Jack S
@jacktoo.bsky.social
Occasional writer on society, free speech, and secularism. Bylines: The Critic, The Mallard, The Freethinker, etc.
"A pessimist is an optimist in full possession of the facts." - Schopenhauer.
"A pessimist is an optimist in full possession of the facts." - Schopenhauer.
Reposted by Jack S
A new paper maintains that religion has historically impeded the progress of science AND that the most accomplished scientists tended to be those who were least religious. That is, the paper supports the "conflict hypothesis" between science and religion.
whyevolutionistrue.com/2024/12/17/h...
whyevolutionistrue.com/2024/12/17/h...
December 17, 2024 at 4:18 PM
A new paper maintains that religion has historically impeded the progress of science AND that the most accomplished scientists tended to be those who were least religious. That is, the paper supports the "conflict hypothesis" between science and religion.
whyevolutionistrue.com/2024/12/17/h...
whyevolutionistrue.com/2024/12/17/h...
Reposted by Jack S
In light of the recent news about the assisted dying bill in the UK, editor @danieljamessharp.bsky.social takes a look back at some recent and some not-so-recent coverage of this contentious debate in the pages of the Freethinker.
freethinker.co.uk/2024/12/the-...
freethinker.co.uk/2024/12/the-...
The Right to Die: The Freethinker and the Assisted Dying Debate Over the Years - The Freethinker
With the passage of the second reading of the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill in the…
freethinker.co.uk
December 4, 2024 at 1:53 PM
In light of the recent news about the assisted dying bill in the UK, editor @danieljamessharp.bsky.social takes a look back at some recent and some not-so-recent coverage of this contentious debate in the pages of the Freethinker.
freethinker.co.uk/2024/12/the-...
freethinker.co.uk/2024/12/the-...
Reposted by Jack S
I thought this from @jamesbloodworth.bsky.social was well worth a read. Particularly important, I think, is the idea that this has all happened before - and a lot of it is about money.
www.forthedeskdrawer.com/p/i-didnt-ch...
www.forthedeskdrawer.com/p/i-didnt-ch...
'I didn't change, the left did'
The lucrative confidence game of heterodoxy
www.forthedeskdrawer.com
December 2, 2024 at 10:25 AM
I thought this from @jamesbloodworth.bsky.social was well worth a read. Particularly important, I think, is the idea that this has all happened before - and a lot of it is about money.
www.forthedeskdrawer.com/p/i-didnt-ch...
www.forthedeskdrawer.com/p/i-didnt-ch...
Reposted by Jack S
Wow. Here is one to brighten up your morning. The first images of the restored interior of Notre Dame cathedral. Breathtaking. In just five years France did it
November 29, 2024 at 8:08 AM
Wow. Here is one to brighten up your morning. The first images of the restored interior of Notre Dame cathedral. Breathtaking. In just five years France did it
Reposted by Jack S
In light of sociocultural trends in recent years, Bob Forder feels troubled about the cause of free speech.
freethinker.co.uk/2024/11/what...
freethinker.co.uk/2024/11/what...
What’s Happened to Free Speech? Musings of a Troubled Freethinker - The Freethinker
This is almost certainly the first and last time the words of George Galloway will be repeated in…
freethinker.co.uk
November 28, 2024 at 2:15 PM
In light of sociocultural trends in recent years, Bob Forder feels troubled about the cause of free speech.
freethinker.co.uk/2024/11/what...
freethinker.co.uk/2024/11/what...
Reposted by Jack S
New: We’ve referred an Islamic charity involved in an extremism court case to the regulator, after a misogynistic sermon came to light. Charities must not be used as a vehicle for misogyny and extremism. www.secularism.org.uk/news/2024/11...
NSS refers charity in extremism case to regulator over misogyny
Islamic charity gave teaching role to extremist and hosted sermon saying men should force wives to "cover up"
www.secularism.org.uk
November 28, 2024 at 10:21 AM
New: We’ve referred an Islamic charity involved in an extremism court case to the regulator, after a misogynistic sermon came to light. Charities must not be used as a vehicle for misogyny and extremism. www.secularism.org.uk/news/2024/11...
