Category: academic freedom
Chemistry World: Suppression of academic freedom is a global crisis
| October 18, 2017 | Posted by News under academic freedom, Culture, Intelligent Design, Science |
In North America, we think mainly in terms of toxic snowflakes, of the sort that made it dangerous for their biology prof to be on campus. But elsewhere, it can be worse. From Maria Burke at Chemistry World: Thousands of people in the higher education sector have been targeted in Turkey where state and university […]
Are wealthy, white, male mavericks part of science’s problem?
| October 18, 2017 | Posted by News under academic freedom, Intellectual freedom, Intelligent Design, Science |
From philosopher of science Adrian Currie at Aeon: There’s a scarcity of jobs compared with the number of applicants, and very few high-ranking and ‘big impact’ journals. This means that the research decisions that scientists make, particularly early on, are high-risk wagers about what will be fruitful and lead to a decent career. The road […]
Iconic Darwinian John Maynard Smith on teaching the controversy
| October 6, 2017 | Posted by News under academic freedom, Culture, Darwinism, Evolution, Intelligent Design |
From John Maynard Smith (1920–2004): I am convinced that a proper training in science requires that undergraduates are confronted by the problems of contemporary science. Only then can they see science as an activity, and not as a body of received doctrine. Evolutionary Genetics, 1989. p. v. But now, come on. Did Smith really think […]
Eureka! Scientist discovers that the post-modern left hates science the way it hates every form of external reality
| October 4, 2017 | Posted by News under academic freedom, Culture, Intelligent Design, Science |
From Heather Heying ( Bret Weinstein’s wife, also a biologist) at Wall Street Journal: The revolution on college campuses, which seeks to eradicate individuals and ideas that are considered unsavory, constitutes a hostile takeover by fringe elements on the extreme left. Last spring at the Evergreen State College, where I was a professor for 15 […]
Biology prof Bret Weinstein’s persecutors face sanctions from Evergreen State College
| October 3, 2017 | Posted by News under academic freedom, Culture, Intelligent Design, News |
You know, that non-PC nerd who was warned that it wasn’t safe for him to go back to teach and eventually settled for $500k. From Eric Owens at Daily Caller: School officials at the 4,000-student school received approximately 120 incident reports involving 180 students during the days-long series of protests, reports The Olympian, the main […]
This just in: Evergreen U settles with biology prof over threat of harm due to non-PC stance
| September 17, 2017 | Posted by News under academic freedom, Biology, Culture, science education |
From Ian Miles Cheong at Daily Caller: Evergreen State College has settled a tort claim with professor Bret Weinstein and his wife Heather Heying for $500,000 in connection to the 2017 “Day of Absence” protests, which saw anarchy spread throughout the campus earlier this year. “Through a series of decisions made at the highest levels, […]
Shocka! Even Brits think. Large numbers doubt that evolution explains human consciousness
| September 9, 2017 | Posted by News under academic freedom, Intelligent Design, Mind, Naturalism |
From Fern Elsdon-Baker at New Scientist, reporting on that recent study of people who question evolution, It sounds startling. Nearly 30 per cent of adults in the UK say evolution can’t explain the origin of humans. That rises to nearly 50 per cent for human consciousness. Does that mean we’re increasingly following a vocal minority […]
Science education: Keep on marchin’ marchin’ — into oblivion, unfortunately
| September 2, 2017 | Posted by News under academic freedom, Atheism, Evolution, Intelligent Design |
From an op-ed at Nature: Scientists might have made a difference, had they protested against laws that now threaten what can be taught in our classrooms, argues Brandon Haught Haught is complaining about an academic freedom law in Florida that restricts the use of science courses for propaganda purposes: Advocates of the law were widely […]
Could Evergreen State College in Washington, USA, be declared a state pen?
