Life Without a Net
scientific method
Is Intelligent Design Biased?
One of the foundations of the scientific method is that it provides for replication regardless of prior conviction. That is, if ten people perform the same experiment in the same way, they will achieve the same results regardless of what they expected the results to be. In fact, this is one of the things that … Continue reading
Why Doesn’t Arguing Scientifically Work?
Here’s a truism we’re all familiar with: The wiser we get, the more we realize how little we know. It’s especially true of scientific investigation and education. More importantly, it’s a foundational difference between religion and science. The hallmark of science is its malleability. When the data changes, the hypotheses change. The best scientific thinkers are … Continue reading
Children Pass Peer Review, Ken Ham Doesn’t.
With a little help from trained professionals, a group of elementary school children has passed peer review with a genuinely novel scientific observation. “The experimenters have asked a scientific question and answered it well,” neuroscientists Laurence Maloney and Natalie Hempel wrote in commentary alongside the children’s report. The children did their research on bees’ ability … Continue reading
Spirits
At some point in our evolutionary history, pre-humans made an important leap in cognitive ability. We moved from first order contemplation to second order. That is, we went from thinking to thinking about thinking. Before this leap, we were not very much different than most of the animals we’re familiar with — dogs, cats, … Continue reading
Atheist Ponies Up for Creation Science
Godlessons has a great idea. Like me, he’s very interested in seeing if Creation Science advocates know how to do science. More than that, he wants to see some good science in support of creation. So he’s started the Creationist Science Fair. Read the blog here. If you’re not familiar with the basic mechanics of … Continue reading
Certainty and the Scientific Mind
I’ve written several articles about what science is and how we all function as scientists in our day to day lives. If you haven’t visited my page on science vs. religion, it wouldn’t hurt to go there before reading this entry. (Hint: Look at the page tabs right above my lovely landscape at the top … Continue reading
What is Reason Based Faith?
In response to my last post, Dean Cameron has made the following snarky reply: Perhaps some of us Religious People should consider taking up Reason-Based Faith! Oh, wait. Some already have! Never mind. I’m actually glad someone said this. It brings into sharp relief a problem we run into in almost every discussion of religion. … Continue reading
Science vs. Religion Part II: Ideology, Cult of Personality, and Truth
I’ve had several private correspondences over the last couple of days dealing with what I’ve started calling the Church of Dawkins. A significant number of theists and atheists seem to believe that there’s some sort of cult forming around everything that comes out of the mouth of the “King of Atheists,” or some nonsense like … Continue reading
On Science and Knowledge, Part II
EDIT: This is a first draft of an article that has become its own page. Please read the new versionHERE. The Problem of Induction Most objections to science come from people who have heard of the Problem of Induction, but don’t understand it. Put simply, it is the observation that nothing empirical (that is, … Continue reading
On Science and Knowledge, Part I
EDIT: This is a first draft of an article that has become its own page. Please read the new version HERE. I have often mentioned the subtle danger inherent in toleration of moderate religion. In short, the most insidious aspect of moderate religion is that it not only permits, but encourages, belief in things … Continue reading
Recent Comments