@EPoe187さんの連続ツイート20180213

sakanoue no fusigi @seeker98747

Bo Winegard氏twitter.com/EPoe187/status…が参照している対談はこちら。vox.com/ezra-klein-sho…

Bo Winegard @EPoe187

1 Thread on "enemies of Enlightenment" and @voxdotcom narrative that Steven Pinker is creating and burning a straw man in his book I've seen this narrative promulgated by Yglesias and I sensed it in Klein's conversation with Pinker

Bo Winegard @EPoe187

2 Before commencing, I should say that I am actually a fan of Vox, and that I like and respect Klein. Still, I think this narrative is incredibly misguided Basic narrative: "First, there isn't a discrete thing called the Enlightenment that is under attack

Bo Winegard @EPoe187

3 "and, second, most progressives are science friendly and simply believe that, at most, science just needs to introspect a bit more...needs to recognize its limits, et cetera.." The first point is easily handled

Bo Winegard @EPoe187

4 Of course there isn't a discrete thing called The Enlightenment. However, for convenience, we can say there are Enlightenment values, primarily, the values of reason and free inquiry Pinker is not obtuse, and he obviously realizes this

Bo Winegard @EPoe187

5 Second point is more complicated, but I think it is almost entirely wrong. There are, in fact, many people who deny basic scientific truths about humans, attack free speech, and in fact challenge the "primacy" of science altogether

Bo Winegard @EPoe187

6 For example, many humanities' professors have railed against "scientism," a vague but pejorative term, and have argued a la Lyotard that science is just one language game among many language games.

Bo Winegard @EPoe187

7 N of 1, but I left literary studies precisely because so many professors were opposed to introducing the most rudimentary scientific facts about humans into the field; many professors in fact think it "reductive" or "determinist" to appeal to evolved tendencies or proclivities

Bo Winegard @EPoe187

8 But, it gets worse. Many social scientists and many mainstream pundits deny, often quite vehemently, basic Darwinian insights about humans and are hostile to academics who approach questions from a Darwinian perspective

Bo Winegard @EPoe187

9 Consider, for example, the furious reaction to @JamesADamore's memo. It is hard to see it as other than an attack on free speech, inquiry, and science, since many who railed against it also urged Google to fire him

Bo Winegard @EPoe187

10 Vox itself bears responsibility for this anti-scientific hysteria. They published myriad articles calling the memo a "sexist screed" and an "anti-diversity manifesto." There is nothing wrong with disputing its basic argument, but there is something very wrong with

Bo Winegard @EPoe187

11 smearing its author and misrepresenting its contents. @HPluckrose and @GodDoesnt wrote an excellent article about the enemies of modernity areomagazine.com/2017/08/22/a-m… And much of it is relevant here

Bo Winegard @EPoe187

12 Too many progressives repudiate Enlightenment values, refuse to engage in civil debate, and have replaced rational disputation with nasty epithets and accusations of moral treachery

Bo Winegard @EPoe187

13 Again, consider Vox. Klein, in his conversation with Pinker, noted that German Lopez has dealt with Mac Donald's "Ferguson Effect" arguments, so Vox definitely believes in empirical inquiry and free speech

Bo Winegard @EPoe187

14 But Vox only presents one side of that spectrum, creating the very information bubbles Klein often decries. Furthermore, not only do they not publish material that contradicts their equalitarian narrative, they also often insult, accuse, deride authors whose work does

Bo Winegard @EPoe187

15 That isn't how free speech, inquiry, science, are supposed to work. You should not insult the authors; you should address the work. And often Vox's perspective is so far from the mainstream (say on IQ), that it is hard to believe they are even trying to engage the literature

Bo Winegard @EPoe187

16 This problem isn't isolated to Vox; it has spread throughout campuses and is close to the default mode of operation. People are taught not to engage difficult, controversial ideas, but to insult speakers and authors

Bo Winegard @EPoe187

17 It is even taboo now to suggest that some cultures have made more progress than others or that some cultural systems work better than others. Truly astonishing. So, yes, I think Enlightenment values are under attack

Bo Winegard @EPoe187

18 And I think this is perhaps the biggest challenge facing intellectuals in the 21st century. Do we refuse to defend these values for fear of censure; or do we defend them and instill them into another generation of students?

Bo Winegard @EPoe187

19 I humbly invite Vox to participate in this cause. Start a real debate. Publish articles that challenge the priors of Vox readers. Publish Heather Mac Donald, Charles Murray, John Paul Wright, Brian Boutwell, Steven Pinker, et cetera

Bo Winegard @EPoe187

20 Stop calling names, accusing respectable people of racism or sexism. Be a part of the argument, not a cacophonous outlet for denunciation and mindless agreement

Bo Winegard @EPoe187

21 Although not perfect, the Enlightenment and its ideals have raised more from poverty, have dissipate more dangerous superstitions, have led to more moral progress, than any other. It will be a shame if we lose its values for fear or laziness.

Bo Winegard @EPoe187

22 And Pinker is, I think, exactly correct: We should cherish the legacy of the Enlightenment and protect it against faddish arational ideologies and tendencies. Free speech and free inquiry are hard to defend, but infinitely precious. They are the bedrock of a free and thriving

Bo Winegard @EPoe187

23 society. Hardly anything could be more important. It's not alarmist to worry that they might erode, that their ephemeral day might die, leaving the darkness of passion and unreason.