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@dialecticbio.bsky.social

The "The Dialectical Biologist" account. Structural biology & anti-racism. Loves: birds, proteins, Linux, Lewontin Hates: race science, racists, transphobes

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Kevin Bird@stairwaytokevin.bsky.social · 3mo ago

Great new work by @evangiangrande.bsky.social tracking how race scientists exploit preprint servers to legitimize and spread their work

The Preprint Problem: Fringe, Genetically Informed Studies of Group Differences in Behavior Housed on Open Science Platforms - Behavior Genetics

Preprint servers and open science platforms have revolutionized the scientific process. A fundamental feature of these platforms is a lack of peer review—virtually anyone with an internet connection c...

link.springer.com

Bird account@dialecticbio.bsky.social · 3mo ago

Given that Harden has a new book out that is largely a repeat of her first book, The Genetic Lottery, here's a list of critical reviews of that book. 1. Lottery, Luck, or Legacy: gcbias.org/wp-content/u...

In our view, these instances reflect a more general tension in the book, which arises from trying to have it both ways: to argue that PGS for educational attainment provide interpretable and meaningful predictions of inter-individual differences that reflect under- lying genetic causes, yet to claim that they have no validity beyond hypothetical ancestry group boundaries. As we have laid out, we believe instead that current PGS for educational attainment are neither interpretable nor particularly meaningful. GWAS undoubtedly cap- tures some causal genetic effects, i.e., more than confounding alone, and there is interesting science to learn from these initial findings. But we currently understand next to nothing about the causal paths from GWAS findings to educational attainment, notably the extent to which they include analogs of Jencks-style “red hair effects” and the legacy of accumulated indirect effects. That may not matter when PGS for EA are to be employed as a statistical tool in the study of the impact of local social interventions, but it matters greatly when they are used to elucidate, let alone redress, social inequalities. Given these limitations, we do not see what the field of genetics has to add to the conver- sation about redistributive justice, beyond confirming what has long been recognized–that life outcomes differ for all kinds of reasons beyond people’s control–and we very much doubt that overstating our understanding of the genetics of behaviors is going to increase empa- thy. As the author appreciates, there is a history of this kind of practice, invariably with nefarious consequences, yet every generation seems to believe that their technological twist will help them to avoid the same pitfalls. Despite its engaging narrative, the Genetic Lottery therefore leaves us unconvinced, and with the impression of genomics serving as a distraction from much more exigent political conversations
Bird account@dialecticbio.bsky.social · 3mo ago

I implore everyone to read this brilliant book review of Kathryn Paige Harden new book on the genetics of criminality. It cuts right through the bullshit to state plainly what Harden's project really is: eugenics bullshit and grifting lareviewofbooks.org/article/orig...

Bird account@dialecticbio.bsky.social · 3mo ago

I implore everyone to read this brilliant book review of Kathryn Paige Harden new book on the genetics of criminality. It cuts right through the bullshit to state plainly what Harden's project really is: eugenics bullshit and grifting lareviewofbooks.org/article/orig...

Natural Election | Los Angeles Review of Books

Kathryn Paige Harden’s new book offers a defense of a kind of Scientific Calvinism that converges with the eugenicist ideals of the contemporary Far Right.

lareviewofbooks.org

Bird account@dialecticbio.bsky.social · 5mo ago

Fondly remembering that Gad Saad has gifted us hilarious examples of evolutionary psychology's "just-so" storytelling E.g., women don't want a mandatory paternity test shoved on them, because they're duplicitous harlots, and not for any other reasons www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/homo...

Evolutionary Psychology Yields Fascinating and Unexpected Findings. Evolutionary Psychology's Explanatory Powers. Posted June 29, 2009I recently had an email exchange with a biochemist about the ability of evolutionary psychology (EP) to generate important and valid scientific knowledge. During our e-chats, he challenged me to provide him with findings that have ever been uncovered via the EP framework that were "great, profound, and valuable." At first, I responded that this was a silly challenge as I found it hard to believe that even a strident anti-EPer such as himself could genuinely believe that of the endless scientific papers that have been published within the framework, not a SINGLE one possessed any value or merit (apparently he could not think of any). The biochemist replied that my unwillingness to provide him with any examples was implicitly supportive of his very low opinion of EP. I could not allow such a throwing down of the gauntlet to go unchallenged, so I sent him the following list of 15 findings, which I subsequently posted as a comment on his blog. This is not meant to be the definitive list of key EP findings, as there are endless other ones that could have been included herewith. Rather, it is meant to capture the wide range of topics that are addressed by EPers.(12) Women are less receptive to mandatory hospital DNA paternity testing (for obvious reasons). In other words, their willingness to adopt a new product/service is fully driven by an evolutionary-based calculus.
Bird account@dialecticbio.bsky.social · 5mo ago

