Transphobia rots your brain

CSICon is currently taking place in Las Vegas, with a great speaker lineup: Neil deGrasse Tyson, Brian Cox, Michael Mann, Massimo Pigliucci, Steve Novella, etc. For some reason, they also included Jerry Coyne, who has become a right-wing crank over the years, and who is quite annoyed that Novella discussed the myth of the gender binary — and chose to talk about Sex and Race: Handling the Ideological Hot Potatoes. His abstract for the talk says he was arguing that race is a valid category because you can distinguish “race” genetically, which tells me that he doesn’t understand the argument. Individuals are unique and carry the record of their ancestry, but that ignores the fact that people use race as a catch-all for lumping people into stereotypes, which are not valid.

But I haven’t heard his talk, nor am I interested in hearing it. He did give a kind of “rebuttal” to Novella’s talk, though, summarized in one simple list. The list is a collection of his misconceptions and says far more about him than any argument us “woke” people would actually make. Further, it is embarrassingly stupid — irrelevant, confused, and not even wrong. It reminds me of the kinds of arguments creationists make that just reveal that they understand nothing about evolution.

Here’s Coyne’s list In Defense of the Binary Nature of Sex, which does nothing of the kind.

IN DEFENSE OF THE BINARY NATURE OF SEX
Argument is completely limited to humans; is the binary of reproductive systems also “delusional” in other animals (e.g., foxes, ducks) or in plants?
No evidence of any “brain modules” for gender identity.
Do people who are temporally binary, with gender fluctuating over time, change sex each time they change gender?
Fluctuations in referrals for gender dysphoria over time (20-fold in last ten years in UK)
Are “pure” members of one sex (with the corresponding genitals, chromosomes, gametes and chromosomes), but who feel they’re not of their natal sex, actually of the other sex?
People have incorrect feelings about their nature all the time (yes, in their brains), but this doesn’t mean that their self-image should be taken as biological reality.
And what do we do with people who sincerely feel that they’re other animals? Are they Indeed animals likes horses and cats?

Let’s take them on one at a time, shall we?

Argument is completely limited to humans; is the binary of reproductive systems also “delusional” in other animals (e.g., foxes, ducks) or in plants?

Who says the argument is completely limited to humans? It’s not. It’s just that we are far better at distinguishing subtle variations in our own species. Sexual development and differentiation in animals uses the same complex cascade of molecular interactions as it does in humans. There are differences in sexual morphology and behavior in individual animals that will leap out at you if you actually scrutinize them carefully. Even in spiders, which are only distantly related to humans. They exhibit different degrees of social behavior, aggression, cooperation, and yes, sexual activity. I’ve had spiders who exhibit no interest in sex at all; I raise them to adulthood, and can’t persuade them to reproduce even as their siblings readily mate at every opportunity. Every coupling is different. This is in a species that cannot communicate to us and every interpretation of their activity is subjective. What kind of biologist would look at the range of sexual interactions in any species and decide that they must be shoehorned into just two types?

As for plants — they don’t exhibit much in the way of behavior, expression, or culture, but they do have a complex range of sexes. How do you tell if a carrot is uncomfortable with its expected biological role?

No evidence of any “brain modules” for gender identity.

Jerry Coyne knows nothing about neuroscience. We know there are differences in the brain that are correlates of differences in behavior and thinking; I’m pretty sure Coyne wouldn’t be claiming that brains are like featureless potatoes with patterns of activity that arise without differences in morphology or connectivity of pharmacology. Modules are abstractions that are used to model the functionality of different parts of the brain.

Many complex networks are composed of “modules” that form an interconnected network. We sought to elucidate the nature of the brain’s modular function by testing the autonomy of the brain’s modules and the potential mechanisms underlying their interactions. By studying the brain as a large-scale complex network and measuring activity across the network during 77 cognitive tasks, we demonstrate that, despite connectivity between modules, each module appears to execute a discrete cognitive function relatively autonomously from the other modules. Moreover, brain regions with diverse connectivity across the modules appear to play a role in enabling modules to interact while remaining mostly autonomous. This generates the counterintuitive idea that regions with diverse connectivity across modules are necessary for modular biological networks.

The brain is a network with spatial and functional segregation of elements that we can call “modules”; trans people will have modules that differ from cis people, and people who prefer coffee to tea have their own kinds of modules. All Coyne is doing here is denying the existence of differences between brains, which I would hope most people would recognize is ignorant and absurd.

