Category Archives: Uncategorized

In response to the case of an article by an evolutionary biologist that referenced the difference in strength levels between the men and women being censored by Instagram as “hate speech”. People should never have generated the category of “hate speech”. It’s such a weird concept. Hate is an emotion, and we aren’t generally wellContinue reading “Unpacking “hate speech””

Vulnerability is a precondition of identity Limitation is a precondition of story Confinement is a precondition of a game Removal of these negative preconditions, freedom from them, removes their consequents from our lives. These truths are tragic, but not evil. If we wish to play the game, if we wish to have a story, ifContinue reading “Tragedy is living”

I recently remarked to my wife that most of what people take for their morals are really just the product of their circumstances and the demands placed on them. What people value depends on the necessity or luxury to being able to value them, and so they vary according to the situation. So most peopleContinue reading “Christianity and moral skepticism”

I love John McWhorter. There’s something just deeply attractive and loveable about that man. Having said that, John MacWhorter suffers from one enormous flaw. And it’s a flaw for which he is to be admired. He judges the world by giving other people the same credit he would to himself. It’s noble, it’s careful, it’sContinue reading “Intellectual generosity”

Can you make people better by force and fear? A response to John McWhorter’s anger about a writer for the NYT being fired just for referring to the N word during a discussion. Not using it, referring to it. I’ve always had a rebellious streak. When I was told I couldn’t drop the flag duringContinue reading “Fear, rebellion, and virtue”

Are ESG’s silly or wrong somehow? In a market economy people are free to pursue and place value on whatever they choose to, including long term structural goals at the expense of short term maximal gains. People have the right to be complicated and value things other than sheer volume of profits. Heck, I didn’tContinue reading “ESGs and their critics”

Without going into great detail, I’m going to say no. An emphatic no. But I also have an emphatic yes to add to it. Yes, being Christians should inform our politics. But Christianity should not. Because, if it does, there is a very real chance that we will start to identify our politics with Christianity.Continue reading “Should our politics be informed by Christianity?”

The 21st century person is in half a dozen kinds of therapy, formal and informal, all of which tell them that they’re wonderful and special and that everyone else is terrible and is out to get them.  The 21st century person believes that everyone is the product of deterministic social construction, but their own identityContinue reading “The 21st century person”

A response to the argument that you could win the abortion debate by allowing only women to vote on it, as more women than men favor restricting abortion.     This sounds like a good tactic but sets a terrible precedent. It trades a dubious short term win for an unknowable long term cost.    Continue reading “Inherent dangers in revolutionary tactics”

This is funny, but it’s also kind of serious. The APA has basically taken the position that what has previously been understood as “deviant” sexuality and gender ideations are perfectly healthy and only require affirmative care, and traditional sexual and gender ideations are fundamentally diseased (disease classification is connected to harm, and they’ve declared themContinue reading “The APA and “traditional” masculinity”

After watching all the recent, revisionist versions of Cinderella, which focus on how the heroine is doing just fine and doesn’t need to be saved, valued, or rescued from her plight by anyone (much less a man), I sometimes wonder if women would appreciate it just as much if we released some updated romances whereContinue reading “Why Cinderella is a hero”

A false god is any finite and limited thing, any desire, any ideology, any program, any belief, that has been elevated to the level of a divine universal. And our pantheon today is just as rich as that of any age, perhaps moreso.     Our rituals, our displays, and our fervor are just asContinue reading “What is a false god?”

I think part of the reason men and women communicate differently is that they teach themselves to communicate differently. If you want to succeed in a social group of young males you need a very different skill set from young females. I should know. Most of my friends were girls; most of them still are.Continue reading “Men are from Mars, women are from Venus”

Men are struggling, no one cares – a talk by Warren Farrell     This commentary is more in response to the headline than the actual forementioned discussion, but yes, no one cares. Men don’t care because they’re too competitive. If some men fail, that’s not really our problem; if anything it’s to our advantage.Continue reading “Sympathy for men and minorities”

   One of the great miracles and great tragedies of humanity is that we are so adaptable. We are so adaptable that we will change in response to however the world is represented to us. Which also means that people will behave in the manner of the thing that you treat them like.    Continue reading “Our natural vulnerability to communication”

Want to hear me pontificate about myself? Who doesn’t love that kind of thing? No, seriously, this isn’t narcissism. I wrote the following entry as I was trying to analyze and understand myself. I don’t know why anyone else would care about that. But maybe it could serve as an example for self reflection? IsContinue reading “Self-indulgent self-analysis”

One thing I’ve learned from being a parent is that people don’t appreciate kindness or generosity that they can just take for granted as part of the structure and entitlement of their personal universe. It doesn’t change them either. There’s no personal element, so it conveys no personal enlightenment. They don’t receive it from someoneContinue reading “The personal touch”

From an exchange with a friend who is a pastor. After looking through a list of recommended resources he got from another pastor. I don’t think Christians have really learned to recognize “social justice” yet as an actual competing religion that’s trying to absorb their faith under its own ideological umbrella. And the danger andContinue reading “Where did social justice come from?”

I have heard religion described by some American conservatives as the basis for freedom. I’ve also heard it described by some American liberals as being the basis for oppression and confinement. I don’t know about religion in general being responsible for freedom; it depends on what you mean by freedom. Ultimately, being able to doContinue reading “Does American freedom depend on religion?”

The documentary Chernobyol, is not only good, it is one of the best things I have ever seen in my life.    I wept several times. When the divers volunteered, when the puppies were shot, when the female scientist argued with Luchenkov trying to get him tell the truth about the control rods. And finally,Continue reading “Chernobyl”