Philosopher’s Zone- NYTimes – The Stone
- Ethics Bites
- Talking Philosophy
- RSA Animate
- Phonline
- Scientific American – Mind and Brain
- #SciAmBlogs Monday - eating healthfully, DSM-5, polyploidy, fecal transplants, non-identical twins, and more.
- Cancer, genomics and technological solutionism: A time to be wary
- DSM-5: Caught between Mental Illness Stigma and Anti-Psychiatry Prejudice
- China's One-Child Policy Affects Personality
- Why Feeling Anxious about a Vaccine Makes It More Effective (and Other Benefits of Short-Term Stress)
- TED talks
- TED: Peter Singer: The why and how of effective altruism - Peter Singer (2013)
- TED: Sergey Brin: Why Google Glass? - Sergey Brin (2013)
- TED: Jay Silver: Hack a banana, make a keyboard! - Jay Silver (2013)
- TED: Liu Bolin: The invisible man - Liu Bolin (2013)
- TED: Maria Bezaitis: The surprising need for strangeness - Maria Bezaitis (2013)
Category Archives: Philosophy of Science
What use Philosophy?
Discuss.
Posted in Media Articles, Cartoons, Philosophy of Science, PowerPoints, Video and other Media
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A Useful Introduction to Critical Thinking Skills
Download Video or MP3
Posted in Critical Thinking, Philosophy of Science, PowerPoints, Video and other Media
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The Language of Science
Listen and learn: the language of science and scepticism Peter Ellerton Making sure what’s intended is what’s heard can be more difficult than it seems. Melvin Gaal (mindsharing.eu) As scientists, one of our responsibilities should be to promote clarity. A lot … Continue reading
Posted in Booklets, Handouts and Worksheets, Critical Thinking, Media Articles, Cartoons, Philosophy of Science
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Another Double Blind Test surprise
Stradivarius Fails Sound Test Versus Newbie Violins Download pdf (from sciam) Can you tell the difference between modern violins and antiques crafted by Italian masters? Don’t feel too bad – expert players can’t do it either. In a double-blind test, 21 experienced … Continue reading
Posted in Booklets, Handouts and Worksheets, Critical Thinking, Media Articles, Cartoons, Philosophy of Science
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Logic, Knowledge Systems and World Views
The way of logic – 02 December 1995 – New Scientist FOR almost two centuries, anthropologists have been studying how non-European cultures understand the world around them. Now philosophers of science are getting in on the act. Armed with intellectual … Continue reading
Posted in Media Articles, Cartoons, Philosophy of Language, Philosophy of Science
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The Changing Climate of Skepticism
Via Embiggen Books In this excellent talk given by Peter Ellerton (winner of the 2008 Australian Skeptics prize for Critical Thinking) on the Climate Change debate, the viewer is encouraged to examine the way in which the debate is being … Continue reading
Imagining the Tenth Dimension
Excellent intellectual exercise Download Video or MP3
A Wonderful Piece of Pseudoscience in Advertising
Well worth reading the whole lot. The language is absolute nonsense. “By strengthening the body’s own natural energy and innate intelligence, the QLink allows it to recognise and differentiate between which external energies are healthy, and which are not. The … Continue reading
How Science Works in Action
Faster-than-light neutrinos show science in action Making a very good point about when to believe evidence. via Scientific American Unless you’ve been hiding under a rock for the past 24 hours, you’ve probably heard about the neutrinos that … Continue reading
Ability to Think Scientifically Declines as Kids Grow Up
Young children think like researchers but lose the feel for the scientific method as they age via Scientific American If your brownies came out too crispy on top but undercooked in the center, it would make sense … Continue reading
Anecdotal Evidence cartoon
via smbc
How Anecdotal Evidence Can Undermine Scientific Results
Why subjective anecdotes often trump objective data By Michael Shermer | July 25, 2008 | 27 http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=how-anecdotal-evidence-can-undermine-scientific-results The recent medical controversy over whether vaccinations cause autism reveals a habit of human cognition—thinking anecdotally comes naturally, whereas thinking scientifically does not.
Happiness, Philosophy and Science
By GARY GUTTING NYTimes ‘The Stone’ http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/author/gary-gutting/ Extract below (useful bit) The new research has both raised hopes and provoked skepticism. Psychologists such as Sonja Lyubomirsky have developed a new genre of self-help books, purporting to replace the intuitions … Continue reading
Peace of Mind: Near-Death Experiences Now Found to Have Scientific Explanations
Seeing your life pass before you and the light at the end of the tunnel, can be explained by new research on abnormal functioning of dopamine and oxygen flow By Charles Q. Choi Scientific American http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=peace-of-mind-near-death Near-death experiences are often thought of … Continue reading
Homeopathic leak threatens catastrophe
What is the role of humour here…? http://www.newsbiscuit.com/2011/09/09/homeopathic-leak-threatens-catastrophe/ An accidental release of highly dilute homeopathic waste from a research institute in Swindon has led to calls for the centre to be shut down. Plant operators have admitted responsibility for massive … Continue reading
Post modernism explained?
Obviously simplistic, but ripe for comment!
What’s logic got to do with it? – Some of the greatest flashes of scientific inspiration were sparked by utterly illogical thinking.
POPULAR belief has it that science is the preserve of logical Mr Spocks. A great scientific discovery must surely spring from a series of logical steps, each taken coolly and calmly, in the rational order. But take some time to … Continue reading
Top Ten Evolution Myths – and how we know it really happened (pdf)
Often misunderstandings about evolution are really misunderstandings about how science operates. This document deals with both rather nicely. Philosophy of Science. From the Skeptics Society. Top Ten Evolution Myths (pdf)
Richard Feynman on the nature of science
A beautiful analogy between science and chess.
Consciousness – science tackles the self (pdf)
We know that we are aware of ourselves. But we don’t know how. And we are not even sure why. The answers may lie in the physical processes of consciousness 01 April 1989 by SUSAN BLACKMORE New Scientists Magazine issue … Continue reading
