Originally I was going to attempt to offer a spirited defence of Lawrence Summers, who got himself in trouble by postulating possible genetic difference between men and women with regards to mathematic abilities. In one sense there is no need for me to do so, as many others have done so quite forcibly. (See: Steve Chapman's, Staying mute on men vs. women differences & Jacob Sullum's, Brain Storm: Can we talk about sex differences in math and science aptitude without yelling? )
However, another reason is keeping me from offering my full defence of Larry Summers. It is his own craven cowardice in the face of this ideological assault on free inquiry. Summer has crawled on his belly and practically sounds like he's ready to go off to re-education camp.
Summers nonetheless was forced to apologize for uttering forbidden thoughts. He also promised a group of women professors that he would "address diversity issues in the coming days," as a university spokesperson put it. (From Chapman)
Oh joy.
Academia is a lost cause.
No comments:
Post a Comment