August 1, 2008
Category: Anti-Creationism
EvolutionBlog will be going dark for the next two weeks or so. I will be leaving my cozy digs in Harrisonburg to enjoy some serious wandering. First is a drive up to Pittsburgh for the International Conference of Creationism. How could I pass that up? Then I will explore the fine points of the Pennsylvania Turnpike as I shoot on over to visit the 'rents in my New Jersey office. There follows a quick train ride up to New York for the big blogger meet-up. I will also be sure to take care of the two most important things in any trip to New York: The visit to big bro over in Brooklyn, and the procurement of a most excellent black and white cookie from The Donut Pub. Looks like I'll have plenty of blog fodder when I return!
Posted by Jason Rosenhouse at 7:53 PM • 10 Comments
Category: Miscellaneous
The all-consuming, all-devouring, ScienceBlogs collective has assimilated another victim. Go say hi to Matt Springer, who blogs about physics over at Built on Facts. Matt is a graduate student in physics at Texas A & M university. He writes:
New posts generally appear every morning, including weekends. I can't promise the schedule will be absolutely rigidly adhered to, but it's been a while since I've missed a day.
Why do I feel so lame all of a suuden?
Posted by Jason Rosenhouse at 7:41 PM • 2 Comments
Category: Evolution
A few posts back I engaged a discussion about Richard Dawkins' metaphor of “Cimbing Mount Improbable” for the proces by which evolution by natural selection crafts complex structures from simpler precursors. Since I did not have his book in front of me at the time, I was working from memory.
As it happens, earlier today I was browsing through The God Delusion and I came across a description of the metaphor which, I am pleased to say, expresses precisely the view I attributed to Dawkins. You will find this on pages 121-122:
Read on »
Posted by Jason Rosenhouse at 7:27 PM • 10 Comments
July 31, 2008
Category: Religion
Karl Giberson offers up the usual cliches of the genre in in this essay for Salon. Those mean ol' atheists are trying to make a religion out of science, but savvy clear thinkers like him see the problems with that little project. Blah blah blah.
P.Z. has already spanked Giberson in this post. Nonetheless, there was one paragraph that really caught my eye:
Read on »
Posted by Jason Rosenhouse at 8:01 PM • 37 Comments
July 29, 2008
Category: Mathematics
Continuing my perusal of the new Notices of the American Mathematical Society, I came across this review (PDF format) of John Allen Paulos recent book Irreligion: A Mathematician Explains Why the Arguments for God Just Don't Add Up. The review is by mathematician Olle Haggstrom. Paulos' book has been sitting on my shelf for a while, but I have not yet gotten around to reading it. My impression from flipping through it is that it will provide nothing new to people familiar with these arguments, but provides a decent overview for people only vaguely familiar with them.
Read on »
Posted by Jason Rosenhouse at 5:31 PM • 31 Comments
July 28, 2008
Category: Mathematics
Via Mark Chu-Carroll, I just finished reading this article by mathematician Keith Devlin. He writes:
Let's start with the underlying fact. Multiplication simply is not repeated addition, and telling young pupils it is inevitably leads to problems when they subsequently learn that it is not. Multiplication of natural numbers certainly gives the same result as repeated addition, but that does not make it the same. Riding my bicycle gets me to my office in about the same time as taking my car, but the two processes are very different. Telling students falsehoods on the assumption that they can be corrected later is rarely a good idea. And telling them that multiplication is repeated addition definitely requires undoing later.
Reminds me of a joke.
Read on »
Posted by Jason Rosenhouse at 7:10 PM • 31 Comments
July 24, 2008
Category: Miscellaneous
Time for lighter fare. There are some really good movies out there...
Warning: A few minor spoilers ahead.
