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CFI hosted a speaker tonight.

First, it proved that the local chapter of the Center For Inquiry has odd taste in events---why a political scientist to dissect New Atheism, and a miniscule promotion campaign that only attracted CFI members and a few f…
What is emotion?

We all feel them, we all think we know what they are... but what are emotions, really? Are they cognitive states? Are they physiological reactions? Perceptions? Behaviors? Motivations? I know when I am angry or I am sa…
Which ape is closest to us?

[JD 2455128.25] There is an ongoing debate about whether humans are most closely related to chimpanzees (Pan) or orangutans (Pongo), and if indeed chimpanzees, which one---Pan troglodytes, or Pan paniscus? Honestly, wh…
We saw Frank Turek last week. And I have H1N1 influenza.

Yup, that pretty much sums up the last few days. For further details on the Frank Turek experience, I direct you to the blog of my Secular Student Alliance chapter.
Science is far too awesome to be entrusted to the unenthusiastic.

It always disappoints me when I attenda lecture about scientific topics that are actually endlesslyfascinating and full of depth and beauty, delivered as if they weredry and mechanical pebble-counting. This does a dee…
Of rights and research, rats and undergrads

[JD 2455107.25] PeTA2 recently gave a presentation onthe (alleged) horrible abuses of animals in scientific and medicalresearch. I wasn't able to…
A scale of religious belief

[Julian date 2455084.52]. -1. Anti-theist: One who actively opposes belief in personal deities. E.g. myself, Richard Dawkins, Sam Harris. 0. Atheist: One who does not believe in any personal deity. E.g. Most scientist…
What NOMA and the Strong Programme have in common

[Julian date 2455082.] As many of my readers already know, Iam a proponent of something I call "methodological realism";this philosophy entails the simple principle that we should act asif the world is as wereally th…
Why "it's a metaphor" is not an answer

If you are an atheist, and you haveever tried to argue with religious people, no doubt you've heard thisclaim: "Of course it isn't really true; it's a story, ametaphor." This is meant to diffuse any empirical, logical…
A scale of science fiction hardness

This scale will measure your sciencefiction's deviation from actual reality.Add up the points for each category—ifmultiple levels on the same list apply (e.g. both lasers andmachineguns in the Weapons list), use the…

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pnrj

- Name: Patrick
- Country: United States
- State: Michigan
- Metro: Ann Arbor
- Gender: Male
- Member Since: 5/3/2005
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