Education professor propounds eccentric notion that teachers may know more than students.… Read the rest
Welcome to our archive of news stories relevant to the project of fighting fashionable nonsense. The stories are drawn from the electronic pages of the world’s media. On this page, you’ll find links to those stories that have been featured on Butterflies and Wheels during the current year. At the bottom of the page, you’ll find links to separate archives of stories from previous years.
We’re always pleased to hear about news stories that you think should be featured on Butterflies and Wheels. Just send an email here, if you want to point one out to us.
A note about links
Inevitably links go out of date. We suggest, therefore, that you make hard-copies of the stories that particularly interest you.
End the excuses 
Sep 10th, 2002 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Ian Buruma argues that it is time that people stopped hiding behind a sloppy relativism as a way to excuse the inexcusable.… Read the rest
Kennewick Man to be studied
Sep 10th, 2002 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
A federal magistrate judge has ordered the US government to let scientists study the bones of Kennewick Man, an ancient skeleton discovered on the banks of the Columbia River.… Read the rest
Fantasy beats reason every time
Sep 10th, 2002 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Philosopher Simon Blackburn in despair at humanity’s capacity for self-deception.… Read the rest
Perhaps not so radically different
Sep 10th, 2002 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Margaret Talbot takes Carol Gilligan to task for her claim that there are radical differences between male and female minds.… Read the rest
Uncertain terrain
Sep 10th, 2002 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Skeptic editor Michael Shermer explains the difference between science and pseudoscience, and explores the intermediate area where the jury is still out.… Read the rest
Blunt opinions
Sep 10th, 2002 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
‘Naipaul has always eschewed the rhetoric of marginality.’… Read the rest
Get real about human nature
Sep 9th, 2002 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Steven Pinker on the fears that lead to people embracing an erroneous conception of human nature.… Read the rest
Oxymoron?
Sep 4th, 2002 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
The evolution of the scientific creationist.… Read the rest
Will Lingua Franca be back?
Aug 20th, 2002 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Intellectual arguments and personal bile make a compelling read.… 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
