Posted inPhilosophy Statistics
Why Memes Are Stupid: The Short Version
In 1976, in his The Selfish Gene, a book which revealed that most of us are slaves to our genes, biologist Richard Dawkins "discovered" the meme which, in one definition,…
Posted inCulture
City Of Free Love To Ban Circumcision
An enraged citizen's group in San Francisco has submitted legislation that, if passed, would ban abortion---no, wait. I have that wrong. They would ban circumcision. In a fit of Enlightenment…
Posted inCulture Fun Philosophy
What scientific or technological advance would you most like to see in your lifetime?
The real geeks among us long for synthohol. Only Class A nerds know, or admit to knowing, what it is, too. But I have to tell you, your potential partner's…
Posted inCulture
French woman led away in chains for refusing to be safe
I'm exaggerating only slightly. What happened was that a woman, while entering the subway, refused to hold the handrail of the escalator she was on. This is against the law…
Posted inFun
Evolutionary medicine: my death rate delta v finally goes negative
Apologies for the slowness in answering comments and lack of podcasts this week, but I was dying and my voice was shot. Gross talk alert: read no further if the…
Posted inCulture
Blasphemy Contest winner announced
Still settling in here in the land of endless (and depressing) sunshine. More on climategate coming shortly. Two months ago, the Center for Inquiry sponsored a Blasphemy Contest. The results…
Posted inCulture Statistics
Malthus Was Wrong, But Not Why You Think
It's hard to think of a historical writer more misunderstood than Thomas Malthus. A week doesn't go by without somebody dropping his name, but only to show how wrong he…
