Sunday 10 July 2011

Burnee links for Sunday

A beginners guide to doubting everything « Hayley Stevens
"If there was one thing I have taken from my experience of becoming open-minded and openly skeptical it’s this; people who hold irrational beliefs like I used to, will resort to bullying because they have no stronger argument to throw your way. If they had any solid facts to base their beliefs and points on, they would provide you with them. Instead you get names, threats and disdain."
Some advice from an active, practical skeptic.

The Meming of Life » Ten years of Calling Bernadette’s Bluff » Parenting Beyond Belief » on secular parenting and other natural wonders
I find this very tempting. Dale McGowan's non-fiction writing (on his blog, at least) is something special. I do wonder what his fiction is like.

I thought Iceland was more rational than this : Pharyngula
You can never be sure people are being serious when they report such things. Maybe it's an elaborate play-along. (And do elves have feathers? And does that mean they can fly?)

Free Will: A First, Very Tentative, Step « Choice in Dying
Free will is a fascinating subject. Does it exist, or is it just an illusion? Is there any way of knowing, one way or the other? Chocolate or vanilla, you choose.

Faith leaders - Butterflies and Wheels
Ophelia Benson on the representation of the religious.