Read on »
Posted by Jason Rosenhouse at 7:28 PM • 22 Comments
July 23, 2008
Category: Evolution
There's an interesting discussion going on between Larry Moran and Richard Dawkins. The subject is the title of Dawkins' 1996 book Climbing Mt. Improbable. It started with this post over at Larry's blog. He included Dawkins in his list of good science writers who were nonetheless excluded from Dawkins' recent anthology of science writing. Along the way, Moran offered this thought:
Dawkins is also a master of metaphor but, sometimes the metaphors are misleading and can give an incorrect view of evolution (e.g. Climbing Mt. Improbable).
Personally, I loved the metaphor of Mt. Improbable. We shall return to this point momentarily.
Read on »
Posted by Jason Rosenhouse at 6:00 PM • 41 Comments
July 22, 2008
Category: Religion
James Carse directed the Religious Studies Program at New York University for thirty years. In this interview with Salon, regarding his new book The Religious Case Against Belief, he gives us a taste of what he learned from all that study:
Read on »
Posted by Jason Rosenhouse at 6:04 PM • 59 Comments
July 21, 2008
Category: Mathematics
The new issue of the Notices of the American Mathematical Society turned up in my mailbox today. It features an interesting, if slightly disturbing, editorial (PDF format) by CUNY mathematician Melvyn Nathanson. He wonders about how confident we can really be regarding the proofs that appear in our research journals:
Read on »
Posted by Jason Rosenhouse at 3:52 PM • 21 Comments
July 14, 2008
Category: Literature
For Part One, go here.
Let us return now to the weighty topic of great locked room mysteries.
In Part One I focused on the works of John Dickson Carr, who is certainly a central figure in the history of the genre. There are plenty of other works to be acknowledged, however, and we turn to that subject now. This will certainly not be anything like an exhaustive list, which would be impossible in any case. I will simply list a few that made an impression on me, and I invite the commenters to mention others. The ever-useful Wikipedia has an interesting reading list, including quite a few with which I am unfamiliar.
Quick spoiler alert: Below I reveal the endings of the stories “The Murders in the Rue Morgue” and “The Adventure of the Speckled Band” by Poe and Conan Doyle respectively. Otherwise there are no spoilers.
Read on »
Posted by Jason Rosenhouse at 9:18 PM • 23 Comments
July 12, 2008
Category: Religion
Andrew Sullivan was not amused by P. Z.'s post:
It is one thing to engage in free, if disrespectful, debate. It is another to repeatedly assault and ridicule and abuse something that is deeply sacred to a great many people. Calling the Holy Eucharist a “goddamned cracker” isn't about free speech; it's really about some baseline civility. Myers' rant is the rant of an anti-Catholic bigot. And atheists and agnostics can be bigots too.
But wait a minute! Wasn't Sullivan leading the charge in defense of the Danish newspapers that published caricatures of the prophet Muhammed? Yes, I believe he was. So here he is desperately trying to explain why what is obviously a double standard is, in fact, not a double standard:
Read on »
Posted by Jason Rosenhouse at 5:51 PM • 53 Comments
Category: Religion
As I was mulling over what I wanted to say about the PZ Myers / William Donohue kerfuffle, I came across this post (via Bora) by Jeff Fecke, that said perfectly exactly what I was thinking. Go read it.
Read on »
Posted by Jason Rosenhouse at 1:33 AM • 17 Comments
July 10, 2008
Category: Literature
Somehow I'm not in the mood for a heavy post today. So how about an essay on another of my favorite topics: Locked Room mysteries.
Here are the first two paragraphs of what I regard as the finest detective story ever written:
Read on »
Posted by Jason Rosenhouse at 7:09 PM • 18 Comments
July 8, 2008
Category: Evolution
Let's see. An op-ed in the New York Times entitled “Doubleday and Darwin”, with the following opening paragraph:
As I sat in my high school math class one day, my teacher asked a question that I doubt will find a consensus opinion in my lifetime: “Was math invented or was it discovered?” To this day, I still scratch my head.
Yeah, I think I can be persuaded to read the whole thing.
