An irregular exploration of the struggle between the power of rational discourse and the scientific method on one hand, and the forces of superstition and dogma on the other.
James Hrynyshyn is a freelance science journalist based in western North Carolina, where he tries to put degrees in marine biology and journalism to good use.
The Demon-Haunted World:
Science as a Candle
in the Dark,
by Carl Sagan
(A
review)
The Doubter's Companion:
by John Ralston Saul (Excerpts)
Skeptic Magazine: www.skeptic.com
Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal: www.csicop.org
A poem by Yehuda Amichai:
The
Place
Where We Are Right
The Meaning of the
Island of Doubt
By doubting we come to inquiry; and through inquiry we perceive truth.
--- Peter Abelard
Undisguised clarity is easily mistaken for arrogance.
-- Richard Dawkins
As for evolution, it happened. Deal with it.
-- Michael Shermer.
June 30, 2006
Category: Sci-culture
Having worked as a communications officer for more than one scientific outfit, I can sympathize with the outreach guys at the University of Leicester. But methinks they took their attention-grabbing-headline lessons a bit too seriously. A story making the rounds...
Posted by James Hrynyshyn at 4:06 PM • 0 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
June 29, 2006
Category: religiosity
Barack Obama is right. Barack Obama is also wrong. Not only should this not be surprising, it should be welcome. Because no other position is tenable when it comes to the subject of the role of faith in politics. Obama,...
Posted by James Hrynyshyn at 9:06 AM • 1 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
June 28, 2006
Category: climate
One more time, with gusto: "There's a debate over whether it's manmade or naturally caused." So said Bush Jr. the other day. As Chris "Intersection" Mooney, noted, the only "debate" over the causes of climate change is taking place in...
Posted by James Hrynyshyn at 12:45 PM • 1 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
June 26, 2006
Category: pseudo-science
No. I'm not talking about Dick Cheney's metric for how probable a threat must be before taking it seriously (that would be 1 %). Instead we have this bizarre statement in Newsday from a researcher of the paranorma identified only...
Posted by James Hrynyshyn at 5:38 PM • 0 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
June 22, 2006
Category: evolution
If I had $50,000 -- and no mortgage -- I'd love to bid on a letter that's just surfaced and is about to be auctioned off by Sotheby's. It's from the revered Charles Darwin to the Reverend William Denton. New...
Posted by James Hrynyshyn at 1:49 PM • 2 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: evolution
Everyone's had a good time taking shots at Ann Coulter's inability to think straight. Some valiant types, like PZ Myers, have even sacrified several hours of their lives to reading and picking apart her pathetic prose. Everything she says is...
Posted by James Hrynyshyn at 9:59 AM • 6 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
June 21, 2006
Category: politics
Move over Fritjof Capra. The author of The Tao of Physics captured the imaginations of naive readers a couple of decades back by exploring the similarities between quantum theory and Eastern philosophies. But as the New York Times' Dennis Overbye...
Posted by James Hrynyshyn at 11:35 AM • 4 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
June 20, 2006
Category: politics
The American Psychological Association removed homosexuality from its list of mental disorders in 1973. The Pentagon is still mulling it over, according to a report from AP....
Posted by James Hrynyshyn at 2:16 PM • 1 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: politics
Yesterday's non-decision by the U.S. Supreme Court on just how far the Army Corps of Engineers can go in telling developers what they can and cannot build produced no identifiable winners or losers. But a close look at the rulings...
Posted by James Hrynyshyn at 10:36 AM • 1 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
June 16, 2006
Category: punditry
I wasn't going to wade into the Stephen-Hawking-has-lost-it debate, but then I came across an otherwise unrelated story this morning pitting Cosmologist Numero Uno against the late Pope John Paul II. For those unfamiliar with the fuss, Hawking had the...
Posted by James Hrynyshyn at 3:25 PM • 7 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
June 15, 2006
Time for some consequential feedback from Doubtful readers. It's: The ScienceBlogs/DonorsChoose raise-money-to-help-science-classrooms-a-thon! Those of us who blog here at ScienceBlogs think science is the coolest part of school, important, and worth understanding. If you're reading the blogs here, chances are...
Posted by James Hrynyshyn at 9:27 AM • 0 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
June 14, 2006
This week's "ask a science blogger question" from the SEED gang is: "Assuming that time and money were not obstacles, what area of scientific research, outside of your own discipline, would you most like to explore? Why?" First, to be...
Posted by James Hrynyshyn at 3:09 PM • 1 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
June 13, 2006
Category: philosophy
How do you rank on the Scale of Doubt? Jennifer Michael Hecht, who teaches at Nassau Community College in New York, has come up with one of those clever little web quizzes to accompany her book Doubt: A History....
Posted by James Hrynyshyn at 2:48 PM • 8 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: punditry
What should we do with the likes of Ann Coulter? More than a few people are upset with her recent comments disparaging the 9/11 widows. Her new book wastes a lot of trees misrepresenting evolution. Ed takes umbrage at her...
Posted by James Hrynyshyn at 7:56 AM • 7 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
June 12, 2006
Category: cetacea
It's that time of year, when the International Whaling Commission gets together and pretends its decisions will be based on the best available science. In addition to poorly serving the planet's cetaceans, these annual gatherings are embarrassments for both the...
Posted by James Hrynyshyn at 3:14 PM • 1 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: Sci-culture
The Pi meme: If for no other reason than it's good to re-examine one's motives.Thanks to Janet for cooking up this particular indulgent recipe. 3 reasons you blog about science: 1. Nothing better to do with my free time 2....
Posted by James Hrynyshyn at 8:54 AM • 0 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: cetacea
Had enough of the coke-and-mentos display? Time for a more mellow viral video fix, perhaps. This week's New York Times offers some soothing underwater footage of humpback whales. The accompaying story promises even better visuals soon, thanks to the advent...
Posted by James Hrynyshyn at 6:00 AM • 2 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
June 9, 2006
Category: religiosity
So this guy sneaks into the lion's den at the Kiev Zoo. Shouts, "God will save me, if he exists," lowers himself by rope into the pen, takes off his shoes, and... According to Reuters:: ...one of the lions...
Posted by James Hrynyshyn at 4:43 PM • 3 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: ecology
The Journal of Applied Ecology has just published a list of the Top 100 unanswered questions in the field. It was assembled for the benefit of UK ecologists, but most of the items deal with issues of global interest. If...
Posted by James Hrynyshyn at 1:30 PM • 2 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: philosophy
For my inaugural Sb post, a little bit of culture. My first reaction to the National Review's bizarre list of the top 50 allegedly conservative rock and roll songs was incredulity, so misunderstood and misrepresented were the selections that made...
Posted by James Hrynyshyn at 12:41 PM • 10 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
