Items of interest found recently in my RSS feed-reader. What did I miss? Please share what you've been reading (and writing!) in the comments.

• The Conflation Of Skepticism And Atheism – Fact Or Fiction?

– “Sure, some people may have never have experienced such a conflation – for example, D.J Grothe said as much on Facebook in response to a discussion that was led by Daniel Loxton. Maybe there are many who are fortunate not to see deists insulted online for contributing time, effort and funding to skeptical groups like the JREF and yet being called ‘not real skeptics’.”

• Redefining Masculinity: Do Men Save Lives or Take Them?

– “let’s consider what, exactly, Fischer is saying about men and masculinity. Fischer is suggesting that saving lives is something that women (should) do. He has arranged saving lives and taking them in a binary layered onto gender. Women save; men kill. When men save, they are doing something feminine.”

• Christopher Pearson writes parody!

– “It’s your duty to get married, for the public good, you understand. Pearson doesn’t say why it’s okay to require this duty on the one hand, but prevent some people from fulfilling it on the other. For the life of me, I can’t reconcile the two imperatives.”

• To the Hard Members of the Truthy SF Club

– “This mindset leads to cognitive dissonance contortions: Larry Niven’s work is routinely called “hard” SF, even though the science in it – including the vaunted physics – is gobbledygook, whereas Joan Slonczewski’s work is deemed “soft” SF, even though it’s solidly based on recognized tenets of molecular and cellular biology. And in the real world, this mindset has essentially doomed crewed planetary missions (of which a bit more anon).”

Categories: linkfest

Tags: atheism, books & writing, gendered roles, marriage equality, Read-ems, skepticism, stereotypes