Science & Society
A few days ago there was worry that a British movie about Darwin was too religiously radioactive to find a US distributor. That seemed a little odd - the US has no shortage of movies that offend fundamentalist Christian sensibilities.
Now this week, via The Panda's Thumb, there is now a bidding war in the US for the rights to distribute the film.
It could be that, after the film's huge success in the UK, US distributors changed their minds. Or, as Hank put it in the comments when this first came out, this is just a publicity stunt taking advantage of the controversial status of evolution in…
A LiveScience article titled "Teen Birth Rates Higher in Highly Religious States", seems to be stretching the bounds of causality and creating linkages where none may exist.
In particular, without seeing the details of the study, it seems that drawing such a specific conclusion is beyond the scope of the data, especially when one considers that only 5 states were common to both lists (1) (each consisting of 10 states).
Admittedly the study has several caveats, but it seems that the correlation being alluded to is not particularly strong and seems more like picking a fight with religious…
The idea that if you're rich then you're smarter/more hard working/more righteous than everyone else has a long history in America that begins well before Horatio Alger. From Cotton Mather, to Ben Franklin, to Joseph Smith (who wrote a book about two ancient American civilizations which were rewarded with wealth for righteousness, although wealth proves to be their undoing as well), all the way to Ayn Rand and beyond, wealth has been taken as an indicator of virtue.
The funny thing is that, in Ayn Rand (who has nearly an entire shelf devoted to her at my local Borders), this idea has been…
Scientist and science writer Olivia Judson about the UK's charitable stance towards pseudoscience:
The libel laws of England and Wales are notorious. Libel cases cost little to bring — you can make a no-win-no-fee arrangement with your lawyer — but a lot to defend. According to a recent report, the average cost of defending a libel case in England and Wales is 140 times greater than it is in most of the rest of Europe.
Moreover, English libel law favors the claimant — the person who says he or she has been defamed — in several ways. For one, the range of defenses is more limited than in other…
Maktub |
Private military firms and the Department of Defense bare the brunt of the United States military complex. The "shark" (US DoD) embraces its "supremacy" (technological superiority). Yet we, our complex, have become so embedded in this evolving struggle to out-do the progress of our foes, that we have created competitors who benefit greatly from unintended consequences that technological advancement brings. For instance, we are the visitors on the insurgency's home field. As we upgrade our plays, so does their home team, in order challenge us. The final minutes of the game come closer,…
The first (intended to be annual)[1] Northeast Conference on Science and Skepticism was held on Saturday, sponsored by the New England Skeptical Society and the New York City Skeptics. The conference was meant to present the views and opinions of some skeptics — including comments on what it means to be a skeptic — and to give skeptics a venue to get together, meet, and talk. They cutely gave it a name that they could abbreviate as NECSS and pronounce “nexus”.
The conference was mostly very good, with a few slow spots. For the most part, the speakers were engaging and interesting. These…
Seriously?
The film [Creation] was chosen to open the Toronto Film Festival and has its British premiere on Sunday. It has been sold in almost every territory around the world, from Australia to Scandinavia.
However, US distributors have resolutely passed on a film which will prove hugely divisive in a country where, according to a Gallup poll conducted in February, only 39 per cent of Americans believe in the theory of evolution.
Religulous and Dan Brown's take on Christian history aren't too hot to touch, but Darwin is?
The monthly book club here at Adaptive Complexity has been on hiatus for the summer, and its revival is long overdue. Join me here on the second Sunday of each month to discuss a great (hopefully) science read. I don't limit my book reviews to Sundays or once per month, but the Sunday Science Book Club is set up so that you can read along and put in your thoughts, in the comments or on your own blog.
So here is the schedule through December:
October 11 - The Strangest Man, a new biography of physics giant Paul Dirac
November 8 - The Voyage of the Beagle, in honor of the 150th anniversay of…
What is it about technology that makes people so optimistic? Despite the claims of technological progress it seems that no one considers technological transitions and the impact of failures. Instead the future is a rosy hue of nothing but perfection.
A recent comment regarding robotic cars set me thinking and I came across this interesting quote (from March 2008):
"According to the Associated Press, General Motors says they'll have driverless cars tested by 2015 and on roadways by 2018. "This is not science fiction," said Larry Burns, vice president for research and development at…
antunes |
I'm in that awkward lull between proposals and actual cash in hand. I call it freelancer hell. But since I'm thinking about money, time for a look at how to fund success.
My own success record for funded projects is 100%. When people pay me (and/or my team) for a specific project, we get it done. This would be worth bragging about, save this is how it should be.
A project is something like "we launch in 2 years, make it work" or "get a best-fit model to this data" or even "get our books into distribution". It's a task that-- no matter how hard it may be-- any…