I think the 'see less of this' button is rigged
Oh nothing, just getting the good china ready for Thanksgiving tomorrow🦃
November 28, 2024 at 9:45 AM
I think the 'see less of this' button is rigged
Reposted by Jack S
It is deeply alarming that an MP is calling for the introduction of new blasphemy laws. Concerningly, the Prime Minister offers no defense of free expression.
MPs should uphold values which are foundational to our society - not seek to dismantle them.
#blasphemy
MPs should uphold values which are foundational to our society - not seek to dismantle them.
#blasphemy
November 27, 2024 at 3:14 PM
It is deeply alarming that an MP is calling for the introduction of new blasphemy laws. Concerningly, the Prime Minister offers no defense of free expression.
MPs should uphold values which are foundational to our society - not seek to dismantle them.
#blasphemy
MPs should uphold values which are foundational to our society - not seek to dismantle them.
#blasphemy
Reposted by Jack S
How can Buddhism, lacking belief in a supreme deity, be a religion? 'The answer to this question requires that we travel back in time for tens of thousands of years, at least 70,000', says Buddhist priest Brian Victoria.
freethinker.co.uk/2024/11/budd...
freethinker.co.uk/2024/11/budd...
Buddhism: The Religion That Wasn’t—And Now Is (Part One) - The Freethinker
One of the questions that has long troubled students of Buddhism is whether or not it should be…
freethinker.co.uk
November 26, 2024 at 4:29 PM
How can Buddhism, lacking belief in a supreme deity, be a religion? 'The answer to this question requires that we travel back in time for tens of thousands of years, at least 70,000', says Buddhist priest Brian Victoria.
freethinker.co.uk/2024/11/budd...
freethinker.co.uk/2024/11/budd...
Reposted by Jack S
Many people were surprised by the number of Latinos who voted for Trump, but opposition to mass migration does not just come from Anglo nativists, writes David Stoll.
quillette.com/2024/11/26/i...
quillette.com/2024/11/26/i...
Why Immigrants Need US Border Enforcement
Many people were surprised by the number of Latinos who voted for Trump, but opposition to mass migration does not just come from Anglo nativists.
quillette.com
November 26, 2024 at 1:20 AM
Many people were surprised by the number of Latinos who voted for Trump, but opposition to mass migration does not just come from Anglo nativists, writes David Stoll.
quillette.com/2024/11/26/i...
quillette.com/2024/11/26/i...
Reposted by Jack S
What the Trump-Farage-Musk alliance means for Britain - Piece from me in the Spectator
www.spectator.co.uk/article/nige...
www.spectator.co.uk/article/nige...
Nigel Farage looks like the future of right-wing politics
The Tories ought to be more concerned. Farage and Reform look now as if they represent the future of right-wing politics.
www.spectator.co.uk
November 26, 2024 at 8:12 AM
What the Trump-Farage-Musk alliance means for Britain - Piece from me in the Spectator
www.spectator.co.uk/article/nige...
www.spectator.co.uk/article/nige...
Reposted by Jack S
There's not even really a right to be heard, only to speak. In the marketplace of ideas, people choose who they listen to just as they choose which stalls they buy from in a regular marketplace. If people are not listening to you, it's your responsibility to make your wares more appealing.
"The right to be heard does not automatically include the right to be taken seriously.”
— Hubert H. Humphrey
— Hubert H. Humphrey
November 24, 2024 at 6:13 PM
There's not even really a right to be heard, only to speak. In the marketplace of ideas, people choose who they listen to just as they choose which stalls they buy from in a regular marketplace. If people are not listening to you, it's your responsibility to make your wares more appealing.
Reposted by Jack S
The bacteria in your gut depend on where you are in the social network around you.
The microbes within us treat our social networks as the extended environment in which they thrive. They can spread from person to person.
New #HNL work out today in @natureportfolio.bsky.social . 1/
The microbes within us treat our social networks as the extended environment in which they thrive. They can spread from person to person.
New #HNL work out today in @natureportfolio.bsky.social . 1/
November 21, 2024 at 3:45 PM
The bacteria in your gut depend on where you are in the social network around you.
