The forehead-slappingly stupid attempt to cancel Steven Pinker
I commented about the coming cancellation of Steven Pinker 6 days ago, as it has been developing for a little bit on social media and follows several other campaigns to censor and oppress other professors: <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;news.ycombinator.com&#x2F;item?id=23788095" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;news.ycombinator.com&#x2F;item?id=23788095</a>.<p>The charge of “scientific racism” leveled against Pinker is simply rhetorical warfare, waged using an emotionally charged term like “racism”. The pursuit of objective, quantitative, rational, scientific analysis is now under attack using this label. It is the mob burying their head in the sand, unwilling to yield when reality disagrees with their ideological stance. It is anti-science. But these days, even being objective and scientific is seen as offensive to the progressive mentality. And I mean this literally, as seen in the recent Smithsonian chart that they took down (<a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.newsweek.com&#x2F;smithsonian-race-guidelines-rational-thinking-hard-work-are-white-values-1518333" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.newsweek.com&#x2F;smithsonian-race-guidelines-rationa...</a>).<p>Cancel culture isn’t a recent trend - there are entire websites dedicated to cancel culture on college campuses, such as <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.thecollegefix.com&#x2F;" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.thecollegefix.com&#x2F;</a>. Free thought, free inquiry, and open debate are under attack from those that want only their worldview to prevail. It is a direct threat to a free society and much has been written about it recently from Quillette (<a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;quillette.com&#x2F;2020&#x2F;07&#x2F;01&#x2F;on-steve-hsu-and-the-campaign-to-thwart-free-inquiry&#x2F;" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;quillette.com&#x2F;2020&#x2F;07&#x2F;01&#x2F;on-steve-hsu-and-the-campai...</a>) and Harper’s (<a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;harpers.org&#x2F;a-letter-on-justice-and-open-debate&#x2F;" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;harpers.org&#x2F;a-letter-on-justice-and-open-debate&#x2F;</a>) and others.<p>I’m not sure how to fight back except to create direct consequences for those pursuing cancellation. Perhaps we need to shame and demand the firing of everyone who signs such letters, demanding censorship and cancellation of others.