Science / Tech
Vaccine Rejectionism and the Left
For most of the past two centuries, the Left has been identified with science and against obscurantism; we have believed that rational thought and the fearless analysis of objective reality (both natural and social) are incisive tools for combating the mystifications promoted by the powerful. … Theorizing about “the social construction
Autonomous Vehicles: Hype or Reality?
Automobile accidents are the second leading cause of death worldwide, with roughly 1.3 million fatalities annually according to the World Health Organization. China accounts for roughly 260,000 of those and the United States roughly 40,000. Car ownership is growing in developing countries, which will increase the number
The Exhibitionist Economy
When former Facebook product manager Frances Haugen leaked thousands of internal company documents to the Wall Street Journal in September, it led to another cycle of acrimonious allegations of corporate irresponsibility. “I’ve seen a bunch of social networks,” Haugen told 60 Minutes in an interview, “and it was substantially
Vaccinology, Immunology, and COVID-19
Louis Pasteur worked at a time when very little was understood about microbes and even less was understood about the human responses that kept them at bay. He is best known for advancing germ theory, which distinguished itself from the prevailing concept of “miasma” or putrefaction suffusing the ether. “Gentlemen,
Biology Won’t Solve Your Problems with Abortion
I’m a biologist. A neuroscientist, actually. Since I received my PhD in Biological Psychology from the University of Chicago, I’ve spent more than a couple of decades as a professor and scientist in both Psychology and Biology departments, and I’ve written a bit about the history and
The Culture War is Coming for Your Genes
In the opening pages of The Genetic Lottery, Dr Kathryn Paige Harden sets out her mission: “What I am aiming to do in this book is re-envision the relationship between genetic science and equality. … I will argue that the science of individual differences is compatible with full-throated egalitarianism.” In this
Be Rational
Rationality is uncool. To describe someone with a slang word for the cerebral, like nerd, wonk, geek, or brainiac, is to imply they are terminally challenged in hipness. For decades, Hollywood screenplays and rock-song lyrics have equated joy and freedom with an escape from reason. “A man needs a little
The Truth about Autogynephilia
It was an “aha” moment, says Ray Blanchard. In the mid-1980s, the clinical psychologist was working at the Clarke Institute of Psychiatry in Toronto, trying to work out what motivated gender-dysphoric men who wanted cross-sex hormones and surgery. And now he had met “Philip,” a patient whose case history made
