Although the pro-Palestine protests at my university have been nothing close to the magnitude that we’ve seen at others, we had a couple of small protests here, the first of which ended with some arrests. There have been many outspoken faculty members expressing disappointment with the way the protests were handled, and more than 200 faculty members signed a letter asking for a review of policies and for charges against the protesters to be dropped. I’m fine with this. I’m a free speech kind of guy, and have a soft spot for activism. If Nazis wanted to have a non-violent march on my campus, I’d argue that they should be allowed to do so (especially because we’re a public university, so all should be welcome). But as much as I support the protesters’ right to protest, I’m disappointed in what feels like a real lack of critical thinking by the people I expect to be the most skilled in critical thinking: the professors.
Continue reading “More than one thing can be true at a time”Tag: human rights
When does life begin?
The abortion issue is immensely complicated, and our position about it largely depends on how we answer several questions. One of those questions is, “when does life begin?” This sounds so simple to answer, but it couldn’t be more complicated. I’m a scientist, that’s what I do for a living. I have advanced training in these things, and I have no idea how to answer that question factually, and believe me I’ve tried. I’ve looked for evidence that I can use to help form my opinion about this part of the issue, and it’s one of the few areas where I honestly feel there is no scientific answer to the question. It’s simply not an empirical question.
Hitting Bregma 