this particular in which I was like I hate my dictator and I love my big tater and I claimed that all I really want are those essentialists the sort of sensuous moments of in-between that like what I really want are the digression zhh and the wanderings but actually you know I'm even more happy when I'm irritated with the sense of expectation of what comes
But I thought I would situate it in some common observations, which seem very disparate until you realize that they all evoke some sort of essentialist explanation. So for example, when it comes to understanding natural selection, around 50% of the US population apparently reject the idea of evolutionary theory.
But I've also just throw in a couple of more generic themes, which I think you can understand through the perspective of essentialism. Once you put on those essentialist spectacles, lots of these behaviors seem to make a lot more sense. So prejudices against various groups that we consider as different from ourselves-- different races, different genders, different ages.
looking for the authenticity and the original thing. And I suppose a very strong essentialist viewpoint, when it comes to human personality, I think, is a rather negative view.
And we were talking recently with Greg McEwan, the author of "Essentialism," which is a great book. And he said I love invoking this quote because the essentialist says no to a lot of things. And I can say even innovators like Steve Jobs said no to a lot of things.
looking for the authenticity and the original thing. But there is a tendency to reduce them down to essentialist components.
looking for the authenticity and the original thing. Well, the essentialist view is problematic because you tend to impose boundaries where there are none.
I want to build a world where people can be seen as trans people and be seen fully as the gender identity that they are. the stories of trans people that are often very sort of biological essentialist or very rooted in data gender theory.
So for example, people having heart surgery or heart replacements or kidneys, it's not uncommon for them to report that they've taken on the personalities of their donor. And I would argue that's because that's an over-application of essentialist reasoning. More generally, I think one of the reasons people are concerned over something like, for example, genetic modification is, yes, it's partly dangerous in the sense
So prejudices against various groups that we consider as different from ourselves-- different races, different genders, different ages. People, when they're forming these sorts of stereotypes often evoke essentialist principles, namely, that members of that group have some component which identifies their membership. And then, again, even more generally, if we get time to go to it, I'll talk about how essentialism really influences the way that we
This is just the natural way of thinking. And in each of these domains, they are applying this sort of essentialist principle. So I've been talking about essentialism.
looking for the authenticity and the original thing. And she also has been working on naive biological theories and found that children tend to evoke essentialist principles
looking for the authenticity and the original thing. when you, as I say, put on these essentialist spectacles, you start to see it explains a whole variety of diverse human thinking, going back to the devil's fork.
It's not just one more little idea. OK, that's good. I should be an essentialist sometimes, too. It's a different way of looking at everything.
looking for the authenticity and the original thing. If you consider, though, the diversity of life, then our essentialist optics-- our essentialist spectacles, if you like-- really distort our capacity to see the shared
We talked a little at the beginning about about, like in, 2010, when I was first writing, of 2011 really, about being trans and being male. There weren't any stories, that were in mainstream media anyway about this stuff, except for kind of sad stories or again, very like, kind of essentialist , very reductive stories, that really, in my mind, assumed the worst of the non trans audience.
And so, for me also-- I mean, I've been married for a certain number of years, going up on 20 years now. So when it comes down to the readings that Will and Amber did, they both read from their gender essentialist point of view.
Or just to avoid trouble? So if you snap to any of the above, then the way out is what I would call the way of the essentialist . It's a very different way of thinking about everything else.
is because they seem so unnatural. But ultimately, I would suggest that that, also, is, if you like, super, or at least, partly in response to this essentialist way of seeing the world. It also explains economic behavior-- for example, why we value original works of art over identical duplicates.
And in each of these domains, they are applying this sort of essentialist principle. So I've been talking about essentialism. I've been talking about essences.
And the poster child for focus or the focus movement is an innovator named Steve Jobs, who famously said innovation is saying no to 1,000 things. And we were talking recently with Greg McEwan, the author of "Essentialism," which is a great book. And he said I love invoking this quote because the essentialist says no to a lot of things.
essentialism starts to shape our attitudes and preferences. But I've also just throw in a couple of more generic themes, which I think you can understand through the perspective of essentialism. Once you put on those essentialist spectacles, lots of these behaviors seem to make a lot more sense.
People, when they're forming these sorts of stereotypes often evoke essentialist principles, namely, that members of that group have some component which identifies their membership. And then, again, even more generally, if we get time to go to it, I'll talk about how essentialism really influences the way that we think about human nature.