Category Archives: uncategorized

Sean Carroll of the Cosmic Variance blog at Discover Magazine claims that the “Fall” of Adam and Eve is “a terrible lesson on which to found a system of belief” On the contrary, it is a wonderful “lesson on which to found a … Continue reading →

In this post at Discover Magazine (referencing a New Yorker article on Svante Pääbo), Razib Khan suggests that “Perhaps the difference between Neandertals and behaviorally modern humans was less about large between group differences in individual level traits, and more … Continue reading →

Here is how people who consider themselves especially rational behave: Person A does something which person B finds discomfiting. She says so and (without identifying A) publishes a request that others refrain from such behaviour. Howls of outrage (mostly anonymous … Continue reading →

I tend to agree with Stephen Downes that there is nothing wrong and much to be admired in the use of social media to record criminal acts and bring the perpetrators to justice. And I particularly object to Alexandra Samuel‘s apparent … Continue reading →

Murray Bourne of squareCircleZ has posted on ‘How to find the equation of a quadratic function from its graph‘. This is indeed the type of discussion and exercise that we need to see more of.  Not only does it promote a … Continue reading →

In retrospect it is obvious that the mission had no hope of success. Obviously anyone with the resources available to Osama bin Laden, when building a special-purpose hiding place, would have included an escape shaft from his apartment which led … Continue reading →

Kenny Felder who I “met” as an appreciative user of my GraphExplorer applet has written a number of Essays and Commentaries that I find quite interesting.

he Rodney Dangerfield ‘No Respect’ award for 2010-11 has to go to John S Wilkins for two of his recent posts. First he complains on behalf of his discipline that it gets no respect from the scientists whose work it … Continue reading →

This must be everything or else it will be nothing.

Much of the discussion in the first week of the #PLENK2010 course was devoted to the (often quite subtle) distinctions between the Personal Learning Environment and the Personal Learning Network which it supports (and which is itself part of the … Continue reading →

Discover Magazine is asking for readers to suggest their candidates for the Top Five Lies About Global Warming. Here are my suggestions: 1. It has recently been proved (False – it was “proved” in the 19th century by Svante Arrhenius. … Continue reading →

Stephen Downes and Jay Hathaway are upbeat about this, but I share the doubts expressed by ‘saltrix’ and ‘Alain’ on Jay’s posting, and by the critics quoted in the NYT’s more recent article. Namely “protecting the internet” won’t mean a … Continue reading →

The rise of the new agnostics. – By Ron Rosenbaum – Slate Magazine. is a childish rant against the so-called “New Atheists” based on the canard that Atheists display a credulous and childlike faith, worship a certainty as yet unsupported … Continue reading →