At the moment (at least as I type this,) two prominent atheists are tossing forth and back about the old question of what would, or could, constitute evidence for god. Michael Shermer at Skepticblog and Jerry Coyne at
Author: Al Denelsbeck
On composition, part 15: The background
We all have experience with missing something right under our noses, or someone speaking to us who remains totally unheard because we’re concentrating on something else. The proper term for this is inattention blindness, and lots of videos and examples can be found online (Richard Wiseman, over there in the sidebar links, deals with this trait from time to time.) It is something that
By the numbers
The last post was one from my numbered series, and unfortunately I have three more from other series in the pipes, so you’re going to see a lot of sequels – I’m going to try and space them out as much as possible. And hopefully, I’ll do a better job than Hollywood sequels. At least mine are all by the original director…
Too cool, part 16: Now this is smart
A few years ago, a friend of mine told me about his young son, then three years old. It turns out the sprog was not only playing games on his folks’ computer, he had figured out how to install new ones on his own. This was not a child prodigy, and he wasn’t reading at the time – he’d learned it intuitively, by watching what his parents did and noticing how user interfaces
Like we mean it
This is an extension of a much earlier post on meaning, or the universe’s apparent lack thereof, as well as Sean Carroll’s presentation from The Amaz!ng Meeting 2012. Both of those are virtual prerequisites for making the most out of this post, primarily because I don’t feel like reiterating a bunch of stuff.
So, given that there is no meaning to life, the universe, & everything
Book on sale
Courtesy of Jerry Coyne at Why Evolution Is True, I want to alert people that Donald Prothero’s book Evolution: What the Fossils Say and Why It Matters is now on sale at Amazon, in e-book format. Normally $23.99, for month of November it is just $3.99!
In addition, one of Coyne’s readers, James (yes, the same James we all know and love) is throwing in an extra bonus:
Mad, you say?
In honor of the day, I present to you an image from a few weeks ago, while I was trying to get decent photographs of a tiny thread-legged assassin bug, Stenolemus lanipes. I thought the pattern on the abdomen could be considered appropriate.
Though I admit, now that The Girlfriend’s Younger Sprog pointed out the ‘horns’ to me, which I’d missed at first, I now can’t help
True story
“Now where did this odd callous on the side of my thumb come from?”
Oh. Yeah.
That might do it…
Don’t ask
I’m pretty hard on philosophy, but I’m even harder on pseudophilosophy, the practice of asking questions that aren’t even comprehended or, much worse, are asked for the sake of asking. Unfortunately, quite a few people still seem to fall for this, and we have been treated to countless instances – blogs, articles, books, etc. – where someone has taken the bait
Take heart!
I’m sorry, this really does amount to (I feel terribly uncouth even breathing the word) a tweet, and I hereby promise not to make a habit of it. But it occurred to me this morning how much America is the land of opportunity. No matter how feeble your understanding of biology or science, or even if you’re an incredible asshole, you can still go on to become a Republican politician!
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