Having a free copy of the Lancet at the moment, I found a nice book review about “Dissent over Descent” by Steven Rose.
[He] takes a pleasure, which in part I share, in puncturing the often hyperbolic claims of natural scientists to be unimpeachable purveyors of absolute truth Continue reading Dissent over descent
Following the vision of an universal god in the recent post, Assmann traces also Cudworth’s invisible god who himself cites Plutarch. From “On Isis and Osiris”: Continue reading I am all that hath been, and is, and shall be
Reading now Jan Assmann’s brilliant “Moses the Egyptian” I found Varro quoted (116-27 BC) –
Nihil interesse censens quo nomine nuncupetur, dum eadem res intelligatur
names may be of less interest as long as the “right things” are being meant.
The book was recommended to me by a guide in the new Munich synagogue as an unorthodox view of Moses and the origin of monotheism. Continue reading dum eadem res intelligatur
Enhancing peer review is the main purpose of a new NIH website
there had been a pervasive sense that peer review service has become more of a chore than a stimulating and privileged experience. […] As we contemplated possible changes, we were guided by two fundamental principles. Continue reading Fund the best science, by the best scientists
The German blogosphere is now being mapped but with a few exceptions German science blogging doesn’ play a major role (in contrast to knitting that shows a large cluster Continue reading German Science blogging
The 2006 document on perspectives of the German Protestant Church (EKD) briefly touches also the relation to science on p. 44 Continue reading A protestantic view of science
The appendix of Frey includes a list of errors based on evolutionary psychology (EP) – some acquired during development of our species, some acquired during individual ontogenesis. It is certainly the best what I have read since the famous study biases Continue reading Evolutionary psychology and science: The full error list
While Nature magazine is preparing something about Darwin’s enduring legacy here is a piece from Darwin’s own writings
doubt always arises whether the convictions of man’s mind, which has been developed from the mind of the lower animals, are of any value or at all trustworthy. Would any one trust in the convictions of a monkey’s mind, if there are any convictions in such a mind?
which can be found in Continue reading Would any one trust in the convictions of a monkey’s mind?
The Just Science 2008 will start next week – and here is my last chance to say something non scientific: Science is a method, that has certain prerequisites, works under certain conditions while using techniques with strengths and limitations and is leading to certain conclusions evident to some but not all humans. Needless to say that from a protestant / Lutheran view that there are other ways to explain a phenomenon while providing even extra dimensions like giving an ethical justification.
Haldane / When I am dead / 1928: I am not myself a materialist, because, if materialism is true, it seems to me that we cannot know that it is true. If my opinions are the results of a chemical processes going on in my brain, they are determined by the laws of chemistry, not those of logic.
More at the recent immersion blog post…
Here comes the second comment on the Annual Edge Question 2008.
When thinking changes your mind, that’s philosophy.
When God changes your mind, that’s theology.
When facts change your mind, that’s science.
What have you changed your mind about? Why?
I would have done it in a different way: Continue reading Edge Question wrong
I have been asked to give an evening lecture about science and religion here at a local congregation. At the first moment, I did not want to do that, but finally promised to take up this challenge – there are so many heroes where I could get some inspiration. I remember having read a wonderful paper by an author but could not recall his name. Continue reading In memory of Peter Lipton
I am currently reading Geert Mak’s “In Europa”, an excellent history of European history (in particular important for me as my high school education ended with the Weimar republic! I always wanted to ask my former teacher R. Grundel for the reasons but he died recently). This book finds and connects all the lost threads while being excellently written and easy to read. I am citing here from the notes of Harold Nicolson (p 137), a young British diplomat, who served as an advisor to Lloyd George, Clémenceau and Wilson: Continue reading Precisez, mon cher, precisez
I am currently reading “The Lucifer effect” by Philipp Zimbardo. Having seen many terrible things like a woman killed by more than 30 stabs with knife I know that theodicy is the main problem in theology – when the bad “situational power triumphs over individual power”. Zimbardo examines the process of transformation when good or ordinary people do bad or evil things Continue reading The Lucifer effect
An excellent new review summarizes our current knowledge about telomeres – the complicated chromosome end machinery that is necessary to prevent unwanted repair while allowing to track for the number of replications. Think of it like a source code control system as CVS, the Concurrent Version System. During a recent research project on life cycle of single point mutations / SNPs I realized Continue reading Living on borrowed time
Nature magazine has an interesting essay how science works: “The security of knowing nothing” is basically arguing that we need to trust other scientists. Continue reading Landing on the moon