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.
If you are interested in following what’s going on at CoyneFest, several of the participants are livetweeting (as opposed to the other type of tweeting presumably – I cringe every time I hear the word) the events and you can follow it on Twitter at hashtag CoyneFest.
I don’t know much about this video sent by reader Jason, but apparently it’s a meeting between the science faculty of UCT (The University of Cape Town) and a group of students calling for the “decolonization of science”—that “Western science must fall” and be “scratched out” because “Western knowledge is totalizing.” The hashtag #ScienceMustFall is apparently a going thing in South Africa.
The one student speaking demands a new science that incorporates the protestors’ own “separate knowledge”. But what is that “separate knowledge”? She mentions only one phenomenon that she credulously accepts: one group believes that you can send lightning to strike someone through black magic. But she adduces no evidence, only the claim that “some people believe this” and then demands “can you can explain that scientifically?” I’d like to see a demonstration first!
One of our South African readers sent out this tw**t that gives a link to an article about #ScienceMustFall:
It’s dangerous for people to claim that there are “other ways of knowledge” besides science—knowledge that includes black magic. These other ways are touted by postmodernists, humanities professors, and some feminists, but, as far as I can see, they haven’t led to substantive knowledge. Science is now a universal practice, with real knowledge produced by those of all faiths, nations, and ethnicities, but attempts to “scratch out” Western science (which is no longer Western) are doomed to failure. One example is Lysenkoism: a genetic “theory” enforced on Russia by Stalinist ideology, and the result was massive crop failure and starvation.
This is not, of course, to say that valuable knowledge can be produced by non-scientists. Many of our medicines, for instance, derive from “folk remedies” produced by indigenous people (quinine for malaria is one example). But ultimately, the value of these things must be demonstrated by scientific testing.
I’m in a rush this morning, so will show only two photographs. As happens so often, we have some timely pictures by Stephen Barnard from Idaho; his notes are indented:
Bald Eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus). Desi hunting for fish over Loving Creek.
Lucy [Desi’s mate] seemed wistful visiting the vacated nest, but maybe that’s my anthropomorphism.
It’s Friday, October 14, and thus the first day of Coynefest. Posting will be nearly nonexistent until Monday, as the symposium goes till tomorrow noon, and then there’s a party out in Indiana. . . With luck, Grania will keep the Hili dialogues going, and perhaps host a Caturday felid. On this day in 1066, the Normans defeated the British at the Battle of Hastings, and in 1322, Robert the Bruce defeated the forces of Edward II at Byland, producing an independent Scotland (for a while). On this day in 1908, the Chicago Cubs won the World Series, defeating the Detroit Tigers. The Cubs haven’t won since–a sore spot for Cubbies fans! On this day in 1926, Winnie-the-Pooh was published (see below; it’s the 90th anniversary), and, in 1947, Chuck Yeager exceeded the speed of sound flying the experimental plane the Bell X-1. On this day in 1962, the Cuban missile crisis began when a U.S. reconnaissance plane spotted Russian missile launchers in Cuba. I well remember my father, who was in the Army then, telling us that he may have to be “deployed”. That is the closest the U.S. has come to a nuclear war.
Notables born on this day include Dwight Eisenhower (1890) and Lillian Gish (1893). Those who died on this day include King Harold of England, killed in the Battle of Hastings (1066), Errol Flynn (1959), Bing Crosby (1977), Leonard Bernstein (1990), and Big Moe (2007). Meanwhile in Dobrzyn, Hili has had the privilege of sleeping in the staff’s bed, where Cyrus is not allowed. Hili manages to mix a friendly greeting with an assertion of superiority:
Hili: I missed you.
Cyrus: Where have you been?
Hili: I was sleeping in their bed where you aren’t allowed to sleep.
In Polish:
Hili: Stęskniłam się za tobą.
Cyrus: A gdzie byłaś?
Hili: Spałam na ich łóżku, tam gdzie ty nie możesz spać.
A final reminder that everyone is invited to CoyneFest, which is a symposium at which my former students, colleagues, and other folks I know will give short (20-minute) science talks, mostly on the subject of speciation. The details have already been given (you can find them here), but I wanted to add that you’ll have the chance, for making a very small donation to charity (Doctors Without Borders) to get a commemorative button, designed by artist Tubby Fleck:
Although I don’t watch much television, I do watch the evening news, and sometimes leave on the local news after that. And when I wake up, I listen to the morning headlines and weather as I get dressed. But even in this small window of time I hear plenty of campaign ads. And all of them, almost without exception, are negative. Virtually none of them give real positions on issues by the candidate (I did hear one this morning by a candidate saying he supports “a woman’s right to choose”, but that’s the rare exception). They involve tearing down the other candidate. I even heard an ad for a Republican candidate showing nasty clips of both Clinton and Trump, thereby disassociating himself with Trump—a tactic that may or may not be good in November.
While negative campaigning has been ubiquitous for a while, it now seems omnipresent. I date the modern era of Negative Campaigning from the famous anti-Goldwater “daisy” ad promulgated by LBJ supporters in 1964. If you haven’t seen it, implying that a Goldwater Presidency would lead to nuclear war, have a look. It was remarkably effective (be sure you put the sound on).
And I wonder what it is that has caused this change. Perhaps research has shown that negative ads are more effective than positive ones. Perhaps politics is simply getting more divisive, though I don’t really know why. Perhaps both are true. But what is clear is that the tenor of our political discourse is debased: we are reduced to calling each other names. And that’s not how democracy is supposed to function. It’s sad, and it’s why I don’t watch debates.
Examples can be found on both Right- and Left-wing sites. Because I lean Left, I particularly hate negativity among liberals. Here, for example, is the headline on today’s HuffPo page: a site that reeks of brimstone:
“Monster”? HuffPo is descending into complete, abject lunacy, not only calling Trump a “monster” but using any accusation, real or simply out there, that can to defeat him. The thing is, Trump’s already lost (if you don’t think so, email me and we’ll make a bet), and those who read the site aren’t going to vote for him anyway. In fact, HuffPo resembles my Facebook page, full of good liberal “friends” who can’t stop posting about Trump’s latest perfidies—especially his sexual behavior. I don’t quite get it.
Seriously, is there anything cuter than giant panda cubs? I can’t think of anything, and that includes Pallas’s Cat kittens. Take 3½ minutes to watch this video from the Toronto Zoo, showing the first year in the life of two new cubs. The YouTube description:
On October 13, 2015 the Toronto Zoo announced the birth of the first giant panda cubs born in Canada. Both Jia Panpan (Canadian Hope) and Jia Yueyue (Canadian Joy) have been a delight to watch as they have grown from two very small and vulnerable cubs to healthy and thriving youngsters and Toronto Zoo staff have appreciated each and every milestone they have reached. The challenges balanced with the number of joyous moments over the last 365 days have provided a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for us here at the Toronto Zoo, and we are thankful to everyone who shared it with us along the way.
Now my hope would be that these cubs would be returned to the wild, but I suspect that’s not on: they’ll serve as entertainment and as a source of dosh for the zoo. But these animals belong in the wild (granted, their habitat is vanishing), so what are we doing confining them in jails for their whole lives?
Panda fact: their scientific name is Ailuropoda melanoleuca, which means “cat-footed black and white” (remember that fear of cats is “ailurophobia”).
