Now on ScienceBlogs: The Galaxy's Biggest Valentine
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 and communications consultant 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
Category: science culture
I am pleased that activity on the Island of Doubt has increased in recent months. I manage to squeeze in a hour four or five days a week to write about what I think is the most serious public policy...
Posted by James Hrynyshyn at 9:47 AM • 0 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: climate
Deferring to experts is not the same as committing the logical fallacy of making an argument from authority, it's just acceptance of one's own ignorance.
Posted by James Hrynyshyn at 12:28 PM • 27 Comments • 1 TrackBacks
Category: climate
If history teaches us anything, it's that the stronger the role of science in the policy-making process, the better the outcome, for society, for industry.
Posted by James Hrynyshyn at 11:25 AM • 1 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: climate
Rarely does a blogging day pass that I don't stumble upon some post or comment or email that champions the value of skepticism of anthropogenic global warming and the need for scientists to answer their critics. So it's refreshing to...
Posted by James Hrynyshyn at 7:43 AM • 13 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: climate
It's Blog Action Day. What I find remarkable is the relatively low profile that my particular pet project -- climate change -- enjoys at ScienceBlogs
Posted by James Hrynyshyn at 8:43 AM • 9 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: science culture
So Battlestar Galactica is over. Again. It is unlikely that many a fan of science fiction, or intelligent story-telling of any genre, over the age of 11 mourned the end of the original series. But the resurrected version that drew...
Posted by James Hrynyshyn at 4:14 PM • 15 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: science culture
This past weekend I had the pleasure of attending ScienceOnline '09, a conference-meetup-lovefest of about 200 scientists, journalists and bloggers. There I learned much about what we should and should not be doing in the blogosphere, and astute readers may...
Posted by James Hrynyshyn at 3:40 PM • 33 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: science culture
This three-part series on radical skepticism and the rise of conspiratorial thinking about science, by Daniel Engber, in Slate, is required reading for anyone interested in the role of skepticism in science and society. It's called "The Paranoid Style in...
Posted by James Hrynyshyn at 2:57 PM • 5 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: science culture
Could it be that all this talk about how best to frame argument is pointless? It would if our capacity to change our minds in the face of new information was genetically determined....
Posted by James Hrynyshyn at 7:51 AM • 6 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: science culture
Some folks are pushing for the US Postal Service to issue a stamp or two bearing the image of the late great Carl Sagan. I say, if they can put out a Star Wars series, they can bloody well do...
Posted by James Hrynyshyn at 12:48 PM • 0 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
