Oct 13, 2022 06:27 PM
https://bigthink.com/health/critical-the...edibility/
KEY TAKEAWAYS: The scientific community is increasingly embracing sociopolitical ideologies and philosophies that are blatantly at odds with scientific data. The highest profile example is the debate over sex. From a biological perspective, it is a binary phenomenon, but some academics advocate a "sex spectrum" that consists of three, four, five, six, or even an infinite number of sexes. The acceptance of fashionable nonsense is a threat to Enlightenment values and public health.
EXCERPT: Medical News Today’s attempt to harmonize these obviously contradictory views of sex exemplifies a disturbing trend that has swept through the scientific community in recent years. Far too many academic and public health institutions claim to promote science-based thinking while simultaneously genuflecting to sociopolitical ideologies which deny that such thinking is desirable — or even possible.
“Queer Theory” is the academic discipline that birthed the increasingly popular understanding of sex and gender. Its adherents deem any conventional idea about sexuality — say, that “male” and “female” are fixed categories rooted in biology — as oppressive. It should not come as a surprise that, as Helen Pluckrose and James Lindsay explain in their book Cynical Theories, “Queer Theory is dominated by… the deconstruction of categories, and a profound skepticism of science.”
With its roots in postmodernism, Queer Theory rejects the idea that we can gather objective, verifiable information about reality. Worse, it treats scientists with disdain, arguing that people who claim that science offers insight into how the natural world functions are making value judgments designed to maintain their political power. Other critical theories share this radical skepticism of science.
Instead of fighting back, the scientific community — for what ironically appears to be an effort to maintain political power — has been eager to embrace what is clearly an unscientific, anti-Enlightenment mindset. This explains, for instance, how biomedical journals are increasingly full of fashionable nonsense.
This trend is dangerous because it gives members of the public a perfect excuse to ignore scientific and medical information they dislike. Why take the biomedical community seriously on something important like vaccines when it can’t even describe what a man and a woman are? And a society that can no longer discern basic truths is headed for devastating consequences... (MORE - missing details)
KEY TAKEAWAYS: The scientific community is increasingly embracing sociopolitical ideologies and philosophies that are blatantly at odds with scientific data. The highest profile example is the debate over sex. From a biological perspective, it is a binary phenomenon, but some academics advocate a "sex spectrum" that consists of three, four, five, six, or even an infinite number of sexes. The acceptance of fashionable nonsense is a threat to Enlightenment values and public health.
EXCERPT: Medical News Today’s attempt to harmonize these obviously contradictory views of sex exemplifies a disturbing trend that has swept through the scientific community in recent years. Far too many academic and public health institutions claim to promote science-based thinking while simultaneously genuflecting to sociopolitical ideologies which deny that such thinking is desirable — or even possible.
“Queer Theory” is the academic discipline that birthed the increasingly popular understanding of sex and gender. Its adherents deem any conventional idea about sexuality — say, that “male” and “female” are fixed categories rooted in biology — as oppressive. It should not come as a surprise that, as Helen Pluckrose and James Lindsay explain in their book Cynical Theories, “Queer Theory is dominated by… the deconstruction of categories, and a profound skepticism of science.”
With its roots in postmodernism, Queer Theory rejects the idea that we can gather objective, verifiable information about reality. Worse, it treats scientists with disdain, arguing that people who claim that science offers insight into how the natural world functions are making value judgments designed to maintain their political power. Other critical theories share this radical skepticism of science.
Instead of fighting back, the scientific community — for what ironically appears to be an effort to maintain political power — has been eager to embrace what is clearly an unscientific, anti-Enlightenment mindset. This explains, for instance, how biomedical journals are increasingly full of fashionable nonsense.
This trend is dangerous because it gives members of the public a perfect excuse to ignore scientific and medical information they dislike. Why take the biomedical community seriously on something important like vaccines when it can’t even describe what a man and a woman are? And a society that can no longer discern basic truths is headed for devastating consequences... (MORE - missing details)
