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Sanjeev Kulkarni, professor of electrical engineering and director of the Keller Center, has been appointed as the next dean of the Princeton University Graduate School, effective March 31.
His appointment was recommended by Princeton President Christopher L. Eisgruber and approved by the Board of Trustees at their Jan. 25 meeting. He succeeds William Russel, who has served as dean since 2002 and who announced in September that he would step down this year.
"Sanjeev Kulkarni will be a spectacular dean for Princeton's Graduate School," said Eisgruber. "Sanj has a well-deserved reputation for excellence as an interdisciplinary scholar, a versatile administrator and a constructive colleague. He cares deeply about the welfare of students, and he will be a thoughtful and effective advocate for graduate education in the years to come. I have no doubt that Sanj is the right person to build upon Bill Russel's many fine accomplishments as dean of the Graduate School."
A search committee composed of faculty members and graduate students proposed the selection of Kulkarni, who joined the Princeton faculty in 1991. Kulkarni, who also is an associated faculty member in the Department of Operations Research and Financial Engineering and in the Department of Philosophy, served as associate dean for academic affairs in the School of Engineering and Applied Science from 2003 to 2005; was the master of Butler College, an undergraduate residential college, from 2004 to 2012; and since 2011 has been the director of the Keller Center, which has the broad aim to "educate students to be leaders in a technology-driven society."
The Graduate School enrolls about 2,600 students pursuing master's and doctoral degrees in 42 departments and programs. The dean reports to Provost David Lee.
"I am thrilled with the appointment of Sanj Kulkarni as our new dean of the Graduate School," Lee said. "A winner of many teaching awards during his Princeton career and a seasoned University citizen, Sanj has excelled in every aspect of faculty endeavor. He is known as a community-builder, working collaboratively with different groups within the University community, and so I am excited to have him as a partner in advancing the mission of the Graduate School through our commitment to diversity.
"He has contributed a great deal to Princeton already, and his experience will prove helpful in shaping a vision for graduate student life," Lee said. "Sanj has a reputation as a generous mentor and a collaborative leader, talents that will serve him well in his new role."
Kulkarni said he appreciates the chance to serve the University and have an impact in a new role.
"Through more than 20 years as a faculty member and administrator, I have developed a very deep appreciation for Princeton," Kulkarni said. "It is an honor and a privilege to have the opportunity to serve the University in this capacity. I look forward to working with President Eisgruber, Provost Lee, the trustees, and colleagues and students across campus to advance the mission of the Graduate School."
Kulkarni said he plans to spend much of the next few months listening to the priorities of the University community, and he identified academics, campus life, diversity and professional development, among others, as some important areas of focus. He will live in Wyman House, the official residence of the dean of the Graduate School, located on the Graduate College grounds.
Kulkarni has had a distinguished career as a researcher and educator at Princeton.
His research spans a broad range of areas related to understanding fundamental limits and developing methods for processing data and information, with a focus on information theory, machine learning, statistical pattern recognition, and signal and image processing. Due to the research's interdisciplinary nature, he has worked extensively with the philosophy department as well as colleagues in computer science, psychology, and operations research and financial engineering. One of his projects is an interdisciplinary, multi-institution collaboration through the National Science Foundation-funded Center for Science of Information, which seeks to provide quantitative understanding of information representation, processing, and communication in biological, social and engineered systems. Kulkarni is a fellow of the IEEE, the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers.
In addition to advising dozens of undergraduate and graduate students' research projects, Kulkarni has taught or co-taught a variety of courses in electrical engineering, computer science, philosophy, and operations research and financial engineering. He won the President's Award for Distinguished Teaching in 2007 and the engineering school's Distinguished Teacher Award in 2004. Students selected him for the Phi Beta Kappa Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching in 2009, and have given him seven Engineering Council Excellence in Teaching Awards.
Kulkarni has been an active participant in many departmental, school, and university-wide committees and advisory groups. In addition to serving on several program committees within the engineering school, he also has served on the Healthier Princeton Advisory Board, the Frist Campus Center Advisory Board, the Alcohol Coalition Committee, and he is an academic athletic fellow for the football team and a faculty fellow at Butler College. He also is on the Sustainability Steering Council, the faculty advisory committee for Labyrinth Books, and serves as a trustee of Princeton University Press.
Kulkarni holds a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering and bachelor's and master's degrees in mathematics, all from Clarkson University. After completing a master's degree in electrical engineering at Stanford University, he earned his Ph.D. in electrical engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.


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Don't get bunion surgery before watching this video
Bunions - The Cause Revealed.
What are Bunions?
Also known as a hallux valgus, bunions are bony bumps that form at the base of the big toe. Bunions are a common toe disorder that affects about a third of all adults in the US. They form due to the big toe pointing inward to the other toes of your feet. As a result, the metatarsophalangeal (MTP) joint at the base of your big toe points outward and forms a deformity by jutting out.
Bunions, if left untreated, can be the source of a lot of foot pain. Wearing narrow shoes aggravates and rubs against the skin over bunions. Walking or putting weight on the joint can lead to chronic pain over time. Bunionettes are bunions that form on the outer edge of the little toe. They may also be referred to as a "tailor's bunion." Your foot anatomy, genetics, and footwear all play a role in making you more predisposed to the formation of bunions on one or either of your feet.
What Are the Causes of Bunions?
As previously mentioned, bunions on the big toe form for several reasons. These include:
- improperly fitted shoes—ones that are too tight or narrow
- genetics
- foot anatomy
- osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis
- patients that stand for long hours for work
- pregnancy
Bunions can be categorized in three ways: mild, moderate, and severe. If left untreated mild and moderate bunions transform into severe ones, affecting your ability to walk and overall quality of life.
What Are the Symptoms of Bunions?
Patients with bunions may experience the following symptoms:
- swelling around the MTP joint
- blisters on the bunion
- redness and warm to the touch
- pain while wearing shoes
- painful corns on the second toe
- stiff big toe—especially in the case of patients with arthritis
What to Expect During Treatment for Bunions at the Podiatrist
Prevention is ideal when it comes to managing and caring for bunions. If you have a mild bunion, it's best to seek podiatric treatment as soon as possible, as bunions only worsen and can affect your quality of life if left untreated. Regular checkups with your podiatrist can help not only prevent the onset of bunions but ensure appropriate care of your feet, especially if you have a family history or risk factors for bunions.
Treatment that your podiatrist recommends depends on if your bunion is mild, moderate, or severe in nature. The following forms of treatment are common for bunions:
- wear comfortable footwear that's wide enough in the toe box and have heels no higher than an inch in height
- use of orthotic insoles and pads
- splint
- warm soaks and ice packs to reduce pain and inflammation
- NSAIDs
- cortisone injections
Podiatric surgery to repair and realign the MTP toe joint is only recommended when a bunion affects your ability to walk and is extremely painful.

subset: commoncrawl


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Wednesday, May 13, 2009
Chicken with 20 Cloves of Garlic - Have a Little Chicken with Your Garlic
This chicken with 20 cloves of garlic isn't quite so subtle, and features the "stinking rose" in a pungent one-two punch. The fistful of garlic is first pureed and used as a marinade, then used as a sticky glaze as the chicken roasts. The result is chicken as a very effective garlic delivery system.
As you'll hear in the video, I recommend throwing a handful of chopped Italian parsley on top when you serve this delicious chicken. Fresh parsley really does freshen the breath when large amounts of garlic are consumed. In fact, this is the origins of the ubiquitous sprig of parsley that sits uneaten on so many plates.
By the way, that reminds me of one of the first dirty kitchen jokes I ever heard, and still one of my favorites. Since I get a fair share of minors on the blog, you'll fill in the blanks yourself, but it really shouldn't be too hard.
"What's the difference between parsley and ________? Nobody eats parsley." Enjoy!
20 cloves garlic, peeled
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
2/3 cup olive oil
1 tsp dried thyme
1 tsp dried rosemary
1 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
1 large whole chicken, cut into serving pieces
salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste
Parsley Photo (c) Flickr User Joylitas
55 comments:
- ghanima said...
Hee. Dirty jokes are awesome.
Thanks for sharing the recipe, Chef! More efficient garlic delivery is a goal I strive towards. One day, I'm hoping to set up an IV drip. - May 13, 2009 at 11:43 AM
- Jesse from Detroit said...
CJ: You make cookin look so easy - I love it! (Nice parsley joke.. I'll use that one next time I'm cooking for the in-laws.)
- May 13, 2009 at 1:37 PM
- Chef John said...
cooking is easy, following a recipe is hard.
- May 13, 2009 at 1:41 PM
My first kitchen joke...What the differnce between a cheeseburger and a ----job.When they say they don't know...say Want to go to lunch!!!!!!YOU are funnnnnnnnny.
- May 13, 2009 at 1:42 PM
If I don't have olive oil can I use vegetable oil instead?
- May 13, 2009 at 3:43 PM
- Chef John said...
Sure, but not as good. Get some olive oil- it's a must have for every kitchen.
- May 13, 2009 at 3:50 PM
- Unknown said...
Chef John,
Have you made the garlic marinade but added a tablespoon of Dijon... SUPER tasty. ( I also did an obscene amount of cayenne instead of cracked red pepper, yum!) - May 13, 2009 at 4:50 PM
- CollegeGourmet said...
lol what if somebody eats both?
I love garlic so much! Of course, I always have a pack of gum on hand for dishes like these. - May 13, 2009 at 4:53 PM
CJ - Do you think this will work on the grill? Thanks!
- May 13, 2009 at 5:03 PM
- Chef John said...
yes, I love Dijon in anything.
- May 13, 2009 at 5:34 PM
Wow, your knife is really really SHARP. I love how it just glides through the chicken, wooooooo.
- May 13, 2009 at 5:58 PM
can i marinate it for few hours say 5 hours? or it must be marinated overnight?
- May 13, 2009 at 8:52 PM
- milkshake said...
Dijon mustard: a great secret marinade ingredient (enhancing the roasted meat flavors) but overwhelms easily; a little pinch serves better than a whole spoon.
Parsley: would cilantro work also? - I despise parsley. We share a tiny enclosed office at work, its four of us sitting in there and my colleagues did me no wrongs. (The two of them are Chinese - they could easily retaliate with the fish sauce...) - May 13, 2009 at 9:55 PM
- Chef John said...
5 hours is ok.
this will probably burn on the grill.
cilantro should work similarly. but, dont fear the fish sauce. - May 14, 2009 at 1:22 AM
Did you put that in the middle of the oven? I thought baking was done on the bottom of the oven. I don't know, I'm just asking. Does it make a difference?
- May 14, 2009 at 7:12 PM
- Chef John said...
i always cook in the middle of the oven as I believe that is where the most even heat distribution occurs, but I could be wrong.
- May 14, 2009 at 7:28 PM
- Mari said...
This looks SUPER yummy! Tomorrow is grocery shopping day, so I think I'm going to plan in an attempt at this for diner this week. I can practically taste the garlic already... :)
- May 15, 2009 at 1:55 AM
OMG I have to make this. Bookmarked!
- May 16, 2009 at 9:19 AM
- Sheldon said...
Hey John would you recommend a food processor/blender for me?
Thanks - May 16, 2009 at 10:45 AM
- Chef John said...
we have a cuisinart blender which is fine, but i dont know about others. i'd check some online reviews.
- May 16, 2009 at 11:03 AM
- Harry Tuttle said...
This is an amazing dish Chef. I made this for my wife tonight (she is a garlic lover). I really love your blog, keep up the good work. Oh, btw, I had garlic mashies and ginger carrots as sides. YUMMY!
- May 16, 2009 at 11:34 PM
- Hindy Garfinkel said...
I made this on Friday night for dinner. It was wonderful. Served it with some toasted Israeli couscous. Everyone loved it. Thanks!
- May 17, 2009 at 12:00 AM
Great recipe!
Love it so much!
Thanks Jon! (= - May 19, 2009 at 8:28 AM
I'm down here in Zimbabwe. Wasted a lot of time playing games. Now I have a new addiction. Good thing is: I have fun and learn at the same time. My family is really impressed with my cooking these days. Chef u are a superstar! Am buying six chickens then cut and pack according to parts. This recipe will be for drumsticks. If picky eaters in my house wont eat? Will have a one woman party!Oh boy I am so excited!!!
- June 5, 2009 at 3:20 AM
- procrastineer said...
Chef John, can you help me with the oven setting you used for this recipe. Which of the following setting should I use? fan assisted mode, convection mode, grill or fan assisted grill. Thanks.
- July 3, 2009 at 6:40 PM
- Chef John said...
sorry, i just have a regular oven. i'm not sure what those setting are. its not a very fragile recipe, just bake it and check a little early.
- July 3, 2009 at 7:17 PM
- mmaier2112 said...
How many dirty kitchen jokes can there be?
- July 12, 2009 at 5:11 PM
- Abouzar Kaboudian said...
Hi chef! my fiance and i jus made and ate this chicken with mashed potatoes and your mushroom gravy. WOOOOW!!!! truly amazing and pleasurable!
even my wife who doesnt like garlics loved this.
thanks again for all your efforts. it is really appreciated.
love your blog and your recipes, especially my wife who loves cooking and baking.
once again, WOOOW!!! and thank you. - July 20, 2009 at 4:32 AM
Chef John,
Would it have a BIG difference if i use chicken fillets? - October 3, 2009 at 9:15 AM
- Unknown said...
Chef John, thanks yet again for another wonderful recipe :)
I was wondering--would it make a huge difference to use rice vinegar instead of red wine vinegar? Should I use more, less? Or just splurge for the red :)? - November 29, 2009 at 4:35 PM
- Chef John said...
works with any vinegar, go for it
- November 29, 2009 at 4:42 PM
what chef's knife do you use?
- December 23, 2009 at 8:47 PM
- Chef John said...
here are my fav knives http://astore.amazon.com/lrn2cook-20?_encoding=UTF8&node=1
- December 24, 2009 at 3:37 AM
Hi Chef John!
Me and the hubby LOVE your videos--the way you cook and instruct is so fun to watch. :)
I made this twice in the same week. The house reeked of garlic while this was baking, and my husband came home from work and told me that he could smell this from outside the house. We basked in the glorious stink. This is some mighty fabulous chicken. Thank you so much for sharing! - March 9, 2010 at 12:46 AM
Hi chef John!
I love garlic and i really want to try this...although i wanted to ask you few things about it.
1. Does 1 whole chicken equivalent to 1kg?
2. Can i use Chicken Breast Fillet for this recipe? if so...How much chicken can i use with this recipe?
3. Is it ok if i half this recipe, would it still taste good and the same as the original?
4. I dont have red pepper flakes...will 1/2 tsp of hot sauce do as a replacement?
5. Am not very good at eyeballing the salt and pepper. Can i just add like about 1/2tsp of salt and pepper to the garlic paste instead?..hehe! sori for being so wanting to be precise...:P
Hope to hear from you soon!
Thanks and more power! :) - August 18, 2010 at 8:09 AM
- Chef John said...
cooking is not an exact science, so i can't specifically answer most of the questions. A whole chicken here is about 4-5 pounds. You can use breasts or halves but it will not be the same dish.
I can't give salt measurements since everyone tastes salt differently. You don't need to eye it, just sprinkle it on. Taste and adjust. this is not a precise recipe! ;-) enjoy! - August 18, 2010 at 11:20 AM
- csf said...
After making the chicken, decided to use this recipe on turkey breast on Thanksgiving and it was the best turkey ever!
- December 4, 2010 at 3:00 PM
I made this last night for the family. I prepped it in the morning and let it marinate for about six hours instead of overnight, but it was still magnificent. Even with my crappy knives, I was able to make it work. I'm definitely working this recipe into the regular rotation.
Thanks again, Chef John! - May 1, 2011 at 8:21 PM
- Hiddy said...
I've been on a garlic binge lately. I have made garlic soup, garlic fries, garlic bread... and your garlic chicken recipe was next in line. I just made this today. Subbed the red wine vinegar with apple cider vinegar, upped the garlic by a few more cloves, added some ginger, a medium onion, and some cayenne pepper. It turned out moist, tender and delicious! Wow, I never thought I could make something like this at home. THANK YOU, CHEF JOHN!!! Wishing you and Michelle a wonderful 2012 ahead!
- December 27, 2011 at 1:03 AM
- 1Bigg_ER said...
I was planning on doing this on the grill using indirect heat but it decided to rain in summer, stupid Texas weather.
FYI, gotta have these http://www.cast-iron-grate.com/brushes-and-accessories/cast-iron-griddle-hotplate-for-2-5-grate.html - June 8, 2012 at 2:51 AM
- 1Bigg_ER said...
DAMN! THAT WAS GOOD CHICKEN!! I used apple cider vinegar
Had it with Chef John mashed potatoes and mushroom gravy. - June 8, 2012 at 11:30 PM
Tried this out, and my whole family enjoyed it!!! =) Thank you so much for the fun and informative videos! I learnt/am learning so much about food and how ingredients work best from these recipes! cheers!
- August 19, 2012 at 2:57 PM
Tried this, and my whole family just loved it!!! I'm learning so much about how ingredients work and all these handy tips from your vids... thanks so much!! Cheers =)
- August 19, 2012 at 3:02 PM
- Nejo Morante said...
Dear chef john,
How come i can't see the video anymore??? Could u help me please...i like to cook this one.... - December 3, 2012 at 3:46 PM
- Unknown said...
Dear Chef John,
I have tried many of your recipes and love their simplicity and great results. I cook a lot and am always looking for tips & techniques to help improve my cooking. I have learned a lot from you. Thanks.
