American biologist (born 1957)
Paul Zachary Myers
(born March 9, 1957) is an American biologist who founded and writes the
Pharyngula
science
blog
. He is associate professor of
biology
at the
University of Minnesota Morris
(UMM)
[1]
where he works in the field of
developmental biology
.
[2]
He is a critic of
intelligent design
and the
creationist
movement and other
pseudoscientific
concepts.
[3]
In 2006 the journal
Nature
listed Myers's
Pharyngula
as the top-ranked blog by a scientist based on popularity.
[4]
Myers received the
American Humanist Association
's 2009
Humanist
of the Year award and the International Humanist Award in 2011.
Asteroid
153298 Paulmyers
is named in his honor.
[5]
Early life
[
edit
]
Myers was born March 9, 1957, the eldest of six children in
Kent, Washington
; his mother is of
Swedish
and
Norwegian
descent.
[6]
Regarding his ancestry, Myers wrote: "I'm only half Scandinavian. The blood has been thinned with that of those domesticated English and Irish and Scots."
[7]
He was named "Paul Zachary", after his grandfather, but preferred the initials PZ to being called "Little Paul". He has described his family as "probably what would be called the working poor nowadays", and noted that "when I was growing up I was called
white trash
more than a few times".
[8]
He claims to have been a "
science
geek
" from an early age, gaining an interest in
zoology
and
marine biology
from studying the insides of fish while on fishing trips with his father.
Growing up, Myers attended an
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America
(ELCA) church.
[9]
Prior to his
confirmation
, Myers says, "I started thinking, you know, I don't believe a word of this."
[10]
Now an
atheist
, Myers comments on his blog about science, education, atheism and religion.
[11]
[12]
Education and activism
[
edit
]
Myers graduated from
Kent-Meridian High School
in 1975 and subsequently attended
DePauw University
in Indiana on a full
scholarship
.
[10]
[13]
However, he returned home the next year after his father suffered a
heart attack
.
[10]
He then graduated from the
University of Washington
in 1979 with
Bachelor of Science
in
zoology
. Myers drifted away from this field toward
evolutionary developmental biology
and obtained a
PhD
in biology from the
University of Oregon
.
[14]
A self-styled "godless
liberal
"
[15]
and outspoken
atheist
, he is a vocal critic of all forms of religion, superstition, supernaturalism, spirituality and
pseudoscience
. He is quoted as having "nothing but contempt" for
intelligent design
, arguing that it is "fundamentally dishonest".
[10]
He is also an outspoken supporter of
sex-positive feminism
.
[16]
Myers believes women should make their own sexual choices without outside pressure.
[17]
In 2009 Myers was named the
American Humanist Association
's "Humanist of the Year".
[18]
In April 2015,
Atheist Ireland
issued an official announcement, apologizing that they had given Myers public platforms to speak and that now it is "publicly dissociating itself from the hurtful and dehumanising, hateful and violent, unjust and defamatory rhetoric of the atheist blogger PZ Myers... We believe his behaviour is unjust to individuals, increases prejudice against atheists, and is harmful to the promotion of an ethical society based on empathy, fairness, justice and integrity.".
[19]
In 2017, Myers, who formerly considered himself one of the "New Atheists", disassociated himself from the
New Atheist
label. Describing the label as being applied "against our protests, because we were all aware that there was nothing new about it. Maybe we were more aggressive, or maybe suddenly people were listening to us, but really, it was the same old atheism with a fancy artisan label". Myers prefers to be simply referred to as an atheist.
[20]
Postgraduate career
[
edit
]
Myers has taught and researched at the
University of Oregon
, the
University of Utah
, and
Temple University
. He is currently an associate professor of biology at the
University of Minnesota's
Morris
campus.
[1]
He is a member of
Minnesota Citizens for Science Education
,
[21]
and cultivates an interest in
cephalopods
.
[
citation needed
]
Blogging and writing
[
edit
]
Myers has been active on the internet. He was involved in scientific debates on
USENET
surrounding the growing
creationist
movement. He was a founding member of
The Panda's Thumb
blog. In June 2002, he started his website
Pharyngula.org
, which morphed into a blog now hosted by
ScienceBlogs
[22]
and Freethought Blogs.
[23]
Pharyngula
[
edit
]
Pharyngula is Myers's personal
weblog
, promoted as "Evolution, development, and random biological ejaculations from a godless liberal."
