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Let’s talk about (biological) sex — part I
From a Vegas conference to a scientific puzzle: why sex isn’t going away
I can’t believe I’m about to go there. For quite some time now I have made it my policy to stay away from current political and partisan controversies, on the ground that half the audience won’t even listen and the other half already agrees anyway. Not much to gain, possibly a lot to lose. Instead, as my readers might have noticed, I write about ancient history and philosophy, focus on episodes or concepts that are of value today, step back, and let people draw their own parallels and conclusions.
But occasionally one needs to make exceptions to rules, and this is one. We are going to talk about (biological) sex, baby! (But not gender. And not gender roles. Or sexual preferences. Just sex.)
I can’t believe I feel compelled to start with a disclaimer, but here it is: nothing that you are about to read should be construed as somehow opposing the rights of transgender people. If that’s going to be your conclusion, I don’t know what to tell you, other than you are flat out wrong.
The story begins back in October of last year, when I was invited to give the opening keynote at the annual CSICon, the major conference of scientific skeptics, held in Las Vegas and organized by CSI, the…
