Things you need to stop doing in debates: framing your position as “rational/skeptical” and the opposing position as not “rational/skeptical.” What I’m talking about specifically are rhetorical moves like these: “Some hysterical people think sexual harassment is a huge problem, but I’m going to be rational about this.” or “I’m an actual skeptic, so I’m …
Tag Archive: research
May 12 2013
Richwine and the Inherent Goodness of Intelligence
[Content note: racism] In news that should surprise absolutely no one, conservatives have once again embarrassed themselves by attempting to “prove” with “science” that people of color are stupider than white people. Yup, again. You’ve probably read this story elsewhere so I’ll make my recap brief: It has come to light that Jason Richwine (I’m …
May 01 2013
Does Sexist Humor Matter? A Review of the Research
[Content note: sexual assault] When people call out sexist humor, they’re often informed that “it’s just a joke.” While some seem to believe that humor inhabits a special dimension of the universe in which things don’t “really mean” anything, psychologists tend to disagree. There are many, many reasons sexist humor matters. It hurts people, first …
Apr 03 2013
Busting Myths About Feminism With SCIENCE!
Well, Monday’s April Fool’s joke left such a bad taste in my mouth that I was compelled to hurry up and write this post, which I’ve wanted to write for a while. Feminist activists are invariably compelled to respond to silly, derailing claims about feminists’ supposed appearance, personalities, sex lives, attitudes towards men. You know …
Nov 30 2012
HoboJacket’s Casual Classism: Ethical Humor and Objectifying the Homeless
Elite college students being snobby and idiotic isn’t really newsworthy, but a group of MIT students went above and beyond the standard this past week. The students thought it’d be funny to give local homeless people jackets from Caltech, MIT’s rival, in order to “show the true value of a Caltech degree.” And then, to …
Nov 14 2012
More On Depression Origins and Parenting
Last week I wrote a piece called “Onset,” in which I described the way I first became clinically depressed about nine years ago. That was the first time I’d ever written about that or told anyone other than a few close friends, so the many positive responses I got were really encouraging. One commenter responded …
Oct 23 2012
[storytime] How I Quit the Senior Thesis
Ever since I was little, I held a belief shared by many gifted kids–gifted kids who grow into overachieving teenagers and then sleepless college students and then budding doctors, lawyers, engineers, researchers, businesspeople, or just those legions of people who wear tailored suits and work in tall office buildings in lower Manhattan and do stuff …
Sep 04 2012
You're a Racist
And a sexist, and probably a homophobe, too. But it’s okay, so am I. In fact, research shows that almost everyone shows signs of prejudiced attitudes. The Implicit Association Test, a psychological test designed to measure the strength of subconscious associations that people have, suggests that even people who openly profess not to be racist …
Sep 04 2012
You’re a Racist
And a sexist, and probably a homophobe, too. But it’s okay, so am I. In fact, research shows that almost everyone shows signs of prejudiced attitudes. The Implicit Association Test, a psychological test designed to measure the strength of subconscious associations that people have, suggests that even people who openly profess not to be racist …
Sep 02 2012
"Traditional" Morality and Anti-Porn Arguments That Fail
So the Republicans have added a section to their official party platform that calls for a crackdown on pornography. Whereas previously, the GOP platform had only addressed child pornography, the new language reads: “Current laws on all forms of pornography and obscenity need to be vigorously enforced.” Although this sentence does not technically suggest a …
About the Author
Brute Reason Tumblr
- "I have a family. I have friends. I have neighbors. I have loved ones. But that’s not why I deserve..."“I have a family. I have friends. I have neighbors. I have loved ones. But that’s not why I deserve to be treated as a human being. That’s not why you should reduce the stigma around mental illnesses, or increase mental health access, or change societal attitudes. That’s not why people with mental illnesses deserve help. Not to mention the fact that some peo […]
- Tell Kickstarter Not To Fund This Gross Book About How To Get Laid By Assaulting WomenTell Kickstarter Not To Fund This Gross Book About How To Get Laid By Assaulting Women: [Content note: sexual assault] There’s a project that’s just gotten funded through Kickstarter. It’s a book called Above the Game: A Guide to Getting Awesome With Women and it’s being written by a Redditor and pickup artist named Ken Hoinsky. Predictably, the book promise […]
- "There are some pretty grim consequences to the trope of highlighting ”friends and family” of the..."“There are some pretty grim consequences to the trope of highlighting ”friends and family” of the mentally ill at the expense of actual people with mental illness. I mean, aside from otherization and erasure (HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA, like those aren’t grim consequences in and of themselves, oh, I do make myself laugh). Ahem. First, it adds to an already-potent […]
- "I don’t think that friends and family members of people with mental illnesses don’t struggle, or..."“I don’t think that friends and family members of people with mental illnesses don’t struggle, or that their struggle isn’t important. I don’t think that friends and family members of people with mental illnesses don’t do great things to help, or that those things aren’t important to talk about. What I object to is centering their experience and their work a […]
- "Note the construction of the sentence: “We all know somebody – a family member, a friend, a neighbor..."“Note the construction of the sentence: “We all know somebody – a family member, a friend, a neighbor – who has struggled with mental illness.” The person with mental illness here is always someone else. They are always removed from ourselves. They are the people we help, the people we are sad for, the people we want to save. The people who are sick, the peo […]
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Two things to keep in mind:
1. I am bad at answering lengthy emails. Sorry!
2. I may ask you for permission to blog about our correspondence. However, if you are harassing/abusive/trollish, then I no longer have to ask you for permission. Proceed with caution!
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