New Rule at USC: Don’t Say Non-Offensive Words That Sound Like Offensive Words

This is an example of Daniel Kahneman's halo effect going beserk. If you are not stuck in a modern day intellectual silo, this article might sorely disappoint you: "If USC can punish Greg Patton, free speech on campus really is dead." Professor Patton did not say anything inappropriate. He said a word that sounded like another word that some students said offended them. To summarize, Patton didn't say an offensive word at all, but he is being punished for saying a Chinese phrase that, to the over-sensitive ears of some students, sounded like an offensive word. USC's conclusion is that saying a perfectly innocent Chinese phrase in the process of discussing business speech is the moral equivalent of saying a completely different English word with a totally different meaning.

Too many of us are being silent about stupidity in high places. USC is a prestigious and supposedly learned university that is acting deliberately, intentionally and perniciously with regard to Professor Greg Patton. This knee-jerk off-target administrative disciplinary action serves no legitimate purpose and chills speech in classroom filled with elite young adults who are not acting their age or educational level.

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What Dinosaur Bones Teach Us

About 5 years ago I had the opportunity to assist a UT paleontologist whose team was looking for dinosaur fossils in southwest Texas. I actually found three separate bones on one of the outings and it was awesome. Although they were not scientifically significant fossils, they caused me to contemplate my small place in the universe. I was holding 75M year old fossils of an exotic real-world creature. My human primate hands had uncovered fossils that were being seen by human eyes for the first time. The following thought might seem naive to some, but as I was examining these bones out in the field, I was thinking: "Dinosaurs are real. It's not simply a story."

This inspiring scientifically rigorous TED talk by Paleontologist Kenneth Lacovara brought back my memories and my intense feelings from that week out in the field.

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Purity Tests, Friendship and Thomas Jefferson

I see the opposite of Jefferson's wise approach commonly being celebrated on FB.

A few months ago, I was booted from a decades-long friendship by a woman who insisted, out of the blue, that I needed to acknowledge the unparalleled wisdom of the Roman Catholic Church. Ideological purity tests everywhere I look these days. This is exactly what Terror Management Theory predicts when death is in the air, when mortality is "salient."

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Manipulative Intelligence

Evolutionary Psychologist Diane Fleischman, in an article titled "The Dark Side of Smart":

Human intelligence is incredibly useful but it doesn’t safeguard you against having false beliefs, because that’s not what intelligence is for. Intelligence is associated with coming up with more convincing bullshit and with being a better liar, but not associated with a better ability to recognizeone’s own bias. Unfortunately, intelligence has very little influence on your ability to rationally evaluate your own beliefs, or undermine what’s called “myside bias.”

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The Eight Stages of Critical Race Theory Courtesy of Woke Temple

At Twitter, the Woke Temple is is known for ridiculing Wokeness through the use of cartoonish graphics, but don't be fooled. Despite the cartoonishness, the lessons of the Woke Temple are well-researched and accurate. They repeatedly get at the heart of the misguidedness and perniciousness of the Woke movement. As I've researched the Woke movement over the past few months, I've come to appreciate all the serious work that goes into analyzing the Woke movement, then cleverly boiling down this unwieldy-looking movement into the brash-looking cartoons.

I agree with this approach. The Woke movement needs to be ridiculed because it is wrong-headed in numerous ways that are not obvious.  The Movement consists of many well-intended followers, who are being intentionally deceived by many of its leaders.

But it can't be easily ridiculed because the movement has it's own language that has been developed for decades in critical studies departments at major universities. The movement often defines terms in ways that conflict with (or sometimes are the opposite of) the common meanings of words. The Woke movement abhors critical analysis and evidence, especially of its own concepts and tactics. It is a movement that thrives on ad hominem attacks, revised history, anecdotes in place of statistical analysis and the refusal to engage in good faith dialogue. It is a movement that celebrates the use of feelings in lieu of careful fact-gathering. It is a seductive movement that has taken root in many colleges, government offices and corporate HR departments. How does one clearly and quickly communicate the problems and dangers of the Woke movement with those who unfamiliar with what it is really about?

With that introduction, I'm pasting below The Woke Temple's recent graphic setting forth the Eight Stages of Critical Race Theory (one of several manifestations of the Woke Movement). These stages accurately capture my personal journey in trying to understand and engage with the Woke Movement.  There is a lot of important information embedded here, so take your time in order to appreciate this:

Continue ReadingThe Eight Stages of Critical Race Theory Courtesy of Woke Temple