I didn’t say that, but a comprehensive research study by Christopher Silver, a member of the Chatanooga Freethought association. Silver tried to show not all non-believers fit the negative stereotype of “angry, narcissistic, un-agreeable, anti-social dogmatists”, but in the process highlighted the very group that exactly fits that stereotype, namely the anti-theist (or loosely the New Atheist or GNU Atheist). The study can be found here: www.AtheismReserach.com A study came out that classified non-believers into six groups: Intellectual Atheist/Agnostic (IAA) Activist (AAA) Seeker-Agnostic (SA) Anti-Theist Non-Theist Ritual Atheist/Agnostic (RAA) To understand the typology and results, one has to go here: www.AtheismReserach.com But here is the Anti-Theist: Anti-Theist The fourth typology, and one of the more assertive in their view, we Read More ›

That was the shocking headline in 2005 in prestigious scientific journal Nature: Black holes are staples of science fiction and many think astronomers have observed them indirectly. But according to a physicist at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California, these awesome breaches in space-time do not and indeed cannot exist. … Black holes are one of the most celebrated predictions of Einstein’s general theory of relativity, which explains gravity as the warping of space-time caused by massive objects. The theory suggests that a sufficiently massive star, when it dies, will collapse under its own gravity to a single point. George Chapline thinks that the collapse of the massive stars, which was long believed to generate black holes, actually leads Read More ›

Dallas Haugh (aka the Creative Pooper) was one of Michael Shermer’s alleged victims according to this characterization: In fine witch-hunting style, Myers then broadly solicited more anonymous rumors to back up his anonymous rumor, resulting in more people coming forward claiming Shermer raped them, tried to rape them, or filled their wine glass for nefarious purposes, including a fat LARP-y guy named Dallas Haugh who was fairly sure Michael Shermer raped him. Breaking News: Michael Shermer issues cease and desist order against PZ Myers Haugh apparently posted a suicide note recently, and PZ Myers led efforts to rescue the Creative Pooper. PZ published up-to-the minute updates of his rescue efforts here: Do you know the person behind the tumblr “Creative Read More ›

[I’m not taking sides, but merely pointing out the infighting going on.] PZ has till 2pm Pacific Standard Time today to comply with the letter sent from Shermer’s lawyers. A countdown clock has been established: P.Z. Myers Happy Rape Accusation Humiliation Countdown Clock In fine witch-hunting style, Myers then broadly solicited more anonymous rumors to back up his anonymous rumor, resulting in more people coming forward claiming Shermer raped them, tried to rape them, or filled their wine glass for nefarious purposes, including a fat LARP-y guy named Dallas Haugh who was fairly sure Michael Shermer raped him. Shermer Sends Cease and Desist letter PZ Myers received a cease and desist letter from Michael Shermer’s attorney asking him to remove Read More ›

See here. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration recently released its “ State of the Climate in 2012” report, which states that “worldwide, 2012 was among the 10 warmest years on record.” But the report “fails to mention [2012] was one of the coolest of the decade, and thus confirms the cooling trend,” according to an analysis by climate blogger Pierre Gosselin. “To no one’s surprise, the report gives the reader the impression that warming is galloping ahead out of control,” writes Gosselin. “But their data shows just the opposite.” And why is no one surprised that they are still ringing the climate alarm bell in the teeth of their own data? Because everyone knows that they know that tax Read More ›

In my previous post, I focused on the anti-religious slant of Professor Steve Pinker’s best-selling book, The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined (Viking Adult, 2011). In this post, I’d like to critique Pinker’s methodology, his misuse of statistics, and his faulty figures relating to atrocities perpetrated in the past. What Pinker gets right, and what he gets wrong Pinker’s book deserves to be commended for its methodological fairness, in its approach to the historical data relating to violence. Datasets relating to violence are included in their entirety, with no cherry-picking of the historical data. So far, so good. Pinker is right to focus on percentages, rather than absolute numbers, in evaluating the level of violence in Read More ›