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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. Mostly regarding climate change, though.
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.
"There is no need to sally forth, for it remains true that those things
which make us human are, curiously enough, always close at hand.
Resolve, then, that on this very ground, with small flags waving, and
tiny blasts of tinny trumpets, we have met the enemy, and not only may
he be ours, he may be us."
--Walt Kelly
November 28, 2006
Category: science culture
This comes from Acephalous. I am happy to help: What is the speed of meme? People write in general (typically truimphant) terms about how swiftly a single voice can travel from one side of the internet to the other and...
Posted by James Hrynyshyn at 6:37 PM • 1 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
November 23, 2006
Category: climate
The good people at deSmogBlog have stumbled across exactly what's wrong with the public debate on climate change. IsCanadaReady.com is a compedium of non-scientific arguments that attempts to undermine confidence in anthropogenic global warming theory. But nowhere on the site...
Posted by James Hrynyshyn at 12:57 PM • 3 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
November 22, 2006
Category: technology
The good news is the world's technological powerhouses have finally agreed to get off their collective butts and start building ITER, the big fusion power experiment. The bad news is they're only planning on spending $12.8 billion on it. That's...
Posted by James Hrynyshyn at 7:34 AM • 1 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
November 21, 2006
Category: science culture
Today's New York Times Science section includes coverage of a forum on the religion-science wars this month at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies in La Jolla, Calif. Just about everybody who's anybody in this battle was there. My favorite...
Posted by James Hrynyshyn at 7:42 AM • 9 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
November 20, 2006
Category: cetacea
I was talking yesterday with a friend of mine who works at the University of British Columbia's Fisheries Centre, which has long been at the forefront of research into the scope of the decline of fish species around the world....
Posted by James Hrynyshyn at 7:36 AM • 4 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
November 18, 2006
Category: climate
I don't want to get all giddy over the Democratic victory and what it means for the planet. But this little snippet of news from today's WaPo is a good way to start your day off right. Sen. John W....
Posted by James Hrynyshyn at 8:59 AM • 0 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
November 14, 2006
Category: religiosity
Wired magazine's Gary Wolf tries to come to terms with what he calls the "New Atheists" by reviewing the latest Dawkins, Dennett and Harris books. (The God Delusion, Breaking the Spell and The End of Faith. and then interviewing the...
Posted by James Hrynyshyn at 7:39 AM • 3 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
November 10, 2006
Category: mix and match
For anyone wondering about the recent decline in frequency of posts to the Island of Doubt, I must report that things are only going to get worse. Yesterday, my wife, Mary, and I welcomed our first-born son into this world,...
Posted by James Hrynyshyn at 10:58 AM • 7 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
November 5, 2006
Category: politics
Anyone who's spent even a modest amount of time and effort investigating the battle over the teaching of intelligent design creationism in the country's classrooms will recognize the argument that an understanding of evolution is essential to a decent science...
Posted by James Hrynyshyn at 12:51 PM • 0 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
