L7tLTI85NHWmWEjvvHmn3qhajKZhEKGhGbmXygd2yyIDbLPTyF_R3dKaTZYjnJfE2I/s1600/Photo+104.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2BxlZZYeFuqYj74TRAvI5CYu655hbYg1x6mzaiqir4wNN6AU_yQ0jEP3bPyqiv9iyZR83amq28L7tLTI85NHWmWEjvvHmn3qhajKZhEKGhGbmXygd2yyIDbLPTyF_R3dKaTZYjnJfE2I/s400/Photo+104.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Because I'm not a very good or frequent cook, and because I'm numbers and rules oriented, you'd think I'd be a meticulous cook, planning everything beforehand and worrying about measurements and whether they were in mass or volume. As it turns out, though, because I don't like to cook, I only do it when I'm excited about it and in the mood for it, and I tend to get rather impulsive about making whatever I'm making. This leads to trouble. For example, it was only through dumb luck that I happened to have around all of the spices I needed (this comes later) as well as yeast. And as it happens, I jumped right into making a pizza without having any meltable cheese in the house. So what you don't see in the break between the photo above and the photo below is the turning off of the oven and the mad dash to an all-night deli/convenience store two blocks away to get some mozzarella.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiP51ok9sIS4tImBo2hVPGSO57N4j1fW9JgZiZ2j4x-_0E_PuQ3Kndz_5SPN1SknugqCgg2iJwEGHze8X0ZGRXFqZS-Fz44L19vty1R50nMl6yrEAitznImHxe4Y2ePzzKwjgwse3ul1Lo/s1600/Photo+112.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiP51ok9sIS4tImBo2hVPGSO57N4j1fW9JgZiZ2j4x-_0E_PuQ3Kndz_5SPN1SknugqCgg2iJwEGHze8X0ZGRXFqZS-Fz44L19vty1R50nMl6yrEAitznImHxe4Y2ePzzKwjgwse3ul1Lo/s400/Photo+112.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Yes, that's an egg. This is how a Pizza Florentina works. Also added: nutmeg, garlic powder and dried basil leaves. If I'd had it, I would also have added thyme. Salt and pepper might have been ok, but it really doesn't need it, at least not with the sauce I used. Into the oven!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">So I was really nervous about cooking time since I've only made pizza once before in my entire life, and I took the directions to wait until the edges were golden a <i>little</i> too seriously, such that when I took it out (after about half the time recommended), the egg looked like this.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIxmd9FM568VZL-IGpaq0QN3mu-cNYZiF_sAuriugWb3FariDIquWrlnl25-r9U800TtqFRVuIQEx3F8GG-Hk4qmkmXqCUQ4cuioybmke_voRWgnKjdB5mQfEiXegPN-_SbK8LqmBgCn0/s1600/Photo+115.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIxmd9FM568VZL-IGpaq0QN3mu-cNYZiF_sAuriugWb3FariDIquWrlnl25-r9U800TtqFRVuIQEx3F8GG-Hk4qmkmXqCUQ4cuioybmke_voRWgnKjdB5mQfEiXegPN-_SbK8LqmBgCn0/s400/Photo+115.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">And I was so freaked out about overcooking that I had the brilliant idea to scrape the egg off and cook it separately. This was not a good idea.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEif5-5UwwmOZNY5KcjaHRQE3V0gsmQP2gnRMnGhZfNL1bNbZz2pBicd6XSn2k9bN6eln2trte-cYaRIa5TBypl15y_cJx830AHbYMjmzvMe-5vRcVotDPFeT6CpdYALq6SQqwxjQUPuHmw/s1600/Photo+116.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEif5-5UwwmOZNY5KcjaHRQE3V0gsmQP2gnRMnGhZfNL1bNbZz2pBicd6XSn2k9bN6eln2trte-cYaRIa5TBypl15y_cJx830AHbYMjmzvMe-5vRcVotDPFeT6CpdYALq6SQqwxjQUPuHmw/s400/Photo+116.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Yes, I broke the yolk. Cardinal sin, I know. But everything looks better in a pretty dish, right?</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi84aOQkx6EtAmX2frKy_b4YLu8lT-fz-E-ZE_HygwQv5psuxjhLNHH8t-q8Sotx8hkjU1SMFazilJxKwHM-HALdmyQzGM_aQtJ6rdNWg1Gt8LDYmlLkBsbzKI8dXLkaYKZ_8XMSfOP_9I/s1600/Photo+119.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi84aOQkx6EtAmX2frKy_b4YLu8lT-fz-E-ZE_HygwQv5psuxjhLNHH8t-q8Sotx8hkjU1SMFazilJxKwHM-HALdmyQzGM_aQtJ6rdNWg1Gt8LDYmlLkBsbzKI8dXLkaYKZ_8XMSfOP_9I/s400/Photo+119.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Success! It was really quite good. The crust especially, though it definitely could have used the ten minutes I was too afraid to give it. The egg, too. But I'm really proud of it, and I have a whole other dough ball to play with!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrviY-s6-AlLH-Ry39k1ED2QvW055CvP6yPMyBT4Smbxe7IKb6hDsmpsvXNKW71VTIfWTwzbn0Ppe1Er9LAaPGYhaubjrnhMiq3huQr9aNyQ8TnOoFLR1P-FUkYcrdhZmsGmEAjzw7FI0/s1600/Photo+121.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrviY-s6-AlLH-Ry39k1ED2QvW055CvP6yPMyBT4Smbxe7IKb6hDsmpsvXNKW71VTIfWTwzbn0Ppe1Er9LAaPGYhaubjrnhMiq3huQr9aNyQ8TnOoFLR1P-FUkYcrdhZmsGmEAjzw7FI0/s400/Photo+121.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Maybe <i>your</i> grandmother isn't cool enough to have an actual pizza cutter just lying around.</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">UPDATE: I made a mini-version (with half the dough I had left) of basically the same pizza, with a few tweaks (including no egg). I baked it for about 1.5 times as long, on half a pizza, and got very little for my trouble except a more crusty edge. The middle was still soft and doughy. Is that because the sauce is so moist? Is the answer baking it a bit beforehand? Less sauce? Thoughts?</div>Strangelethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00750375109270713658noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9116574572286428265.post-61668771712982753152011-07-13T22:02:00.002-05:002011-07-13T22:04:23.521-05:00Sexism and Rational Discourse, or What are we talking about again?<span id="internal-source-marker_0.5262470077723265" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">And I’m back. I guess I just take two months off blogging from time to time. When I’m not blogging, I often feel like it would be such a strenuous effort to return, but then I find I have something very important to say or sort through and suddenly it becomes easy again.</span><br />
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</div><div class="" style="clear: both; text-align: -webkit-auto;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6PYa5CBOw78fYav3-mCVJB9FJilkcdKpqR3jMD5Kvxspd2AFIo04im0nvUvJw1LzVtoROYjfSr0kIlkjc8tIDvcMaj7tYlGqwiGJiDlmpLQhpe0pcHCwgTcrDLtRmzTIQh6Llro25Mlw/s1600/elevator2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6PYa5CBOw78fYav3-mCVJB9FJilkcdKpqR3jMD5Kvxspd2AFIo04im0nvUvJw1LzVtoROYjfSr0kIlkjc8tIDvcMaj7tYlGqwiGJiDlmpLQhpe0pcHCwgTcrDLtRmzTIQh6Llro25Mlw/s1600/elevator2.jpg" /></a><span id="internal-source-marker_0.5262470077723265" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I want to talk about Elevatorgate. For those of you who don’t know, Elevatorgate is the overblown name of an overblown issue, which is the blowing up of the internet over sexism in the atheist movement. I find this larger issue to be a fairly important one, but the degeneration into flaming and name calling is incredibly off-putting. In fact, I’m easily turned off by what I consider deeply problematic or tangential or unproductive methods of dealing with big issues like this one, and that’s exactly what’s happened, and that’s what I want to talk about. For context and background, there are summaries </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="http://gretachristina.typepad.com/greta_christinas_weblog/2011/07/why-we-have-to-talk-about-this.html">here</a></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">, </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="http://bigthink.com/ideas/39234">here</a></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"> and </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="http://considertheteacosy.wordpress.com/2011/07/05/weighing-in-on-elevatorgate-perspectives-and-privilege/">here</a></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">. </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></div><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">What I think is most egregious about the entire fiasco is not that Rebecca Watson was made to feel uncomfortable at four in the morning in an elevator in a foreign country, or that women and men attacked her (sometimes fairly, sometimes deeply not so), or that she responded to them publicly and by name, or that Richard Dawkins said some deeply irresponsible and offensive things, or or that there exist sexists and sexism within the atheist movement. What I am so irritated by and am made to feel absolutely frustrated and hopeless about is the quality of the discourse surrounding the affair.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3ypnDtjWEJcIqTOUeVpxLzc8MS2UefhcBbkMdCDREYIQFqNxq0iqvNGO3rIq93Ho42zqfMqfiIhXPC9JdDUFL3LWQpPRlVUeSWP7tmPmCH1NHkYs8kyfW62ywwoXZfGStzI7xtcvIDNI/s1600/Picture+17.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3ypnDtjWEJcIqTOUeVpxLzc8MS2UefhcBbkMdCDREYIQFqNxq0iqvNGO3rIq93Ho42zqfMqfiIhXPC9JdDUFL3LWQpPRlVUeSWP7tmPmCH1NHkYs8kyfW62ywwoXZfGStzI7xtcvIDNI/s1600/Picture+17.png" /></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I don’t just mean bad arguments, and unsubstantiated claims and flaming and trolling. Those are all awful parts of people and the internet and so be it. The worst part is that you have intelligent, invested people who are often sensible and rational talking about exactly the wrong things. Everyone is talking about rights. The right to flirt, to proposition, to be a sexually active male, to be offended, to criticize, to be an ass. Frankly, it blows me away how stupid those discussions are. Aside from all of the philosophical problems that the concepts of rights have, the rights to those things are...a little bit strange to talk about, and they’re being discussed as if they are as precious as the right to free press or redress of grievances. Rights are things that humans have in groups, recognized by states or other political (sometimes nonpolitical) bodies. Youtubers simply don’t have the power to take them away from anyone else, and so the anger surrounding the possibility of “losing” those rights seems incredibly silly. To clear up the issue: yes, you have the right to all of those things. You may do all of those things. Other people may (and, wait for it, have the right to) criticize you for exercising those ‘rights’ in the ways that you do. None of it is of any consequence to anyone’s having those rights. So can we stop talking about them?</span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1PtQsx_8saWNKbQHjUwRjpqDDtSWBBGPq3RdovXkXhhVby-zC3YmVtrySwoivuVhqnzRhNTZvgzDhU7_qNIr_MKfgtYYWIOzI64VW5j2CsePCavOGJTEU2gaqsklsZY28HwdSNtBD1M4/s1600/Picture+18.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1PtQsx_8saWNKbQHjUwRjpqDDtSWBBGPq3RdovXkXhhVby-zC3YmVtrySwoivuVhqnzRhNTZvgzDhU7_qNIr_MKfgtYYWIOzI64VW5j2CsePCavOGJTEU2gaqsklsZY28HwdSNtBD1M4/s1600/Picture+18.png" /></a></div><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The other thing everyone’s talking about, though in this case not explicitly, is authority and legitimacy. In other words, who gets to talk about sexism? (women? men? feminists? PZ Myers? Richard Dawkins?) You have women pointing out that there are parts of living as a woman in this society that men don’t (or possibly can’t) know about, and so men should by and large listen to women when they talk about sexism. Sounds fair, except of course that there are men who call out sexism and privilege, and women who vehemently disagree with the analysis of this specific issue, with the broader concepts involved, or with feminism as a movement entirely. In those cases (as when women claim that they would be perfectly comfortable in those situations and so it’s not a problem), who to listen to? To stick to the idea that women understand sexism better would be to fall into a trap of automatic sisterhood bestowed upon all those with uteruses, which is also self-contradictory, since women don’t agree. It also makes men who identify as feminists feel left out and it contributes to the idea that all opinions are equally valid, at least if they’re made by women. On the other hand, criticizing women for their views on sexism can turn into calling women tools of the patriarchy or manpleasers and condescending to them and belittling them, which doesn’t seem to be a particularly feminist thing to do. (This is a little bit of a second/third wave divide). So everyone is left confused, which makes sense, since all of this is rather difficult to wade through. But the question remains: why are we talking about this at all? Why is the relevant question who has the proper credentials to discuss feminism, sex, gender and sexism? Even the most rational and sensible group of people can get tripped up on such a difficult question, and it’s not worth it when it’s not the issue that’s really at hand. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRjgZPBUGIyUdfivjGND2EzapFDhGe-ZhfoL9ftFBpxelnmUJ0PmuDE8yL6OLDkna_K3LjSmcPPUNNR8YT_Ktyw5QlheQAlcKkc3eXtboHzQpjMYbgSCcM09h_gbjOcS7TfEa1Is-ARis/s1600/Picture+20.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="130" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRjgZPBUGIyUdfivjGND2EzapFDhGe-ZhfoL9ftFBpxelnmUJ0PmuDE8yL6OLDkna_K3LjSmcPPUNNR8YT_Ktyw5QlheQAlcKkc3eXtboHzQpjMYbgSCcM09h_gbjOcS7TfEa1Is-ARis/s200/Picture+20.png" width="200" /></a></div><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">None of this is to say that questions of rights, appropriate behavior, reasonableness and legitimacy are not interesting or important questions. They most certainly are. But in talking about sexism in the atheism movement, or sexism more broadly, the most important questions are those about effects, consequences and harm. How do we make atheism a more comfortable place for women? How do we combine appropriateness and sex-positivity in a way that makes the movement as strong and open as possible? How do we avoid perpetuating stereotypes about women? These are the questions. They often have empirical answers. There is data and concrete argument to be brought to bear on these questions. They are more productive and more relevant. Consequentialism is not a foregone conclusion as a moral system, but in most situations, it is the most pragmatic. So what we need are not only rational people who can argue well, but also people who are willing to make a concerted effort to arguing about the right things. This is how we make progress.</span></div>Strangelethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00750375109270713658noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9116574572286428265.post-12243162976486586062011-05-02T19:17:00.027-05:002011-05-03T23:05:35.570-05:00All We Can Ask from Death<div style="background-color: transparent; background-image: url(data:image/png; background-position: 100% 0%; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.cfnews13.com/static/articles/images/news2011/osama-bin-laden-killed-0502.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="134" src="http://www.cfnews13.com/static/articles/images/news2011/osama-bin-laden-killed-0502.jpg" width="200" /></a></div><div id="internal-source-marker_0.6118388508912176" style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Unless you’ve been living in a </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><strike>cave</strike></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> mansion outside of Islamabad hiding from the US government, you’ve probably heard that Osama bin Laden was <a href="http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/osama-bin-laden-killed-13-year-hunt/story?id=13513113">killed last night</a> in a <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/pakistan/8488173/Osama-Bin-Laden-killed-in-short-but-decisive-firefight-in-a-peaceful-garrison-town.html">firefight</a>. For many, the most appropriate response was obvious: unadulterated joy with a robust helping of national unity and patriotism on top. And who can blame them? Osama bin Laden was a hateful, opportunistic murderer, a terrorist mastermind who took advantage of anti-American sentiment in Saudi Arabia and whipped it into a lethal boil. He is personally responsible for the death of thousands of Arabs, Americans, Muslims, atheists...people. If anyone deserved to die, he did. </span></div><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.grandview.mccsc.edu/mlk2k3/IB/eagle.