When skeptics go all credulous.
“Humanist” chaplain approves.
What were they thinking even considering it??? Gosh I don’t know, maybe they were wondering if it’s really true that men can be women on the inside despite having male bodies? Maybe they were skeptical of claims that people are what they say they are and that it’s evil to question them?
Comments
11 responses to “How dare they even consider it?”
Well, I’m relieved to hear it.
I just finished Lewis’ book, Difficult Women. Too bad this got cancelled. She’s got things to say.
@sastra
Yes, me too. But I’m sure that PZ, the Novellas, and Gorsky will still be afraid to speak out loud their support of the trans community.
The “family” reference is quite telling isn’t it?
The fact is that skepticism shouldn’t be about being part of some “family” – it should be about critically examining claims. “We are failing our queer family” – that isn’t a reasoned argument, that is an emotional appeal to a tribe.
You’re only supposed to apply skepticism to the other tribe. You’re supposed to turn off your skepticism and wholly swallow our tribe’s nonsense.
I saw your post just after reading an excellent article at the Quackometer:
https://www.quackometer.net/blog/2023/11/brighton-sceptics-and-the-reeces-pieces.html
It provides a lot of detail on what happened.
Athel, great article, indeed. And bracing. Thanks.
[Although there should be a comma before that nonrestrictive “where” clause. ;> ]
From the Quackometer article: They believed that “trans liberation and scientific skepticism are two great tastes that taste great together”. Clearly C S Lewis’s Screwtape is hard at work corrupting poor honest materialists. See #25 of The Screwtape Letters:
A while back I gave a speech/presentation to all the staff at my work. The nature of the work varies, but is entirely within the ‘analyse and make a mix of quantitative and qualitative assessments’ kind of space. The theme of my speech was that discomfort brought about by careful and rigorous thought is actually a good thing that should be embraced, not avoided. I didn’t want to come straight out and say ‘you lot are in danger of falling for all sorts of woo and too many of you are ignoring facts and going with your priors because it’s a comfortable space to be in.’ A few people got it. Thing is, we all like a safe space, a comfortable space, a space where we’re validated and affirmed by people we like and trust. That’s not often a space that gets at truth, values facts, rises above priors, or reaches optimal solutions though. It’s one of the things I value here, is that more often than not we do pull each other up and debate points. Although I’m not an American, on this day I’ll be thankful for that. Best wishes to you all today.
Aw jeez what a fine compliment. Thank you Rob.