(Note that there are differences in interpretation in the neuroscience community; we can argue about modules vs. modes, but good grief, denying that there are neurological differences is like trying to claim that population structure doesn’t exist.)

Do people who are temporally binary, with gender fluctuating over time, change sex each time they change gender?

Sure, why not? Why can’t both sex and gender be fluid? Coyne just wants to force-fit everything into only one of two possible categories, but biology is more complex than that. His narrow-mindedness is not evidence of much of anything.

Fluctuations in referrals for gender dysphoria over time (20-fold in last ten years in UK)

Jesus christ, really? Culture and evironment affect everything, that varying rates of referrals is a product of the way that societies fluctuate in their tolerance of sex and gender differences. That he doesn’t recognize this is just a sign that he has a painfully simple-minded notion of how sex functions as more than just a mechanism for reproduction.

Are “pure” members of one sex (with the corresponding genitals, chromosomes, gametes and chromosomes), but who feel they’re not of their natal sex, actually of the other sex?

I’m glad I didn’t hear his talk, because I wonder if he also talked about “pure” members of one race. There’s no such thing as being “purely” a member of one complex multidimensional and weakly defined category. We are all part of a continuum along many dimensions. This point makes no sense unless you’re thoroughly soaking in the preconception that there can be only two sexes and everyone must fit into one or another in all particulars.

People have incorrect feelings about their nature all the time (yes, in their brains), but this doesn’t mean that their self-image should be taken as biological reality.

I am grossly materialistic. Self-image is part of one’s biology. If it’s in our brains, how can it not be a reflection of biological reality? I’m sorry if plasticity isn’t in Jerry Coyne’s vocabulary. I’m pretty confident that dualism isn’t part of his worldview.

And what do we do with people who sincerely feel that they’re other animals? Are they Indeed animals likes horses and cats?

I kew that was coming. And what about the people who sincerely feel that they are attack helicopters?

No, people can’t change species. They’re still people. Being a person, though, encompasses a wide range of possibilities. Trans people fully understand their biological realities and don’t imagine that genitalia are magical products of desire.

As for what we do with people who have ideas that are less rigid than Coyne’s dumb-ass cis-normativity…do we have to do anything, or can we just let them live in peace?

The FDA hates sunshine and exercise?

Remember this: Trump wants to put RFK Jr. in charge of America’s public health policy.

FDA’s war on public health is about to end. This includes its aggressive suppression of psychedelics, peptides, stem cells, raw milk, hyperbaric therapies, chelating compounds, ivermectin, hydroxychloroquine, vitamins, clean foods, sunshine, exercise, nutraceuticals and anything else that advances human health and can’t be patented by Pharma. If you work for the FDA and are part of this corrupt system, | have two messages for you: 1. Preserve your records, and 2. Pack your bags.

There’s a bunch of both dangerous (opposed by the FDA) and innocuous (not opposed, and sometimes endorsed, by the FDA) things in that list, and a not-so-subtle paranoid conspiracy theory behind it all, but what I find particularly worrisome is the threat at the end. If you aren’t in favor of raw milk, ivermectin, hydroxychloroquine, and random psychedelics, pack your bags, you’re going on Donald Trump’s list of undesirables.

At least I hate the Sacklers and Martin Shkreli as much as anyone, and I’m on the side of sunshine and exercise. In fact, I just had my morning vitamins and am going to go on a walk.

I think I see the problem here

An ironic slogan

As we get closer to the election, the frenzy of the media becomes increasingly apparent. All the stories about polls, about uncommitted voters, about wild rumors about immigrants, etc., it all has a purpose — to make us increasingly anxious and desperate for more “news”, that is, the stuff the media tells us will help us resolve our uncertainty. Except, of course, it isn’t what we need. I know how I’m going to vote, I informed my opinion on that by seeing what the candidates do and say, and all the caterwauling about how my neighbors will vote or how people a thousand miles away will vote doesn’t matter.

But that is what the media feeds on.

The machine is churning so fast right now that the works have been exposed. Sprockets have sprung, circuits are frayed, the housing is cracked, and the real engines of the news are exposed. It’s billionaires meddling.

The choice in the next election is obvious to every informed citizen, but the Washington Post went full chickenshit and decided this was the year they can’t make an endorsement. The publisher, William Lewis, had to twist himself into knots to justify that act of cowardice.

