Now on ScienceBlogs: Freethinker Sunday Sermonette: more religion and child abuse
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
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 • 1 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 • 28 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
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