Where crop circles come from.… Read the rest
All entries by this author
Science Wars: an interview with Alan Sokal
Aug 15th, 2002 | By Julian BagginiDennis Healey once compared a verbal attack by one of his parliamentary
colleagues to "being savaged by a dead sheep." I was reminded
of this remark when I met the physicist Alan Sokal, the man who,
along with mathematician Jean Bricmont, has caused outrage and indignation
among the French intelligentsia first with his spoof post-modern
article published in the journal Social Text, and then for
his and Bricmont’s book Intellectual Impostures, which
combines a catalogue of misuses of scientific terms by predominantly
French thinkers with a stinging attack on what they call "sloppy
relativism"
Given this history, you’d expect Sokal to be more lupine than lamb-like,
but in fact, he is a friendly, chatty, effusive figure more interested… Read the rest
Lay Sceptic’s Travels on Planet Energy
Aug 14th, 2002 | By Elina RiglerRecently I have been feeling like a visitor on an alien planet: ordinary people
around me have started to communicate in a new, esoteric language. Let’s call
it Energyspeak. It uses the same vocabulary as Oldspeak (my native language),
but many of its words have been stripped of their usual meanings. Its speakers
also seem to inhabit a radically different metaphysical universe. They inform
me that there is a bioenergetic field flowing through and around us; and that
disturbances in it have dire consequences for our health. Those fluent in Energyspeak
pay regular visits to energy therapists (acupuncturists; homeopaths; reflexologists;
reiki healers) who are able to treat all kinds of physical and emotional problems
by correcting energy imbalances. I myself … Read the rest
Reputation 
Aug 10th, 2002 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
One of the three most important English language literary critics of the 20th century? Or is that a bit inflated.… Read the rest
Sums on snails
Aug 10th, 2002 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Francis Galton counted silly things.… Read the rest
Dawkins on Sanderson
Aug 2nd, 2002 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
A Headmaster’s hatred of any locked door which might stand between a boy and some worthwhile enthusiasm shows what real education is.… Read the rest
Power to the Rich
Jul 29th, 2002 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Perhaps the most pro-business presidency the US has ever endured.… Read the rest
Amateur Journalism
Jul 19th, 2002 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
What was lost in judiciousness was gained in verve.… Read the rest
Berkowitz on Rawls
Jul 3rd, 2002 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
‘How can the moral law be both a fact of reason and in need of justification by faith?’… Read the rest
Philosophy and Biography
Jun 10th, 2002 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Is there any connection between the way we think and the way we live? Surely yes, but do biographers know what the connections are?… Read the rest
Dawkins or Gould
Jun 9th, 2002 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
What is and what is not at issue in the disagreements.… Read the rest
Darwin and Jesus mix?
May 10th, 2002 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Michael Ruse says they can.… Read the rest
Aesthete
May 8th, 2002 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Cynthia Ozick believes stories occupy a realm separate from life, and that includes politics.… Read the rest
Hitchens on Amis Major
May 2nd, 2002 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Kingsley Amis thought of boredom as a form of tyranny.… Read the rest
Meritocracy
Apr 20th, 2002 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Philosophers and political theorists disagree with popular belief that special rewards are deserved.… Read the rest
Gitlin Meets Fallows
Apr 15th, 2002 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
And they talk about media saturation.… Read the rest
Middle Mind
Dec 10th, 2001 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Funny, ruthless dissection of the ‘Fresh Air’ mindset.… Read the rest
Dwight Macdonald
Nov 30th, 2001 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Right when he said no, wrong when he said yes.… Read the rest
Lingua Franca
Nov 20th, 2001 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Judith Shulevitz on making a magazine weird.… Read the rest