“We recognize that this will be read in a range of ways, including as a tacit endorsement of one candidate, or as a condemnation of another, or as an abdication of responsibility. That is inevitable,” Lewis wrote. “We don’t see it that way. We see it as consistent with the values The Post has always stood for and what we hope for in a leader: character and courage in service to the American ethic, veneration for the rule of law, and respect for human freedom in all its aspects.”

In the name of ethics, the rule of law, and respect for human freedom, the paper nobly refuses to support the candidate who opposes a fascist with no ethics, contempt for the law, who wants to lock up and deport millions of Americans. That is such a chickenshit excuse. You know the real motivation: they are afraid Trump might win, and they are preemptively kneeling before the monster who’d abuse his power to silence media that is critical of him.

And, of course, the Washington Post is owned by a billionaire, Jeff Bezos, who is probably pissed off at the only reasonable (if flawed) candidate who is talking about mild policy that might cost him another yacht. The thumb is on the scales.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the country, another major newspaper, the LA Times, refused to endorse a candidate who opposes Trump, and has lost the support of much of its staff.

Mariel Garza, who was until days ago the Los Angeles Times’ editorials editor, said she resigned from her post in protest after the paper’s owner, billionaire Patrick Soon-Shiong, blocked an endorsement the editorial board had planned to make for Harris. Soon-Shiong appeared to push back in a social media post, in which he claimed the editorial board was asked to “draft a factual analysis of all the POSITIVE AND NEGATIVE policies by EACH candidate” so readers could make an informed decision, but claimed the board did not follow through. Editorial board members Robert Greene, a Pulitzer Prize winner, and Karin Klein also resigned in protest, with both citing their disappointment over the blocked endorsement.

Patrick Soon-Shiong is a South African billionaire who bought his way into a position of influence. I can think of another South African billionaire who is poisoning our democracy. Maybe we should deport them all?

There are things we can do — weak, belated things, but it’s something. You can write a letter to the editor of the WaPo. It probably won’t get published, but increasing the tally of people who state their contempt for the editorial cowardice can help. Do like Martin Baron.

Former Washington Post Executive Editor Martin Baron, who led the newsroom to acclaim during Trump’s presidency, denounced the decision starkly.

“This is cowardice, a moment of darkness that will leave democracy as a casualty,” Baron said in a statement to NPR. “Donald Trump will celebrate this as an invitation to further intimidate The Post’s owner, Jeff Bezos (and other media owners). History will mark a disturbing chapter of spinelessness at an institution famed for courage.”

Or even better, if you are a subscriber, cancel it right now. I did. The darkness approaches. Don’t expect the Washington Post to light a candle.

Little boy, you are not yet ready

Today was the day I was going to try breeding a new generation of black widows. I gently introduced some males to some females, but then chickened out. No way were these males ready for the overwhelming majesty of a fully grown female.

That immensity is the female, on the left. The little guy on the right is a male, who I think is bit young for this exercise. He’s game, though, scurried right up to female and made a few tentative taps. It’s a bit like watching a mosquito getting the hots for a passing zeppelin.

I think I’ll have to tank up the males for a few more weeks.

Today I’m doing a “fool’s experiment” in the classroom

Fridays are the worst, from a teacher’s perspective, and Mondays are great. Students start out the week full of enthusiasm and slowly deflate, so today I’ve only got 50% attendance…and that’s typical. I try to pack Mondays with all the deep information, while on Fridays I try to do something different.

We’ve been talking about Darwin this week. I’ve given them an in-class exercise to browse through the Darwin project and begin to put together a short essay. Here are their instructions.

In your next essay, you’re going to be a real historian: I want you to read a few samples of primary historical references from Charles Darwin, and interpret and explain what he is writing about.

The Darwin Correspondence Project (https://www.darwinproject.ac.uk/) is a massive archive of letters to and from Charles Darwin, containing about 15,000 documents that have all been indexed and made publicly available. I want you to dive into this pile of letters, pluck out a few, and read them carefully. You may have to do additional research to figure out who these long dead people were, but the Darwin Project has actually done a lot of that work for you.

Write a 750 word essay that explains the context and meaning of the letters you choose. Unlike most scientific writing, this kind of essay encourages quoting your source — but don’t use up more than 250 words in direct quotes.

You get to choose the topic of the letters. Some might contain heavy scientific arguments, others might be friendly chit-chat, some are questions about that flower you were supposed to mail to me. They’re all good and interesting! Peek into the mind of a famous scientist, and you’ll find both deep revelations and mundane conversation.

In class: before you go, summarize to the group what you intend to write about, or tell us something interesting that you found.

