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 »
Listening to the news from Paris these past few days I, like so many Britons, think of climate change as a terrible possibility which may or may not materialise: an appalling possibility we learn to live with, like the threat … Read More »
Steal from anywhere that resonates with inspiration or fuels your imagination … Select only things that speak to your soul. If you do this, your work (and theft) will be authentic. Authenticity is invaluable; originality is nonexistent. Film Director, Jim Jarmusch When Motown … Read More »
Feminists know this but it’ll stand repeating. Since one male can impregnate many females, societies can afford to lose more men than women. It takes all sorts to make a world and any healthy society, from hunter-gatherer onward, will contain … Read More »
Seventies feminists, and progressives in general, were pretty clueless on genetics. They had to be, to attack male supremacism with the necessary force. In any case the pendulum was still arcing outwards from the horrors of a philistine geneticism painfully … Read More »
This morning on BBC Radio 4’s Thought for the Day, the Rev Giles Fraser gave a simplistic tour of the selfishness v altruism debate. He didn’t follow the many who rubbish Dawkins without reading his most important work; indeed, he quoted the man … Read More »
Had another of those calls yesterday: Hello sir. My name is Charles and I am calling from the Technical Department of Windows. Charles has an Indian accent. WindowsTechnical Department is employer of choice for his ilk. I know this from the four … Read More »
Most drugs harm their users and some harm the wider community through antisocial behaviour. These reasons are commonly given for outlawing recreational use of many substances. Oddly enough, the two leisure drugs most countries do permit are alcohol, a frequent … Read More »