There has been a lot of discussion on Cancel Culture recently as a result of an open letter by a group of writers and academics. This post is based on a number of comments I made in Facebook groups where this topic came up. What is Cancel Culture? Cancel culture
Continue readingTag: how do we know what we know is true
politics – Christy's Houseful of Chaos: Today’s Personal Epistemological Crisis
Today I’m having my own little epistemological crisis. My inspiration for these thoughts are a New York Times article talking about a theory on the recent pipe bombs sent to Democrats. The New York Times reported on this theory: The bombs, this theory went, were not actually part of a
Continue readingpolitics – Christy's Houseful of Chaos: more reflections on free speech
I’m still slowly reading a big book about 17th century arguments for and against religious tolerance. It is called John Locke, Toleration and Early Enlightenment Culture by John Marshall. I’m really not used to being stuck in the middle of one book for this long, but it seems like the
Continue readingChristy's Houseful of Chaos » politics: GMOs and politicians: how do we know what is true or not?
I had a really good facebook conversation yesterday, in a public page about politics. The topic was one GMOs and I was taking a position that would have been inconceivable to me several years ago. I was arguing against mandatory labelling of GMOs. Someone else made a really good comment
Continue readingChristy's Houseful of Chaos » politics: why we need to listen to children’s perceptions of bullying
“Sometimes,” my child said to me, “it is easier to think of the other person as a jerk.” He had been excited about a summer day camp that promised kayaking and archery, but after a day and a half the toll of dealing with bullies was too much. His head
Continue readingAnother Step to Take: Interacting with those we disagree with
What do you do with people you don’t agree with? Do you agree to keep quiet about the topics you disagree on? Do you cut them out of your life? Or keep them in your life but with a mental note not to take seriously any of their opinions? Do
Continue readingAnother Step to Take: vaccines and the selling of fear.
I read an article today about a family in New Zealand where a young boy came down with tetanus. His father is speaking out about their decision not to vaccinate, admitting that it was the wrong decision and hoping to spare others the pain they have had to suffer. The
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