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.
Reader jsp sent me this new Brian Dalton video, “Science and Religion are Mortal Enemies (Part I)”, saying it was “right up my alley.” In fact it is, as it emphasizes one big difference between science and faith—the value of doubt and questioning—that I discuss in Faith versus Fact. Dalton’s correct in saying that it’s too narrow to argue that these areas are compatible simply because much of science doesn’t challenge what’s in scripture (the Bible, for instance, says nothing about the Krebs Cycle or quantum mechanics). But what science does challenge is the existence of deities and the “truths” arrived at by religious “ways of knowing.” The questions we need to keep hammering on when we talk to religious people about their beliefs are twofold: “How do you know that?” and “How would you know if you were wrong”?
This all seems obvious to me, but it rankles those who want to be down with both science and the supernatural—having their faith and eating it, too. But merely pointing out this palpable discrepancy, as I’ve learned to my chagrin, is taboo, for even many atheists and skeptics bridle at criticizing people for beliefs that are both foolish and unevidenced.
Since this is Part I, I’ll look forward to other parts forthcoming. In the meantime, you can contribute to Dalton’s “Mr. Deity” and “The Way of the Mister” clips at his Patreon site.
I guess the newest way to ban costumes is to use the phrase “we are people, not costumes”. That, at least, is what the PuffHo says about the outfits of Kylie Jenner and Nicky Hilton (sister of Paris), showing their Halloween costumes that depict, respectively, an Eskimo (“Inuit” to most people) and an “Indian princess.” The article, written by PuffHo Entertainment Editor Stephanie Marcus, is called “Kylie Jenner and Nicky Hilton wore some pretty offensive Halloween costumes this year“. The article’s text is indented.
I wouldn’t have even known what the costume below depicts, but Jenner’s first Instagram photo on the site labels this “Eskimo”. The PuffHo text:
On Saturday, Jenner shared a video of herself decked out in her “Eskimo” costume that she wore to a party on Friday night. Never mind the fact that “Eskimo” is generally considered a slur, the Inuit and Alaska Natives are real people, not costumes.
Meanwhile, Nicky Hilton apparently learned nothing from the time her sister Paris attended a Halloween party at the Playboy mansion dressed as a “sexy Indian.” The younger Hilton sister also doesn’t seem to care that Native Americans and First Nations are real people with a real culture and therfore not a costume, because she turned up to the Casamigos Tequila Halloween Party on Friday night in this:
LOS ANGELES, CA – OCTOBER 30: Nicky Hilton attends the Casamigos Tequila Halloween Party Brought to you by Those Who Drink It at a private residence on October 30, 2015 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Amy Graves/Getty Images)
For more racist Halloween costumes you’ll want to avoid this year, next year and all future Halloween parties, click here if you don’t have the common sense not to offend people already.
“Racist”? That seems a bit over the top to me. And if you click on the PuffHo link in the sentence above, you’ll be sent to another site showing now-verboten costumes, including a skeleton, a salacious nurse (whose costume is said to “objectify the profession”), and a hobo (forbidden because it mocks the homeless). I wasn’t aware that hobos, nurses, and skeletons (supposedly mocking those with eating disorders) were “races.”
It’ll be even worse next Halloween, mark my words.
The “we are people, not costumes” trope is an overly glib way to protect a group from “appropriation,” and could be used to cast aspersions on almost anything. (Hobos, really? Do they even exist any more?) When I wear my Indian clothes—and I rush to assure you that I mean Indian as from India, not Native American—would a resident of, say, Delhi, tell me that Indians are people, not costumes, and I’m stereotyping the entire subcontinent? (Indeed, if I were to go trick-or-treating as an adult, I’d probably put on a nice kurta pajama. But now I must get my candy other ways.)
I have to say that while I do consider some costumes offensive, as I mentioned yesterday (e.g., blackface, and perhaps Mexican banditos), there’s a group of Cultural Enforcers, like Stephanie Marcus, who sniff around everywhere calling out what they deem “offensive.” It’s almost as if they’re touting their own ideological purity by this kind of sleuthing. Such Leisure Fascists, who are constantly signaling their own virtue, annoy me.
Let’s start with a photo of an American kestrel (Falco sparvinus) taken by Stephen Barnard in Idaho. These are among my favorite birds, as they are adorable pocket-sized falcons. Stephen’s comment:
My feeders are this guy’s lunch counter.
And reader Mark Sturtevant sent some nice aphids, a hemipteran that you’ve probably encountered if you grow plants. Mark’s photos show both their commensals (ants) and a predator. Remember that aphids are in the insect order Hemiptera: the “true bugs.”
Here is another installment of aphid pictures. First, aphids are well known to earn the protection of ants by providing a steady supply of sugary waste which is secreted from the little spigots on their abdomen. Now, I know as much about identifying small ants as I do aphids, but I suspect this ant belongs to the widespread species known as the winter ant (Prenolepis imparis). The aphid herd it is tending may be Uroleuconsp. I hope to be corrected in case I am wrong with this identification. In any case, the winter ant is so named since it is active even in cold weather.
Next is another group of aphids (possibly also belonging to the genus Aphis) that is being well protected by what I am pretty sure are ants belonging to the genus Crematogaster. This ant genus is pretty easy to recognize with its distinctive ‘gaster’(which is the main part of the abdomen).
Of course there are many aphid predators and parasites. Here is a brown lacewing larva (Micromussp.) which is sucking the juices from what I think is Aphis neri. While I was taking pictures, this little killer nonchalantly walked up to its victim and impaled it.
Finally, syrphid fly larvae (species unknown) are also commonly seen to lurk among aphids. I do not know the reason for the dead aphids.
Although aphids are tiny, it is always good to stop and have a look at the happenings in an aphid colony. I have never failed to see some sort of drama.
Since November has arrived, I’ll take this opportunity to post one of my favorite Wallace Stevens poems. My absolute favorite is “Peter Quince at the Clavier“, but this one is more is appropriate as it expresses both the change of seasons and the degeneration of nature, ending with a completely disordered month.
Metamorphosis
by Wallace Stevens
Yillow, yillow, yillow,
Old worm, my pretty quirk,
How the wind spells out
Sep – tem – ber….
Summer is in bones.
Cock-robin’s at Caracas.
Make o, make o, make o,
Oto – otu – bre.
And the rude leaves fall.
The rain falls. The sky
Falls and lies with worms.
The street lamps
Are those that have been hanged.
Dangling in an illogical
To and to and fro
Fro Niz – nil – imbo.
After a miserable Halloween of cold, overcast skies, and a near-constant light drizzle, dampening the spirits and costumes of candy-seeking children, we will have SUN and decent temperatures in Chicago this week:
Meanwhile in Dobrzyn, Hili is still going out, as she has her coat, once described as “lovely to look at, soft to the touch, and suitable for every occasion.”
Hili: I’m going out into the dark night.
A: You will be cold.
Hili: No, I have my fur with me.
In Polish:
Hili: Idę w ciemną nic.
Ja: Zmarzniesz.
Hili: Nie, mam futerko.
Daylight Saving Time ends in the U.S. and Canada at 2 a.m. tomorrow, so remember to turn your clocks back an hour tonight (they’ve already been through that in Europe).