Read on »
Posted by Jason Rosenhouse at 7:27 PM • 15 Comments
July 7, 2008
Category: Religion
Remember a few posts back, when we saw Michael Ruse lecturing Richard Dawkins as follows:
More seriously, Dawkins is entirely ignorant of the fact that no believer-with the possible exception of some English clerics in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries-has ever thought that arguments are the best support for belief. Saint Augustine, one of the greatest thinkers of Western civilization, devoted but one paragraph in the City of God to the proofs. Saint Thomas was categorical that the proofs are second to faith.
In light of that it is with some amusement that I direct you to the current issue of Christianity Today. It's cover story, which bears the headline, “God is Not Dead Yet,” discusses all the spiffy, sophisticated arguments philosophers have devised in support of God's existence. It's author is William Lane Craig. Looks like someone thinks rational arguments are central to an informed religious faith.
Read on »
Posted by Jason Rosenhouse at 5:46 PM • 144 Comments
July 6, 2008
Category: Anti-Creationism
During my recent trip to the Creation Museum I picked up a copy of David DeWitt's book Unraveling the Origins Controversy. DeWitt is the Director of the Center for Creation Studies at Liberty University. It's been a while since I've read an actual YEC book, and I was growing nostalgic for the experience.
And wouldn't you know it! Almost as soon as DeWitt turns from religious questions to scientific ones, the quote-mining begins. Consider this:
Read on »
Posted by Jason Rosenhouse at 7:40 PM • 5 Comments
June 30, 2008
Category: Religion
I've just got back from a road trip to Marrowbone, KY (!!). Mostly I was there for a friend's wedding. Here's the church where the wedding took place. Pretty, but truly in the middle of nowhere. And, yes, I did find time to pay another visit to the Creation Museum, even though it is in an entirely different part of the state. How could I not? They've opened the Dinosaur Den and the Petting Zoo since the last time I was there!
The largest towns near Marrowbone are Burkesville and Tompkinsville, which have a few thousand people between them. My motel room had the Burkesville/Tompkinsville yellow pages, which looked more like a magazine than any phone book I have ever seen. Just out of curiosity, I looked up “Churches.” Twenty-four options to choose from. Alas, I didn't think to look for synagogues.
And under bookstores? One entry. And that was for the Verizon Directory Store. Somehow I don't think you can pick up The Origin of Species there.
Posted by Jason Rosenhouse at 7:37 PM • 6 Comments
June 25, 2008
Category: Evolution
Theistic evolutionists have a bumper crop of books to choose from this summer. I've already reviewed Ken Miller's new book Only a Theory. Michael Dowd's Thank God for Evolution! is on deck in my “To Read” pile. The subject for today, however, is Karl Giberson's Saving Darwin: How to Be a Christian and Believe in Evolution. Giberson is a professor of physics at Eastern Nazarene College.
Read on »
Posted by Jason Rosenhouse at 7:35 PM • 95 Comments
June 24, 2008
Category: Religion
Over at Slate, Christopher Hitchens provides some much needed pushback against the deluge of Tim Russert hagiography:
Read on »
Posted by Jason Rosenhouse at 6:41 PM • 4 Comments
June 23, 2008
Category: Chess
The new issue of New in Chess magazine arrived in my mailbox this weekend. It contains an article by British grandmaster Daniel Gormally about what it is like to be addicted to the Internet Chess Club. I know the feeling well, and can affirm that this is only a small exaggeration:
Read on »
Posted by Jason Rosenhouse at 4:14 PM • 5 Comments
Category: Politics
George Carlin was absolutely the very best stand-up comedian in the history of the business. Only Robin Williams in his prime was even in the same league. I have quite a few of his albums, and I find I can still listen to them with pleasure even though I have most of the routines memorized. The cadence of his voice and the strength of his writing make them enjoyable even long after their impact as humor has worn off. You will learn more about good teaching from observing his technique than you ever will in a teaching seminar or education course. The New York Times has a good article about his life. It closes with this worthy paragraph:
Still, when pushed to explain the pessimism and overt spleen that had crept into his act, he quickly reaffirmed the zeal that inspired his lists of complaints and grievances. “I don't have pet peeves,” he said, correcting the interviewer. And with a mischievous glint in his eyes, he added, “I have major, psychotic hatreds.”
