Discover and read the best of Twitter Threads about #quillette
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Four years ago, before he published his first #Quillette piece, before he signed on as editor to that same online magazine, #ColinWright wrote an email to #JamesLindsay in which he laid out the set of simple and basic ideas that continue to drive his anti-trans activism. 1/ 
1. You can be an academicā āheld to the quality of his evidence, the knowledge of the existing literature, & the soundness of his argumentsā āor you can be a "free-thinking intellectual." (To the point that having lousy evidence & no demonstrable knowledge shows "free thinking.")
2. Let's blame everything on the "trans activists." Let's call everyone who disagrees with anti-trans talking points a "trans activist." "Trans activists" are bad, it goes without saying. Let's claim they are in "denial of gender or sex differences."
Straw man done! And done!
Straw man done! And done!
#Quillette published its house phrenologist's lament on having lived the last two years "in exile" from academia. The subheading is to cringe for: "Academia has become an intellectual prison, and many incarcerated professors are compelled to live a dual existence." Let's see. 1/
Bo Winegard says he was shocked and bewildered when he lost his job. He'd thought academia was a place "guided by evidence and argument instead of political ad hominem." I've read some of this papers. Rich in evidence and meticulous in argumentation isn't what I'd call them. 2/
He remembers his literature degree, reading French theorists, on the side discovering Robert Wright and Richard Dawkins, and turning to evolutionary psychology as a result. 3/
Let's trace the self-alleged non-political cabal at play here. A cabal trying to change current principles of gender-affirmative care for trans youth. While conducting no original research of their own.
May I introduce, Society for Evidence-Based Gender Medicine (SEGM). 1/
May I introduce, Society for Evidence-Based Gender Medicine (SEGM). 1/
What do they do?
Mostly they lobby for "evidence-informed healthcare" for "children, adolescents, and young adults with gender dysphoria."
If you believe a society with that narrow a focus doesn't have very particular political goals, you must be freshly born. 2/
Mostly they lobby for "evidence-informed healthcare" for "children, adolescents, and young adults with gender dysphoria."
If you believe a society with that narrow a focus doesn't have very particular political goals, you must be freshly born. 2/
They made a bibliography to show that evidence for gender dysphoria treatments is "of very low quality" and that they are very concerned for gender-dysphoric youth.
They filed an amicus brief to challenge WPATH on mastectomy for adolescents.
They post online news releases. 3/
They filed an amicus brief to challenge WPATH on mastectomy for adolescents.
They post online news releases. 3/
#ColinWright, #Quillette editor: "Being trans is just a state of mind. . .you can't empirically verify it in any way."
I know we didn't really need any more confirmation. But here it is.
I know we didn't really need any more confirmation. But here it is.
When asked about his previous identification as a progressive, this is how he defines it: "I was pro the gay rights movement, and yeah, for sure."
Yep. Progressive. When you support legal and political changes that have just happened and without any of your participation.
Yep. Progressive. When you support legal and political changes that have just happened and without any of your participation.
#ColinWright about non-binary identity: "It's common but I still don't think people know what they're talking about when they say it. . .Just ask anyone of this ideology about what is a woman, and you just get insanity back."
Then he says "insanity" at least three more times.
Then he says "insanity" at least three more times.
"The same evolutionary & biological processes that. . .result in a shorter average lifespan for men than women also contribute to the sex differences in economic outcomes (e.g., annual income) & political participation." #Quillette authors
The whole paragraph is a trip.
The whole paragraph is a trip.
Should the two men who wrote this #Quillette article be competing for their sexual selection via the category of fastest argumentative shortcut?
"Given this evolutionary history and the costs of competing, a biological basis is the most parsimonious explanation."
"Given this evolutionary history and the costs of competing, a biological basis is the most parsimonious explanation."
āI have yet to hear a single parent say anything bigotedā says #Quillette author about anti-trans parents at the 600-word mark of article that is very liberally spiced with bigotry.
If you encourage me, I will write more about how bigoted, exactly. Not right now, though, Twitter, not right now. š
OK. Here we go.
Brace yourselves, please. This #Quillette article is one in a series by a pseudonymous academic who has no expertise in this area of study and will publish three more pieces like it. 3/
Brace yourselves, please. This #Quillette article is one in a series by a pseudonymous academic who has no expertise in this area of study and will publish three more pieces like it. 3/
Here's a segment from the WPATH guidelines for hormone replacement therapy, one way to treat gender dysphoria.
"If significant medical and mental concerns are present, they must be reasonably well controlled."
The budding psychiatrist who wrote for #Quillette should know.
"If significant medical and mental concerns are present, they must be reasonably well controlled."
The budding psychiatrist who wrote for #Quillette should know.
For the edification of readers who follow Colin Wright's on Twitter: the definition of racism as involving both prejudice and power is old. If Colin had studied in a field where scholarship on racism is part of the curriculum, he'd probably know.
Attached, Paul Gilroy, 1990.
Attached, Paul Gilroy, 1990.
