Six types of atheists … some further thoughts.

Back in July two researchers at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga considered the idea that atheists and agnostics fell into distinct categories, so they conducted a study to find out what those categories were. From this they identified six different types (yes, I blogged about it before). It attracted rather a lot of attention at … Read more

What type of Atheist are you? … there are apparently different categories

People have different degrees of confidence regarding different things, and non-belief is no exception to that observation. For example, some make the observation that due to the complete lack of evidence, god claims can be dismissed. Others would take that a step further and make a “no-God” assertion for various reasons. However, it is not … Read more

The Numbers game – Claim – “Islam is the fastest growing” … er, except it’s not.

There exists an on-line group that was established by some Muslims to “debunk” Atheism, and so given my stance I was added (without being asked). How are they doing so far? Not very well, but then how exactly do you de-bunk non-belief? the only way possible is to offer objective empirical evidence that some variation of belief … Read more

Top 5 Posts for 2012 at Skeptical Science

I do not generally check my blog statistics anymore, that is not why I write. Seeing thousands of hits for a specific posting might craft an illusion of approval or popularity, but perhaps is something that has simply passed into some other community and hit a few of their hot buttons. Anyway, what postings in 2012 generated … Read more

Why do facts get distorted?

Understanding the dynamics and pressures can often help you to appreciate why you cannot trust statistical “facts” you find quoted in the papers.

As an example, consider the latest weather story about the appalling drought and heatwave that has engulfed the southern states of the US. Apparently it is the worst on record …

  • here claims that “Today and Friday are expected to be hotter than any time since 1950”
  • here claims “the worst in Texas history”

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