Quote:

---

New research by philospher Elliott Sober and biologist David Sloane Wilson, presented in their 1998 book Unto Others: The Evolution and Psychology of Unselfish... ]]> feeds@yuku.com (LanDroid) http://booktalk.yuku.com/topic/3887 Sat, 08 May 2004 10:30:21 GMT http://booktalk.yuku.com/topic/3896/t/Ch-7-Epigenetic-rules-Help-.html
I keep stumbling over his black-box use of "epigenetic rules." You could replace "epigenetic rules" with "gift from God"... ]]> feeds@yuku.com (Tiarella) http://booktalk.yuku.com/topic/3896 Tue, 04 May 2004 17:54:47 GMT http://booktalk.yuku.com/topic/3893/t/Michael-Shermer-chat-rescheduled.html Thursday, May 27th at 10:00pm ET. Please mark your calendars.

Chris feeds@yuku.com (Chris OConnor) http://booktalk.yuku.com/topic/3893 Tue, 04 May 2004 07:31:39 GMT http://booktalk.yuku.com/topic/3899/t/Steven-Pinker-rings-in-from-the-Harvard-Crimson-.html Pinker: No Scientific Evidence for God

By YIYANG WU
Contributing Writer

CRIMSON/ JOSEPH L. ABEL

Johnstone Family Professor of Psychology Steven Pinker spoke to an overflow
crowd of over 250 at the Science Center last night, arguing that human
religious beliefs are a by-product of evolution, but not an actual evolutionary
adaptation. "The only way religious belief could be an adaptation is if a... ]]> feeds@yuku.com (Unregistered(d)) http://booktalk.yuku.com/topic/3899 Fri, 23 Apr 2004 06:33:32 GMT http://booktalk.yuku.com/topic/3898/t/Insignificant-Proof.html
While it seemed funny in reference to The Late Great Planet Earth, Mr. Shermer sets out to the same thing in How We Believe.

Mr. Shermer suggests the following:

1. Humans are... ]]> feeds@yuku.com (Hestiasmissives) http://booktalk.yuku.com/topic/3898 Mon, 19 Apr 2004 18:08:15 GMT http://booktalk.yuku.com/topic/3900/t/Beleif-Statistics.html
I disagree on two grounds. First of all, something so basic to individual psychology simply could not possibly swing so far, so fast. We can tell that something... ]]> feeds@yuku.com (Jeremy1952) http://booktalk.yuku.com/topic/3900 Sun, 11 Apr 2004 10:06:29 GMT http://booktalk.yuku.com/topic/3901/t/Proofs-of-God.html feeds@yuku.com (Jeremy1952) http://booktalk.yuku.com/topic/3901 Sun, 11 Apr 2004 09:52:57 GMT http://booktalk.yuku.com/topic/3902/t/Shermer-and-NonTheism.html How strike me as strangely apologetic, with an attempt at an unreasonable balance. I'm reminded of the scene in Heinlein's Stranger in a Strange Land, where Michael, the Man from Mars, is invited to the U.N. The protocol folks think they are giving him proper honor by putting him at the head of the conference table, with heads of state around it.... ]]> feeds@yuku.com (Jeremy1952) http://booktalk.yuku.com/topic/3902 Sun, 11 Apr 2004 09:44:01 GMT http://booktalk.yuku.com/topic/3897/t/Virgin-Mary-Beheaded-.html

This is the stained image on a window in Clearwater, FL that looks similar to the Virgin Mary. Shermer mentions it in How We Believe. Since I took the above picture a vandal has shot out the top panes of glass with a pellet or BB gun completely shattering them. feeds@yuku.com (Chris OConnor) http://booktalk.yuku.com/topic/3897 Sun, 11 Apr 2004 00:46:44 GMT http://booktalk.yuku.com/topic/3904/t/Where-are-you-in-the-book-as-of-April-7-2004-.html Where are you in the book as of April 7, 2004?

"The man who does not read good books has no advantage over the man who cannot read them"-- Mark Twain

]]> feeds@yuku.com (Chris OConnor) http://booktalk.yuku.com/topic/3904 Wed, 07 Apr 2004 22:24:22 GMT http://booktalk.yuku.com/topic/3903/t/Michael-Shermer-from-Humanity-3000.html Michael Shermer
Participant Statement

CRITICAL FACTORS

What are the factors that are most critical to the long-term survival of humanity?

1. Ideas and education. All action springs from thought. Good actions... ]]> feeds@yuku.com (Chris OConnor) http://booktalk.yuku.com/topic/3903 Tue, 06 Apr 2004 15:53:54 GMT http://booktalk.yuku.com/topic/3906/t/Smart-People-Believe-Weird-Things.html here

In April 1999, when I was on a lecture tour for my book Why People Believe Weird Things, the psychologist Robert Sternberg attended my presentation at Yale University. His response to the lecture was both enlightening and troubling. It is certainly entertaining to hear about other people's... ]]> feeds@yuku.com (ZachSylvanus) http://booktalk.yuku.com/topic/3906 Sun, 28 Mar 2004 00:38:19 GMT http://booktalk.yuku.com/topic/3908/t/Belief-Engine-unnecessary-for-argument.html feeds@yuku.com (Tiarella) http://booktalk.yuku.com/topic/3908 Sat, 20 Mar 2004 15:54:45 GMT http://booktalk.yuku.com/topic/3910/t/Topical-Insights.html Hans Kung, Does God Exist? An Answer For Today. P.423,1978.)

"The major enemy of black survival in America has been and is neither oppression nor exploitation but rather... ]]> feeds@yuku.com (Dissident Heart) http://booktalk.yuku.com/topic/3910 Fri, 12 Mar 2004 20:33:02 GMT