Gad Saad, the evo psych hack and IDW reject, has published a new evo psych "paper". It is an extended twitter screed that's indistinguishable from standard Nazi talking points. This is apparently what passes as scholarship in the Springer journal 'Theory and Society'

The revival of the social sciences – inoculation against parasitic ideas and suicidal empathy, and the quest for consilience via the evolutionary lens Gad Saad1 Received: 29 September 2025 / Accepted: 24 November 2025 © The Author(s) 2026 Abstract To maximally flourish, the social sciences must be inoculated against parasitic ideas (e.g., postmodernism) and suicidal empathy (e.g., an epistemology of care), both of which arise when the pursuit of truth is confounded with social justice activism. Furthermore, the social sciences currently exist in disorganized if not incoherent silos of knowledge void of an organizing meta-theory. The evolutionary lens provides such a unifying framework whilst engendering the requisite consilience. Keywords Parasitic ideas · Suicidal empathy · Consilience · Evolution · Social sciences Over the past three decades, the social sciences have promulgated ideas that serve as a blitzkrieg on science, logic, reason, common sense, and the most fundamental fabric of reality. This first became evident in my early attempts to incorporate evolutionary psychology within the business school in general and marketing and consumer behavior in particular (Saad, 2007, 2011a, 2013). Most social scientists resisted the idea that the human mind is shaped by the exact same evolutionary forces that have forged every other species on earth. Apparently, evolutionary theory could be used to explain every single species on earth save one: Homo sapiens. This has been coined the human reticence effect (Ranney & Thanukos, 2011). Some social scientists are willing to concede that evolution might explain the evolution of our respiratory, digestive, and urinary systems but to use evolution to explain the human mind, well, that is pure anti-science quackery.
Bird account@dialecticbio.bsky.social · 5mo ago

Gad Saad, the evo psych hack and IDW reject, has published a new evo psych "paper". It is an extended twitter screed that's indistinguishable from standard Nazi talking points. This is apparently what passes as scholarship in the Springer journal 'Theory and Society'

The revival of the social sciences – inoculation against parasitic ideas and suicidal empathy, and the quest for consilience via the evolutionary lens Gad Saad1 Received: 29 September 2025 / Accepted: 24 November 2025 © The Author(s) 2026 Abstract To maximally flourish, the social sciences must be inoculated against parasitic ideas (e.g., postmodernism) and suicidal empathy (e.g., an epistemology of care), both of which arise when the pursuit of truth is confounded with social justice activism. Furthermore, the social sciences currently exist in disorganized if not incoherent silos of knowledge void of an organizing meta-theory. The evolutionary lens provides such a unifying framework whilst engendering the requisite consilience. Keywords Parasitic ideas · Suicidal empathy · Consilience · Evolution · Social sciences Over the past three decades, the social sciences have promulgated ideas that serve as a blitzkrieg on science, logic, reason, common sense, and the most fundamental fabric of reality. This first became evident in my early attempts to incorporate evolutionary psychology within the business school in general and marketing and consumer behavior in particular (Saad, 2007, 2011a, 2013). Most social scientists resisted the idea that the human mind is shaped by the exact same evolutionary forces that have forged every other species on earth. Apparently, evolutionary theory could be used to explain every single species on earth save one: Homo sapiens. This has been coined the human reticence effect (Ranney & Thanukos, 2011). Some social scientists are willing to concede that evolution might explain the evolution of our respiratory, digestive, and urinary systems but to use evolution to explain the human mind, well, that is pure anti-science quackery. What could cause many social scientists to be so removed from reality? Saad (2020a) argued that human beings are susceptible to have their neuronal circuitry hijacked not only by actual brain worms (Flegr, 2007; Goczol, 2025; Lafferty, 2006) but by ideological brain parasites, which he coined as idea pathogens. In other words, the neuro-parasitological framework (McAuliffe, 2016; Moore, 2002) explains how human minds could be zombified by ideological capture. Examples of parasitic ideas include postmodernism, cultural relativism, social constructivism, biophobia, transgender activism, radical feminism, a rejection of meritocracy via the promulgation of the diversity, inclusion, and equity (DIE) cult, and identity politics along with its ethos of eternal victimhood. These ghastly ideas originate from social scientists housed in universities (see also Saad, 2025a) hellbent on creating a utopian world rooted in their progressive idealism. In this make-believe world, objective truth is too constraining. Instead, it is better to adhere to postmodernism, with its liberating dictum that no universal truths exist. Its emancipatory allure frees us all from epistemological constraints. Along those lines, it is excessively “mean” to posit that all people are not created with equal potentiality. Social constructivism rescues us from reality, by purporting that we are all born as blank slates (Pinker, 2002), to potentially be molded into nearly anything via the appropriate schedule of reinforcement. It is also too restrictive to presume that one’s biological sex might be deterministically established by one’s chromosomes and genitalia. TAll these parasitic ideas start off with the hope of achieving a noble objective rooted in social justice (Saad, 2020a). If along the way truth must be sacrificed, activist social scientists construe this as a small incidental price to pay. The epistemology of truth (the scientific method) takes a backseat to the epistemology of care and empathy, a topic that I discuss in my forthcoming book Suicidal Empathy (Saad, 2026). To fully hijack human reasoning requires that both our cognitive and emotional systems be fully parasitized. This is precisely why the neuro-parasitological framework is particularly apt, because it explicitly explains how organisms might engage in suicidal behavior to advance the objectives of the parasite. Wood crickets (Nemobius sylvestris), once parasitized by a hairworm (Paragordius tricuspidatus), commit suicide by jumping into water, as the neuro-parasite requires this to complete its reproductive cycle (Sanchez et al., 2008; Libersat et al., 2018). Parasitized human minds, bathing in the ideological solace of suicidal empathy, are not only killing the social sciences but destroying the fabric of the West (Saad, 2025b). Take the West’s open door immigration policy. Cultural relativism, a parasitic idea, forbids Westerners from casting judgment regarding the practices and beliefs of other cultures lest they be accused of being bigots. Who are we to judge the stoning of women or the taking of child brides? This yields the suicidally empathetic reflex to state that all immigrants are equally likely to assimilate within the West, and to accordingly insist on allowing entrance to millions of people who do not share the deontological principles that serve as the bedrock of Western liberties and freedoms. The outcome is not difficult to predict if you possess the courage of extrapolation.
Bird account@dialecticbio.bsky.social · 6mo ago