I’m in class, working in parallel with them, and occasionally interrupting to get an idea of what they’re focusing on. I was most interested in Darwin’s “fool experiments“. These were experiments where you figured that it would never work, or that the answer would be obvious, but you go ahead and do the experiment anyways.

‘I love fools’ experiments. I am always making them’, was one of the most interesting things the zoologist E. Ray Lankester ever heard Darwin say. ‘A great deal might be written as comment on that statement’, Lankester later recorded, but he limited himself to stating that ‘the thoughts which it suggests may be summed up by the proposition that even a wise experiment when made by a fool generally leads to a false conclusion, but that fools’ experiments conducted by a genius often prove to be leaps through the dark into great discoveries.’

That’s a really good idea. I should go do a fool’s experiment this afternoon, maybe I’ll be surprised.

My students are right now digging into Darwin’s religious beliefs, his love life, his speculations about the age of the earth, and are going to give me the details next week. This should be fun.

My political “dilemma”

Here’s the problem. The Democrats think it’s OK to murder Palestinians, but also think trans people should have rights. The Republicans think it’s OK to murder both Palestinians and trans people.

It’s not much of a dilemma, because of course I can’t vote for Republicans, but I can support part of the Democratic position, so I’ve got to vote Democratic party all the way down the line. It would make me much happier, though, if we could see some opposition to Israel’s genocidal actions.

I was surprised to see this evidence that anti-trans rhetoric is a key part of the Republican strategy.

They’ve spent almost $30 million on an ad that says Harris is providing humane social support to trans people in prison, which they think is deplorable, but I think is a point in her favor. Their second biggest focus is on immigration — they’re against it, I’m for it.

Their entire platform is built on hatred for non-white, non-straight people. Again, this is a crappy dilemma, because of course I’m pro-Democrat then.

Except that I wish voting for Harris didn’t also make me feel like I’m giving tacit approval to genocide.

Phase 2 complete

Phase 1 was moving the young black widows to new, spacious quarters and giving them a day to get comfortable. Phase 2 is giving them a big meal so they aren’t hungry when meeting their beaus.

Here’s one female who has just been given a hearty breakfast.

The splotches near the center are spider poop, I’m sorry to say. I’ve been keeping them well fed, so they had to, ummm, relieve themselves immediately after the move. I dropped a large mealworm in this morning — it immediately scurried under the coconut fiber on the left. The spider was very excited, though, and has one leg on its butt, and although you can’t see it, has a silk line attached to it already.

I expect the ladies to be fully satiated and ready for love when I introduce them to some males tomorrow. Friday should be exciting!

A map that explains so much

Here’s a map of average precipitation across the US.

I’m in the dry band that stretches from Texas to Minnesota, drawing a vertical line across the middle of the country. I grew up in the dark green to purple wet part of the country on the West coast, and my favorite part of the world is that dark purple blotch over the Olympic peninsula.

No wonder I’m thirsty. I need to get a drink of water and get to work now.

Go go go, Boeing workers!

Well, my mother’s house has been stripped bare. We hired a local contractor to sweep through and sort and dispose of everything she left behind, which leaves me feeling sad and depressed. She lived there for almost 50 years, and had gathered all these memories, neatly boxed and on display, of the family she loved, and I’ve ordered them all distributed to second-hand stores, Habitat for Humanity, and landfills. Sorry, Mom.

The house will be going on the market in a week or two. The asking price will be $435,000, which leaves me slightly stunned. Housing prices in the Pacific Northwest are out of sight, although it could be worse — the house could have been located in the Bay area.

Now I have to be concerned with selling it off to benefit all the heirs, all 9 of them. Complicating that is the fact that Boeing is on strike. This is a house that was owned by a Boeing family, with multiple Boeing siblings, and is located not far from a Boeing plant, so I feel like that’s the market it fits in. Unfortunately, Boeing machinists have rejected the latest offer.

Machinists on Wednesday rejected Boeing’s latest contract proposal, dashing hopes for an end to the nearly six-week walkout and further complicating the aerospace giant’s path to a more stable future.

The vote by members of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers districts 751 and W24 came on the same day the company reported a loss of more than $6 billion for the quarter that ended in September.

Boeing had hoped the sweetened deal, which included a 35 percent pay increase, enhanced health and retirement benefits and a $7,000 signing bonus, would be enough to end the walkout by 33,000 machinists, but some observers say they may have underestimated the mistrust and lingering resentment that remains among rank-and-file workers, particularly those who have been through previous rounds of contract negotiations.

