Philosopher’s Zone- NYTimes – The Stone
- Ethics Bites
- Talking Philosophy
- RSA Animate
- Phonline
- Scientific American – Mind and Brain
- Friday Weird Science: What's your fart volume?
- Why Do Top Athletes Suddenly Develop the Yips --a Tendency to Choke under Pressure?
- #SciAmBlogs Friday - quantum computing, rationalilty, armed Treebeard, Giant African Land Snails, invasive ladybugs, and more.
- Vision is all about change
- MIND Reviews: The Autistic Brain
- TED talks
- 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)
- TED: Meg Jay: Why 30 is not the new 20 - Meg Jay (2013)
Category Archives: Booklets, Handouts and Worksheets
Science and Conspiracy
A useful resource produced by NASA debunking claims that the moon landings were faked. Debunking moon landing conspiracies
Posted in Booklets, Handouts and Worksheets, Critical Thinking, Media Articles, Cartoons
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Fallacies Poster
A lovely job from http://yourlogicalfallacyis.com/ please visit the site for interactive presentation.
Posted in Booklets, Handouts and Worksheets, Critical Thinking
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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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Philosophy — What’s the Use?
Are you looking to see why teaching philosophy is important? Another great article from NYTimes The Stone Almost every article that appears in The Stone provokes some comments from readers challenging the very idea that philosophy has anything relevant to … Continue reading
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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
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When Should Science be Censored?
Calls to censor details of potential killer flu via ABC News The suppression of breakthrough research into deadly bird flu strains has been labelled scientific censorship by some, but others say it is a necessary step to prevent a possible … Continue reading
Posted in Booklets, Handouts and Worksheets, Ethics and Moral Philosophy, Media Articles, Cartoons, Social and Political Philosophy
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The Backfire Effect
When people believe more strongly in something AFTER they have been given information that refutes it…. Good explanation here http://youarenotsosmart.com/2011/06/10/the-backfire-effect/ And paper by Brendan Nyhan here (pdf). Abstract below. An extensive literature addresses citizen ignorance, but very little research focuses … Continue reading
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Suing for Being Born
ISRAELI children with birth defects are increasingly suing the medical authorities for ever allowing them to be born. The rise in such “wrongful life” lawsuits, which the medical profession estimates at 600 since the first case in 1987, has prompted … Continue reading
Animal Actors – Animal Rights, Human Perceptions
Chimpanzees Should Not Be Used in TV or Movies (via Scientific American) Does the use of chimps in movies distort the conservation message? By Jason G. Goldman | October 12, 2011 | 3 Lots of people mistake bonobos for chimpanzees, despite the fact that they’re really … Continue reading
Why do humans reason? Arguments for an argumentative theory
Great paper on Reasoning Why Do Humans Reason? (pdf) Abstract and authors below… Abstract: Reasoning is generally seen as a means to improve knowledge and make better decisions. However, much evidence shows that reasoning often leads to epistemic distortions and poor … Continue reading
Tips on Writing a Philosophy Paper/Essay
A nice overview from Douglas W. Portmore Tips on writing a philosophy paper (pdf) The full text is below…
Developing critical thinking skills
A useful handout that talks about reading, writing and thinking critically with examples of how to achieve this. via http://sydney.edu.au/stuserv/documents/learning_centre/critical.pdf Critical Thinking Skills (pdf)
Critical Thinking – An Introduction (Alec Fisher)
This ebook is widely available for download on the web. I got it here www.axzopress.com/downloads/pdf/1560526483pv.pdf Critical thinking introduction (pdf) A good resource for referencing what we mean by critical thinking.
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)
Hooked on Horoscopes (pdf)
We may not be able to persuade people that astrology and graphology are nonsense, but psychology, with the help of a showman, reveals why they are so popular. The Barnum effect. Psychology and critical thinking. Hooked on horoscopes (pdf)
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Tagged Peter Ellerton
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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
Teaching the Nature of Science
Three Critical Questions By Randy L. Bell, Ph.D. Teaching the Nature of Science
Theory of Knowledge – Sense Perception
Teaching the Nature of Science.pdf
The Relativity of Wrong – Isaac Asimov
Are all wrongs equally wrong? TOK, philosophy of science, nature of truth, inductive reasoning. Asimov – The Relativity of Wrong (pdf) Full text below
