That we still need to be making arguments for why gays should not be executed, denied marriages, or treated as lesser humans, would have, in the past, worried me. However, […]
Search Results
You searched for: how rational are you
An idea which devastated many of my previous assumptions has implications for important views many of us hold. It also indicates the underlying basis of this blog itself. Investigating what […]
Read Part 1 here. Before I deliver my recap of the speakers at the Reason Rally, I need to give a shout-out to the people who accompanied me for the […]
This article was previously published on AlterNet. For the vast majority of human history, the only form of government was the few ruling over the many. As human societies became […]
The former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Admiral Mike Mullen, characterized “cyber” as an “existential threat to the United States of America” in a recent issue of Fortune […]
There are circumstances where violence is necessary, says Andre Dubus III, author of Townie, but it always takes a heavy spiritual toll.
The first post in a series looking at John Stuart Mill and the defence of individual liberty. The great English philosopher and thinker John Stuart Mill (1806-1873) regarded himself as […]
The Being Human Conference, which took place at San Francisco’s Palace of Fine Arts this weekend, was designed to explore the science of human experience. The speakers ranged from neuroscientists, […]
I’m getting excited for the Reason Rally next weekend in Washington, D.C., which promises to be the largest and most spectacular atheist gathering in recent history – possibly the largest […]
My Google news alert has been flooded with stories about the Reason Rally this week, and quite a few of them come from religious organizations expressing their own viewpoints about […]
Here’s some bad news for those of you who like to think you can think rationally about risk. You can’t. You know all those thoughtfully considered views you have […]
You should treat your life as if it were a start-up business.
Threats and outrage can no more shut up ideas than a cage made of smoke. It’s time we stop using violent tactics, as ways to voice our disagreements. In case […]
The consistency of individual autonomy, as Mill outlined, indicates that just as we can live as we wish (with certain constraints), we ought to be able to die as we […]
Want something else to worry about? Worry about worrying too much. The evidence is building that chronically elevated stress shrinks your brain! A study in press at the […]
Scientists have a lot of influence over how we live our lives. This is mostly a good thing – and will help us weed out the snake oil from the spinach – but only a terribly naive optimist could think the “Mozart Effect” won’t strike again.
My latest article has been posted on AlterNet, Once Again, Believers Have it Wrong: Atheists Don’t Just Want Sex, Drugs, and Lack of Morality. As you might have guessed, it’s […]
“What’s a ‘natural flavor’?” my 10-year-old asks me from the back seat of our car. He’s munching on a rare treat—a snack that lists about 500 unpronounceable ingredients and boasts […]
Editor’s Note: Dennis N.T. Perkins is an explorer and author of Leading at The Edge, Leadership Lessons from the Extraordinary Saga of Shackleton’s Antarctic Expedition. “For scientific discovery give me Scott; […]
Anything “organic” or “low-fat” must be good for you, right? Ask people how fattening those organic chocolate-covered peanuts are, and they’ll guess a lower number than they did for the […]
The story of Abraham’s near-sacrifice of his son on Mount Moriah is one of the formative myths of Western monotheism. And most theists of the Jewish, Christian and Islamic traditions […]
Valentine’s Day is really just a massive coordinated signaling opportunity that taps into our need to think about “value” in relative, rather than absolute, terms.
The question of my last post: Why do we deny that it’s our nature to die? The answer from many of my threaders: We aren’t merely or even essentially natural […]
In defence of Alberto Giubilini, Francesca Minerva and the Journal of Medical Ethics, as per the recent publication about killing newborn infants. This essentially is an open letter of solidarity […]
Bruce Bueno de Mesquita, author of The Predictioneer’s Game, shares his foolproof method for getting your next car for the lowest price possible.
This semester, students from a diversity of majors at American University are participating in an advanced seminar I am teaching on science and environmental communication. For the first part of the […]
This essay was previously published on AlterNet. The death of Christopher Hitchens in December sparked an outpouring of tributes. Most of them praised his best qualities: his ferocious courage, his […]
As promised earlier, here’s a full wrap-up of my weekend attending Skepticon IV in Springfield, Missouri. I really have to give tons of credit to the organizers, who not only […]