Prof Alice Roberts attacks Dr Emma Hilton on Twitter

[CaveMum]

Another low blow from Prof Alice - attempting to dismiss Dr Hilton’s credentials as a signatory to a letter to the Times on biological sex.

Twitter thread here: twitter.com/fondofbeetles/status/1204763423013244929

Crikey, she's really steamrollering herself into a corner of batshit bad science, there, isn't she?

I hope she takes up the polite offer of a discussion on the matter. Suspect she won't.

I attempted to show my support for Dr Em, but guess what? Yes Alice has me blocked despite no interactions ever, so she must be using some sort of TerfBlocker.

Also, another reason to back away swiftly from the Humanists, unfortunately.

What a ghastly bully, stamping on junior academics (in this case someone who knows rather more than her about this subject) to entrench her privileged position. I suspect she'll now do her usual thing of crying about how "abusive" everyone is for pointing out her bad faith arguments and shut down her Twitter until next time.

I thought it was an excellent letter to the Times - go Dr Emma!

"Emma Hilton appears to be a research technician at Manchester University - not a ‘senior scientist’. Unless I’m mistaken and that’s the wrong Emma Hilton."

Dr Dr Alice Roberts appears to be a carrot-pigtailed autocutie in a little vest who has been called the thinking person's Kate Humble.

WTF is a multidimensional space???

What did Kate Humble ever do wrong?!

Bloody hell, an argument by status - my academic job is better than yours!
What a childish, unscientific low blow.
I never expected Alice Roberts to turn out to be such an unpleasant character.

Love the "Parklife!" comment - we should use that more

As someone wrote on that feed, Einstein appears to be a minor Swiss patent clerk...

A multidimensional space, is, I suppose, any three dimensional space but I suppose this is suggesting the addition of a temporal axis also.

Fucked if I can see how it relates in any way to the gametes or sex of a person, though.

Me neither @TheCountessofFitzdotterel

But as Maya Angelou said, "when someone shows you who they are, believe them the first time" etc

I suspect Dr Em also understands the correct application of the term 'decimate' unlike a certain 'historian'.

Alice still hasn't blocked me, despite my tweeting her that she was a huge disappointment to me (used to think so highly of her too )
Was sort of hoping she'd come to her senses some day soon, but looking unlikely...
I unfollowed her anyway (and followed Emma Hilton instead!)

Ratioed to fuck. Alice will be getting a persecution complex to rival any genderist before ever considering that some self reflection might be in order.

What a vile woman she has turned out to be.

On the upside, it's amusing to watch the #notmynigel's telly crush disappear up the swanny. He's in mourning!

I think we need a Mumsnet acronym for the #notmynigels

DNMN?

It's not so much the meanness that matters really so much as the fact she is a professor of public understanding of science but she's not modelling how you do science - ie by looking at what people say not the job title of the person who says it.
If you really do want to check whether someone is an actual scientist and respected in the scientific community for whatever reason, surely Google Scholar is a better place to start, but she doesn't seem to have done that either, just 'is Emma Hilton senior?'
It suggests someone who is more interested in playing academic politics than doing science, which is a shame.

Parklife

I hope she takes up the polite offer of a discussion on the matter. Suspect she won't.

How can she? There is literally no science that backs her position. No idea why anyone would put themselves in this situation, but there it is.

In years to come, Woke women like Alice Roberts are going to be tearing up in BBC interviews saying "i had to spout all that dangerous unscientific drivel - people were threatening my kids and trying to get me sacked".

And i will be saying "yeah... just like the rest of us had to contend with, you mean?" and playing a very small violin.

Wow. I don't know what to say really.

When Alice started with all this clownfish nonsense I thought perhaps she was "trying to be nice" - but that tweet isn't trying to be nice at all, is it.

It suggests someone who is more interested in playing academic politics than doing science, which is a shame.

Agree.

Interesting that when Anne Fausto Sterling was invoked (almost as if AR was hoping she would step in and do the actual science bit), AFS instead opted to subtweet someone who appears not to be a scientist and mock them for remembering the basics of school science lessons.

For reference if anyone wants a useful link to debunk the Fausto-Sterling “argument” this is very helpful: www.leonardsax.com/how-common-is-intersex-a-response-to-anne-fausto-sterling/