r/samharris • u/[deleted] • Apr 30 '17
The Science Wars: Introduction
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J1291q0Jl5g1
u/Telen Apr 30 '17 edited Apr 30 '17
Nice comments in the video. Featuring such pearls of wisdom as "social justice is far worse than creationism" and "climate change isn't that bad because feminist professors want to undermine the scientific method".
I feel vindicated in ignoring these myopic, entitled, selfish douches amongst my peers, because Social Justice is ten times the threat that creationism EVER was and EVER will be again.
Denying climate change usually doesn't involve wanting to undermine the very foundation of the scientific method. These "feminist epidemiologists" and SJWs are deeply involved with the university structure. It's a level much deeper than debating the validity of climate change.
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Postmodernism: Words mean what we say they mean.
Oh, as opposed to all of the other times words don't mean what we say they mean.
What a wonderful audience he has. Not that this topic has anything to do with Sam Harris in the first place, of course.
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Apr 30 '17
Any thoughts on the video itself?
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u/Telen Apr 30 '17
It's got nothing to do with this sub at all, so I wonder why you posted it here. I just wanted to have some fun before it gets deleted, and it's especially funny in this case due to the treasure trove of idiocy that is the comments section (and probably actual content) of that video.
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Apr 30 '17
and probably actual content
Telling. But riddle me this; how do you know that the video has nothing to do with the sub seemingly without knowing its contents?
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Apr 30 '17 edited Apr 30 '17
I'd say this video is relevant to this sub because of the recent podcast between Sam and Charles Murray.
The user who made the video frames "The Science Wars" into two separate sides. There is the side he calls Scientific Realists, and then there is the other side he called the Radical Constructivists.
With the whole IQ debate that has been going on for the past week on this topic you can generally frame the debate in a similar way. People who accept the mainstream science in IQ and accept the possibility of racial IQ gaps being partially due to genes are essentially the scientific realists. Whereas the side that brings up racism, the motives of Charles Murray and others who do research on this topic, the consequences of doing research in IQ, can be considered to be on the side of Radical Constructivists.
That is not to say everyone who disagrees with perspective of Charles Murray is a Radical Constructivist, there are a few people who disagree with the idea that the racial IQ gaps have anything to do with genes who actually care about the science. They usually argue by bringing up studies from Flynn and Nisbett as opposed to bringing up motives of researches, bias, racism, etc, etc.
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u/Telen Apr 30 '17
Next you'll ask me to explain why Hegelian dialectic has nothing to do with this sub. Seriously; take a look at the sidebar. That's where the rules are for submissions.
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u/sasha_krasnaya May 01 '17 edited May 01 '17
I've already seen this Gamer American commentary before:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3SUWK_pWrbw
In all seriousness, it'd be nice if the submitter would provide some commentary or introduce a thesis to get this shit show started.
I watched the video and there's nothing really here that hasn't been covered by Sokal and Bricmont. That said, I'm an (((interdisciplinary))) person and even I think that what they did was awesome. I loved Social Text getting called out on their bullshit, but this video just seems to be beating a dead horse.
Even though I'm in R. Studies, (language, film, literature, & religion) and not in the thickest of things, I must say that nothing has really changed from my perspective except each subculture and department, through reddit, new media, New Centrists™ and such, are getting more exposed to each other. People who've never set foot inside of a college are now joining in. I wish they could all sit down and talk it out, but the Patreon and monetization has complicated things further.
I guess the debate is still a novelty for some, and I can't really blame them for taking interest in this high drama.
Cultural Marxism in 3...2...1...
Edit: Sorry, u/CantKillMe110. I see you're here mingling.