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://www.grandview.mccsc.edu/mlk2k3/IB/eagle.jpg" width="177" /></a></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Even so, there were those of us who did not have quite that reaction, for whom bloodlust and triumph did not immediately course through our veins. Some of us were quiet, thinking of the significance of the event. Some of us were grim, feeling vindicated in that there was one fewer murderer on earth, but not feeling exactly exultant, either. My response was some mix of these, but it was altered because I heard the news during a House Meeting, in a room full of people, many of whom took the first tack. Instead of having the time to sit and think and digest, I was immediately thrust into a party-like atmosphere in which Team America had won once again, and all would be right in the world if only our testosterone-soaked heroes could be allowed free reign. Good news had come at last from the unending wars! Let us rally around it in an orgy of patriotism and victory. </span></div><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">At least, that’s how it felt to me. In contrast, I felt hesitant, that something was not quite right about the reveling in death that was going on. I expressed these sentiments on facebook and twitter, letting it be known that I felt there was much more to Osama’s death than a simple check for America’s win column. To start, the death was more symbolic than anything else. It’s possible that his death will weaken the various Al-Qaeda affiliates, hamper their ability to communicate, and undermine their capacity to recruit. It’s also possible that they will become highly angered and the Middle East will be less safe for a while. Either way, Osama had been doing very little of the on-the-ground planning of late, and it seemed frankly silly to count such a psychologically significant yet geopolitically unsubstantive victory as meaningful. </span></div><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">It also seemed to disrespect the vast complexities of which Osama was a symbol: the two <a href="http://usliberals.about.com/od/homelandsecurit1/a/IraqNumbers.htm">unending</a> <a href="http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/afghan-war-now-longest-war-us-history/story?id=10849303">wars</a>, the changes wrought in the <a href="http://www.webmd.com/balance/features/american-psyche-post-911">American psyche</a>, the culture of fear created, here and abroad, <a href="http://www.valariekaur.com/2011/03/fear-and-hate-on-display/">increase</a><a href="http://www.valariekaur.com/2011/03/fear-and-hate-on-display/">s</a> <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/11/us/politics/11king.html">in</a> <a href="http://www.asiantribune.com/news/2002/11/15/anti-muslim-bias-crimes-rose-1700-percent-after-september-11">Islamophobia</a> <a href="http://www.jstor.org/stable/3481418">and</a> <a href="http://www.mysinchew.com/node/43949">hate-crimes</a>, the still unfinished <a href="http://abcnews.go.com/Nightline/slideshow/ground-zero-memorial-remains-unfinished-11593956">Ground Zero Monument</a>, <a href="http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/130153">anti-American</a> <a href="http://mobile.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/2011/04/26/egypt/index.html">sentiment</a> <a href="http://usforeignpolicy.about.com/od/backgroundhistory/a/antiamerican.htm">the world over</a>, the hundreds of thousands of <a href="http://www.unknownnews.net/casualties.html">civilians killed</a> in <a href="http://www.iraqbodycount.org/">Iraq</a> and <a href="http://www.commondreams.org/view/2010/07/04-1">Afganistan</a>, the controversial drone attacks. But for the night, none of it seemed to matter. In a way, it was a tacit acknowledgement. Americans were so hungry for a victory that they leaped on the action-movie-like story of a Special Ops force, a firefight, a mansion, an exotic South Asian country and dead target. When I expressed this idea, I was told in no uncertain terms that “Its not anymore complex than 3000 innocent Americans, your fellow countrymen.” But there was still something farcical about letting the droplet of success wash over us as the waves of the uncertain path forward continued to churn. That’s why, I suppose, I was so bothered by Obama calling for national unity because we’d killed Osama bin Laden. It’s not that there’s so much wrong with that on its own, but rather that Osama is part of something so much larger, and the call for national unity just serves as a veneer. I wish so deeply, I suppose, that there had been a call for national unity when the Iraqis had their first election, or on the day Obama announced we were exiting Iraq. There wasn’t, because those were not unequivocally good happenings, and there were a lot of mixed feelings. People may have been upset if it were implied that those were things everyone had a duty to support. That’s how I feel about this, because bin Laden himself was just a man, and the tip of an enormous iceberg. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://hpronline.org/blog/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/osama-rally.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"><img border="0" height="116" src="http://hpronline.org/blog/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/osama-rally.jpg" width="200" /></span></a></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Then there’s how we react to the death itself. Frankly, I was a little disgusted by the streamers and the celebration. I understood it, certainly, and how profoundly human of a response that was, but I wish we’d had the wherewithal to overcome those particular instincts and instead acknowledge the importance and significance of the death, to reflect on his life and the destruction he cause, to think of the 9/11 victims and their families, to ponder the aftermath of 9/11 and how the world was forever changed, and not, perhaps, to throw America-themed frat parties, sing<a href="http://blogs.wsj.com/dispatch/2011/05/02/for-crowds-at-white-house-chanting-singing-and-some-closure/"> Queen’s We Are the Champions </a>and begin dancing in the streets. Americans celebrated death last night. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">I know there was a lot going on, I’ve had the conversations, and I know there were legitimate causes for celebration. But there was a blatant current of outright self-satisfied, self-aggrandized, smug gratification in our accomplishment. And it just seems like death, especially one I felt wasn’t quite as important as everyone was making it out to be, isn’t something we ought to glorify. It’s a tad unseemly, yes, a tad grotesque, yes, but more importantly, it runs counter to very important values.</span></div><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="http://www.bolton.ac.uk/Chaplaincy/Images/Worldviews/HappyHuman.gif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"><img border="0" src="http://www.bolton.ac.uk/Chaplaincy/Images/Worldviews/HappyHuman.gif" /></span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">As Americans, we value, supposedly, due process, which Osama (for very good reason) never had. We do not relish the meting out of justice. As a humanist, I value life. I reject wholeheartedly these all-too-religious overtones of good and evil, black and white, that human lives are valuable until we deem them irredeemable, at which point they become worthless. Osama was evil, so the story goes, and so his life no longer mattered. He may have deserved to die, but I reject the narrative that says that there exist pure good and evil in the world, and that we eradicate evil by whatever means necessary, as if morality itself were not a natural phenomenon, and as if the cultivation of moral excellence were not the task of a lifetime. <a href="http://www.templeofthefuture.net/current-affairs/the-tolling-bell-do-some-deserve-to-die">James Croft did an excellent job </a>of pointing out the history of this line of thinking in the humanist movement:</span></div><blockquote><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444;"><a href="http://harvardhumanist.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=95&Itemid=52"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Humanism and its Aspirations</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">declares that “Humanists are concerned for the well being of all”, and makes no distinction between the wicked and the just, the good and the evil. The </span><a href="http://www.americanhumanist.org/Who_We_Are/About_Humanism/Humanist_Manifesto_II"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Humanist Manifesto II </span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">is abundantly clear: “The preciousness and dignity of the individual person is a central humanist value.” So is the first </span><a href="http://www.americanhumanist.org/Who_We_Are/About_Humanism/Humanist_Manifesto_I"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Humanist Manifesto</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, saying “humanism will affirm life rather than deny it”. </span></span></blockquote><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #444444; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The humanist perspective shows us that while we may have to kill, we simply do not have to revel in it. We should despair at every human life lost, to death, to destruction, to monstrous beliefs and behavior.</span></div><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">And if that plea to a shared humanity does not move you, a much more analytic approach exists. I subscribe to the <a href="http://commonsenseatheism.com/?p=2982">ethical theory called desirism</a>. If you don’t want to read about it, what you basically need to know is that it relies on desires as reasons for action, and modulation of those desires as ways of ensuring that more desires are fulfilled rather than thwarted. I find it clear, then, that we have many and strong reasons to condemn the desire to kill and be joyful in the killing, because humans are not so good at <a href="http://www.independentcollegian.com/rationalized-reason-1.2555154">containing those emotions and applying them only in the appropriate</a> circumstances. Humans are <a href="http://lesswrong.com/lw/lt/the_robbers_cave_experiment/">not so good at overcoming violent tribalist jingoistic instincts</a>, and using patriotism to come together over shared values instead of policing self-identification boundaries by a country border. Humans are not so good at erring on the side of <a href="http://necrometrics.com/20c5m.htm">not killing rather than killing. </a>Humans are not so good at affirming life, a value we have many and strong reasons to strengthen, as it is, and I will have nothing be a setback to reminding us everyday that the enemies we see around us are protagonists in their own narrative, are doing what they think best, are human just like us. </span></div><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">In my thinking about this issue, I’ve been taking inspiration from some interesting sources. </span></div><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="http://www.chabad.org/parshah/torahreading_cdo/aid/15582">In Leviticus, 18:18</a>, in the midst of many reactionary and troubling decrees, the Hebrew god tells the Israelites, that they must, </span></div><blockquote><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #444444; font-family: Corsiva; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“not take vengeance, nor bear any grudge against the children of thy people, but thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself: I am the LORD.”</span></blockquote><div style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Corsiva;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #444444; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"></span></span></span></div><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #444444; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="http://bible.cc/proverbs/24-17.htm">Proverbs 24:17</a> says, </span></div><blockquote><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #444444; font-family: Corsiva; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“Do not rejoice when your enemy falls, and let not your heart be glad when he stumbles.”</span></blockquote><div style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Corsiva;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"></span></span></span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></span></div><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #444444; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">A more recent source gave us, </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><blockquote><a href="http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/photos/uncategorized/2008/11/04/mlk_3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/photos/uncategorized/2008/11/04/mlk_3.jpg" width="161" /></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">"</span>The ultimate weakness of violence is that it is a descending spiral, </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">begetting the very thing it seeks to destroy.<br />
Instead of diminishing evil, it multiplies it.<br />
Through violence you may murder the liar,<br />
but you cannot murder the lie, nor establish the truth.<br />
Through violence you may murder the hater,<br />
but you do not murder hate.<br />
In fact, violence merely increases hate.<br />
So it goes.<br />
Returning violence for violence multiplies violence,<br />
adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars.<br />
Darkness cannot drive out darkness:<br />
only light can do that.<br />
Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that."</span></blockquote><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">- Martin Luther King, Jr. </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The deal is that this quote was said by MLK, except for the first line that was here previous, which goes something like: "</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-size: 16px; font-style: italic; line-height: 24px;">I mourn the loss of thousands of precious lives, but I will not rejoice in the death of one, not even an enemy." </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I think that's a beautiful sentiment too, but I <a href="http://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2011/05/out-of-osamas-death-a-fake-quotation-is-born/238220/">don't know how to attribute</a> it, so I'll just leave it here. </span><br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></div><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">On facebook, someone said, </span></div><blockquote><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“</span><span style="background-color: #f9f9f9; font-family: Corsiva; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">See, regardless he was still a person. Start dehumanizing someone, even someone like him, and you forget your own values. We are better than that, or we hope to be.”</span></span></blockquote><div style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">My friend Sandra wrote a beautiful piece on the same issue <a href="http://hpronline.org/united-states/on-the-celebration-of-death/">here</a>.</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The movies <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Munich_(film)">Munich</a> and <a href="http://inglourious%20basterds/">Inglorious Basterds</a> stylized and hyperbolized our trusted protagonists, forcing the audience to be revolted at the bleak humanity present even in our heroes. </span></div><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">And Orson Scott Card, that brilliant author who has changed my life more than once, penned some incredibly beautiful thoughts that he threaded effortlessly into his narratives: </span></div><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">In Ender’s Game, Ender</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> says to Valentine, the sister who cannot understand that he has become a killer, a monster in his own right, </span></span></div><blockquote><span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">“In the moment when I truly understand my enemy, understand him well enough to defeat him, then in that very moment I also love him. I think it’s impossible to really understand somebody, what they want, what they believe, and not love them the way they love themselves.”</span></span></blockquote><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #444444; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Bean learns this message, and many books later, has an encounter with an incredibly evil enemy, with a pathological disregard for human life. And this is what transpires:</span><span style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div><span style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<blockquote><span style="background-color: #f9f9f9; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Achilles laughed nervously. “Come on now, Bean. We’ve known each other a long time.” He had backed up against a wall. He tried to lean against it. But his legs were a little wobbly and he started to slide down the wall. “I know you, Bean,” he said. “You can’t just kill a man in cold blood, no matter how much you hate him. It’s not in you to do that.”</span></span> </blockquote><blockquote><span style="background-color: #f9f9f9; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">“Yes it is,” said Bean.</span></span> </blockquote><blockquote><span style="background-color: #f9f9f9; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">He aimed the pistol down at Achilles’s right eye and pulled the trigger. The eye snapped shut from the wind of the bullet passing between the eyelids and from the obliteration of the eye itself. His head rocked just a little from the force of the little bullet entering, but not leaving. Then he slumped over and sprawled out on the floor. Dead.</span></span> </blockquote><blockquote><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="background-color: #f9f9f9; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">It didn’t bring back Poke, or Sister Carlotta, or any of the other people he had killed. It didn’t change the nations of the world back to the way they were before Achilles started making them his building blocks, to break apart and put together however he wanted. It didn’t end the wars Achilles had started. It didn’t make Bean feel any better. There was no joy in vengeance, and precious little in </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">justice, either.</span></span> </blockquote><blockquote><span style="background-color: #f9f9f9; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">But there was this: Achilles would never kill again. </span></span> </blockquote><blockquote><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">That was all Bean could ask of a little .22. </span></blockquote><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">That Osama bin Laden will never kill again may indeed be all we can ask. Not that the wars end, or that freedom triumphs, but that we have taken a small step in a protracted campaign, and that all we can do is hope, and keep trying.</span><br />
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<div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><br />
</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px;">Updates from the blogosphere:</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px;"><br />
</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px;">From HuffPost: <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/pamela-gerloff/the-psychology-of-revenge_b_856184.html?ref=fb&src=sp">The Psychology of Revenge</a></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">"</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, Century, Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px;">A more appropriate response to his killing would be to mourn the many tragedies that led up to his violent death, as well as the violent deaths of thousands in the attempt to eliminate him from the face of the Earth; to feel compassion for anyone who, because of their role in the military or government, American or otherwise, has had to play any role in killing another."</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, Century, Times, serif; font-size: x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 20px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: normal;">Also, <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/rabbi-shmuley-boteach/hate-osama-but-do-not-rej_b_856130.html?ref=fb&src=sp">Not Rejoicing in Death</a></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, Century, Times, serif; font-size: x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 20px;"><br />
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</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px;">From Good: <a href="http://www.good.is/post/when-you-piss-on-osama-s-grave-you-make-america-unexceptional/?utm_content=image&utm_medium=hp_carousel&utm_source=slide_1">Making American Unexceptional</a></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px;"></span></div><div style="line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 14px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 14px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">"</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, Century, Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px;">"American citizens often like to think of themselves as good Christians—decent, kind God-fearing people who defend what's right even when that's difficult, just as Jesus would have. Last night was an opportunity to live up to that ideal, to let the world know that we are powerful but we're not drunk with power. Instead, we got wasted and said we wanted to rub our balls on Osama's dead face, belying American exceptionalism by not acting exceptional, but entirely common."</span></div></div>Strangelethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00750375109270713658noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9116574572286428265.post-58325521645623694642011-04-28T06:18:00.011-05:002011-04-29T09:28:02.091-05:00The Philosophy and Politics of Education, Part 1<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Author's note: This was going to be one post about how the ideas contained in my last post might be applied and seen being applied in events taking place across the country, but then it ended up being almost 3000 words, so I'm splitting it up. Also, I'm trying a smaller font. If I have any readers, I would appreciate them letting me know which they prefer.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Actual post:</span><br />
<div style="background-color: transparent;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh53kRstQLAUP4aD7d9vrxbOTTCZWIVeIKgDt74CEJqOP8jypFf-zA93ieFBrd2Wkrv_rXF0rrBF_1uwif9isrzTEePrfDeeMLxS0lDtzsZDTGNtxXcFM16RHNO6e2F40vCM8qPHvx4b98/s1600/Whitehead+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh53kRstQLAUP4aD7d9vrxbOTTCZWIVeIKgDt74CEJqOP8jypFf-zA93ieFBrd2Wkrv_rXF0rrBF_1uwif9isrzTEePrfDeeMLxS0lDtzsZDTGNtxXcFM16RHNO6e2F40vCM8qPHvx4b98/s1600/Whitehead+2.jpg" /></a></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">At the University of Chicago, where I go to school, there is a tradition of the <a href="http://www.uchicago.edu/about/documents/">Aims of Education</a> speech. Every year, the first years, during their Orientation Week, are asked to go to Rockefeller Chapel with their houses to hear that year’s speaker discuss the aims of education. This is an honor for the speaker, not only because it’s a long tradition, but because this school so strongly prizes the investigation and application of exactly that question, of what it is that a school is for. Their attempts to reach the proper aims are clear, from the Core to the Fundamentals major. But the search goes on. The tradition stems from Alfred North Whitehead’s <a href="http://www.anthonyflood.com/whiteheadeducation.htm">address</a> to the Mathematical Association of England in 1916, which was as far from a detailed tractate on the teaching of mathematics as can be imagined. Instead, it was a paean to vision, a plea to progressivism, a fervent request that education and learning never be allowed to stagnate, so that we would create a generation of thinkers instead of simply knowers. As he says, </span></span></div><div style="background-color: transparent;"><blockquote><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“A merely well-informed man is the most useless bore on God’s earth. What we should aim at producing is men who possess both culture and expert knowledge in some special direction. Their expert knowledge will give them the ground to start from, and their culture will lead them as deep as philosophy and as high as art.”</span></span></span></blockquote><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> <span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">And he’s simply not the only one. I know I’ve discussed this before as I see it, and also as countless others have, but I’m struck by how present these lovely images of the role of education are, even if they do not manifest themselves so proudly in our educational system. And it’s intriguing to me to see how these ideas do and do not play out.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">For example, Bertrand Russell, in his own <a href="http://www.zona-pellucida.com/essay-russel.html">piece on education</a>, said, </span></span></span></div><div style="background-color: transparent;"><blockquote><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“The conception which I should substitute as the purpose of education is civilization, a term which, as I mean it, has a definition which is partly individual, partly social. It consists, in the individual, of both intellectual and moral qualities: intellectually, a certain minimum of general knowledge, technical skill in one's own profession, and a habit of forming opinions on evidence; morally, of impartiality, kindliness, and a modicum of self-control. I should add a quality which is neither moral nor intellectual, but perhaps physiological: zest and joy of life. In communities, civilization demands respect for law, justice as between man and man, purposes not involving permanent injury to any section of the human race, and intelligent adaptation of means to ends. If these are to be the purpose of education, it is a question for the science of psychology to consider what can be done towards realizing them, and, in particular, what degree of freedom is likely to prove most effective.”</span></span></span></blockquote><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> <span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Don’t you love that last sentence? That in the midst of an imaginative discourse (which is still more rational than most of the uplifting manifestos about the cultivation of excellence in a citizen), he appeals to consequentialism, pointing out that we have a fairly solid idea of what we’d like to see, even if we can’t formalize that quite yet. After that, the role of philosophy is over, and we look for effectiveness in achieving that goal. That’s really all I meant by my support for testing, and for pilot programs, so that we can see what works. It’s also deeply important that once we have a sense of some truth or another, we acknowledge it and work with it.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">So I applaud the efforts of many around the country who are following exactly this thinking. For example, in New York, there’s this: "<span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 26px; white-space: normal;"><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/25/nyregion/100-new-york-schools-try-common-core-approach.html?partner=rss&emc=rss">100 New York Schools Try Common Core Approach</a>".</span> It’s a trial program, put in place to try to change education to be more engaging, more general and more the type of education that could produce well-rounded thinkers. If it doesn’t work, they’ll try something else. Essentially, exactly what we should be doing. I especially like this teacher who “On a recent Wednesday closed a unit on the meaning of the American dream not by assigning a first-person essay, as she once did, but by asking each student to interview an immigrant and write a profile of the person.” </span></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTkqMZduW0GFtw9hWpUCNINcEeltfAriCtKHlMPuy0JseyiGxZn3XTadZJCSdFzW22-ZVRaduW31bxYzkIqy5iP5G7od4dkeb1Eu7rSyt2B71frEEbOpWhVmoGXWJ_CLpp9Sp8NZ7HhM4/s1600/jpcommon1-articleLarge-v2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTkqMZduW0GFtw9hWpUCNINcEeltfAriCtKHlMPuy0JseyiGxZn3XTadZJCSdFzW22-ZVRaduW31bxYzkIqy5iP5G7od4dkeb1Eu7rSyt2B71frEEbOpWhVmoGXWJ_CLpp9Sp8NZ7HhM4/s1600/jpcommon1-articleLarge-v2.jpg" /></a></div><div style="background-color: transparent;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></span></span></div><div style="background-color: transparent;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">It not only gives the students a better understanding of the issues involved, but it teaches them personal skills, including how to conduct an interview. It allows them to put a human face to the abstract English and history they’re learning, and is all-in-all a fantastic idea. I hope the students got a lot out of it. I also feel that the program demonstrates a smart approach because it relies on an understanding of pedagogy and the importance of teaching in reformulating education. This trial is not only about the students, but about teachers, and giving them freedom to try new tactics that just might work, as well as encouraging them to raise the standards of the classroom. But the best part is the criticism, which in this article came from Timothy Shanahan, a professor of urban education at the University of Illinois at Chicago, who that “the standards make no adjustments for students who are learning English or for children who might enter kindergarten without having been exposed to books”. It excites me because it’s a criticism from within the system, seeking to improve what is a good idea by pointing out the unfortunate fact that exterior circumstance often impact the success of education in powerful ways. It leaves the discussion open to keep looking for what might work better. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">And that, in fact, is addressed here: <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/26/opinion/26nocera.html?src=ISMR_AP_LO_MST_FB">The Limits of School Reform</a>. Social factors, which I discussed <a href="http://fantasticastoria.blogspot.com/2011/04/evaluating-education-evenhandedly.html">last time</a>, play a major role in education. That shouldn’t be something so-called reformers are scared of admitting. Firstly, it’s not as if the schools themselves don’t need changing; clearly that work is still immensely valuable. Secondly, as previously discussed, schools themselves can affect the social environment around them, and in fact, where possible, would seem to have an obligation to do just that. And thirdly, if you’re a reformer, you should be welcoming data which will help you do your job better. This is hard, and it doesn’t have simple answers. Clearly, children who work to support their families, or are often sick, will have difficulty being present in class. If things are difficult at home, they may fail to complete their assignments, or they may exhibit signs of <a href="http://www.netdoctor.co.uk/diseases/facts/adhd.htm">attention disorders</a> or <a href="http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/63965.php">learning disabilities</a>. They’ll also tend to <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/16/opinion/16kristof.html">score poorly on IQ tests</a>. But again, that’s an unfortunate truth we should be facing head on. Consequentialism - we all have the same goals in the end, for the most part, don’t we? So, as is said in the article, “To admit the importance of a student’s background, they fear, is to give ammo to the enemy — which to them are their social-scientist critics and the teachers’ unions. But that shouldn’t be the case. Making schools better is always a goal worth striving for, whether it means improving pedagogy itself or being able to fire bad teachers more easily. “</span></span></span></div><div style="background-color: transparent;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></span></span></div><div style="background-color: transparent;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Always a goal worth striving for, indeed.</span></span></span></div>Strangelethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00750375109270713658noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9116574572286428265.post-39823809826984586602011-04-25T05:26:00.006-05:002011-09-23T10:19:30.178-05:00Evaluating Education, Evenhandedly<a href="http://dcist.com/attachments/Armsmasher/2008_1130_time_cover.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://dcist.com/attachments/Armsmasher/2008_1130_time_cover.jpg" style="cursor: hand; cursor: pointer; float: left; height: 191px; margin: 0 10px 10px 0; width: 140px;" /></a><br />
