Neurocreationism
Appended with author reply April 22. The following book review, originally published in Skeptic Magazine volume 14, no. 2, gives my rather unflattering overview of the assertions made in The Spiritual Brain: A Neuroscientist’s Case for the Existence of the Soul by Mario Beauregard and Denyse O’Leary. The book distresses me in that I see [...]
Marked as: Belief Systems • Bunco • Science — 4 comments (RSS)
Myth as Asylum from Questioning
There is too much religious tolerance in the world today. This may read as nonsense given the seemingly endless stream of news items in which guy from faith A attempts to kill person from faith B and recent quasi-scrutiny of the belief system birthed by that science fiction author; if so, suspend your disbelief for [...]
Marked as: Belief Systems • Science • Societal Policies — 7 comments (RSS)
The Imminent Speciation
One need not look too deeply into the science news of the world to follow the quickening march of both genetic and man-machine-merging developments. As successful human trials become prevalent, self-enhancement by private individuals will soon follow. This self-enhancement can be neither universal nor equal and so, due to this, places the world human population [...]
Marked as: Science • Transhumanism — 4 comments (RSS)
Alice
The following short story was written by Carole A. Travis-Henikoff, an independent scholar specializing in paleoanthropology. Travis-Henikoff began her literary career as a culinary writer . Her current research explores death, dying, grieving, dreams and anomalous occurrences. Travis-Henikoff’s recent book Dinner With a Cannibal has earned widespread critical acclaim. Publisher’s Weekly gave the book a star, stating [...]
Marked as: Science • Societal Policies • Technology • Transhumanism — 1 comment (RSS)
Unintelligence: “Expelled” Reviewed
With the film’s website reporting widespread blog coverage – dubious as any of their data must be considered – and given the fact that that I’ve already written about it on this site – another entry regarding Ben Stein’s Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed might seem redundant and tiresome, if not needless, given that the film [...]
Expulsion
I didn’t recognise her voice, nor did I recognise the number on my caller ID, but she said my name with such enthusiastic familiarity that I felt compelled to match her tone. Some of my friends have proven easily insulted by my occasional failures of immediate voice recognition, and who but a friend would be [...]
Marked as: Abnormal Sociology • Belief Systems • Science • Societal Policies — 21 comments (RSS)
Belief and Common Reality
I was sitting with a close friend, F, and his wife, W, in a Tucson breakfast joint the other month; the discussion was hovering around figures of the Deepak Chopra flavour: how those types continue to profess insight on the workings of the universe by stringing together sexy physics words like a guru-Mad-Lib but who [...]
Marked as: Belief Systems • Introspection • Science — 8 comments (RSS)