SPOILER WARNING: If have haven't seen the latest Doctor Who episode and don't want to be spoiled, you may want to hold off reading this entry until you have seen it. Indeed, you might find this post confusing until you have seen it. There has been some reactions to the episode, from Charlie Ann … Continue reading I have to say it. I hated the Doctor Who episode: ‘Kill the Moon’
Hans Rosling and Ola Rosling: How not to be ignorant about the world
Worried the world is going to hell in a handbasket? You'll feel better after watching this video, and also get some insight into why you might have thought it was. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sm5xF-UYgdg Watching this video also reminded me of something I learned years ago, not to trust numbers given in isolation. Whenever I hear about the … Continue reading Hans Rosling and Ola Rosling: How not to be ignorant about the world
US parents, think carefully before you let your kids play football
You won't see posts on this blog very often about sports. Not really one of my interests. But I think this is an issue that needs to be widely known. Scientists Dissected the Brains of 79 NFL Players. What They Found Is Disturbing. | Mother Jones. Yesterday, the country's leading investigators of sports-related brain injuries released … Continue reading US parents, think carefully before you let your kids play football
There is only one dogma of science: truth is better than fantasy
Dave Pruett has a post up at the Huffington Post looking at a declaration of eight "eminent" scientists and scholars calling for science to move past its materialistic focus. The list of authors in this declaration includes Rupert Sheldrake, whose TED talk was removed from the TED site last year after an outcry from the scientific community … Continue reading There is only one dogma of science: truth is better than fantasy
Musings on Gettier and the definition of knowledge
People Are the Problem and They Pretty Much Always Will Be
Jim Holt: Why does the universe exist?
I did a post a few weeks ago explaining why I'm not much of a fan of the "Why is there something rather than nothing?" question. So, when this TED talk popped up later, I resisted watching it, thinking it would just be a rehash of the standard hand wringing. I guess you could still characterize … Continue reading Jim Holt: Why does the universe exist?
Massimo Pigliucci on the boundary between science and pseudoscience
In this video, Massimo Pigliucci, the philosopher and biologist who runs the Scientia Salon site, discusses the demarcation problem, the dividing line between what is and is not science. The distinction is easy for things like astrology and astronomy, but gets more difficult for many other areas. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zBUKQWM5Jf0 I'd forgotten about Massimo's latest book on pseudoscience. … Continue reading Massimo Pigliucci on the boundary between science and pseudoscience
Virtue Ethics: an ancient solution to a modern problem
Cosmic inflation appears to have shifted from settled science back to speculation
You can get background on what I'm talking about in this post here and here. Probably the best thing to do is let the experts weigh in on this. https://twitter.com/DavidSpergel/status/513848952513642497 https://twitter.com/seanmcarroll/status/513858867327823873 https://twitter.com/seanmcarroll/status/513869684647530496 https://twitter.com/AstroKatie/status/514040997139865600 It's interesting to note that the empirical evidence from BICEP2 has never been called into question, only the interpretation of that evidence. … Continue reading Cosmic inflation appears to have shifted from settled science back to speculation
SelfAwarePatterns 