fMRI Smackdown

The fMRI smackdown aka what on earth is it actually measuring?

ID Declares War on “Theistic Evolutionists”

ID proponent Dembski declares a culture war on “theistic evolutionists”? Plus a defense of theistic evolution and why he can’t join the ID movement.

Proving Negatives

Why “you can’t prove a negative” is a problem. Apparently it’s been known for a long time. There’s a possibility that the phrase came out of British law court use.

Peirce and the Principle of Sufficient Reason

Over at Brood Comb Tanasije has an interesting argument for the principle of sufficient reason. It got me to thinking of Peirce since there are some parallels in Tanasije’s argument. (I don’t think it works mind you if only because of a vicious regress that I think Heidegger points out) What I [...]

The Power of “Because”

The power of “because.” Fascinating. It’s not the nature of reasons that makes people comply to a request.

Claiming Christ: Evangelical - Mormon Dialogue

I was going to put this in the sidebar but it was too good to relegate there. There’s a really interesting post up a Summa Theologica on Mormon/Evangelical dialog. Check it out. The best part is this quote:

Map of the Political Blogosphere

Map of the political blogosphere.

An Other Meta-Coherence Problem

This one is a tad more vague and nebulous in that I’m still thinking through it.
Let’s say as a conjecture that most fundamental points in philosophy can be disputed. That is there’s not clear evidence for them one way or the other. This could be the debate about free will, the different unprovable [...]

How to Give Advice

How to give advice. (HT: Marginal Revolution)

Misc LDS Stuff

Two quick miscellaneous posts. The first is a Book of Mormon survey. (Sorry I kept forgetting to mention it) This was discussed at BCC last week. There’s one counterfactual question I’m a bit iffy on. But other than that it sounds like an interesting survey on how Mormons view the [...]

Organic Pigs Have More Bugs

Organic pigs have more nasty bacteria. The idea that organic = healthier is wrong. It’s a trade off between the effects of chemicals and the danger of biological hazards (and price).

New Scientist on Bubbles

NS on the positive effects of economic bubbles. They may have positive effects but I’d lay really good odds they are very inefficient ways to achieve them.

Evidentialism About Everything

Evidentialism about everything. AKA why should only epistemology be evidence based? I think this right and it relates to my discussion with Richard. Shouldn’t we hold in abeyance any act we don’t feel superior for?

Dogma vs. Spirituality

USAToday story on how people have dropped dogma for spirituality. AKA people don’t believe what their religions profess. (HT: Drezner) Some of the questions seem open to multiple interpretations though. (Like the heaven one) Also see the NCT discussion and SSS post.

Academics and Mormons

A constant discussion at some of the more academically oriented LDS blogs is the relationship between Mormonism and Academics. Is there a tension? Does ones Mormonism influence ones intellectual pursuits? The one thing that I think most Mormons have emphasized is the strong push in our culture to gain learning. At [...]

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