Promoting Science and Critical Thinking
Michael Shermer, a monthly columnist for Scientific American and also the founding publisher of Skeptic magazine writes a rather interesting article in the December issue of Scientific American all about the decline of religion and the rise of the Nones. The point he build up to is this … A 2012 Pew Research Center survey, … Read more
Belief often insists that it retains the high moral ground and also asserts a monopoly over meaning, and yet the evidence for this is simply not there at all. It is perhaps all part of the psychology of belief where an appeal to our empathy is tapped into by asserting a claim that inside the … Read more
Believing things that are not actually true motivates some to behave in an abhorrent manner, so much so that they can end up grinding some rather basic human rights under their belief-shaped boots. To illustrate, consider the manner in which people who happen to be gay are ostracized and condemned by many faith communities. Further … Read more
The observation is positively quite ancient and dates back rather a long way. A term often used to describe it is “the Epicurean paradox”. That says … “Is God willing to prevent evil, but not able? Then he is not omnipotent. Is he able, but not willing? Then he is malevolent. Is he both able … Read more
On the surface, the claim that “God does exist” is not all that daft, there are of course many people who do believe and so for cultural and perhaps also emotional reasons people will assert that they “believe” that there is a god. It is not actually factual, but the claim is understandable due to … Read more
I came across the following by Derren Brown, and it is in fact part two of his “Fear and Faith” event that was broadcast in the UK last year. This is the part where he explores the biggest placebo there is … god. It is interesting stuff, he starts out with a satanic rite and … Read more