30 JAN 2015 by ideonexus
The Danger of Dumbing Down Science
'Dumbing down' is a very different kind of threat to scientific sensibility.
The 'Public Understanding of Science' movement, provoked in America by
the Soviet Union's triumphant entry into the space race and driven today,
at least in Britain, by public alarm over a decline in applications for
science places at universities, is going demotic. 'Science Weeks' and
'Science Fortnights' betray an anxiety among scientists to be loved.
Funny hats and larky voices proclaim that science is fun, fun, f... 1 
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notes08 NOV 2013 by ideonexus
Economics Uses Magical Language
A common feature in systems of magic is animism — attributing to inanimate objects the functions of life, assuming things to possess will, purpose, and power.
It is significant (though quite in keeping) that "Economists" and "Financiers" have this characteristic at- titude of mind towards, and employ animistic forms of expression in writing and talking about "Money" and "Capital."
Whether this is due to unconscious belief in magic or is mere metaphor, the result, in either case, is befogg...It's use of animism in describing the economy is suspect, but the same metaphors are used in real science as well.
15 SEP 2013 by ideonexus
Bill Nye the Science Guy Show: "Rules"
Bill Nye the Science Guy Show: "Rules"
Objective: Change the world.
Produce a TV show that gets kids and adults excited about science, so that the United States will again be the world leader in technology, innovation, and sound management of the environment.
For example, when our audience is of age, we'd like them to produce the best transportation systems in the world, e.g. cars, electric cars, trains, and aircraft.
Rules of the Road
- The show is entertainment first; curriculum conten...Folksonomies: science entertainment
Folksonomies: science entertainment
1 notes
notesCould be summed up as "Keep it real."
16 MAY 2012 by ideonexus
If We Knew the Outcome of a War, There Would be No Need t...
The determining cause of most wars in the past has been, and probably will be of all wars in the future, the uncertainty of the result; war is acknowledged to be a challenge to the Unknown, it is often spoken of as an appeal to the God of Battles. The province of science is to foretell; this is true of every department of science. And the time must come—how soon we do not know—when the real science of war, something quite different from the application of science to the means of war, will mak...1 
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notesQuote from Sir Michael Foster Times Literary Supplement, 28 Nov 1902, 353-4.
01 JUL 2011 by ideonexus
Two Examples of Leaping to Conclusions without the Facts
Let me give you two examples of leaping to conclusions without
the full facts. Back in the 1890’s, a certain California newspaper
was apprehensive about the harmful effects the railroads would
have on the environment. If the trains crossed the Mojave to get
to the Pacific, this newspaper editorialized, “the huge iron rails
will reverse the Earth’s magnetic field with catastrophic effects.”
Now that’s real science! One hundred forty years ago, the Royal
Society in England warned against the ra... 1 notes
notesPeople, even scientists, thought the train would come apart and asphyxiate its passengers at speeds of 35 MPH, and the rocket was disregarded by the military until the Germans adopted it.
04 MAY 2011 by ideonexus
More Exciting Than the Supernatural
And yet there's so much in real science that's equally exciting, more mysterious, a greater intellectual challenge - as well as being a lot closer to the truth. Did he know about the molecular building blocks of life sitting out there in the cold, tenuous gas between the stars? Had he heard of the footprints of our ancestors found in 4-million-year-old volcanic ash? What about the raising of the Himalayas when India went crashing into Asia? Or how viruses, built like hypodermic syringes, slip... 1 notes
notesThere are wonders in science far more amazing than the ideas presented in superstition.
06 APR 2011 by ideonexus
Intellectual Quackery in Academia
Intellectual quackery extends throughout the landscape of academia; tenured professors in the humanities and social sciences, on the right and left, are constantly purveying theories that are the philosophical, literary, and artistic equivalents of junk science. That many of the researchers consider themselves intellectuals is sad but unremarkable in the annals of quackery withing academia: junk thought with an intellectual patina fosters anti-intellectualism as effectively as junk science wi... 1 notes
notesThis is the worst form of junk-thought, because it comes from a source the public considers reliable, the Colleges and Universities.
