Category Archives: science

Disenchantment

Posted on June 9, 2009 by Bradlaugh

Just finished Thomas Metzinger’s new book The Ego Tunnel (which you can get for a few dollars at Abebooks — Amazon want some ridiculous price). It’s a very good survey of current mind studies. Metzinger is a philosopher, but he’s up … Continue reading →

Posted in philosophy, science | 15 Comments

The politics of science

Posted on June 8, 2009 by David Hume

Bryan Caplan observes of Behaviorial Geneticists versus Policy Implications: In most disciplines, experts oversell their ability to give useful policy advice. In behavioral genetics, however, experts strangely undersell their ability to give useful policy advice…. …The upshot: Behavioral genetics makes … Continue reading →

Posted in science | Tagged , | 5 Comments

Conservatism as disposition; the politcs of disgust

Posted on June 7, 2009 by David Hume

There are a series of papers out right now which show the positive relationship between political conservatism and reflexive disgust responses. Instead of summarizing the research myself I will point you to Observations of a Nerd, who does a really … Continue reading →

Posted in science | Tagged , , , | 12 Comments

Politics as personal disposition

Posted on May 7, 2009 by David Hume

Will Wilkinson has a post up, The Caveman Roots of Liberal Democracy?, which riffed off some opinions in regards to the swing back toward “primal” values which I perceive to be the norm in modern liberal societies. Some of the … Continue reading →

Posted in culture, politics, science | Tagged , , | 21 Comments

One Cheer for David Brooks

Posted on April 7, 2009 by Bradlaugh

Heather:  Thus spurred, I took another look at Brooks’ column. The dubious stuff is down towards the end. The rise and now dominance of this emotional approach to morality … challenges the new atheists, who see themselves involved in a war of … Continue reading →

Posted in science | 10 Comments

Evolution & morality

Posted on February 16, 2009 by David Hume

The American Scene points me to two Will Wilkinson posts where he attempts to move beyond vulgar evolutionary psychology in adducing proper morality. I learn toward the sentiment. The naturalistic fallacy is less fallacious when one conceptualizes human moral intuitions … Continue reading →

Posted in science | Tagged | 2 Comments

Judith Rich Harris & nurture & nature

Posted on January 31, 2009 by David Hume

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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Science and Public Policy (cont.)

Posted on January 30, 2009 by Bradlaugh

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

Jewish Geocentrism

Posted on January 22, 2009 by David Hume

Check out this post, Judaism and Geocentrism, from Joshua Zelinksy: Most of the active Jewish geocentrists are Lubavitchers. In contrast to the Christian geocentrists who have as their main impetus for geocentrism various Biblical verses, the Jewish geocentrists seem to … Continue reading →

Posted in science | Tagged | 3 Comments

Science & society

Posted on January 12, 2009 by David Hume

I have a piece up at Taki’s Magazine, The Limits of Certitude. It might be read along with a post at ScienceBlogs, Science is rational; scientists are not. I might as well have labeled it “An argument for conservatism.”

Posted in philosophy, science, Uncategorized | Tagged , | 8 Comments