Blog
3 things I learned from ‘The Disordered Cosmos’
Dr. Chanda Prescod-Weinstein’s 2021 book on physics and identity. Dr. Chanda Prescod-Weinstein shares meta-insights about how science and society can prevent us from asking questions and obtaining insights. Who’s included?
Does Moll Flanders know whether her mother is cheerful?
The Gettier problem in Daniel Defoe’s novel. Moll’s justified true belief (“My mother was a mighty cheerful, good-humoured old woman”) wasn’t knowledge. The novelist put an irony there.
Toward a better epistemology: Why do we care about what we know?
A reaction to the ‘Gettier problem’. Maybe there isn’t just one definition of knowledge. Maybe every type of knowledge is related in a “family resemblance.” Some are propositions. Some aren’t.
Do we choose to be who we are?
And what, by the way, is choice? If you can’t snap your fingers to change, how do you change? What do we ask people to do when we ask them to change? Why should anyone change?
Green birds are birds
I point this out because you asked. Look at these bird friends. Both are green. They’re both birds! Neither is confused. Neither is upset. And your mind will really be blown when you realize—
Yes, Virginia, there are brainworms
And some conspiracy theorists do have them. Yes, Virginia, there are brainworms. They exist as certainly as transphobia exists and abounds attempting to morally mandate trans people out of existence.
Is your clothing the wrong gender?
A proposed Texas law would classify you as a drag performer. A proposed law in Texas says there’s a proper, legal way to wear clothing and makeup—and to have a body. You must look like your “gender assigned at birth”.
You’re an individual who has identities
Robyn Blumner defending Richard Dawkins. Let’s not keep falling back on the idea that certain men are pre-approved to say whatever they like. Their free speech isn’t a stand-in for everyone else’s.
It takes two people to go on a first date
You may want info before a first date, but that doesn’t mean you’re entitled to have it. If someone isn’t allowed to have their gender at a key moment, they aren’t really allowed to have it at all. Cis people don’t own trans people’s info.