Promoting Science and Critical Thinking
When something dramatic happens the emergence of wild claims soon follows. Las Vegas has been no exception. If you have a Facebook account then you will have potentially made the observation that almost immediately speculation and even various conspiracy claims started popping up. As an example, once a week on a Sunday I look back … Read more
Each and every year an end-of-the-world prediction will inevitably pop up. Perhaps the most recently well-known example of this was Harold Camping’s 21st May prediction back in 2011. That one is perhaps famous due to the $100 million that his group, Family Radio, spent promoting it via an advertising campaign that included billboards such as … Read more
What can you do when faced with somebody who is determined to take a stance that is quite frankly absurdly stupid? I have a personal example. While checking into a motel last week in rural Oregon after a long drive, I encountered an elderly chap behind the desk who was quite determined to display an … Read more
Getting into somebody’s face and telling them that they are being a F***ing idiot and that they are doing/believing something very stupid is highly effective. This consistently works every time, they always step back and comment, “Yep, you are right“, and then immediately change their position. You have seen that happen all the time … right? … Read more
Jerry Taylor was once a very vocal active Climate Change denier. As staff director of the energy and environment task force at the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) and vice president of the Cato Institute, it was his job be take this stance, but he did this, not because it was simply a job, but because … Read more
Belief in God sounds like a simple question to address, and is one that you would expect is well understood. Simply conduct a poll, and if concerned about people being pressured by friends or relatives, then make it anonymous. That should yield a reasonable answer … right? There are of course polls like this that are run on a … Read more
