I've been following various articles in my local newspaper and local television "news," looking for some recognition of the seriousness of the problem with soaring energy prices. This problem is entirely predictable by reference to the simple economic relationship between supply and demand. We've got a finite diminishing supply of…
I started thinking about the the “reductionist attitude” in presenting science when I read Erich’s Post To deal with “arrogant” scientists we need to move beyond reductionism and break the “Galilean Spell” (from May 7, 2008). Curricula seem to begin with biology, work through chemistry, and finally introduce physics. If English were taught categorically as science is now, students would go through phases in this order:
The alphabet of science is made up of basic natural “laws” as discovered by Newton, Maxwell, Mendeleev, Heisenberg, and so on. Sentences and paragraphs are like molecules and chemical syntheses. And finally you have enough structure to begin to see how biology works from cells (essays) through organisms (stories) and populations (novels).
One could be taught holistic science, building to the grand ideas from the simple ones. By constructing the ideas instead of breaking them down, the interrelationship and the interactions of the parts can be seen, as well as the nature and function of the parts themselves. A whole is never the sum of the parts; it is the sum of the interactions between the parts set on a foundation of the parts themselves. This becomes obvious when building, but is obscured when deconstructing.
No wonder Americans doubt the “theory of evolution”. Schools try to teach this advanced and universal concept without any foundation. By the …
There's a new book out on cannibalism, in case you're interested. And, yes, you are interested. It's called "Among the Cannibals: Adventures on the Trail of Man's Darkest Ritual" (Smithsonian Books, 278 pages. $25.95), by Paul Raffaele. Here's a short summary by Malcolm Ritter. Here's an eerie thought: In a…
The title to this post is a teaser, of course. After a certain point, having more stuff does not make people happier. In his new book, Deep Economy: the Wealth of Communities and a Durable Future (2007), Bill McKibben asks why having more stuff usually doesn't make us happier. He…
I stumbled onto this fellow as a respondent on other blogs or the subject in yet others. Herman Cummings is an active proponent of Biblical truth over Scientific Inquiry. Why don't I just say "Creationism"? Because Herman argues against them, as well. He has nothing good to say about "Intelligent…