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.
August 30, 2006
Category: climate
This week we've been asked to comment on James Robbins' ridiculous essay in The National Review, Hooray For Global Warming. Although a more appropriate response would probably be to ignore such twaddle, that would be contrary to the whole blogging...
Posted by James Hrynyshyn at 2:22 PM • 4 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
I will second David Ng's plea for everyone to watch or read the farewell speech of the outgoing UN ambassador for AIDS, Stephen Lewis. It's a rare combination of passion and reason, one that should leave every civilized person seething...
Posted by James Hrynyshyn at 9:35 AM • 2 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
August 29, 2006
Category: religiosity
The first reports of the changing of the guard at the Vatican Observatory suggested evil-doing were afoot. The outgoing George Coyne is known as a stalwart defender of science and evolution in particular. But the Vatican later insisted Coyne was...
Posted by James Hrynyshyn at 11:43 AM • 2 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
August 28, 2006
Category: pseudo-science
Astrology is not usually at the top of my worry list. Sure, there are far too many gullible readers of daily horoscopes, and it did bother me a bit to learn Ronald Reagan was consulting an astrologer while sitting in...
Posted by James Hrynyshyn at 8:45 AM • 2 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
August 25, 2006
Category: religiosity
Can someone please carry out a fact check on Katherine Harris' resume? Because I have to wonder about any institution that would bestow a degree on someone so ignorant of just about everything. Joan took a whack at her in...
Posted by James Hrynyshyn at 11:41 AM • 4 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
August 24, 2006
Category: politics
The government spokesthingies say it's just a oversight. "On its own, it's not really a smoking gun," Glenn Branch of the National Center for Science Education tells New Scientist. "Inadvertant" is the explanation supplied to the New York Times. But...
Posted by James Hrynyshyn at 9:38 AM • 1 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: science culture
I envy Nature reporter Jenny Hogan, who's been blogging from the International Astronomical Union's big meeting in Prague for the past couple of weeks. I've always considered science journalism the most fascinating sector of the industry (that's why I'm one),...
Posted by James Hrynyshyn at 7:59 AM • 1 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
August 23, 2006
Category: punditry
Carl has added Jack Kemp to his pantheon of creationist-friendly pols after coming across the Republican presidential-wannabe's latest column, which attempts to cast doubt on the notion that pro-evolution forces aren't doing as well as the liberal media would have...
Posted by James Hrynyshyn at 12:24 PM • 0 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: religiosity
A paper due to be published next month by Adrian White, a psychologist at the University of Leicester, makes a sincere effort to compare global happiness rates. This sort of thing has been done before, and surprises are few. As...
Posted by James Hrynyshyn at 9:29 AM • 7 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
August 21, 2006
Category: evolution
If Richard Dawkins spends much time in the blogosphere, he's probably quite pleased with himself these days on account of the success of the meme meme. By that, I mean the "unit of cultural information, such as a cultural practice...
Posted by James Hrynyshyn at 3:43 PM • 3 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
August 17, 2006
Category: science culture
The juxtaposition in recent news lineups of the debate over the definition of a planet and the depressing debacle in Lebanon puts the lie to the idea we live in a global village. While some of us are lucky enough...
Posted by James Hrynyshyn at 9:30 AM • 0 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
August 16, 2006
Category: science culture
Word is the proposal on the table at the International Astronomical Union meeting in Prague calls for a new definition of planet that would widen the category to include Ceres, Charon and "Xena." I say, bring it on! Why?...
Posted by James Hrynyshyn at 8:20 AM • 7 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
August 15, 2006
Category: science culture
If only we could teach our kids what science is really about before they get too old, then they'd be better equipped to deal with intelligent design and other anti-intellectual propaganda that poisons the noosphere. At least, that's a common...
Posted by James Hrynyshyn at 9:57 AM • 0 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
August 14, 2006
Category: science culture
I have resisted reposting pre-ScienceBlog posts as the lazy way out, but seeing as how many of my fellow bloggers have done it, what the heck? This one comes from a year ago, on the heels of the discovery of...
Posted by James Hrynyshyn at 9:49 AM • 0 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
August 10, 2006
Category: evolution
This week's issue of Science includes the results of a survey that doesn't exactly provide cause for celebration. LiveScience has a preview for those averse to reading journal papers: A comparison of peoples' views in 34 countries finds that the...
Posted by James Hrynyshyn at 4:42 PM • 2 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: science culture
If any member of the medical profession wonders why more than a few people prefer to seek "alternative" treatments, wonder no longer. While ignorance and gullibility among the lay public are rampant, there is also the very serious problem that...
Posted by James Hrynyshyn at 9:54 AM • 4 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
August 8, 2006
Category: climate
The news that Pat "700 Club" Robertson finally admits that climate change is something to worry about is a few days old, but I thought it worth mentioning. His Road to Damascus conversion is all the more remarkable when this...
Posted by James Hrynyshyn at 9:56 AM • 2 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
August 7, 2006
Category: pseudo-science
Here's a depressing way to start your week, courtesy of The New Statesman: .."psychic schools have never been so busy, and it's not the Doris Stokes brigade who want to learn, but the young, the prosperous and the educated. Stephen...
Posted by James Hrynyshyn at 8:46 AM • 11 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
August 4, 2006
Category: climate
I've finally gotten around to reading The Next Big Storm, Can Scientists and Journalists Work Together to Improve Coverage of the Hurricane-Global Warming Controversy? -- the Skeptical Inquirer's monumental review of media coverage of the hurrican-climate change links, by our...
Posted by James Hrynyshyn at 2:35 PM • 2 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
August 3, 2006
Category: pseudo-science
I used to be dead-set against the idea of letting Jehovah's Witnesses and Christian Scientists deny their children conventional treatment for life-threatening illnesses. It still makes me angry to know that there are mothers and fathers out there who love...
Posted by James Hrynyshyn at 10:02 AM • 7 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
August 2, 2006
Category: politics
If you haven't already read Mike Dunford's latest posts (first here, and then here) on the FDA's attempt to restrict emergency contraception to adults only, it's time. Then, just for fun, try to square the government's position on abortion (it's...
Posted by James Hrynyshyn at 8:43 AM • 2 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
August 1, 2006
Category: evolution
Well, not clams. And not legs as such. But there's a neat piece out in Nature on the evolutionary leap, so to speak, between fish fins and the limbs of land critters. A team of researchers has "discovered that the...
Posted by James Hrynyshyn at 5:22 PM • 1 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