"[Edge's] male members were preaching master-race ideology. Citing their work, Brockman predicted in 2005 that the “dangerous idea of the next decade” would be that “groups of people differ genetically in their average talents”." www.thenerve.news/p/epstein-bi...

The billionaires' eugenics project: how Epstein infiltrated Harvard, muzzled the humanities and preached master-race science

Edge - Jeffrey Epstein's favourite intellectual salon - was sold to me as a gathering of the world's finest minds, writes Virginia Heffernan. The files reveal it was something far darker: a decades-lo...

thenerve.news

Glen Dunlap@glendunlap.bsky.social · 6mo ago

There are so many fucked up things with the current administration that it's hard to focus on one but this recent move is basically a death sentence for the planet. I've been involved with more boots on the ground actions over the years than I can count and this really bums me out.

EPA reverses long-standing climate change finding, stripping its own ability to regulate emissions

The agency announced it is repealing its 2009 conclusion that greenhouse gases warm the Earth and endanger human health and well-being.

nbcnews.com

Bird account@dialecticbio.bsky.social · 6mo ago

Still processing how so many of the worst happenings of the past 15+ years -- the resurgence of Nazism + race pseudoscience, the anti-feminist culture war bullshit, crypto, the Uber-fication of the economy, etc. -- can all be traced back to Epstein and his rapist pals

Marina@marstrina.bsky.social · 6mo ago

It's also one of the world's most famous scientists sending up the balloon to his fellow powerful men that a young woman with no institutional affiliation or financial clout dared to speak out about their raping habits. *She* is organising a conspiracy; *he* is merely giving a friend the heads-up.

Bird account@dialecticbio.bsky.social · 6mo ago

This email from Dawkins in the latest Epstein documents is a kind of perfect glimpse into the psychology of old boys club: Dawkins whinges about the "nasty young woman", but also has an undercurrent of unease, and seeks reassurance from Brockman that the child sex trafficker wasn't all *that* bad

Begin forwarded message: > From: Richard Dawkins < > Date: July 4, 2011 5:42:43 PM EDT > To: John Brockman .‘Z > > Subject: Lawrence > John • > 1. I hope you recovered well from your operation. > 2. There is a rather nasty young woman called Rebecca Watson, who seems to be running some kind of a witch-hunt against Lawrence Krauss because of his defence of Jeffrey Epstein. > http://skepchick.org/2011/04/lawrence-krauss-defends-a-sex-offender-embarrasses-scientists- everywhere/ > There are people on her blog talking about organising a walkout when Lawrence speaks at TAM in Las Vegas. I remember that you told me something of the circumstances of Jeffrey's arrest, and that his case is not as black as painted. Might you possibly remind of it. > Thanks (and greetings from Jackson Hole, Wyoming) > Richard
Bird account@dialecticbio.bsky.social · 6mo ago

