Promoting Science and Critical Thinking
Barbara Drescher, a cognitive psychologist and also a JREF board member, has a fabulous posting over on her blog entitled, “On Skepticism: Its Definitions and Scope”. In it she outlines some spot on definitions and has also listed after it a vast wealth of material. I struggled with this one a bit, normally when I find … Read more
While in a debate recently, one chap justified his assertion by deploying the following quote … “When you dismiss the impossible, whatever you have left, however improbable, is the answer.” Recognise it? Yep, Sherlock Holmes (or Spock if you prefer), well the precise quote is this … “You will not apply my precept,” he said, … Read more
Giles Fraser has been writing in the Guardian again, and yes, this is the C of E cleric who was once Cannon of St Paul’s but quit because he stuck to his principles and refused to eject protesters outside the cathedral. Anyway, he is arguing against magic, and uses that term to describe an irrational … Read more
The Guardian reports that … Andrew Wakefield, the doctor struck off the medical register for his discredited research that claimed to find a link between autism and theMMR vaccine, can add another honour to his list this Christmas: the inaugural Golden Duck award for lifetime achievement in quackery, set up by the science writer Simon Singh. It is … Read more
Given the date today, it is perhaps time to repost an article I wrote about two years ago. When it comes to the year 2012, our current culture appears to have picked up a bit of silly doomsday baggage. The fact that this has happened is no surprise, because we have a thriving industry focused … Read more
Being critical of daft ideas matters … it really does. Every now and then somebody who is stupid enough to believe gets into a position of power where they then proceed to do real harm on an almost industrial scale. I have an example for you, Gambia’s President Yahya Jammeh truly believes that witchcraft is real, as reported … Read more