Category Archives: science

The Church of Climate Change: Some Movement in The Pews

Posted on February 2, 2010 by Andrew Stuttaford

This press report is interesting, not only for what it contains  (some tricky questions about Chinese climate data on urban ‘heat islands’ ), but for where it appears – in the Guardian, a center of AGW orthodoxy. The Guardian‘s writer concludes … Continue reading →

Posted in science, Science & Faith | Tagged | 7 Comments

The Church of Climate Change? (3)

Posted on November 29, 2009 by Andrew Stuttaford

Here’s a fairly even-handed summary of the Warmergate scandal from the London Times. These sections are particularly relevant to the idea that a belief in AGW has mutated, for some, into a quasi-religious faith: …There is unease even among researchers … Continue reading →

Posted in politics, science, Science & Faith | 17 Comments

The Church of Climate Change? (2)

Posted on November 27, 2009 by Andrew Stuttaford

Via the New York Times come these comments from a climate scientist at the University of East Anglia (the hacked documents came from the UEA’s Climatic Research Unit). They are particularly interesting for what he has to say about the … Continue reading →

Posted in politics, science, Science & Faith | Tagged | 3 Comments

The Church of Climate Change?

Posted on November 27, 2009 by Andrew Stuttaford

Heather, in the course of your (fine) post on Syncopation and Thanksgiving, you reject the notion “that global warming theory represents some atavistic religious impulse.” In one sense, of course, you are quite right to do so. The idea that we … Continue reading →

Posted in politics, science, Science & Faith | Tagged , | 10 Comments

Politics and Science

Posted on November 26, 2009 by Bradlaugh

Barely was the ink dry (pixels glowing, whatever) on  my having posted this to National Review Online: Politics … corrupts the human sciences, suppressing research in areas where it’s feared results will crash up against what Bill Buckley called “the prevailing structure of … Continue reading →

Posted in politics, science | 6 Comments

Roissy No Alpha

Posted on November 24, 2009 by Bradlaugh

I’m a big fan of Roissy in DC — who isn’t? — but someone should tell him that he’s got the alpha-beta stuff all wrong. In hierarchical primate societies, the alpha males are the ones with power. They have legions of … Continue reading →

Posted in politics, science | 21 Comments

Nicholas Wade’s New Book

Posted on November 7, 2009 by Bradlaugh

Nick Wade’s new book The Faith Instinct comes out next week.  I’ve been reading it for review, and it’s excellent.  He seems (I’m only 60 pages in) to plant himself firmly in the religion-is-adaptive camp. This puts him in a … Continue reading →

Posted in science, Science & Faith | 4 Comments

The Bright Side of Being Blue

Posted on October 7, 2009 by Bradlaugh

I’m going to assume here that all readers of Secular Right are deep enthralled in their copies of  We Are Doomed: Reclaiming Conservative Pessimism.   That would be the top copy, I mean, of the five you purchased as gifts for … Continue reading →

Posted in science | 9 Comments

Humans did not evolve from chimpanzees!

Posted on October 1, 2009 by David Hume

Ardipithecus ramidus tells us so.

Posted in culture, science | Tagged | 7 Comments

Conservative elites are conflicted on evolution, liberals are not

Posted on September 29, 2009 by David Hume

On one of my other weblogs I point out how anti-evolutionary sentiment seems particularly contingent on two variables: 1) Literalism about the Bible (a rough measure of “fundamentalism”). 2) Lack of educational socialization (i.e., not going to college and learning … Continue reading →

Posted in culture, data, science | Tagged , , , | 25 Comments