Advertisements
Category Archives: Science
A Naturalistic Explanation of Suffering
Last time, I noted something of a gap in the results of internet searches on the origin of suffering. I didn’t see any naturalistic explanations, at least in the first page, just supernatural ones and the odd bit of anthropocentric … Continue reading
Posted in Philosophy, Politics, Religion, Science
Tagged cultural evolution, culture, emotion, evolution, human evolution, humanity, naturalism, ontology, pain, pleasure, psychology, psychopathy, Second Law of Thermodynamics, suffering
2 Comments
On the Origin of Morphic Resonance
Or The Preservation of Favoured Hypotheses Have you ever wondered how Rupert Sheldrake came up with the idea of morphic resonance? No, I haven’t really either, but I happened across this interview with Joe Rogan, in which he explained it. … Continue reading
Posted in Philosophy, Religion, Science
Tagged biology, holism, morphic fields, morphic resonance, morphogenesis, relativity, Rupert Sheldrake, Sheldrake
1 Comment
The Scientific Christian, Part 3: The Spin Doctor
We have seen that Rev Dr Nick Hawkes, author of Who Ordered the Universe? is a master of the begged question, and we have seen that he is quite adept at quote-mining. Looking at chapter 2, The Evidence of God … Continue reading
Posted in Book Reviews, Religion, Science
Tagged belief, confirmation bias, Dr Nick Hawkes, evidence for God, religion, scepticism, science, who ordered the universe?
7 Comments
The Scientific Christian, Part 2: Peanuts to Space
Oh no not again [1] I’m reviewing Who Ordered the Universe? by Nick Hawkes. I must apologise to readers who prefer their book reviews short and pithy: the Reverend Doctor manages to cram an inordinate number of dubious statements into … Continue reading
Posted in Book Reviews, Philosophy, Religion, Science
Tagged belief, cosmology, cosmos, Nick Hawkes, religion, scepticism
7 Comments
The Scientific Christian, Part 1: Begging the Question
I have been reading a book by Rev Dr Nick Hawkes, a pastor, writer and broadcaster living in Australia, who has four degrees, two in science and two in theology. The book is called Who Ordered the Universe?: Evidence for … Continue reading
Posted in Book Reviews, Philosophy, Religion, Science
Tagged book review, Christianity, Dr Nick Hawkes, God, Nick Hawkes, religion, scepticism, science
11 Comments
Agape, Anyone?
Yakaru’s recent post about finding “common ground” between religion & science by distorting both reminded me of a review I wrote in 2012 on the Amazon site of the book Religion for Atheists: A non-believer’s guide to the uses of religion, … Continue reading
Posted in Book Reviews, Philosophy, Religion, Science
Tagged Alain de Botton, Religion for Atheists
7 Comments
Humanity Waking Up: origins of religion
For some time I’ve been interested in religion as a natural phenomenon, how it might have developed in early human cultures, what evolutionary processes might be involved, and so on. I wrote a review here of Breaking the Spell, by … Continue reading
Posted in Book Reviews, Philosophy, Religion, Science
Tagged ancient, archaeology, development of religion, evolution, humanity, Inside the Neolithic Mind, Lewis-Williams, life, megalith, Neolithic, Pearce, psychology
10 Comments
Breaking the Spell: Religion as a Natural Phenomenon, by Daniel Dennett
I am more than a bit disappointed with Breaking the Spell (my first Dennett apart from an essay or two). I found myself plodding through the book, at times wondering if I should bother to finish it. I persevered, but … Continue reading
A Critique of “The Truth About Organic Farming” by Christie Wilcox
I was reading an article at Yakaru’s excellent blog, Spirituality is No Excuse, when I stumbled into a discussion about organic farming with someone who commented there. Woody seemed – I thought – to lump together “organic fanatics” with “Ufology … Continue reading