The microbes within us treat our social networks as the extended environment in which they thrive. They can spread from person to person.
New #HNL work out today in @natureportfolio.bsky.social . 1/
The microbes within us treat our social networks as the extended environment in which they thrive. They can spread from person to person.
New #HNL work out today in @natureportfolio.bsky.social . 1/
Reposted by Jack S
"My life was only made possible by a gruesome mass murder".
How chance and chaos govern everything:
How chance and chaos govern everything:
Book review: Fluke by Brian Klaas
The musings of a "disillusioned social scientist"
newhumanist.org.uk
November 23, 2024 at 2:13 PM
"My life was only made possible by a gruesome mass murder".
How chance and chaos govern everything:
How chance and chaos govern everything:
Too much to take in... www.spectator.co.uk/article/the-...
The Roman roots of the Dulwich Wood Penis Gang
If you go down to the woods today, you’re sure of a big surprise… in Dulwich Wood – a charming fragment of the medieval Great North Wood in south London – the self-dubbed ‘Penis Gang’ have been at wor...
www.spectator.co.uk
November 23, 2024 at 2:52 PM
Too much to take in... www.spectator.co.uk/article/the-...
Reposted by Jack S
Reposted by Jack S
First part is here
nickcohen.substack.com/p/identitari...
nickcohen.substack.com/p/identitari...
Identitarian Politics: A Guide for the Confused
The roots of wokeness
nickcohen.substack.com
November 22, 2024 at 5:51 PM
First part is here
nickcohen.substack.com/p/identitari...
nickcohen.substack.com/p/identitari...
Reposted by Jack S
American regress. Latest in @theatlantic.bsky.social www.theatlantic.com/politics/arc...
A Good Country’s Bad Choice
And what I got wrong about the 2024 election
www.theatlantic.com
November 22, 2024 at 5:02 PM
American regress. Latest in @theatlantic.bsky.social www.theatlantic.com/politics/arc...
Reposted by Jack S
Before we preach compassion towards machines, how will we know they can suffer? Before we learn to love or hate them, how will we know they can return our feelings?
Am I alone in thinking?
‘Et remarquant que cette vérité, je pense, donc je suis, était si ferme et si assurée, que toutes les plus extravagantes suppositions des Sceptiques n’étaient pas capables de l’ébranler, je jugeai…
buff.ly
November 22, 2024 at 9:30 AM
Before we preach compassion towards machines, how will we know they can suffer? Before we learn to love or hate them, how will we know they can return our feelings?
Reposted by Jack S
What I got wrong about the 2024 election, my latest in @theatlantic.bsky.social
November 22, 2024 at 12:16 PM
What I got wrong about the 2024 election, my latest in @theatlantic.bsky.social
Reposted by Jack S
For The New Statesman, I wrote on why the post-election mantra of "we need a liberal/leftist Joe Rogan" is a fool's errand.
www.newstatesman.com/thestaggers/...
www.newstatesman.com/thestaggers/...
Why a liberal Joe Rogan will fail
His listeners come for his anarchic content, not his erratic politics.
www.newstatesman.com
November 22, 2024 at 11:20 AM
For The New Statesman, I wrote on why the post-election mantra of "we need a liberal/leftist Joe Rogan" is a fool's errand.
www.newstatesman.com/thestaggers/...
www.newstatesman.com/thestaggers/...
Reposted by Jack S
I had a great time speaking with @ionaitalia.bsky.social about the simple tricks we need to do to restore British prosperity. Listen now!
quillette.com/2024/11/20/p...
quillette.com/2024/11/20/p...
Podcast #260: Making Britain Great Again
Iona Italia talks to Sam Bowman about how to combat the economic stagnation and excess bureaucracy that are currently preventing the UK from reaching its full potential.
quillette.com
November 20, 2024 at 7:49 AM
I had a great time speaking with @ionaitalia.bsky.social about the simple tricks we need to do to restore British prosperity. Listen now!
quillette.com/2024/11/20/p...
quillette.com/2024/11/20/p...