<div style="background-color: transparent;"><span id="internal-source-marker_0.46098881564103067" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">A story went around the interwebs a couple weeks ago that garnered many stories and more opinions. Unsurprisingly, it focused on a traditionally controversial subject which features prominently in politics at various levels, and a divisive figure. Given that that description could refer to any number of topics, I’ll end the suspense (if you didn't figure it out from the title): education. </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">(Which I've <a href="http://fantasticastoria.blogspot.com/2010/07/public-reason-and-treatment-of.html">talked about</a> <a href="http://fantasticastoria.blogspot.com/2010/07/nature-of-history.html">before</a>, by the way).</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 11pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">You’ve probably heard about </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michelle_Rhee" style="font-family: Times; font-size: medium;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000099; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Michelle Rhee</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">: wonderwoman, education radical, fearless reformer, draconian, unfeeling witch who wants to pump students out like so many mass-produced cans of tuna. By which I mean to say, there are a range of opinions regarding Ms. Rhee and her testing paradigm, which came under some scrutiny in the media after reports surfaced that may have indicated widespread cheating by the DC teachers during Rhee’s chancellorship of that public school system. All of the traditional divisions came up in full strength, with </span><a href="http://www.nje3.org/?p=5059" style="font-family: Times; font-size: medium;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000099; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">conservatives</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, </span><a href="http://www.nydailynews.com/opinions/2011/04/01/2011-04-01_why_michelle_rhee_is_public_enemy_number_one_in_education_reform_debate_she_chal.html" style="font-family: Times; font-size: medium;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000099; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">anti-teacher unionites</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> and </span><a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/10/28/AR2010102807217.html?nav=hcmodule" style="font-family: Times; font-size: medium;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000099; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Ms. Rhee </span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">herself defending the results as well as the program itself, and </span><a href="http://spectator.org/archives/2010/10/18/good-rheedance/" style="font-family: Times; font-size: medium;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000099; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">liberals</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, </span><a href="http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-stories/2011-03-29/michelle-rhees-cheating-scandal-school-test-score-irregularities/full/" style="font-family: Times; font-size: medium;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000099; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">pro-unionites</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> and </span><a href="http://voices.washingtonpost.com/answer-sheet/dc-schools/rhees-legacy-point-by-point.html" style="font-family: Times; font-size: medium;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000099; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">teacher advocates</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> leaping on the reports and declaring that not only had there been cheating, but that such cheating was an inevitable part of the overly pressurized, teach-to-the-test system imposed on DC schools.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 11pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Such a range of opinions does not exist when it comes to the state of public education in this country in general. It’s awful. We know. So what do we do about it? When faced with a problem this seemingly intractable, my first reaction might be to either throw up my hands in the air or go with the liberal opinion, given how often I tend to fall on that side. But this is actually a great example of an issue which is important enough to spend time researching and considering, complex enough to warrant some attention and distillation of the maelstrom of information and viewpoints that exist on the internet, difficult enough to be interesting and political enough that one needs to be cautious wading into the mix. Which means that it’s a great subject on which to practice rational, disinterested analysis, given in particular that it’s incredibly difficult, because children and the next generation and our dearly beloved public school teachers and all that are at stake. I say this with some sarcasm, but also self-deprecatingly, because this all worries me as well.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 11pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">So, the basic story is that Michelle Rhee thinks that the problems with the school system are that the incentives aren’t in the right place, because teachers have tenure and aren’t held accountable for their skill at teaching or the results they produce. Her system gathers empirical data from standardized tests administered each year, ruthlessly fires bad teachers regardless of seniority and makes sure that kids keep doing better every year. It turns out that this system seems to have worked. A good, if perhaps overly generous summary is </span><a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/10/28/AR2010102807217.html?nav=hcmodule" style="font-family: Times; font-size: medium;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000099; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">here</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. The problem is that there are suspicious patterns of erasures from wrong to right answers which might indicate cheating.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 11pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></span><br />
<a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/michelle-rhee/michelle-rhee-dc-schools_b_845286.html" style="font-family: Times; font-size: medium;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000099; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Here,</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Michelle Rhee defends herself. A friend sent me this article, and asked me to respond, which is really how this blog post got started (which also explains why this is written in a somewhat less formal tone). In the piece, she really doesn't say anything new or radical, she just defends her record against all the allegations of cheating that have been going on. I think the evidence is very murky. The evidence in her favor is certainly considerable, but much of it may not have been her at all. Testing district based on a few years of data is notoriously difficult, and some of the work, such as facilities upgrading, is done by a completely different agency than the DC Public Schools System. More can be read at the links above. The cheating is hard to prove, especially since the testing service only releases certain data.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 11pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">But, as a broader issue, my brilliant rational analysis has led me to the following...I’m loath to say conclusions, since most of the work that I’ve done here is, I think, asking the right questions. That's almost always my approach, since if we can agree on the important values and ends we'd like achieved, the rest is just empirical. With that caveat, I'm pretty sure the main points are as follows:</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 11pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></span><b><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">1. What is education for? Whose interests are at stake, and which need to be protected?</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">2. How do we find out whether it's happening?</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">3. How do we fix it if it's not? What are the underlying causes of the difficulties in our educational system?</span></b><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 11pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Obviously, this is political, social, sociological, economic and everything else you can think of, which is why it's so damn complicated. Preliminary answers, from a progressive concerns with outcomes rather than means:</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 11pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">What Education is For:</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">1. Education is for creating a certain type of citizen. It's often emphasized that we need to encourage math and science education, which is to say we are trying to create productive, economically fruitful citizens for the purpose of our national economy and for their own ability to sustain themselves. For example, I say this with some knowledge of the values of a system that includes vocational schools, and the arguments in favor of making an institutional distinction between those with working class skills and jobs and those with service class skills and jobs. It might be the case, for example, that that sort of division makes it easier for everyone to develop a minimum level of skills needed to succeed and become economically independent and to be a productive member of society.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 11pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Others argue, and I tend to agree with them, that what we need is broader than that. I still think it needs to be firmly defined and if at all possible, operationalized, so don't think I have some nebulous conception of an idealized Montessori-for-everyone system (as awesome as those schools are). I think we need to be cultivating critical thinking, logical reasoning, the ability to amass and process data in productive ways, argue, employ and critique rhetoric, understand abstract concepts. We should be instilling the valuing of knowledge, of empathy and understanding, of science and its capacity to understand and change the world. We should be teaching science as well as scientific thinking, math as well as formal logical thinking, history and an understanding of narratives and politics, economics, politics and how they work, and absolutely the ability to write well. These qualities are necessary for a functioning democracy, they serve national interests, and they are also vital for allowing people to self-actualize.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 11pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">How we gain insight into our educational system:</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">2. Testing. Absolutely. I would never argue against the use of empirical data to understand whether or not important things are happening. I get fairly apoplectic when I see the phrase, “<a href="http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-stories/2011-03-29/michelle-rhees-cheating-scandal-school-test-score-irregularities/full/#">policies that over-rationalize teaching and learning</a>.” Over-rationalize? As if rationality isn’t the way to go? The problems are: what are we testing, and what are the effects of testing? The answer to the second is clear: not always, but often, teaching to the test, overly standardized classrooms and teacher cheating. The reason for this, I think, is because of the answer to the first question, which is mostly multiple choice questions about specific knowledge bases. If we had broader questions, more essays and questions about critical thinking, (tests for which have been developed. Mostly, they're just incredibly expensive to proctor and grade), then it would be hard to teach to the test, and even if it happened, the kids would be being taught the right things. I'm still in support of specific knowledge, of course; people need to be mathematically and scientifically literate. But we absolutely need to test better. I happen to agree with Michelle Rhee that cheating is probably not that common, and anyway, it would be much harder to cheat on these tests. </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 11pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">What the problems are:</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">3. </span><a href="http://www.openeducation.net/2009/04/01/poverty-and-education-the-challenge-of-improving-schools/" style="font-family: Times; font-size: medium;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000099; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Poverty</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, </span><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/22/opinion/22herbert.html?_r=2&ref=opinion" style="font-family: Times; font-size: medium;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000099; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">race</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, marginalization, poor parent involvement, </span><a href="http://www.dollarsandsense.org/archives/1998/0398connell.html" style="font-family: Times; font-size: medium;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000099; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">not</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><a href="http://edr.sagepub.com/content/28/6/4.short" style="font-family: Times; font-size: medium;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000099; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">enough money</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, not enough ideas, poor health and yes, in some part, bad teachers. So what do we do? A few things. We should absolutely be funding, probably on a federal level, extracurricular activities, after school programs, breakfasts, clubs, sports, medical facilities on campus for free, etc. These are proven to raise student performance and also increase the well-being of entire communities. See </span><a href="http://ies.ed.gov/ncee/wwc/publications/quickreviews/qrreport.aspx?qrid=34" style="font-family: Times; font-size: medium;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000099; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">here</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, </span><a href="http://neatoday.org/2011/01/31/after-school-programs-prove-key-to-closing-gaps/" style="font-family: Times; font-size: medium;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000099; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">here </span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">and </span><a href="http://www.afterschoolalliance.org/issue_briefs/issue_rural_4.pdf" style="font-family: Times; font-size: medium;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000099; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">here</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. They allow parents to work throughout the day and make more money, make school a safe and healthy environment, keep kids off the streets and reduce the </span><a href="http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/05/090505111652.htm" style="font-family: Times; font-size: medium;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000099; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">disparity</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> between wealthy neighborhoods and poorer neighborhoods.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 11pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">As for ideas, somehow we need to encourage alternative learning methods like plays and dance and projects for students who learn differently. We don't have to test them differently, but we should teach differently. We should definitely be launching pilot programs. Charter schools are great for this, when they're not funded by corporate interests who want all schools privatized. Longer school years would be great. </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 11pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">And sure, we should fire bad teachers. With good tests as well as a good understanding of pedagogy, we can see who those are. There's a metric, for example, called "</span><a href="http://www.latimes.com/news/local/teachers-investigation/" style="font-family: Times; font-size: medium;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000099; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">value</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><a href="http://www.wcer.wisc.edu/news/coverstories/value_added_and_other_measures.php" style="font-family: Times; font-size: medium;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000099; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">added</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">", which measures how much teachers add to a student's ability in a year, regardless of the starting point. We know that bigger classes with better teachers are better than smaller classes with worse teachers. I'm ok with bonuses and performance pay mostly, I'm just worried about what that's going to incentivize, because it may not be creativity. What would be really helpful would be higher standards (they should have a degree in what they're teaching and we should pay for them to get masters degrees in education) and pay them all much more money to get the good ones. </span><a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/michelle-rhee/why-studentsfirst-support_b_842220.html" style="font-family: Times; font-size: medium;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000099; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Unions</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> can play a </span><a href="about:blank" style="font-family: Times; font-size: medium;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000099; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">great role</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> in this. We focus so much on teacher tenure and such, but unions do other things as well. I worry, for example, that this more dynamic, market-based system might cause more movement of teachers between schools, and that lack of continuity can be bad for children's learning and development.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 11pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">These are my ideas, and they're probably overly idealistic and would cost a lot of money, but it might help us rethink how we approach education. At least we should be asking the right questions.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br />
</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">EDIT: I forgot to mention that many of the ideas I have here about the importance of alternative methods of learning and the construction of citizens I got from Martha Nussbaum's new book,<a href="http://press.princeton.edu/titles/9112.html"> Not for Profit</a>. Although, I suppose I should point out that the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Republic_(Plato)">ancient Greeks</a> pretty much had those things figured out, with the balance between gymnastics, <a href="http://www.sacred-texts.com/eso/sta/sta19.htm">music</a> and <a href="http://members.cox.net/mathmistakes/music.htm">mathematics</a>, and education as cultivation. Also pretty much <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean-Jacques_Rousseau">every</a> <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Immanuel_Kant">political</a> <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Stuart_Mill">philosopher</a> <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Rawls">ever</a> <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aristotle">had</a> this opinion about education. </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 11pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></div>Strangelethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00750375109270713658noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9116574572286428265.post-17372129390866957602011-04-15T18:42:00.001-05:002011-04-28T11:49:21.415-05:00Speaking Up<div style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Times; font-size: medium;"><span id="internal-source-marker_0.6806818970944732" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The first talk I went to was called ‘<a href="http://www.americanhumanist.org/What_We_Do/Annual_Conference/2011/schedule">Evolutionary Leadership for a Just and Sustainable World</a>’</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I wasn’t sure exactly why this talk thought it was describing “Evolutionary Leadership,” but it essentially described a sort of classic criticism of the way we live today, that we are not seeing the vast, overarching forces and narratives that in many ways constrain and change our lives. <a href="http://www.evolutionleader.com/topics/papers.htm">Manuel Manga</a>, the speaker, said that there were impending crises, ecological and economic, and that to have our vision focused narrowly on our lives, for example, allowed us to miss these problems. He directed our attention to the importance of using our capacities to satisfying human needs and also acknowledging our interconnectedness, globally and with other species. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">There were few concrete suggestions, but I generally appreciated the overall mood. I was worried about what “being connected with nature” might mean for his attitude towards <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transhumanism">transhumanism</a>, which is rather important to me. Of course we’re connected with nature, sort of, and we should acknowledge it, especially insofar as we need the environment to work for us and to prevent needless suffering. Past that, though, I’m less sure. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The most important part of the talk for me was when someone asked a question regarding the way one might communicate these ideas to a larger audience. It started innocuously, but then quickly moved into dangerous territory when he ‘worried’ that perhaps it would be difficult to speak to groups where words like ‘paradigm’ for example, weren’t common. And then he used a phrase that has served condescending elitists well for many decades. He said, “What if we have to dumb it down for them?” And it was at this point that I became rather uncomfortable. I mentioned in my <a href="http://fantasticastoria.blogspot.com/2011/04/aha-2011.html">last post</a> that I had been worried about the community and the culture that would exist at this conference, and it began to dawn on me that perhaps this population of middle-aged, wealthy, white, very liberal atheists didn’t have all that much in common with me, despite the apparent similarities, because they also seemed to think that they might be better than anyone who didn’t understand the word ‘paradigm.’ Then another woman picked up the phrase, because that’s often how language works, and added “They fall for the hype. That’s what they want to hear” referring probably to either poor populations or largely conservative ones, assuming that somehow they were more prone to cognitive biases than the people in the room. Which as anyone who’s done some rudimentary research into cognitive science knows, is ridiculous. In fact, a few were developing as she spoke: <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Group_polarization">group polarization</a> and <a href="http://picture.funnycorner.net/funny-pictures/4994/conformity.jpg">conformity</a>. I really didn’t know what to do. So I did the only thing I could; I spoke up.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Manuel had already begun to move on, but I raised my hand and said something like, “I’m disturbed by, during a presentation about being loving humans, an us vs them narrative being created. People respond to hype because we all do. We’re exquisitely sensitive to the context in which we’re brought up, that’s what this presentation is about [creating and educating better leaders]. If people don’t understand us, we’re not being good communicators; it doesn’t mean they’re unintelligent.”</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I felt good about making the statement, changing the direction of the talk, and even more so when a couple sitting behind me, whose names I don’t remember [EDIT: I think the woman’s name was Carol Solomon] nodded approvingly. Later, when I went to introduce myself, she congratulated and complimented me, and her husband told me that they’d been fidgeting uncomfortably, thinking exactly the same thing, wanting to say something but that I’d said it better. Then he hugged me. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">At some other point, a fellow named Bruce stopped me in the hallway and said I’d made the best comment during the talk, especially the emphasis on self-responsibility [in terms of our responsibility to communicate well]. I completely understood what he meant, and told him about how I’d chosen UChicago over a small liberal arts school like Amherst or Oberlin because I was worried that there would be too much agreement and not enough rigorous justification going around. That might be totally unfounded regarding the schools, but the principle of encouraging heterogeneity rather than homogeneity still stands. I also brought up a <a href="http://donvandergriff.wordpress.com/2010/06/15/the-disadvantages-of-an-elite-education-by-william-deresiewicz/">fantastic essay</a> I read once about higher education and the opportunities it closes off, in particular the ability to talk to people who haven’t had a college education. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">So that was a tremendous ego boost, and it also reassured me that the atheist/humanist community was a place I wanted to be. Nonetheless, that kind of readjustment is important sometimes, and it requires that somebody say something. Otherwise, as <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asch_conformity_experiments">Asch’s conformity studies</a> show, even smart people will say things that are very very wrong. It’s a constant vigilance kind of thing, making sure that your actions and speech are in line with your beliefs, and making sure that the world around you reflects the kind of world you want to see. </span><br />
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</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">For a recap of the conference, go <a href="http://fantasticastoria.blogspot.com/2011/04/aha-2011.html">here</a>.</span></div>Strangelethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00750375109270713658noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9116574572286428265.post-10967030665280991442011-04-15T11:32:00.000-05:002011-04-15T13:44:12.739-05:00AHA 2011 - A Recap<span class="Apple-style-span">I spent this last weekend at the <a href="http://www.americanhumanist.org/What_We_Do/Annual_Conference/2011">American Humanist Association national conference</a>. It was amazing. So amazing, in fact, that I have a lot to say about it, and according to <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J._T._Eberhard">JT Eberhardt</a> and <a href="http://www.secularstudents.org/staff">Jesse Galef</a> (more on these folks later), I really ought to be blogging more, so there will be quite a flurry of posts coming up.<br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; "></span><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; ">First, a recap:</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; ">As the secretary of the University of Chicago Secular Student Alliance, I get weekly emails from the wonderful Lyz Lyddell. A few weeks ago, it included an interesting tidbit. “Have breakfast with Richard Dawkins </span><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; ">(at the AHA conference)</span><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; "> for $49 </span><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; ">(which is the registration fee for students)</span><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; ">!” my email offered me, ever so alluringly. (Hilarious: when told this (minus the parentheticals) at the conference, Richard Dawkins himself said, <a href="http://www.blaghag.com/2011/04/match-atheist-to-conference-quote.html">“I feel like a prostitute!”</a>) Of course, I couldn’t resist, and signed up. I didn’t really know what to expect. I’ve only been to one conference, and that was <a href="http://media.anthro.univie.ac.at/ISHE/">ISHE (International Society for Human Ethology) </a>with my father last summer, which turned out to be a lot like the University of Chicago all grown up. Nerdy scientists walking around, asking interesting questions and making psychology-related jokes. But what would a conference of atheist activists look like?</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; "></span><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; ">As it happens, oddly similar.