Among scientists, physicists seem to be the most likely to believe in some version of an all powerful sentient being or force. While very few of them are willing to say what such a being or force might be, religionists are always keen to claim such statements as “evidence” for their gods.
I have always understood [...]
Tags:Big Bang·deism·design·laws of physics·physicists·Richard Dawkins·Stephen Hawking·theism
Over at Discover, Razib Khan has reviewed Oren Harman’s new book The Price of Altruism: George Price and the Search for the Origins of Kindness. It is fantastic review and I encourage you to read it. Price was many things, including a theoretical evolutionary biologist with considerable mathematical skills. As Razib explains:
George Price’s aim was [...]
Tags:altruism·cooperation·dove·evolution of religion·evolutionary theory·Fisher's theorem of natural selection·George Price·goodness·group level selection·group level selectionists·hawk·inclusive fitness·morphs·Oren Harman·Paleolithic·Razib Khan·Richard Dawkins·The Price of Altruism
Over at Slate, Ron Rosenbaum has penned a manifesto for the “new agnosticism,” which he sees as an alternative to credulous theism on the the one hand and strident atheism on the other. Rosenbaum’s position deserves considerable merit and has some appeal, but I am not sure I can agree with him on this definition:
Agnosticism [...]
Tags:agnostic·agnosticism·atheism·certainty·Christopher Hitchens·data·evidence·logic·methodology·nihilism·positivism·reason·Richard Dawkins·Ron Rosenbaum·Sam Harris·skepticism·supernatural agents·supernatural forces·theism·Thomas Henry Huxley·truth
Over at HuffPo Religion, Dr. Rustum Roy — a geochemist — accuses the media of criminal conduct in its reporting of the non-existent war between science and religion. In the course of doing so, Roy tilts at several windmills and claims special authority for “hard” or “classical” science.
Roy begins by touting his credentials as a [...]
Tags:Christopher Hitchens·classical science·cosmology·Daniel Dennett·Darwin·experimental science·facts lab science·geochemistry·hard science·Harvey Whitehouse·Ian Stevenson·Jeanne Achterberg·Jesse Bering·Justin Barrett·Larry Dossey·Nietzsche·Pascal Boyer·placebo·positivism·Richard Dawkins·Rustum Roy·Sam Harris·Scott Atran·shamanic healing·Stephen Hawkins·Stephen Weinberg
The Jehovah’s Witnesses are a fascinating group and highly successful in growing their membership. For those who don’t know much about them, I recommend Rodney Stark’s and Laurence Iannaccone’s article “Why the Jehovah’s Witnesses Grow So Rapidly: A Theoretical Application.” The article contains a concise history of the Witnesses, and then attempts to explain their [...]
Tags:Billy Graham·Christopher Hitchens·Dale Carnegie·Ecce Homo·Jehovah's Witnesses·Joel Meares·Joel Osteen·Laurence Iannaccone·Nathan Heller·Nikos Kazantzakis·Oral Roberts·religious publishing·Richard Dawkins·Rick Warren·Rodney Stark·Sam Harris·The Last Temptation of Christ·The Shack·The Watchtower·William Young
A few months ago, the cognitive archaeologist David Lewis-Williams published Conceiving God: The Cognitive Origin and Evolution of Religion. When I saw the title, I worried that perhaps I had been scooped. Now that I have nearly finished the book, my worry has passed. Lewis-Williams’ title is a bit deceiving, given that the book combines [...]
Tags:A Mind So Rare: The Evolution of Human Consciousness·altered states of consciousness·cognition·consciousness·David Lewis-Williams·Francis Crick·Gerald Edelman·Merlin Donald·Richard Dawkins·Sam Harris·supernatural thinking·The Conscious Brain·Thomas Nagel·What Is It Like To Be a Bat?
Over at the Telegraph, Matthew Taylor reviews Philip Pullman’s new novel, The Good Man Jesus and the Scoundrel Christ. Based on Taylor’s description, the novel appears to be a thinly-veiled attack on Christianity. Yawn. If you want to read a good novel that interrogates Christianity and complicates its dogma, I suggest Nikos Kazantzakis’ The Last [...]
Tags:David Sloan Wilson·Nikos Kazantzakis·Richard Dawkins·The Last Temptation of Christ
