Are the New Atheists Bad for Science?
By J. Daniel Sawyer
In an article on Beliefnet this week, Michael Ruse argues that the “new atheists” are a “bloody disaster.” He argues using a mixture of caricatures, complaints, and criticisms, so before I go into why I think the man is full of organic fertilizer on the [...]
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Part 2 of the Richard Carrier is now live. We continue our conversation about science in the ancient world, discuss the works and missteps of Rodney Stark and his theory of the scientific revolution, read and discuss ancient documents germaine to the topic, and talk about the reasons for the fall of the [...]
Hey Everyone,
It’s been a long time! Before my life was swallowed by the podcast of my novel Predestination and Other Games of Chance, I recorded quite a bit for Reprobates Hour. So now, to kick off part 2 of Season 3, Richard Carrier returns to talk about science in the ancient world. [...]
Well, my friends (and enemies, and trespassers), I’ve just sold my first article that’s NOT about Linux. My essay “As The Gods Themselves…” about science fiction, religion, and the singularity is now online and available for download in PDF and MP3 format at The Journal Sci Phi.
If you enjoy world religions, are [...]
Today, I bring you physicist Brian Cox discussing the Large Hadron Collider and what it means for our understanding of the universe. Chock full of wonder, delight, and beauty - join me in marveling at the magnificence of the universe, and the fact that we are able to understand it at all.
Part of my research over the last year has been on nanotech/biotech/AI convergence and how all three of them effect medicine and ethics. As of now, I’m going to start blogging my thoughts on the topic and links to interesting articles as I come across them.
First article: Time Magazine reports on the neurogenic cause of [...]
In my post on the Entitlement Mentality I quoted Daniel Patrick Moynihan, who once said “Everyone is entitled to his own opinion, but not his own facts.” The last several election cycles in America have made it shockingly clear that Americans no longer know the difference between opinion and facts - or, if they do, [...]
Now, let’s go on over to the Republican side of the fence and do some more sacred cow tipping. I could pick on them for their mirror-image myopia on the same issues of environmental stewardship, but let’s go for something more fun. Let’s take the classic Republican relationship with tradition and history.
It’s ironic, really. America has been the science and technology innovation engine of the world since the days of Thomas Edison, being joined in supremacy by Japan by the last decade of the 20th century. And yet, despite an amazingly vibrant tech industry (whose growth remains fairly unhindered despite the dot com crash and the [...]
This year’s Beyond Belief conference is up, and it looks like it’s gonna be a doozy. This year, in honor of another very bitter election season in the midst of a number of medium-sized crises, the cadre of scientists and philosophers have trained their sights on public policy.
For those of you who haven’t stumbled upon [...]