[24]
The topics Myers covers are eclectic, delving into the non-scientific as well as scientific. While Pharyngula includes many articles discussing breaking science news and research, the blog has become particularly well known for ridicule of
intelligent design
and of attempts to insert it into science education. In 2006, the science journal
Nature
listed Pharyngula as the top-ranked blog written by a scientist.
[25]
Myers started Pharyngula.org on June 19, 2002
[26]
as an experiment in writing instruction for a class. Students were required to submit mini-essays to be published online. After the project was finished, Myers still had the web-publishing software, and started to use it himself. The blog is named after his favorite stage in
embryonic development
, the
pharyngula
stage. Pharyngula moved to hosting at
ScienceBlogs
, a project of
Seed Magazine
, in 2005.
Book
[
edit
]
Myers's book,
The Happy Atheist,
was published by
Random House
in August, 2013.
[27]
It is largely a compilation of previous blog posts.
[28]
Voice for its
audiobook
version was provided by noted atheist and science communicator
Aron Ra
.
[29]
Fellow blogger
Greg Laden
celebrates "the level of refinement of his writing" and writes that "these essays actually have a different feel to them".
[30]
Eucharist incident
[
edit
]
A controversy arose in July 2008 over a Pharyngula blog entry written by Myers expressing amazement at news reports of
death threats
issued to
University of Central Florida
Student Senator Webster Cook. On June 29, 2008, Cook attended a
Catholic Mass
being held in the student union at UCF by a Catholic student group that receives funding from the student government. Cook received the
Catholic Eucharist host
but did not consume it immediately. He said later that he wanted to take it back to his seat to show a friend, but when stopped he pretended to put it in his mouth until back at his seat, then a church leader made forcible attempts to take the wafer from him.
[31]
[32]
Cook stored the host at his home, then returned it one week later after receiving e-mail threats and pleas.
[31]
[33]
Bill Donohue
, President of the
Catholic League
, described the student's actions as "beyond hate speech" and said that "All options should be on the table, including expulsion."
[34]
In his July 8 blog entry, Myers criticized the reaction to Cook's act. Myers described the level of harassment including multiple death threats leveled against the student, and accusations against the student which included
hate crime
,
kidnapping
, and intent to
desecrate the Eucharist
which Catholics consider a
mortal sin
.
[32]
[35]
Myers expressed outrage that
Fox News Channel
appeared to be inciting readers to cause further problems for the student, and ridiculed reports that armed guards would attend the next mass. Myers suggested that if any of his readers could acquire some consecrated Eucharistic hosts for him, he would treat the wafers "with profound disrespect and heinous cracker abuse, all photographed and presented here on the web."
[36]
Myers was criticized from both religious and non-religious quarters. The Catholic League accused Myers of
anti-Catholic
bigotry
,
[37]
described his proposal as a threat to desecrate what
Catholics hold to be the Body of Christ
, and sent a letter asking the University of Minnesota and the Minnesota State Legislature to take action against Myers.
[37]
[38]
The Catholic League argued that, as the Pharyngula website was accessible via a link from the University of Minnesota's website, it should be bound by the university's code of conduct, which requires faculty to be "respectful, fair and civil" when dealing with others.
[38]
Joe Foley, a member of the Board of the
Secular Student Alliance
, wrote on the organization's website that Myers had "crossed the line" from "playful satire" to "masturbatory condescension".
[39]
Foley concluded, "if open-minded believers are willing to join us in polite dialogue, we need to be ready to welcome them with more than ridicule and pranks."
[39]
Subsequently, Myers explained to the
Star Tribune
that while his post was "satire and protest," he had received death threats regarding the incident but was not taking them too seriously.
[37]
In a talk show featuring Myers on
Catholic Radio International
, hosted by Jeff Gardner, Myers confirmed that he had been sent an unspecified number of consecrated hosts and said that he intended to "subject them to heinous cracker abuse." When asked by Gardner to explain why he must do so, Myers said that Donohue of the Catholic League was insisting that he acknowledge the Body of Christ in the Eucharist. Gardner pointed out that Donohue had no authority to insist on such acknowledgment. The show host then asked Myers which individual possessing the
Magisterial
authority of the Catholic Church had insisted that he recognize the Body of Christ in the Eucharist. Myers replied that no one from the Catholic Church had contacted him.
[40]
On July 24, 2008, Myers, in his post, "The Great Desecration," wrote that he had pierced through the "goddamned cracker" with a rusty nail, which he also used to pierce a few ripped-out pages of the
Qur'an
(in English translation, not the original Arabic) and
The God Delusion
, and had simply thrown them all in the trash along with old coffee grounds and a banana peel. He provided a photograph of these items in the garbage, and wrote that nothing must be held sacred, encouraging people to question everything. In addition, he described the history of allegations of
host desecration
, emphasizing the frequent use of such allegations in medieval Europe to justify
anti-Semitism
.
[41]
The following day, University of Minnesota, Morris (UMM) Chancellor stated: "I believe that behaviors that discriminate against or harass individuals or groups on the basis of their religious beliefs are reprehensible" and that the school "affirms the freedom of a faculty member to speak or write as a public citizen without institutional discipline or restraint."
[42]
Science activism
[
edit
]
Interview and screening of
Expelled
[
edit
]
In April 2007 Myers was interviewed for what he was told would be a documentary titled
Crossroads
, purportedly about science and religion.
[43]
However, in September 2007, executive producer Mark Mathis announced that the film was
Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed
about perceived censorship of intelligent design supporters in academia and elsewhere.
[44]
Regarding the discrepancy of focus, Myers wrote: "I mean, seriously, not telling one of the sides in a debate about what the subject might be and then leading him around randomly to various topics, with the intent of later editing it down to the parts that just make the points you want, is the video version of
quote-mining
and is fundamentally dishonest."
[43]
On March 20, 2008, Myers was
denied entry into a screening
of
Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed
at the
Mall of America
in
Minneapolis
. He was waiting with his family and guests to attend a private screening after having reserved seats for himself and guests under his own name using the freely available online procedure set up by the film's promoters. Shortly before the film started, a security guard told him that the producer Mark Mathis had instructed that Myers be removed from the premises. After telling his family of this Myers went to a nearby Apple store and
blogged
about his amusement that they had expelled him, but allowed his guest entry to see the film?British
evolutionary biologist
Richard Dawkins
, who had also been interviewed for the film under similar circumstances.
[45]
In a question and answer session at the end of the film Dawkins asked why Myers had been excluded, and later said that "if anyone had a right to see the film, it was [Myers]. The incompetence, on a public relations level, is beyond belief."
[46]
The saga has been described by Dawkins as "an incredible piece of inept public relations" on the part of the film's producers.
[47]
Creation Museum visit
[
edit
]
Myers's engagement as keynote speaker at the 2009
Secular Student Alliance
Conference in
Columbus, Ohio
,
[48]
developed into an August 7, 2009, trip, in which 304 attendees visited the nearby
Creation Museum
in
Petersburg, Kentucky
.
[49]
Appearances
[
edit
]
Myers has been invited to speak about science, rationalism, or atheism at conferences, symposia, and other events.
In July 2013, Freethought Blogs organized an online virtual conference called FtBCon or FtB Conscience. Google+ Hangout software was used to enable real-time discussion around the world. Participants included all the Freethought Blog bloggers as well as Jeremy Beahan,
Jamila Bey
, Virginia Brown, Ania Bula,
David Brin
, Eneasz Brodski, Ian Bushfield, environmental blogger and author
Chris Clarke
, James Croft, Heina Dadabhoy,
J. T. Eberhard
, Daniel Fincke,
Debbie Goddard
,
Julia Galef
, Nicole Harris, Rebecca Hensler, scientist and blogger
Greg Laden
, Robin Marty, science artist & blogger Glendon Mellow, Aoife O'Riordan,
Beth Presswood
of The Atheist Experience,
Kim Rippere
,
Amy Roth
,
Jacques Rousseau
,
Desiree Schell
of
Skeptically Speaking
,
David Silverman
, Xavier Trapp, blogger
Rebecca Watson
,
Eliezer Yudkowsky
, scientist & blogger
Bora Zivkovic
, and others. The conference was free and took place over three days.
[51]
Awards
[
edit
]
Myers has received several awards for his activism and blogging.
See also
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
a
b
PZ Myers Biology Faculty
Archived
2013-03-30 at the
Wayback Machine
from
University of Minnesota Morris
- ^
"Biology Faculty"
.
Academics at the University of Minnesota, Morris
. June 19, 2015.
- ^
Oppenheimer, Mark (2010-10-16).
"BELIEFS; Atheists Debate How Pushy to Be"
.
The New York Times
. p. 12
. Retrieved
2010-12-19
.
- ^
"Top five science blogs"
.
Nature
.
442
(7098): 9. 2006.
Bibcode
:
2006Natur.442....9.
