The Roots of Skepticism
Why Ancient Ideals Still Apply today
Christopher diCarlo
A recent headline from the now-online-only Weekly World
News reads: “Alien Bible Translated: Extra terrestrials follow the teachings of Oprah Winfrey.” Apparently, Oprah’s popularity has now reached astronomical proportions. In another issue, headlines read: ‘Scientists Reveal Lawyers and Leeches Have Identical Genetic Makeup.” Now, as much as some of us would like to think this is true, we still might want to say something in defense of the leeches.
But seriously, when we ask whether or not anyone should believe these and other similar stories, we are assuming that there are better and worse ways to interpret and act on information. We often
Why Everyone should learn the Theory of Evolution
In an article published in the December 15, 2008
issue of Scientific American, the editors collectively
touched upon the genius, accomplishments, foresight, etc., of Charles Darwin.
You have no doubt seen plenty on the subject recently, but it is important for people to think beyond Darwin’s sometimes poetic explanation of the origin of species (“from so simple a beginning endless forms most beautiful and most wonderful have been, and are being, evolved”) and appreciate some
ASTROLOGY: A FUNDAMENTALLY
J.F.LEACH
What is the standing of astrology in today’s world? There is a tendency on the part of ordinary Humanists to downplay astrology and similar sorts of mysticism, especially in the West. Organized religion is frequently seen as the key threat, and New Age cures, drum circles, star charts and horoscopes can come and go as they please.
In India the situation may be a bit different, thanks to the efforts of Abraham Kovoor and others to dispel superstition, but I expect the belief that astrology is a fairly harmless quirk continues to hold sway. It is this belief which allowed Ronald Reagan to
