 | Thoughts From Kansas |  Blogger | Weblog of a University of Kansas ecology and evolutionary biology student, fighting for progressive politics, evolution, and endangered species.
Thoughts from Kansas You will notice that it lacks definiteness; that it lacks purpose; that it lacks coherence; that it lacks a subject to talk about; that it is loose and wabbly; that it wanders around; that |
| Sharpened stakes testing | | Disco. 'tute ex-president Bruce Chapman doesn't know his history. He asserts:
The Spanish Inquisition was about testing [..] Read complete article |  | Published 14-Feb-2012 by Thoughts in culture wars
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| Thoughts From Kansas | Blogger | Weblog of a University of Kansas ecology and evolutionary biology student, fighting for progressive politics, evolution, and endangered species.
Thoughts from Kansas You will notice that it lacks definiteness; that it lacks purpose; that it lacks coherence; that it lacks a subject to talk about; that it is loose and wabbly; that it wanders around; that |
| Belief is part of identity | | Ophelia Benson has an odd idea about how identity is constructed:
beliefs aren?t actually a matter of identity and shouldn?t be treated as if they were.This claim seems so obviously false that I can't really imagine how she could have written it.
We can see how this plays out in religion: there are religions know as orthoprax, where membership i [..] Read complete article | | Published 09-Jan-2012 by Thoughts in culture wars
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| Thoughts From Kansas | Blogger | Weblog of a University of Kansas ecology and evolutionary biology student, fighting for progressive politics, evolution, and endangered species.
Thoughts from Kansas You will notice that it lacks definiteness; that it lacks purpose; that it lacks coherence; that it lacks a subject to talk about; that it is loose and wabbly; that it wanders around; that |
| Endlessly classy | | ThinkProgress reports, Kansas House Speaker Won't Apologize For Praying For Obama's Death:
Kansas House Speaker Mike O'Neal (R) has apologized for forwarding emails from his personal account referring to First Lady Michelle Obama as "Mrs. YoMama," but he has not apologized for another email using a Bible verse to essentially call for President Obama's death. Psalm 109:8 became [..] Read complete article | | Published 09-Jan-2012 by Thoughts in culture wars
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| Thoughts From Kansas | Blogger | Weblog of a University of Kansas ecology and evolutionary biology student, fighting for progressive politics, evolution, and endangered species.
Thoughts from Kansas You will notice that it lacks definiteness; that it lacks purpose; that it lacks coherence; that it lacks a subject to talk about; that it is loose and wabbly; that it wanders around; that |
| Does Jerry Coyne read his own blog? | | If he does, he might remember that he already wrote this blog post. That was less than a year ago. I responded then, so have little to add.
One thing is worth noting. Coyne's complaint is that the government is funding "accommodationism" because one page on the award-winning and widely loved Understanding Evolution website addresses misconceptions about evolution, including the idea t [..] Read complete article | | Published 20-Dec-2011 by Thoughts in culture wars
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| Thoughts From Kansas | Blogger | Weblog of a University of Kansas ecology and evolutionary biology student, fighting for progressive politics, evolution, and endangered species.
Thoughts from Kansas You will notice that it lacks definiteness; that it lacks purpose; that it lacks coherence; that it lacks a subject to talk about; that it is loose and wabbly; that it wanders around; that |
| On Civility | | Just under a year ago, I quoted and endorsed Stephen Post's argument that lack of civility isn't the problem we face in society, that incivility is a symptom, not an end unto itself.
Civility matters, and there are good reasons to urge people to be more civil in their interactions, and to model that behavior ourselves. It's no accident that many uncivil styles of discourse are also inf [..] Read complete article | | Published 05-Dec-2011 by Thoughts in culture wars
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| Thoughts From Kansas | Blogger | Weblog of a University of Kansas ecology and evolutionary biology student, fighting for progressive politics, evolution, and endangered species.
