Category Archives: science

Won’t get fooled again? Course I will. By myself. Again and again and again. Science notwithstanding…

Posted on February 25, 2013 by

Saw this recently – “Philosophy is a battle against the bewitching of our intelligence by means of language.” Wittgenstein. which reminded me of that Feynman quote – “Science is a way of trying not to fool yourself. The first principle … Continue reading →

Posted in a little self-knowledge, competence, science | Tagged | Leave a comment

IQ tests in “not much use” shocker

Posted on December 25, 2012 by

For 25 years I have been following the continuing and often tawdry saga of misplaced concreteness that is “IQ” testing. Every so often some big meta-study like this one below (reported by Medical News Today) tells you what is actually … Continue reading →

Posted in a little self-knowledge, narcissism, science | Leave a comment

Hilarious smack-down of evolutionary psychology’s “just-so” story tendency…

Posted on September 18, 2012 by

I’ve read some long denunciations in my time of the tendency of “evolutionary psychologists” to invent “just-so” stories to explain how things “are” on the basis of how they might have been at some point on the savannah or wherever. … Continue reading →

Posted in framing, humour, science | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Science: ruining everything since 1543

Posted on August 10, 2012 by

But I like my myths! Lemme cling to my myths.* *And the myth of objective/’pure’ science is my favourite myth of all

Posted in humour, internet culture, science | Tagged , | 2 Comments

Climate change’ ‘warmists’ versus ‘skeptics’ versus reality?

Posted on August 6, 2012 by

Except, of course, the soi-disant ‘skeptics’ are nothing of the sort.  Anyhows… from Marc Roberts [Amazing what you find in your "Documents" folder.]

Posted in a little self-knowledge, apocalypse, humour, politics, science | Tagged | Leave a comment

Confirmation bias – it’s true. D’oh!

Posted on March 18, 2012 by

Sorry for the obscure and poor pun. It’s just how I roll… Here’s the website…

Posted in a little self-knowledge, competence, framing, narcissism, science | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Rats pass Voight-Kampff test. And humans??

Posted on December 9, 2011 by

Seems the crude “social Darwinist” (1)stories about animals lacking empathy is a load of crap. And boffins have proved it with an experiment involving rats that consistently help fellow trapped rats. At this juncture, I can only propose we dig … Continue reading →

Posted in natural world, science, technoscience | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments

Abuse screws the brain. Who knew?

Posted on December 6, 2011 by

Yes, fMRI gets called the new phrenology.  And yes, I’m confirmation biasing here – the idea that kids who’ve been abused have brains like soldiers after wars (all hyper-vigilance and threat perception) is (too?) obvious to me. From Wired The … Continue reading →

Posted in fear, science, technoscience | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

Surgin’ ego

Posted on October 1, 2011 by

The zine “Bizarrism” has a chilling account of a famous surgeon who Would Not Stop Cutting People Up, even after he was passed it. Never happen in a civilised advanced country where deference to superiors is not driven into people’s … Continue reading →

Posted in a little self-knowledge, competence, death, fear, science | Tagged | Leave a comment

Imagine My Surprise…

Posted on September 25, 2011 by

My friend Marc Roberts put together a fantastic cartoon a few years ago. Here it is as a youtube, with L. Cohen accompanying (unless you’re in Germany, where the video is blocked…)

Posted in a little self-knowledge, apocalypse, climate, framing, humour, natural world, religion, science, technoscience | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment