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Tuesday, September 4, 2012

"Brave thinkers"

The Atlantic has a contest that asks people to choose a "brave thinker" from a list of five. It's a dubious list, in which I count two people who have done something brave but not particularly intellectual and three people who have done something intellectual but not particularly brave. To wit, I don't see how Stan Cox and Bill McKibben risk much through their environmentalism; there is a considerable audience for writings and advocacy along such lines. Nor does it seem to me that James Shapiro's arguments about evolutionary biology needing updating fall outside the academic pale. Question: Is there anyone on this list who says anything that, say, editors at The Atlantic find uncomfortable to hear--anything that makes them wonder if that person should be fired, ostracized or punished in some way?