Jerry Coyne loves cats, and he posted two images with cats, in different contexts, that can both be used to make interesting points. The first one he actually solicited captions for… The two that came to mind were: An Egyptian deity ponders the proclivity of humans to make their gods in their image. and “Humans think this guy was enlightened? But he’s not even a cat!” Click through to read some of the others that commenters came up with. The... Read more
The ideal in science is to come up with testable hypotheses that can be confirmed or proved wrong by evidence, at least in principle. It seems to me that the various forms of pseudoscientific creationisms (young-earth creationism and intelligent design) are inherently unfalsifiable. No evidence is allowed to count against them. If one sees evidence of poor design in nature, you are simply told that the Designer must have had a good reason for designing it that way. If you... Read more
Via Brian LePort on Facebook (I liked this one more than some others along the same lines) Read more
There is a nice audiobook of this lost episode, which combines the original soundtrack with narration, to good effect. This is the first episode to feature the Doctor and his companions traveling to a period in history that intersects them with famous people and events. It is also one of the few episodes from which not even the slightest snippet of actual broadcast footage survives. The Doctor and his companions land on “the roof of the world” and there encounter... Read more
Harold Camping’s rap tour, which began in May, is scheduled to draw to a close today. Then again, this wouldn’t be the first time that he postponed the end… (The above image is one I originally posted back in May) Read more
HT Michael Acidri Read more
Via Joel Watts, Skye Jethani and Pat McCullough on Facebook Read more
One of the classic philosophical texts that we discuss in my freshman class “Faith, Doubt and Reason” is David Hume’s Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion. It is noteworthy how, despite changes and progress in the realm of the natural sciences, the same sorts of arguments – such as the teleological or design argument – continue to be used and debated. It is noteworthy that, in Hume’s dialogue, the pious character Demea objects to the argument from design on grounds of piety.... Read more
I find the approach many students take to the quest for reliable information mirrored in today’s Bizarro comic: The tendency is to go where Google searches direct you, to where the flashy advertising leads: In an age of advertising, it can be difficult to choose between the various things that one is told. One may end up surrounded by an incredible amount of information, available at the touch of a button, and yet not know what to do to make... Read more
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