Dear God: Please do me a favor and hurt someone . . .
"Imprecatory prayer"? I'd never heard of it until today, thanks to Ebonmuse at Daylight Atheism.
List of fallacies to get you through the election season
The political season is getting into high gear, so it's a good idea to have a list of types of fallacious arguments handy. I recently found this collection, titled "The Nizkor Project."Â All of your favorite fallacies are here, including these: Ad Hominem Ad Hominem Tu Quoque Appeal to Authority…
In 1994, Dick Cheney got it right about Iraq
In this startling video, Cheney concludes that getting Saddam Hussein wouldn't have been worth many American lives. He is speaking fluidly and confidently, like an unpatriotic liberal, throughout the video. [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YENbElb5-xY[/youtube]
Phobic Innumeracy
In an article from the Washington Post we learn that the United States has slipped in the ranking for life expectancy in the world to number 42. Douglas Adams aside, this is not a good thing. The article lists a good many factors contributing to this fact, which seems paradoxical…
No apology for sociobiology
Despite the rhyming title, this is a serious topic. But not always a controversial topic . . . Sociobiology is an un-controversial field of study as long as we stick to studying animals other than human animals. Here's how John Alcock describes sociobiology in The Triumph of Sociobiology (2001): "Genetic differences help explain why people develop differences in at least some aspects of their behavior." (Page 53). Here's another way to put it: "Sociobiologists want to know the evolved function or purpose of whatever aspect of social behavior they are studying." Alcock is a prolific and highly respected biologist who teaches at the Arizona State University. His textbook, Animal Behavior, is currently on its eighth edition. I used his textbook when I took a class on animal behavior a few years ago. It is a terrific resource, highly organized and thoroughly researched. [More . . .]