Monthly Archives: December 2009
An interesting paper on cultural evolution
PNAS has a very interesting paper about cultural evolution in Taiwan at the beginning of the 20th Century, by Melissa Brown and Marcus Feldman. It basically argues that two different selective forces, Cultural and Social, influenced the decline in footbinding … Continue reading
Filed under Evolution, Social dominance, Social evolution
On the terrorism of stories
That purveyor of stories that scare and delight us, CNN, hosts a thoughtful column by Bruce Schneier, in which he points out that the so-called security at airports in the light of terrorism, is really just about telling comforting stories. … Continue reading
Christmas irony
Superstitions, such as astrology, can never satisfy the longings of the human heart, says Sydney’s Anglican Archbishop Peter Jensen.
Filed under Religion
A Received View paper on species
While I have some internet access via my GF (another fortnight! Is this the third world?) I will mention this paper in Evolution: Education and Outreach, on teaching about species. It’s a standard received view version, complete with Plato and … Continue reading
Filed under Education, Species and systematics, Species concept
Happy Solar Festival
So, I am moved from Sydney to Brisbane, but as yet have no internet at home. I must therefore steal some of my GF’s in order to wish you all a wonderful solstice for tomorrow, and sundry other religious and … Continue reading
Filed under Administrative, Humor, Religion, Sermon
Correlation does not imply causation
One of the oldest fallacies is the “fallacy of affirming the consequent“. Basically it is the logical form of the old statistical fallacy of taking correlation to imply causation. Just because two things are true doesn’t mean there is some … Continue reading
Filed under General Science, Systematics, trashcan categorial
God causes a Sumerian recession
The Onion, as always, nails it… Members of the earth’s earliest known civilization, the Sumerians, looked on in shock and confusion some 6,000 years ago as God, the Lord Almighty, created Heaven and Earth. According to recently excavated clay tablets … Continue reading
