a tippling philosopher

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July 27, 2012

Posted by Jonathan Pearce. Posted In : Philosophy 

 

Social Deprivation Has a Measurable Effect On Brain Growth

July 23, 2012

Social Deprivation Has a Measurable Effect On Brain Growth

ScienceDaily (July 23, 2012) — Severe psychological and physical neglect produces measurable changes in children's brains, finds a study led by Boston Children's Hospital. But the study also suggests that positive interventions can partially reverse these changes.

 

Researchers led by Margaret Sheridan, PhD, and Charles Nelson, PhD, of the Labs of Cognitive Neuroscience at Boston Children's Hospital, analyzed brain MRI scans from...


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Posted by Jonathan Pearce. Posted In : Science 

 

Are humans getting better?

July 23, 2012
Are humans getting better?

Due to our up and coming Tippling Philosopher’s meeting entitled “Are humans getting better?” I thought I would put a piece together to get a few thoughts down. This is an interesting question because it promotes going down all sorts of rabbit-holes. I will try and keep my thoughts tight, however.

First of all, we are not talking about the world, but about humans which keeps things nice and specific. “Are humans getting better?” straight away implies ...
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Posted by Jonathan Pearce. Posted In : Philosophy 

 

One of the worst Christian arguments that I have argued against

July 22, 2012
Recently, I posted a piece on biblical contradictions and how Christians harness cognitive dissonance to help them find desperate ways in which to defend ideas of inerrancy. I looked to show that they use a circular approach without realising it:

1) The Bible never makes contradictions
2) All alleged contradictions can be harmonised
3) Since the Bible never makes contradictions, all harmonisations are inherently more probable than the idea that there are contradictions
4) All harmonisations ...

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Posted by Jonathan Pearce. Posted In : Religion 

 

Another good review for "Free Will?"

July 17, 2012
5.0 out of 5 stars Great Thought-Provoking Book!, July 16, 2012
By 
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: Free Will?: An investigation into whether we have free will, or whether I was always going to write this book (Paperback)
I recommend this entertaining and well-argued, mind-blowing book in which the author examines a notion we all seem to take for granted in the West, i.e., our dearly beloved notion of free wil...
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Posted by Jonathan Pearce. Posted In : Books 

 

Atheist Acceptability on the Rise in America

July 15, 2012

More than half would now vote for a nonbeliever.

Published on June 28, 2012 by David Niose in Our Humanity, Naturally

 

 


The good news for nonbelievers is that, for the first time ever, more than half the American population would vote for a qualified, open atheist for president.  A recentGallup poll shows that 54 percent of Americans would not consider a candidate’s atheism to be a disqualification for holding the nation's highest office.

This shows remarkable progress, a nine-point incr...


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Posted by Jonathan Pearce. Posted In : Politics 

 

Biblical contradictions and the Christian mind

July 13, 2012
Recently, elsewhere, I have been discussing the contradictions of the Bible. Many are fairly irrelevant in the scheme of things and don’t really invalidate the core claims of the Bible, only the claims of inerrancy. What it does show, however, is the rationalisation process of the average Christian. Not only is the process hilarious to watch, but the answers given vary so widely amongst defenders of inerrancy (and even amongst liberal defenders who instinctively try to protect the Bible's ...

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Posted by Jonathan Pearce. Posted In : Religion 

 

Higgs Boson - the God Particle...

July 6, 2012


 

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Posted by Jonathan Pearce. Posted In : Humour 

 

Antony Flew on 'Theology and Falsification'

July 4, 2012
This superb essay was linked to me by Andreas on another thread. I/t is 44 years old now and was written by Antony Flew in his prime. It is as relevant today as it ever was:



Theology and Falsification

The following excerpt was published in Reason and Responsibility (1968).

by Antony Flew

et us begin with a parable. It is a parable developed from a tale told by John Wisdom in his haunting and revolutionary article "Gods."[1] Once upon a time two explorers came upon a clearing in the jun...

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Posted by Jonathan Pearce. Posted In : Religion 

 

Heads you win, tails I lose

July 4, 2012
Here is a video summing up and previous blog post of mine about theists using evidence at the opposite ends of the spectrum to conclude that God exists.


 
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Posted by Jonathan Pearce. Posted In : Religion 

 
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