Thoughts from Kansas You will notice that it lacks definiteness; that it lacks purpose; that it lacks coherence; that it lacks a subject to talk about; that it is loose and wabbly; that it wanders around; that |
| A nakedly sexist attack from the creationist Discovery Institute | | After Philadelphia Inquirer columnist Faye Flam took the Discovery Institute to task for their Hitler obsession and constant violations of Godwin's law, Disco. 'tute fellow Richard Weikart struck back, insisting, "I have spoken with intelligent Darwinists who admit point-blank that they do not have any grounds to condemn Hitler." This is patent bullcrap, but that's nothing new for the Seattle-b [..] Read complete article | | Published 28-Oct-2011 by Thoughts in culture wars
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| Thoughts From Kansas | Blogger | Weblog of a University of Kansas ecology and evolutionary biology student, fighting for progressive politics, evolution, and endangered species.
Thoughts from Kansas You will notice that it lacks definiteness; that it lacks purpose; that it lacks coherence; that it lacks a subject to talk about; that it is loose and wabbly; that it wanders around; that |
| Evangelicals and the nonreligious do differ in science literacy | | Earlier this week, I quoted this from an op-ed in the LA Times:
I recently conducted survey research comparing the most conservative of Protestants ? those who identify with a conservative Protestant denomination, attend church regularly and take the Bible literally, or about 11% of the population in my analysis ? with those who do not participate in any religion. The [..] Read complete article | | Published 16-Oct-2011 by Thoughts in culture wars
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| Thoughts From Kansas | Blogger | Weblog of a University of Kansas ecology and evolutionary biology student, fighting for progressive politics, evolution, and endangered species.
Thoughts from Kansas You will notice that it lacks definiteness; that it lacks purpose; that it lacks coherence; that it lacks a subject to talk about; that it is loose and wabbly; that it wanders around; that |
| Evangelicals and the nonreligious don't differ in science literacy | | Sociologist John Evans talks about his research on evangelical attitudes toward science. Writing for the LA Times, he says:
I recently conducted survey research comparing the most conservative of Protestants ? those who identify with a conservative Protestant denomination, attend church regularly and take the Bible literally, or about 11% of the population in my analysis ? wit [..] Read complete article | | Published 10-Oct-2011 by Thoughts in culture wars
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| Thoughts From Kansas | Blogger | Weblog of a University of Kansas ecology and evolutionary biology student, fighting for progressive politics, evolution, and endangered species.
Thoughts from Kansas You will notice that it lacks definiteness; that it lacks purpose; that it lacks coherence; that it lacks a subject to talk about; that it is loose and wabbly; that it wanders around; that |
| Evangelicals and the nonreligious don't differ in science literacy | | Sociologist John Evans talks about his research on evangelical attitudes toward science. Writing for the LA Times, he says:
I recently conducted survey research comparing the most conservative of Protestants ? those who identify with a conservative Protestant denomination, attend church regularly and take the Bible literally, or about 11% of the population in my analysis ? wit [..] Read complete article | | Published 10-Oct-2011 by Thoughts in culture wars
Read 0 times |
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| Thoughts From Kansas | Blogger | Weblog of a University of Kansas ecology and evolutionary biology student, fighting for progressive politics, evolution, and endangered species.
Thoughts from Kansas You will notice that it lacks definiteness; that it lacks purpose; that it lacks coherence; that it lacks a subject to talk about; that it is loose and wabbly; that it wanders around; that |
| Evangelicals and the nonreligious don't differ in science literacy | | Sociologist John Evans talks about his research on evangelical attitudes toward science. Writing for the LA Times, he says:
I recently conducted survey research comparing the most conservative of Protestants ? those who identify with a conservative Protestant denomination, attend church regularly and take the Bible literally, or about 11% of the population in my analysis ? wit [..] Read complete article | | Published 10-Oct-2011 by Thoughts in culture wars
Read 0 times |
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| Thoughts From Kansas | Blogger | Weblog of a University of Kansas ecology and evolutionary biology student, fighting for progressive politics, evolution, and endangered species.
