Why Evolution is True is a blog written by Jerry Coyne, centered on evolution and biology but also dealing with diverse topics like politics, culture, and cats.
The Atlantic is beginning to publish a number of articles critical of wokeness, and the one below is one of the best. George Packer, a staff writer at the magazine, makes the case that “equity language” (you’ll know what it is, but I’ll give some examples) is proliferating, and that’s part of a deliberate strategy … Continue reading A critique of woke language
Frankly, I’m surprised that this paper, which insists that we be very careful about replacing “sexed” language like “woman” with “desexed” language like “bodies with vaginas” (I’m looking at you, Lancet!) or “cervix havers”— and giving a number of reasons why we should exercise caution—got published at all. Moreover, the authors, a group from Australia, … Continue reading New paper advocating sex-specific language
I don’t keep up with the politics of The Atlantic much: even though I have a subscription, I rarely get time to read it. But reader David sent me a link to the piece below, which turns out to be a trenchant critique of the verbiage of the woke, which is called “equity language”, why … Continue reading The Atlantic unpacks (and criticizes) woke language
It’s been a while since I posted about anything by Nick Cohen, whom I used to read (and admire) all the time. I guess he’s writing more often on his Substack site. Checking that out, I found this on his Wikipedia bio: Nicholas Cohen (born 1961) is a British journalist, author and political commentator. He was a … Continue reading Nick Cohen on the AP’s language recommendation
Let me begin by trying to note what’s good about this new article in Trends in Ecology & Evolution, for Dan Dennett suggests, properly, that one should credit one’s opponents with the good and correct things they say before taking issue with the other stuff. First, the article below is motivated by good sentiments: the … Continue reading On the harm, violence, and danger of wrongspeak in ecology and evolution
All of these words are like the others, and you’ll see why. I invite you to add to the list: nuanced stakeholder weaponize standpoint intersectional harm violence (referring to language or words) problematize (or problematic) I thought of more, but thought I’d throw it into your laps. The words are, of course, red flags for … Continue reading Expand this list of related words
Lawrence Krauss has an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal (note: this bit of the paper is largely right wing, not that Krauss is) that shows some ways the ever vigilant Google Squad is policing language. Click on the screenshot to read: According to Krauss, the policing will work this way: Google has created guidelines … Continue reading Google purifies its language
I cannot vouch that this letter is genuine, but I’m betting it is. If you can prove it’s a fake, I’ll give you $10. It was purportedly sent to an email list by one of the parents in the school district. Click to enlarge if you’re myopic: The only good thing about this is that … Continue reading The new inclusive language of Essex Junction, Vermont
