This is a nice bit of dovetailing, of convergence, of two minds with but a single thought, of – okay, we get the idea. Brian Leiter was talking about different examples of exactly the same kind of thing I was talking about two days ago, in ‘Close Reading’. The Little Professor noticed the parallel. Leiter’s post is really interesting; it touches on several issues I have on my sort of mental list of things to discuss sometime. It quotes Andrea Lafferty, director of something called ‘the Traditional Values Coalition’ (oh please) saying ‘There’s an arrogance in the scientific community that they know better than the average American.’ Well – uh – yeah. Because they probably do, ya know? Seeing as … Read the rest
All entries by this author
Stupid Guy Thinks ‘Alice’ is a Girly Book
Jul 15th, 2004 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
So he wanted revenge: ‘to rewrite it as a book boys would also enjoy.’… Read the rest
Science is Revisable
Jul 15th, 2004 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Stephen Hawking has changed his mind about an aspect of black holes.… Read the rest
Moral Maze Discusses Religious Hatred Law
Jul 15th, 2004 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Johann Hari, Steven Rose, Claire Fox and others.… Read the rest
Princes and Wheels
Jul 15th, 2004 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Too much speed and hard work, not enough Wiccans and stillness, don’t you agree?… Read the rest
‘Arrogance’ and Knowledge
Jul 15th, 2004 | By Brian LeiterAndrea Lafferty, executive director of the Traditional Values Coalition, a conservative religious organization, delivers what could be the signature line for our backwards times in America:
There’s an arrogance in the scientific community that they know better than the average American.
In fact, of course, scientists do know quite a bit better than the “average American” about the matters for which their scientific expertise equips them. Those with knowledge, surprisingly, know more than those who are ignorant. Is that arrogance?
As Chris Mooney remarked, “science is not a democracy,” and in a democratic culture, that inevitably becomes a cause of resentment, as Ms. Lafferty’s comment attests. This resentment of competence was first made vivid to me when I appeared … Read the rest
Water and the West Bank
Jul 14th, 2004 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
More science and less religious fundamentalism would be better for Israelis and Palestinians.… Read the rest
Solution to African Food Crisis is Multifaceted
Jul 14th, 2004 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Better science education, more research, better roads, communication.… Read the rest
Ken Livingston and Pro-Hijab
Jul 14th, 2004 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Yusuf al-Qaradawi got a standing ovation. Hurrah for the hijab.… Read the rest
Martha Nussbaum on Sexual Torture at Gujarat
Jul 14th, 2004 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Women as nation, objectification, and disgust.… Read the rest
Good Moves
Jul 14th, 2004 2:27 am | By Ophelia BensonThat’s quite amusing. I wrote the comment below before I read Julian’s new Bad Moves, which also has partly to do with Prince Charles’ medical expertise compared with that of mere, you know, medical experts.
The strict dietary regime in question is the Gerson Therapy, which eschews drugs in favour of coffee enemas and fruit juices. It has the support of well-known medical experts such as Prince Charles, interior designer Dudley Poplak and Lord Baldwin of Bewdley. Their opinions, of course, carry more weight than those of the American Cancer Society, which warns that the treatment could be dangerous.
Pure coincidence, that. And then he goes on to make an excellent point about language that helps question-begging to do … Read the rest
Close Reading
Jul 13th, 2004 11:48 pm | By Ophelia BensonI re-read an article yesterday or Sunday that I kept wanting to do a comment on as I read it. Line by line, even word by word, in places. I wanted to comment not just on the article as a whole, but on each bit of sly rhetoric as I read and noticed it. Not a macro-comment but a micro one, not an overall comment but a close-up.
And that reminded me, in an almost nostalgic, sentimental way, of the beginning of N&C. In September or October 2002, when we were thinking about and discussing what to include on B&W, what features to add. It reminded me that we didn’t exactly think of N&C as a blog, at first, or … Read the rest
NSS Says Blunkett’s Religious Law is Dangerous
Jul 13th, 2004 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
National Secular Society on invitation to religious fanatics to use courts to silence critics.… Read the rest
Democrats Let Themselves be Hustled
Jul 13th, 2004 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
The herd of independent minds demands noisy religiosity from Kerry. Why?… Read the rest
At the MLA Convention
Jul 13th, 2004 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Essay way too long, padded, boring, but with some interesting bits.… Read the rest
Why Plagiarism Matters
Jul 13th, 2004 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
For the same sort of reason evidence matters, logic matters, truth matters.… Read the rest
Occidentalism Reviewed
Jul 12th, 2004 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Rebellion against the West is a Western export.… Read the rest
A Quick Twirl
Jul 11th, 2004 11:40 pm | By Ophelia BensonAnother miscellany, because there is an ever-growing backlog of items I want to point out and perhaps say a few words about – and I only have six hands you know. Be reasonable. I’m going as fast as I can, here, but I can’t do everything. And besides I have this mosquito bite or spider bite or moth bite or whatever the hell kind of bite it is just right at the bend of my elbow, on top where it gets maximal chafing from my sweatshirt, and it itches, dammit! It’s been itching for days and days and days and days. Normally bites stop itching after a few days, am I right? But this one just keeps on going, like … Read the rest
Want the Feds Monitoring Universities? No?
Jul 11th, 2004 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Should ‘both sides’ of the Holocaust or slavery be taught?… Read the rest
Timothy Garton Ash on Prospect List of Intellectuals
Jul 11th, 2004 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
‘Like most British intellectuals of his generation, Karl Popper was born in Vienna.’… Read the rest