Knowledge, science, reason, education, philosophy, behavior, politics, religion, and B.S.
In an age in which many teens and young adults seem to equate criticism and not getting what they want with disrespect, it should not be surprising that some argue for unconditional positive regard in education and elsewhere. However, criticism is essential to gaining knowledge.
I am sure that most people have not thought much about why it’s called … Keep Reading…
Many Skeptics, Daniel Loxton and Massimo Pigliucci (So you think you’re a skeptic, don’t you?) come to mind, have discussed the need to restrict one’s public discussions in the name of Skepticism to topics within one’s area of expertise. In the absence of such expertise, we should only convey to the public a scientific consensus, if one exists. … Keep Reading…
Dragon*Con is now just over three weeks away and the schedule is as solid as these things get, so I’m giving you the highlights as promised. I will be one BUSY Skeptic! [Edit: By the way, Dragon*Con will take place over Labor Day weekend, September 3rd through 6th.]
For those who have not heard of it, Dragon*Con an enormous SciFi/Fantasy … Keep Reading…
In my mini-review of The Amazing Meeting 8 I mentioned that there were two very dark spots in an otherwise amazing (sometimes the word just fits) weekend.
I was not ready to discuss these in detail, but when I stumbled over this blog post by Blag Hag Jen McCreight, I felt that at least one should be discussed and I … Keep Reading…
In the spring of 2009, one of my brainy students caught me in the hallway before class and pleaded, “Would you please give me something to tell these nutty people to calm down?”
After a few seconds I realized what she was dealing with and asked, “The Aporkalypse?”
Of course we were talking about the H1N1 scare which, at the … Keep Reading…
