Philosophy & Ethics

If The Data Is Properly Framed, U.S. Scientists Are More Likely To Engage In Fraud

US scientists are significantly more likely to publish fake research than scientists from elsewhere, according to a bold statement published in a BMJ press release.    The press release is about a paper called 'Retractions in the scientific literature: ...

Article - Hank Campbell - Nov 18 2010 - 7:55pm

A Linguistic Paradox

A Linguistic Paradox In science and law, we try to use words in a very precise fashion.  Accordingly, we define our terms as precisely as possible.  This gives rise to a paradox: each new definition of a word is added to the list of its existing definitio ...

Article - Patrick Lockerby - Nov 16 2010 - 3:49pm

Why Political Parties Exist, Why they are Bad, and How to Eliminate Them

Voting blocs are an emergent property of representative democracies wherein each new voting issue carries with it an automatic right for each representative to vote. In other words, when votes are treated like a continually renewable resource, there becom ...

Blog Post - Rafe Furst - Nov 19 2010 - 8:51am

Condoms Not Against Catholic Moral, Says Pope Benedikt

They start bad but they improve with time. I cannot say I like Pope Benedikt XVI yet, but I have the feeling that he is getting better as he ages, pretty much like Pope Johannes Paul II, Karol Woytila. Woytila started his adventure as a Pope by playing the ...

Blog Post - Tommaso Dorigo - Nov 20 2010 - 4:16pm

Are All "Truths" Equal? Comparing Anti-Vaccine Parents To Kesey's "One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest"

It seems a silly question to ask, given the self-evident answer: we know that all beliefs and opinions are not equally valid. Obviously, it's important to acknowledge that the person who believe something believes it to be true, but it doesn't me ...

Article - Kim Wombles - Dec 2 2010 - 6:06pm

Intentional Claus

Near the end of my book, Anti-S ocial Engineering the Hyper-Manipulated Self, I discuss twenty-two interesting intentions. Some of these intentions had, as their sole purpose, a control beside which other, more pressing, relevant intentions could be measu ...

Article - Brian Taylor - Dec 6 2010 - 4:09pm

Biofuels- Ethics Versus Ideology

In the 1990s, virtually everyone except those closest to environmental issues knew biofuels were a bad idea in their current incarnation.   But evangelists like Al Gore insisted they were the future and concerns about what it would do to the food supply fo ...

Article - News Staff - Dec 15 2010 - 10:30am

Synthetic Biology: Just This Once, Government Decided No New Regulations Are Needed

It's rare that a government commission won't take the opportunity to increase its authority and its importance.  It's good job security and makes people feel relevant, even if it's not only unnecessary but being resisted by virtually ev ...

Article - Hank Campbell - Sep 5 2012 - 5:24pm

Atheist discrimination? Astronomer says he was denied a job because of religion

Martin Gaskell did not get a job as the director of a new student observatory at the University of Kentucky and says he thinks his religion is behind it. So for all those who say academia is too politically correct, take heart- if this is true, academics c ...

Blog Post - Hank Campbell - Dec 17 2010 - 3:07pm

Eudaemonia

In this first of two installments defining eudaemonia we will attempt the impossible, circumnavigating the sphere of "the good." ...

Blog Post - Brian Taylor - Jan 2 2011 - 3:06am