Working at learning is better than being smart.

Some of the best science writing this year is from Norman Doidge in his The Brain That Changes Itself: Stories of Personal Triumph from the Frontiers of Brain Science. In this book and several others in the last couple of years, there is much new information about how plastic our brains are and how we can benefit from understanding how changing our minds actually changes our brain by rewiring it. New treatments based on these discoveries are benefiting people suffering from brain damaging injuries or disease and even behavioral disorders and opening new and exciting frontiers of understanding of the brain. I think these advances will also open new frontiers of learning for all of us. Somehow, I connected that with this:

Many people assume that superior intelligence or ability is a key to success. But more than three decades of research shows that an overemphasis on intellect or talent—and the implication that such traits are innate and fixed—leaves people vulnerable to failure, fearful of challenges and unmotivated to learn. There's much more>>>>

Epistemology Is Not Ontology

Are you discussing words, or the world? If it is the world, I will stay, but if it is words, I will go. Or why it's handy to have a philosopher around when Paul Davies gets out of his element.

Dawkins made me sniffle

The joy of living dangerously; Sanderson of Oundle.

Conservapedia = Boring

Talk about a strange if not deranged and narrow preoccupation, check out the statistics page at Conservapedia. Compare that to these Wikipedias stats. At least Transformers was among the top 10 in this Wiki stat (when I looked this morning). Conservapedia user patterns seem to indicate they have way less interesting characteristics than just the normal anal-retentiveness we associate with them. "Not that there's anything wrong with that." - Seinfeld

Creationist Stealing

ERV caught them red handed.

I guess they think it's not theft if they do it for jesus.

PZ takes a chuck out of their butts about it also.

Homeland Spittoons

The Transportation Security Agency has announced new restrictions for air travelers this holiday season. Passengers will be limited to no more than tree ounces of saliva each on all domestic and international flights. Homeland Security officials think terrorists can make bombs out of hair gel so it's natural for those officials to assume terrorist will soon be making them out of spit.

Airlines advise travelers to take plenty of one or more of those prescription drugs, [as seen on TV] which may cause dry mouth, before going to the airport. They also advise that, since it is the off season, many professional baseball players will also be traveling by air. So depending on the drugs people take and the availability of spittoons at airports, expect long lines and a lot of prodding at security check points. But when the airplane is ready to go, you can be too. And remember, if you experience an erection lasting more that four hours, get a room and call your...doctor?

The Difference

The church says the earth is flat, but I know that it is round, for I have seen the shadow on the moon, and I have more faith in a shadow than in the church.

[Ferdinand Magellan]

Judgement Day tonight at 7 central

Coming to the conclusion that intelligent design guides biology is like believing the Civil War never happened in the United States. More>> Don't miss the producer's introduction here.>>

If you miss the show tonight, you can watch it after Nov. 16, 2007 on the NOVA website here.>>

Journey to the center of your brain.

After Church

No, it's not all company, roast-beef and pie. The Science Ethicist posts letters from Kansas showing why the religious are foolish to claim that atheism prevents folks from having the right stuff.

There's more good stuff at the carnival today.>>

To learn well, write well

It looks like good handwriting improves learning. So polish that penmanship. >>>

To regret religion is to regret polio, AIDS and genocide.

There's a meme going around or at least a phrase that's popular describing atheist authors of recent works about religion. They are being referred to as the New Atheists. Theodore Dalrymple calls them neo-atheists in this essay. Atheists aren't new and there's not much new about the form that atheism takes in Dawkins, Dennett, Harris or Myers. Dalrymple claims to also be an unbeliever but I'm not convinced of that by reading his essay. He seems to believe in something supernatural or at least he has some very strange arguments in the piece wherein he tries to show religions contribute at least some good to civilization. The excellent prose not withstanding, I think his arguments are bunk and far too labored to be worth much attention. As usual, many others have beat me to this and did a far better job than I can. PZ was out of town and only inflicted a flesh wound on Dalrymple but the commenters there show why Pharyngula has a bazillion hits per day and finished him off in a bloody frenzy. See comment #21 by Hank Fox in particular.