Believe it or not, yesterday’s post started as an honest question. I phrased it provocatively because this is, after all, the Internet, but I wasn’t just poking atheists with sticks. This actually started quite a while ago, during one of the previous rounds of squabbling over Dawkins and his ilk, when I started a sentence… Continue reading Atheists and Mormons
Put Down the Duckie
No, this has nothing to do with duck genitalia. Instead, it’s about a basic principle of music: You’ve got to put down the duckie if you want to play the saxophone. Via Scott. It’s also a nice reminder of why Sesame Street was such a brilliant show (and may still be, for all I know…)–… Continue reading Put Down the Duckie
Questions for Berg/Mandle?
There’s going to be a dinner/ discussion event tomorrow night featuring Michael Berg and Joan Mandle, who I gather are anti-war activists of some standing (I’ll post some of the biographical information from the announcement below the fold). Anybody have any questions they’re dying to ask either of them? If I get any good suggestions,… Continue reading Questions for Berg/Mandle?
Positive Theism?
Are there reasons for being religious that don’t easily reduce to “God said so”? What are they?
Not-So-Casual Wednesday
Via a pseudonymous LiveJournal, an online study that combines the fun of clicking radio buttons with the thrill of doing SCIENCE! * The study URL is: http://www.homeport.org/~kcat/study3/ * It takes about 15 minutes. You listen to 8 short clips and answer questions about how the people sound. It is easily as fun as a quiz.… Continue reading Not-So-Casual Wednesday
Positive Atheism?
Are there reasons for being an atheist that don’t easily reduce to “Religion is stupid”? Should there be?
Undergraduate Research: The Catch
So, looking at the SRI studies of undergraduate research and its effects, it seems like the solution to a lot of problems. Involvement in research has been shown to increase student interest in science careers and increase the likelihood of graduate school, regardless of the race and gender of the student or the race and… Continue reading Undergraduate Research: The Catch
Undergraduate Research: Why It Works
I wrote yesterday’s post about the undergraduate research study very quickly, basically just to note the existence of the survey. It’s sparked some good discussion, though, and I’d like to take another post or two to expand on what I think it means. Of course, the beneficial effect of undergraduate research seems almost obvious if… Continue reading Undergraduate Research: Why It Works
It’s the Research that Matters
Over at Pure Pedantry, Jake notes an article in Science about a survey of undergraduate research. The actual article is behind a paywall, but you can get access to the survey reports from SRI directly, which is even better. The study finds a large number of benefits from undergraduate research, from increased confidence to improved… Continue reading It’s the Research that Matters
The Genius Gap
Kate was scheduled to argue a case Friday morning in Federal court in Manhattan, so we decided to make a weekend of it. I drove down after class on Friday, and we went to dinner with Patrick and Teresa Nielsen Hayden on Friday night, and spent Saturday at the Met, getting some culture. Kate’s a… Continue reading The Genius Gap