December 2011
26 posts
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the Truth about conspiracy theories: intro
what is a conspiracy theory
Classifying what exactly it is when we refer to “conspiracy theories” is harder than one might imagine. Why is it that belief in Watergate, which was undoubtedly a secret immoral plot involving many people, isn’t generally referred to as a conspiracy theory but something more nefarious but far less complicated like believing Princess Diana was...
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fantasticlies-deactivated201207 asked: Have you ever read "Who created God?" on Christian Answers? I'd love to hear your opinion on it. The webpage seems to make somewhat decent points. To me though, it's a bit of an argument out of ignorance. "The universe had a beginning, therefor it must have a creator and that creator (God) is eternal and does not require it's own creator." Who's to say it...
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The Infinite Monkey Cage - The Science of...
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Anonymous asked: What are your thoughts about Lee Strobel and the credibility of his books? And also about the fact that he claims to be a former atheist? Would it be too much if I asked you to read and critique a few of them (they are about 200-300 pages each)? Honestly, I am tired of my Christian friends claiming that if this atheist can find "overwhelming support" for the validity of Christianity,...
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Christmas FTW
There’s not much skeptical about the shrines to commercialism which often happen around this time of the year but I always enjoy it anyway. So here’s to hoping you skeptics are having a happy winter festival be it Christmas or the Festivus feats of strength.
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e^(i * pi) Years Ago
I started this blog one year ago today but I am mentally much more distant from where I was when I began. Though a part of me wants to detail that story I’ll keep this relatively short.
It’s been an interesting year as I’ve learned plenty and changed more. Accordingly this blog has gone through numerous phases as my interests have changed and it will undoubtedly continue to...
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What Are You Listening To?
With all the podcasts out on the interwebs I haven’t found the time to give all of them a listen. This is not to say I haven’t shopped around as I’m a big fan of both The Infinite Monkey Cage and Skeptically Speaking and on occasion have listened to The Skeptic’s Guide to the Universe, Skeptoid, Skepticality, The Partially Examined Life and The Philosophy Zone. Even with...
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Mistakes Were Made By Me: Errata and Apologies
*Sorry for the length but I didn’t want to hide my errors behind a ‘read more’ link
A lot can and has changed in the past year and as my recent post about the Horsemen would suggest I probably wouldn’t post some videos and quotes by them today. However changing one’s mind as the evidence comes in isn’t an error unless you made a premature or incorrect...
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“Religion is not the problem. Religion is merely a symptom, the true underlying...”
– AntiCitizenX - on explaining religion
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To Hitch
As I’m sure you are aware by now just a few hours after I my last post questioning the effectiveness of The Horseman as faces for atheism Christopher Hitchens died. When I last caught glimpses of Hitchens the sight of his visible illness inspired me to write a tribute I planned to publish before this moment. Though I composed a rough draft I never got around to finishing it which I now...
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The Horsemen and I
The Horsemen of the Anti-Apocalypse have fallen from grace. If that is enough punning for you I’ll outright say I’m quite disenchanted with all of them, Harris, Hitchens, Dawkins and Dennett. It’s not that they aren’t particularly effective at changing minds, I don’t think any of them are really attempting to do so, but that they are good public faces of...
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...and How Are You? I've Been Thinking About...
Long time, no blog. I’ve had an intense past week with work, and future work, but fear not I am back for good now despite my somewhat premature announcement last week. To spare you the pleasantries, while I’ve been away I’ve been reading intently about human thinking. Cognitive biases, heuristics, and decision-making under uncertainty aren’t traditionally the sexiest topics...
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The War on Christmas & You 2011: Episode 37
I was on my way home this evening waiting on a train when I had encountered the following:
I know it looks wonderful but to my surprise and disgust instead of reading ‘Merry Christmas’ the train only had the accommodationalist hippie jargon ‘Happy Holidays.’
For God’s sake what will we tell the children!? The mere fact that the there was a Santa and helpers car in...
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Now Back to Your Irregularly Scheduled Program
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AIDS Denialism on World AIDS Day
For all the intellectual and financial damage that pseudoscience does nothing in the realm of skepticism really compares to the colossal harm that can be and has been done by the spread of misinformation about AIDS. The South African government’s AIDS denialist policies alone are estimated to have caused more than 330,000 premature deaths. Fortunately those policies ended when then end of...
