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 27, 2007
Category: Sci-culture
You know how some people can't just leave that half-pint of ice cream sitting in the fridge? You know you shouldn't, but you can't resist. I'm that way with climate change stories. So when a friend called to alert me...
Posted by James Hrynyshyn at 12:19 PM • 12 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
June 26, 2007
Category: evolution
Picard and the gang race to re-assemble bits of a message encoded in the genomes of disparate species throughout the galaxy...
Posted by James Hrynyshyn at 10:20 AM • 1 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
June 25, 2007
Category: climate
But one could just as easily read that last excerpted sentence as a lament for a lack of consensus itself.
Posted by James Hrynyshyn at 7:43 AM • 4 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
June 23, 2007
Category: pseudo-science
"Her husband decided to ask their 4-year-old dog another question, the square root of 25. Micah tapped his paw five times."
Posted by James Hrynyshyn at 2:18 PM • 7 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
June 21, 2007
Category: climate
"in some areas, only 5 percent of the coal was recoverable with today's technology and at current prices"
Posted by James Hrynyshyn at 9:46 AM • 1 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
June 20, 2007
Category: misc
"While most linguists think there is no inherent relationship between the sound of a word and its meaning, there is some evidence to the contrary..."
Posted by James Hrynyshyn at 9:35 AM • 0 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
June 19, 2007
Category: climate
"We infer that it would be not only dangerous, but also foolhardy to follow a BAU path for future GHG emissions."
Posted by James Hrynyshyn at 1:32 PM • 8 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: religiosity
Scienceblog posts tend to revolve around current events, almost to the point where history is irrelevant, and the Island of Doubt is no different. I try to put things in historical perspective, but concede that I tend too often overlook...
Posted by James Hrynyshyn at 8:19 AM • 2 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
June 18, 2007
Category: medicine
I take a keener interest in the autism-vaccine conspiracy nonsense, now that I'm taking my very young son to the doctors every few months for his shots. It bothers me no end that not every parent does the same, and...
Posted by James Hrynyshyn at 1:25 PM • 20 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: climate
Business Week recently published an odd little essay by Greg Blonder, someone I've not come across before. He posits that painting your roof white will do more to offset anthropogenic climate change than installing photovoltaic panels. Seriously. The science appears...
Posted by James Hrynyshyn at 8:23 AM • 22 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
June 15, 2007
Category: biology
A study just published in the British Journal of Urology finds that what boys lose in the process turns out to be the most sensitive part of the penis.
Posted by James Hrynyshyn at 4:03 PM • 43 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: climate
"In the end, we are going to have the same per capita emissions quota no matter where we live."
Posted by James Hrynyshyn at 8:00 AM • 14 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
June 14, 2007
Category: climate
Which part of the Bible discusses cap-and-trade schemes, emissions caps and carbon sequestration subsidies?
Posted by James Hrynyshyn at 2:54 PM • 26 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: technology
The Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers has released a radio ad designed to play on soccer mom's fears about road safety, dishonestly arguing that Congressional attempts to increase fuel mileage will make safe cars too expensive to afford. This despite the...
Posted by James Hrynyshyn at 10:33 AM • 0 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: pseudo-science
"One of the most eminent scientists in the UK" has been taking on the merchants of woo...
Posted by James Hrynyshyn at 8:05 AM • 4 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
June 13, 2007
Category: politics
A National Mining Association mouthpiece responded this his employers are disappointed Obama has joined a "jihad" against the coal industry.
Posted by James Hrynyshyn at 3:59 PM • 4 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: pseudo-science
When CNN announces it has "what Loch Ness Monster watchers say is among the finest footage ever taken" it's hard not to bite. Never mind that what used to be the most famous photographic evidence turned out to be fake....
Posted by James Hrynyshyn at 7:39 AM • 6 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
June 11, 2007
Category: Sci-culture
Among Republicans, higher education is linked to greater skepticism about global warming
Posted by James Hrynyshyn at 9:05 AM • 8 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
June 10, 2007
Category: politics
As Tara writes at Aetiology, it's interesting that the Rwandan government, which might be excused for letting for a little blood lust taint its criminal justice system, what with the slaughter of 800,000 people on their minds, has voted instead...
Posted by James Hrynyshyn at 1:17 PM • 8 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
June 8, 2007
Category: climate
Science magazine today has a long and comprehensive article on scientists who are "Pushing the Scary Side of Global Warming." As it won't be freely available for months, I will post some of the juicy bits, while doing my best...
Posted by James Hrynyshyn at 3:59 PM • 11 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: climate
Something has to charge the batteries, so why not a technology that at least frees one from relying the evil and unreliable "English" electricity grid?
Posted by James Hrynyshyn at 8:10 AM • 5 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
June 7, 2007
Category: climate
It should have taken all of 20 seconds, or less... to perform a quick Internet search for the terms "oregon" and "petition."
Posted by James Hrynyshyn at 8:52 AM • 9 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
June 6, 2007
Category: climate
The emissions growth rate since 2000 was greater than for the most fossil-fuel intensive of the IPCC emissions scenarios developed in the late 1990s.
Posted by James Hrynyshyn at 2:53 PM • 11 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
June 5, 2007
Category: climate
President George W. Bush is getting plenty of attention for finally acknowledging that climate change is a problem, which is at least an improvement over the approach taken by the man overseeing the bulk of climatology being conducted for his...
Posted by James Hrynyshyn at 1:39 PM • 1 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
June 4, 2007
Category: philosophy
Few historical events are cloaked in as much confusion and controversy as the assassination of John Fitzgerald Kennedy. There's dueling government reports -- one concluded it was the work of a lone gunman, the other fingered an undefined conspiracy. Otherwise...
Posted by James Hrynyshyn at 1:36 PM • 8 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
June 1, 2007
Category: politics
Last night in Washington DC was held the 80th annual Scripps Spelling Bee. I love watching 8th-graders spell words they (and I) have never heard before. Two items of interest arose. First, the runner-up, for the second year in a...
Posted by James Hrynyshyn at 1:09 PM • 9 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: climate
"I almost fell off my chair. It's remarkably uninformed."
Posted by James Hrynyshyn at 10:59 AM • 14 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
