This is utterly brilliant. A student accuses @jk_rowling of being transphobic. This teacher skillfully dissects the claim and challenges it by asking questions.
He teaches not what to think, but how to think critically.
Watch until the end.
TWITCHY is all in:
…The lawyers in the audience will be very quick to recognize what this is: The Socratic Method. To quote the University of Chicago Law School website on the topic:
Socrates (470-399 BC) was a Greek philosopher who sought to get to the foundations of his students’ and colleagues’ views by asking continual questions until a contradiction was exposed, thus proving the fallacy of the initial assumption. This became known as the Socratic Method, and may be Socrates’ most enduring contribution to philosophy.
In practice, it is not always about finding contradictions, but about exposing assumptions and basically teaching people to literally question everything. Of course, as the old saying goes, you don’t want your mind to be so open your brain falls out, but you should always check your own assumptions.
For instance, applied here, we should note that we have no idea when that video was shot. We aren’t even sure where it was shot, or who was participating. We are sharing it because it has recently gotten attention and it speaks for itself. But we admittedly don’t know much beyond that.
The Socratic Method is also a fun way to drive a person crazy on TSMSFKA Twitter (The Social Media Site Formerly Known As Twitter), Socratically interrogating the positions of leftists and showing how incoherent it is. But it’s also probably why this author is on a lot of leftist block lists. As one TSMSFKA Twitter user noted a while back:
Twitter media account Discussing Film called Harry Potter author a ‘known transphobe’ when reporting on her being made an executive producer on the Harry Potter reboot series. Some people will NEVER stop hating this woman… unless they get sued for defamation, probably.
More info via CLOWNFISH TV:
The controversy surrounding J.K. Rowling and the Discussing Film Twitter account’s labeling of her as a “known transphobe” stems from a series of tweets and public statements made by Rowling over the past few years. These comments have been widely criticized by the transgender community and their allies.
The controversy began with Rowling’s reaction to an article discussing “people who menstruate,” where she seemingly mocked the inclusive language by tweeting, “‘People who menstruate.’ I’m sure there used to be a word for those people. Someone help me out. Wumben? Wimpund? Woomud?” This tweet and subsequent comments by Rowling conflated sex and gender, leading to widespread criticism. She argued that “erasing the concept of sex removes the ability of many to meaningfully discuss their lives” and maintained that “sex is real”.
Rowling has repeatedly stated that she supports transgender rights and that her comments are not meant to be hateful but are rather an expression of her belief in the importance of recognizing biological sex. She has expressed concerns about the impact of “new trans activism” on women’s rights and spaces. However, organizations like GLAAD and Human Rights Campaign have criticized her comments, stating that they target trans people and distort facts about gender identity.
The Discussing Film Twitter account’s reference to Rowling as a “known transphobe” in a tweet about her being an active executive producer on the ‘HARRY POTTER’ series reflects the ongoing controversy surrounding her views on gender and sex. This characterization of Rowling has been supported by some and criticized by others, with various reactions emerging on social media. The backlash and support for the tweet highlight the polarized nature of the debate around Rowling’s comments and their impact on the trans community and broader discussions about gender identity and inclusion.