.
doi
:
10.1038/442009a
.
ISSN
0028-0836
.
PMID
16823420
.
- ^
Medkeff, Jeff
(2008-03-25).
"PZ Myers and (153298) Paulmyers"
. Archived from
the original
on 2008-08-07
. Retrieved
2008-03-25
.
- ^
Myers, PZ (June 19, 2011).
"My Swedish/Norwegian mother, you mean?"
. Twitter.
- ^
Myers, PZ (February 5, 2011).
"Have I ever told you how proud I am of my Scandinavian ancestry?"
.
Pharyngula
. ScienceBlogs. Archived from
the original
on December 3, 2011
. Retrieved
July 24,
2011
.
- ^
Myers, PZ (May 8, 2007).
"There are no marching morons"
.
Pharyngula
. ScienceBlogs
. Retrieved
January 15,
2016
.
- ^
Myers, PZ (June 2, 2013). "
An atheist goes to church ? 1stLC
."
- ^
a
b
c
d
Mosedale, Mike (November 23, 2005).
"The Mad Scientist, interview with PZ Myers"
.
City Pages
.
26
(1303). Archived from
the original
on 2008-08-02
. Retrieved
2007-08-22
.
- ^
Myers, PZ (2006-03-13).
"Left or Right, religion and politics don't mix"
. Pharyngula. Archived from
the original
on 2007-02-12
. Retrieved
2007-08-22
.
- ^
"The Humanist - a magazine of critical inquiry and social concern"
. Archived from
the original
on 2012-03-25
. Retrieved
2012-02-01
.
- ^
"My week in the Pacific Northwest"
.
ScienceBlogs
. 2010-07-25. Archived from
the original
on 2010-07-27
. Retrieved
2010-07-25
.
Saturday at 5:00pm on I'll be attending…my 35th high school reunion with a gang of strange people I haven't seen in decades. You aren't invited unless you were also a graduate of Kent-Meridian High School, Class of 1975
- ^
"
About PZ Myers
- ^
Tagline on
Pharyngula
: "Evolution, development, and random biological ejaculations from a godless liberal."
- ^
"The not-so-Amazing Atheist self-immolates"
. Freethoughblogs. 8 February 2012
. Retrieved
2012-09-29
.
The feminism I embrace is sex-positive. It includes heterosexual men and women, homosexual men and women, trans men and women, and every kink and twist you can imagine.
- ^
"Carrie Poppy tells all"
.
Pharyngula
. August 7, 2013.
- ^
a
b
"American Humanist Association: Humanist of the year"
. American Humanist Association. Archived from
the original
on 2012-07-17
. Retrieved
2013-06-06
.
- ^
"Atheist Ireland publicly dissociates itself from the harmful and hateful rhetoric of PZ Myers"
. Atheist Ireland, Executive Committee. 7 April 2015
. Retrieved
8 April
2015
.
- ^
"The New Atheism is dead. Long live atheism"
.
Pharyngula
. July 31, 2017.
- ^
"MnCSE Scientific Advisory Board"
.
Minnesota Citizens for Science Education
. Archived from
the original
on 30 March 2010.
- ^
[1]
,
Pharyngula
, Science Blogs
- ^
[2]
,
About >> Pharyngula
, Freethought Blogs
- ^
[3]
,
Pharyngula
, Freethought Blogs
- ^
a
b
Butler, Decla (2006-07-05).
"Top five science blogs"
.
Nature
.
442
(7098): 9.
Bibcode
:
2006Natur.442....9.
.
doi
:
10.1038/442009a
.
PMID
16823420
.
- ^
"Related Info for: pharyngula.org/"
.
Alexa.com
. Archived from
the original
on 2007-03-12
. Retrieved
2006-09-03
.
- ^
"Random House: The Happy Atheist by P.Z. Myers"
. 2012
. Retrieved
2013-07-26
.
- ^
Branch, Glenn
(August 8, 2013).
"Godless chronicles: Glenn Branch goes for a dip in the antitheologic."
.
Nature
. Vol 500, p 149.
- ^
"Ask an Atheist Day? Do I want to do this?"
. 17 September 2020.
- ^
"PZ Myers is the Happy Atheist ? Greg Laden's Blog"
. Archived from
the original
on 2017-08-29
. Retrieved
2017-08-29
.
- ^
a
b
"Radio interview with "Webster Cook, student senator and non-eater of communion wafers"
"
(online radio)
. Freethought Radio. 2008-07-19
. Retrieved
2008-07-28
.
