PARIS BIRDS

birdwatcher - nature guide - environmental educator - singer songwriter - factivist

[Steven Pinker @sapinker]

When Progressives Gave Up on Progress | @mboudry defends progress and Enlightenment values, oddly abandoned by some factions of the left (together, of course, with the authoritarian and fundamentalist factions of the right). https://t.co/cn39z0wzTa

[Steven Pinker @sapinker]

Only Nonviolence Will Beat Trump: "...historical, psychological and political evidence shows that movements are most effective when they remain nonviolent and build broad coalitions. And governments are most vulnerable when their use of force is perceived to be excessive or cruel." https://t.co/ZZmAr7tRbq

[Steven Pinker @sapinker]

Trump's "beautiful" bill wrecks our energy future, by @mattyglesias https://t.co/DRuIxvxDgi

[Chris Hedges @ChrisLynnHedges]

https://t.co/VyOQl0gwVE

[PARIS BIRDS @DaveRosane]

Yes

[Steven Pinker @sapinker]

I've long argued against the repressiveness of Critical Social Justice leftism, but mere Anti-Wokeism is not a coherent or constructive agenda. Indeed, it's more dangerous when it applies the brute force of government. Opponents of woke should think about not just what they hate but what they can defend: presumably Enlightenment values like intellectual freedom, science, human rights, truth-seeking institutions. https://t.co/QpCmFOTFv8

[Jonathan Haidt @JonHaidt]

I have been critical of elite universities for their lack of viewpoint diversity and have been working to improve them since 2014, out of love for the academy. Universities have largely failed to reform on their own. Outside pressure is needed, and I agree with some of the demands made.

But what the Trump administration has demanded of Harvard sets a precedent for a degree of government control that is incompatible with free inquiry and free expression. And if @TheFIREorg says that the approach is unlawful and lacking due process, that’s good enough for me:
https://t.co/zRGkrmBEWg

I have long stood up against intimidation when it came from the left on campus and it created a climate of fear. I oppose it as well when it comes from the right, off-campus, and creates a new climate of fear.
I want universities to have vibrant cultures where nobody is afraid to speak up.

[Steven Pinker @sapinker]

Another example of how the Trump-Musk administration has no coherent goals but likes to watch things burn: Trump is crippling the tax police, by @mattyglesias https://t.co/FinvznMXSS

[Steven Pinker @sapinker]

The Bukele Playbook Trump Is Following https://t.co/qTBRyBQxrh

[Steven Pinker @sapinker]

Keystone Stasi: Trump Officials Blame Mistake for Setting Off Confrontation With Harvard https://t.co/wbMVqPjMfU

[Steven Pinker @sapinker]

Hard to keep up with this administration's depravity: Nobel Laureate and Ex-Leader of Costa Rica Says U.S. Revoked His Visa https://t.co/W9rSKMOX1c

[Steven Pinker @sapinker]

A brilliant paper by Leda Cosmides & the late John Tooby on The evolution of war and its cognitive foundations - written 37 years ago, central to my discussion of war in How the Mind Works, published in a journal at last. Abstract and excerpts here. https://t.co/kmyt5MNkOa

[Steven Pinker @sapinker]

Francis Fukuyama warns Trump is not a realist | Francis Fukuyama, Charlie Barnett » IAI TV: https://t.co/ltpuYNijmh

[Steven Pinker @sapinker]

Despite appearances of a conservative shift (& people voting on the price of eggs), "from 2012 to 2020, public opinion in the United States toward racial minorities, immigrants, people who are gay or lesbian and other groups grew more socially accepting, with young adults at the leading edge of that change. ... on a wide array of social matters, including the division of household labor between men and women, the morality of homosexuality, views of corporal punishment and feelings about prayer in school, the general trend across the past century is for Americans born each successive year to express slightly more tolerant, egalitarian and secular attitudes than the one before. ... This development hasn’t changed course in the last few years, no matter how much chatter there is about a vibe shift." https://t.co/YpRWVrEu87

[Steven Pinker @sapinker]

“Knowledge Is the Enemy of Dictatorship”, by @IdeasB2 https://t.co/ZbjCt54IL9

[Steven Pinker @sapinker]

Yet another victim of Trump & Musk's deranged chainsawing: Dictators rejoice as Radio Free Europe and Voice of America radio broadcasts end https://t.co/72T7iZfwej via @BostonGlobe

[Steven Pinker @sapinker]

"What's at risk by disrupting NIH? [An] ... understanding of life itself, & therefore better treatments for cancer, dementias, autoimmune disorders, neurodegenerative diseases, birth defects, aging & more." Excellent summary by @ed_hagen of the thrilling frontiers of basic bio research (pointlessly threatened by the current administration).

[Matt Ridley @mattwridley]

My new book goes on sale today in the UK!

If you love nature, birds, evolution or...sex, then this is the book for you!

It argues that mate choice is a powerful driver of evolution.

[PARIS BIRDS @DaveRosane]

What an effing jerk

[FactPost @factpostnews]

Things are going great

[Steven Pinker @sapinker]

Insightful analysis of Trump's archaic "patrimonial" regime, as opposed to the rational-legal systems of modern states. Patrimonial systems, based on authority, tribal loyalty, blood ties, and reciprocity, are closer to human nature, but utterly unsuited to complex institutions (which is why we call such practices "corruption"). @jon_rauch is always worth reading. https://t.co/C3ZViBlME9

[Steven Pinker @sapinker]

PEPFAR is one of USA's proudest achievements, having saved millions of lives of the world's poorest people at low cost. Pausing this bipartisan jewel to save a rounding error in the budget is depraved. Call your Senator. @SavePEPFARNow #PEPFARSavesBabies https://t.co/DCBaoQARs8