WHY DO SOME PEOPLE RESIST SCIENCE?
"The developmental data suggest that resistance to science will arise in children when scientific claims clash with early emerging, intuitive expectations. This resistance will persist through adulthood if the scientific claims are contested within a society, and will be especially strong if there is a non-scientific alternative that is rooted in common sense and championed by people who are taken as reliable and trustworthy. This is the current situation in the United States with regard to the central tenets of neuroscience and of evolutionary biology. These clash with intuitive beliefs about the immaterial nature of the soul and the purposeful design of humans and other animals _ and, in the United States, these intuitive beliefs are particularly likely to be endorsed and transmitted by trusted religious and political authorities. Hence these are among the domains where Americans' resistance to science is the strongest."
Why do some people resist science? By Paul Bloom and Deena Skolnick Weisberg of Yale
"The developmental data suggest that resistance to science will arise in children when scientific claims clash with early emerging, intuitive expectations. This resistance will persist through adulthood if the scientific claims are contested within a society, and will be especially strong if there is a non-scientific alternative that is rooted in common sense and championed by people who are taken as reliable and trustworthy. This is the current situation in the United States with regard to the central tenets of neuroscience and of evolutionary biology. These clash with intuitive beliefs about the immaterial nature of the soul and the purposeful design of humans and other animals _ and, in the United States, these intuitive beliefs are particularly likely to be endorsed and transmitted by trusted religious and political authorities. Hence these are among the domains where Americans' resistance to science is the strongest."
Why do some people resist science? By Paul Bloom and Deena Skolnick Weisberg of Yale
What's been on my mind during the last month since I blogged:
1. I further embrace atheism. That said, I accept that irrational little part of me that needs the superstition to explain the unexplainable and let it do what it must.
2. The US is turning into a surveillance society, which is something I don't wish to be a part of.
3. Ending sentences with prepositions is just fine.
4. I don't see the US being our long term home.
5. The other day I declared myself emotionally bankrupt and threw alway all the emotional baggage* I've carried for far too long.
6. Krispy Kreme dognuts are more addictive than cigarettes. OH NO!!!
* More like luggage
1. I further embrace atheism. That said, I accept that irrational little part of me that needs the superstition to explain the unexplainable and let it do what it must.
2. The US is turning into a surveillance society, which is something I don't wish to be a part of.
3. Ending sentences with prepositions is just fine.
4. I don't see the US being our long term home.
5. The other day I declared myself emotionally bankrupt and threw alway all the emotional baggage* I've carried for far too long.
6. Krispy Kreme dognuts are more addictive than cigarettes. OH NO!!!
* More like luggage
What's been on my mind since my last blog entry:
0. Free will is an illusion and a delusion.
1. We are neuro-chemical machines running lots of short neuo-chemical programs.
2. Give somebody a stimulus and they'll give you a pre-programed response.
3. People are push-button machines.
4. Any decided effort to change one's own neuro-chemical programs is not free will as it, too, is a response to a set of stimulations.
5. Being reprogrammed by others is often easier than reprogramming one's self.
6. Awareness that one is being reprogrammed is unnecessary.
7. Cellular automata are still a good way to model people's behavior in systems.
8. Certainty and belief are convenient delusions.
9. Instead of saying "I believe" say "I make believe." Just try it on for a while.
10. All human behavior is singing and dancing.
11. Everyone has stimulation needs that are going to be met one way or another.
12. I have huge stimulation needs.
13. To meet those needs I will extract extra stimulation from current familiar situations or create new ones.
14. I may very well destroy myself in the process of getting my stimulation needs met, and that worries me.
15. Understanding myself in these terms has certainly helped me to control my behavior.
16. Goto 0.
0. Free will is an illusion and a delusion.
1. We are neuro-chemical machines running lots of short neuo-chemical programs.
2. Give somebody a stimulus and they'll give you a pre-programed response.
3. People are push-button machines.
4. Any decided effort to change one's own neuro-chemical programs is not free will as it, too, is a response to a set of stimulations.
5. Being reprogrammed by others is often easier than reprogramming one's self.
6. Awareness that one is being reprogrammed is unnecessary.
7. Cellular automata are still a good way to model people's behavior in systems.
8. Certainty and belief are convenient delusions.
9. Instead of saying "I believe" say "I make believe." Just try it on for a while.
10. All human behavior is singing and dancing.
11. Everyone has stimulation needs that are going to be met one way or another.
12. I have huge stimulation needs.
13. To meet those needs I will extract extra stimulation from current familiar situations or create new ones.
14. I may very well destroy myself in the process of getting my stimulation needs met, and that worries me.
15. Understanding myself in these terms has certainly helped me to control my behavior.
16. Goto 0.
"...but who the fuck are you to turn your views into my laws?" -- Eric Schwartz
Sticking a finger into the eye of fundies of ALL stripes.
Fuck 'em, especially if they can't take a joke.
Sticking a finger into the eye of fundies of ALL stripes.
Fuck 'em, especially if they can't take a joke.
Philosophy be damned!!! It's a beautiful life and I've got a clear calendar until I die.
What to do?!
*Give me your ideas and I'll try to match them with an appropriate pic. Or, feel free to comment. Thanks!*
What to do?!
*Give me your ideas and I'll try to match them with an appropriate pic. Or, feel free to comment. Thanks!*
"Look. Your brain has an immune system, just like your body. The more you use it--the more viruses you get exposed to--the better your immune system becomes. And I've got a hell of an immune system. Remember, I was an atheist for a while, and then came back to religion the hard way."
Snow Crash, page 429, Neal Stephenson
Snow Crash, page 429, Neal Stephenson
It's nice that one of the worst weeks of my life is over,
and I'm in continual amazement that the worst seems to be ever more palatable.
and I'm in continual amazement that the worst seems to be ever more palatable.
OCTOBER 2007
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SEPTEMBER 2007
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AUGUST 2007
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JULY 2007