My previous post brings me back to a point I made in chapter 1: too many attempts to refute “atheism” fail to understand that atheism is just thinking there aren’t any gods. They think that refuting “naturalism” or “materialism” or whatever is somehow evidence that their god exists. I’m now going to give a somewhat longer [...]
Angry Atheists? chapter 8: Science and Religion II: Evolution
June 27, 2012 By 5 Comments
This chapter is not finished, but should be in better shape than 2 or 3. With chapters like this, I will definitely re-post when they’re in better shape, so you can take a peek now or wait, whatever you feel like.
In defense of evolutionary psychology, part 3: Hamilton’s rule and reciprocal altruism
June 23, 2012 By 18 Comments
Hume once said that “A man naturally loves his children better than his nephews, his nephews better than his cousins, his cousins better than strangers, where every thing else is equal.” When I first found this quote from Hume, I was quite impressed, because it anticipates an idea that wouldn’t be formulated until roughly 200 [...]
Looking for examples of people blaming creationism on Richard Dawkins
June 15, 2012 By 11 Comments
PZ Myers recently did a post ridiculing the notion–promoted by Robert Wright–that it’s his fault and Richard Dawkins’ fault that the evolution-creation debate has become more politically charged “more politically charged, more acrimonious.” PZ’s smackdown is great, comparing Gallup’s timeline of belief in evolution in the US, along with dates of major court cases over [...]
From the archives: Plantinga’s inexcusable faults (review of Where The Conflict Really Lies)
June 7, 2012 By 11 Comments
I’m reposting this post, from December of last year, in large part because I’m planning on incorporating it into my upcoming book. I need to figure out how to shorten it, though, so feel free to tell me about any bits you thought were unnecessary. I don’t expect Plantinga’s fans to ever totally agree with [...]
Jason Rosenhouse on philosophical turf guarding
May 22, 2012 By 1 Comment
Much of the silliness of philosophers is confined to the ivory tower, but Jason Rosenhouse has a very good summary of one of the main ways philosophers manage to be annoying when trying to bring their “philosophical expertise” to public debates:
Why is South Korea taking evolution out of textbooks?
May 21, 2012 By 10 Comments
I was initially puzzled when I read from PZ that South Korea is taking evolution out of its textbooks. Sure there are some pretty hardcore Christians here, but on the whole my impression of South Korea has been of a pretty secular country.
At LessWrong: Why a human (or group of humans) might create unFriendly AI halfway on purpose
April 30, 2012 By 16 Comments
This post that I just wrote contains some of the stuff on evolutionary psychology I’ve been meaning to write more about here: Too many people–at least, too many writers of the kind of fiction where the villain turns out to be an all-right guy in the end–seem to believe that if someone is the hero [...]
From the archives: Ignorance: Comparing Dawkins and Plantinga
April 5, 2012 By 17 Comments
Here’s a post from back in December 2010, just after I had left graduate school. It’s another one that I’m likely to refer back to in the future, and will satisfy people who’ve been hoping to see me talk more about Plantinga. A good chunk of my blogging over the next few weeks will be [...]
Seeing the stupid
March 15, 2012 By 6 Comments
Once upon a time, I tried to learn to play poker. I never learned to play very well, but I did learn some other interesting things along the way. For one thing, David Sklansky’s books have a lot of game theory. But on a more practical level, one of the books I read had a [...]
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