</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; "></span><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; ">I arrived on Thursday evening and went straight to my aunts’ house and caught up with one of my aunts and my cousin while raiding the fridge (garbage salad + ice cream is delicious nighttime snack) and playing monopoly. My cousin, who’s been homebound for a week after knee surgery, has gotten problematically good, but I survived with my Secret Socialist Strategies of making alliances and putting on my puppy face when it looked as if things weren’t going my way. You should try it sometime. Anyway, I got to bed and set my alarm for the terrifyingly early 6:45 so I get get out the door by 7:30 and be at the conference for registration at 8:30. And in fact, that’s what happened, except my aunt drove me part of the way, and the bus came in a timely fashion, and I was at the Hyatt Regency in Cambridge by 8:15. Me? Early for something? I must have been really excited. </span><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; "> </span><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; ">I registered, walked to the restaurant to grab some coffee and immediately started meeting people. It was a pretty welcoming crowd the whole weekend through, which was certainly reassuring. I ran into my friend <a href="http://sleepinginsundays.com/">Josh Oxley</a>, who’s the graduate advisor to Rockefeller Chapel back at UChicago. Eventually, it was time for the first breakout session, and on the way there, I ran into none other than <a href="http://www.gretachristina.typepad.com/">Greta Christina</a>. I almost freaked out. That’s a lie; I did freak out, but in general I kept it together. She was incredibly sweet, waving my silliness away when I ‘admitted’ to being boringly cis and straight and even recognizing my name from the comments. We then walked over to the breakout sessions, which varied in topic and quality. </span><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; "></span><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; ">In the middle of the day, I was invited to have lunch with the “Feminist Caucus” which seemed like a good idea, with <a href="http://majesty-of-being.blogspot.com/">Serah Blain</a> discussing the difficulties that mothers have in going to meetings and conferences and others bringing in ideas about gender and technology. Unfortunately, it was pretty disorganized, so I have no idea what’ll happen with that. </span><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; "></span><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; ">After the first session of the afternoon, I got to meet Jen McCreight of <a href="http://www.blaghag.com/">Blag Hag</a> and Lyz Lydell, Sharon Moss and JT Eberhard of the <a href="http://www.secularstudents.org/">Secular Student Alliance</a>, which made me really happy. Then, on the way over to the next breakout session, I went by the SSA table and saw Jesse Galef, the Communications Director for the Secular Student Alliance. As it turns out, he’s my second cousin, so I introduced myself and we ended up talking straight through the session and the afternoon plenary. How things work when you read all of the same blogs and have many similar interests. </span><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; "></span><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; ">After the plenary, they brought out fruit and cheese and other nibblings for noshing, and I got to briefly meet the wonderful <a href="http://www.centerforinquiry.net/speakers/goddard_debbie/">Debbie Goddard</a>, with whom I’ve been exchanging email for a while. More on her later. Also, Roy Zimmerman. Now, let me explain this. <a href="http://www.royzimmerman.com/">Roy Zimmerman</a> is a liberal satirist songwriter who as far as I’m concerned is this generation’s Tom Lehrer with a more partisan (as a compliment) bent. He’s excellent. I’ve been listening to his songs obsessively for years. And then he was there! In the room! Much taller than expected! Which I told him, in an effort to defuse my overwhelming fangirliness. But he was great, and we had a fun conversation in the midst of a massive swirling of hungry people about the use of music and art to broaden the conversation surrounding political activism (to which Debbie said “We need to be friends”), especially in his series <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ufkD_QyY_MY">The Starving Ear</a>. I also asked him about the use of satire in difficult circumstances, as in <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BuNEq7gHqF8">The Sing Along Second Amendment</a>, when he references the Columbine tragedy. He responded that he felt that humor engaged people and challenged them, especially when it was about difficult topics. I was impressed by how much he’d thought about these things, as evidenced by his deep sincerity when we discussed a time when he hadn’t used humor (or perhaps it’s simply black humor), in his song the <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YMBAVNud9cQ">The Last Man</a>. He just seemed to feel that his humor was his contribution, but also saying that songs often wrote and rewrote themselves, allowing him to just follow along and see where they led. I also complimented him on his measured response to the commenter on that song who seemed offended (though I felt he’d misunderstood the lyrics). To me, it demonstrated that Roy really sees his songs as a medium through which to transmit a message, not just to poke fun at people he doesn’t like. He could certainly get caught up in the idiotic flame wars on youtube in general, but he lets his faithful commenters do that (see: <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f3qgiNPVpSM">To Be A Liberal</a>). </span><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; "></span><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; ">Eventually, things wrapped up, and because I was on a student registration, I wasn’t invited to the evening banquet, so several of us students went off to try to find food in Cambridge. It ended up being me and Josh, as well as several excellent folks we had met throughout the day, namely Serah, Josiah, Thomas (a 21 year old computer science PhD!) and <a href="http://kaleenamenke.blogspot.com/">Kaeleena</a>. We found a pub/bar and started to get comfortable when we discovered that the upstairs, where we had been seated was 21+, which was a problem for Serah, who had forgotten my ID and me, as I had also ‘forgotten’ my ID. When obstacles like that used to come up, it was always strangely awkward, so I was relieved adults tend to handle themselves better. We just up and left and found an Indian place on Mass Ave. Interestingly enough, most of us were vegetarian or vegan, so that was quite convenient. We talked about that as well as the relative benefits of nuclear power all through dinner. </span><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; "></span><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; ">Afterwards, everyone except Tommy and myself went off to have a good time, but he needed to go home, and I needed to get back to my aunts’ place. Given my awful sense of direction, I was lucky that a Green Line station was close, so we both got home just fine. My aunts were still awake, despite the lateness of the hour, so I got to talk to them about the conference and what humanism meant to me. I actually didn’t know what their beliefs were (we’re a family of generally secular Jews, but it varies), so I explained it all in the most diplomatic way possible. They seemed to really take to the idea and were really supportive and interested, which just strengthened my convictions about the worldview I’ve chosen for myself. In particular, I think they took to the notions of the harms of religion towards women and gays and other marginalized groups throughout history. When I told them the statistic about atheists being the <a href="http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/story?id=1786422&page=1">most mistrusted group in America</a>, they were genuinely shocked. One of my aunts eventually went to bed and I spoke with the other about the different approached to humanism and atheism, making sure to emphasize the positive elements. Much to my surprise, she wanted to know more about <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_God_Delusion">Dawkins</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/God_Is_Not_Great">Hitchens</a> and their respective books, so maybe she’ll turn into one of those evil ol’ confrontationists :)</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; "></span><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; ">The next day, there were more talks. There seems to be a lot of talking at these conferences. I missed the early morning plenary because the Boston public transit system was not nearly as helpful as it had been the previous day. Something to do with it being Saturday, and late, and I had to take a different bus, it was all kind of a mess. Luckily, I have a somewhat intelligent phone, so I downloaded the bus schedule as a pdf and boy does the BTA’s site not have a mobile version. Also, the pdf only showed the arrival time to one stop along the entire route besides the end points, and it happened to be mine. What if I’d been somewhere else? Am I supposed to be able to calculate all that? This is why I don’t like public transportation #firstworldproblems.</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; "></span><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; ">Anyway, talks and food (pizza party for the students, at which we got much free schwag from the Richard Dawkins foundation including two <a href="http://outcampaign.org/">A-pins</a>, which I’ve been wearing around everywhere). Because I go to a largely secular university where self-deprecation rules all interactions, no one minds or is offended by the symbol or message (once I explain it), but they all think the ‘scarlet letter’ thing is much too earnest and clever for its own good). Afterwards, I ran into Debbie Goddard again, and I took the opportunity to ask her about the different movements within The Movement, and she told me the story of Skeptics and Humanism and Atheism and Secularism and how those map onto the <a href="http://www.secularhumanism.org/">Council for Secular Humanism</a>, the <a href="http://www.centerforinquiry.net/">Center for Inquiry</a>, <a href="http://www.ffrf.org/">Freedom from Religion Foundation</a>, <a href="http://www.secular.org/">Secular Coalition for America</a> and the <a href="http://www.csicop.org/">Committee for Skeptical Inquiry</a></span><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: bold; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; ">. </span><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; ">We also discussed race and the way in which cultural privilege can blind much of these movements to the wariness of, for example, the black community to medicine and science, which we see as unequivocally good, not having in our cultural narrative Tuskegee and AIDS. She also pointed out that the science as a force for good narrative is also tempered by the great destruction it has wrought, and separating the science from how it’s used isn’t always easy. We transition from all that into our stories, though hers is much more interested than mine. Eventually, we’d been talking about science, secularism, atheism, activism, queer issues, race, genderqueerness, identification and all manner of other things for two hours, and then: more talks!</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; "></span><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; ">After the talks, there was yet another banquet, but this time, we students were invited, though with a different (cheaper) meal. Luckily, as a vegetarian, I got this delicious stuffed something or other. And cookies! Then, Roy Zimmerman came on stage and performed a prayer to God or Goddess or Gods or gods or none of the above, To Be A Liberal, <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uIwiPsgRrOs">Creation Science</a> and few other hits. He was on fire; the crowd loved it. Then Steve Wozniak gave a speech. Now, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_Wozniak">Steven Wozniak</a> is a very intelligent man, and that’s an understatement. But I’m pretty sure he has no idea how to give a speech. He switched topics every 3 minutes or so, ranging from how you don’t need religion in your daily life (duh) to how morality is the study of ethics revolving around truth (what?) so engineers are the best kind of people (double what?). It was strange, so I left before the Q&A and headed over to the restaurant. There, I had a series of conversations about rationality, morality and religion with Jesse Galef, John Shook, Annie Calicotte, Woody Kaplan and others. The problem with conversations like this is that they last a while, in this case until 2:30 in the morning, when only a few of us were left talking (I think it ended with me, Jesse, <a href="http://nonprophetstatus.com/">Chris Stedman</a> and Josiah talking about community service and interfaith work). </span><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; "></span><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; ">I thought about staying at the hotel, but my aunt had been so sweet as to text me telling me to call her to open the door at whatever hour, so I called a taxi, which failed to come for quite a while, and when it did, had a driver upset that I was asking him to take me to Boston. This left me quite confused and thinking about <a href="http://books.google.com/books?id=ZZjk2PCBrj8C&pg=PA46&lpg=PA46&dq=taxicab+mandelbrot+set+flatterland&source=bl&ots=_02l8FeDEK&sig=HbMR5eNXhrGcfQLkcYXevyFGGG4&hl=en&ei=5neoTYTNMe-K0QG14dX5CA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=2&ved=0CB0Q6AEwAQ#v=onepage&q=taxicab%20mandelbrot%20set%20flatterland&f=false">Mandelbrot sets</a>. Does he want to drive me to the border of cambridge and leave me there to grab another taxi into Roxbury? I think not. Eventually, very late, I got back, crashed, and woke up three hours later for the last day of the conference.</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; "></span><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; ">I’d tell you about all the closing sessions, but I don’t know anything about them. Public transportation failed me, coming infrequently on Sundays and then being almost an hour late, so I got to the hotel rather late, and then spent the entire morning talking to Jesse, Jen McCreight and Sandra Korn, who came up from Harvard to see me! We had a good time talking about the importance and drawbacks of outspoken activism, and I got to ask Jen whether group selectionism is actually taken very seriously in evolutionary biology (answer: no) or whether punctuated equilibrium vs gradualism is a matter of some debate (answer: no, they’re just useful for different types of analysis). I also got to express my admiration for the inclusiveness of the community, and how they’d all come together despite being bloggers from opposite sides of the country. Jen acknowledged that the grassroots nature of their work added to the conferences made for deep friendships that easily brought in new people (like me? I sure hope so). </span><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; "></span><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; ">And that’s actually one of my main takeaways from the conference. Atheism, as Debbie Goddard pointed out, doesn’t actually say much. It just means you don’t believe in god or gods. It doesn’t mean you’re a liberal, or scientific, or rational, or political, or an activist, or a humanist or kind or fun to be around. So I was worried that bringing lots of people together under such a minimal banner wouldn’t necessarily create a supportive and challenging and exciting community, and I was so thrilled to realize that, at least in this case, it did. It made me want to get all the more involved and energized and be a part of this excellent, thriving, diverse (somewhat; we’re working on it) community, filled with opinionated people of different persuasions, bringing their experience and thoughts to bear on making our movement broader, bigger and better.