Reading Time: 3 minutes I recently offered my thoughts on the difference between pointless and pointful challenges to sacredness: Why does the David Mills video I’ve denounced strike me instantly as a profoundly stupid gesture, while [Webster Cook’s removal of a communion wafer from a mass] strikes me just as instantly as an interesting and thought-provoking transgression? The reason, […]
Deep Dive
Exploring the big questions—life, death, morality, consciousness, meaning—from a secular point of view.
Posted inCritical thinking, Myth & Folklore
thinking by druthers 3
Reading Time: 4 minutes [Third installment in a series on confirmation bias. Back to Part 2.] The mistaken belief that a handful of unexplained anomalies can undermine a well-established theory lies at the heart of all conspiratorial thinking. All the evidence for a 9/11 conspiracy falls under the rubric of this fallacy. Michael Shermer, in Scientific American, October 2006 […]
Posted inCritical thinking, Myth & Folklore, Parenting & Family
fear not (so much)
Reading Time: 2 minutes Raising Freethinkers is in production, so I’m prepping the proposal for another book. One of the major themes of this one is fear, both real and imagined, and its use and misuse. In the process of researching it, I am (as usual) uncovering things at turns delicious and appalling. Thought I’d share a bit. Media […]
Posted inCritical thinking, Science
thinking by druthers 2
Reading Time: 4 minutes [Second installment in a series on confirmation bias. Back to Part 1.] An audience member at my Austin talk asked a good and common question. In The End of Faith, Sam Harris apparently made the case that those who do not hold religious beliefs must be willing to challenge the irrational beliefs of their friends […]
Posted inCritical thinking, Science
thinking by druthers 1
Reading Time: 5 minutes First installment in a series on confirmation bias. “I disagree with what you’re saying, frankly. Strongly disagree.” I guess I ought to delight in this kind of challenge, critical thinking enthusiast that I am. But I’m a chimp, too, which means instead of delighting, I have to suppress an urge to fling feces and hoot. […]
Posted inCritical thinking, Myth & Folklore
ACTS (bookin’ through the bible 12)
Reading Time: 3 minutes [back to DEUTERONOMY] A few years ago, a Catholic friend and neighbor of mine put the foundation of her belief into words for me. There are lots of reasons to doubt the divinity of Christ, she said, but one powerful thing continues to keep her doubts at bay. During Jesus’ life, the apostles were doubtful, […]
Posted inCritical thinking, Raising Freethinkers, Science
go ahead, judge the book by it
Reading Time: < 1 minute A first glimpse of the cover for Raising Freethinkers. I think the folks at Amacom did a very nice job, wouldn’t you say? I’m now at work on a blog series that’s gone completely out of control. It’s been years since I taught courses and workshops in critical thinking, but this topic has it all […]
Posted inCritical thinking
the certainty myth
Reading Time: 4 minutes There is a criticism of atheism that never ceases to flummox and irritate me. Atheists are fools, goes the line, because you can’t be 100% certain God doesn’t exist. Here are a few definitions of atheist that most people would agree with: – Someone who denies the existence of God (WordNet) – One who believes […]
Posted inCritical thinking, Death & Dying, Parenting & Family, Science
integrity
Reading Time: 7 minutes It’s confirmed: the statistic over which I was so amazed — that 39.6 percent of prominent scientists lost a parent when they were kids — is twaddle. Thanks to blogreader Ryan (who sent the full text of the article I had quoted), I am spared the fate of including a bogus stat in a sidebar […]
Posted inCritical thinking, Myth & Folklore
DEUTERONOMY (bookin’ through the bible 11)
Reading Time: 4 minutes [back to LEVITICUS] You’re a thirtyish Israelite. You’ve been wandering in the desert your entire life and are now poised on the doorstep of the Promised Land. You can practically taste the milk and honey—which, after nothing but manna all your life, sounds pretty damn good. Just one ordeal remains: the Trial by Sermon. Moses […]