Science - Quillette (Page 7)

How I Lost My Partner to a Parasite

"This monster isn’t David. It’s a parasite of some kind. You see, another consciousness inside him. This thing burrowed into David’s brain … and has been there, feeding off him ever since." - Loudermilk, FX Legion.

Maryam Henein

15 Apr 2019 · 13 min read

In Defense of Scientism

Once we have identified a desirable end—human flourishing—we can and should use science to discover and promote the policies that encourage it.

Bo Winegard and Ben Winegard

6 Apr 2019 · 14 min read

Science Denial Won’t End Sexism

We can acknowledge that male and female brains have differences in structure and function, on average, without subscribing to the belief that one sex is better than the other.

Debra Soh

11 Mar 2019 · 6 min read

Enlightenment Wars: Some Reflections on 'Enlightenment Now,' One Year Later

As Thomas Paine wrote, “To argue with someone who has renounced the use of reason is like administering medicine to the dead.”

Steven Pinker

14 Jan 2019 · 52 min read

Should We Use Genetic Technology to Boost Human Intelligence?

Instead of using the label “eugenics” to discredit advocates of genetic enhancement, it would be more productive to ask what precisely we deem unacceptable and why.

Julien Delhez

5 Jan 2019 · 12 min read

Strange Bedfellows: The Peculiar Alliance Between Centrist Liberals and Radical Feminists

Trans radicalism is not a war against feminism.

Charlotte Shelton

2 Jan 2019 · 11 min read

A Surfeit of Empathy and an Absence of Compassion

As a parent of an ROGD teen, it has been so disheartening to see so few mainstream sources publishing balanced views on this topic. We have glowing “protransition” pieces in the left-wing press, and (often) angry, and even anti-trans pieces in the right-wing or religious press. These articles are just

Samuel Veissière

9 Dec 2018 · 7 min read

What Can Artificial Intelligence Teach Us About Political Polarization?

Fortunately, there are measures that each of us can take to keep the excesses of dimensionality reduction in check. Unfortunately, they all require a potentially uncomfortable dose of humility.

Jeremie Harris

27 Oct 2018 · 6 min read

What Good Is Evolutionary Psychology?

Without an understanding of the selection pressures that shaped our minds, much of human existence is frustratingly bewildering.

Tristan Flock

17 Oct 2018 · 7 min read

Do Advocacy Groups Belong in Academia?

Science seeks to explain the world, but explanation conflicts with condemnation, which is an important component of injustice and in turn advocacy.

Uri Harris

11 Oct 2018 · 11 min read

On the Fallibility of Memory and the Importance of Evidence

As individuals making personal judgments about the truthfulness of Kavanaugh and Ford, we are not held to the same standards as our justice system.

Tyler Watkins

4 Oct 2018 · 18 min read

Forget Nature Versus Nurture. Nature Has Won

Plomin tries to present this cascade of new information about the genetic influence on human behavior in a way that will positively affect human behavior – but his own work suggests the impact of such arguments will be limited.

Gregory Cochran

25 Sep 2018 · 7 min read

A Striking Similarity: The Revolutionary Findings of Twin Studies

The British psychologist Cyril Burt had been accused of falsifying the results of twin studies and related research into the heritability of IQ.

Henrik B. Dynesen

9 Aug 2018 · 10 min read

Why Can’t a Woman be More Like a Man?

For those who believe that gender is a social construct, and there are no differences between men and women’s brains, this paper is something of a reality check.

Toby Young

24 May 2018 · 11 min read

‘Indigenous Ways of Knowing’: Magical Thinking and Spirituality by Any One Name

The idea of bringing traditional ways of knowing together with empirical data and science is important.

Josh Dehaas

22 May 2018 · 7 min read