six_ball_man
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Message Posted: Apr 19, 2013 1:10:21 PM
"Do we believe in scientists too much, or not enough.
In the USA, the answer is ... both."
-Massimo Pigliucci
listen to this talk from April 5th, 2008
[Edited by: six_ball_man at 4/19/2013 1:13:20 PM EST]
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six_ball_man
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Message Posted: Mar 20, 2013 7:02:25 PM
The Existence of Nothing debate
aka the Isaac Asimov Memorial debate, moderated by Neil deGrasse Tyson
link to the LIVE boradcast...Wed 3/20 1930
[Edited by: six_ball_man at 3/20/2013 7:03:38 PM EST]
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six_ball_man
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Message Posted: Mar 8, 2013 8:31:36 PM
Does anyone else listen to the Center for Inquiry....I am currently working my way through the archive. Episode 111 - Naturalism Through Narrative, Part 1...
Naturalism Through Narrative is a series of podcasts dealing with the subject of the title.
Part one of a multi-part course probing the boundary lands between humanism and the arts. In August 2008, the Center for Inquiry – Transnational in Amherst, New York, presented this course by secular humanist activist Judith Walker. It was a course offering of that summer’s Center for Inquiry Institute. A former higher education attorney and onetime vice president for development of the University of Colorado Foundation, Walker examines how philosophy and the arts—in particular, the narrative tradition—can inform one another to build a secular humanist approach to life that is affirming and exuberant without being spiritual.
The series runs through the following episodes : 111, 112, 117, 118, 123 and 124
Link to episode 111:
enjoy!
[Edited by: six_ball_man at 3/8/2013 8:32:59 PM EST]
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six_ball_man
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Message Posted: Mar 3, 2013 7:14:29 AM
Time for a Skeptic Check:
"About Face"
In this episode of Big Picture Science, they examine the human brain's propensity for seeing faces everywhere...
Guests:
Phil Plait – Astronomer, Skeptic, and author of Slate Magazine’s blog Bad Astronomy
Josef Parvizi – Associate professor, Stanford University, and clinical neurologist and epilepsy specialist at Stanford Medical Center
Nancy Kanwisher – Cognitive neuroscientist, at the McGovern Institute for Brain Research at MIT
Greg Borenstein – Artist, creative technologist who teaches at New York University
Pietro Perona – Professor of electrical engineering, computation and neural systems, California Institute of Technology
link to the show
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six_ball_man
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Message Posted: Feb 26, 2013 3:16:19 PM
Skeptrack 201 - The Skeptics Strike Back!
from Dragon*Con 2011
link to the vid
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six_ball_man
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Message Posted: Feb 2, 2013 9:17:35 AM
On the nerdy side...
Skeptically Speaking with host Desiree Schell is a weekly skeptics'/science based podcast/radio show that originates from Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, and airs across that country and on a couple stations here in the states. Fortunately, they record and post the results for us to enjoy. Some are adult topics talked about in adult language, not all or even most...but, you have been warned.
episode #194
This week, we’re looking back at some of the most important science news of 2012. Writers Maryn McKenna and David Dobbs, BoingBoing Science Editor Maggie-Koerth Baker, and paleontology blogger Brian Switek join us to share the stories that made headlines, and others that made an impact, without receiving as much attention.
link to the episode
link to the archive
link to the home page
[Edited by: six_ball_man at 2/2/2013 9:19:54 AM EST]
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six_ball_man
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Message Posted: Jan 27, 2013 9:09:36 AM
This week's Skeptic's Guide to the Universe (SGU) is entertaining.
w/ Brian Dunning from Skeptoid they:
-expound on Newton's genius
-debunk the Te'o "affair"
-debunk a story of a "river" on Mars
-debunk a headline saying a mad scientist is looking for an amenable woman to gestate and birth a Neanderthal baby he is brewing up in his lab.
-dive a small bit into the "cult" of Tesla
-Interview a student fighting the terrible creationist in the classroom laws of Louisiana
-and Interview a cohort of Dunning's, who is translating his show into Chinese.