Below the fold I've placed one of his best recent routines, one which well illustrates his skill at word play and his keen observations of modern times. He will be missed.
Read on »
Posted by Jason Rosenhouse at 3:55 PM • 6 Comments
June 21, 2008
Category: Anti-Creationism
I have spent the last few days working my way through Ken Miller's new book Only a Theory: Evolution and the Battle for America's Soul. (OAT) Short review: Worth reading, but also a bit disappointing. Now for the long review:
My first published piece of writing on evolution was a review of Miller's book Finding Darwin's God, (FDG) for Skeptic magazine. My reaction to the book was probably typical among atheists. The first half of the book is a masterful smackdown of creationism and intelligent design. Miller's arguments were clear and convincing, and written in graceful prose that was a pleasure to read. In particular, his refutation of Behe's arguments regarding irreducible complexity remains one of the best I have seen.
Read on »
Posted by Jason Rosenhouse at 9:25 PM • 35 Comments
Category: Mathematics
Thanks to David Killoren for directing me to this excerpt from Bloggingheads. Science writers John Horgan and George Johnson spend a few minutes disucssing the Monty Hall problem. Johnson recently reviewed Leonard Mlodinow's book The Drunkard's Walk: How Randomness Rules Our Lives, which contains an explanation of te problem. After Johnson gets frustrated trying to explain the problem to Horgan, the following exchange takes place:
Read on »
Posted by Jason Rosenhouse at 7:18 PM • 15 Comments
June 20, 2008
Category: Science
That's the title of an interesting article from the current issue of The Atlantic, written by Nicholas Carr:
Over the past few years I've had an uncomfortable sense that someone, or something, has been tinkering with my brain, remapping the neural circuitry, reprogramming the memory. My mind isn't going -- so far as I can tell -- but it's changing. I'm not thinking the way I used to think. I can feel it most strongly when I'm reading. Immersing myself in a book or a lengthy article used to be easy. My mind would get caught up in the narrative or the turns of the argument, and I'd spend hours strolling through long stretches of prose. That's rarely the case anymore. Now my concentration often starts to drift after two or three pages. I get fidgety, lose the thread, begin looking for something else to do. I feel as if I'm always dragging my wayward brain back to the text. The deep reading that used to come naturally has become a struggle.
I'd say more, but I'm afraid I conked out after the first few paragraphs... :)
Posted by Jason Rosenhouse at 5:54 PM • 15 Comments
June 12, 2008
Category: Administrative
I'm going to be hitting the road this weekend for one of my periodical tours of some of the great highways in the Northeast. I'll be visiting the 'rents at my New Jersey office, will jaunt on up to Brooklyn to see big bro and the niece and nephew, and will probably putter around Princeton for an afternoon or two, being sure to take advantage of their most excellent math library. Regular blogging will resume at the end of next week.
Posted by Jason Rosenhouse at 9:46 PM • 4 Comments
June 10, 2008
Category: Religion
Here's a delightful article from today's New York Times:
The operation in the private clinic off the Champs-Elysees involved one semicircular cut, 10 dissolving stitches and a discounted fee of $2,900.
But for the patient, a 23-year-old French student of Moroccan descent from Montpellier, the 30-minute procedure represented the key to a new life: the illusion of virginity.
Like an increasing number of Muslim women in Europe, she had a hymenoplasty, a restoration of her hymen, the thin vaginal membrane that normally breaks during the first act of intercourse.
“In my culture, not to be a virgin is to be dirt,” said the student, perched on a hospital bed as she awaited surgery on Thursday. “Right now, virginity is more important to me than life.”
