Living Without Free Will
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- Written by Kyle Hill
- Category: Swift
- Hits: 19097
I was going to write this essay. I could not have decided otherwise. I do not mean that if I was laying on the couch that this essay would have written itself, in a fatalistic sense, but given my genetics, my childhood, the experiences I have had and the people I have met, the prior state of the universe and my brain chemistry at this very moment, I was going to write this essay.
After reading Sam Harris’ new book Free Will (you can watch a recent lecture on the book here or buy the book on Amazon here) I can say that I am fairly convinced that our common sense notion of free will does not exist. This idea of free will could be defined as the subjective feeling that your conscious self is the author of your thoughts and actions. If you want to debate this point and argue the specifics, I suggest you read the book first (or watch the lecture) and duke it out in the comments below. My goal here is to generally lay out Harris’ argument against free will and then consider what it has meant for me to live a life without free will. Many of religious faith and an inordinate fondness of free will (as it allows for their eternal punishment of course) should be surprised to hear that it is not much different.
President Obama, God, and Agency Where None Exists
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- Written by Matt Lowry
- Category: Swift
- Hits: 14633
On my blog, I recently put together a post - Gas Prices and Politics: Fact vs. Fiction - about higher gas prices and how people are blaming President Obama for it. As I pointed out there, Republicans blaming him for the increase in the price of gasoline (and oil in general) are wrong for the same reason as when Democrats blamed former President Bush back in 2007: the President doesn't really have that much power to influence oil and gasoline prices.
So, if it is true that no such power exists for the leaders of our government to affect the price at the pump (and that is true, as the prices are set more by market factors such as global supply and demand of oil), why is it that people want to lay blame upon our mostly blameless leaders? I struggled with the answer to this question for some time, but I think I have finally hit upon a possible answer: many people, either consciously or not, attribute powers to the President of the United States and Congress that simply do not exist.
And that asks the next obvious question: why do people attribute such powers to our political leaders? Why is it that many of us assign almost god-like abilities to our decidedly non-god-like and wholly fallible authority figures?
Read more: President Obama, God, and Agency Where None Exists
The Amaz!ng Meeting 2012 - Lock in Savings by April 30
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- Written by D.J. Grothe
- Category: Latest JREF News
- Hits: 5907
The Amaz!ng Meeting (TAM) is the must-attend annual celebration of science, skepticism and critical thinking. People from all over the world come to TAM each year to share learning, laughs and the skeptical perspective with their fellow skeptics and a host of distinguished guest speakers including James Randi, Penn and Teller, Carol Tavris, Lawrence Krauss, Michael Shermer, Eugenie Scott, Jennifer Michael Hecht, Steve Novella and the SGU Rogues, Ophelia Benson, and dozens of others.
But don't just take our word for how amaz!ng TAM is (we're skeptics after all). Check out a panel from last year and decide for yourself. This vigorous discussion on "Our Future In Space" featuring Phil Plait, Pamela Gay, Lawrence Krauss, Bill Nye, and Neil deGrasse Tyson was one of the most memorable moments at TAM 2011. We invite you to enjoy the video of this great panel discussion and hope you'll join us for TAM 2012. »
Read more: The Amaz!ng Meeting 2012 - Lock in Savings by April 30
This Week In Doubtful News
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- Written by Sharon Hill
- Category: Latest JREF News
- Hits: 5692
Here is a rundown of the top stories in pseudoscience, paranormal and anomaly news from the past week courtesy of Doubtful News
This was a big week for anti-vaccination groups. The Centers for Disease Control released a report on measles and blamed anti-vaccination attitudes.
The Australian Vaccination Network (AVN) run by Meryl Dorey which promotes “choice” as a way to spread vaccine hazard information is back in business after a court dispute.
Then, AVN is featured in an ad slot by American Airlines.
Last Week At Science-Based Medicine
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- Written by Dr. Harriet Hall
- Category: Latest JREF News
- Hits: 4947
Here is a recap of the stories that appeared last week at Science-Based Medicine, a multi-author skeptical blog that separates the science from the woo in medicine.
Cancer care in the U. S. versus Europe: Is more necessarily better? (David Gorski) http://www.sciencebasedmedicine.org/index.php/cancer-care-in-the-u-s-versus-europe/ US medical expenditures are higher than Europe’s, but outcomes appear to be worse. Country comparisons are problematic, and measuring overall survival rates is not as valid as measuring mortality rates or stage-specific survival rates. Survival rates are misleading because they are skewed by the effects of earlier diagnosis and overdiagnosis in two of the most common cancers: breast and prostate.
The Future of Medicine (Harriet Hall) http://www.sciencebasedmedicine.org/index.php/the-future-of-medicine/ A new book by Eric Topol predicts “the creative destruction of medicine.” New technological developments are truly exciting, but they will not “destroy” medicine, only improve it. Enthusiasm about their value should be tempered by good judgment; they will require the same assessment of risks and benefits that scientific medicine requires of all new treatments.
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