This email from Dawkins in the latest Epstein documents is a kind of perfect glimpse into the psychology of old boys club: Dawkins whinges about the "nasty young woman", but also has an undercurrent of unease, and seeks reassurance from Brockman that the child sex trafficker wasn't all *that* bad

Begin forwarded message: > From: Richard Dawkins < > Date: July 4, 2011 5:42:43 PM EDT > To: John Brockman .‘Z > > Subject: Lawrence > John • > 1. I hope you recovered well from your operation. > 2. There is a rather nasty young woman called Rebecca Watson, who seems to be running some kind of a witch-hunt against Lawrence Krauss because of his defence of Jeffrey Epstein. > http://skepchick.org/2011/04/lawrence-krauss-defends-a-sex-offender-embarrasses-scientists- everywhere/ > There are people on her blog talking about organising a walkout when Lawrence speaks at TAM in Las Vegas. I remember that you told me something of the circumstances of Jeffrey's arrest, and that his case is not as black as painted. Might you possibly remind of it. > Thanks (and greetings from Jackson Hole, Wyoming) > RichardFrom: John Brockman < INIMI> To: Jeffrey Epstein <jeevacation@gmail.com> Cc: Lesley Groff <MIElla> Subject: Fwd: Lawrence Date: Mon, 04 Jul 2011 22:21:56 +0000 Attachments: Jaron.NYorker.pdf Eastover Farm 203-266-5930 JE, Fyi - see Richard Dawkins's email below alerting me to a campaign against our friend LMK re his friendship with you. (I'll deal with Richard). At the farm this week 203-266-5930. JB p.s. Here's a pdf of a the New Yorker profile of Jaron - just out today.
Bird account@dialecticbio.bsky.social · 6mo ago

Now the right-wing metabolic response on Alex Pretti's murder is that he retroactively deserved it because he was on camera behaving *unruly* towards ICE a few days prior. Apparently kicking the tail light of the death-squad vehicle warrants an execution. These ghouls...

Bird account@dialecticbio.bsky.social · 6mo ago

No surprise, but seems the right-wing has already metabolised the murder of a man by secret police for excercising his constitutional rights. "Well, he shouldn't have been out there with a gun, i-it's dangerous". They act the based tough guys, but their one ultimate value is subservience to The Boot

Bird account@dialecticbio.bsky.social · 6mo ago

No surprise, but seems the right-wing has already metabolised the murder of a man by secret police for excercising his constitutional rights. "Well, he shouldn't have been out there with a gun, i-it's dangerous". They act the based tough guys, but their one ultimate value is subservience to The Boot

Bird account@dialecticbio.bsky.social · 6mo ago

Can't help but keep thinking that if this is what ICE feels emboldened to do in broad daylight--straight up murder--what the fuck are they getting away with behind closed doors in the concentration camps they have set up? It's going to take years to uncover the full damage they've inflicted

Bird account@dialecticbio.bsky.social · 7mo ago

Man, writing is so hard. You're constantly confronted with your own limits, all the papers you have not read, all the terminology and facts you keep forgetting, etc. No wonder people turn to alcohol or worse (generative AI) when writing.

Bird account@dialecticbio.bsky.social · 7mo ago

Still crazy to me that the richest man in the world is a straight up white supremacist and constantly trying to incite a "race war". Seems like we really need to do something about that if we want to survive the next decade

Bird account@dialecticbio.bsky.social · 8mo ago

A part of me was naively hopeful that, with the erosion of science in the USA, other countries/governments would increase science funding in a race to become new tech leaders (looking at you Australia). Of course, that was a pipe dream.

Kevin Bird@stairwaytokevin.bsky.social · 8mo ago

I'm increasingly interested in race science as a form of cultivated, weaponized statistical illiteracy. Take this figure, one of the most common propaganda plots, plotting national IQ data against education polygenic scores. "The correlation is so high! Clearly IQ differences are genetic!" Oops!

BildBild
Kevin Bird@stairwaytokevin.bsky.social · 8mo ago

Kudos to Rebecca for leading this charge! Lynn's data is an embarrassment to the scientific enterprise. The skull measurers on Twitter are having a predictable response with the repeated claim that "other data replicate" Lynn's results. Easy to see that's not true for the 2002, 2012, or "new" set