Anyone who has read Colin Wright’s “The New Evolution Deniers” at Quillette knows that social science no longer accepts fundamental ideas in Darwinian evolution, like the sexes. And Wright, fellow evolutionary biologist Jerry Coyne, and others are expected to just cringe and get re-educated or else.
That was the point of a question we asked earlier, Which side will atheists choose in the war on science? So far, they seem to want to avoid the obvious conclusion that increasingly they must choose progressivism over whatever they think their science has taught them—or else fight.
In the middle of all this a well-meaning person tries to explain how evolutionary theory can help social science:
My high school biology teacher, Mr. Whittington, put a framed picture of a primate ancestor in the front of his classroom—a place of reverence. In a deeply religious and conservative community in rural America, this was a radical act. Evolution, among the most well-supported scientific theories in human history, was then, and still is, deliberately censored from biological science education. But Whittington taught evolution unapologetically, as “the single best idea anybody ever had,” as the philosopher Dan Dennett described it. Whittington saw me looking at the primate in wonder one day and said, “Cristine, look at its hands. Now look at your hands. This is what common descent looks like.” …
Applying evolutionary theory to social science has the potential to transform education and, through it, society. For example, evolutionary perspectives can help social scientists understand, and eventually address, common social problems. Schoolyard bullying provides one example. Without an evolutionary understanding of the phenomenon, interventions are likely to be ineffective, since they misdiagnose the causes of bullying. Bullying is not merely negative interpersonal behavior; it’s goal-oriented and serves the social function of gaining status and prestige for the bully, which must be understood to combat it. For example, bullying often occurs in front of an audience, suggesting that social attention drives, and may reinforce, the behavior. A 2015 paper suggests most interventions don’t work because they remove the rewards of bullying—increased social status—without offering any alternatives. The researchers recommend that the esteem bullies seek “should be borne in mind when engineering interventions” designed to either decrease a bully’s social status or channel the bully’s social motivations to better ends. A deep understanding of the evolved functions of bullying, in short, provides a fulcrum for potential remedies.Cristine H. Legare, “Why Social Science Needs Evolutionary Theory” at Nautilus
One doesn’t mean to be unkind. But we hardly need “evolution” to know that giving a bully a task that builds self-esteem will distract him from bullying. Legare must surely have heard a kid shout, “Yeah, well, if you’re so great, prove it. Hit a home run tonight!” A teacher can surely find a discreet way of saying the same thing.
If the lame, wordy stuff Legare offers is an example of the outworkings of the “single best idea anybody ever had,” things are as we thought: The Darwinians are unprepared for the woke warriors of social science. One has to feel some pity for these generally sheltered people, knowing what’s coming.
Hey, it could get worse. Increasing numbers of people believe in astrology and witchcraft and, according to inclusivity principles, their point of view is just as worthy of respect as anyone else’s. Wait till that one swings round the bend…
See also: About the facts of life, Darwinian Jerry Coyne is still being stubborn … Darwinian evolutionary biologist Jerry “Why Evolution Is True” Coyne continues to refuse to follow Nature down the primrose path of political correctness and is doubling down on what people used to be allowed to accept as biological fact (Coyne was president of an evolution society which has started to wobble on whether sexes are real divisions.)
Is Darwinist Jerry Coyne starting to get it about SJW “science”? Ah, not a moment too soon.; Here is a perfect specimen of sp. SJW, Trollus inyerfaceus. We have certainly dealt with them. Coyne may find some in his own back yard.
The perfect storm: Darwinists meet the progressive “evolution deniers” — and cringe… Double down cringe…
The Darwinians’ cowardice before SJW mobs explained in detail: They thought the mob was coming for someone else.
Rob Sheldon: Have a little pity for scientists scared of SJWs I thought the Areo article was the most honest I have met in a long while. It is one thing to boast about courage in the faculty lounge, it is quite another in the provost’s office. I have been cursed with both experiences.
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