Philosophy & Ethics

Word Salad And Rules Of Conformity The conversation-capable computer has often been said to be just around the corner. All too often, what is found around the corner is an impenetrable wall. Word salad Word salad is a string of words which gives the imp ...

Blog Post - Patrick Lockerby - Jun 8 2009 - 5:19pm

Adaptive Oneness

During my essentially casual research of the native cultures that settled the Southwestern U.S., I repeatedly come across both archaeological and anthropological references to the concept of oneness. Additionally, current Native American cultures carry fo ...

Blog Post - Waddell Robey - Jun 10 2009 - 5:21am

The Future Of Science Communication- To Frame Or Not To Frame?

Matthew C. Nisbet, assistant professor in the School of Communication writing in Nature Biotechnology, says there are changes that must be made to ensure quality science communication in the future. Some of his recommendations, based on the results of a sc ...

Article - News Staff - Jun 10 2009 - 12:07pm

Catholic Integrism And The Divorce Law In Italy, Circa 1970

From 1958 to 1970 Wladimiro Dorigo, my father, directed a political and cultural magazine called "Questitalia" ("This italy"), where emerging political issues were discussed, and the ongoing transformations of Italian society were diss ...

Article - Tommaso Dorigo - Jun 12 2009 - 12:55am

The Legacy Of 'Borking'- Attack Ads On Supreme Court Nominees Damages Judicial Credibility

In 1987, Robert Bork became the target of an organized, special interest smear campaign aimed at ruining his chances for being confirmed by the Senate as a Supreme Court justice. Since then, a tit-for-tat approach has made Supreme Court appointments a po ...

Article - News Staff - Jun 16 2009 - 10:48am

Philosopher Series: Bertrand Russell

Now that I am officially a philosopher (i.e., my salary is going to be paid by a philosophy, instead of a biology, department), I can indulge full time in reading philosophy without feeling guilty. I haven’t mastered the skill (of not feeling guilty) yet, ...

Article - Massimo Pigliucci - Jun 16 2009 - 5:13pm

The Brain's Linguistic Auto-Pilot

The Brain's Linguistic Auto-Pilot We tend to be not very good at proof-reading and 'proof-hearing' our own words. It takes mental training and a great deal of concentration even to proof-read other peoples' words, or to notice common ...

Blog Post - Patrick Lockerby - Jun 17 2009 - 7:42am

The Sex Life of an Improbable Prime Minister

If you live outside Italy, you read newspapers more often than Italians do. Thus, you probably are more informed about the recent scandal emerging on the private life of Silvio Berlusconi, Italy's Prime Minister, than Italians. That is because the new ...

Blog Post - Tommaso Dorigo - Jun 23 2009 - 5:50pm

Saving Science For The Non-Believers?

Ken Miller vs. Jerry Coyne: Can you believe in God and evolution? Many creationists say no. But so does Jerry Coyne, as well as a fair number of other non-believing scientists active in the blogosphere. If you follow the science blogging community, you ...

Article - Michael White - Jun 23 2009 - 10:38pm

NY Stem Cell Committee Approves Payment to Egg Donors