Fox News and the Dangers of Confirmation Bias

So why not just say, “I may have mischaracterized things a few times” and move on? To understand why that’s impossible, you have to understand O’Reilly’s persona and the function he serves for his viewers. The central theme of The O’Reilly Factor is that the true America, represented by the elderly whites who make up his audience (the median age of his viewers is 72) is in an unending war with the forces of liberalism, secularism, and any number of other isms. Bill O’Reilly is a...

 The Danger of "Man-Midwifery"

The introduction of men into the lying in chamber in place of female attendants, has increased the suffering and dangers of childbearing women, and brought multiplied injuries and fatalities upon mothers and children; it violates the sensitive feelings of husbands and wives and causes an untold amount of domestic misery. The unlimited intimacy between a male profession and the female population silently and effectually wears away female delicacy and professional morality, and tends probably m...

 "Romeo & Juliet" Was Not About True Love

TO BE FAIR WE MISTAKE INFATUATION FOR LOVE ALL THE TIME. EVEN AS ADULTS. WHY THE MOST MISUNDERSTOOD WORK OF LITERATURE OF ALL TIME IS WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE'S ROMEO & JULIET. TO THIS DAY, IT IS SPUN INTO SOME SORT OF CAUTIONARY TALE TO PARENTS AND SOCIETY NOT TO STAND IN THE WAY OF TRUE LOVE FOR THEIR RIDICULOUS PREJUDICES! AND WHILE IT IS CERTAINLY THAT, IT IS ALSO AND COMPLETE AND UTTER INDICTMENT OF THE STUPIDITY OF INFATUATION. THEY'RE LIKE TWO FOURTEEN YEAR OLDS WHO LOVE EACH OTHER AT ...

 A Strategy for Allowing Children Access to Digital Media

Knowing full well the need for our kids to be digitally conversant, yet fully aware of the dangers, we came up with a few rules as our boys became preschoolers. First, my wife and I divided digital experiences into categories. Two of the categories involved things necessary for school work or for learning about computers: word processing and graphics programs, web-based research projects, programming, and so on. The boys were allowed to do these as homework required. Recreational experiences...

 When Science is Debated in the Courtroom

When Rachel Carson made us aware of the dangers arising from the mass application of toxic chemicals, she presented her arguments in the manner of an advocate, not a scientist. In other words, she selected the evidence to prove her case. The chemical industry, seeing its livelihood threatened by her action, responded with an equally selective set of arguments, chosen in defense. This may have been a fine way of achieving justice, and perhaps in this instance it was scientifically excusable; b...