Sunday, March 11, 2018

Krauss is being silenced

After that article appeared, I did some digging on my own, and came up with three cases that have convinced me that Krauss engaged in sexual predation of both a physical nature (groping) and of a verbal nature (offensive and harassing comments).  The allegations that convinced me are not public, but the accusers are sufficiently credible that I believe their claims to be true.  Further, these claims buttress the general allegation of sexual misbehavior made in BuzzFeed.  In my view, then, Krauss had a propensity to engage in sexual misconduct. ... 

I am taking the step of not allowing comments on this post as I don’t really want any discussion here of my position, which I’ve arrived at after long cogitation.  As I said, I don’t want trial by social media, and it would be hypocritical of me to allow that here. 

It is not mentioned that Krauss is now apparently happily married to one of those women he supposedly sexually harassed when he was a single man 10 years ago. [ According to a comment below, Krauss was divorced 8 years ago.] 

Coyne has a popular blog, and probably most of his readers think that he is gay.  He denies it, but he blogs a lot about his personal life, and it is obvious that he has no wife, no girlfriend, and no kids.  Furthermore, he has stereotypical gay interests in music, arts, clothing, and pets.  And his political views are mostly what you would expect from a gay atheist professor. 

I am not saying this to criticize, but to give background for his opinions.  He does not appear to have any worries that any woman is going to metoo him. 

I have no way of knowing how he has flirted with women in the past, and I don't see how it is anyone's business. 

I wonder where this is going.  Is the Physics community going to sit back and let their colleagues be silenced and destroyed?  If he were being ostracized for being a Communist, I am sure that Krauss's colleagues would stick up for him. 

Like him or not, Krauss was one of the leading figures in the public image of Physics.  Where is this going?  He has views which are that of a typical Trump-hating leftist professor, but that is not good enough.  Maybe Physics will have to be feminized, with only feminist professors being allowed to explain Physics to the public. 

I understand Craw’s post perfectly.  I know his point was to defend the person at issue; the part about me being gay was simply his hamhanded attempt to understand why I was part of the “pile on”.  But I found that part really humorous and a complete miss on the part of the writer. 

Seriously, don’t insult me by saying that I didn’t understand what was a straightforward (though incredibly dumb) post.  I picked out one part to show the lengths to which people will go to get at me for what I believe. 

As Dark Buzz himself says, the point was not just that people were ostracizing the person at issue (unfairly, he thinks, but he’s wrong), but also to try to understand why I was part of the “pile on”. 

You’re insulting the intelligence of not just me, but of everyone here.  Best to leave this topic alone and stop posting excerpts from that website here.  People can go over there to read any response by this befuddled individual. 

Coyne says he wanted "to show the lengths to which people will go to get at me for what I believe."! 

Coyne collected some anonymous and confidential gossip about Krauss, accused him of "sexual predation" and "propensity to engage in sexual misconduct", and announced that he is publicly disassociating himself from Krauss.  But I am the one who is going to lengths to "get at" Coyne?! 

I like Coyne's blog.  Sometimes I disagree with him.  Sometimes I say so. 

What a strange post.  You seem to be flailing about so desperately to absolve Krauss of any wrongdoing that you're prepared to engage in the most tawdry, inane kind of amateur gossip-mongering about a single guy's sexuality.  I've been reading Jerry's blog for five years now: it's never crossed my mind that he might be gay and it's never struck me as something of any relevance.  This is embarrassing stuff on your part, and not indicative of a rational mind dealing with the evidence in a reasonable way.  There is a great deal of evidence against Krauss, of varying degrees of seriousness, and Jerry has responded proportionately.  It's National Enquirer-level stuff to go after him simply because you're incapable of dealing with the reality of the situation. 

You might have considered taking your own advice here:

"I have no way of knowing how he has flirted with women in the past, and I don't see how it is anyone's business." 

Note the last nine words.  If you're trying to defend Krauss this really isn't the way to go about it. 

I don't think that Coyne is gay.  He denies it, and I take his word for it.  But he is the one passing judgment on Krauss's sexuality, not me.  Coyne says "I don’t want trial by social media", but then he uses social media (his blog) to say that he is in possession of some secret anonymous allegations against Krauss.  He has sunk to the level of BuzzFeed. 

I am not trying "to absolve Krauss of any wrongdoing".  I said "Krauss illustrates the dangers of left-wing academic groupthink." 

You could prove that statement wrong by surveying Coyne's readers.  But the point remains that he is participating in the metooing of Krauss, and seems to believe that he is immune from such accusations himself. 

I also read the responses on Jerry Coyne's site.  Quite an impressive echo chamber of mutual ass kissing going on over there.  It makes me laugh when a large number of people (who consider themselves well educated) cease to have any ability whatsoever to read and analyze what was actually said and decide to dogpile emotionally about something that wasn't even said.  In fact they are just virtue signaling each other by proving their loyalty to the group consensus. 

Truth is,If you go around pointing your 'political correctness' gun at famous people throughout ALL history, pretty much everyone falls short and is guilty of something or other.  That's why I don't give a rat's ass, as human history is nothing but a very long series of 'oops' and messy faux pas.  When you start to try and wipe the pages of historical accomplishment clean of anything that offends your du jour standards of indignity, you have nothing left. 

Just a clue to the virtue signaling prudes out there, for better or for worse, heterosexual men are going to continue to chase and try (often times clumsily and unsuccessfully) to woo and bed women.  This is history.  It's also written into our genes and will be a part of humanity with or without the consent of woke indignant people who wasted their parent's money on a useless liberal arts college education.  When this ceases to be the case, there won't be a morally superior humanity around to celebrate the social justice warriors victory over basic human biology. 

Yes, CFT, well put.  This brings up another angle to the story.  Coyne is a leftist evolutionary biology professor, but he is not one of those who deny human nature.  He accepts that men are innately different from women, although he does not necessarily accept all the consequences of those differences.  He may think that we can virtue signal our way into a society with no sexual predation. 

Did you ask yourself why, in that story, the doctor was not stripped of her license?  There is a reason.  And, to your credit, you did make a good point about proving who is and "is not" immune to accusations.  That survey should include people who are not blocked from said blog and Facebook.  I think you would find your answer. 

You are losing me here.  Psychiatrists and psychologists have very strict rules today about having a sexual relationship with a patient.  I don't know about 1992.  There were probably professionals at that time who thought that such a relationship could have therapeutic value. 

As the article is written, it is odd that Coyne could not get his concerns addressed outside of court. 

I do not pass judgment on personal events of 25 years ago, especially with such incomplete info. 

Still, it is fair to say that Coyne MeTooed his female psychiatrist.  His allegations were not taken as seriously as he wanted them to be taken.  This is interesting background info for when Coyne posts commentary on current MeToo issues in the news.