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Dec 14, 2011
By David Brown | Posted at 12:31:15
Philosopher Sticks Up for God—Alvin Plantinga (NY Times 12-13-11)
In “Where the Conflict Really Lies: Science, Religion and Naturalism,” published last week by Oxford University Press, he unleashes a blitz of densely reasoned argument against “the touchdown twins of current academic atheism,” the zoologist Richard Dawkins and the philosopher Daniel C. Dennett, spiced up with some trash talk of his own.
Mr. Dawkins? “Dancing on the lunatic fringe,” Mr. Plantinga declares. Mr. Dennett? A reverse fundamentalist who proceeds by “inane ridicule and burlesque” rather than by careful philosophical argument.
Dec 12, 2011
By David Brown | Posted at 10:12:37
The Occupy movement is an unprecedented opportunity to overcome America's current hopelessness by Noam Chomsky (In These Times 11-1-11)
Delivering a Howard Zinn lecture is a bittersweet experience for me. I regret that he's not here to take part in and invigorate a movement that would have been the dream of his life. Indeed, he laid a lot of the groundwork for it.
If the bonds and associations being established in these remarkable events can be sustained through a long, hard period ahead—victories don't come quickly—the Occupy protests could mark a significant moment in American history.
By David Brown | Posted at 10:7:16
How to Dispel Your Illusions—Freeman Dyson reviews Thinkink, Fast and Slow (NY Review of Books 12-22-11)
Cognitive illusions are the main theme of his book. A cognitive illusion is a false belief that we intuitively accept as true. The illusion of validity is a false belief in the reliability of our own judgment. The interviewers sincerely believed that they could predict the performance of recruits after talking with them for fifteen minutes. Even after the interviewers had seen the statistical evidence that their belief was an illusion, they still could not help believing it. Kahneman confesses that he himself still experiences the illusion of validity, after fifty years of warning other people against it. He cannot escape the illusion that his own intuitive judgments are trustworthy.
Dec 9, 2011
By David Brown | Posted at 11:48:17
Acquired Traits Can Be Inherited via Small RNAs (Columbia University Medical Center 12-5-11)
Columbia University Medical Center (CUMC) researchers have found the first direct evidence that an acquired trait can be inherited without any DNA involvement. The findings suggest that Lamarck, whose theory of evolution was eclipsed by Darwin's, may not have been entirely wrong. The study is slated to appear in the December 9 issue of Cell.
“In our study, roundworms that developed resistance to a virus were able to pass along that immunity to their progeny for many consecutive generations,” reported lead author Oded Rechavi, PhD, associate research scientist in biochemistry and molecular biophysics at CUMC. “The immunity was transferred in the form of small viral-silencing agents called viRNAs, working independently of the organism's genome.”
By David Brown | Posted at 11:24:15
Trial of the Will (Vanity Fair Jan. 2012)
Reviewing familiar principles and maxims in the face of mortal illness, Christopher Hitchens has found one of them increasingly ridiculous: “Whatever doesn't kill me makes me stronger.” Oh, really? Take the case of the philosopher to whom that line is usually attributed, Friedrich Nietzsche, who lost his mind to what was probably syphilis. Or America's homegrown philosopher Sidney Hook, who survived a stroke and wished he hadn't. Or, indeed, the author, viciously weakened by the very medicine that is keeping him alive.
Dec 8, 2011
By David Brown | Posted at 8:35:45
Despite Occasional Scandals, Science Can Police Itself (The Chronicle of Higher Education 12-3-11)
Science is not immune to lying and cheating, any more than are banking, medicine, or the law. It is also worth noting that Stapel was caught. True, he did get away with his intellectual crimes for far too long, embarrassingly so, but in the end it was the suspicions of his colleagues and students that exposed him. Scientific inquiry is guided by laboratory conventions and publishing rules that promote integrity and minimize the publication of false conclusions. This is equally true of all the sciences, just as it is true that all the sciences have been vexed by scoundrels.
Dec 7, 2011
By David Brown | Posted at 14:38:53
Islam, Charles Darwin and the denial of science (UK Telegraph 12-3-11)
A growing number of biology and medical students are rejecting the very basis of their chosen subject in favour of creationism.
By David Brown | Posted at 10:16:2
Can colleges demand students affirm homosexuality? Court to decide (Baptist Press 12-2-11)
The U.S. 11th Circuit Court of Appeals has heard arguments in a religious liberty case that could determine whether a college has the right to require students to profess certain beliefs about homosexuality in order to get a degree.
Augusta State University, in east Georgia, put counseling student Jennifer Keeton on academic probation in 2010 after she acknowledged in private conversations and during class that she disagreed with homosexuality. School administrators claimed Keeton said it would be hard for her to counsel gay clients, a stance they said violated ethical standards for licensed counselors, as put forth by the American Counseling Association.
Dec 5, 2011
By David Brown | Posted at 14:51:24
Muslim medical students boycotting lectures on evolution… because it 'clashes with the Koran' (UK Daily Mail 11-28-11)
Muslim students, including trainee doctors on one of Britain's leading medical courses, are walking out of lectures on evolution claiming it conflicts with creationist ideas established in the Koran.
Professors at University College London have expressed concern over the increasing number of biology students boycotting lectures on Darwinist theory, which form an important part of the syllabus, citing their religion.
Similar to the beliefs expressed by fundamentalist Christians, Muslim opponents to Darwinism maintain that Allah created the world, mankind and all known species in a single act.
By David Brown | Posted at 10:48:13
The FP Top 100 Global Thinkers (Foreign Policy Dec. 2011)
Foreign Policy presents a unique portrait of 2011's global marketplace of ideas and the thinkers who make them.
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