21 APR 2014 by ideonexus
"Cosmos" Converts
I’ve met secular humanists who grew up in evangelical households, for whom Cosmos was their first exposure to a scientific way of viewing the world. Dad was a difference maker. He reached out to people. He took them by the awe and wonder we feel over the most important questions we can think to imagine. He pulled them away from blind faith, away from pseudoscience, toward a deeper, richer understanding of the universe.
And he did it with compassion. He didn’t berate people or make them f... 1 
notes
notesNick Sagan explains how his father's compassion and energy converted people to humanism.
05 MAY 2012 by ideonexus
Tyson is an Educator
Thanks for all your candid comments on this wall regarding my short atheism-agnosticim clip on "Big Think". I found them illuminating for their breadth as well as their depth. I note a few other possibly unexpected things about me: Not only do I not embrace labels, you will never see me debating people on the subjects of UFOs, Religion, Alternative Health practices, Astrology, or Pseudoscience in general. My speeches at TAM 6 & 9 were given reluctantly (I don't normally attend). I don't s... 1 notes
notesNot associated with any "ism" because he finds people are much more open to your ideas when they know you aren't aligned with any agenda.
28 APR 2012 by ideonexus
Greed Mutates Science into Pseudoscience
Nature may be as selfishly studied as trade. Astronomy to the selfish becomes astrology; psychology, mesmerism (with intent to show where aour spoons are gone); and anatomy and physiology become phrenology and palmistry. 1 notes
notesIt transmogrifies astronomy into astrology.
04 MAY 2011 by ideonexus
Science Appreciates Human Fallibility
Perhaps the sharpest distinction between science and pseudoscience is that science has a far keener appreciation of human imperfections and fallibility than does pseudoscience (or 'inerrant' revelation). If we resolutely refuse to acknowledge where we are liable to fall into error, then we can confidently expect that error - even serious error, profound mistakes - will be our companion forever. But if we are capable of a little courageous selfassessment, whatever rueful reflections they may e... 1 notes
notesWhich distinguishes it from pseudoscience.
06 APR 2011 by ideonexus
Characteristics of Junk Science
The inseparability of junk science from junk thought is evinced by the telltale marks of endemic illogic coupled, in many instances, with deliberate manipulativeness. The first and most fundamental warning sign is an inability to distinguish between coincidence and causation—a basic requirement for scientific literacy… A second telltale sign of junk thought is the appropriation of scientific-sounding language without underlying scientific evidence or logic… A third important element in ... 1 notes
notesJacoby outlines four characteristics or human flaws that allow for the propagation of junk science.
03 JAN 2011 by ideonexus
The Unverified Things We Believe
But then I began to think, what else is there that we believe? (And I thought then about the witch doctors, and how easy it would have been to cheek on them by noticing that nothing really worked.) So I found things that even more people believe, such as that we have some knowledge of how to educate. There are big schools of reading methods and mathematics methods, and so forth, but if you notice, you'll see the reading scores keep going down--or hardly going up in spite of the fact that we c...Folksonomies: science pseudo-science
Folksonomies: science pseudo-science
1 notes
notesThere are things we believe, such as pedagogical theories, that are far more damaging than new age ideas.
03 JAN 2011 by ideonexus
We Take Things for Truth When They Need to Be More Thorou...
You see the problem fo obtaining facts from experience--it sounds very, very simple. You just try it and see. But man is a weak character and it turns out to be much more difficult than you think to just try it and see. For instance, you take education. Some guy comes along and he sees the way people teach mathematics. And he says, "I have a better idea. I'll make a toy computer and teach them with it." So he tries it with a group of chidlren, he hasn't got a lot of children, maybe somebody g...Folksonomies: science pseudoscience
Folksonomies: science pseudoscience
1 notes
notesBecause one experimenter gets positive results from teaching children with computers, it does not follow that everyone should use them, the experimenter may have had enthusiasm for their use, which would skew the results.
