This is required reading, folks. “The ‘science communication problem,’ as it’s blandly called by the scientists who study it, has yielded abundant new research into how people decide what to believe—and why they so often don’t accept the scientific consensus. It’s not that they can’t grasp it, according to Dan Kahan of Yale University. In … Continue reading
Tag Archives: critical thinking
Western Medicine Is Not Relative
A couple of weeks ago, the McGill Daily, a student newspaper aimed at the McGill University student body, published a mind-bogling article entitled “Decolonizing healthcare”. In it, its author clumsily argues that medicine is culture and that White people should stop imposing our beliefs in diagnostic tools and validated medical treatments on other ethnic groups. My … Continue reading
No truth for science, just the quest
In Karl Popper’s seminal book, The Logic of Scientific Discovery, the Austrian philosopher of science makes the case for deductive logic in the scientific enterprise. It is a challenging read, but I want to leave you with his last three paragraphs, which are more accessible and a beauty to read. Translation by the author with assistance … Continue reading
It’s All in Your Head: A Statement on Which Both Christian Scientists and I Can Agree
Out of curiosity, I ask the woman I have been speaking to for a minute about the “Science” in “Christian Science”. She approached me at the end of the talk because the presenter had asked everyone in the room to introduce oneself to a stranger and talk about one’s inner qualities. I don’t remember if … Continue reading
Book Review: Is That a Fact? by Dr. Joe Schwarcz
Three words fly in my head in a tight formation, constantly looping back to my consciousness as I watch the video: “such a shame.” The video is one of the many amateurish agglomerations of stills and monotonous voice-over narration that seem to populate the skeptical trenches of YouTube. My friend Andrew, whom fans of our … Continue reading
Funny You Should Think That! (a show of comedy, reason, and alcohol)
What are you doing the evening of April 27? Looking for laughter and critical thinking? A show of comedy, reason, and alcohol. FUNNY YOU SHOULD THINK THAT is a monthly event (intelligently) designed to make you laugh and think. Moutons No More takes to the stage with amazing guests to talk pseudoscience, lambast religion, … Continue reading
CRTKL: Mercury in Vaccines
If you missed my talk entitled “CRTKL: The Critical Reasoning Tool Kit Lecture”, here’s a clip from it: Continue reading
