Monthly Archives: January 2009

No Two Alike

Mr. Hume:  Although The Nurture Assumption made the more noise, I actually liked No Two Alike the better of JRH’s two books. It begins with a pair of identical twins joined together at the head since birth. You can’t get … Continue reading

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Judith Rich Harris & nurture & nature

Since Bradlaugh & Heather have mentioned Judith Rich Harris, I would recommend both of her books, The Nurture Assumption & No Two Alike to any reader who wishes be introduced to behavior genetics.   You can also check out my interview … Continue reading

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The value of families

I think the leading candidate here is the work on child development showing that parenting styles don’t matter much, perhaps not at all above a certain very low level (locking the kids in the basement and feeding them cat food). … Continue reading

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Spies Like Us?

Walter, you mention the fact that the spy Robert Hanssen was also a member of Opus Dei, and then go on to comment that “the oft-mooted prophylactic effect of religious enthusiasm against world-league personal misbehavior doesn’t seem to work very … Continue reading

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Who’s the More Science-Hostile, Right or Left?

Following my having said (previous post) that any political position will find some human-science results obnoxious, a reader asked me, off-line, to identify a finding — not a practice, like embryo-destructive stem cell research, but a finding — that is obnoxious … Continue reading

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Science and Public Policy (cont.)

As I pointed out in a column a few weeks back, there are two sides to the Left’s claim to be the more science-friendly faction. It’s not just conservative politics that is hostile to science, it’s any politics, though the … Continue reading

Posted in politics, science, Science & Faith | 6 Comments

Science and public policy

New York Times Deputy Science Editor Dennis Overbye celebrated the alleged “restoration of science” under the Obama Administration this week, sounding a Chris Matthews-ian note of ecstasy about Obama’s ascension.   I agree with most of Overbye’s essay, which makes a … Continue reading

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Devout spies, cont’d

In your post about the Nicholsons, Heather, I hope you didn’t forget the case of Robert Hanssen, sometimes deemed the very worst Soviet mole ever, who was deep into ultraconservative Catholicism. (Wikipedia: “The Opus Dei priest who heard Robert’s confession … Continue reading

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Faith and treason

Harold James Nicholson, a CIA officer imprisoned for spying for Russia, invoked the will of God when communicating with his son from his jail cell.   “God leads us on our greatest adventures,” he wrote in a birthday card to his … Continue reading

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Miscellany, January 29

Ross Douthat doesn’t like Bertrand Russell’s “orbiting teacup” analogy and its modern Flying Spaghetti Monster descendant; Andrew Sullivan and readers then proceed to go ’round and ’round with the question [first, second, third, fourth posts] In the Roman Catholic Church’s … Continue reading

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