evolvingthoughts

... I'm teaching. First years. Cognitive science. It turns out that a lot of what I thought was common knowledge isn't common at all. And what I count as a simple introduction leaves a lot of folk behind. Now I know I'm not that ordinary in many senses - the obsession with complex concepts may…

I do not care if a politicians visits a strip club. In fact, a politician that did it and owns up without embarassment would be a good choice to pick, because you know he's not going to pull that family values crap in the future. But a politician who visits one, owns up, and then apologises? You…

Dear readers, Dave Munger of Cognitive Daily has suggested that we have a universally available icon to indicate that the blogger is blogging about peer reviewed research, and he has created a discussion blog at BPR3. Please go make suggestions and add to the discussion. Muggins here will…

I have a book forthcoming, Species definitions: a sourcebook from antiquity to today, which gives and commentates definitions of "species" in logic and biology for 2,500 years, from Plato to Templeton and beyond. It's designed as a reader for scholars to see how the notion[s] have evolved…

I normally don't respond the to IDiocy of Uncommon Dissent, but John Lynch, may he rot in purgatory for a thousand years, has made me. As usual, I won't dignify it with links. If you are that interested you can find it. There are two items: one is by DaveScot, who argues (!) that because Popper'…

I have a review of the centenary festschrift for Mayr, published by the National Academies of Science, in the latest Biology and Philosophy here. I worked pretty hard on this one, so it's more than your average dashed off review article... Hey, Jody; Fitch, Walter M.; Ayala, Francisco J., eds.…

I had to. They made me do it. Yes, I'm smoking again, but I'll give up soon, I promise. The grumpy expression is because I'm teaching...

Laelaps has a very nice essay that ranges from the number of ribs humans have, the book of Genesis, creationism, and the variety of stories told about human evolution from the nineteenth century to now. Go read it. It's one of the few blog posts in which you'll read of petrified testicles... [HT…

Rob Wilson has a new entry up at the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, entitled "The Biological notion of an individual". It discusses an interesting problem, one that goes back to discussions by Julian Huxley in 1911. What is an individual in biology? The term "individual" means,…

Nature [subscription required] is reporting that Brazilian ecologists are threatening a strike if Marc van Roosmalen is not released. You'll recall that I posted on his case before. Van Roosmalen is a maverick primate researcher who has effectively been imprisoned for 16 years for political…

I'm home sick, so I'm shirking duties and came across one of my favourite film scenes of all time:

Kate Devitt, a PhD student at Rutgers, as a rather wonderful blog, Mnemosynosis, on matters relating to memory. She's got at present a very interesting post on bacterial cognition worth reading.

I have a soft spot for Herbert Spencer [see also here]. Supposedly the founder of social Darwinism and the precursor to American libertarianism and justifier of the robber barons of the Gilded Age, he has been the whipping boy of progressives and anti-evolutionists alike. Ever since Richard…

I've been pretty quiet of late. In part this is because I've been travelling with little internet access, but also it's because I'm teaching a subject I haven't studied in years, and because I was asked to write a popular essay for a magazine. It's COSMOS Magazine, an Australian popular science…

So I'm home from Ish, and the front part of my brain is giddy and tired while the rest has just shut down. I don't travel well, I'm afraid. One thing that I came back fired up over are the unfinished projects I have running. So I intend to finish them. They are, in no particular order: 1.…

Some guy named Chris Mooney got reviewed for his latest book Storm World in the LA Times. You'd think from the reviewer's comments that he did a good job. I've heard the name before... now where? Hmmm.... leave that one with me for a bit. [I got my copy, Chris, and I'll read it as soon as I get…

Sorry to bother you all with internal Australian politics, but this has to be discussed. Now the minister for immigration is saying that the Australian Federal Police intercepted a chat room conversation in which Haneef was told to leave Australia by (they say) his cousins before his knowledge of…

Your results:You are Malcolm Reynolds (Captain) Malcolm Reynolds (Captain) 80% Dr. Simon Tam (Ship Medic) 70% Kaylee Frye (Ship Mechanic) 65% Jayne Cobb (Mercenary) 60% Zoe Washburne (Second-in-command) 55% Derrial Book (Shepherd) 55% River (Stowaway) 50% Wash (Ship Pilot) 40% Inara Serra (…

So the ISHPSSB Conference is done, and here I sit in the University of Exeter Library getting some internetting done for the first time in a week. Great conference. I got to meet Scibling John Lynch and his colleagues and drink much beer of various UK kinds. I got to meet Massimo Pigliucci and his…

A short note - it looks like Haneef has been cleared of all charges and the political pressure on his arrest and detention has been criticised by civil rights lawyers. Good news, but I really hope further action is taken against the AFP and the politicians. Keep an eye open to see if he is still…

So, I finally have access to the internet. For the past few days I've been either in London, on planes, trains or in Exeter, where I am now for the ISHPSSB biennial conference of philosophers and historians (and some sociologists) of science. In London I walked myself silly (getting the worst…

In yet further evidence that due process is a bulwark against the arrogance and incompetence, not to say potential police statery, of intelligence agencies, it turns out that the core piece of evidence against Dr Haneef, the Indian doctor being detained by the Australian government against the law…

So I'm off to the Mother Country on Saturday my time. Anyone in London who wants to meet for dinner on Sunday or Monday nights, drop me an email before I fly off...

In recent years it has becoming increasingly obvious that there is a considerable amount of lateral, or cross phylogenetic, transfer of genetic material. In bacteria, this happens by several mechanisms, such as uptake of gene fragments from cells that have disintegrated, or by mechanisms such as…

An Indian doctor working in Queensland, where I live, whose cousin was involved in the failed bombing plot in the UK, was detained apparently because he lent his prepaid SIM card to the cousin. He was held without charge or bail for 13 days, under a magistrate's orders, which is barely…

You Are 94% Non Conformist You're incredibly strange. And a weirdness like yours takes skill to cultivate! No one really understands you. And you're cool with that. You just hope you never have to understand them! Are You a Nonconformist? Via Larry via Mike, both of whom I beat hollow…

There has been a bit of a resurgence of science versus religion posts and chatter in various forums* that I inhabit when I'm not working lately. It occurred to me that it might be time to do one of my sermons. There are basically two popular views of the relation between science and religion.…

A religious body or faith community that speaks only with only exclamation points but no question marks misses the complexity of creation and the beauty of evolution. Rabbi Kendall in Stuart, Florida

It occurred to me as I was chatting to a friend (KiwiInOz) that I actually have a philosophical method. It comes as a surprise. I thought I just meandered along, but as I yet again did a semantic space diagram to outline the issues (in this case in biodiversity measures that my friend and I are…

No, really, it is. And although I followed the Identikit procedures exactly, I'm sure anyone who has met me will say I look nothing like this guy: