Fun – Page 40 – William M. Briggs

American Atheists, Hispanic Division Sues Federal Government Over Documents

The American Atheists have once again filed suit, this time against the Federal Government over its use of the Spanish language in official documents. The litigious group has previously sued…

Culture Fun Statistics

How’d Our 2012 Predictions Fare?

We didn't have a such a bad year making picks---here's the list. Make predictions for 2013 here. Yours truly picked Mitt Romney as president. A wishcast not a forecast! A…

Fun Statistics

Predictions 2013—Register Yours Today!

Time for our annual guessing game about what's to come for 2013. The predictions we made for 2012 will be posted and analyzed tomorrow. We have one week to enter…

Culture Fun

Logan’s Run: A Progressive Utopia

I heard they were (possibly) remaking Logan's Run and I wondered why. It's not that the original was terrific or timeless, but it did tell one essential truth: what life…

Fun

The Hobbit Reviewed—Guest Post by John Henry Briggs

The Hobbit was quite good, but disappointing. One of the biggest flaws in Lord of the Rings was the endless video game-like orc slaughter that was gratuitous at best and…

Fun

Fats Waller—Your Feet’s Too Big

I was reminded of Fats because an album of his was one of the best Christmas presents I ever received. And 'tis the season.

Fun

Reader Poll: Mayan Apocalypse, For or Against?

In just over a week, on 21 December, it will be the glorious End of Times or it will be just over a week from today. Which is to be…

Fun Philosophy

Transhumanists Gather In San Francisco

My first thought when I read the title of today's post (from Bioedge) was that it was some kind of warning. Look out! It's the transhumanists! And then I figured…

John Pate on On The Form Of Species: ‘Dance To The Tune Of Life’ by Denis Noble ReviewedDecember 16, 2025
Referring to my previous comment, it's nature via nurture. In any complex system transferring the plans to the finished item…
NLR on On The Form Of Species: ‘Dance To The Tune Of Life’ by Denis Noble ReviewedDecember 16, 2025
It sounds like Noble has some good points. People are increasingly recognizing problems with reductionism. For instance, saying that things…
Bobby Dress on How To Tell How Much Of “IQ” Is Inherited & How Much Is EnvironmentDecember 15, 2025
I’m fairly certain that obtaining my degree from Cornell had the unintended consequence of lowering whatever theoretical IQ I might…
JRob on How To Tell How Much Of “IQ” Is Inherited & How Much Is EnvironmentDecember 15, 2025
I love this debate about the heritability of intelligence. The smart people use a lot math about Gaussian and Pareto…
John Pate on How To Tell How Much Of “IQ” Is Inherited & How Much Is EnvironmentDecember 15, 2025
We know we don't understand consciousness let alone intelligence. IQ testing gets a bad rep though, it's a proxy for…