</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; "></span><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; ">Things started to end around noon, so I said goodbye to all the incredible people I’d met, sad to leave, but excited to go back and bring all of my new ideas to my community. Sandra and I went off to lunch, talking about our blogs and the interaction between <a href="http://fantasticastoria.blogspot.com/2010/09/example-3-activism-and-intellectualism.html">rationalism/intellectualism and politics/activism</a>, which she thinks a lot about as well. She took me to Harvard, where she goes to school, so I could see her room and meet some of her friends (many who were Christian, interestingly, but also one “secular, hard agnostic, socially liberal, fiscally conservative Israeli nationalist.”) When they asked about why I was in Boston, I got to grin widely and tell them a tidbit or two about the magnificent American Humanist Association National Conference, and in the case of her friends down the hall, launch into an overly excited analysis of the different words (secular, humanist, atheist, bright etc.) that are used in the movement and what separation of church and state has done for religiosity in this country (Hint: helped, at least according to Tocqueville and many religious people). </span><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; "></span><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; ">After saying goodbye to Sandra, I made my way back to Roxbury, with a fair amount of difficulty and mostly barefoot (my heels and feet were giving out; I’d been doing a lot of walking over the previous days), said goodbye to my wonderful aunts and cousins, got into a cab and got to the airport, luckily in plenty of time. Josh was already there, but he elected to grab some vouchers and stay another few hours, so I got back alone, and didn’t stop grinning for several days.</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; "></span><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; ">Who knew conferences could be so amazing? I’ll certainly be going to more in the future. </span></span>Strangelethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00750375109270713658noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9116574572286428265.post-43472617807450044002011-04-05T14:50:00.008-05:002011-04-25T22:10:38.544-05:00Abortion Rights Curtailed<div style="background-color: transparent;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/23/us/23sdakota.html?_r=1&partner=rss&emc=rss" id="internal-source-marker_0.9654949619434774"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">News</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> from South Dakota!</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">I’m pro-choice. I support the right to abortion. So excuse me if I get a touch irritated when attempted violations of that right are being made in what seems like every state government in this country.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Which brings us to South Dakota. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Governor Dennis Daugaard passed a law on March 22 that makes women in South Dakota who are seeking abortions to go to a pregnancy help center so as to receive assistance and advice intended “to help the mother keep and care for her child.”</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Things wrong with this bill:</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">1. Stop making it harder for women to have abortions! This is a difficult decision already, and it’s really no business of the state government what medical procedures women are undergoing as a result of decisions they’ve made themselves.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">2. So now, they have to go to a pregnancy help center. They have to go to their doctor, then hike off to some clinic with fluorescent lighting and overly smiley attendants, then go back to their doctor. After three days. They clearly aren’t capable of making the decisions themselves, so they need help. Government-mandated help, to tell them all of the options, because, you know, abortion, pregnancy and adoption constitute an incredibly difficult list to memorize. And women need it told to them in simple terms.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">3. Even worse, since the kind of consultation described above is present in other states as well, these pregnancy help centers must be staffed by anti-abortionists. I cannot believe this is even legal. The women have to go to centers (which have a disgustingly disingenuous title, by the way) to be talked at, excuse me, to, by pro-life ideologues whose job it is to convince these women that they’re making the wrong decision. The response from a founder of one of these centers? “What are they so afraid of?” Ms. Unruh asked. “That women might change their minds?” What this disgustingly flippant answer fails to address is concerns that women might be bullied, badgered, intimidated, shamed, guilted or psychologically harmed because unqualified anti-choicers are making them feel dirty, immoral and incapable of making autonomous medical decisions. I’m sure that worry is completely unfounded.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">And it gets more ridiculous. South Dakota already has the </span><a href="http://www.statehealthfacts.org/comparemaptable.jsp?cat=10&ind=465"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">lowest abortion rate in country</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> except for Wyoming and Idaho, less than a third of the national rate. Doctors already have to drive in from Minnesota to perform abortions. Those doctors are heroes, by the way. But of course more restrictions are necessary. Even more than the one-day waiting period and counseling informing women that their abortion “will terminate the life of a whole, separate, unique living human being” that are already in effect.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Why? Why are the Republicans doing this? According to Roger Hunt, one of the legislators, </span></div><div style="background-color: transparent;"><blockquote><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“There’s greater assurance that a woman considering an abortion is going to be fully informed about all the risks and about all the options. That’s not being done at the current time.” </span></blockquote><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">So, basically, because they can. What nonsense. All of this anti-choice propaganda is being thrown at women all the time. They know what their options are. Furthermore, Planned Parenthood tells them everything they need to know. They’re an incredible organization.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Unfortunately, that hasn’t been emphasized as it should. The NYT article says </span></div><blockquote><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“Each side regularly accuses the other of manipulating and coercing women.” </span></blockquote><div style="background-color: transparent;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">This is a perfect example of bullshit centrist journalism. Yes, they regularly accuse each other. But only one of those is true. The New York Times never bothers to do the journalism required to tell the readers the truth. Instead, they leave it to the Planned Parenthood president, who explained exactly what the excellent policies of Planned Parenthood are, and says, perfectly, </span></div><div style="background-color: transparent;"><blockquote><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“They’re not licensed, they’re not regulated, they’re not accredited and they’re openly ideological…[The fact that women are] legally mandated to be coerced by people who aren’t even medical professionals — not that they should be coerced by anyone — is really beyond the pale.”</span></blockquote><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">At the end of the day, this is just Republicans passing anti-woman legislation and not bothering to do anything about, you know, jobs, or anything else important. So glad half the country identifies with this party.</span></div><div style="background-color: transparent;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br />
</span></div>Strangelethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00750375109270713658noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9116574572286428265.post-85038966141644795472011-03-08T22:16:00.000-06:002011-04-25T04:17:44.579-05:00God of the Gaps, or How Wrong Can an Argument Be?<style>@font-face { font-family: "Times"; }@font-face { font-family: "Cambria"; }p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal { margin: 0in 0in 10pt; font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman"; }a:link, span.MsoHyperlink { color: blue; text-decoration: underline; }a:visited, span.MsoHyperlinkFollowed { color: purple; text-decoration: underline; }div.Section1 { page: Section1; }</style> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"></p><div style="background-color: transparent; "><span id="internal-source-marker_0.4496828159317374" style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; ">It's been a while, but I've been busy.</span><br /><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; font-size: 11pt; background-color: transparent;"></span><br /><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; ">Anyway, at some point, I promised myself I wouldn't do this (referring to atheism/theism or evolution/creation debates) anymore, but this is just too frustrating to ignore.</span><br /><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; ">HuffPost, that bastion of rigorous thought, has a gem on its page today, found </span><a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/rabbi-adam-jacobs/a-reasonable-argument-for_b_831185.html?show_comment_id=79882939" style="font-family: Times; font-size: medium; "><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(0, 0, 153); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; ">here</span></a><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; ">.</span><a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/rabbi-adam-jacobs/a-reasonable-argument-for_b_831185.html?show_comment_id=79882939" style="font-family: Times; font-size: medium; "><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(0, 0, 153); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; "></span></a><br /><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; font-size: 11pt; background-color: transparent;"></span><br /><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; ">It is, of course, a reasonable argument for the existence of god. Because the other ones aren't, obviously, but this one will rectify all the mistakes of millennia of arguments and come up with a conclusive proof that all reasonable people must accept (that must is, of course, descriptive rather than normative.</span><br /><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; font-size: 11pt; background-color: transparent;"></span><br /><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; ">Let us see. It begins,<blockquote></blockquote></span><i><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; ">“In our recent dialogue I have noticed a consistent theme. It was frequently remarked that religious lines of argumentation lack reason. The contention seems to be that most, if not all, religious systems rely solely on wholly unsubstantiated faith to support their beliefs.”</span><br /></i><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; font-size: 11pt; background-color: transparent;"></span><br /><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; ">So, there’s a somewhat valid point half-buried in here, which is that it is often assumed that religious arguments are, ipso facto, irrational, and it’s possible that that’s a problem. Here we need to think about the words we’re using, because what it is to be rational is a matter of some debate. In common usage, it generally just means sensible, as in, it makes sense to me. In a more rigorous philosophical way, it refers to those ways of thinking which are deliberative and logical. The first has more than a hint of intuitionism, and so gives us a poor test to establish the validity of an argument. After all, arguments for god frequently “make sense” to those who already believe. Regarding the second definition, my Oxford Handbook of the Philosophy of Religion will furnish as many consistent, well-reasoned arguments for god as you care to read. To contend that religious arguments are necessarily irrational is empirically incorrect, and furthermore ignores the history of philosophy, in which Alfarabi, Aristotle, Aquinas and Maimonides, rationalists all, promote their conceptions of god and religion.</span><br /><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; font-size: 11pt; background-color: transparent;"></span><br /><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; ">On the other hand, most religious systems do rely on unsubstantiated faith to support their beliefs. The “all” and “solely” are strawmen, as clearly there exist nontheistic religions along with secular aspects of religious thought. Moving on, though, it’s an entirely valid claim to make that religion is in large part based on faith. Many believers themselves make such a claim, saying that not only do they trust in the existence of unseen things, but that this faith is indeed a virtue. All of Rambam’s </span><a href="http://www.ou.org/torah/rambam.htm" style="font-family: Times; font-size: medium; "><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(0, 0, 153); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; ">Thirteen Principles of Faith</span></a><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; "> (notice the title) begin with the phrase, “I believe with perfect faith.” Aquinas counts faith among his theological virtues, the cultivation of which leads to full happiness and defines it further as </span><a href="http://bible.cc/hebrews/11-1.htm" style="font-family: Times; font-size: medium; "><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(0, 0, 153); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; ">Paul does</span></a><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; ">, saying "Faith is the substance of things to be hoped for, the evidence of things that appear not." If there were no element of faith in religion, then it would either be prescriptive without foundation, and thus incredibly weak, or subject to an enormous amount of change as empirical evidence comes to light. So the essay has not gotten itself off to a good start.</span><br /><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; font-size: 11pt; background-color: transparent;"></span><br /><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; ">But then arises the main portion of the argument, which we are told will consider the naturalistic account of the origin of life, in particular its failings. After an entire paragraph of promises that much high level intellectual work has been done on behalf of the author’s position, the subject is introduced with,</span><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; "><span class="Apple-style-span"> <blockquote></blockquote></span></span><i><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; ">"One might suppose that in the six or so decades since the discovery of the DNA molecule by Watson and Crick during which researchers have been investigating the origin of life they might have come up with some pretty solid leads to explain it. The truth of the matter is that we see scientists coming up surprisingly empty-handed and that even within scientific circles, the few hypotheses they do have are shredded to ribbons by their colleagues within the scientific community.”