I do have a question on this recipe, why did you choose to add the salt right before baking rather than add it to the marinate? Wouldn't the saltiness penetrate the chicken better if it was in the marinate?
Happy New Year!! - December 29, 2012 at 3:25 PM
- Chef John said...
You could I guess. That's just how I do it. I try not to think to much about these things. ;)
- December 29, 2012 at 5:47 PM
- PomaceousN said...
Would removing the skin alter the recipe too much, do you think?
- March 1, 2013 at 2:07 PM
- Chef John said...
I love skin, so yes! ;)
- March 1, 2013 at 3:57 PM
- Unknown said...
Hi Chef John,
I've been a silent follower for a long time and I've made this recipe a few times and love it. Being a single guy, I've had to cut the ingredients in half because it makes more than I need. The other night I had 2 lbs of really nice boneless, skinless chicken breast and as I was going to use this recipe, I thought I'd be creative and add my personal touch. Here's the list of ingredients that I used.
10 cloves garlic, peeled
2 Tbs apple cider vinegar
2 Tbs soy sauce
1 Tbs Dijon mustard
1/3 cup olive oil
1/2 tsp dried thyme
1/2 tsp dried rosemary
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
1/4 cup brown sugar, packed
2 Tbs white miso paste
I cut up the chicken breast into large pieces and scored them so they would absorb the marinade and baked them the same as in the original recipe. The brown sugar and miso paste really kick it up. Thanks for a recipe I'll use for a long time. - April 20, 2013 at 4:01 PM
- Chef John said...
Thanks! Good idea!
- April 20, 2013 at 4:05 PM
- Canadian Darlene said...
Ok I have been obsessively watching your videos. Going to make the garlic and olive oil pasta tomorrow and this garlic chicken the next day. Yu-um. I used your ciabatta recipe and turned it into a focaccia. Super yummy! Can't believe I have never come across your site before. Guess it has something to do with living in Saudia Arabia for two years and now South Korea:) (I'm Canadian)
- April 24, 2013 at 9:14 AM
- Unknown said...
Why no instructions? Oven temp., how long to marinate, etc.????
Also, a link to print would be nice. - May 26, 2014 at 6:47 PM
- philogaia said...
CJ: I know you posted this years ago and frankly after coming across this on Youtube looking for a different treatment for wings it took a bit of effort to find the original post on your website. So perhaps leaving a comment at this point is rather moot. However I will anyway.
I made six pounds of wings using this marinade and took them to a gathering last weekend. Since I was doing a quick marinade I left it on the counter and the aroma of garlic was intoxicating for those three hours (oh yeah.) My daughter and I were soooo looking forward to these. I got one piece, and only because I nibbled on one as I set that big bowl-o-wings down on the table. My daughter and her friends got none. Zip, zero. I couldn't even find the bowl until it came out of the dishwasher later in the evening.
I am making this again, four pounds of wings worth, tonight. And the only diners are me, my daughter, and her friends. Folks, this is a garlic chicken marinade recipe to die for! - October 1, 2014 at 7:33 PM
- Unknown said...
Hey there Chef,
Just wanted to stop by, as I was double checking the recipe while shopping today, lol, and say you're the best! My hubs and I love watching your videos on YouTube, and getting new ideas to try. There'll be times when he's watched them without me and then, "Surprise", I've got a whole list of new and exciting things to find and get from the store, and videos to watch and learn from. Your jokes sometimes go over his head but I laugh whole heartily each time! This recipe is one of our favorites! Please don't ever stop doing what you do, we love and appreciate you bunches! & As always, we do, En-joy! 😂😘 - October 14, 2017 at 9:35 PM
- Edward said...
I am a retired American guy living in Poland with my Polish wife. She still works. Tonight, I made this chicken from your video and recipe. It turned out wonderful. It even looked like what you took out of the oven. My wife loves garlic and she was thrilled with the meal.
Thank you for your videos and recipes. You are always informative, helpful and entertaining. - December 15, 2017 at 10:38 AM


text:
This has been a strange season for Liverpool. On the one hand, they have won their first trophy since 2006 by beating Cardiff City to secure the Carling Cup, which guarantees them European football next season, and have the chance of more silverware, having reached the FA Cup final. On the other hand, their form in the Premier League has been disappointing to say the least and they currently lie in eighth place, which is far below the expectations of their fans.
This is enormously significant to the club's finances, as the prohibitively expensive annual interest payments of £18 million (£40 million including the holding company) have been drastically reduced to just £3 million, which Ayre said meant that Liverpool are "in a much stronger position to utilise our revenues more effectively on the team."


text:
I got a few too many strawberries and I needed to use them. I was thinking that a white fish with a strawberry salsa would be nice. At first I was going to go with a more standard salsa with jalapeno, cumin and cilantro but then I thought that balsamic vinegar goes well with strawberries. I ended up with a strawberry and balsamic vinegar salsa to go with the fish which turned out to be cod. There is still a lot of fresh local asparagus so I finished the meal off with some of that. Nothing says Spring like asparagus and strawberries! It turned out to be a really nice light and fresh lunch.
Cod with Strawberry Salsa
- 1 fillet cod (or any white fish)
- salt and pepper to taste
- 1 tablespoon mint (chopped)
- 1 tablespoon lime juice
- 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
- 1 teaspoon honey
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
- 1 cup strawberries (trimmed and chopped)
- Season the cod with salt and pepper.
- Broil the cod until cooked and flaky, about 6-9 minutes.
- Mix the mint, lime juice, balsamic vinegar, honey and black pepper.
- Toss with the strawberries with the dressing to coat.
- Serve the cod with the strawberry salsa.


text:
Key sensor characteristics
The Nikon D3X features a very high resolution full-frame format CMOS sensor with 24.6Mpix. The D3X and the Sony A900 are the only two cameras at that level of resolution within the professional D-SLR category, but the D3X features a 14-bit Analog/Digital (A/D) converter which, as shown below, plays a significant role in boosting its capture performance when compared to the Sony A900 (with only a 12-bit A/D converter).
The D3X's lower ISO setting (down to ISO 78) compared to other Nikons certainly help as some dxomark metrics such as dynamic range are considered at lowest ISO values.
Key performance factors
The D3X sensor shows exceptional dynamic range with a max DR of 13.7 bits in "Print" mode. And it is quite an amazing performance compared to all other cameras with similar sensor technologies (Canon 1Ds MKIII, 5D MKII, Sony A900). Interestingly, the Nikon D3X sensor does follow the theoretical rule of plus 1 f-Stop of dynamic range when ISO sensitivity is divided by 2. Compared to A900, dynamic range is better by about 1 stop across the whole ISO range (50-6400).
It is the first DSLR CMOS sensor with more than 12-bit effective depth of information! Its 14-bit A/D makes a difference and we can expect exceptional tone scale reproduction with such a camera.
Further the D3X's Color Depth is also exceptional, with a maximum value of 24.7 bits of color discrimination performance (in normalized "Print" mode). As the D3X color responses are pretty close to those of the D3, we can expect the same high quality color rendering.
The Nikon D3X has some limitations at high ISO sensitivity, and its dynamic range is lower than, for instance, the Canon 5D MKII for speeds above 800 (manufacturer value).
Overall, however, Nikon D3X definitely takes the lead within its category and will be remembered as the first camera clearly demonstrating more than 12-bit effective depth of information.
Nikon D3X DxOMark review – January 15, 2009
Disclaimer: This dxomark review evaluates only the selected camera's RAW sensor performance metrics (i.e., Color Depth, Dynamic Range, and Low-Light ISO), and should not be construed as a review of the camera's overall performance, as it does not address such other important criteria as image signal processing, mechanical robustness, ease of use, flexibility, optics, value for money, etc. While RAW sensor performance is critically important, it is not the only factor that should be taken into consideration when choosing a digital camera.


text:
Hi, My name is John.. "straight to the point".. im thinking of buying a new tennis racket for myself but i have confusing selections on which one to buy. now you might think "demo", well i can't spend on anything else, i even ask my tennis buddies if they have liquid metal rackets "my first choice" for me to try out. i have read many reviews, comments, faqs from many tennis players of different rackets and some of what they say contradict some description on a specific racket type. So here i am asking for your expert advise for the best possible racket for me. i will provide some/alot distinct info on my playing style and what i want to have in the racket for you to base your advise / recommendations in.
I have a powerful Flat first serve and a low level Spin 2nd service.
I am an aggressive player, i try to put so much power in every ball that i hit, i have an Extreme Western forehand grip ( i can almost practically hold an eastern forehand grip and just rotate my risk to hit the ball forehand ) thats how extreme my forehand grip is. i hit with a lot of topspin ( every new person / player that i play with, the first thing they say about my game is how much top spin i put into my shots ).
i am not too good with my net volleys, i am good but not that good.
i used to play 2 handed back hand on my first 2 years after starting tennis, but after that i switched to 1 handed backhand, with the advise of my other coach and now im stuck with it, for some people they base their playing style on Tennis Pro's "when i started with my 2 handed backhand i immitated michael chang".. my backhand now "one handed" is from one of my favorite players, "Guga" Gustavo Kuerten. his backhand is my backhand.
I want a Mid Plus racket, I never owned a Mid Sized racket before, i heard it gives more power than Oversized racket.
I want the racket to give my shots MORE spin and and ALOT more power.
I want a racket that does not hurt my shoulder when performing power shots.
I want a racket that will help me to have a crisp fast travelling return volley.
I want a racket to give me fast maneuverability around the court
My choice right now is the ( Head Liquidmetal Radical MP Tennis Racket ).
Thank You kindly in advance for your help. I really appreciate it ^_^.. And Yes i know, Racket is spelled "Racquet", i just don't like seeing red under a word hehe ^_^


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How To: Running Fedora-ARM under QEMU
QEMU is a well-known emulator that supports ARM platforms, and can be used to run the Fedora-ARM distribution. This provides a convenient platform to try out the distribution as well as for development and customization.
The howto describes a process to get the Fedora-ARM distribution running under QEMU. Although we have tested this on Fedora 12, most of the process should work on any other Linux system as well. We assumes that you can run commands as root (or using sudo) whenever necessary.
The QEMU system is set up to get its root file system from a local loopback block device or over NFS from the host system (requires networking between the host system and the QEMU guest). The host's networking can then be configured to get its IP address using DHCP.
Using QEMU with libvirt
libvirt is a virtualization management framework and toolkit. At the tool level, it provides the virsh
virtualization shell as well as the virt-manager
GUI tool for command-line VM management (plus additional tools).
By using libvirt to manage ARM VMs, you can leverage its capabilities (such as domain autostart, network setup with NAT and DHCP, and console disconnect/reconnect), and manage your ARM and x86 VMs in a consistent manner.
Here is a quick-start guide to setting up ARM QEMU emulation under libvirt management:
Installing and starting the virtualization software
These steps install libvirt and related tools, if not installed already, plus the ARM emulator, and then start the libvirt daemon:
yum groupinstall virtualization yum install qemu-system-arm service libvirtd start
Installing the ARM root filesystem and XML
These steps download a 4GB pre-built ext3 root image, ARM kernel, and libvirt XML domain definition, then define a VM to use them:
cd /var/lib/libvirt/images wget http://ftp.linux.org.uk/pub/linux/arm/fedora/qemu/zImage-versatile-2.6.24-rc7.armv5tel \ http://cdot.senecac.on.ca/arm/arm1.xml \ http://cdot.senecac.on.ca/arm/arm1.img.gz gunzip arm1.img.gz restorecon * virsh define arm1.xml
Note that the virtual machine definition cannot be performed using virt-manager at this time (F12 - F20) -- use virsh as shown above.
Booting the VM
You can now boot and access the VM using the virt-manager tool (Applications>System Tools>Virtual Machine Manager on the menu), or you can control it from the command line:
virsh start arm1
To view the graphical display without using virt-manager, use the virt-viewer command:
virt-viewer arm1
Or, alternately, use virsh vncdisplay arm1
and then use the vncviewer program (from the tigervnc package) to view the VM console.
Using networking in the VM
You can get a DHCP address for the VM using dhclient eth1
, or set up a static IP configuration. Once you have IP configured, you can:
- Use ssh instead of the console to access a shell on the VM (faster, and more flexible)
- Use
to install and remove software
Creating additional ARM VMs
For each additional ARM VM you wish to create:
- Make a new copy of the
file under a different name in/var/lib/libvirt/images
- Edit the XML, making the following changes:
- Change the UUID (you can use
to generate a new one) - Change the image filename (in the
tag in thedevices
section) to point to the new image file you just created.
- Change the UUID (you can use
- Use
virsh define nameOfXMLFile
to define the new VM from the modified XML file.
Using QEMU without libvirt
Install QEMU
If you are running Fedora 7/8, you can just install qemu using yum.
yum install qemu
Setup Networking
You can skip this section if you are going to use a local loopback device for your root file system. However that may prevent you from using yum to install new packages on your Fedora-ARM guest.
Networking is setup between the host system and the QEMU guest to allow the guest to get its IP address using DHCP.
The networking setup uses host TAP devices to connect to QEMU. In recent kernels, this requires CAP_NET_ADMIN capability. The host system needs to have TUN/TAP networking enabled (CONFIG_TUN=m or CONFIG_TUN=y). You can verify this using:
grep CONFIG_TUN= /boot/config-`uname -r`
Also make sure that /dev/net/tun exists. If not, you can make it as follows:
mknod /dev/net/tun c 10 200
Now, we need to set up a network bridge interface. Install some utilities to configure a ethernet bridge:
# yum install bridge-utils
/usr/sbin/brctl addbr br0 /sbin/ifconfig eth0 0.0.0.0 promisc up /usr/sbin/brctl addif br0 eth0 /sbin/dhclient br0 /sbin/iptables -F FORWARD
Also, create a script qemu-ifup as follows. This will be needed when we boot into QEMU.
#!/bin/sh /sbin/ifconfig $1 0.0.0.0 promisc up /usr/sbin/brctl addif br0 $1
Setup Kernel Image
You can either simply use a pre-built kernel image or build your own from source.
Pre-built Kernel Image
You can get one of the following pre-built kernel images for ARM:
- zImage-qemu-versatile-3.0.8-4.fc17.armv5tel (right click -> Save as ...)
- zImage-versatile-2.6.24-rc7.armv5tel
The README file has documentation as to how to build these particular zImage-versatile:
Build Kernel Image From Source
You will need to have an ARM cross-compiler. If you do not have one, download one from CodeSourcery's web-site, install it and ensure that is it in your path.
export ARCH=arm export CROSS_COMPILE=arm-none-linux-gnueabi-
You can also use the Fedora cross toolchain that we provide.
Download Linux kernel (I have tested it with 2.6.21 and 2.6.22) and build it for ARM Versatile board. But, first you will have to customize the defconfig for it to work correctly.
cp arch/arm/configs/versatile_defconfig .config make menuconfig Enable DHCP Support (CONFIG_IP_PNP_DHCP). It is under Networking -> Networking Support -> Networking Options -> TCP/IP Networking -> IP: Kernel Level autoconfiguration. Enable Universal Tun/Tap Driver Support (CONFIG_TUN). It is under Device Drivers -> Network Device Support -> Network Device Support. Enable ARM EABI Support (CONFIG_AEABI). It is under Kernel Features. Enable tmpfs support (CONFIG_TMPFS). It is under File Systems -> Pseudo File Systems. If you will be booting from a file system image (not NFS), then the following steps should also be taken: Enable PCI support (CONFIG_PCI). It is under Bus Support. Enable SCSI Device Support. It is under Device Drivers -> SCSI Device Support. Enable SCSI Disk Support. It is under Device Drivers -> SCSI Device Support. Enable SYM53C8XX Version 2 SCSI Support. It is under Device Drivers -> SCSI Device Support -> SCSI low-level drivers Optionally you may enable: Device Drivers --> Serial ATA and Parallel ATA drivers ---> Marvell SATA support (I believe this supports the Marvell SATA drivers found on Marvell processor based Plug computers Sheeva, OpenRD, Guruplug, etc.) Build the kernel: make all make zImage (the kernel image will be located in arch/arm/boot named zImage ) make modules_install INSTALL_MOD_PATH=$TARGETDIR ($TARGETDIR needs to be an alternate directory. These are the kernel modules you copy to /lib/modules/kernel_version_number on your rootfs.)
Setup Root File System
Download the latest root file system tarball.
Root File System On Loopback Device
Create a loopback device -- 4GB is a reasonable size.
dd if=/dev/zero of=rootfs-f10-dev bs=1024k count=4096
Create a file system.
mkfs.ext3 rootfs-f10-dev -L arm
or for newer rootfs version, e.g. F17:
mkfs.ext3 rootfs-f10-dev -L rootfs
The label or UUID must be the same as the LABEL= or UUID= for / in /etc/fstab inside the root file system, otherwise the read-write remount of / will fail during boot.
Prepare the root file-system. This assumes that the loopback device is mounted under /mnt/ARM_FS.
mount rootfs-f10-dev /mnt/ARM_FS -o loop tar -xjf rootfs-f10.tar.bz2 -C /mnt/ARM_FS mv /mnt/ARM_FS/rootfs-f10/* /mnt/ARM_FS rm -rf /mnt/ARM_FS/rootfs-f10 copy your kernel modules from $TARGETDIR from the kernel build to /lib/modules/kernel_number ie /lib/modules/188.8.131.52 umount rootfs-f10-dev
Root File System Over NFS
Download the latest root filesystem tarball from http://ftp.linux.org.uk/pub/linux/arm/fedora/rootfs/ and untar it.
This assumes that you untarred the root file system in /mnt/ARM_FS. We need to export it through NFS. Add the following in your /etc/exports.
/mnt/ARM_FS/ *(rw,sync,no_root_squash)
Now, restart the NFS service.
/sbin/service nfs restart
Boot into QEMU
Now you are ready to boot into QEMU. Replace <host-ip> with the IP address of the host machine.
qemu-system-arm -M versatilepb -kernel zImage-versatile -append root="/dev/nfs nfsroot=<host-ip>:/mnt/ARM_FS rw ip=dhcp" \ -net nic,vlan=0 -net tap,vlan=0,ifname=tap0,script=./qemu-ifup
If you're using the raw image instead of NFS, try this instead:
qemu-system-arm -M versatilepb -kernel zImage-versatile -hdc rootfs-f10-dev -append root="0800" \ -net nic,vlan=0 -net tap,vlan=0,ifname=tap0,script=./qemu-ifup


text:
America starts filling out March Madness brackets
Professor Michael Magazine is upending the logical world of math with a good dose of March Madness.
Magazine teaches a new class called Bracketology at University of Cincinnati, the home of the 10th-seeded Bearcats, where 33 business students are spending the semester trying to make sense out of what can feel nonsensical at times — the art of filling out an NCAA tournament bracket.
"The life lesson is that we make a lot of decisions that are the right decisions," Magazine says, "but the outcomes don't always come out the way we planned."
And that's why picking the NCAA tournament is so much fun.
Magazine says that, yes, he's among the millions of Americans who take part in the country's largest office pool — where all you need is a pen, a copy of the bracket and $10 or $20 to get in on the action.
Real basketball knowledge? That's optional. Some people pick their favorite mascot, others go based on color, still others just throw darts at a board.
"I always tell people to ignore where they went to school," Magazine says. "But it's hard to do."
He teaches the course with a Cincinnati alum, Paul Bessire, who owns predictionmachine.com, a program that runs thousands of simulations to forecast likely winners of games. Armed with that, along with some mathematical models, Magazine and Bessire hold three sessions — handicapping, assembling brackets, filling out the brackets and seeing how everyone did.
"It's a pass-fail class," Magazine says.
Good thing because when it comes to March Madness, the numbers get a little crazy.
According to the website bookofodds.com, if you fill out your bracket by picking the better-seeded team in every game, the odds of that bracket being perfect are more than 35 billion-1. Or, to put it another way, you have an 18 times better chance of being killed by a waterspout this year.
There are more than 9.2 quintillion combinations (a 9, followed by 18 zeroes), and even if you eliminate all those that have a No. 16 seed winning even a single game — which has never happened — you're still talking about enough paper to build a trail from the Earth to the moon more than 1 million times.
Oh, and about eliminating those No. 16 seeds: Might think twice about that.
This has been the most unpredictable college basketball season anyone can remember, including one stretch where the No. 1 team in The Associated Press Top 25 changed for five straight weeks.
Even in seasons that have seemed more "predictable," the NCAA tournament has become increasingly unstable over recent years. Butler, enrollment 4,500, has made the Final Four twice in the last three years. In 2011, little-known and even less-heralded VCU transformed itself from a No. 11 seed that barely got into the tournament into a Final Four team. Last year, two No. 15 teams won on the first Friday of the tournament. After the second upset, ESPN reported none of its 6.45 million bracket entries were perfect anymore.
"We messed up some brackets! We messed up some brackets!" senior Kyle O'Quinn exclaimed last year after he led 15th-seeded Norfolk to an 86-84 upset over Missouri.
Tom DeRosa, a former algebra teacher who now runs a website that provides teachers with everyday lessons for their own classes, says there is no mathematically surefire way to figure out which 15 or 16 might break through this year. But you can't completely ignore them, either.
"You look at the numbers and, yeah, it's a pretty good bet a 1, 2 or 3 seed is going to win the whole tournament," says DeRosa, whose March Madness lesson is being taught across America this week. "If you're making a bracket and you don't have any '1's in the Final Four or anywhere near the Final Four, you're probably not going to win your pool. But things get a lot more nuanced the more you read. "
Speaking of nuance:
— Blue has been the school color of 24 of the 40 teams to make the Final Four during the last 10 years, and the hue worn by the last nine national champions.
— Of those 40 Final Four team mascots, 12 have been people (Spartan, Mountaineer, etc.), seven have been canines and five have been birds (mostly the mythical Jayhawk). There have been Warriors at the Final Four and a Gator or two. But the most ferocious — for those who like to pair the mascots off in cage matches — has been, by far, the Blue Devil.
— Las Vegas, which exists because of its ability to get math right, has No. 1 seed Louisville as a 9-2 favorite to win it all, followed by second-seeded Duke and Miami at 8-1. (Warning: Odds can be influenced by betting patterns, and Duke has one of the largest followings in the nation.)
Using a mix of all this information is Glen Calhoun, the head of props for the national tour of the Broadway smash "Jersey Boys." Today he was busy unloading nine trucks full of wardrobe and scenery, as the show moved from Norfolk, Va., to Houston. Not his only task of the day.
"I've got to get our NCAA brackets set up," he said. "I'll be sure to squeeze that in."
More than 50 people are in the cast and crew, and Calhoun figured at least half of them would take part.
"What's good about the March Madness pool is that anyone can get in there and do well," he said. "You can study up, and then it all falls apart. I remember one year when Wake Forest got me. Or you can just pick your favorite teams, and that works sometimes."
Magazine insists that, yes, there is mathematical advice to follow, including some he picked up by reading Nate Silver, the blogger who picked the electoral college count in last year's presidential election nearly to the number. (By the way, no word yet on whether President Barack Obama will be channeling Silver when he fills out his bracket.)
Silver suggests that Nos. 8 and 9 seeds can sometimes be worse Sweet 16 picks than those seeded 10, 11 or 12 because the winner of an 8-9 matchup is all but destined to play a No. 1 in the next round.
"I tell people, if you're going to pick upsets, do it in the 10, 11, 12, 13 range," Magazine said.
It's OK to use your gut, Magazine says. But, he insists, it's folly to completely ignore the numbers.
"Sometimes, you predict someone's better because in simulations, 80 percent of the time they win," he said. "Well, that means 20 percent of the time they lose. That's going to happen. That's been a useful lesson for students."
And, as any good math professor will remind you, being wrong doesn't always mean you were, well, wrong — even if the scoreboard says you were.
"It just means it didn't work out that time," Magazine says.
AP Sports Writer Ben Walker in New York contributed to this report.


text:
Global/International Studies
What can I do with this major?
International Business
- Management
- Human Resources
- Labor Relations
- Banking and Finance
- Economics
- International Development
- Real Estate
- Sales
- Marketing
- Product Management
- Healthcare Administration
- Agricultural Economics
- Domestic and foreign corporations
- Multinational service firms
- Global small and medium enterprises
- Domestic and foreign financial institutions
- International marketing firms
- International real estate firms
- International trade firms
- Contracting and consulting firms
- Convention and visitors' bureaus
- International airlines
- Transportation, travel, and hospitality industry
Information / Strategies
- Learn at least one additional language.
- Spend a semester studying abroad.
- Seek an international internship, even if unpaid.
- Obtain volunteer, part-time, or summer experience at related organizations.
- Make personal contacts within targeted businesses.
- Learn about NAFTA, WTO, and GATT policies.
- Develop your skills domestically and begin to develop a network of contacts if you want to pursue a career abroad.
- Acquire supervisory skills and experience by taking leadership roles in student organizations.
- Learn about geography and international travel regulations.
- Sharpen your public speaking skills and communication skills between cultures.
- Make a commitment to continuous growth in understanding cultural diversity.
- Keep abreast of political, economic, and social changes worldwide.
- Increase cultural awareness and sensitivity for foreign markets and people.
- Develop an understanding of the international business environment.
- Research firms with international interests.
International Relations/Government
- International Law
- Diplomacy
- Foreign Affairs
- Public Service
- Institutional/Community Development
- United Nations
- Relief organizations
- Religious organizations
- Non-profit organizations/corporations
- Educational institutions
- Consulting firms
- Research institutes
- Foundations
- National Security Council (NSC)
Information / Strategies
- Participate in an overseas mission experience.
- Plan to study abroad or participate in an international work experience.
- Learn a second or third language.
- Demonstrate your depth of dedication, willingness to adapt, and coping mechanisms to combat stress and difficult situations.
- Develop skills in the areas of organizing groups, efficiency, and the ability to calm people.
- Develop excellent research, writing, communication, and organizational skills.
- Acquire supervisory skills and experience by taking leadership roles in student organizations.
- Learn about geography and international travel regulations.
- Sharpen your public speaking skills and communication skills between cultures.
- Learn to see all sides of a problem, including economic, social, political, and environmental.