Read on »
Posted by Jason Rosenhouse at 7:02 PM • 38 Comments
Category: Religion
It seems giraffes are now considered kosher:
I don't know how this escaped me, but a rabbi named Shlomo Mahfoud (which sounds like a made-up name, in the “Zohan” sense) has declared that giraffe meat is kosher. This must come as a huge relief to the vast Jewish population of the Serengeti.
Read on »
Posted by Jason Rosenhouse at 6:17 PM • 4 Comments
June 9, 2008
Category: Politics
From Robert Novak's column in today's Washington Post:
Shortcomings by John McCain's campaign in the art of politics are alienating two organizations of Christian conservatives. James Dobson's Focus on the Family is estranged following the failure of Dobson and McCain to talk out their differences. Evangelicals who follow the Rev. John Hagee resent McCain's disavowal of him.
The evangelicals are not an isolated problem for the Arizona senator. Enthusiasm for McCain inside the Republican coalition is in short supply. During the four months since McCain clinched the nomination, he has not satisfied conservatives opposed to his positions on global warming, campaign finance reform, immigration, domestic oil drilling and how to ban same-sex marriages.
Posted by Jason Rosenhouse at 6:36 PM • 10 Comments
June 8, 2008
Category: Religion
Writing in the Wall Street Journal, Wheaton College English Professor Alan Jacobs argues that religion is overrated as a social force. My SciBling Razib has already written a lengthy response.
Jacobs gets down to business in the third paragraph:
Read on »
Posted by Jason Rosenhouse at 8:58 PM • 57 Comments
June 7, 2008
Category: Evolution
Here's an interesting essay from Michael Ruse, published in the Georgia newspaper the Rome News-Tribune:
Read on »
Posted by Jason Rosenhouse at 7:18 PM • 7 Comments
Category: Chess
An interesting article from today's New York Times:
The rapper RZA, a founder of the Wu-Tang Clan, sat in a suite on the 48th floor of the Mandarin Oriental hotel overlooking Central Park, staring at a chess game through a pair of sunglasses. His hand was frozen a few inches above the board as he looked for a strategy to thwart his opponent.
Chess has long had an important role in the aesthetic of the Wu-Tang Clan, which has songs about the game. In “'The Wu-Tang Manual,” a 2005 book about the group and its members, RZA (pronounced RIZ-a) wrote that chess is part of the Wu-Tang essence “because it's a game of war -- it's about battle. And Wu-Tang was formed in battles, from challenging each other.”
It seems RZA has founded his own chess website. Guess I'll have to go check it out!
Posted by Jason Rosenhouse at 6:45 PM • 1 Comments
June 5, 2008
Category: Religion
Here's the Hamas Deputy Minister of Religious Endowment exposing a heretofore unexpected Jewish threat:
“There are also theories that were invented by non-Jews, but they disseminate them, knowing that they are scientifically false, such as the theory of Darwin. Darwin was not Jewish, but they exploited his theory. Even though new Darwinist theories have appeared, they spread the original theory, because the concept of 'survival of the fittest' serves their colonialist needs.”
This will come as news to Rabbi Natan Slifkin, whose endorsement of evolution led certain Orthodox rabbis to declare his books off limits to their followers.
The really striking thing is that this isn't even the dopiest statement in the interview:
Read on »
Posted by Jason Rosenhouse at 4:20 PM • 20 Comments
Category: Anti-Creationism
Here's the latest from William Dembski:
Colorado Governor Bill Ritter's signing of a transgender anti-discrimination bill points up the lunacy that ensues in a world without design.
He then links to this article by Ross Kaminsky in the right-wing magazine Human Events.
