This incredible video was posted on Huffpo. In the video, President Bush's National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley (who was appearing on ABC's "This Week" with George Stephanopoulos) repeatedly confused Nepal and Tibet. Watching this clip, I wonder whether Stephanopoulos caught the problem. Apparently not, so shame on both of them. …
Summer of 2004. I have considered myself an atheist at least since the summer of 2004. For the sake of feeling smart and consistent, I believe I’ve considered myself an atheist for much longer. But I only have documented evidence of such a stance dating back to the summer of 2004.
Did I have some great logical awakening that roused me to critical thinking and clear-headedness? No. I know I did not. I know I didn’t become a perfect bastion of scientific thinking because, in the summer of 2004, I believed in handwriting analysis.
A knowledge-thirsty little 10th grader, I still believed then that if someone with a PhD wrote a book, that book had to contain gospel truth. I didn’t know the difference between bad science and good science. I didn’t even realize such a rift existed. So handwriting analysis, with all of its certain language and its sheer lack of cited empirical evidence, seemed as valid as medicine or geology.
Only half a year or so later, as I struggled to tell a friend that the dominating middle region in her script belied a permanently childish outlook, did I begin to realize exactly how idiotic this whole graphology thing sounded.
Ouch. It still stings to admit. Should I also admit that I used to take multivitamins? That I preferred bottled water over tap? Evidence supports none of these beliefs.
I hope I’ve made my point clearly: atheism did not protect me from having moronic …
My friend Russ sent me this link to an article in our local paper entitled, "Cowardly hypocrisy of Darwin fish displays". The title does a good job of strongly framing a weak argument. After I read it, I decided to post my response here: The article begins by framing anything…
I once created a fake college and I'm proud of it. This might strike you as odd, because most people who create diploma mills are doing so to make a quick buck by passing out bogus college degrees. These fake diplomas, in turn, allow unqualified people to get promotions and…
Dan Smolin writes some persuasive posts on the topic of investing. I'm categorizing this post under "snake oil" because of a point that Smolin repeatedly makes: that virtually every investment professional's claim that he/she can help you beat the market is false. Dan often does a Q&A. Here's a…