Culture Wars
tfk | April 14, 2007Mooney and Nisbet take their case for framing science from Science, to the Washington Post's Op-Ed page. PZ Myers is not happy. I agree with him that the title sucks, but I'd lay odds that it was the work of some copy editor. On the other hand, I agree with Mooney and Nisbet when they say that Richard Dawkins, by blurring the line between science and theology, "stands as a particularly stark example of scientists' failure to explain hot-button issues, such as global warming and evolution, to a wary public." Dr. Myers is, not surprisingly, less happy about that point. In the comments to…
tfk | April 12, 2007The Pope has clarified the Church's views on evolution:
Benedict defended what is known as 'theistic evolution,' the view held by Roman Catholic, Orthodox and mainline Protestant churches that God created life through evolution and religion and science need not clash over this.
The Discovery Institute – which despite claims to nonreligion, relies heavily on religious pronouncements for support – says "don't read too much into media spin," and quotes Privileged Planet backer Jay Richards:
This issue is just not that complicated, despite the sociological pressures to keep the fog machines going…
tfk | April 11, 2007Yesterday I pointed out that Drew Ryun, like his father, is less willing to consider the science of global warming than Newt Gingrich, of all people. He responds today without actually linking to me, a violation of 'netiquette which is unfortunate for his readers, especially since he seems to misquote me. It's worth looking at what he says to improve how we understand science in general, and climate science in particular. He claims:
It is the tactic of the global warming crowd to run around and say, “Look at the consensus of the science community! Global warming is a fact!!” Again, I know…
tfk | April 9, 2007Larry Moran criticizes Coturnix (and by implication Chris Mooney and Matt Nisbett) for their focus on "framing," as described in Chris and Matt's paper in Science (behind a paywall, alas):
the top three requirements for good science writing are scientific accuracy, scientific accuracy, and scientific accuracy. As soon as you sacrifice the attempt to convey good accurate science to the general public then you're not doing science writing. You're doing something else.
He presents this as a compelling argument against framing, but I think it argues for very careful thought about how we frame…
tfk | April 5, 2007Taner Edis, a physicist at Truman State University, came to KU a couple days ago to talk about his research into creationism in the Muslim world. That research most recently led to his book An Illusion of Harmony: Science And Religion in Islam.
Dr. Edis grew up and went to college in Turkey, which is where a lot of modern Islamic creationism originates. Understanding why that should be the case, helps explain why sees claims of harmony between science and Islam as illusory.
A common trope in discussing the history of science relates to the era when science proceeded apace in the Islamic…
omnibrain | April 2, 2007Is this an April Fools Joke?!
Here's a challenge for everyone - see how many you can debunk!
1. Men's brains are larger, but as they age, they also shrink faster than women's brains.
2. Women's brains operate at a higher temperature, due to burning more glucose.
3. Women use more of their brains when they think.
4. In general, men are better at math and women are better at language skills. This is suggested by research on the brain that has found that the "gray matter" in men's brains is more active during thought while the "white matter" in women's brains is more active. Gray matter is the…
tfk | April 2, 2007Billy Dembski's "research" assistant Joel Borofsky writes, Don’t teach the Holocaust! It might offend people!:
From the "London Times"
Teachers are dropping controversial subjects such as the Holocaust and the Crusades from history lessons because they do not want to cause offence to children from certain races or religions, a report claims.
A lack of factual knowledge among some teachers, particularly in primary schools, is also leading to "shallow" lessons on emotive and difficult subjects, according to the study by the Historical Association.
The report, produced with funding from the…
tfk | April 1, 2007The pseudonymous IDolator who wrote this:
I do not make any appeals to personal qualifications, training, or expertise. The reason being is that if I have no qualifications or relevant training, this may cause some to dismiss or overlook a good argument for this reason alone. On the other hand, if I do have qualifications and relevant training, this may cause some to embrace a bad argument for this reason alone. I would rather let the arguments stand on their own.
Thinks this is a fair argument against Sam Harris and Richard Dawkins:
is Harris (or Dawkins) recognized as someone who displays…
omnibrain | March 29, 2007I'll bet this foolish school district would also have a problem with a kid deciding they were Muslim and wearing a Burka to school.
In all seriousness though I'm sure this kid did this just to be an obnoxious teenager and push some peoples buttons, but come on?! who is the school district to decide on what is a 'legitimate' religion and what is not. I'd be tempted to disallow all expressions of religion in my school if I were in charge... of course I don't think I'd have many students since so many people are religious.
Here's the basic story:
Bryan Killian doesn't think that's a fair…
tfk | March 28, 2007I've addressed the absurdity of Denyse O'Leary's analogy between arson investigations and biology before, but she can't seem to stop. Here is how she proposes to address why invoking design doesn't stop research:
Suppose we say: If the fire marshall’s office (FMO) concludes that a fatal fire has been set deliberately, then they are just taking the easy way out, and they won’t be able to find out anything more about it.