- Learn to work well on team.
- Earn a relevant graduate degree such as international diplomacy, international relations, or law.
- Human Services Provision
- Public Health
- Disaster/Disease Relief
- Policy Development
- Program Administration
- Program Evaluation
- Volunteer Coordination
- Private voluntary organizations
- Nonprofit organizations
- International organizations
- Humanitarian services
- Government agencies with an international focus
- Relief organizations
- Associations, societies, research institutes
- National Security Council
- United Nations
- Defense contractors
- U.S. Peace Corps
- U.S. Foreign Service
- Armed Services
Information / Strategies
- Study abroad while in school. Learn one or more foreign language.
- Develop excellent research, writing, communication, and organizational skills.
- Develop networks.
- Complete internships in related areas.
- Participate in an international service learning experience or go on a mission trip.
- Federal international jobs require careful observation of a formal hiring procedure.
- Research the international organization/agency's structure and function.
- Volunteer at relevant social service agencies to gain experience and demonstrate interest.
- Volunteer in health related settings such as the American Red Cross.
- Develop good working knowledge of international humanitarian law.
- Demonstrate strong analytical and management skills.
- Government work in the foreign service requires passage of the Foreign Service Exam, after obtaining a master's degree or significant work experience.
Language Services/Education
- Teaching
- Curriculum Development
- Interpreting
- Translating
- Research and Writing
- International Student Support Services
- Study Abroad Programming
- Public and private schools abroad
- Community organizations
- Federal government agencies
- English language institutes
- Overseas dependents' schools
- Religious and volunteer organizations
- Colleges and universities
Information / Strategies
- Gain practical domestic teaching experience and necessary training or certificate to teach abroad. Research certification options (TESOL, CELTA, CELTC, TEFL)
- Obtain certificates from schools whose graduates are hired in the international marketplace.
- Teaching training should include supervised class room experience.
- Consider obtaining intensive TELS (Teaching English and a Second Language) training.
- Volunteer to tutor children and adults in English.
- Learn other languages to help understand how languages work.
- Sharpen intercultural competency, sensitivity, and tolerance.
- Develop superior written and oral communication skills in the English language including proper sentence structure and comprehensive vocabulary.
- Notify local hospitals, schools, and chambers of commerce of your availability to translate or interpret for international visitors.
- Minor or double major in another subject that you could also teach.
- Earn a master's degree in College Student Affairs to work with study abroad programs or with international student services.
- Foreign News Correspondence
- International Broadcasting
- Reporting
- Editorial/Column writing
- Investigative Journalism
- Research
- Photography
- Freelance Work
- Foreign news agencies
- TV networks
- Large circulation newspapers
- Wire services
- Trade newspapers
- Online publishers
- Labor unions
- Academic journals
- International newspapers
- Magazines
- Museums
- Self employed
Information / Strategies
- Obtain a summer job or internship with a newspaper.
- Demonstrate curiosity, high energy level, ability to produce under pressure, and withstand criticism.
- Develop excellent grammar and writing skills.
- Create a portfolio of writing samples, especially those that have been published.
- Join a professional journalism organization.
- Research international newspapers.
- Gain experience with campus newspaper or media.
- Travel or study abroad.
General Information and Strategies
- Entry-level positions are generally in the U.S., with mid-level positions involving some international travel. Corporations hire employees with the most experience or skills set for overseas work.
- Target larger firms that may be more likely to employ contracting services.
- Develop linguistic skills. Learn a second and third language.
- Demonstrate intercultural competency, sensitivity, and tolerance.
- Gain experience in communications with people from other countries. Get to know international students on your campus.
- Live and/or work abroad while in school.
- Commit to a continuous study of host country's language.
- Develop a good understanding of etiquette and business practices in country of target.
- Look for temporary positions abroad.
- Obtain daily papers in target city to determine international and national news, business features, real estate markets, and community calendars.
- Work domestically with an international firm as a contract representative.
- Develop traits such as creativity, initiative, tenacity, a willingness to take risks and an adventurous spirit, and a sense of humor.


text:
Sunday, September 20, 2009
Atheist factions
You can listen to this discussion somewhere around the last fifteen minutes of the show. After you do, we'd like your feedback.
35 comments:
I don't detect an organized movement to separate skepticism from atheism. However, I have been thinking about this topic, and am going to rant for a few minutes.
I think what we're seeing is that skepticism is gaining popularity. Most people are still religious, so it follows that new skeptics will often be religious. But as any formerly religious person (myself) will say, the last thing that skepticism gets applied to is religion.
So, if my premise is correct, what I think we're seeing is that there is a push to have skeptical groups specifically about skepticism and not part of an atheist group. Skepticism is about applying critical thinking, and while I completely agree with Matt that religion should *not be off-topic* when discussing skepticism, it shouldn't be the primary focus of a purely skeptical group.
With that said, I do believe that the majority of skeptics are atheists/agnostics. I think that the handful of incidents Matt has seen are simply people trying to downplay religion a bit more simply to welcome religious people who are getting into critical thinking. Religious people need time and more experiences reaping the benefits of thinking critically, and in time, their religious convictions will waver.
After all, skepticism is not a statement of beliefs. Skepticism is a set of tools to assess claims. Coming from a non-skeptical thought process into a skeptical thought process is done in steps. Or if you prefer, opening up individual compartments and re-evaluating what's in there. The religious views, often perceived as the the most important views, are the last to be evaluated. I think it's wrong to call all skeptics atheists, or call all skeptics agnostics, or call all skeptics 911-truth-deniers. To borrow an analogy from my evangelical upbringing, skeptical people can be along their journey at different points, and it's wrong* for one skeptic to look negatively upon another skeptic because they haven't had time or motivation to re-evaluate a specific claim yet. (*By wrong I simply mean if there is no harm being done because of their belief in the claim -- ie, a homeopath continuing to prescribe homeopathic drugs and considering themselves skeptical would be very wrong)
If we shut the door on them, we open the possibility that they will be jaded and get a negative view of skepticism and turn away. Thus it would be preferable not to make skepticism purely about any specific topics, but rather cover everything equally. That's one thing I enjoy about the Skeptics' Guide to the Universe podcast (it was very influential in my deconversion to atheism). When I started seeing the flawed logic in these arguments by repeated examples on their show, I started to realize that I was making some of the same types of arguments. It was that realization that allowed me to re-evaluate my beliefs. If the SGU had been more up front on deconstructing all religious claims and didn't delve into a lot of other claims, I probably would have stopped listening.
I think I'm passing the "rant" status, bordering on filibuster. In conclusion I don't see a push-back personally, but I'm also relatively new to the skeptical community. I can see why some people would want to downplay religion, but I think it should really be to downplay *all* topics and focus on science and critical thinking. When hunting for examples to use to teach science and critical thinking through deconstruction, there's plenty of examples, including religion, to look at.- Anonymous9/20/2009 12:14 PM
I don't disagree with most of the points you make, but I will point out that I relate a lot to your statement: "the last thing that skepticism gets applied to is religion..."
And I think this is why groups that target skeptical thinking on the topic of religion are necessary and helpful.
James Randi, for example, was on television when I was a very little girl. I remember watching him. Later, he started his foundation. He attacked all manner of irrational claims. But it was many, many years before he would even broach the subject of religion. Think of what an icon of skepticism he is, and then consider he kept religion out of the line of fire for quite a long time.
Meanwhile, in polite society, we have a number of moderate Christians--and you note that we have people at all levels of consideration for religious faith. You're also right that broaching religion risks making these different "levels" of irrational religious adherents feel unwelcome--even making them defensive.
The problem from where I stand isn't so much "should we include everything irrational in a skeptic group?" Surely, we should. The problem _is_ should religion get a free pass and not be touched for fear of disenfranchising so many people?
Just the fact that _so many_ people believe this irrational doctrine, and the fact it is often _not_ addressed, demonstrates, in my view, that it's got far more of a strangle-hold than the other irrational claims. It's nearly "untouchable"--and even skeptics defend not calling it out specifically for attack.
Atheism is part of a greater umbrella of "Skeptic." Skeptics should address everything without prejudice. And no claim or belief should be more, or less, kindly handled.
I often, and this is no lie, feel sorry for people who claim to believe in aliens or alien abduction. I feel sorry for them because I can't imagine having the level of evidence they have presented, and being mocked as lunatics--while religious adherents abound, with no evidence whatsoever, and are all somehow set upon a pedastal where we "have to respect" their deeply held beliefs.
However we address religious claims as skeptics, we should show the same respect and regard--or lack of it--to other irrational beliefs. If we must respect religious beliefs and be kind to them, then we must deal the same deck to alien abductees. But I don't hear anyone saying "Well, let's not be too hard on them, because we don't want to put off the alien crowd--then they'll feel unwelcome at our skeptics meeting."
