Carl Sagan’s challenge ignored

Image via Wikipedia

Carl Sagan’s 1985 Gifford lectures are really interesting. They have been edited and published in The Varieties of Scientific Experience: A Personal View of the Search for God.

I highly recommend this book.

Massimo Pigliucci recently commented on the book at his blog Rationally Speaking (see Good point, Dr. Sagan!). He points out that Sagan effectively issued a challenge to theologians in his lectures. It’s a challenge they have not taken up.

Awesome!

There’s something about shuttle launches. And there’s also something about night photography.

Image from Space.com

The space shuttle Discovery soars into the night sky above the Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Aug. 28, 2009 at 11:59 pm ET to begin a 13-day mission to the International Space Station. Credit: Robert Pearlman/collectSPACE.com.

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• Discovery’s STS-128 mission starts with flawless night launch from Cape Canaveral. (space.gs)

Behe’s “objectionable” interview

Image via Wikipedia

What’s going on with bloggingheads.tv? I usually enjoy the programmes, regularly download the Science Saturday audios and keep an eye on the rest.

Yesterday I downloaded the discussion between Michael Behe and John McWhorter.  Listened to it on my daily walk. I don’t know what observers thought because I must have been swearing and muttering to myself. It was the sort of intelligent design (ID) promotion you get from the Discovery Institute. If you have ever listened to the ID the Future podcasts you will know what I mean. Case Luskin’s breathless exclamations as they misrepresent science and those evil Dariwnists.

Religion in the public square

Or do I mean irreligion in the public square? Same thing really.

I refer to the open discussion of religious ideas in the “public square.” That means ideas can be put up for consideration and subjected to open support or criticism. The same as our ideas on politics and sport. I am using the dictionary, not literal, definition of “public square” as “relating to or concerning the people at large or all members of a community.”

Don’t we already do that? Yes, I agree. But some people are unhappy about it. There is an idea around that religion doesn’t get a fair go. That it should be able to promote its claims and ideas without being subjected to criticism. The United Nations has passed a resolution against the “defamation of religion”. Ireland has reintroduced a blasphemy law. You get the picture.

NZ scientists twittering

Who would have thought it. Certainly not me.

NZ Sciblogs is now twittering. Go to Sciblogsnz if you want to follow.

Looks like the NZ Sciblogs platform is only weeks away.

See also: NZ science bloggers – new opportunity

Biocentrism or eccentrism?

Book Review: Biocentrism: How Life and Consciousness Are the Keys to Understanding the True Nature of the Universe
by Robert Lanza and Bob Berman
Hardcover: 213 pages
Publisher: Benbella Books (May 5, 2009)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1933771690
ISBN-13: 978-1933771694

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Dawkins bashing season upon us?

Prepare yourself for another round of Dawkins-bashing. That’s not to imply there isn’t plenty of that already. And it does get pretty farcical. A commenter on a local apologetics blog recently claimed Dawkins “must be hopping mad and upset because we are hearing so little of him of late. He has been exposed as the emperor without clothes.” And this on a post which was devoted to repeating Micheal Ruse’s recent attack on Dawkins! These apologists will use anything, won’t they. And an atheist like Ruse becomes a valued ally when he is spouting his professional jealousy of Dawkins in this illogical manner (see Why I think the New Atheists are a Bloody Disaster).

This new round of attacks will be a response to Dawkins new book The Greatest Show on Earth: The Evidence for Evolution- out next month. In fact the attacks have already started pre-publication (see Is Richard Dawkins a stage magician?). Nothing new – such hostile reviewers usually never bother reading the book anyway. So look forward to a deluge of such “reviews.”

I am sure this new book will sell well. And it looks like it will be very informative about evolutionary science and helpful in raising awareness of its attackers and their arguments.

If you want a preview – have a read of the extract from The Greatest Show on Earth at Times On-line. Its the first part ofg a serialisation of the book (see The truth dogs reveal about evolution for the second part)

There are also three audio files of Dawkins and His Wife Lalla Ward reading from the introduction (Part 1; Part 2; and Part 3).

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That ‘no’ vote

Media reporting around the “child discipline” referendum has been atrocious. However,  the NZ Herald yesterday did provide some interesting information.

They brought to our attention the fact that some of the groups campaigning for the referendum have been receiving funds from conservative US religious groups (see US funding for ‘no’ vote). the article gave information for Focus on the Family but I am sure that US fundamentalist largess extends to other NZ groups.

Take, for instance, the United church of God – New Zealand. In 2008 it received 40% of its revenue from its parent organisation based in the US. I suspect these sort of subsidies are widespread amongst religious groups.

NZ blogs sitemeter ranking – August ’09

There are now about 90 NZ blogs with publicly accessible sitemeter stats. They are listed in the table below, together with daily visits and page view numbers averaged over the previous 7 days. The data was that given by the NZ blog ranking tool on August 20th. This can be seen at NZ blogs average daily visits.

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The Big Bang Theory and sexism?

Of course, I mean the sit-com - not the cosmological theory.

It’s a favourite of mine. We have almost reached the end of series 2 in New Zealand and I have watched every episode.

The production has general been reviewed well by pro-science people so I was intrigued to hear some critical assessments on a recent podcast of the Skeptics Guide to the Universe (Podcast 211 – August 2009). Rebecca and fellow Skepchick Carrie Iwan were criticising the stereotyping of the main female character, Pennie, as sexist. They felt she is cast in the role of the dumb blonde as a foil to the intelligent nerds Sheldon, Leonard, Rajesh and Howard. The complaint was – why don’t women get more roles as intelligent characters.