All entries by this author

Normblog Writer’s Choice: Julian Baggini *

Aug 1st, 2007 | Filed by

Humans cannot conquer nature and nor can they just hold hands with it and skip along the lane singing la-di-da.… Read the rest



Tu quoque

Aug 1st, 2007 12:29 am | By

Research misconduct is in the eye of the beholder; so is evidence; so is replication; so is falsification; so is peer review; it’s all, all in the eye of the beholder. Knowledge is power, therefore I don’t need to make sense.

[T]he firing of Churchill reveals a very pernicious kind of exclusionary dogmatism in scholarly research and writing and media reporting. The firing of Professor Churchill for alleged research misconduct…ignored all Indigenous evidence and perspectives that are critical of Eurocentric versions of the history of the European invasion of the Americas. Research misconduct is in the eye of the beholder. Euroamerican teachers and scholars have taught and written for several centuries that Columbus discovered America. That is a more

Read the rest


Truth and consensus

Aug 1st, 2007 12:05 am | By

I wrote this on Thursday but the database broke while I was writing it, so it had to wait.

Norm has an additional thought on my murmurings about truth and the harm principle and enforcement on Point of Inquiry.

The non-enforceability of any responsibility there is not to teach children untruths must surely follow, in liberal societies, from not having public bodies issuing pronouncements as to what is – officially as it were – true and untrue. Even on matters where there is a scientific consensus, that consensus is left open to challenge. But more relevantly, on matters of ethics, politics, metaphysical outlook, there’s no official truth that could be enforced.

Hmmmm. I’m not sure that’s quite true, actually … Read the rest



Noise is back

Aug 1st, 2007 12:01 am | By

Sorry things went silent for a few days: the database broke, and Jeremy was in New York, so unable to fix it until today. Give the man a nice round of applause (or you could tell him how impressive his biceps are).… Read the rest



Deborah Lipstadt on Ward Churchill *

Jul 31st, 2007 | Filed by

He called DL an Eichmann for ignoring the genocide of Native Americans; she was ‘destroying another people.’… Read the rest



This is not a Parody *

Jul 31st, 2007 | Filed by

‘Research misconduct is in the eye of the beholder.’ Ah yes – so is perjury, fraud, falsification…… Read the rest



Academic Freedom Matters; So Does Truth *

Jul 31st, 2007 | Filed by

3 panels unanimously found that chunks of Churchill’s work met his own criteria for intellectual dishonesty.… Read the rest



Colorado Regents Vote to Fire Ward Churchill *

Jul 31st, 2007 | Filed by

Research misconduct cited, but Churchill and supporters say the decision was political.… Read the rest



Another ‘Honour’ Killing *

Jul 31st, 2007 | Filed by

Bachan Athwal and her son Sukhdave arranged the murder of Surjit Athwal ‘to defend the family honour.’… Read the rest



The Afterlife as Information? *

Jul 31st, 2007 | Filed by

Maybe minds are like radio signals and brains are like radios? Or maybe not.… Read the rest



Einstein’s Wife: PBS Fails the Test of Integrity

Jul 31st, 2007 | By Allen Esterson

In July I had one of those good news/bad news days. First the good news. In response to the detailed complaint I had submitted in February 2007 to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation about their promotion of the film “Einstein’s Wife”,[1] I received the following from Simon Melkman, ABC Audience & Consumer Affairs:

“Due to the breaches of the ABC’s Code of Practice which you have identified, the ABC will not broadcast ‘Einstein’s Wife’ again. In addition, the ATOM ‘Einstein’s Wife’ study guide has been removed from the ABC website.”

Now the bad news. On that same day I received from one of the Einstein specialists whose tendentiously edited interviews were included in the film the information that the US Public … Read the rest



Hindu Expert Says Monks Got it Wrong *

Jul 30th, 2007 | Filed by

Their interpretation of Hinduism was naive and simplistic, said Jay Lakhani.… Read the rest



Celebrating the Sanctity of Tuberculosis *

Jul 30th, 2007 | Filed by

Supporters took part in a pooja ceremony celebrating the sanctity of life at the temple enclosure. … Read the rest



Foreign Policy Lists the Stupidest Fatwas *

Jul 30th, 2007 | Filed by

From Pokemon to Polio.… Read the rest



Cyberbullying *

Jul 30th, 2007 | Filed by

Anonymity brings out the shark in people.… Read the rest



Dylan Evans’s Utopia Experiment *

Jul 30th, 2007 | Filed by

‘The logs were symbolic of the enormity of what I’d taken on and I just froze.’… Read the rest



Dangerous Ideas *

Jul 26th, 2007 | Filed by

Pinker and Dawkins discuss.… Read the rest



Muslim Support for Suicide Bombing Falls *

Jul 26th, 2007 | Filed by

Pew Survey reports fall in support since 2002, but in Palestine support is still at 70%.… Read the rest



Roger Scruton on the Anthropology of Religion *

Jul 26th, 2007 | Filed by

The important thing is not god or gods but the sacred.… Read the rest



South Africa: Men Tell Women to Wear Skirts *

Jul 26th, 2007 | Filed by

A trouser-wearing woman in Umlazi township was stripped naked and her shack burnt down.… Read the rest