skepticism
Tag archives for skepticism
Global Warming Skepticism In Decline
Posted by Greg Laden on April 9, 2013 
There is a new Gallup poll that together with earlier data from Gallup provides some interesting information about attitudes in the US about global warming. Earlier polls have shown increase and decrease in concern about global warming, and changes in what people think of news about climate change and the severity of the problem. Recently,…
Do crosswalk buttons really do anything? And other pseudoscientific matters
Posted by Greg Laden on February 6, 2013 
This is important stuff. Along the lines of whether or not Bigfoot is real. So let’s talk about it for a moment. The crosswalk buttons in my neighborhood work. At least some of them. Last summer and the summer before, Huxley and I would walk around quite a bit, crossing through intersections that at other…
Empowering the individual does not equal ensmartening the individual
Posted by Greg Laden on November 24, 2012 Imagine the following scenario. Two guys are walking down the street, in different cities. Guy A has two PhDs, one in quantum physics with a focus on dimensionality dynamics, the other in astrophysics with a focus on relativistic aspects of gravity and black holes. She has published dozens of peer reviewed papers on both topics…
What does sexism and harassment feel like to you?
Posted by Greg Laden on November 5, 2012 
I’m a guy who “gets” nasty threats from haters. I receive anti-atheist threats and icky comments, I receive a LOT of nasty stuff from climate science denialists (and that often comes along with bogus threats of law suits), I receive nasty emails and tweets from the SlymePitters and those folks seem to spend more time…
The Secular Coalition of America’s Big Goof
Posted by Greg Laden on September 29, 2012 The Secular Coalition of America is a lobbying group that represents several groups, including American Atheists, the American Humanist Association, Camp Quest, the Secular Student Alliance and so on. A few months ago the SCA made news, in a bad way, by appointing a former Bush White House Staffer, Edwina Rogers, as Executive Director. Many…
I was almost abducted by aliens
Posted by Greg Laden on June 30, 2012 
Every now and then a news story comes along that makes me want to repost this particular thing I wrote a long time ago. And it has happened again. First, the news story: National Geographic Channel has run a poll in which they found that 36% of Americans “believe UFO’s exist.” This is in line…
The Antiskeptics
Posted by Greg Laden on June 10, 2012 
Skeptics fight an up hill battle. This battle consists of deploying critical thinking across a range of cultural landscapes, implementing scientific thinking to solve problems, and the thoughtful evaluation of knowledge, while 90 percent of the world is out to stop you, or at least make it hard. Or so it seems. To be honest,…
Skepticism is a cultural phenomenon
Posted by Greg Laden on April 25, 2012 Skepticism is a cultural phenomenon. I know that many self-declared skeptics prefer to … ah … believe otherwise, or as they would perhaps say, they have deduced from pure principles using sound logic that Skepticism is rational behavior and there is nothing cultural about it. But they are wrong, and that is trivially easy to…
The Skeptical Movement as a Dysfunctional Corporation with a Nightmare HR Problem
Posted by Greg Laden on July 23, 2011 Just an idea … not entirely work safe … below the fold.
Stuff that can’t happen happens all the time.
Posted by Greg Laden on January 22, 2011 … or does it???
Getting it wrong every single time
Posted by Greg Laden on January 14, 2011 Sometimes, that is what I think news reporters do. There are occasions when you know the story and have the opportunity to watch them spew out incorrect information. Sometimes you do not know the story but you can watch them getting it wrong and see that happening while they appear to remain oblivious to their…
Be a smart dick
Posted by Greg Laden on August 24, 2010 Is PZ Myers over the top? Is Phil Plait too nice? Is Chris Mooney right about framing? If I meet a Creationist, should I throw a fossil over his head?
You’re not helping has melted down. And has got it wrong. And isn’t helping.
Posted by Greg Laden on June 22, 2010 You’re not helping has proven its analytical illiteracy and disregard for reason and truth in a rather ironic way: By demonstrating biased ‘reasoning’ and ad hominem argument in a blog post about how another blog is not really a science blog. Some time ago they selected Why Evolution is True as a blog they hate,…
Do you find naked men wearing chains sexy?
Posted by Greg Laden on April 28, 2010 Well, OK, technically if a man is wearing chains he’s not really naked. Whatever. The question at hand is, was sex in skepticism before women showed up? And, when they showed up with their bobbies and all, did they ruin it for everyone? Read more.
Are the Skepchicks too sexy? (UPDATED)
Posted by Greg Laden on January 22, 2010 I recently posted an appeal to support the upcoming skeptical track at the Minneapolis CONvergence organized by The Skepchicks, a group of hip female skeptical activists and some guys. The first comment on that post was a stern admonition that one might not want to support “understanding of science and scepticism” by donating to this…
, which is now available for the 