Thoughts from Kansas You will notice that it lacks definiteness; that it lacks purpose; that it lacks coherence; that it lacks a subject to talk about; that it is loose and wabbly; that it wanders around; that |
| Evangelicals and the nonreligious don't differ in science literacy | | Sociologist John Evans talks about his research on evangelical attitudes toward science. Writing for the LA Times, he says:
I recently conducted survey research comparing the most conservative of Protestants ? those who identify with a conservative Protestant denomination, attend church regularly and take the Bible literally, or about 11% of the population in my analysis ? wit [..] Read complete article | | Published 10-Oct-2011 by Thoughts in culture wars
Read 0 times |
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| Thoughts From Kansas | Blogger | Weblog of a University of Kansas ecology and evolutionary biology student, fighting for progressive politics, evolution, and endangered species.
Thoughts from Kansas You will notice that it lacks definiteness; that it lacks purpose; that it lacks coherence; that it lacks a subject to talk about; that it is loose and wabbly; that it wanders around; that |
| Evangelicals and the nonreligious don't differ in science literacy | | Sociologist John Evans talks about his research on evangelical attitudes toward science. Writing for the LA Times, he says:
I recently conducted survey research comparing the most conservative of Protestants ? those who identify with a conservative Protestant denomination, attend church regularly and take the Bible literally, or about 11% of the population in my analysis ? wit [..] Read complete article | | Published 10-Oct-2011 by Thoughts in culture wars
Read 0 times |
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| Thoughts From Kansas | Blogger | Weblog of a University of Kansas ecology and evolutionary biology student, fighting for progressive politics, evolution, and endangered species.
Thoughts from Kansas You will notice that it lacks definiteness; that it lacks purpose; that it lacks coherence; that it lacks a subject to talk about; that it is loose and wabbly; that it wanders around; that |
| Further thoughts on optimism and pessimism | | The other day, I quibbled with John Derbyshire's contention that liberals are optimists and with Joel Mathis's objection that his liberalism is pessimistic. Today, CMatt Yglesias writes:
One of the bigger systematic differences between the left and right in America is that progressives have a realistic view of human behavior while conservatives at times seem unhealthily obses [..] Read complete article | | Published 26-Aug-2011 by Thoughts in culture wars
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| Thoughts From Kansas | Blogger | Weblog of a University of Kansas ecology and evolutionary biology student, fighting for progressive politics, evolution, and endangered species.
Thoughts from Kansas You will notice that it lacks definiteness; that it lacks purpose; that it lacks coherence; that it lacks a subject to talk about; that it is loose and wabbly; that it wanders around; that |
| The political aftermath of the debt ceiling | | I didn't blog about the debt ceiling because? ugh. The idea that the Republican party would hold the country, and indeed the world economy, hostage is unimaginably awful. The idea that, in the midst of a recession barely worse than the Great Depression, we're talking about cutting government spending is also absurd. It's a failure of governance and of leadership. Far from being asha [..] Read complete article | | Published 04-Aug-2011 by Thoughts in culture wars
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| Thoughts From Kansas | Blogger | Weblog of a University of Kansas ecology and evolutionary biology student, fighting for progressive politics, evolution, and endangered species.
Thoughts from Kansas You will notice that it lacks definiteness; that it lacks purpose; that it lacks coherence; that it lacks a subject to talk about; that it is loose and wabbly; that it wanders around; that |
| On the Overton window | | In the comments on my post the other day about the importance of evidence in skepticism and science outreach, RBH leaves an interesting comment that's worth digging into a bit. I replied in the thread, RBH's invocation of the Overton Window struck me.
He writes:
We hear about the Dunning-Kruger effect; let's not forget about the Overton Window. In a lovely irony, it m [..] Read complete article | | Published 04-Aug-2011 by Thoughts in culture wars
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| Thoughts From Kansas | Blogger | Weblog of a University of Kansas ecology and evolutionary biology student, fighting for progressive politics, evolution, and endangered species.
