About Rationally Speaking


Rationally Speaking is a blog maintained by Prof. Massimo Pigliucci, a philosopher at the City University of New York. The blog reflects the Enlightenment figure Marquis de Condorcet's idea of what a public intellectual (yes, we know, that's such a bad word) ought to be: someone who devotes himself to "the tracking down of prejudices in the hiding places where priests, the schools, the government, and all long-established institutions had gathered and protected them." You're welcome. Please notice that the contents of this blog can be reprinted under the standard Creative Commons license.

Friday, April 29, 2011

Lena's Picks

by Lena Groeger
* Carl Zimmer explores mental time travel, and why we must remember the past to envision the future. 
* A multinational project that attempts to explain religion, still in the “stamp-collecting” phase. They’ll probably be there for a little while.
* All about Christopher Hitchens and his riveting rhetoric. 
* “The lives of artists are more fragile than their creations.” The peril and necessity of artists who stand up against authoritarianism. 
* Our stereotypes of Mac vs PC people may have some truth…(and if not, they're still fun to look at!)
* “The human mind is simply terrible at politics.” Jonah Lehrer on why education might lead to less accurate beliefs. (It's also terrible at reasoning – Chris Mooney on the science of self-delusion.)
* How science literate are we? A panel discussion on the public understanding of science, communication efforts, and implications for policy and policy makers.
* How could we tell if animals had emotions?
* A long New Yorker piece on our perception of time, and why…it… slows… down… in moments of fear.
* It may not be rational, but could the speaking of athletes predict their future performance? Achievement Metrics seems to think so

1 comment:

  1. >”Our stereotypes of Mac vs PC people may have some truth”

    The only thing that surprised me about these poll results, was that the “windows people” felt more proficient with mathematics. I wonder if this is because “windows people” have a differing perception of what mathematics actually is. Let’s give the windows and Mac people a calculus exam and see who does better. I’m guessing that the Mac people, who [based on these poll results] seem to be better educated, will score higher.

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