In other words, your statement, "If we shut the door on them, we open the possibility that they will be jaded and get a negative view of skepticism and turn away," should also be applied to alien abductees, crystal healers, palm readers, and so on. Why wouldn't it--except that religion has a far greater strangle-hold on the nation? And rather than an argument to make it less of a target, I see that as an argument to address it louder and harder than other, less pervasive claims. In science, there is a battle going on over "accomodationism." Jerry Coyne calls the accomodationists "faithiests". The argument came to a head with the publication of "Unscientific America" by Chris Mooney and Sheril Kirshenbaum. Mooney and Kirshenbaum attack the "new atheists" - particularly Dawkins, PZ Myers, Coyne, etc. They think they should be quiet and not hurt the advancement of science. Eugenie Scott and the NSCE are on the accomodationist side.
Coyne has been leading the counterattack on his blog "Why Evolution is True."
You can click the tags (right side) "accomodationism" and "chris mooney" to get Coyne's posts on the issue - and his posts have links to everyone else including the accomodationists.
You might also want to see the spat going on between Bob Wright, author of "The Evolution of God", and Coyne.I don't think Matt was saying that there's an organized movement to shunt atheists to the side of skeptical matters, but that is appears to be a developing trend.
I think he's right and i think it's happening for a very natural and unavoidable reason: marketing.
In this battle of public opinion, skepticism is neither a process nor an ideology; it's a product. And to sell a product, you highlight the features that people want (scam protection, reliable information filters, sound science) and downplay unappealing aspects (lack of absolute certainty,the need for constant vigilance, and atheism).
Even though the skeptical movement is kinda of picking up steam, and the term 'skeptic' is losing some of its negative connotation, 'atheist' is still a dirty word. If skepticism wants to be accepted in the mainstream culture, it will have to distance itself from atheism.
Unless the Atheist brand loses it's massive negative appeal, there is no other way.
Sad but true.I'm specifically thinking about comments I've heard Neil deGrasse Tyson make about atheists that sound like the sort of thing fundamentalist Christians say about us. He doesn't feel it is enough to say he's "agnostic" (whatever that means). He also has to go out of his way to insult and attack atheists. I guess that gives him some "street cred" with some people, but it seems that he's spitting in the face of a large group of people who are already on his side.
Of course, that's a sign that the "skeptical movement" is moving away from being about skepticism, and towards being about "politics for politics' sake." Now that there's a solid skeptical base, some people are moving towards the middle and tossing the base overboard along the way. After all, where else are we going to go? No matter how badly the skeptical movement's leaders treat atheists, we're never going to ally ourselves with fundamentalist Christians... which means they'll keep on attacking or marginalizing us whenever it is expedient for them to do so.I don't think anyone doubts that there is a rift in the Skeptical movement along secular lines. I think it also absolutely mirrors the rift around science-education methodology that George mentioned above as well. The one Russell mentioned over Libertarianism is also growing, and CFI recently had a post from Debbie Goddard that brought up the topic of an atheist rapper who was also rabidly homophobic.
The question is not really whether these rifts are happening, its really over what effect these rifts will have on the future of the rational minded "reality base" community. Are we to expect us to factionalize like a glass being dropped on concrete making us a useless pile of shards? Will we divide our strengths just like the religious and political and social groups so often do?
This future of the whole "reality-based" community (for lack of a better umbrella term here) is really what concerns me. And what occurs to me is that, I don't really care if a skeptic hates me for being a loud-mouthed atheist at TAM. Neither of us are going to leave our common bond of rationalism, no matter how much we hate each other. This rational back bone I see as stronger than the God concept, stronger than race or ethnicity, stronger than any other ideological factor that brings people together in groups.
Even in the hybrid political-atheist group of Libertarians, no one is abandoning their reason-based stance in life there, even if they have learned to "hate" the liberals atheists for their virulent attack of their politics.
The bottom line for me is to eliminate magical thinking -- but I don't really care if we all get along as long as we all share that goal. Once society adopts this ability to think rational as a virtue (even if we all can't yet do it), I think all of our differences become real and solvable at that point. -- and I really can't see how any of this in-fighting is going to chase anybody away from this ultimate goal or harm our common rational backbone.The sceptical/atheist/freethinker movement is a bit of a melting pot -- you have people feeding into it for a variety of reasons. A lot of people have identified with the movement because they have issues with religion and dogma. These are the folks I'd expect to be less accommodationist because they have an axe to grind (which isn't to say that they've "had a bad experience" as some apologists like to claim -- just that they have problems with religion). But many people are getting into the movement because they like science and scepticism, and have no particular issue with religion. Given that there's a clear liberal bias in the movement, I think a lot of the people who aren't predisposed to be critical of religion tend to lean the other way in the interest of being tolerant and inclusive. I think that's where the tension arises -- it's certainly where some of the more interesting discussions seem to have arisen among my liberal/sceptical/atheist friends.
Personally, I'm not too worried about any schisms. If there's one thing we all seem to be good at, it's arguing with one another. If it's not about this, we'll find something else to disagree on. At the very least, the movement is about giving people the tools to think critically and argue rationally. As long as we continue to communicate that, the whole exercise will be worthwhile.I have a couple of points that may address parts of Matt's concerns. They inter-relate, but I'll describe them separately.
1. As with most intellectual endeavors, people focus on the aspects of skepticism that most interest them. If there is a rift, perhaps it arises because different skeptics have different passions.
For many skeptics, the scientific method guides their thinking. They employ it to evaluate claims & phenomena put forward in the media and society. While these skeptics support science in the classroom and oppose creationism, they are more engaged with debunking homeopathy, UFOs, and Big Foot. Such an emphasis requires no inquiry into theism. Indeed, these skeptics may include liberal Christians who reject fundamentalism, but who still find comfort in the rituals and beliefs of liberal Christianity. Stephen J. Gould probably would fit in this camp, with his promotion of "non-overlapping magisteria."
In contrast, we who have been harmed by religion are more likely to aim our skepticism squarely at the claims made by religion. But those who are unscathed by religious experience have less motivation to see theism as harmful in every form.
2. One problem that atheists face is the rift that it can provoke in families. People will sacrifice a lot, even some of their intellectual integrity, in order not to disrupt connections with parents, spouses, children, and siblings. For example, I know many gay men who have never come out to their families for fear of driving a wedge into those relationships. They prefer to avoid the conflict and find it easier to live in two separate worlds (and engage in two different ways of thinking).
While I couldn't live in the closet, obviously others can.The pull of group membership is so strong, many people (perhaps most people) are willing to jump through hoops of denial & minimization to preserve what they believe is closeness and intimacy. It takes an inordinate amount of insight to recognize that they and everyone in their family are being held hostage by the religious beliefs they inherited.
I know that once you've committed yourself to living with integrity, it is difficult to understand why someone would choose differently. But if you talk with those who are trying to keep skepticism open to theists, I'll bet you'll find that they are more focused on maintaining cordial relationships than on exposing the phoniness of religion.I understand what Matt is talking about. Quite frankly, I don't understand how you can separate atheism from skepticism. How can you say homeopathy is bull crap to someone who believes in holy water? How can you say there are no ghosts to someone who believes in angels? How can you tell someone they need a psych eval to rule out schizo, when they have been told their whole life, that god talks to people, and tells people to do things? I think the reason some adults believe such silly pseudo-scientific things is because they have been taught to believe a silly mythology their entire life. The foundation of being a skeptic is not believing in childish, irrational things like the tooth fairy, easter bunny, or god(s). My atheism is what led me to being a skeptic. Organizations like The SGU bug me because they enjoy beating up on scientology, but won't touch any other "religion." The even have a picture of what appears to be a famous scientology celebrity on their website. From my point of view as an atheist, ALL RELIGIONS are just as silly as scientology. I honestly don't see the difference. It's like saying the Loch Ness monster isn't real, but we ARE NOT going to discuss Bigfoot because we need to be respectful to those who feel he's real. What the heck? As a side note, I have to mention how much better the Non-Prophets is now that you have a good Irish woman on the show. When we Irish folk take over the world, all members of the ACA will be placed on the protected rolls, and no harm will come to you! Now I need to go to a meeting of "The Holy Council of the Great Leprechaun" to inform them of this decision. I will also try to get you ACA members assigned "light labor" duties, and a 12 hour work day! (You're welcome!) You see the SGU would laugh at this, but if I said I was going to Sunday night services at my church to worship my "god" they wouldn't say a thing... they would be... "respectful." Can I have an AMEN Brother Matthew?
ReplyDeleteThere's definitely an aversion to using the term atheist; it's got too much of a negative connotation. I wouldn't call it a conscious effort, but yes, a real one.
I wouldn't, however, characterize us as the red-headed kid no one talks about, but rather this perceived "punk" who doesn't respect authority.
It's so humorous/frustrating to me that atheism is seen as this "extreme" from the norm when in all other areas of thought and reason it IS the norm: "show me evidence."
