Pharyngula Probably not. But the New York Times reports: A review of studies has found that the health benefits of infant male circumcision vastly outweigh the risks involved in the procedure. Actually, it doesn’t. Not at all. The paper is all about the frequency of circumcision in the US; this is the only real data in the paper, and notice that a good chunk of it is speculation.
How to Fail at Being an Ally As I wrote last week, people who do not identify as allies cause undue and often unintentional distress in marginalized groups. Some of them might be indifferent, some might not. Either way, in their case, it’s a simple lack of awareness. Presumably, one would expect more from fellow activists or self-identified allies, right? ism 101 » Welcome to Skepticism 101! The Skeptical Studies Curriculum Resource Center Welcome to Skepticism 101! The Skeptical Studies Curriculum Resource Center The Skeptical Studies Curriculum Resource Center is a comprehensive, free repository of resources for teaching students how to think skeptically. This Center contains an ever-growing selection of books, reading lists, course syllabi, in-class exercises, PowerPoint presentations, student projects, papers, and videos that you may download and use in your own classes. Lessons in these resources include:
Living After Faith Rich used to believe and preach that it takes more faith to believe in evolution than it does to believe in god. Now he doesn’t believe that, and obviously doesn’t preach it anymore. I don’t remember who I stole the illustration in the sermon from, but here’s how it would go: (Preacher Mode ON) Imagine you have the finest Rolex watch ever made, and I run it through a super-powerful shredder that rips it into tiny pieces no larger than the head of a pin, or the eye of a needle.
Hampi Pt. 1 A beautiful maiden with a creeper, on one of the door jams in Vijayanagara's ruined Krishna Temple. Combining an entire city's worth of incredible South Indian architectural marvels with one of the subcontinent's grandest landscapes, Hampi is unequivocally one of India's most magnificent historical sites. The modern village of Hampi is nestled in the midst of the ruins of what was, in the 16th century, the world's largest city after Ming Dynasty Peking. The city was called Vijayanagara, and it was the capital of South India's final great Hindu empire. It was situated in an area naturally fortified by a river and enormous mounds of granite boulders, a region with a history that goes back well over a thousand years before the founding of Vijayanagara in the 14th century. Hampi is an example of a place that directly owes all of its cultural achievements to geological forces.
Bad Astronomy Well now, this is an interesting discovery: astronomers have found what looks like a "super-Earth" – a planet more massive than Earth but still smaller than a gas giant – orbiting a nearby star at the right distance to have liquid water on it! Given that, it might – might – be Earthlike. This is pretty cool news. We’ve found planets like this before, but not very many! 10 Anime You Should Watch (And That Are Easy to Find!) Power Grid by Kellie Foxx-Gonzalez | 12:31 pm, July 25th, 2012 <span id="am-ngg-js-warning" ><p>Enable JavaScript to check out our fancy slideshow.
NeuroLogica Blog Jan 13 2017 Cognitive Biases in Health Care Decision Making This was an unexpected pleasant find in an unusual place. How To Sell Magic Beans One of the eternal questions for skeptics is – how can some people be so gullible? We have a standard answer which captures many of the factors: poor understanding of science, lack of an innate sense of probability, all the various mechanisms of self-deception, and the strong desire to believe in certain things. Further, some cons are just slick, and anyone can be fooled by a clever-enough deception. But still, there are some claims that are so astoundingly gullible it’s difficult not to face-palm when confronted by them.