As she's stated it, yes. If the arson unit concludes that the fire was set deliberately, and then refuses to address who set the fire, indeed dismisses that as a problem of…
omnibrain | March 28, 2007It seems that college dropout of Facebook fame, Mark Zuckererg, may need to go back to college and take some psychology courses to learn something about aging and intelligence.
According to VentureBeat, Zuckerberg told attendees at the Y Combinator Startup School event at Stanford this weekend that old people (you know, over 30), are just well, a little slow.
"I want to stress the importance of being young and technical," he stated, adding that successful start-ups should only employ young people with technical expertise. (Zuckerberg also apparently missed the class on employment and…
omnibrain | March 26, 2007I think I'm going to be sick...
I am glad I studied the bible in school... although it was in the context of literature (we also read the Koran, etc.) This is a bit different. Chuck Norris is the spokesman for a religious organization with shady goals. It seems that they are saying one thing and doing another. See below for more details.
Martial arts maven Chuck Norris, legend has it, can defeat packs of savage wild animals, hordes of vicious, armed goons, and even onrushing Mack trucks with nothing more than his hands and feet. Now, Norris wants to kick secularism's ass - he wants…
tfk | March 23, 2007Monkey Girl author Ed Humes will be on campus on March 28 and at the JCCC on March 29. He'll be discussing his book and the events in the Dover school board trial.
On April 3, Taner Edis will be speaking about "The Creation/Evolution Debate in the Muslim World" in Alderson auditorium on campus at 7 PM. Edis is a professor at Truman State, and recently wrote An Illusion of Harmony: Science And Religion in Islam.
These should be exciting events, and I hope we'll have good crowds for them.
tfk | March 21, 2007Embryonic stem cell research gets surprise support:
"From my standpoint, it is clear today that American science will be better-served, and the nation will be better-served, if we let our scientists have access to more stem cell lines," Dr. Elias A. Zerhouni, director of the National Institutes of Health, told the Senate health appropriations subcommittee, which oversees the agency's nearly $29-billion budget.
"We cannot, I would think, be second-best in this area," Zerhouni said. "I think it is important for us not to fight with one hand tied behind our back here, and NIH is key to that."…
omnibrain | March 20, 2007It was one year ago today that I made the first post to Omni Brain. I never imagined we would do this well.
In the last year Omni Brain has undergone many many changes, the biggest of which have been Sandra of Neurofuture fame joining the blog, and moving to ScienceBlogs.
We started with not-even 3000 page views in our first full month and now receive tens of thousands of page views and visitors - which is pretty great for a smart ass little science blog! Our Technorati ranking has also grown by leaps and bounds; near 14,000 today.
Thanks everyone, for reading and for all your lively…
tfk | March 20, 2007Cato's gang continue to push vouchers, I mean "education tax credits," as a way towards ending public education. We will note only in passing that "education tax credits" are a shell game, an accounting trick meant only to pretend we aren't giving sectarian schools big bags of taxpayer money:
Education tax credits allow every taxpayer to support the kind of education they want to and force no one to pay for education to which they object. Tax credits create a public education system where schools are accountable to the parents who choose them and the people who pay for them . . . not…
tfk | March 19, 2007MB looks like he could use some help explaining to fans of the Confederate flag that a flag only represents freedom if that flag was meant to represent freedom.
tfk | March 17, 2007As art or as political statement, I have no beef with the installation shown here. It is an artwork produced by John Sims entitled "The Proper Way to Hang a Confederate Flag."
Neo-Confederates disagree. The Mary Brogan Museum of Art and Science refused a request to remove the artwork:
The request was made by Bob Hurst, commander of the Tallahassee camp of the Sons of Confederate Veterans. Mr. Hurst said the exhibit violated a Florida law that makes it illegal to "mutilate, deface, defile or contemptuously abuse" the Confederate flag. The law includes an exemption for decorative or patriotic…
tfk | March 16, 2007Bruce Bartlett defends the media against charges of partisanship at RealClearPolitics. Maybe the press was partisan once upon a time, he says, but not any longer. He tells the lefties now complaining about the partisan media (since he acknowledges that it has moved rightward):
The problem for those on the left these days is that during the long period when there was a pronounced liberal bias in the media, they got lazy. They just assumed that the major media would automatically take their side, do hit jobs on conservatives and basically do their job for them. By contrast, conservatives have…
tfk | March 13, 2007The whining about where the new dollar coins will contain the word "God" is too silly for words. Consider the opening sentences of a letter in today's Journal World:
I would like to know whose stupid idea it was to take "In God We Trust" off our new dollar coins.
Yes, it is still on there, but why bother?
Following those two contradictory statements, the letter proceeds with falsehoods and historical illiteracy:
You can no longer see it unless one happens to look on the edge of the coin, which eventually wears off and becomes smooth. Then you won't be able to see it at all.
This nation was…