A pretty full hour
link to the download
[Edited by: six_ball_man at 1/27/2013 9:12:39 AM EST]
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six_ball_man
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Message Posted: Dec 31, 2012 8:50:41 AM
Want to see an actual exorcism?
then click here
this one was posted by the oh no ross and carrie crew
here is a link to their homepage
[Edited by: six_ball_man at 12/31/2012 8:51:48 AM EST]
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six_ball_man
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Message Posted: Nov 23, 2012 4:46:50 PM
Does anyone else listen to Cognitive Dissonance?
Here is a small sentence of intro to the hosts
=================================
Cecil is a nearly 40-year-old deconverted Christian, Ex- Republican, one-time Woo-believer and former conspiracy theorist. He’s all better now. He lives with his wife in Chicago.
Tom is a great lover of sandwiches and the meats and cheeses within them. He has a degree in English Literature, which, along with three bucks and a kind word, might be enough for a cup of coffee. A father, husband, half-hearted idealist, and sometimes poet, Tom’s ire is raised before he is every morning
home page
[Edited by: six_ball_man at 11/23/2012 4:48:23 PM EST]
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six_ball_man
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Message Posted: Nov 17, 2012 8:28:10 AM
D.J. Grothe's show Point of Inquiry.
This episode posted 11/06/2009 and is an interview with former evangelical Frank Schaeffer. Interesting listen.
link to the download
Frank Schaeffer - Crazy for GodFriday, November 06, 2009 2:01 AM
Frank Schaeffer is New York Times best selling author whose books include three semi-biographical novels about life in a strict, fundamentalist household: Portofino, Zermatt, and Saving Grandma, and also the memoir Crazy For God: How I Grew Up As One of the Elect, Helped Found the Religious Right and Lived to Take All (or Almost All) of It Back, which is now out in paper back. His latest book is Patience with God: Faith for People Who Don't Like Religion (or Atheism).
In this conversation with D.J. Grothe, Frank Schaeffer discusses Crazy for God, describing how he grew up in fundamentalist Christianity with his famous father, Francis Schaeffer, a leading founder of the Religious Right, and recounts his role in his father's career. He details how his relationships were affected by his leaving the movement. He explains exactly how fundamentalist Christianity took over the Republican Party. He describes the anti-democratic and anti-American elements within Evangelical Christianity. He draws a direct line from the worldview promoted by the Religious Right to the Tea Party movement, the rise of Glen Beck and Sarah Palin, the recent murder or Dr. George Tiller, and the use of biblical passages calling for the assassination of President Obama.
He shows how the Religious Right actively wants America to fail, in order to prove that it has taken the wrong path in adopting secular, democratic and humanist values. He explores how evangelical "foot soldiers" are often used by secular neoconservatives to advance political aims seemingly unrelated to Christianity, such as energy deregulation and public policies in support of the insurance lobby. He defines secular humanism, and tells how his father at once opposed humanism in his writings such as The Christian Manifesto, even while living a complex, and sometimes deeply humanistic life. Finally, he contrasts and compares the New Atheists, such as Richard Dawkins and Sam Harris, to leaders of the Religious Right, arguing that they are both not only extreme in their views, but also absolutist in their views of fundamental truth.
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six_ball_man
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Message Posted: Oct 28, 2012 2:58:57 PM
Do you know anyone entangled in the end of the world non-sense...or are YOU involved with it??
If so, set your family member/associate/self down and make them/yourself listen to THIS:play/download podcast
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six_ball_man
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Message Posted: Oct 28, 2012 2:42:59 PM
Some people insist they are unlucky. I commented on one such (fitness) blog that when I am unlucky and focus more, I become lucky(!) When I am distracted, I become fabulously unlucky.
I got called an a$$hole for even mentioning it (by a commenter), and the original poster insisted her poor luck had nothing to do with her. That is certainly possible. Random chance favors no one. It is random.
I was careful in my post not to blame the victim. I just mentioned what works for me.
North Carolina basketball coach Herb Sendeck said, "If you dismiss everything and say (you're) just snake bitten, then you can't correct the things that are under your control."
I agree.
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six_ball_man
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Message Posted: Oct 24, 2012 12:12:03 AM
Oh No, Ross and Carrie!
Mar15
Ross Meets Emery and Don
Thursday, March 15, 2012 at 8:25PM
What happens when one investigator, one standup comedian, and one paleontologist sit down to talk about evolution? Find out when Ross meets with famed fossil expert Donald Prothero and notorious standup comic Emery Emery, to talk creation science, American education, and the silliest museums in the US. Subliminal messages and optimistism included.
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six_ball_man
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Message Posted: Oct 20, 2012 9:15:01 AM
A Skeptical 12 Step Program - from SGU episode 374
-We admitted that our cognition, perception, and memory are flawed and pseudo-science and gullibility are rampant.
-We came to accept that the process of thinking critically is more important than any belief.
-We acknowledge the utility of methodological naturalism as a way of empirically understanding the world.
-We made a thorough study of the various mechanisms of self-deception, cognitive biases, and logical fallacies.
-We acknowledge to ourselves, others, and on the Internet that we are Skeptics.
-We vow to listen the SGU podcast every week without fail.
-We vow to listen to the Geologic podcast too.
-We endeavor to examine our premises and logic and correct any misinformation and misconceptions that we may have spread.
-We correct errors and false statements on blog posts and within forums unless doing so would make you a dick-ish troll.
-We continue to keep all opinions and conclusions tentative and revise them in the face of new ideas or information.
-We sought through study and research to improve our critical thinking skills and keep up to date on basic scientific literacy.
-Having become more skeptical ourselves, we will engage in skeptical activism and outreach to help make the world a more skeptical place.
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six_ball_man
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Message Posted: Oct 8, 2012 10:10:06 AM
The Skeptics' Guide To The Universe
Podcast 377 - October 06, 2012
This Day in Skepticism: The Billygoat Curse
News Items: The Physics of Roulette, Vitamin D and the Common Cold, Harpooning Satellites, Bee Brains
Who's That Noisy
Your Questions and E-mails: WTC7 Collapse
Science or Fiction
DOWNLOAD IT!!
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six_ball_man
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Message Posted: Oct 7, 2012 9:45:27 AM
Big Picture Science
Monday, September 24, 2012 3:00
AMIt’s all in the numbers. The trick is, finding what you’re looking for. But that’s the name of the game with big data. We have a giga-gigabyte of information, and combing through it will lead to new cures for disease, new discoveries about the cosmos, or clues to our social and economic behavior.
But is big data Big Brother? You leave a little bit of yourself behind with each mouse click. Discover how surveillance and privacy issues bubble out of the mix, as the terabytes keep flowing in.
Plus one man’s quest to know himself through the numbers as he records everything – and we do mean everything – about his body.
Guests:
Atul Butte – Associate professor, division chief, systems medicine, Stanford University
Larry Smarr – Professor of computer science, University of California, San Diego, director of the California Institute for Telecommunications and Information Technology, (Calit2)
Karen Nelson – Microbiologist, director of the Rockville Campus of the J. Craig Venter Institute
Gerry Harp – Physicist, and Director of the Center for SETI Research at the SETI Institute
Deirdre Mulligan – Assistant professor at the University of California, Berkeley School of Information and faculty director of the Berkeley Center of Law and Technology
Ken Goldberg – Professor of engineering, information and art at the University of California, Berkeleydownload it
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six_ball_man
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Message Posted: Oct 3, 2012 9:34:58 AM
The Skeptics Guide to the Universe
Podcast 376 - September 29, 2012
Interview with Pamela Gay
This Day in Skepticism: CERN
News Items: Ig Nobels 2012, GM Corn Rat Study, HIV and Faith Healing, Emoticons turn 30
Who's That Noisy
Science or Fiction
link
[Edited by: six_ball_man at 10/3/2012 9:36:51 AM EST]
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six_ball_man
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Message Posted: Sep 24, 2012 8:43:15 AM
Skeptic Check: Energy Vortex
“I feel your vibe!” Well, that describes a number of fabled locales that claim to pulse with mysterious energy – perhaps prompting books to fly across the room or airplanes to vanish into thin air. But what’s the science behind it?
We examine spots marked with an X, for “extraordinary” – from a haunted house to the Bermuda Triangle – to sort out natural from supernatural phenomena.
Plus, what causes the aurora borealis… a haywire Russian space probe… and just what the heck is an “energy vortex,” anyway?
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six_ball_man
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Message Posted: Sep 23, 2012 9:00:39 AM
What are the 10 most anti-science websites out there?
Brian Dunning of "Skeptoid" takes these 10 to task.
===
link to the audio
===
The Internet is a dangerous place. It's full of resources, both good and bad; full of citations linking one to another, sometimes helpfully, sometimes not. Today we're going to point the skeptical eye at ten of the worst web sites in terms of quality of science information that they promote. To make this list, they not only need to have bad information, they also need to be popular enough to warrant our attention.
Many of these sites promote some particular ideology, but I want to be clear that that's not why they're here. Sites that make this list are only here because of the quality of the science information that they advocate.
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six_ball_man
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Message Posted: Sep 22, 2012 9:44:50 AM
SGU Podcast 375 - September 22, 2012
Show Notes
===
This Day in Skepticism: Golden Tablets and Hobbit Day
News Items: Warp Drive, Bad Science Reporting, Dark Energy Camera, Crowdsourcing Science, Spheres on Mars, CSICon 2012
Who's That Noisy
Your Questions and E-mails: Blue Moon and Frances
Science or Fiction
link to the download
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six_ball_man
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Message Posted: Sep 4, 2012 10:05:54 AM
Jamy Ian Swiss is. This talk takes an hour. Enjoy!
link
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six_ball_man
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Message Posted: Sep 3, 2012 8:59:48 PM
"Truth without compassion makes you right, but it makes you lonely."
-Carrie Poppy during her talk at TAM 2012
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six_ball_man
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Message Posted: Sep 3, 2012 10:46:20 AM
Thu, 30 August 2012
The Geologic Podcast: Episode #278
The Show Notes
Intro
The Four Books of notThe Bible
1. Genesee
2. The Book of John… Yes, JOHN.
3. The Book of Matt, can I call you Matt?
Oh Sorry- Matthew. aka The Mounting Sermon
4. The Book of Palms
Show close
................................
link to the download
[Edited by: six_ball_man at 9/3/2012 10:47:59 AM EST]
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six_ball_man
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Message Posted: Sep 2, 2012 5:46:24 PM
The Human Bible...episode 11 by Robert M Price
It is a secular reading of the book trying to make it a human thing (as it WAS WRITTEN BY HUMANS), rather than a religious text. An atheist owes it to him/herself to learn where the other side is coming from.
link to the front page of the ongoing series
[Edited by: six_ball_man at 9/2/2012 5:46:46 PM EST]
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six_ball_man
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Message Posted: Aug 27, 2012 5:08:47 PM
Center Stage #37
originally posted July 12, 2010
Parenting Beyond Belief
Educator Dale McGowan examines the unique challenges and opportunities of raising children outside of any religious or metaphysical system. He presented this lecture on May 18, 2008, at the Center for Inquiry / Transnational in Amherst, New York.
Dale McGowan holds degrees in physical anthropology and music theory from UC Berkeley as well as a Ph.D. from the University of Minnesota. He left a 15-year career as a college professor to pursue writing full time – and to explore the issues facing nonreligious families today. He is author of Parenting Beyond Belief: On Raising Ethical, Caring Kids without Religion.
Link to the download
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six_ball_man
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Message Posted: Aug 19, 2012 8:44:34 PM
Occ the Skeptical Caveman is the first in (hopefully) a series of video shorts by the SGU crew and others. It is amusing. If you would like to support the effort, donations are being accepted at link to kickstarter site.
They have met their original goal, but donations are still appreciated.
[Edited by: six_ball_man at 8/19/2012 8:46:06 PM EST]
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six_ball_man
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Message Posted: Aug 19, 2012 12:57:09 PM
The Skeptic Zone #47 originally posted Fri, 11 September 2009
link to the download
0:00:00 Introduction - Richard Saunders
0:02:00 Dragon*Con 2009
0:25:40 Australian Study of Paranormal Beliefs - Dr. Martin Bridgstock, Kylie Sturgess and Richard Saunders, presented at the Science Track at Dragon*Con, 2009.
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six_ball_man
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Message Posted: Aug 16, 2012 12:55:14 AM
The Pseudo-scientist's podcast (Young Australian Skeptics) episode 48
Elliot, Richard, Belinda and Jack discuss the transit of Venus, electrical avalanche discharges and the intelligent design themes in “Prometheus” (spoiler free) and other sci-??fi films. And like Jason last week, Elliot has some (slightly less sad) news…
link to the download
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six_ball_man
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Message Posted: Aug 5, 2012 11:33:05 AM
SGU Podcast 368 - August 04, 2012
Interview with Brian Wecht
This Day in Skepticism: First Fax
News Items: Superstition Fund, Curiosity's Sky Crane, Anti-Fluoridation News Fail, Bat-Winged Monkey Bird
Who's That Noisy
Science or Fiction
Link to the download
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six_ball_man
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Message Posted: Jul 31, 2012 7:35:14 AM
Geologic podcast for 2012/07/22
link to the download
The Show Notes
Congrats to Carrie P!
Darka &Slavko Rehearsals & Show
intro
PFA shows including Musikfest
TAM2012 Opening Number
- Welcome to TAM-X
- It’s Not The End of the World
- Where you COULD have gone instead of TAM
- What’s in my TAM Packet?
- Make Sure That Your Question’s a Question
- Reprise
Geo’s Mom Reads Jay-Z Lyrics
- Glory
Show close
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six_ball_man
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Message Posted: Jul 26, 2012 2:23:40 AM
POI - Point of Inquiry from 7-9-2012
Our guest is Tina Dupuy—the reporter, comedian, skeptic, and editor-in-chief of the startup publication SoapBlox.
Dupuy appears frequently on MSNBC, Current TV, RT and the BBC and on numerous radio shows. She has written for Mother Jones, the Atlantic, Skeptic, and many other publications.
Her weekly oped is syndicated nationally by Cagle Cartoons.
Link to the download
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six_ball_man
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Message Posted: Jul 23, 2012 10:26:37 AM
Thanks, yodude. I am mostly using this venue to post resources for others as I find them. I don't mind that there are no responses...I am spreading the word, Johnny Appleseed like, that has long been repressed and suppressed.
Post modernists (philosophy of science, not literature or art) are of a mind that science is just another dialogue that has no more bearing on reality than any other. I (and others) disagree. I think of science as a tool for discovering how nature works. It assumes that the laws of nature are immutable...there may be some we do not know about (yet), BUT, once we discover their workings they will provide a predictable behavior. I know that assumptions are bad in the scientific world, but if you only have one, that seems the one to have. Most of what non-science believers say is scientific "faith" is, in reality, trust in repeatability. Once you see that 2+2=4, and are satisfied that the premisses are valid, there is no reason to go on proving it again and again. There is no place we can go where 2+2 will not = 4. Perhaps past the event horizon of a black hole or the moment of the big bang, but I doubt we can really go to either...And I know not enough of the math involved with either to even speculate. Scientific skepticism is important in this world full of hucksters and snake oil pedlars. Be vigilant.
I am currently non-religious. I was baptized and raised catholic by a well meaning mom and a dad that went along to keep peace in the house. I don't know as I ever really bought it, but can pinpoint the exact act that cemented my disbelief. All I know about Buddhism I posted in the Atheist quotes thread. It goes thus:
"We must conduct research and then accept the results.
If they don`t stand up to experimentation, Buddha`s own
words must be rejected." --Tenzin Gyatso, 14th Dalai Lama, 1988
I suppose if I were to be religious, this would be a good start. How do you reconcile the reincarnation belief? Just curious...
Cheers to you, my friend.
[Edited by: six_ball_man at 7/23/2012 10:30:12 AM EST]
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yodudebc
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Message Posted: Jul 22, 2012 10:28:02 PM
Hey six ball,
I regret that you have not picked up responses to your monologue until now.
I am a skeptic according to Wilipedia's def:
Skepticism or scepticism (see spelling differences) is generally any questioning attitude towards knowledge, facts, or opinions/beliefs stated as facts,[1] or doubt regarding claims that are taken for granted elsewhere.[2]
Philosophical skepticism is an overall approach that requires all information to be well supported by evidence.[3] Classical philosophical skepticism derives from the 'Skeptikoi', a school who "asserted nothing".[4] Adherents of Pyrrhonism, for instance, suspend judgment in investigations.[5] Skeptics may even doubt the reliability of their own senses.[6] Religious skepticism, on the other hand is "doubt concerning basic religious principles (such as immortality, providence, and revelation)".[7] Most scientists are empirical skeptics, who admit the possibility of knowledge based on evidence, but hold that new evidence may always overturn these findings.
And as it turns out, this makes my bent favourable to Buddhism.
So wassup, dude?
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six_ball_man
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Message Posted: Jul 8, 2012 2:00:00 PM
SGU #213 originally posted 2009-08-18
News Items: Battery Update, Super Planetary Nebulae, Adopt a Star, UFO Spikes
Your Questions and E-mails: Aquatic Ape, Caffeine Tolerance
Science or Fiction
Who's That Noisy
link to the download
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six_ball_man
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Message Posted: Jul 6, 2012 7:10:07 AM
Big Picture Science
You can get your point across in many ways: email, texts, or even face-to-face conversation (does anyone do that anymore?). But ants use chemical messages when organizing their ant buddies for an attack on your kitchen. Meanwhile, your human brain sends messages to other brains without you uttering a word.
Hear these communication stories … how language evolved in the first place… why our brains love a good tale …and how Facebook is keeping native languages from going extinct.
Guests:
Mark Moffett
V.S. Ramachandran
Clare Murphy
Mark Pagel
Margaret Noori
link to the Download
[Edited by: six_ball_man at 7/6/2012 7:10:49 AM EST]
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six_ball_man
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Message Posted: Jul 2, 2012 12:15:09 AM
A Rationally Speaking podcasts that deals with memetics.
Originally posted Sunday, December 19, 2010
episode #24 download
===
The term meme was introduced by Richard Dawkins in his 1976 bestseller "The Selfish Gene."Dawkins was trying to establish the idea that Darwinian evolution is a universal, almost logically necessary phenomenon. He couldn't, however, point to exobiological examples to reinforce the concept of universal Darwinism, so he turned to cultural evolution, renamed “ideas” as “memes” (in direct analogy with genes), and voilà, the field of memetics was born.
Despite staunch support by authors such as Susan Blackmore and Daniel Dennett, among others though, serious questions can be raised about memes and memetics as a viable concept and field of inquiry. To begin with, how is this different from classical studies of gene-culture co-evolution? Second, what, exactly are memes, i.e. what is their ontological status? Third, how do memes compete with each other, and for what resources? Is it even possible to build a functional ecology of memes, without which the statement that the most fit memes are those that spread becomes an empty tautology? Could this explain why the "Journal of Memetics" closed shop, or is it that they discovered everything there was to discover about memes?
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six_ball_man
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Message Posted: Jun 7, 2012 8:51:54 AM
The current Skeptics' Guide to the Universe is VERY interesting.
Leaving the hasidic world
That such behavior exists in the world these days, never mind in America, is disturbing.
download and listen to this now
=================
Segment: This Day in Skepticism
June 2, 1692 Bridget Bishop is the first person to go to trial in the Salem witch trials in Salem, Massachusetts. Found guilty, she is hanged on June 10.
Segment: News Items
Medical Zombies http://theness.com/neurologicablog/index.php/modern-medical-zombies/
Science of Reruns http://www.newswise.com/articles/text deleted
Leakey on Evolution http://m.apnews.com/ap/db_16053/contentdetail.htm?contentguid=wHXB1rot
Segment: Who's That Noisy
Who's That Noisy Answer to last week: L Ron Hubbard
Segment: Questions and Emails
Question #1 - Local Darkmatter Followup Dear Rouges, Thought you might find this paper http://arxiv.org/abs/1205.4033 interesting given your use of the Moni Bidin paper's claims of finding no evidence for nearby dark matter in science or fiction. Unsurprisingly perhaps, a more thorough analysis of the data actually shows evidence for dark matter in quantities consistent with current models. I enjoy the show very much. Cheers, Paul Hatchman
Segment: Interview
Interview with Debbie Feldman http://www.deborahfeldman.com/
Segment: Science or Fiction [ Click Here to Show the Answers ]
Item #1 A new study confirms the popular belief that old people can be identified by their smell. http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0038110
Item #2 A new analysis indicates that children are more imaginative in their play today than they were 20 years ago. http://blog.case.edu/think/2012/05/30/despite_less_play_childrenas_use_of_imagination_increases_over_two_decades
Item #3 Updated data indicate that American brain size continues to slowly decrease over historical time. http://www.upi.com/Science_News/2012/05/30/Americans-skulls-getting-bigger-over-time/UPI-83291338412167/?spt=hs&or=sn
Segment: Skeptical Quote of the Week
Skeptical Quote of the Week "The greatest obstacle to discovering the shape of the earth, the continents, and the oceans was not ignorance but the illusion of knowledge." - Daniel J. Boorstin, historian, professor, attorney, and writer (1914-2004)
[Edited by: six_ball_man at 6/7/2012 8:53:27 AM EST]
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Message Posted: Jun 4, 2012 9:23:43 AM
Point of Inquiry posted 4/18/2008
"The Mind of the Market"
D.J. Grothe interviewing Michael Shermer.
Michael Shermer is the author of ten books, including the bestselling Why People Believe Weird Things and The Science of Good and Evil. An adjunct professor of economics at Claremont Graduate University, he is a columnist for Scientific American, the publisher of Skeptic magazine, and the founder and director of the international Skeptics Society. His latest book is The Mind of The Market: Compassionate Apes, Competitive Humans, and Other Tales From Evolutionary Economics.
In this discussion with D.J. Grothe, Michael Shermer discusses The Mind of the Market, and the new field of neuroeconomics. He explores the implications of Darwinian evolution for how people fare in market capitalism, including how we are naturally irrational when it comes to economics, due to our evolutionary heritage. He argues why market capitalism and liberal democracy are best suited to people's needs, and discusses socialized medicine and other aspects of social welfare programs, contrasting the economy of the United States with those of northern Europe. He examines how free trade may lead to world peace. He also addresses the growing political and economic diversity when it comes to the skeptical and humanist movements.
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Message Posted: Jun 3, 2012 11:52:04 AM
Big Picture Science episode posted 5/7/12
Skeptic Check: Forget with the Program
Just remember this: memory is like Swiss cheese. Even our recollection of dramatic events that seem to sear their images directly onto our brain turn out to be riddled with errors. Discover the reliability of these emotional “flashbulb” memories.
Also, a judge questions the utility of eyewitness testimony in court. And, don’t blame Google for destroying your powers of recall! Socrates thought the same thing about the written word.
Plus, Brains on Vacation!
Guests:
Phil Plait – Keeper of Discover Magazine’s badastronomy blog
Craig Stark – Neurobiologist, Director for the Center for the Neurobiology of Learning and Memory at Univeristy of California, Irvine
Ronald Reinstein – Former judge on the Superior Court of Arizona and judicial consultant for the Arizona Supreme Court
Betsy Sparrow – Psychologist, Columbia University
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Message Posted: Jun 1, 2012 5:11:15 AM
Scientific American podcast for May 29th, 2012
Bruce Walker, professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School and director of the Ragon Institute of Massachusetts General Hospital, M.I.T. and Harvard, talks about his article in the July issue of Scientific American magazine called "Controlling HIV," about rare individuals who never develop AIDS after being infected by the virus
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Message Posted: May 27, 2012 1:28:50 PM
SGU (Skeptic's Guide To The Universe)
#175 - originally posted on 11-20-2008
Interview with Steven Schafersman, Ph.D.
President, Texas Citizens for Science
News Items: Kevin Trudeau Smackdown, Placebo Acupuncture, NASA Recycles Urine, Reflexology in UK Schools
Your Questions and E-mail: Flu Vaccine, NESS in Video Game
Science or Fiction
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Message Posted: May 19, 2012 7:50:03 PM
AWA = Are We Alone podcast from March 20, 2005
I have tried to find a link for additional downloads of this, but apparently I was lucky to find it the first time...
A HA! found it! link!
Cyber Cerebella?
Our computers get faster every year - so how long will it be before they're as
good as the best computer around: the human brain? We'll be talking about how
researchers are striving to construct an artificial mind - and whether a chip in
your brain might be in your future. Also, how one physicist came close to
building a black hole in a particle accelerator, and remembering physics giant
Hans Bethe.
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Message Posted: May 9, 2012 5:20:51 AM
"Rationally Speaking #46"
This podcast is a product of the New York Skeptics and originally posted on October 23, 2011 and deals with The Varieties of Skepticism...
