In 1969, the book Everything You Wanted to Know About Sex, But were Afraid to Ask explained by Dr. David Reuben was published followed quickly by a comic movie rendition directed by Woody Allen in 1972. Today, a book is needed to explain Everything You Know About the Sexes, But are Afraid to Admit.
The book would need to explore how and why so many learned people — including a candidate for Supreme Court justice — shun a conclusion basic to life itself, the conclusion that sex and gender are immutable.
How can we arrive at that rather obvious conclusion? Through authentic science, that’s how.
“Science” is a word derived from the Latin scire, which means “to know.” And knowledge is derived from careful study of the world.
Observation is one of the rudiments of science. Observation is linked to the proposing of a hypothesis and subsequent examination of testable propositions.
Perhaps the most intimate and fundamental of all observations is a personal knowledge of existence, the realization that you exist. After that, knowing who you are is essential.
From the dawn of recorded history with flat earth suppositions through the Middle Ages and alchemy into the Enlightenment and finally up to 2020, human beings could decipher their gender by simply looking between their legs. They observed their genitalia, hypothesized being male or female based on their observation, and intelligently went with what they saw since this was one time testing evidently was not necessary.
Enter 2020 and the dusk of intelligence.
What was apparent to the unenlightened ancients is apparently obscure to today’s intelligentsia. The literati are somewhat baffled and are foisting their perplexity on the hoi polloi. Alchemy has reemerged.
Thus, a return to basic science seems to be in order — a return to the science of the real.
The history of science is rich with trial-and-error, that is, hypotheses tried and found wanting. Yet the long, arduous process of science has led to the remarkable practical knowledge we enjoy today. This is the knowledge that eradicated small pox, yielded prolonged healthy living, and amassed increased leisure, at least for most of earth’s inhabitants. It’s the knowledge that transported us to the moon and resided us on the space station.
But it looks like this knowledge has also increased hubris to the point that a fall has come, as in “Pride goes before a fall” (one of those ancient benighted Proverbs 16:18). It is the hubris of puffed-up imagination and the fall of basic intelligence.
What’s the solution? Perhaps, just speaking in a matter-of-fact manner about basic truth. For instance, pointing out that a guy in a dress telling you to follow the science is oxymoronic and counterintuitive. Most people likely still understand this; they just need someone bold enough to proclaim it and encourage them to feel comfortable believing it.
So, maybe an entire book covering everything you know about the sexes is not needed, just the spine of the book — the spine that consists of scientists and non-scientists alike that stands up to bullying by politicized science, its scientists, and their purveyors.
By the way, if an entire book is still necessary, the comic movie rendition would write itself.
Anthony J. Sadar is a Certified Consulting Meteorologist with graduate degrees in environmental science and science education. His career of 40+ years has been divided among work in government, academia, and consulting.
The views and opinions expressed in this commentary are those of the author and do not reflect the official position of the Daily Caller.