If you have followed my blog for a while you will know that I don’t have a great deal of respect for the proud Bigfoot and Dowsing skeptics, or the self-congratulating atheists who think they are so much smarter than those dumb religious people, just because they lack belief in the supernatural or paranormal.
What those two groups also have in common is an uncanny trust in, and allegiance to, the leaders and spearheads of their respective movements, something they ironically share with the religious.
So when skeptic heavyweight Michael Shermer says something demonstrably wrong and white-old-male-privilege sexist like that being vocal and giving talks at Skeptic conferences is “more of a guy thing“, the internet once more explodes and arguments fly all over the place.
One of the more interesting aspects to me in this is the accusation of Shermer(in his reply to Ophelia Benson) of some sort of witch hunt being conducted here. Presumably by those rabid femistasi feminazi folks at Skepchick and Pharyngula plus their commentariat, Shermer doesn’t explicitly say.
Thousands of comments have been written on this by now, and I think I have read all the involved parties’ articles. I only have two questions here:
When did critizising what someone says become a witch hunt?
And when will Michael Shermer come out and explain to those asking the question, by citing peer-reviewed literature and evidence, why and how it is that speaking at skeptic conferences is a guy thing? And if he is not able to do so, will he admit that the assertion he made is factually wrong?
Ok, that’s 3 questions.
