Posts
Sunday, 29 November 2009
Intelligence Squared debate on the Catholic Church in full(?)
It seems that the videos I included in an earlier post on this subject were an edited version of the debate, not the whole thing. Here's an unedited (or at least, less-edited) version.
Intelligence Squared debate on the Catholic Church in full(?)
It seems that the videos of this debate that I included in an earlier post had been cut quite a bit. Here's the thing in full, or at least with less missing.
Posted via web from Sam Lewis
Thursday, 26 November 2009
'The Greatest Show on Earth: The Evidence for Evolution' by Richard Dawkins
I've just finished this book, and on the whole enjoyed it. It does seem slightly lacking in structure, with a rather unfocussed stream parts of the overwhelming evidence in favour of the 'theory' of evolution. Those pieces of evidence are fascinating though.
One important point Dawkins makes at the start of the book is about the confusion over what the word 'theory' means, quoting from the Oxford English Dictionary:
Theory, Sense 1: A scheme or system of ideas or statements held as an explanation or account of a group of facts or phenomena; a hypothesis that has been confirmed or established by observation or experiment, and is propounded or accepted as accounting for the known facts; a statement of what are held to be the general laws, principles, or causes of something known or observed.
Theory, Sense 2: A hypothesis proposed as an explanation; hence, a mere hypothesis, speculation, conjecture; an idea or set of ideas about something; an individual view or notion.
Those who reject evolution often do so in the belief that evolution is a theory in the second sense, when it is in fact a theory in the first sense, just like the 'theory of electromagnetism' or the 'theory of relativity.'
If you want to read the book, you can buy it here
Posted via web from Sam Lewis
Monday, 23 November 2009
An interesting Radiolab episode on morality and how our brains work
Killing Babies, Saving the World
By Radiolab
November 17, 2009
To get this podcast started, Robert ambushes Jad with a question … a question we’ve all been dying to ask him since June 10th, 2009, when Amil Abumrad came into the world. But fear not, we didn’t do a whole podcast just to give the new dad a hard time. Robert talks to Josh Greene, the Harvard professor we had on our Morality show. They revisit some ideas from that show in the context of the big, complicated problems of today (think global warming and nuclear war). Josh argues that to deal with those problems, we’re going to have to learn how to make better use of that tiny part of our brain that handles abstract thinking. Not a simple proposition, but, despite the odds, Josh has hope.
Photo by: Flickr/ connieth
via wnyc.org
Posted via web from Sam Lewis
Saturday, 21 November 2009
White collar crime and double standards
I strongly recommend you listen to the latest three episodes of Radio 4's Thinking Allowed programme, on the subject of white collar crime.While you might be worried about being stabbed or robbed in the street, the crimes you should really care about are the ones committed by people wearing suits, not hoodies. These criminals affect the lives of everyone and yet they are rarely punished, let alone censured. If you're not angry, you're not thinking hard enough.
Programme 1 | Programme 2 | Programme 3
Programme 1 | Programme 2 | Programme 3
Wednesday, 18 November 2009
Book recommendations from the Book Seer
Read a book you liked and want to read other things like it? Want lots of recommendations but refuse to visit more than one site to get them? A fan of Victorian-style facial hair?The Book Seer might be for you.
Monday, 16 November 2009
TVCatchup on iPhone
It seems that the very handy (but somewhat misleadingly-named) TVCatchup is even handier than I thought. The site, which lets you watch live British TV via the internet (but not "catch up" on things you've missed), has an iPhone-compatible site too!
Posted via web from Sam Lewis
'Transition' by Iain Banks
Iain (M.) Banks' recent books have not impressed me nearly as much as his earlier work, but I'm always hopeful that he'll get back to form one day. His latest work, Transition
If you're interested in checking it out but are not sure if it's worth your money, the book is available in abridged audio form as a free podcast in iTunes.
Posted via web from Sam Lewis
Friday, 13 November 2009
Thursday, 12 November 2009
'Stumbling on Happiness' by Daniel Gilbert
This is a book about the ways we experience, remember, and predict feelings, and the mistakes we make in doing so. It's not a recipe for the perfect happy life, but I recommend it.
Posted via web from Sam Lewis
Is the Catholic church a force for good in the world?
I think it's pretty clear that the answer to this question is "no," but here is the motion as debated by Christopher Hitchens, Stephen Fry, Ann Widdecombe and Archbishop John Onaiyekan. Not much of a debate really, as there's little that can be said to refute the motion, but here it is:
You can watch the whole thing on YouTube here.
Posted via web from Sam Lewis
Wednesday, 11 November 2009
Saturday, 7 November 2009
Petition to make the Press Complaints Commission a public body
Britain's newspapers currently 'regulate' themselves via the Press Complaints Commission. This petition proposes that it instead becomes a public body:
Following the article in the Daily Mail on Friday 16th October by Jan Moir in relation to the death of Stephen Gately, the PCC received over 21,000 complaints; however the chairman the Code committee for the PCC is currently the editor of the Daily Mail Paul Dacre.
As the formula one boss Max Mosley said when giving evidence to the culture, media and sport committee at the House of Commons “"It's like putting the mafia in charge of the local police station. You can't let them regulate themselves."
The PCC was weakened by preferential treatment to the newspaper industry and it lacked sufficient powers to appropriately deal with cases. The government needs to abolish the current PCC and re launch the committee as a public body so the public can have faith in the PCC once again.
If you want to sign the petition, click here.
Posted via web from Sam Lewis
Friday, 6 November 2009
Wednesday, 4 November 2009
Al Gore, "carbon billionaire"?
So, it appears that Al Gore stands to make a large amount of money on his investments in green energy, possibly making him the first "carbon billionaire."
And he is actually being attacked for this, accused of promoting his views on global warming simply in order to make a profit. I strongly doubt that those who disregard the science behind man-made climate change would take kindly to the contrary suggestion that they do so for the sake of money, despite the far more compelling evidence.
Right-wing – and especially Republican – doublethink is getting more insane by the day.
Posted via web from Sam Lewis
Tuesday, 3 November 2009
Ibis Reader and BookServer
Ibis Reader, an in-development digital reading system for a range of internet devices that provides access to books both online and offline
The shift from paper to digital books is (finally) actually happening, and will entail far greater changes and benefits than the shift from analogue to digital music ever did. I really hope publishers don't make as much of a hash of it as the music industry managed to. Things like Ibis Reader and BookServer should help them to find the best path.
Posted via web from Sam Lewis
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