Sigh.
@Swipewright has responded, at some length, to @roderickgraham's tweet. It's useful that he did. He holds on tight to his own calculation of what racism is, how he wants it defined, and what possibilities of admonishing others flow from it for him.
Let's see what Pedro Domingos, professor of computer science at University of Washington & #Quillette author, has been up to on Twitter lately.
He's into writing pithy aphorisms. 1/
(For how he appeared on my radar, see below.)
He's into writing pithy aphorisms. 1/
(For how he appeared on my radar, see below.)
He would like it if tech companies were allowed to be even more discriminatory than they already are. 2/
He retweets "Swords Up" Chris Rufo. 3/
āI said critical theory first!ā
āNo, I said it first!ā
āI said critical theory and postmodernism way before you!ā
āYou did not!ā
#Quillette vs. #JamesLindsay
āNo, I said it first!ā
āI said critical theory and postmodernism way before you!ā
āYou did not!ā
#Quillette vs. #JamesLindsay
Previously.
A few thoughts on the writing and publishing strategy of McWhorterās piece. In the long tradition of such pieces, he details a few cases that have received much recent blog and Twitter discussion: Princeton, Bryn Mawr, Dalton School. 1/
But this is not a piece of reporting. Nobody at these schools has been contacted for comment. The people involved in the organizing of protest or are not asked. The evidence from on which very dramatic conclusions are drawn is wishy-washy. 2/
Every once in a while, students at a university or college will lose a few weeks of formal learning. That can be due to a natural disaster, a disease outbreak, a strike, or a protest. 3/
LOL.
1) Claire managed to make incitement to violence sound like it didnāt actually happen. Free thought!
2) Claireās own social media ventureāQuillette Circleāregularly flagged and removed posts that challenged those with #Quillette style leanings and beliefs. See below.
1) Claire managed to make incitement to violence sound like it didnāt actually happen. Free thought!
2) Claireās own social media ventureāQuillette Circleāregularly flagged and removed posts that challenged those with #Quillette style leanings and beliefs. See below.
Today in #Quillette editor confusion.
Jon Kay: āI am so mad Dr. Theresa Tam didnāt pick up our new rules from the #Quillette style guide and wrote about pregnant adult human females the way I want her to!ā
Jon Kay: āI am so mad Dr. Theresa Tam didnāt pick up our new rules from the #Quillette style guide and wrote about pregnant adult human females the way I want her to!ā
Kathleen Stock & #Quillette fans today: One must never say she is transphobic, it is a smear, an insult, an ad hominem! One is only allowed to issue criticism against a living academic in peer-reviewed publications, or better yet, a whole book!
Jon Kay missed that memo.
Jon Kay missed that memo.
Geoffrey Miller in #Quillette in October 2019: Polyamory makes you smart, fit, organized, and funny! Please treat it as the next sexual revolution.
Jon Kay, #Quillette editor, in January 2021: Forgot all about that. Letās use it as a smear against a living academic I dislike!
Jon Kay, #Quillette editor, in January 2021: Forgot all about that. Letās use it as a smear against a living academic I dislike!
Expecting Steven Pinker to write one of his letters, Toby Young to comment, and #Quillette to pen an editorial criticizing this petition: āSome faculty members also questioned the wisdom of such a club; 13 of them signed a statement suggesting the club could polarize the campus.ā
In case my reference is too obscure:
About a month ago, graduate students and postdocs wrote a letter with over-the-top demands to the department head of Dorian Abbot, angered by materials he'd posted questioning initiatives to increase diversity in his discipline of geophysics.
About a month ago, graduate students and postdocs wrote a letter with over-the-top demands to the department head of Dorian Abbot, angered by materials he'd posted questioning initiatives to increase diversity in his discipline of geophysics.
In light of the students' letter & its demands, Abbot's uni admin assured him that his position as a tenured prof was safe. The president wrote publicly in his support. Yet, Toby Young's Free Speech Union, Steven Pinker, #Quillette & authors kicked into high drama petition gear.
Eric Kaufmann has graced us with another opinion piece. Before I tweet about it, please allow me to remind you of this other long, involved thread I wrote earlier this year when Kaufmann took a trollish survey he ran and spun it into wool for #Quillette readers' eyes. 1/
This new piece, in *American Affairs*, is about Kaufmann's idea of "Liberal Fundamentalism." 3/
Kaufmann buys into the idea of the "The Great Awokening" as something that describes #BlackLivesMatter protests since Ferguson. Aside from borrowing that term, he suggests a collection of his own as well. They are a bit emotional. 4/
If youāre not in the middle of debates about trans rights & research on trans lives, you might be wondering what critics mean when they say Abigail Shrierās work is transphobic. Allow me to lay a few points out for you, takenāfor convenienceāfrom her article in #Quillette. 1/
Shrier frames her work with the familiar stance of: Iām just asking questions! Iām only reporting on these ideas some have, what can be wrong with that?! Donāt stop the messenger of common sense ideas!
