A friend told me a joke the other day. A squaddie awaiting his train home after Armistice 1918 was interviewed on the platform by a radio reporter. And what’s the first thing you’ll do when you get home? Take the … Read More »
On July 21, California local news site Berkelyside reported: In the latest Berkeley controversy over what speakers may talk about, the progressive radio station KPFA has canceled an Aug. 9 on-stage appearance by the scientist Richard Dawkins. KPFA had invited … Read More »
Another post dedicated to bad thinking, it being a year and a day since my last one. Yesterday’s Independent ran this piece. Having approved in ways active and passive Obama’s bombing the middle east every day for eight years, promoted … Read More »
But for certain misfortunes, Robert Hooke would surely have been among the most celebrated of Englishmen. He invented air bellows for Boyle, built telescopes and microscopes, discovered stars and advanced our understanding of planetary orbit. He taught himself illustration for … Read More »
[ezcol_1half][/ezcol_1half] [ezcol_1half_end] Saturday, Feb 7. The third unsourced statistic on this FB post is almost certainly false: [/ezcol_1half_end] Two days later an American friend, Daniel, posted his disgust at a homophobic quote allegedly by Ted Cruz. But others say it … Read More »
After my post on the MMR vaccine I had this reply from the originator of the thread: You are an academic Phil, to be blunt you have been brainwashed. I was fortunate enough to escape that. Do you see the … Read More »
[ezcol_1third]I stumbled on an anti-MMR discussion on FB last night. Couldn’t resist sticking my oar in of course. Human beings have wonderful brains but, untrained, we are hopeless at stats and not much better at any kind of rigorous thinking. … Read More »
I don’t believe an intelligent force is guiding evolution. I do believe, pace Marx, that the ways humans organise themselves to produce and reproduce the material conditions of existence – rather than ideas of any kind, let alone metaphysical ones … Read More »