How media report statistics according to their philosophy: Enlightenment headline: SCIENCE and CAPITALISM a great success. Jaded-feminist headline: The PATRIARCHY encouraging women to be BABY-MAKING MACHINES. Socialist-Marxist headline: Europeans gain by EXPLOITING poor women in the THIRD WORLD. Postmodern headline: NO news here — “HEALTH” and “PROGRESS” mere SUBJECTIVE narratives.
Mortality headlines [humor alert] Read More »
Pinker is a professor of psychology at Harvard. His letter is to a board member of the AAAS, which publishes Science, in response to a fundraising letter. Excerpts: My own experience as a scientific communicator confirms that there is enormous distrust of the scientific and academic establishments, because people believe these establishments have been captured
Excellent letter from Steven Pinker on politicizing science and *Science* Read More »
In this unit of the Objectivity course we feature Kuhn’s The Structure of Scientific Revolutions, in which he questions whether science is or can be an objective process based upon observational facts that makes progress toward truth. Thomas Kuhn was a professor at Massachusetts Institute of Technology and author of The Structure of Scientific Revolutions, a
Thomas Kuhn, *The Structure of Scientific Revolutions* [Objectivity course] Read More »
I’d like to know what was in his mind at that moment. Bathysaurus ferox (literally meaning “fierce deep-sea lizard”) lives by “burying itself on the deep seafloor, 3,300 to 8,200 feet (1,000 to 2,500 m) below the water’s surface. When unsuspecting prey swims by, B. ferox darts out of the sediment and snatches up the meal in its formidable
On the fifth day, God created the fierce deep-sea lizard Read More »
I’m gathering data relevant to innovation culture and policy. Here’s a starter table. [Updated: Pfizer-BioNtech is a joint American-German product; Russia’s added.] Update: Russia’s vaccine covered here.
Vaccine developments by country and effectiveness Read More »
Following up on two posts on the achievements of modern anatomy (“The Knife Man” and “Anatomy and Philosophy”), here is St. Augustine (354-430) disapproving of the practice: “With a cruel zeal for science, some medical men, who are called anatomists, have dissected the bodies of the dead, and sometimes even of sick persons who have
St. Augustine against anatomy and science Read More »
On December 5, I’ll be in Mexico to speak at La Cuidad de Las Ideas. “La Ciudad de las Ideas is an International Festival of Brilliant Minds, a celebration of creativity and curiosity. With the participation of over 60 speakers, from scientists to opinion leaders, the festival takes place from the 4th to the 6th
Idea Festival 2020: Cuidad de las Ideas (Mexico) Read More »
