Frans de Waal was recently interviewed by Stephen J. Dubner in the Freakonomics blog of the NYT. Dubner co-authored Freakonomics with Steven D. Levitt. De Waal and Dubner discussed the ramifications of an experiment where capuchin monkeys received either a grape or a piece of cucumber in return for a…
I don't want no god on my lawn Just a flower I can help along 'Cause the soul of no body knows how a flower grows... Oh how a flower grows . . .
“Longer Boats,” by Cat Stevens (now known as Yusuf Islam).
Why are so many religious people uncomfortable with so many scientists? I can think of several reasons. According to many Believers, scientists are arrogant know-it-alls. Believers see scientists as emotionally sterile lab-dwellers who flaunt their white coats and their fancy lab equipment. Scientists exacerbate the situation by speaking and writing using esoteric language that makes science-phobes feel ignorant. By using such difficult concepts and language, scientists have raised the bar, which excludes many folks from joining scientific discussions. It’s not like the “good old days,” where people were generally informed enough to join many conversations regarding science (or social science). Things are different now.How do you keep customers coming back? Keep them constantly dissatisfied. That is the topic of this article in Orion Magazine. The author is Jeffrey Kaplan. Here's are a few excerpts from this well written article. [Note: you might be blocked from going straight into the article. If so, go…
Arianna Huffington has just released her new book, Right Is Wrong: How the Lunatic Fringe Hijacked America, Shredded the Constitution, and Made Us All Less Safe. Huffington has reviewed the main themes of her book at Huffpo. In the book, Huffington concludes that there are three main areas to consider…
I'm tired of hearing Neocons cavalierly talking about "nuking" one or more Middle Eastern countries. These days, Neocons often talk about this "need" to use nuclear weapons to show people in the Middle East that "we" mean business. I have personally heard this sort of talk several times (when you…