Then she lines up her words to make it sound like thatās what sheās doing. 2/
Then she lines up her words to make it sound like thatās what sheās doing. 2/
It is noticeable, however, that reporting on current research relating to trans girls isnāt what sheās doing. Sheās made up her journalist mind that groups of professionalsāwith researched & constantly re-evaluated guidelines & ethics behind themāare merely ārubber-stamping.ā 3/
I laughed. Malinda Smith argues with Jon Kay, points out several times how ill-informed he is on the issue and how disappointing his attempts at argument.
He doesnāt recover from that.
But falls back to this response. 1/
He doesnāt recover from that.
But falls back to this response. 1/
It has some of his favourite tropes, the ones that make him feel good when heās been beaten at the game he was trying to play.
Heās got some back channel into your institution going! 2/
Heās got some back channel into your institution going! 2/
You are partly being paid by public money, you must be incapable to make it in the rough and tumble market where he, #Quillette editor, claims to do so well! 3/
Whatās the egregious part? What do you find so embarrassing? What source are you considering? Why āuselessā? Whatās true and untrue academic freedom? Whereās there something authoritarian?
So much feeling. So little evidence.
So much feeling. So little evidence.
You know what I see? I see a veiled attempt to dismiss the academic freedom of two particular scholars, with no evidence or argumentative merit being brought to challenge their research. Curious. Curious.
If you want to hear the talk that brought about the above tweet, if you want to have your own thoughts on it, itās here:
When youāre definitely against ācancel culture.ā
And also when youāre for sure only talking about your hobby horse, biological sex, and never about gender.
It's not the first time that Colin Wright has mocked an announcement from my own university. Last time it was a job ad in forestry. This time it's a page on the website of the the Indigenous teacher education program.
Self-alleged progressive #JamesLindsay to give talk at conservative-libertarian Federalist Society in the middle of a US Supreme Court debate were all the fascist president's nominees have been members of said society.
*where
Self-alleged progressive #JamesLindsay snickers because an article about the racist treatment Black people encounter in UK countryside locations made a point about colonialism and the slave trade. Self-alleged leftist Colin Wright snickers along.
metro.co.uk/2020/09/21/theā¦
metro.co.uk/2020/09/21/theā¦
Of course this question is worth more than $20. Let me say a few words about why.
Since we are talking about scholarship--the field of critical race theory, to be more precise--the objections I raise in the thread linked here are all, crucially, scholarly questions. 1/
Since we are talking about scholarship--the field of critical race theory, to be more precise--the objections I raise in the thread linked here are all, crucially, scholarly questions. 1/
In daily discussion, we get most of our knowledge about research fields third-, fourth-, or fifth-hand. Have I read much original scholarship in evolutionary biology? No, I have not. Do I have a lay view on the area of evolutionary biology? Yes, I do. 2/
Can I trust my lay view--not formed from reading field scholarship, but encountering summaries of summaries, watching film and video, listening to interviews, reading blogs--on evolutionary biology to make critical comments of consequence about evolutionary biology?
Hell no. 3/
Hell no. 3/
"Donald J. Trump Retweeted."
Dear Colin,
Critical race theory is an active research field. I have seen precious little evidence that you have studied critical race theory enough to be able to credibly critique it.
Critical race theory is an active research field. I have seen precious little evidence that you have studied critical race theory enough to be able to credibly critique it.
Let me tell you about this Marxist cake. Some people truly believe it's both artisanal and mass produced. They say it can keep in the fridge for years, but it also goes bad in an hour. Then they throw it at your face, & when you look at them sternly, they claim they've eaten it.
For the German-speakers among you, of course I thought of this poem when I wrote my lead tweet of paradoxes.
My great-aunt taught this poem to me when I was very young. She had the most amazing memory.
de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunkel_waā¦
My great-aunt taught this poem to me when I was very young. She had the most amazing memory.
de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunkel_waā¦
In year 3 of Donald Trump's first round of US presidency, #Quillette waves this article through to publication.
Reading it feels like being in a conspiracy theorists' fever dream. 1/
quillette.com/2020/08/16/theā¦
Reading it feels like being in a conspiracy theorists' fever dream. 1/
quillette.com/2020/08/16/theā¦
Everyone who isn't a die-hard liberal or bona fide conservative is a Marxist!
What, you didn't know you're a Marxist? You disagree with Marx? With Marxism? With self-identified Marxists? No matter! You're a Marxist! And you, you are a Marxist, too! Marxists everywhere! 2/
What, you didn't know you're a Marxist? You disagree with Marx? With Marxism? With self-identified Marxists? No matter! You're a Marxist! And you, you are a Marxist, too! Marxists everywhere! 2/
You know what it means if you don't like being called a Marxist because you say you aren't one? You are trying to confuse the good liberals and conservatives! That itself is an evil deed.
In fact, not calling yourself a Marxist is part of your plan to destroy everyone else. 3/
In fact, not calling yourself a Marxist is part of your plan to destroy everyone else. 3/
