Just-So Stories

On this week’s episode of Skeptically Speaking, host Desiree Schell interviewed Mark Changizi about his book, The Vision Revolution. I listened to the live taping this past Sunday at what I believe George RR Martin would have referred to as the “hour of the eel” here in England.

Changizi is never short of interesting ideas, and a researcher should always make the strongest case for their ideas that they can. Unfortunately, I have some issues with the evidence supporting that “strongest case” and the way he presents it: Continue reading “Just-So Stories”

Low levels of literacy in creationist legislation

Maybe I’m suffering from observational bias because the only legislative bills that I tend to read are creationist ones, but the authors of such bills seem to have an uncommonly poor ability to write and think coherently.

From the NCSE, this creationist bill was dismissed in New Hampshire:

House Bill 1457, introduced by Gary Hopper (R-District 7) and John Burt (R-District 7), which would have charged the state board of education to “[r]equire science teachers to instruct pupils that proper scientific inquire [sic] results from not committing to any one theory or hypothesis, no matter how firmly it appears to be established, and that scientific and technological innovations based on new evidence can challenge accepted scientific theories or modes.”

And here in Missouri we’ve got a great one this legislative session, which tosses around a flood of technical-sounding words without much regard to consistency or precise definition: Continue reading “Low levels of literacy in creationist legislation”

Prejudice is rational if you assume prejudice is rational

Yesterday, PLoS One published a study entitled “The Rationality of Prejudices” by Thomas Chadefaux and Dirk Helbing, which argues that being prejudiced can be an efficient strategy:

We model an -player repeated prisoner’s dilemma in which players are given traits (e.g., height, age, wealth) which, we assume, affect their behavior. The relationship between traits and behavior is unknown to other players. We then analyze the performance of “prejudiced” strategies. . .Such prejudiced strategies have the advantage of learning rapidly. . .they perform remarkably well. . .when the population changes rapidly.

The key assumption is right there in the abstract:

We model an -player repeated prisoner’s dilemma in which players are given traits (e.g., height, age, wealth) which, we assume, affect their behavior. (emphasis added)

In short, the researchers are starting with the assumption that the prejudices are true. Continue reading “Prejudice is rational if you assume prejudice is rational”

Linkonomicon I

The round-up of links I felt like sharing in my various social media outlets:

What is the Federal Research Public Access Act and why should you care about it?

Nocturnal by Scott Sigler (pre-order) – because Scott’s fiction is my guilty pleasure, and the drilling into Lake Vostok is the perfect set-up for his next science horror story:

On 5 February 2012, a team of Russian scientists successfully drilled through 4 kilometers of ice to reach Lake Vostok, which had lain undisturbed for over 15 million years. Three days later they ceased communicating with the outside world. It took two weeks before a rescue team could reach the drilling site. This is the story of what they found. . .

The Hidden Beauty of the Bottom of Toy Cars – because I enjoy an elegantly built toy.

Republican in Washington State legislature delivers emotional address in support of gay marriage

Skeptically Speaking #150: Fungi & “Fossils”

BitTorrent doesn’t hurt US box-office, delayed international releases drive downloading – I’ve seen this result spun a few different ways, but the argument that the US film industry has not adapted to modern methods of distribution is pretty compelling to me, even if their films are not.

What Jeremy Lin Teaches Us About Talent – I don’t know if Jeremy Lin is the real deal or not, but I do know that most sports statistics and metrics, especially those used in scouting, are bunk.

What it’s like to be uninsured

Silk from Crickets: A new twist on spinning

Ento Box

The Bomb and the General – because anything by Umberto Eco deserves at least a look, and probably needs a few more if you are going to have any hope of getting it.

There Will Be Blood: Follow Up to Skeptically Speaking Podcast

Todd Glass comes out on WTF with Marc Maron Podcast – because its not about one guy coming out of the closet, but why so many people stay in the closet.

Behind the climate change skepticism curtain

Document leakage in the battle over public opinion on climate change isn’t limited to hacked email accounts of climate scientists. The Heartland Institute, a deep-pocketed promoter of climate change skepticism inadvertently sent confidential fundraising materials to someone just posing as a deep-pocketed climate change skeptic, and Desmog Blog has done the document dump.

Apparently some of the documents are fake, but most have been confirmed as genuine. Ezra Klein gives a run-down of what’s there. His main conclusions: Continue reading “Behind the climate change skepticism curtain”