Today, we have a little something for the neuroscientists, and something for the atheists. Godless neuroscientists are especially fortunate.
More like this
There's no way in hell I deserve to be on the stage at this incredible event, but I'm so honored to be included:
What's the biggest philosophical difference between neuroscientists and physicists?* I think neuroscientists are more averse to discussions of mystery and the limits of knowledge.
Four years ago this week, leading neuroscientists and psychologists convened at Columbia University for the Brain and Mind Symposium, "to discuss the accomplishments and limitations of reductionist and ho
My book Soul Made Flesh looks at the roots of neuroscience in the 1600s. The first neurologists saw their work as a religious mission; they recognized that it was with the brain that we made moral judgments.
Hey PZ, I read that this blog is mentioned in Nature. Congrats!
From NCSE-News (Evolution Education Update):
'A brief story in Nature lists the top five science blogs -- "those written by working scientists covering scientific issues" -- by popularity, including P. Z. Myers's Pharyngula and the collectively authored The Panda's Thumb, both of which provide a wealth of information and commentary on the creationism/evolution debate.'
White House kept "major program" secret
You know me so well.
The battle for free inquiry has many obstacles, including getting the word out. Here is a case in Canada that I found out about from a news site
http://www.butterfliesandwheels.com/
"Canada's largest retail bookseller has banned another magazine from sale in its 260 stores across the country.
Indigo Books and Music this week halted circulation of an estimated 500 copies of the June-July issue of Free Inquiry, a small U.S. periodical published near Buffalo by the Council for Secular Humanism. A senior Indigo executive contacted in Toronto late yesterday afternoon gave no reason for the ban, saying she needed time to consult her superiors.
In the meantime, Free Inquiry's Canadian distributor reported that the magazine is now operating under Indigo's "issue-by-issue inspection" regime, meaning it will have to submit in advance, for an unspecified time, the cover and table of contents of each issue.
The actions mark the second time in less than six weeks that Indigo has dropped a U.S. magazine. In late May, the bookseller stopped selling an estimated 3,000 copies of Harper's after discovering its June issue contained all 12 of the controversial cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed published last year by a Danish newspaper. In a memo to staff May 26, Indigo officials said the decision to remove Harper's was "based on the fact that the content . . . has been known to ignite demonstrations around the world.""
...
"That led Free Inquiry editor Tom Flynn and Paul Kurtz, chair of the Council for Secular Humanism, to send a letter yesterday to Indigo chief executive officer Heather Reisman questioning "whether the censorship of our June-July issue was in retaliation for having published" the cartoons, "or whether it was motivated by some controversial content" in the latest issue."
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20060707.MAGAZINE07/TP…
Considering the content of the two issues mentioned, one might ask if it wasn't also some other articles criticizing religion and ID that are the reasons for the ban. Articles such as "Intelligent Design after Dover".
http://www.secularhumanism.org/index.php?page=index§ion=fi
http://www.secularhumanism.org/fi/
As a footnote to my post, I just found out that bookstores Borders and Waldenbooks(Walden!)also banned the issue from their stores.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/news/archive/2006/03/29…
I hate parents like this:
Zidane blamed Materazzi comment
While pawing through my wife's alumni magazine from Berkeley, which has always been an OK read and lately improved a lot (and moved online), I found this gem about Indian (asian) atheism in an interview between two Berkeley economists of Indian origins:
Thanks for that tidbit, thwaite. I was considering doing a Doggerel entry on "Western," and I've definitely got to find a way to squeeze some of that in.
If you want to followup on Indian atheism, I'd suggest starting with key words Carvaka (atheist/materialist movement dating to 600 BC) and Lokayata (materialism). Unfortunately, almost none of the original Carvaka writings survive*, so modern knowledge of it is reconstructed from criticisms of opposing schools.
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* With the possible, and strongly disputed, exception of the Tattvopaplavasimha of Jayarisi Bhatta.