Reading Time: 6 minutes It’s that time again, so I am going to re-run my extensive series on the Resurrection and Easter. Sorry if you’ve read it before, but there’s nothing like a good reminder: Christmas is over, time to get on to Easter. A Few years back, someone in Malawi had a debate on national TV with a Christian about […]
skepticism
Posted inUncategorized
Philosophy 101 (philpapers induced) #10: Knowledge: Empiricism or Rationalism
Reading Time: 10 minutes Having posted the Philpapers survey results, the biggest ever survey of philosophers conducted in 2009, several readers were not aware of it (the reason for re-communicating it) and were unsure as to what some of the questions meant. I offered to do a series on them, so here it is – Philosophy 101 (Philpapers induced). I will […]
Posted inArts, Books, Fiction, The Secular
Holidays are coming, holidays are coming!!
Reading Time: 12 minutes
Posted inHealth, Pseudoscience
State-funded homeopathy no longer available in the North of England
Reading Time: 2 minutes Another one from the BHA. This one is something that I am also very interested in, having recently attended a talk by the Good Thinking Society’s Michael Marshall. He is well worth going to see at your local Skeptics group in the UK, if you get a chance: Homeopathy is no longer available on the […]
Posted inHealth, Pseudoscience, Science
Alternative medicine treatment put four-year-old boy in A&E
Reading Time: < 1 minute The BBC reports: The plight of a four-year-old boy who nearly died after his parents gave him 12 alternative medicines has prompted doctors to warn against the treatments. Doctors at Newham Hospital in east London said the parents were “devastated” that their good intentions had made him so unwell. The boy took a dozen supplements […]
Posted inUncategorized
The Star of Bethlehem in Alternative “Scholarship”
Reading Time: 9 minutes In my work in looking into the various theories about the Star of Bethlehem, I have primarily focused on efforts to explain the Star that are in the scientific or biblical studies literature. That will provide something of an orthodoxy, either with scientific ideas that have to be less than outlandish or with religious notions that do not drift far from conservative or evangelical thinking.
Posted inClimate Crisis, Science
A Genius…and a Global Warming Skeptic
Reading Time: 4 minutes This one is from a few years ago, but it came up in conversation elsewhere (that I was having with Jonathan). In an entertaining and provocative article in Atlantic magazine, Kenneth Brower takes a journey into the mind of Freeman Dyson, one of the most brilliant and productive scientists alive today. A Nobel laureate for his […]
Posted inBooks, Psychology
Interview with Dr Caleb Lack
Reading Time: 2 minutes A few years back, I interviewed my friend and former SIN colleague, Dr Caleb Lack. Since then, we have worked together on a number of book projects, and he has recently released a formidable book, getting many plaudits: Critical Thinking, Science, and Pseudoscience: Why We Can’t Trust Our Brains I am hoping it will get […]
Posted inUncategorized
Death Is Not Final Debate – Sean Carroll, Steven Novella vs Eben Alexander, R Moody
Reading Time: < 1 minute Some commenters, on the two threads on Near-Death Experiences, have mentioned Eben Alexander and how good his book is etc. Firstly, they need to read the robust repsonses: Sam Harris – This must be heaven Esquire – The Prophet Why Evolution is True – Eben Alexander’s bogus trip to heaven The Wire / The Atlantic – The ‘Proof […]
Posted inScience
The Science of Near-Death Experiences (part 2)
Reading Time: 9 minutes Yesterday, I introduced the topic of Near-Death Experiences (NDEs), and today I will talk about naturalistic, scientific explanations for such phenomena. The problem with scientific explanations and hypotheses for such phenomena is that they aren’t as fun and exciting as some funky spiritual world operating in parallel, or whatever NDErs believe. This rather less romantic […]