Freedom of Speech vs Quackery

Freedom of Speech

Is the legal banning of quackery a Freedom of Speech issue? It seems like a question with an obvious answer. It is also of interest because it was recently tested by a federal court. The specific case concerned Nutritionist Heather Del Castillo. The whisper was that she practising without a license and so the state … Read more

Do Violent Video Games cause Gun Violence?

Do Violent Video Games cause Gun Violence?

In has become tiresomely predictable that instead of actually addressing the issue of gun control, yet another incident results is the easy targets being attacked. “He was disturbed” and so mental illness gets the blame. “Violent video games instil a bloodlust within our society” is yet another familiar trope. One thing is more or less … Read more

Pew Poll: Do we really trust Scientific Experts?

scientific experts

A couple of days ago (2nd Aug 2019) Pew released their latest data from a public poll of how much we trust scientific experts. Titled “Trust and Mistrust in Americans’ Views of Scientific Experts” it is actually rather encouraging. What exactly did they find? From a survey that they conducted in January 2019, they have … Read more

The Pew Religious Knowledge Quiz

religious knowledge

On the surface this might appear to be a posting that is simply reporting the results of the latest Pew survey of Religious Knowledge. It is not. Instead I am using the insights gained from it to point out a few rather fascinating details. The latest Pew Quiz Published on 23rd July 2019, pew published … Read more

How many believe in Creationism?

Creationism

Gallop have published the results of their regular poll that explores belief in Creationism. From this we learn that 40% of U.S. adults ascribe to a strictly creationist view of human origins, believing that God created them in their present form within roughly the past 10,000 years. Let’s take a look at the details they … Read more