1. Why skeptics do not, and should not, waste their time with academic theology
Theology, like all religious institutions, demands respect where none is earned. Historically they serve only the functions of defending dogma to no one in particular, providing cover for the rare believer who comes to doubt the various absurdities of his faith, and of optimistically regurgitating the failed arguments of previous theologians. There is nothing here with which to engage. There is no novelty among them to treat with new counterarguments.
2. Good Cop, Bad Cop: PZ and the Creation Museum
“Look! It’s PZ!” Cheers went up and applause ensued. PZ Myers finally arrived at the Creation Museum in northern Kentucky. This was the first time the famous (or infamous) blogger had ever visited the place that defied his field of study, accepting only microevolution, but vehemently denying macroevolution. Like everyone else, I wanted a picture with the atheist icon and somehow managed to get one. The place buzzed with excitement. However, as I looked around I realized that although PZ was important, he wasn’t nearly as important as what he had done. When I pulled into the parking lot for the “museum” what I saw amazed me. Two extremely long lines…of non-believers. There was also a fairly large group of more that had already received their ticket, an “I was [...]
3. Confessions of a Punk Teacher
Who is the Punk Teacher?
I decided to create the pseudonym “Punk Teacher” first and foremost so that I could write frankly about my new teaching career without risking drama, or worse, my job.
I am literally started my teaching career this year, summer 2009. My first experience was doing about a month of student teaching with Latino 5th graders who had failed my state’s standardized test.
I am completely thrilled to be a teacher. It is my dream career. Yet there are a lot of problems with the educational system, and I have no intention of turning a blind eye. In fact I think my perspective is uniquely honed in such a way as to cut through bullshit in a refreshing and relevant way.
Even in my limited experience I already have much [...]
4. Statistics is Sexy
That’s the title of the Organizations & Market post referencing this latest New York Times piece. We here in humanities land love to hear that our math can be useful math too. Hot on its heels comes this great crash course in Bayesian reasoning – required reading for every student interested in, well, doing probabilities right.
One of the common refrains in my field is that failures of Bayesian reasoning are behind lots of our errors of reasoning in general – Linda the Feminist Bank Teller and the Asian Disease framing problem immediately come to mind. Consider the first problem:
Linda is 31 years old, single, outspoken, and very bright. She majored in philosophy. As a student, she was deeply concerned with issues of discrimination and social justice, and also participated in [...]
5. Terrorism wins badminton
The BBC reports:
The England team has withdrawn from the World Badminton Championships in India because of “a specific terrorist threat” made by extremists.
The eight-strong squad pulled out of the tournament, which starts on Monday in Hyderabad, after reports of threats by Muslim extremists Lashkar-e-Taiba.
Lakshar-e-Taiba has shown that, sometimes, terrorism does work.
I cannot fault the English team here for cowardice, and in fact I commend their courage in acknowledging that the safety of their players is more important to them than the interests of whatever groups own and profit from the team. In fact, the failures involved in this event (the failure of Indian society to cultivate and protect a humanist ethos, the failure of the Muslim intelligentsia to combat fundamentalism, the failure of the British and Indian governments to ruthlessly [...]
6. Great article on the importance of Net Neutrality
Rather surprising that such an informative article about the safeguarding of our most basic internet rights is posted on HuffPo. But Alas, Karr does a superb job of summarizing the key points of net neutrality, which are all embedded within the Internet Freedom Preservation Act of 2009. The act is a great read for anyone interested in net neutrality. Check it out:
H.R.3458-7-31-09
7. Facebook is the new NWO (not the wrestling alliance)
Check out this map created by Vincenzo Cosenza. It shows that Facebook is the most used social networking site in nearly every country in the world, specifically the west. Even Russia’s top site V Kontakte is basically Facebook.
I think it’s great that social networking isn’t split across many different platforms, even though I’m usually in favour of less centralized control. Facebook, so long as it continues to provide more privacy features, allows what Piere Levy calls “totalization without control.” That is, we can communicate with one another through and around any institutions, so long as they allow Facebook. Now one might counter by saying that having only one major networking site makes it easier for governments to censor them, but I would argue that the easier access by so many [...]
8. Our Generation Must Make Greater Strides
We are on the cusp of change. As the era of superstition wanes with the approach of a prevailing consciousness of reason, gods and ghosts fight a losing battle against naturalistic explanations. But the question as to why superstition, unreason, and absolutist mindsets have dominated much of society remains. Perhaps it is because most people follow the religion of their parents. Like a genetically acquired stigma on one’s eyesight, parents prevent their children from seeing the world in its full glory by passing on this virus. The vicious cycle of faith rolls on, quashing reason underfoot.
But now we can throw a wrench into that cycle. By “we” I mean my generation—those who are currently just above or below twenty years of age. It is we who will inherent that brilliance [...]
9. What I Believe for the 21st Century – Tauriq Moosa
Along with Bertrand Russell, it is importance to consider what one believes rather than what one knows. Knowledge, the evanescent sphere that humans touch upon to ascend to higher planes of comprehension, is mostly unimportant: It is the beliefs that we hold. Indeed, modern philosophers like Roger Scruton regard epistemology not as the study of knowledge but the justification for our beliefs. In this short space, I am aim to succinctly outline my current beliefs with the goal of checking up on them in one year. I hope readers do not find this self-indulgent but rather a project of epistemic duty, to which each person should scrutinise for themselves. If there are alternate and better views, many current views should be rescinded or replaced.
I believe…
…nothing is sacred and the attempt [...]
10. All Action. No Reason. Starring Michael Bay.
So here’s the scoop. Megan Fox is pissed at Michael Bay because Transformers 2: Revenge of the Fallen is all action and no acting. Bay’s response: “She says some very ridiculous things because she’s 23 years old, and she still has a lot of growing up to do.”
One might look at this and say “So what?” We all know both Megan Fox and Michael Bay are always in the spotlight based on their visual merits and not their intellectual ones (Bay blowing stuff up, Fox blowing…well…never mind, maybe that’s just my imagination). But there’s a serious logical fallacy playing itself out in this confrontation – appeal to age.
I understand they aren’t arguing about something that has any real value, but still – when someone claims another person is wrong, or [...]
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