A few days ago, Harriet Hall wrote a post on Science-Based Medicine titled “Gender Differences and Why They Don’t Matter So Much.” The article left a bad taste in my mouth for a number of reasons. Aside from what I feel is a gross misrepresentation of various criticisms of Michael Shermer (which I will leave to Ophelia and PZ to deal with as they see fit), the bulk of my issue with her post deals ... »
I saw them across the quad. Three preachers – two men and a woman – with a giant sign announcing the inevitability of eternal torture unless I immediately subscribed to their newsletter. As some of you know, I’m a finely tuned scorn-powered IRL trolling machine. It was either this or the gym. The choice was obvious. I sauntered over, momentarily oblivious to my own queerness, an... »
So as she listened to me complain about my latest squabble with the girlfriend, a friend of mine let out: “See, that’s why I don’t date other girls. They get upset so easily over nothing!” Now, she was obviously joking. But comments like this usually get me thinking of other people, who profess such things actually thinking they’re true, referring to stereotypes on th... »
In any very large event where the people attending do not know most other attendees, there are two things, which characterize the event. First will be some kind of activity: athletic competition, a march, a concert. Second, and usually most important, there is a complicated and evolving dynamic of shared identity, which binds the attendees together and erases individuals (with their enthusiastic c... »
College newspapers are rich sources of lulz and rage, and this article is no exception. Michelle Robertson is a staff writer for UC Berkeley’s newspaper, the Daily Cal. She wrote a pompously titled article, Believing in Tolerance, where she mansplains in a truly admirable fashion why atheists are atheists, why theists are theists, and why she’s smart enough to get the best of both w... »
I originally wrote this in response to a discussion I had with a roommate. I have not decided whether I will ultimately share it with her, but it is still an important issue that anyone who is out as an atheist will have to confront again and again. Why I am atheist proselytize Yesterday, we had a conversation where you shared a lot of your feelings and thoughts about my faithful lack of fai... »
