Category Archives: biology

Why do people say race isn’t real? 

Posted on 2024-01-04 by alan

People who say “race isn’t real” do so because they are so unbelievably lazy that they are prepared to just spout a manifestly silly slogan rather than do the work of explaining what racists get wrong. They do this even … Continue reading →

Posted in biology, social issues | Tagged | Leave a comment

And They have the guns!

Posted on 2011-03-25 by alan

From Discover Magazine:

Posted in canada, evolution, usa | Leave a comment

Moral Realism

Posted on 2011-03-24 by alan

Sean Carroll has taken issue with Richard Carrier over the latter’s position on Moral Realism. On reading Carrier  I think that his real point is (or should be) that realism and relativism are not in conflict. Moral values, like the economic … Continue reading →

Posted in psychology | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Algorithmic Babies and the Chinese Room

Posted on 2011-02-24 by alan

I commented at Stephen Downes’ website on Patricia Kuhl’s TED talk about “The Linguistic Genius of Babies”. My quibble was less with the content than with the sentimentalized headline, because, although the babies’ brains do appear to implement a sophisticated … Continue reading →

Posted in biology, neuroscience | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Defining Evolution

Posted on 2011-02-21 by alan

When I read the title of this piece (Theologians Lobby Successfully to Change Definition of Evolution | Cosmic Variance | Discover Magazine)I was prepared to get angry. But instead I am embarrassed on behalf of those who are complaining about … Continue reading →

Posted in evolution, religion | Leave a comment

“The Belief Instinct”

Posted on 2011-02-21 by alan

Jesse Bering’s “The Belief Instinct” is described as an exploration of possible sources of religion in cognitive tendencies towards a sense of being observed even when we have no evidence for it. To support this idea he reportedly both cites … Continue reading →

Posted in evolution, psychology, religion | Leave a comment

Mythical Myths #3 – The Concept of Race

Posted on 2011-02-15 by alan

Oh damn! I had no particular wish to address this until browsing led me by chance to RACE – The Power of an Illusion at PBS where a bunch of well intentioned people are discrediting anti-racism by associating it with a … Continue reading →

Posted in biology, social issues, statistics | Tagged , | 4 Comments

The Chinese Room

Posted on 2010-12-09 by alan

Stephen Downes links to this notice about three free Philosophy courses from John Searle who is famous for his Chinese Room thought experiment.  Now Searle may be a great teacher, and the ‘Chinese Room’ may be a useful paedagogical device, … Continue reading →

Posted in biology, psychology | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

The Inheritors of What?

Posted on 2010-11-18 by alan

A new book by Eric Kaufmann entitled Shall the Religious Inherit the Earth?: Demography and Politics in the Twenty-First Century is

Posted in biology, religion, sustainability | Leave a comment

Data Sharing Speeds Research

Posted on 2010-08-16 by alan

An article in the NYTimes (coming to me via Michael Geist) reports progress in Alzheimer’s research coming as a result of researchers adopting the principle of open data.

Posted in medicine, science, social issues | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Selfish Altruism

Posted on 2010-06-13 by alan

‘Psychological Altruism’ is just a special case of ‘Biological Altruism’ and the “gene” for either is the most selfish of all. Of course the concept of genes for actual characteristics all being in one-to-one correspondence with discrete sequences of DNA … Continue reading →

Posted in evolution, psychology, religion | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Brain Scans as Lie Detectors

Posted on 2010-06-08 by alan

BBC News – Brain scans being misused as lie detectors, experts say. And of course those who claim to interpret the scans will also call themselves experts. (Which leads us off to another conversation entirely) I am troubled by the … Continue reading →

Posted in psychology, social issues, technical issues | Leave a comment

Getting Smarter

Posted on 2009-07-20 by alan

This article shares some of my own reaction to the “internet is making us dumber” nonsense, as well as commenting on other possible sources of increasing global intelligence.

Posted in psychology, social issues, web | Tagged | Leave a comment

Is Mental Causation a Problem?

Posted on 2009-05-11 by alan

Stephen Downes points to this review by Sara Worley in NotreDame Philosophical Review of the book ‘Mental Causation’ by Anthony Dardis, and he (Stephen) concludes with this: “The main takeaway? This nice neat picture of ‘A causes B’ is deeply … Continue reading →

Posted in psychology | 2 Comments

I Google, therefore I Don’t Think

Posted on 2008-06-30 by alan

My friend Gerry Pareja sent this article by John Naughton from The Observer, responding (I think very well) to Nicholas Carr’s ‘Is Google Making Us Stupid?‘ in The Atlantic, but I can’t say that its arrival is what distracted me … Continue reading →

Posted in education, literature, psychology, web | Leave a comment

Hedonic Man

Posted on 2008-06-30 by alan

Hedonic Man is the title of a review by Alan Wolfe of two books on the “new economics”. Like Wolfe (and probably countless others) I am sure that the science of economics is sorely lacking, but also like him I … Continue reading →

Posted in economics, politics, psychology | Leave a comment

Gates on Watson on Race

Posted on 2008-06-26 by alan

The Science of Racism is an odd title for an article in which Henry Louis Gates identifies James Watson’s view as something he calls “racialist” and distinct from “racist”.

Posted in biology, social issues | Leave a comment

The Hyberbolic Crochet Coral Reef Project

Posted on 2008-03-05 by alan

“Holding theorems in their hands” is a blog post about the Hyperbolic Crochet Coral Reef Project. It’s a wonderful story about collaboration on many levels and across many interest groups – and with beautiful images to boot. I saw it … Continue reading →

Posted in arts and culture, biology, mathematics | Leave a comment

Eggheads – The Boston Globe

Posted on 2007-09-18 by alan

Eggheads – The Boston Globe Ravens and octopi both give me hope for the future of intelligence on this planet.

Posted in biology | Leave a comment

Leaning Tower Illusion

Posted on 2007-08-12 by alan

My friend Gerry Pareja forwarded a link to this story from ‘Improbable Research’ about the first prize winner in the Neural Correlate Society’s 2007 Illusion of the Year contest. The image certainly is pretty cool. But to test the explanation … Continue reading →

Posted in arts and culture, photography, psychology | Leave a comment