Thoughts from Kansas You will notice that it lacks definiteness; that it lacks purpose; that it lacks coherence; that it lacks a subject to talk about; that it is loose and wabbly; that it wanders around; that |
| Skepticism means caring about evidence | | Marie-Claire Shanahan has a couple of great posts up about the science of science education, and research on what it takes to actually change someone's mind. They're great posts, and hold the promise of many more insightful looks at the skills and approaches best suited to increasing science literacy.
That's a topic of no small interest to me. In my recent posts about the National Sci [..] Read complete article | | Published 30-Jul-2011 by Thoughts in culture wars
Read 12 times |
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| Thoughts From Kansas | Blogger | Weblog of a University of Kansas ecology and evolutionary biology student, fighting for progressive politics, evolution, and endangered species.
Thoughts from Kansas You will notice that it lacks definiteness; that it lacks purpose; that it lacks coherence; that it lacks a subject to talk about; that it is loose and wabbly; that it wanders around; that |
| Skepticism means caring about evidence | | Marie-Claire Shanahan has a couple of great posts up about the science of science education, and research on what it takes to actually change someone's mind. They're great posts, and hold the promise of many more insightful looks at the skills and approaches best suited to increasing science literacy.
That's a topic of no small interest to me. In my recent posts about the National Sci [..] Read complete article | | Published 30-Jul-2011 by Thoughts in culture wars
Read 6 times |
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| Thoughts From Kansas | Blogger | Weblog of a University of Kansas ecology and evolutionary biology student, fighting for progressive politics, evolution, and endangered species.
Thoughts from Kansas You will notice that it lacks definiteness; that it lacks purpose; that it lacks coherence; that it lacks a subject to talk about; that it is loose and wabbly; that it wanders around; that |
| Are evolution deniers scientifically literate? | | In discussing the National Science Board's latest stand on whether to report evolution literacy, and how to do so, I didn't get into the details of Jon Miller's concerns. Chris Mooney quotes that passage from the Science report, and raises some concerns.
Science reported that the NSB will, in the 2014 Science and Engineering Indicators, report results of two q [..] Read complete article | | Published 27-Jul-2011 by Thoughts in culture wars
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| Thoughts From Kansas | Blogger | Weblog of a University of Kansas ecology and evolutionary biology student, fighting for progressive politics, evolution, and endangered species.
Thoughts from Kansas You will notice that it lacks definiteness; that it lacks purpose; that it lacks coherence; that it lacks a subject to talk about; that it is loose and wabbly; that it wanders around; that |
| Evolution literacy still on the chopping block at the NSF | | A bit over a year ago, we reported on the removal of evolution from a report by the NSF's governing body, the National Science Board. The NSB is presidentially appointed and Senate confirmed, and sets broad policy for the NSF. Every other year, it publishes a report on Science and Engineering Indicators for the nation, and Chapter 7's discussion of public science literacy is what I always loo [..] Read complete article | | Published 26-Jul-2011 by Thoughts in culture wars
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| Thoughts From Kansas | Blogger | Weblog of a University of Kansas ecology and evolutionary biology student, fighting for progressive politics, evolution, and endangered species.
Thoughts from Kansas You will notice that it lacks definiteness; that it lacks purpose; that it lacks coherence; that it lacks a subject to talk about; that it is loose and wabbly; that it wanders around; that |
| TAM Thoughts | | From last Thursday through Sunday, I was in Las Vegas at The Amazing Meeting!, a gathering of skeptics hosted by James "The Amazing" Randi. Randi, for those of you unschooled in these matters, was a stage magician who got involved in debunking the claims of psychics and other flimflam artists. He orchestrated a rather famous debunking of psychic Uri Geller on the Carson show (you can find it [..] Read complete article | | Published 19-Jul-2011 by Thoughts in culture wars
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| Thoughts From Kansas | Blogger | Weblog of a University of Kansas ecology and evolutionary biology student, fighting for progressive politics, evolution, and endangered species.
