My point may be clear to some if it is put in a different form. Nature is a word of varying meanings, which can best be understood if we consider its various opposites. The Natural is the opposite of the Artificial, the . . . Continue reading →
Science
Activists Are Controlling Scientific Research
A significant social-science paper, co-authored by my casual friend Michael Bailey, Ph.D., a psychology professor at Northwestern, was just retracted by the prestigious Springer-network journal Archives of Sexual Behavior. It’s worth looking at exactly why this happened. …All right: enough wordplay. In reality, anyone . . . Continue reading →
How We Can Make Reformed Churches More Welcoming
Hospitality is vital to the life of the church. How we treat someone, whether they’re a visitor or longtime member, may affect their involvement within a church. It may also impact their decision to continue attending a church. Most of us have . . . Continue reading →
From Science To Sophistry
One way to observe the death of scientific rationality is to watch the triumph of sophistry over empirical science. We see this everywhere these days and a recent article in Scientific American is a particularly egregious example of outright sophistry. This article asserts that “human sex . . . Continue reading →
How Autistic Traits Can Be Mistaken For Gender Dysphoria
In recent years there has been an exponential rise in the number of adolescents and young adults adopting transgender identities, stirring intense debate about its underlying causes. Mainstream discourse on this issue has centered on factors such as social influence, greater societal acceptance, and expanding . . . Continue reading →
Why “Settled Science” Is A Myth (And Why Just A Little History Shows That)
To see how science can change and evolve, look at the theory of eugenics, which held sway over much of Western thought from the 1870s through the 1930s and beyond. Eugenics held that good or bad characteristics were passed on through heredity, . . . Continue reading →
What “Science!” Cannot Do
Science is a tool with limitations. Science does not tell you how you should live your life, and science does not tell politicians what policies they should set. It may and, in many circumstances does, provide helpful information in making such decisions, . . . Continue reading →
Polanyi Was Right: There Is No Such Thing As “Settled Science”
In 50s Middle Grove, things didn’t go according to plan either, though the surprise was of a different nature. Despite his pretence of leaving the 11-year-olds to their own devices, Sherif and his research staff, posing as camp counsellors and caretakers, interfered . . . Continue reading →
Conventional Wisdom, Science, Frogs, And The Mob
I first became aware of the story of the frog in the kettle when I read George Barna’s 1990 book, The Frog in the Kettle: What the Christian Community Needs to Know About Life in the Year 2000 (Ventura, CA.: Regal Books, . . . Continue reading →
Lesbian Atheist: Nature, Science, And Facts Matter
Although I describe myself as transgender (I was donning flamboyant male costumes from early childhood on), I am highly skeptical about the current transgender wave, which I think has been produced by far more complicated psychological and sociological factors than current gender . . . Continue reading →
Whence The Claim That 97% Of Climate Scientists Support Global Warming
This claim is actually a come-down from the 1988 claim on the cover of Newsweek that all scientists agree. In either case, the claim is meant to satisfy the non-expert that he or she has no need to understand the science. Mere . . . Continue reading →
Who Is anti-Science?
Using the authority of “scientific consensus” to stifle heterodox hypotheses and alternative fields of research: Science is never truly settled. Indeed, challenging seemingly incontrovertible facts and continually retesting long-accepted theories are crucial components of the scientific method. Examples of perceived truths overturned . . . Continue reading →
Walter Cronkite In 1972: Coming Ice Age!
Some Perspective On Fads In Science
This is commencement season and, in recent years, it has meant a series of earnest speeches by social, cultural, and political leaders about the danger of global warming or climate change. These speeches are one part hectoring and one part shaming of . . . Continue reading →
The Predicted Darkness Upon Us?
We are approaching a darkness in the land. Boys and girls are emerging from every level of school with certificates and degrees, but they can’t read, write or calculate. We don’t have academic honesty or intellectual rigor. Schools have abandoned integrity and . . . Continue reading →
Before Bill Nye There Was Professor Julius Sumner Miller
How Science Should Operate
Science is not about “consensus” but facts. Not only were some physicists not initially convinced by Einstein’s theory of relativity, Einstein himself said that it should not be accepted until empirical evidence could test it. That test came during an eclipse, when . . . Continue reading →
Settled Science In 1972
What Do We Really Know About Global Warming?
Broadcast live streaming video on Ustream
On The Most Generous Interpretation, It Still Looks Bad
The University of East Anglia’s official report about the leaked e-mails concluded that “opposing interpretations can be obtained from the same statement.” But even if we give those involved the benefit of the doubt — presuming that “trick” and “hide the decline” . . . Continue reading →