Uncommon Descent Serving The Intelligent Design Community
Category

Science

Type
post
Author
Denyse O'Leary
Date
October 6, 2020
Categories
Culture
Intelligent Design
Science
Tagged
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The journal Nature defends its right to cover politics

News
October 6, 2020
Culture, Intelligent Design, Science
2
No one says Nature can’t be active in politics and publish screeds of this type. What its staff can’t do—because nobody can—is be both a participant and a referee. They’ve chosen to be participants, fine. Then, “Listen to science” has as much clout as “Listen to the union boss” and “Listen to the corporate head office.” Which is to say, the next time they bellyache that people don’t listen to science, all one can respond is, “Take a number and wait. Meanwhile, suck it up.” Read More ›
Type
post
Author
Denyse O'Leary
Date
October 5, 2020
Categories
Culture
Intelligent Design
Science
Tagged
, , , , ,

At The Scientist: “… who will believe us again?”

News
October 5, 2020
Culture, Intelligent Design, Science
2
One gets the feeling that many science boffins don't "get" what is happening. It won't be easy to make "Trust the science" mean what it used to. On the ground, it now means something between "Sign on to this superstition rather than that one." and "Do what you're told or else!" Read More ›
Type
post
Author
Denyse O'Leary
Date
October 3, 2020
Categories
Culture
Intelligent Design
Philosophy
Science
Tagged
, ,

At American Council on Science and Health: Postmodernism and the slow suicide of American science

News
October 3, 2020
Culture, Intelligent Design, Philosophy, Science
2
Berezow: Until it received a public backlash, the Smithsonian published a web page claiming that an "emphasis on the scientific method" and a focus on "objective, rational linear thinking" are examples of "white culture." Read More ›
Type
post
Author
Denyse O'Leary
Date
October 1, 2020
Categories
Culture
Intelligent Design
Science
Tagged
,

Pew survey shows that in the US conservatives trust scientists less than liberals; Rob Sheldon comments

News
October 1, 2020
Culture, Intelligent Design, Science
2
Sheldon: If you politicize science, people stop trusting you. It has nothing to do with “science” and everything to do with “scientists.” And the fact that the media spin this as a distrust of “Science” tells you that the distrust is well-placed. Why is this so hard to explain? Read More ›
Type
post
Author
Denyse O'Leary
Date
September 30, 2020
Categories
Culture
Intelligent Design
Laws
Philosophy
Science
Tagged
,

At RealClearScience: Replace juries with scientists!

News
September 30, 2020
Culture, Intelligent Design, Laws, Philosophy, Science
2
So. In a science world where Scientific American broke with a 175-year tradition to endorse a candidate for U.S. President, we are still supposed to believe in some objective gold standard of science? Precisely what those people GAVE UP is any claim to be considered objective. Sorry. Scientists can’t just deke in and out of objectivity whenever it suits them. And they’ll sure miss it when it’s gone. Read More ›
Type
post
Author
Denyse O'Leary
Date
September 27, 2020
Categories
Intelligent Design
Religion
Science
Tagged
, , ,

Christian Scientific Society’s upcoming online seminar: “Is the Natural World Good or Bad?”

News
September 27, 2020
Intelligent Design, Religion, Science
1
Talks include: Stuart Burgess, professor of engineering, University of Bristol, discussing the "bad design" argument (a.k.a. the "Panda's Thumb" argument) and design tradeoffs. Read More ›
Type
post
Author
Denyse O'Leary
Date
September 23, 2020
Categories
Intelligent Design
Medicine
Peer review
Science
Tagged
, ,

Surgisphere scandal results in change in editorial practices at The Lancet

News
September 23, 2020
Intelligent Design, Medicine, Peer review, Science
2
At The Scientist: "Like Malički, Watson and other researchers note that the changes don’t address larger, more general issues highlighted by Surgisphere’s papers, including journals’ reluctance to push authors to share data and code for published studies, and an overall lack of transparency in how papers are reviewed before and after publication. " Read More ›
Type
post
Author
Denyse O'Leary
Date
September 18, 2020
Categories
Culture
Intelligent Design
Science
Tagged
, , , ,

The irony! Scientific American is holding forth on an algorithm that might solve “political paralysis”

News
September 18, 2020
Culture, Intelligent Design, Science
3
Why should we now believe that SciAm’s account of Brett Hennig’s “alternative democracy” ideas is presented to us for any reason other than to sell SciAm’s chosen political candidate for US prez? The thing about sudden partisanship is that you can buy it but you can’t sell it. It’s almost like the folk at Scientific American don’t really get that. Read More ›
Type
post
Author
Denyse O'Leary
Date
September 17, 2020
Categories
Culture
Intelligent Design
Science
Tagged
, , , ,

Science Magazine gets pitched headlong into the political mud wrestle, along with Scientific American

News
September 17, 2020
Culture, Intelligent Design, Science
3
Okay, the editor said it: “there is no apolitical science.” We are not now dealing in the world of accusations but of admissions. He is admitting that opposition to “creationism,” however they define it is political. Fine. We all knew that but we did not have it in writing before. Getting things put in writing is a genuine help. Read More ›
Type
post
Author
Denyse O'Leary
Date
September 16, 2020
Categories
Culture
Intelligent Design
Science
Tagged
, , ,

Rob Sheldon on Scientific American’s foray into politics, backing Joe Biden

News
September 16, 2020
Culture, Intelligent Design, Science
3
I was a devoted SciAm fan growing up. I collected other people's old copies and had a collection going back to the 60's. Then SciAm was bought out by some big publishing firm. And my favorite column, the Amateur Scientist by Forrest M. Mims III , was cancelled because Mims was a Christian. Read More ›
Type
post
Author
Denyse O'Leary
Date
September 15, 2020
Categories
Culture
Intelligent Design
Science
Tagged
, , ,

Scientific American breaks with 175-year tradition, endorses Joe Biden for US President

News
September 15, 2020
Culture, Intelligent Design, Science
2
They can break with tradition in this way if they want, of course. But then they will no longer be able to say that their science is not tainted with (drenched in?) politics. Which is why, no matter what the crisis, no one did it in the past. The outcome, no matter who wins the U.S. election, will be reduced public trust in science. Scientific American could well find itself down there with “media” generally, in terms of public trust. Read More ›
Type
post
Author
Denyse O'Leary
Date
September 14, 2020
Categories
Culture
Intelligent Design
Medicine
Philosophy
Science
Tagged
, , ,

Will respect for science survive the polarization of our era?

News
September 14, 2020
Culture, Intelligent Design, Medicine, Philosophy, Science
2
Alternatively, it may become possible to have a discussion about what, exactly, science is. For example, in the case of the ATP turbine, “Natural selection did it” has the same explicit explanatory value as “God did it.” But natural selection is somehow science and God is not. Why? How? Read More ›
Type
post
Author
Denyse O'Leary
Date
September 13, 2020
Categories
Intelligent Design
Philosophy
Science
Tagged
,

At PNAS: Why science needs philosophy

News
September 13, 2020
Intelligent Design, Philosophy, Science
2
A paper by well-known thinkers like Carlo Rovelli and Elliott Sober offers instances of the way that philosophers can clarify problems for science. Citing Jerry Fodor, it seems like they’ve almost forgotten that Jerry Fodor also wrote What Darwin Got Wrong (2010). Read More ›