Read on »
Posted by Jason Rosenhouse at 3:04 PM • 119 Comments
Category: Anti-Creationism
The New York Times provides an update on the latest shenanigans of the ID folks:
Read on »
Posted by Jason Rosenhouse at 2:17 PM • 4 Comments
June 3, 2008
Category: Anti-Creationism
Looks like an exciting weekend in our nation's capitol. The sevetneenth edition of the World Humanist Congress will be in Washington D.C. from June 5 to June 9. I think I can be persuaded to go check it out! Click Here for all the details.
Posted by Jason Rosenhouse at 5:14 PM • 1 Comments
June 2, 2008
Category: Miscellaneous
Be sure to have a look at the crossword puzzle in today's New York Times. It's the bestest, most awesomest crossword ever!
Actually, I haven't seen it yet. The Times does not make their crosswords freely available online (is there no end to their treachery?). And it's not so easy to find a print edition of the Times here in Western Virginia. The university library gets it, but some days, like today apparently, they are a little slow getting the paper down to the periodicals room.
The way I know it is such a supremely magnificent puzzle is that it was constructed by my cousin Barry. So go check it out! And when you're done with that go pick up a copy of his science fiction novel, which was inexplicably passed over for a Nebula Award back in 1987.
Posted by Jason Rosenhouse at 4:33 PM • 7 Comments
May 31, 2008
Category: Religion
From Michael Ruse's review of The God Delusion in Isis:
More seriously, Dawkins is entirely ignorant of the fact that no believer - with the possible exception of some English clerics in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries - has ever thought that arguments are the best support for belief.
From Terry Eagleton's review of The God Delusion in the London Review of Books:
Dawkins considers that all faith is blind faith, and that Christian and Muslim children are brought up to believe unquestioningly. Not even the dim-witted clerics who knocked me about at grammar school thought that. For mainstream Christianity, reason, argument and honest doubt have always played an integral role in belief.
Posted by Jason Rosenhouse at 11:12 PM • 72 Comments
May 30, 2008
Category: Philosophy
In his book Indiscrete Thoughts, mathematician Gian-Carlo Rota spoofed a certain style of book reviewing:
The bane of expository work is Professor Neanderthal of Redwood Poly. In his time, Professor Neanderthal studied noncommutative ring theory with the great X, and over the years, despite heavy teaching and administrative commitments (including a deanship), he has found time to publish three notes on idempotents (of which he is justly proud) in the Proceedings of the American Mathematical Society.
Professor Neanderthal has not failed to keep up with the latest developments in noncommutative ring theory. Given more time, he would surely have written the definitive treatment of the subject. After buying his copy of T. Y. Lam's long-expected treatise at his local college bookstore, Professor Neanderthal will spend a few days perusing the volume, after which he will be confirmed in his darkest suspicions: the author does not include even a mention, let alone a proof, of the Worpitzky-Yamomoto theorem! Never mind that the Worpitzky-Yamomoto theorem is an isolated result known only to a few initiates (or perverts, as graduate students whisper behind the professor's back). In Professor Neanderthal's head the omision of his favorite result is serious enough to damn the whole work. It matters little that all the main facts on noncommutative rings are given the clearest exposition ever, with definitive proofs, the right examples, and a well thought out logical sequence respecting the history of the subject. By judicious use of the U. S. mails, the telephone, and his recently acquired fax machine, Professor Neanderthal will make sure that the entire noncommutative ring community will be made aware of this shocking omission. He will send an unsolicited review of the book to the Bulletin of the American Mathematical Society in which the author's gaffe will be publicized.
Read on »
Posted by Jason Rosenhouse at 8:26 PM • 78 Comments
May 29, 2008
Category: Miscellaneous
There are certain milestone moments in the history of any household that, while representing small triumphs, are also tinged with a bit of sadness. Baby's first steps. The first visit from the Tooth Fairy. High school graduation. Each represents a passage from a comfortable and familiar phase of life into something new and unknown. An opportunity to spread your wings and explore new horizons, but also a sign that something good has been lost. Such are the vicissitudes of a life well-lived. My friends, my little slice of heaven has experienced such a moment.
Isaac the cat has started going outside.
Read on »
Posted by Jason Rosenhouse at 3:57 PM • 7 Comments
May 28, 2008
Category: Religion
There is something about Richard Dawkins that seems to drive otherwise intelligent people completely out of their minds. Dawkins writes a book called The Selfish Gene, and some scholarly critics actually go after him on the grounds that genes can not be selfish. Then he wrote The God Delusion, a badly needed bit of pushback against the seemingly endless flood of religious ignorance, bigotry and violence, and some critics thought the really important thing to note was Dawkins' lack of respect for the ontological argument, or the fact that he did not discuss the views of Wittgenstein.
Now here comes his latest book: The Oxford Book of Modern Science Writing, an edited anthology of essays by scientists. Clearly we will have to trump up some new horror for which to go after him.
Read on »
Posted by Jason Rosenhouse at 8:19 PM • 38 Comments
Category: Politics
According to former White House Press Secretary Scott McLellan, the Bush administration has been somewhat less than forthcoming:
Read on »
Posted by Jason Rosenhouse at 5:51 PM • 9 Comments
May 27, 2008
Category: Religion
This essay by Peter Bebergal is getting some bloggy attention. Chad Orzel liked it. John Wilkins calls it “lovely, lyrical and wistful.” P.Z. is less impressed.
I'm with P.Z. Surprise!
Read on »
Posted by Jason Rosenhouse at 7:39 PM • 94 Comments
Category: Anti-Creationism
Tomorrow is the first anniversary of the big Creation Museum in Kentucky. They grow up so fast, don't they?
To recognize the occasion, the Northern Kentucky Enquirer offers us this article. It's a sadly typical representative of the genre.
Read on »
Posted by Jason Rosenhouse at 4:34 PM • 7 Comments
May 23, 2008
Category: Miscellaneous
It seems I'm not the only one who's spent the last year worrying about whether I needed to update my CV. My SciBling Janet Stemwedel got tenure! In philosophy no less. (You can have a career doing that?)
So congratulations to Janet!
Posted by Jason Rosenhouse at 6:04 PM • 2 Comments
May 22, 2008
Category: Science
Check it out:
Self-medication may be the reason the blogosphere has taken off. Scientists (and writers) have long known about the therapeutic benefits of writing about personal experiences, thoughts and feelings. But besides serving as a stress-coping mechanism, expressive writing produces many physiological benefits. Research shows that it improves memory and sleep, boosts immune cell activity and reduces viral load in AIDS patients, and even speeds healing after surgery. A study in the February issue of the Oncologist reports that cancer patients who engaged in expressive writing just before treatment felt markedly better, mentally and physically, as compared with patients who did not.
Read on »
Posted by Jason Rosenhouse at 7:29 PM • 11 Comments
Category: Religion
I'm about halfway through Reza Aslan's book No God But God: The Origins, Evolution and Future of Islam, published in 2005. I've read enough to recommend the book whole-heartedly. Aslan is an excellent writer who presents some very dry material with a lot of verve. At times the book is hard to put down.
On the other hand, I don't entirely buy Aslan's view of things.
Read on »
Posted by Jason Rosenhouse at 6:54 PM • 21 Comments
Category: Miscellaneous
The big Monty Hall book has finally been sent off to OUP, so it's time to get back to blogging. We begin with lighter fare.
I caught the midnight screening of the new Indiana Jones movie last night. Did it live up to its billing?
Read on »
Posted by Jason Rosenhouse at 3:57 PM • 5 Comments
May 16, 2008
Category: Politics
Every once in a while Chris Matthews does a good deed. On last night's edition of Hardball he had conservative radio talk show host Kevin James on his show. James was keen to pontificate on the nature of appeasement. Matthews' other guest was Mark Green. What happened next was priceless:
Read on »
Posted by Jason Rosenhouse at 2:53 PM • 15 Comments
