What objectivity and the study of philosophy require is not an “open mind”, but an active mind - a mind able and eagerly willing to examine ideas, but to examine them critically.
~Ayn Rand


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Not unexpectedly, seeing as I am a chemist, I have written about science quite a lot. Here are some recurring themes and opinions about science I have covered over 73 entries on this blog:

• Science is, first and foremost, a method.
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While I've never written directly about them, I have spoken quite a few times on various "paradigm shifts" in science. (One can scan my topics list if interested.)

( definition of a paradigm shift )

The most famous example of a self-refuting statement that I know is: "Nothing is absolutely true." Of course, the statement itself cannot then be true ( Read more... )

Just over two years ago on 1 Jul, 2006, on the last day of our honeymoon, sadeyedartist and I visited the original Ripley's Believe It or Not Museum. In my "Happenings" report following, I indicated how visiting there changed my opinion of the man ( Read more... )

While some people certainly base too many of their beliefs on experience alone, experience is a valid source of knowledge when coupled with other methods, notably reason ( Read more... )

No, this entry is not about how beautiful women like my wife can be a distraction to growing boys, however true that may be. This entry is on grading curves, not teachers' curves ( Read more... )

Taken and edited from an LJ comment I left with izaaksmom:There is diet food, healthy food, junk food, and poison ( Read more... )

Something about Wikipedia really bothers me.

I was there recently looking up some information about the Hebrew word Elohim. I was appalled by the load of crap that I read there. The linguistical information was so wrong, it was laughable. It read like it was written by a twelve-year-old. The transliterations were whacked out. The inconsistency of ( Read more... )