Tune in to hear the inside story about the young Orlando student whom Catholics have accused of committing a 'hate crime' for not eating a communion wafer!
- ^
a
b
"
'Body Of Christ' Snatched From Church, Held Hostage By UCF Student"
. WFTV. 2008-07-09. Archived from
the original
on 2008-07-11
. Retrieved
2008-07-11
.
- ^
"
'Body Of Christ" Returned To Church After Student Receives Email Threats"
. WFTV. 2008-07-09. Archived from
the original
on 2008-07-25
. Retrieved
2008-07-25
.
- ^
"Florida Student Abuses Eucharist"
. The Catholic League. 2008-07-07. Archived from
the original
on 25 August 2011
. Retrieved
2008-07-25
.
- ^
Getuiza, Cheryl (2008-07-09).
"Student Who Took Religious Icon Getting Death Threats"
. My
Fox
Orlando
. Retrieved
2009-11-18
.
- ^
"IT'S A FRACKIN' CRACKER!"
. Pharyngula. 2008-07-08. Archived from
the original
on 2008-07-12
. Retrieved
2008-07-11
.
- ^
a
b
c
"Communion wafer held 'hostage' raises holy heck"
.
Minneapolis Star Tribune
. July 11, 2008. Archived from
the original
on February 4, 2009.
- ^
a
b
"Minnesota Prof Pledges to Desecrate Eucharist"
. The Catholic League. 2008-07-10. Archived from
the original
on 2008-07-13
. Retrieved
2008-07-11
.
- ^
a
b
J. Foley, "Wafergate: PZ Myers Crossed the Line"
Archived
2011-04-06 at the
Wayback Machine
, secularstudents.org, Aug. 3, 2008
- ^
"The Heart Of The Matter On Catholic Radio International|2008-07-10"
.
We Need To Talk
. Catholic Radio International. Archived from
the original
on 2008-07-20
. Retrieved
2008-07-18
.
- ^
Myers, PZ (2008-07-24).
"Pharyngula: The Great Desecration"
.
Pharyngula
.
ScienceBlogs
. Archived from
the original
on 2008-07-25
. Retrieved
2008-07-24
.
- ^
WALSH, PAUL
Morris chancellor defends instructor who defiled Eucharist, tore Qur'an
Archived
2009-08-27 at the
Wayback Machine
Star Tribune, July 25, 2008
- ^
a
b
Myers, PZ (2007-08-22).
"I'm gonna be a MOVIE STAR"
.
Pharyngula (blog)
. Archived from
the original
on 2008-05-14
. Retrieved
2008-05-28
.
- ^
Dean, Cornelia (2007-09-27).
"Scientists Feel Miscast in Film on Life's Origin"
.
The New York Times
. Retrieved
2008-05-28
.
- ^
Myers, PZ (2008-03-20).
"Pharyngula: EXPELLED!"
. Archived from
the original
on 2008-03-22
. Retrieved
2008-03-23
.
There is a rich, deep kind of irony that must be shared. I'm blogging this from the Apple store in the Mall of America, because I'm too amused to want to wait until I get back to my hotel room. I went to attend a screening of the creationist propaganda movie, Expelled, a few minutes ago. Well, I tried… but I was Expelled!
- ^
Hewitt, Chris (2008-03-21).
"Biology prof expelled from screening of 'Expelled' - TwinCities.com"
.
The Pioneer Press
. Retrieved
2008-03-21
.
- ^
Discussion on PZ Myers being expelled from Expelled
Archived
2009-01-20 at the
Wayback Machine
. The
Richard Dawkins Foundation for Reason and Science
. Retrieved March 22, 2008
- ^
"Secular Student Alliance"
. Retrieved
2009-08-17
.
- ^
Powell, Devin (2009-08-14).
"A firebrand visits Creation Museum"
.
StarTribune.com
. Minneapolis: Star Tribune. Archived from
the original
on 2009-08-18
. Retrieved
2009-08-17
.
- ^
"PZ Myers on the Pharyngula at Glasgow Skeptics"
.
Glasgow Skeptics
.
Archived
from the original on 2021-12-21
. Retrieved
18 April
2014
.
- ^
"FtBCon 2013: Atheism with a conscience"
. Freethought Blogs. 2013-06-21
. Retrieved
2013-07-21
.
- ^
"IHEU Awards for 2011"
. International Humanist and Ethical Union
. Retrieved
16 August
2013
.
External links
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Interviews/Presentations
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