All of us who are involved in the skeptics movement are regularly confronted with one of two reactions when revealing ourselves as skeptics: either that we are cynics, or that, like the classic skeptics, we don't believe that anything is knowable. In this episode, Massimo and Julia take us trough the history of skepticism. From its roots in ancient Greece, to Descartes, the last rationalist, to David Hume, the father of modern skepticism, and to today's modern skeptic movement. Also, is anything really knowable? How do we know that we really exist and are not residents of a cosmic holodeck?
It is a deep discussion...more than the ones I have reviewed so far...
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Message Posted: May 5, 2012 7:46:41 PM
skepticast #266 Originally posted August 19, 2010
I am focused on the interview with Bruce Hood, author of SuperSense, which has to do with how we [our brains] interpret (and construct) our world, which starts about 31 minutes into the podcast....pretty deep...pretty interesting...
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Message Posted: Apr 27, 2012 7:50:33 PM
Skeptoid #195
Today we have some really cool questions sent in by students. First we're going to look at electronic mosquito repellents, then at the validity of the Petition Project signed by over 30,000 scientists who say anthropogenic climate change — meaning caused by humans — isn't happening. Next, what are the real facts about whether or not you can get sick from someone sitting near you in class? Finally we're going to look at a couple of really interesting biological questions. One is the explosive issue of athletes of different races: Is it true that some races are good at some sports? — because it sure seems like it. And last, the urban legend that Einstein spent an extra month in his mother's womb, which is what made him so smart.
originally posted March 02, 2010
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Message Posted: Apr 15, 2012 4:15:13 PM
Skeptoid #135 The Rendlesham Forest UFO
originally posted December 29, 2008
In 1980, a UFO with flashing colored lights is said to have floated around the forest outside a USAF base in England for three nights in a row in plain view of military security who recorded the event. We point our skeptical eye at the evidence.
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Message Posted: Mar 25, 2012 7:15:52 AM
SGU - #79 originally posted Jan 24 2007
The TAM5 interviews with James Randi, Todd Robbins, Hal Bidlack and Eugenie Scott; News Items: Report from TAM5, Sylvia Browne, Uri Geller, Tom Cruise the Christ; Your E-mails and Questions: Meat-eating Rebecca, Terminal Velocity; Science or Fiction; Skeptical Puzzle
link to the download
[Edited by: six_ball_man at 3/25/2012 7:16:06 AM EST]
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Message Posted: Mar 23, 2012 4:41:26 AM
The Skeptics Guide To The Universe (SGU) #111
your escape to reality
Originally posted 9/5/07
Interview with Bill Nye the Science Guy; News Items: Airline Sacrifices Goats, King Tut, Is Race Real; Your Questions and E-mails: The Persistence of Myth; Science or Fiction; Skeptical Puzzle
link to the download
[Edited by: six_ball_man at 3/23/2012 4:42:05 AM EST]
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Message Posted: Mar 14, 2012 2:41:39 AM
an old Geologic podcast #173 posted July 8th, 2010
The Show Notes
4th of July gig
Stan Freberg’s Declaration of Independence
Intro
Thanks for coming to the party
Golf w/ pleats
Ask George
- American Idol?
- Father Daughter Dance?
- Multi-Lingual?
- Something/Nothing?
- Overdressed?
- Song subjects?
- Dancing?
- The Hook?
- Two & Four?
Golden Ticket still in Play
Have fun at TAM8
My Sister’s blog
Gigs galore
Schedule posted
Show close
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Message Posted: Mar 12, 2012 4:56:34 PM
Big Picture Science - re-posted 02-13-12
ENCORE Humans are pleasure-seekers – from food to sex to fine art. But do we know why we crave what we do? Discover the surprising motivation behind our desires. Also, why our hedonistic cousins, the bonobos, may hold the secret to world peace.
Plus, self-awareness in monkeys: can they really pass the mirror test? Can bacteria, for that matter? Nope! But since you are, cell for cell, more microbe than human, you’ll want to know just how cognitively aware these critters are.
Guests:
Paul Bloom – Psychologist at Yale University and author of How Pleasure Works: The New Science of Why We Like What We Like
Julie Neiworth – Psychologist, Carleton College
Vanessa Woods – Research scientist at Duke University and author of Bonobo Handshake: A Memoir of Love and Adventure in the Congo. Find out more about helping bonobos.
Jim Shapiro – Bacterial geneticist, University of Chicago
First aired November 1, 2010.
link to the download
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