My interests in this matter are all aligned. I want the union members to win a glorious victory and triumph with an excellent increase in pay and benefits because they deserve it, and I know Mom and Dad would be cheering them on (heck, Dad would probably be bringing coffee and donuts to the picket line), and darn it, I have a house to sell.

I’m in trouble with AiG and its lawyers

I have been informed that I must take down a blog post, this one. Apparently, Answers in Genesis does not own a whole jet, they lease 25% of one, and how dare I quote an investor site that says “The Cayman Islands are considered a tax haven” or that AiG has been grasping at tax breaks.

RE: False and Defamatory Statements

Dear Dr. Myers:

We represent Answers in Genesis, Inc. (“AiG”). We are writing to demand you and your blog, FreeThoughtBlogs, cease and desist further publication of your article Why are creationists so pasty pale at Answers in Genesis? posted at https://freethoughtblogs.com/pharyngula/ 2024/10/17/why-are-creationists-so-pasty-pale-at-answers-in-genesis/ with a October 17, 2024 publication date (the “Article”). The Article contains several false statements and distortions of fact intended to defame our client.

The Article begins with the following statement: “AiG owns a private jet,” which is false. AiG has a lease for the fractional use of a private jet. In other words, AiG does not own a jet. It owns a percentage of an aircraft’s flight hours each year, approximately 25% of the allocated usage. The ministry has no oversight or involvement regarding the other 75% of use. The reasoning for the fractional use of a private plane is not about luxury but practicality, allowing the ministry to reach more people over a shorter period of time.

With that being said, it could very well be true that this jet “frequently darts down to the Cayman Islands for one-day visits.” However, that does not mean that those trips are taken by AiG. In fact, they are not. No AiG personnel have used the jet (or any other aircraft) for trips to the Cayman Islands.

Of particular concern are the following false statements on your blog:

“What are they doing down there? Why do they frequently fly there and then come straight back?” followed by “Wild guess: The Cayman Islands are considered a tax haven
… making it an ideal place for multinational corporations to base subsidiary entities to shield some or all of their incomes from taxation.”
“AiG has been working so hard to get all kinds of tax breaks here in America, why would they need to evade taxes even more than that?”
These veiled claims have no basis in fact.As you know and intended, when such allegations are directed towards a nonprofit ministry, they discredit and impeach the ministry. The intended implication in your false statements is not only that AiG aims to profit from its mission and that it violates laws for purposes of enriching itself, but it also partakes in additional illicit activity. Since there is no basis in fact, your blog’s publication of the Article (and your authorship of it) constitutes the tort of defamation. Under the laws of Kentucky, where the damage of your misconduct was directed and felt, your malicious defamation exposes you personally to liability, to include for punitive damages.

To our knowledge, you made no effort to contact AiG to verify or corroborate the story’s allegations. It further appears that no effort was made to independently verify the allegations via publicly available sources. Even a minimal effort in that regard would have revealed the falsity of these allegations. Indeed, had you bothered to look at the aircraft registration of the plane, which can conveniently be found on the same website your Article links to, you would have discovered that AiG does not in fact own the plane.

You and your blog acted with actual malice in that you knew your statements were false or, at best, you acted in reckless disregard to the veracity of the statements. This is not the first time you have been reckless in your allegations regarding the ministry. The insinuations your “expose” propagates are presented as truths, when in fact they are lies. Your statements have been circulated to the public, to include the media, which increases the scope and corresponding liability for your misconduct.

Implications that AiG has engaged in illegal or criminal activity is unacceptable, as are the enumerated claims above. Your statements damage AiG’s reputation and were done with intent to cause harm, i.e. maliciously. Your followers have circulated your false claims, including to the media.

We demand that you immediately and permanently remove the Article and release a statement retracting the article and enumerated claims above. Please confirm that you have done so within five days of the date of this letter.

In the meanwhile, since you are on notice of legal claims made against you, you have a duty to preserve all communications and documents concerning the Article, to include all communications and investigations relevant to the same. All electronic records, to include all forms of electronic communications, should be preserved. This demand is not a waiver of any other claims my clients may have against you. Do not hesitate to contact me should you have any questions or desire to discuss this matter.

OK, I’ll admit that they have a solid alibi, and I am removing the post.

I am not at all surprised that Ken Ham is extremely touchy about their money, but have never sicced a lawyer on me for all my posts refuting their creationist bullshit.