The Real Science Gap
Interesting story on the real science gap. “It’s not insufficient schooling or a shortage of scientists. It’s a lack of job opportunities. Americans need the reasonable hope that spending their youth preparing to do science will provide a satisfactory career.” This is completely true. The question is (honestly) whether we need more. But right now [...]
Philosophy, Science and Age
Over at the Splintered Mind there’s an interesting post on when scientists and philosophers produce their “great work.” (Yeah – it’s from a month ago: I’m behind on my reading) As Eric notes, Einstein famously quipped that “a person who has not made his great contribution to science before the age of thirty will never [...]
Churchland & Eliminative Materialism
So I was listening to Philosophy Bites on the drive home last night and they were interviewing Patricia Churchland. Of course the Churchlands have been famous for pushing eliminative materialism in philosophy of the mind for probably over 30 years now. I have to say that after listening to the interview that I found little [...]
Evolution and Theology
Yes, I’m really behind on blog posts here. Sorry, I’ve been quite busy. Larval Subjects had an interesting post on theology and evolution. It’s primarily brief comments on Nagel, Fodor and Plantinga responding to Darwinism. However Levi raises a good critique I’ve heard both from more fundamentalist critics of evolution as well as atheists criticizing [...]
Vaccine Doctor Dismissal
The doctor who perpetrated fraud regarding a vaccine link with Autism will finally be banned from medicine. Yes it’s not done yet, but it looks like it’ll happen soon. It’s hard to underestimate the damage to children this guy has done. Not to mention the irrational panic he’s caused in parents. Those parents who aren’t [...]
Chemistry Set Generation
I, like many, was enraged by this ridiculous story about a school that evacuated due to a “bomb threat”. The threat? An 11 year old with a science project in a Gatorade bottle – a motion detector. All this reminds me of the good old days of the chemistry set generation. Back when I was [...]
Should Downs Syndrome Be Cured?
The New York Times has up an editorial, “Should Downs Syndrome be cured?” Of course. This idea that debilitating problems in babies should be left because others have it is ridiculous. Guess what, if you spend your childhood battling cancer it’ll change your personality as well. I think a lot of this sort of discussion [...]
Faith Instinct
Over at Gene Expression Razib reviews Nicholas Wade’s The Faith Instinct. It sounds like a different sort of book from the more cognitive science oriented ones like Scott Atran’s In Gods We Trust. (Which I enjoyed a great deal). One problem I’ve always had over the question of the evolution of religion is that the [...]
The Laboratory Safety Song
OK I saw this at Science Blogs and had to share. The muppets do lab safety.
Metaphysics and Philosophy of Science
It’s Only a Theory has up a great post on metaphysics and the philosophy of science. It’s basically critique of Sider’s view of metaphysics. I confess I’m more on Sider’s side here. (Sider and Williamson are my two favorite analytic philosophers at the moment – even when I don’t agree with them) Sider’s point is [...]
Who Does Metaphysics
Interesting quote from NDPR’s review of Metametaphysics: New Essays on the Foundations of Ontology That the questions asked by metaphysicians should simply be left to physicists is not a criticism that those not generally skeptical of philosophical inquiry should take seriously. As philosophers, we tend to value the methodology of our own discipline and (whether [...]
Polling Beliefs and Action
Interesting post up by Megan McArdle on polls on global warming. As many have noted this week there was a 14 point drop in the number of people accepting global warming. While some of that might be explainable by persuasion by warming skeptics, I think McArdle is correct that something else is going on. She [...]
Creationism as a GOP Litmus Test?
There’s some interesting discussion about whether Creationism has become a kind of litmus test for GOP candidates. Razib, writing over at Secular Right, notes [I]t looks like 3 of the front-runners for the G.O.P. nomination are rather frank Creationists (Palin, Huckabee and Pawlenty). I’m skeptical about any of these as likely candidates (i.e., if you [...]
Musings on Matter
Vallicella’s post on matter and Working Note’s post on Derrida and matter have had me thinking today. (When not working) Of course both materialism and naturalism have long been problematic terms — often more clearly defined in terms of what the author using them opposes. Merely tying the term “matter” to physics seems insufficient even [...]
Math Comics
Review at the NYT of Logicomix: An Epic Search for Truth. It is sometimes interesting to realize how many of the great mathematicians were complete lunatics by the end. The real history sometimes reminds me of H.P. Lovecraft stories (like say “The Dreams in the Witch-House”) sometimes. From the review:
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