Thoughts from Kansas You will notice that it lacks definiteness; that it lacks purpose; that it lacks coherence; that it lacks a subject to talk about; that it is loose and wabbly; that it wanders around; that |
| Unequal treatment (Updated) | | In the course of my talk at TAM, I mentioned at one point "There's nothing so unfair as equal treatment of unequal ideas." Various people tweeted and retweeted it, so the line was clearly a hit.
That's actually a misquotation (I was working from memory) of a line I've always loved, but have had a hard time tracking down.
You often see the correct version attributed to Thomas Je [..] Read complete article | | Published 14-Jul-2011 by Thoughts in culture wars
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| Thoughts From Kansas | Blogger | Weblog of a University of Kansas ecology and evolutionary biology student, fighting for progressive politics, evolution, and endangered species.
Thoughts from Kansas You will notice that it lacks definiteness; that it lacks purpose; that it lacks coherence; that it lacks a subject to talk about; that it is loose and wabbly; that it wanders around; that |
| More pageantry | | Science Cheerleader Darlene Cavalier reports What you don?t know about Ms. Virginia:
Next week, Laura Eilers, AKA Ms. Virginia , will compete for the title of Ms. United States. The Science Cheerleaders?current and former NFL and NBA cheerleaders pursuing science and engineering careers?are very fortunate to have Laura as our extremely talented choreographer and creative direc [..] Read complete article | | Published 13-Jul-2011 by Thoughts in culture wars
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| Thoughts From Kansas | Blogger | Weblog of a University of Kansas ecology and evolutionary biology student, fighting for progressive politics, evolution, and endangered species.
Thoughts from Kansas You will notice that it lacks definiteness; that it lacks purpose; that it lacks coherence; that it lacks a subject to talk about; that it is loose and wabbly; that it wanders around; that |
| A taste of S. E. Cupp | | Long-time readers know that, last April and May, I invested a decent amount of time in tearing apart a book by conservative punditress S. E. Cupp. Cupp, a self-proclaimed atheist, had written a book defending the religious right, and she titled it Losing Our Religion: The Media's Attack on Christianity.
Why, you may be asking, would an avowed atheist describe fundamentalism as "ou [..] Read complete article | | Published 12-Jul-2011 by Thoughts in culture wars
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| Thoughts From Kansas | Blogger | Weblog of a University of Kansas ecology and evolutionary biology student, fighting for progressive politics, evolution, and endangered species.
Thoughts from Kansas You will notice that it lacks definiteness; that it lacks purpose; that it lacks coherence; that it lacks a subject to talk about; that it is loose and wabbly; that it wanders around; that |
| Glenn Beck "Doesn?t Know Many Palestinians ? Jewish People" | | Speaking, for reasons passing understanding, before the Israeli Knesset, Glenn Beck said:
I don?t know a lot of Palestinians but I also don?t know a lot of Jewish people either.So, the list of things Glenn Beck can be fairly said not to "know a lot of": Palestinians, Jews, anything. Read the comments on this post... [..] Read complete article | | Published 11-Jul-2011 by Thoughts in culture wars
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| Thoughts From Kansas | Blogger | Weblog of a University of Kansas ecology and evolutionary biology student, fighting for progressive politics, evolution, and endangered species.
Thoughts from Kansas You will notice that it lacks definiteness; that it lacks purpose; that it lacks coherence; that it lacks a subject to talk about; that it is loose and wabbly; that it wanders around; that |
| Suddenly tone matters | | Jerry Coyne has a concern. Weighing in on the elevatorgate saga (cf.):
Over the past few days I?ve become increasingly distressed at the inability of our community to discuss an issue rationally and without rancor or name-calling. This ?campaign?, which I agree with Miranda is vile and disgusting, seems more like a popularity contest: who has the greatest influence on the int [..] Read complete article | | Published 09-Jul-2011 by Thoughts in culture wars
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