biology | Wright's Writing

Critical thoughts on feminism and social constructionism

On various pages of this website and blog I've criticized some of the dogmas of feminism, for instance the social constructionist dogmas...

The truth about gender

Some months ago I saw Richard Dawkins recommend on Twitter a new book called The End of Gender: Debunking the Myths about Sex and...

On humans' language faculty

You may have heard of the “talking gorilla” Koko. I remember as a child reading about this fascinating creature that had been trained to...

The miraculous brain

[Old notes.] I’m reading Stanislas Dehaene’s Consciousness and the Brain: Deciphering How the Brain Codes Our Thoughts (2014). Good book,...

Journal-notes on cognitive science

[From 2015.] Reading a bunch of articles on cognitive development. A fascinating field. Interesting: Human infants who receive little...

Biology and destiny

[Notes from ten years ago.] I’m amazed at the extent of our culture’s cult of secrecy in matters of the body. Even in this age, people...

Old student notes on random philosophy articles

Sometimes I like to return to philosophy in order to get the sort of intellectual stimulation that reading history doesn't provide. E.g.,...

Rambling reflections on Camille Paglia

I've been reading Camille Paglia's collection of essays Sex, Art, and American Culture (1992). I disagree with a lot of Paglia's...

A plea for honesty in discussions of sex and gender

A recent article of mine, called "Political Correctness Is Getting Out of Hand," elicited some angry emails. Not from people who...

The evolutionary history of life on Earth

I recently read a great book called A New History of Life: The Radical New Discoveries about the History of Life on Earth. Couldn't...

Notes on cognitive science, and on pragmatism

Sometimes I like to read about contemporary philosophy and science, to escape the dreariness and intellectual semi-sterility of writings...

Richard Lewontin, Chomsky, and common sense

Richard Lewontin’s article “The Evolution of Cognition: Questions We Will Never Answer” is excellent. It counsels skepticism about...