Occam’s razor is a proverb, if you will, that underlies critical thinking and the consideration of alternatives. In its most commonly used form, it reads rather simply: If there are multiple explanations for some observed phenomenon, the simplest one is likely the most accurate.
Category: Science & Evolution
Too cool, part 13: I’m a spider, raargh!
Since I have yet to obtain any images illustrating this (and because there may not even be examples of such within this country, I may not ever, sniff,) I refer you to Alex Wild of Myrmecos fame, guest-blogging on Scientific American’s site, for his post on “The fly that banks on arachnophobia.”
If you wish, pause for a second and try to imagine how a fly might benefit from something
But how? Part six: Love and Beauty
Walkabout podcast – But how? Part 6
I probably should have tackled this one sooner, but I’d gone through a period with too few discussions on religion and this favored argument had simply slipped my mind. So for the next part of the “But How?” series
Mortal remains
My recent reading material sparked some older memories and led to an extended examination, which is how many of my posts come about, and while such topics aren’t tackled too often by those who promote critical thinking, there’s nothing that should limit the application of such. So, let’s talk about dead people.
Many years ago when I lived in central New York (you know, the few million
To make magic – disappear!
Update September 2012 – This was one of the sample posts chosen for the podcasting experiment click below to listen, if you like (it is identical to the text):
Walkabout podcast – To make magic – disappear!
I am a big meanie I admit it. I am one of “those people” – those who want to deprive so many others of their happiness and joy, their motivations,
The days of yore, part one
Okay, I admit it: I have no idea what the hell “yore” is. But since it’s not the season for nature photography, I’m hearkening (yeah, ditto) back to a time when it was. That I’m intending to make this an occasional habit is indicated by the ‘part one’ in the title…
This past summer, a tree alongside the house played host to a fairly common sight, which
But how? Part five: Life!
Walkabout podcast – But how? Part 5
Having taken a break longer than I should’ve, we now return to the “But how?” series of posts that examine how things might work if we stop using religion as a default explanation. Our topic for this evening is “life.”
It is admittedly hard to believe that such a thing could come about on its own, dictated only by the simple
Too cool, part 12: Won’t fit in the bag
Courtesy of NASA’s Astronomy Photo of the Day, I present one of the most interesting examples of unintuitive physics: the curvature of spacetime to produce a gravitational lens. The ring that you see here is not the shock wave from a supernova affecting the surrounding gases, as I first
Amateur naturalism, part four
Book Review: Big Bang
This was a book that, I admit, wasn’t on my reading list, but when I came across a copy I began reading it out of interest. It is a credit to the author that I stayed with it, and chose to throw it into the review lineup.
Big Bang by Simon Singh is named in a very straightforward way,