Month: March 2014
The age of the Earth
Planet Earth is 4.54 billion years old, but how do we know that?
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The cosmological horizon problem answer, I think
Last week, I did a brief post asking if anyone knew why the horizon problem was a problem since the universe had started as an infinitesimally small point. I received a lot of excellent replies, which I'm grateful for. I had a couple of people ask me to post any answer I might eventually find. … Continue reading The cosmological horizon problem answer, I think
To any still in doubt, Noah is not history
Kyle Hill at But Not Simpler on the Discover Magazine site, has a post up debunking the Noah story. I almost didn't read it, because debunking Noah feels a bit like debunking the Easter Bunny, but then I looked at the comments there, and remembered that somewhere between 33 and 46 percent of Americans believe … Continue reading To any still in doubt, Noah is not history
How Jesus Became God | Bart D. Ehrman
Bart Ehrman has a new book out, looking at the historical development of Jesus becoming God. Although I'm not religious, I still find the history of religion interesting, and of the Judeo/Christian tradition in particular fascinating. I have his book on my reading list. Jesus was a lower-class preacher from Galilee, who, in good apocalyptic … Continue reading How Jesus Became God | Bart D. Ehrman
The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug
SPOILERS WARNING. When I first heard that Jackson was adapting the Hobbit into three movies, I have to admit I was filled with dread. How was he going to take a 300 page book and turn it into six to nine hours of film? When I watched the first movie, I was pleasantly surprised. The … Continue reading The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug
Science and naturalism
Sean Carroll has an interesting piece at The Stone on the New York Times site, pointing out that the theory of cosmic inflation was motivated by naturalism. In other words, it was motivated by the desire to find a natural explanation for something that didn't look natural, such as the apparent fine tuning necessary for the … Continue reading Science and naturalism
No, it’s not just you, there are things science just doesn’t know (yet)
There are many concepts in science where different sets of evidence seem to lead to contradictory conclusions, or where the evidence leaves crucial holes in the narrative. In my experience, many lay people notice these contradictions or holes, but often assume that they simply don't understand the concept, that it's just them. Or, worse, they … Continue reading No, it’s not just you, there are things science just doesn’t know (yet)
SMBC: You can’t prove it isn’t true
via Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal. I expect to see this on Ancient Aliens soon since it meets their criteria.
Pinpointing the brain’s arbitrator: Reliability weighed before brain centers given control
amanimal called my attention to this fascinating article, which has a bearing on yesterday's and many other posts I've made about brain processing. We tend to be creatures of habit. In fact, the human brain has a learning system that is devoted to guiding us through routine, or habitual, behaviors. At the same time, the … Continue reading Pinpointing the brain’s arbitrator: Reliability weighed before brain centers given control
SelfAwarePatterns 