The Tim Hunt War continues. It could have been over in 24 hours, but now it’s become the site where the issue of sexism in STEM is getting a thorough airing, so I’m just going to keep on reporting on it.
Dawkins is still digging that hole deeper and deeper.
1.2 million followers on Twitter, remember. Gets his letters published in the Times. Large megaphone; conspicuous platform. Influencer.
Richard Dawkins @RichardDawkins 8 hours ago
Am I naive to be disconcerted by a lack of kindness, of empathy, on Twitter? There’s so much unforgiving, merciless, even cruel condemnation
Isn’t it interesting that he’s saying that now? After responding to a tweet that called Tim Hunt “a shitty person”? Isn’t it interesting that he didn’t say that in 2011 or 2012 or 2013 or 2014? Isn’t it interesting that he’s ignored the relentless harassment and bullying of women on Twitter, much of it by his fans defending his every word, but is upset when it’s addressed to someone like him? I think it’s interesting.
Richard Dawkins @RichardDawkins 8 hours ago
Yes, of course it’s easy to be cruel when you are anonymous. But why should anyone WANT to be cruel, whether anonymous or not?Yes of course there are many kind people on Twitter. I’m not saying cruel ones are a majority. Just puzzled why anyone WANTS to be cruel.
Nothing wrong with witty satire. Well-aimed ridicule has a point: to change minds /raise consciousness. But what’s the point of cruel abuse?
It’s embarrassingly easy to tell what he’s thinking there – that he does witty satire and well-aimed ridicule, that changes minds for the better and has no harmful side effects, while people who are angry at Tim Hunt do cruel abuse, period. Sadly, his “witty satire” often isn’t.
Richard Dawkins @RichardDawkins 8 hours ago
Tweet today called a Nobelist, whose work could 1 day save her life, a “shitty person” because he told a joke. So DISPROPORTIONATELY vicious
You know what else is DISPROPORTIONATELY vicious? Accusations of “witch hunts” and “lynch mobs.”
Richard Dawkins @RichardDawkins 8 hours ago
If you think somebody is wrong, say so and say why. Don’t just call them a shitty fucking douchebag, it’s not a convincing argument.
See above. Don’t call them witch hunts and lynch mobs, either. It’s not a convincing argument.
Why do I care? Because our circles overlap. Because he is perhaps the most conspicuous face of atheism in the anglophone world. Because he also speaks out for secularism and humanism. Because I don’t want atheism and secularism and humanism to be bastions of entitled anti-feminist bullies, and because I don’t want feminist women to be bullied out of atheism and secularism and humanism. Because I want him to stop doing damage. I have little or no hope that he ever will, but that’s what I want.