| September 1, 2017 | Posted by News under academic freedom, Culture, Intelligent Design, Mind, Naturalism |
What? In the world of “social justice,” someone actually noticed biology prof Bret Weinstein? Someone took time out from hearing the angst and hoo-haw of “[fill in the blank] studies” students to look at the science education issues? From Michael Shermer at Scientific American: One underlying cause of this troubling situation may be found in […]
Breaking! Breaking! U profs discover existence of human mind
| August 29, 2017 | Posted by News under academic freedom, Culture, Intellectual freedom, Intelligent Design, Naturalism |
From Conor Friedersdorf at the Atlantic: As the fall semester begins, 15 professors from Yale, Princeton, and Harvard have published a letter of advice for the class of 2021. Think for yourself. The “vice of conformism” is a temptation for all faculty and students, they argue, due to a climate rife with group think, where […]
Huge science frauds uncovered in China
| August 2, 2017 | Posted by News under academic freedom, Culture, Intelligent Design, Peer review, Science |
From Bob Grant at The Scientist: After a sweeping research misconduct investigation, China’s Ministry of Science and Technology (MST) has found nearly 500 researchers guilty of engaging in a peer-review fraud scam. Announced late last week (July 27), MST’s findings indicate that 486 scientific paper authors engaged, to some degree, in a scheme to nominate […]
Reviews of Tom Wolfe’s Kingdom of Speech actually “get” what he is trying to say
| August 1, 2017 | Posted by News under academic freedom, Evolution, language |
Just trying to get it is more than some might expect. From Peter Wood, Geoffrey Clarfield, Gwyneth Custred, and Carol Iannone at National Association of Scholars (NAS), The The Kingdom of Speech is an extraordinary display of intellectual independence.[1] This is a book that treats Charles Darwin as a toplofty prig and Noam Chomsky as a […]
New atheists and the left fall out over Islam
| July 29, 2017 | Posted by News under academic freedom, Culture, Intelligent Design, Religion, Science |
You know, Dawkins dumped at Berkeley and all that. From Elliot Kaufman at National Review: Why must ardent secularists from the Islamic world like Ayaan Hirsi Ali — the type of people the Left looks to for inspiration in the history of Western secularism — be deemed bigots, while Sharia-supporting conspiracy theorists like Linda Sarsour […]
Conformists: Why dissent is bad for science
| July 28, 2017 | Posted by News under academic freedom, Climate change, Culture, Global Warming, Intellectual freedom, Intelligent Design, Science |
Pos-Darwinista writes to call our attention to several preprints on why dissent is bad in science. Okay, okay, there is good dissent, which is accepted by the Establishment, and then there is bad dissent, which is not accepted by the Establishment. Text Galileo. 1. Climate Skepticism and the Manufacture of Doubt: Can Dissent in Science […]
Evergreen biology prof Bret Weinstein’s shocking testimony at You Tube:
| July 27, 2017 | Posted by News under academic freedom, Education, Intelligent Design, Science |
Here is his report. If his testimony is accurate (and we expect it is), American taxpayers are funding the equivalent of a prison riot: No wonder Weinstein is suing. So where are the science organizations that should be supporting him? Communing with their shoes? Added: Note: Crash course for sci nerds: How political correctness morphed […]
Dawkins haunted by the ghost of (ulp!) Ben Stein
| July 26, 2017 | Posted by News under academic freedom, Intelligent Design, Naturalism |
Oh, look, everybody’s got a haunt, right? But they are not equally damning. From David Klinghoffer at Evolution News & Views: On the story about evolutionary atheist Richard Dawkins getting disinvited as an event speaker by a progressive Berkeley radio station (see here and here), Discovery Institute chairman of the board Bruce Chapman points out […]
Academic freedom: Evergreen biologist files suit
| July 26, 2017 | Posted by News under academic freedom, Culture, Intelligent Design, science education |
From Nikita Vladimirov at Campus Reform: Bret Weinstein, the Evergreen State College [biology] professor who was driven from campus by a mob of students earlier this year, is preparing to file a $3.8 million claim against the public institution. The claim accuses Evergreen State of “fostering a racially hostile work and retaliatory environment” by encouraging […]
An Earth sciences outsider, not a recognized expert, put Pangaea together
| July 26, 2017 | Posted by News under academic freedom, Geology, Intelligent Design, Peer review |
The critical problem is that rejection of competing ideas is not necessarily based on the correctness of the mainstream idea. Often, it is based on control of money, status, and power, rampant egos, and endless politics. This animated short tells the story of Alfred Wegener, a German astronomer and atmospheric scientist, who came up with […]
Mark Steyn on Richard Dawkins getting dumped at Berkeley
| July 24, 2017 | Posted by News under academic freedom, Intellectual freedom, Intelligent Design, News |
Here: Notice how the shriveling of free expression smoothly proceeds to the next diminished staging post: Once upon a time, Berkeley professed to believe in free speech. Then it believed in free speech except for “hate speech”. Now it supports “serious” free speech, but not “hurtful” speech. Well, we live in a world of hurt. […]
Evolution News and Views on Dawkins dumped from Berkeley: Did it serve him right?
| July 22, 2017 | Posted by News under academic freedom, Intellectual freedom, Intelligent Design, Naturalism |
Further to Dawkins dumped from Berkeley due to “hurtful words,” neurosurgeon Michael Egnor and editor David Klinghoffer weigh in: Egnor: Dawkins gets expelled: You’d have to have a heart of stone not to laugh Why, one asks, is it fine to criticize Islam, but not Darwin? Dawkins has fought mightily to “de-platform” intelligent design scientists […]