</span><br /></i><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; font-size: 11pt; background-color: transparent;"></span><br /><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; ">Ok, firstly, citation needed. Vague, gleeful allusions to a heartwrenchingly disunited scientific community are all too common in this kind of piece, and not appreciated. Secondly, and I really cannot believe I have to say this, but the fact that hypotheses are getting proposed and then rejected by the broader scientific community is </span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: italic; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; ">how science works</span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; ">, and more importantly </span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: italic; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; ">exactly how it is supposed to work.</span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; "> Criticize the Baconian method if you like, criticize the historical materialist nature of science, criticize empiricism, but please do not disparage an enterprise you contend has failed for doing exactly what it sets out to do. Finally, we do have some leads, not that it matters. If we had not a semblance of a shadow of an idea, that would not indicate that naturalism had somehow failed. Is this the argument you would have used before we came to a (moderate) consensus on the Big Bang? But, in fact, we do. The </span><a href="http://www.simsoup.info/Origin_Landmarks_Oparin_Haldane.html" style="font-family: Times; font-size: medium; "><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(0, 0, 153); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; ">Oparin-Haldane hypothesis,</span></a><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; "> for one. And others. There’s a </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abiogenesis" style="font-family: Times; font-size: medium; "><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(0, 0, 153); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; ">wikipedia </span></a><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; ">page. You should have read it before you wrote this.</span><br /><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; "><i><blockquote></blockquote>“So how is a non-religious scientist expected to contend with this dearth of hard evidence?"</i></span></div><div style="background-color: transparent; "><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; "></span><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; ">By turning to you for answers, of course! Because that’s what scientists do when they don’t know the answer.</span><br /><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; font-size: 11pt; background-color: transparent;"></span><br /><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; ">Now comes the copypasta of ostensibly relevant quotes.</span><br /><i><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; "><blockquote></blockquote>"One must conclude that ... a scenario describing the genesis of life on Earth by chance and natural causes which can be accepted on the basis of fact and not faith has not yet been written." (Dr. H.P. Yockey, physicist, information theorist and contributor to the Manhattan Project)</span><br /></i><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; font-size: 11pt; background-color: transparent;"></span><br /><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; ">A physicist, information theorist, and most-destructive-thing-people-ever-created-creator, but interestingly enough, not a biologist. That’s not a sufficient argument, of course, as information theory is very important in biology. But pretty much only creationists take Dr. Yockey seriously, as he provides so many pithy tidbits on the failure of science to do what he wants (in this case, defund SETI). Criticisms of his argument can be found </span><a href="http://richardcarrier.blogspot.com/2006/11/yockey-on-biogenesis.html" style="font-family: Times; font-size: medium; "><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(0, 0, 153); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; ">here</span></a><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; "> and </span><a href="http://www.infidels.org/library/modern/richard_carrier/addendaB.html" style="font-family: Times; font-size: medium; "><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(0, 0, 153); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; ">here</span></a><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; ">, and even those take the </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Universal_probability_bound" style="font-family: Times; font-size: medium; "><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(0, 0, 153); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; ">Dembski threshold</span></a><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; "> too seriously, as far as I’m concerned.</span><br /><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; font-size: 11pt; background-color: transparent;"></span><br /><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; ">The general idea behind the Dembski threshold is that life is extremely improbable, so its natural formation is impossible. This deeply problematic conflation of improbability with impossibility is addressed by relying on the number of particles in the universe times the number of seconds since the universe began (I’m glad, by the way, that we’re accepting that number on “faith”) being orders of magnitude higher than the odds against life happening. The general problem with that being that there’s no reason why the universe has to cycle through all possible configurations before getting to the one we’re interested, which is why despite there being ~8E67 ways to lay out a deck of 52 cards, no particular ordering is impossible. Even if we accept that, though, there are many issues with the argument, including the fact that, by and large, the numbers don’t fall on the far side of this “Dembski threshold.” Leaving all that aside, it’s possible that this quote is right, but even so, the theory we need hasn’t been written…</span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: italic; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; ">yet</span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; ">. The history of supposedly intractable problems solved by science is long, and the history of “Golly gee, I have no idea” is less paved by success.</span><br /><i><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; "><blockquote></blockquote>"The theory behind theory is that you come up with truly testable ideas. Otherwise it's no different from faith. It might as well be a religion if there's no evidence for it." (Dr. J. Craig Venter, Biologist and one of the first people to sequence the human genome)</span><br /></i><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; font-size: 11pt; background-color: transparent;"></span><br /><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; ">Ah, Craig Venter, beloved by accomodationists and creationists alike. Quite a few problems with this one. Firstly, that’s an egregiously broad use of the word ‘theory’ which just contributes to the confusion surrounding the issue. Whatever leads we have on abiogenesis, they are hypothesis about how things came about, not overarching organizing principles, so let’s get that straight. Next, yes, of course, testable ideas are paramount, but that doesn’t make expecting a naturalistic explanation to arise, as it has every other time, faith. Furthermore, hypotheses and theories can still be helpful in ascertaining various ways of looking at an issue, as in string theory, and also, things like Bayesian probability can actually give us near certainty on things that can’t be tested, like the </span><a href="http://lesswrong.com/lw/q7/if_manyworlds_had_come_first/" style="font-family: Times; font-size: medium; "><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(0, 0, 153); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; ">Everett interpretation</span></a><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; "> of quantum mechanics. And then, finally, methodological naturalism has a track record unlike essentially anything else, so comparing the vast intricacy of ritual, symbolism and entrenched faith that constitute religion to an expectation that science will, as it so often does, win out, is patently ridiculous. There are different kinds of faith being talked about here, and conflating them is bordering on intellectually dishonest.</span><br /><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; font-size: 11pt; background-color: transparent;"></span><br /><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; ">The author goes on to assert that we can either accept science on faith, an inherently silly notion, or we can believe in the power of chance, which is an argument that has always been at the bottom of the proverbial barrel in ongoing debates of this kind, so I won’t address it, except to say that the quote that follows it from </span><a href="http://www.robertshapiro.org/" style="font-family: Times; font-size: medium; "><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(0, 0, 153); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; ">Robert Shapiro </span></a><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; ">is ruthlessly quote-mined from a scientist who believes in nothing like what this article is promoting and has in fact written several books about potential origins of life. He continues on the irrelevant chance tangent and adds in some more quote mining for good measure (“</span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; "><i>An honest man, armed with all the knowledge available to us now, could only state that in some sense, the origin of life appears at the moment to be almost a miracle, so many are the conditions which would have had to have been satisfied to get it going</i></span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; ">,” is followed directly in Francis’ book by “</span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; "><i>but this should not be taken to imply that there are good reasons to believe that it could not have started on the earth by a perfectly reasonable sequence of fairly ordinary chemical reactions</i></span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; ">.”)</span><br /><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; font-size: 11pt; background-color: transparent;"></span><br /><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; ">Then he moves into a complete misunderstanding of evolution.</span><br /><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; font-size: 11pt; background-color: transparent;"></span><br /><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; ">“</span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; "><i>Evolution can only begin once we already have a dazzlingly complex, self-replicating, living cell with which to work”</i></span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; "> is a completely untrue statement. </span><a href="http://www.biology-direct.com/content/3/1/11" style="font-family: Times; font-size: medium; "><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(0, 0, 153); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; ">Any replicator with semi-fidelitous hereditary factors</span></a><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; ">undergoing attrition will evolve. That’s how the math works, and the real world, too.</span><br /><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; font-size: 11pt; background-color: transparent;"></span><br /><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; ">Rabbi Adam Jacobs then says something absolutely remarkable, not only for its utter absurdity, but also for its sheer disrespect for all philosophical positions mentioned. <blockquote style="font-style: normal; "></blockquote><i>“That -- the origin of that first cell, not what happened thereafter -- is the fundamental basis of disagreement between theist and atheist.”</i></span><i><br /></i><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; font-size: 11pt; background-color: transparent;"></span><br /><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; ">I really, deeply, fundamentally, hope that’s not the truth. Because I pride myself on rationality and truth, science being a phenomenal method of using the former to get to the latter, and many religious people pride themselves on not only those things, but a much more far-reaching understanding of the divine than highly negentropic chemical generation. But he goes on to his even more ridiculous conclusion:</span><br /><i><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; "><blockquote></blockquote>“I posit to you that all the evidence points, in an obvious and inextricable way, to a supernatural explanation for the origin of life. If there are no known naturalistic explanations and the likelihood that "chance" played any role is wildly minute, then it is a perfectly </span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; ">reasonable</span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; "> position to take that a conscious super-intelligence (that some of us call God) was the architect of life on this planet. Everyone agrees to the appearance of design. It is illogical to assume its non-design in the absence of evidence to the contrary.”</span><br /></i><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; font-size: 11pt; background-color: transparent;"></span><br /><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; ">No. No, no and no. Absolutely not. The evidence in no way points to a supernatural explanation for everything. What evidence? Where? And in what way would we account for the natural world pointing to a supernatural explanation? All the lack of evidence hurled at the scientists is there for the theist, doubled, and then squared because the evidence for the supernatural, if your philosophy allows for such a thing, would have to be insurmountable. And it’s not. This is not a reasonable position. It’s a tentative one, until we find an explanation for abiogenesis, and then this God of the Gaps nonsense is going to move on to something else.</span><br /><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; font-size: 11pt; background-color: transparent;"></span><br /><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; ">The key phrase in this paragraph is “the </span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: italic; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; ">appearance</span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; "> of design.” Not design itself, the appearance of design. And that can be and will be accounted for. Let us not pretend otherwise.</span><br /><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; font-size: 11pt; background-color: transparent;"></span><br /><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; ">As for the prolix quote that ends the piece, that too is mined from a naturalist scientist who is pointing out the difficulties and limitations of materialism, and the deep and abiding commitment anyone who wants the truth has to make to it, so as to be seduced by easy explanations which give us no further understanding of the universe and as such fail the enlightenment project.</span><br /><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; font-size: 11pt; background-color: transparent;"></span><br /><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; ">I like to have my intelligence respected, so let us have no more of this.</span></div><p></p>Strangelethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00750375109270713658noreply@blogger.com2