On 23rd February 2018 Buzzfeed.com broke the news that the prominent atheist and skeptic Lawrence Krauss had been accused of sexual assault. Later we learned that this news had a New Zealand connection as Professor Krauss was not going to be attending the show in Christchurch with Richard Dawkins. Looking at Skeptics in the pub message boards I can see attendance may be affected by people's feelings toward the remaining speaker's attitudes to women.
The Buzzfeed article laid out the accusations about Professor Krauss which seemed to be part of a pattern of behaviour that had been covered up or denied or ignored. However, the article perhaps only came out when it did because of the pressure of the #metoo movement.
Reaction from the media about #metoo has been heated. I do not agree with Mike Hosking that #metoo is just an excuse to create clickbait. And when Al Nisbet characterised the women coming forward as stereotypical witches in his controversial cartoon which turned the idea of a witch-hunt around, to me it simply illustrated his choice to only see the women as a one-dimensional annoyance to men, that men were the real people to be sympathised with, and it denied the possibility that any of the women's stories may actually be true.
Using #metoo (or #metoonz) to make baseless accusations which can have terrible and lasting consequences is very different from reporting real experiences of harassment, and in my view victims of either need our support. However, I see this movement as a push back against the culture of gas-lighting, allowing victims/survivors the courage to speak out and access support with the hope that they will finally be believed.
Ultimately, if this movement helps to bring about discussions around the meaning of consent, and helps to change the culture of a law firm, a work place, a skeptics conference, or to identify those who need to be brought to justice, and in a court of law, and based on the weight of evidence be prosecuted, then I'm fine with that.
Before all of this broke in the news, I'd been thinking of other things. Of the pressures of conforming.
I'm a fairly conservative person in that I have a desk job and wear matching socks, but I like to spice it up with a bit of skepticism.
So it was that I decided to blend-in by doing a Netflix-and-chill, and came across Derren Brown's “The Push”.
The pressure to conform and comply is so strong, Derren Brown explains, that when compliant people are pushed into doing a series of things, each one worse than the last, against their better judgement they will go along with it, to the point where (spoilers) they would commit murder.
At the start of the show we see how the guinea pigs are selected. When subjects go into a room with actors who are standing or sitting at the sound of a bell, the compliant subjects sit and stand also, even though they have never been instructed to do so. It is this type of person who is examined in the show. Derren illustrates just how to take someone to the edge over the course of the show, after first making a link between compliance and fundamentalist religions, and ultimately, terrorists. He tells the viewers now more than ever it is time to question why we do what we do and to be brave enough to say no before things go too far.
As a skeptic, I'd like to think I'd be one of the subjects who didn't bend to peer pressure. But what if the stakes were higher? What if you're whole life had taught you to look past the warning signs?
If you need to talk to someone about issues raised in this article, there is a list of numbers to call on this website: https://www.mentalhealth.org.nz/get-help/in-crisis/helplines/
References:
Al Nisbet cartoons: The cartoon about the #metoo movement doesn't seem to be in this timeline– it was published on 6th March according to www.spinoff.co.nz
https://www.stuff.co.nz/opinion/95015044/al-nisbet-cartoons
A Spinoff article about the cartoon is here:
The original Buzzfeed article about Lawrence Krauss:
Consent — ”it's simple as tea” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oQbei5JGiT
Copyright ©2015 Emmeline May and Blue Seat Studios
The Push—Interview with the hero
http://www.zmonline.com/shows/fletch-vaughan-megan/did-chris-from-the-push-really-fall-for-it-all/
Derren Brown's website with links to other material including a review by the NZ Herald on ‘The Push'