CFI Portland is throwing a Trumpesque event in ten days.
The New Campus Thought Police
Two brilliant and uncompromising thinkers, bestselling author Christina Hoff Sommers and Portland’s own Peter Boghossian, will share the stage on January 27th with political comedian and host Dave Rubin for a live “fireside chat” on the hot-button issues of speech, gender, and culture at PSU.
“The New Campus Thought Police” will be presented by both the Center for Inquiry in Portland, as well as Freethinkers. The event will feature honest and unfiltered conversation about the controversial subjects of free speech and political correctness on college campuses. This will include issues such as microaggressions, trigger warnings, safe spaces, cultural appropriation, victimhood culture, and more.
Yes, there are plenty of silly people on the left, as there always are. Yes, many of them get too worked up about things that aren’t all that important. No, the best people to talk about such things are not Christina Hoff Sommers and Peter Boghossian.
Also, don’t worries about college students demanding trigger warnings seem a little less urgent now as Donald “I hate political correctness” Trump slithers into the White House?
You know…CFI is a secular humanist organization. The humanist part is important. CFI is about values as well as epistemology – it’s never been one of those “pure” skeptical outfits that insist on keeping political and moral ideas out. This is not a good look for a secular humanist organization.
It’s happening, and I don’t think “no platforming” is a good idea except in truly extreme cases, but I think this is pretty sad.
Comments
21 responses to “Watch out! It’s political correctness!”
Surely they could have found better speakers to address the topic than a failed philosopher and a rightwing hack.
Hah! Name one! oh wait …
If they admit that the issue is “controversial,” then it seems to me that they’re more or less obligated to have at least one person on the stage chatting on the other side. I wonder who is near Portland, and capable of holding their own? Or available and capable? It’s possible that if CFI were approached, they’d add a third. Given the topic, it would be kind of awkward for them to refuse.
A bit long, but worth it. I am on Boutwell’s side, but he doesn’t mention that some herediity is historical nurture. (epigenetics) And that bacteria, viruses, prions, and ?? are at work in addition to genes.
http://quillette.com/2017/01/17/saints-sinners-a-dialogue-on-the-hardest-topic-in-science/
Trumpesque? Haven’t both those people been outspoken in their condemnation of Trump? Which makes that a pretty low blow. And Hoff Summers at least is vigorous in defence of human rights, race and sex equality. But she also understands statistics which upsets many of her opponents, of course.
Sommers on Trump, just for the record:
And, for even more balance, Boghossian on Trump:
I don’t think political correctness can be a problem stifling free speech when people speaking out against it can do so with no worries whatever about being denied a platform or shouted down.
And they’re especially free to do so now, with right-wing ascendance in government here. While these two speakers do, apparently, have a decent record condemning Trump, they’re still being given a platform and applause for punching to the left. Punching to the right – well, so long as you’re left of President Pussy-Grabber, you’re safe enough, for now.
I called it “Trumpesque” because of the phrase “political correctness” in the promo. That phrase is a dog whistle for horrible people who like to say horrible things; Trump is one such person.
I didn’t say Sommers and Boghossian are fans of Trump, and I’m not surprised to learn they’re not. They are however both rather snide opponents of most of the left, and Sommers at least used to be a fan of Milo Yiannopoulos and his trolling. I think there are far more thoughtful, disinterested (i.e. not employed by a right-wing think tank), serious conservatives who could have done this event.
Funny, I was not aware of any ambiguity, considering the title. Where did that come from?
#3
There may not BE ‘another side’—singular. Trump whining about any criticism as ‘PC’ is not on the same page as Julie Bindel or Hirsi Ali being silenced and harassed.
I cringe at the thought of Sommers and Boghossian having a ‘special’ moment with the cameras rolling.
By this, I assume you mean she comes to the same conclusion with statistics that you do? Because I assure you, I understand statistics very well, have used statistics continuously in my work, have picked apart statistical arguments for years, and have as much a grasp of statistics as CHS, if not better.
Please do not assume that all people who come to a different conclusion than you do (or than CHS) do not understand statistics. Because when you suggest that, you are, sir, full of it…
I don’t, hence ‘many’. But there is no doubt that a lot of the ire aimed at CHS comes from frustration that she makes evidence based claims that can’t be refuted with evidence.
Nonsense.
CHS has been refuted with evidence a number of times.
Plus there’s so much more to object to in Sommers even if you leave her “there is no wage gap neeener-neener” shtick out of it entirely.
But it isn’t schtick and it isn’t childishly provocative as you suggest, it is just a careful look at the evidence. I have never seen any of her opponents address that on the same terms and I suspect it is because they are divided into those who understand and know they have no argument and those who just don’t understand, although I have noticed the wage gap rhetoric changing somewhat over here recently.
Yes it is. Have you ever looked at her Twitter account?
She used to be an academic, who observed academic protocol (mostly). Then she left academia for the AEI, and stopped observing academic protocol.
There is a very good argument to be had that the failure to regulate out of control PC culture is exactly what got us Trump.
I see these folks as helping to avoid two terms of this hot mess.
@ ^
No it’s not a “very good argument”, it’s victim-blamey right-wing bullshit.
Anova – did you miss the part about how Sommers actually encouraged and promoted Milo Yiannopoulos? She’s much closer to Team Trump than to Team Anti-Trump.