Harvard professor Steven Pinker wrote a controversial essay for The New Republic earlier this week, defending a mild form of “scientism.” Though the term has many definitions — and Pinker explains several of them — his version expresses confidence in science as a source of morality and human purpose, and a belief that data collection, … Read more
The Harvard Gazette recently published a story about new research out of Harvard Medical School that “raises new questions about weight gain and energy use in the general obese population.” This study represents just one of many that seek to find the a gene that determines a complex human trait, a pursuit that I think … Read more
Of the common archetypes in conservative thought, one of the most prominent is the notion that liberal arts universities are bastions of liberalism. Josh Lipson’s recent piece in The Crimson takes issue with this trope and asserts that conservatives should not conflate Harvard’s liberalism with a much stronger leftist ideology that hardly exists at Harvard. … Read more
There has been much sturm und drang about the dismal fate of our generation recently. First, the New York Times columnist David Brooks published excerpts from an essay by a Yale senior, which declared millennials the “Cynic Kids.” We have, apparently, lost faith in American primacy, the capitalist system, and idealism. And the meritocratic system … Read more
Speaking at a financial conference earlier this month, Professor Niall Ferguson answered a question about John Maynard Keynes’ famous statement, “In the long run we are all dead.” In his response, Professor Ferguson criticized Keynes for caring too little about long term economic prospects and for placing undue importance on present conditions. The way Professor … Read more
Four semesters ago, Harvard introduced the Freshman Pledge system. It was a call for freshmen to reaffirm the values of integrity and kindness that was met with little fanfare. At the time, the general consensus was that the pledges were an overbearing move that overstepped the institution’s mission. This very publication referred to the pledge … Read more
Dennis Upkins’s “The Myth of Black Homophobia” is one of the more extreme examples of “privilism” making the rounds among Harvard’s liberal vanguard. The blog post, which does contain some valid arguments, criticizes the scapegoating of the black community for homophobia, but it also relies heavily on broad brush recriminations of white people. Upkins, as … Read more
Tyga’s music is a symptom, not a disease. To be sure, his music reveals many of the underlying problems at play here, specifically misogyny and rape culture. But directing outrage at Tyga himself ignores and in a way trivializes the very real problem of sexual assault at Harvard. Banning Tyga from Yardfest would be like … Read more
Many public figures hold problematic views, but denying their ability to speak robs the intellectual community of access to opinions considered outside the mainstream and is detrimental to discourse. Though I may find Van Jones’ 9/11 “Truther” ties or Pat Buchannan’s past racially tinged comments offensive, I would wholeheartedly defend their presence on campus for … Read more
Yardfest has certainly created an intense amount of discourse on this campus. Personally, It surprises me that the Harvard community suddenly cares about misogyny when they are usually less than vocal on sexual assault policy, social space, and body image issues. I would contend that Tyga’s upcoming performance at Yardfest has galvanized people to speak … Read more