Have you ever heard James Randi talk about religion? Maybe he has, but if he took up that mantle, his kind, friendly, but scrutinizing persona would undoubtedly wither away. It's sad to me that while skepticism and atheism go hand in hand and are the same, honest thought process, one is ostracized because of outside influences.
The Jedi story and comments at the end were wonderful, by the way. Russel wins the show.In other words, your statement, "If we shut the door on them, we open the possibility that they will be jaded and get a negative view of skepticism and turn away," should also be applied to alien abductees, crystal healers, palm readers, and so on. Why wouldn't it--except that religion has a far greater strangle-hold on the nation? And rather than an argument to make it less of a target, I see that as an argument to address it louder and harder than other, less pervasive claims.
I guess this is where my main disagreement or differentiation comes from. It all depends on the type of skeptical group.
If the skeptical group is all about arming skeptics with the best arguments to win specific debates, then yes we should completely not give a damn about anyone's beliefs and state the arguments and the refutations. The issues that affect the most people should be covered the most in depth, while the fringe beliefs that don't affect much can be avoided for the most part.
If a skeptical group is all about teaching critical thinking skills, then it should allow *everyone* in. Instead of ostracizing people for their beliefs, you instead focus on showing the logical fallacies, showing the mistaken reasoning, etc. This can be done with a wide variety of topics and does not need to weight the topics chosen based on the largest impact.
Because these people have expressed interest in learning more about critical thinking, it should be imperative that we give them the tools and show them the joy of thinking skeptically. If they choose to continue compartmentalizing their skepticism, that's their prerogative, but the moment we attack *them* for their beliefs we risk turning them away from skepticism. However, if someone truly appreciates skepticism, those compartments will be opened up eventually.
So perhaps I'm calling for two different types of skeptical groups, or maybe two types of "get togethers" for skeptical groups to have. One to arm people with evidence from experts and dissecting claims being made from truly harmful causes, and the other to educate people on the methods specifically.
Again, I admit I'm new to the community -- I've been skeptical for just a year and a half now, so I don't know how things were contrasted against how things are today. I personally didn't feel out of place discussing religion at TAM this year, most people were very interested in how I went from fundamental christianity to atheist in such a short time period. So while the MC made a statement up front, I didn't exactly feel like discussing religion was off topic with the people I encountered. Maybe I was just lucky.tracieh: However we address religious claims as skeptics, we should show the same respect and regard--or lack of it--to other irrational beliefs.
I don't think it's fair to demand "all or nothing" from people, which is what it sounds like you're advocating.
Challenging religion is a great and absolutely necessary thing. It's also hard, and you will be attacked for doing it. It takes bravery that maybe some people don't have. It also takes time and effort and education and practice to be up to countering all of the myriad theist arguments (as Russell has said, maybe atheists who aren't good at it should stay quiet sometimes?) Precisely because religion is such a sensitive and difficult issue that has such a stranglehold on so many people, I don't expect everyone to be up to the task of going after it.
Softly and gently getting people to think critically on topics other than religion is also a good thing; maybe a lesser good but still a good. Debunking psychics and crystals and crop circles is an easier task in many ways than attacking religion, but it's still a net positive for the world even if that's all you do. It gets people to think critically. If you do it enough, it'll leak into other areas of people's lives, maybe even setting the stage for getting people to question religion later. It might be more of a low-hanging fruit compared to religion, but I don't fault people for going for it.
In one sense it's a question of ideals vs. practicality. I love that atheist groups exist, but I don't expect every skeptic group to also be an atheist group, even if philosophically skepticism should necessarily lead to atheism (which I agree it should). I think if we look in terms of the overall good achieved, sometimes it does pay to cater a message to an audience even if the message has to be diluted or even if we solve the small problems and leave religion out of it.
We have dentists and we have heart surgeons. I don't fault dentists for focusing on fixing cavities when they could be working on saving people from heart attacks. There's room for both in the world.
The other thing is that I think some issues are more important than others. Like the anti-vaccine movement. I don't want pro-vaccine skeptics to say "p.s. your god is imaginary" because they WILL alienate people and it's vital that they don't, so kids don't die. I'd say the same about any skeptic who deals with medical issues.I have watched many videos of skeptics who talk about coexisting and how many atheists are "no better than extremist Christians". What these people seem to refer as "The New Atheist movement". They are atheists who do not like to see other atheists do what they call "trying to convert" religious people. These people seem like a small minority in the atheist/skeptic group. Honestly, I can't give these atheists much credit, especially after I saw one go after James Randi (of all people), calling him a fraud of a skeptic. I don't think these people are a problem for the skeptic community, because most do not want to be a part of the skeptic community.
Nothing should be taboo in skepticism. Not sex, not politics, and certainly not religion. Whatever happen to the term "Freethinker"?- Anonymous9/21/2009 5:07 AM
I agree with you Geeky in the sense that a group should discuss all topics or no topics (just tools). As long as no irrational ideology is "exempt" while others are attacked.
Brian: I agree with you from an individual skeptic standpoint. Clearly I have had to default to "no comment" on some Islamic issues since I needed more information in order to speak coherently on the issue--not being up on it personally.
But if I was a member of a skeptic _group_, and they said, we'll really hammer everything, but go soft on religion in order to make sure we don't disenfranchise theist, I will call "foul!" on that. Why should we bloody the noses of conspiracy theorists and alien abductees, while we hand chocolate cake to the theists--especially since theism has greater capacity to undermine critical thought, if only from greater numbers and the fact they mass indoctrinate children--telling them explicitly that faith (not thinking critically) is a virtue? I'm not completely sure I understand what the concern is. Is the worry about the political power of the religions or is it a genuinely philosophical difference growing within the skeptical community?
Matt's remarks on the NP episode seemed to suggest there's a timidity about attacking religion on political grounds. Religion using its might to squelch criticism and rational examination is timeless as is the inevitable result on the voice of its opposition.
One recent development too is xian apologetics, which seems to have done a good job of portraying to laypersons atheism as a belief system all its own on par with christian belief with its own set of claims about god, spirituality and that rot. Listen to Matt Slick on any given day interviewing an atheist; he goes on for hours attacking nothing but strawmen. If you're not paying attention it's easy to get the impression he's making actual arguments against something.
But that's just the usual howling from believers about critical analysis being applied to their fantasies - we should be accustomed to that by now.
But I'm not aware of significant philosophical differences growing withing skepticism about religion. Take that with a grain of salt tho, since my job consumes all my mental resources and I havn't had enough left over to do any recreational reading or study of skeptical/atheist thought for quite some time.
I can't see how there could be because that would mean people are actually being convinced by nonsense like xian apologetics and the ranting of fools like Matt Slick, Dennis Prager and even The Masters Kirk Cameron and Ray Comfort.
That's almost inconceivable to me (tho that doesn't mean it's not actually happening ;)).
LSI think Matt is correct that there was definitely a change of emphasis at TAM7. I am not sure that it represents an active move away from questioning religious beliefs as much that times have changed. The explosion of public awareness of atheism that came about with the books of Dawkins, Hitchens, Harris and Dennett is now old news and there has been nothing equivalent to replace it. At the same time the JERF is trying to find a long term identity. Mr. Randi has not been one to let sloppy thinking of any kind go unchallenged. In years past his comments in Swift were very clear as to his atheism. As this weekly newsletter has morphed into a blog and been written by multiple new authors, the biting comments about religion have faded. The new president of the JREF, Phil Plait is a scientist and does not seem to have as much interest in religion per se.
As a recent transplant to Texas from Maine, it is clear that the face of the "enemies of reason" varies greatly on a regional basis. I spent time as a member of a school board in Maine and religious assaults on the curriculum were not an issue. We did not have a governor stating publicly that non-believers like myself should not be allowed to be citizens. We did have naturopaths licensed in the state and wanting to be considered primary care practitioners. (If you don't know why this is a problem, please visit Quackwatch.org). The town where my children live is quack central and the high school has a "wellness center" next to the nurse's office. Classes in nonsense are offered to the students. In the cafeteria carbonated sort drinks were replaced with equally useless vitamin water. One sugar water for another in the name of health.
If you look at the location of some of the skeptical organizations it is apparent that they are out of the bible belt. The SGU podcast originates in New England, Michael Schermer is in Anaheim, CFI is in Amherst, NY and Mr. Randi is in Ft. Lauderdale - the oppressive atmosphere of the religious right is just not the same in those locations.- Anonymous9/21/2009 2:58 PM
Hi David:
While I think your points are good, I just noted that you said Shermer was in Anaheim. I'd like to note that CA is a major state with regard to textbook publishing. CA, TX and FL are huge in sales for that industry. And when a national title is updated and "customized" for those states to buy--these states have a large amount of pull with regard to content.
I think everyone is aware of the issues we face in Texas--you even note them above. But I'm not sure everyone is aware that in CA, religious groups are part of the textbook adoption review, and have offered problems with regard to factual data about Islam and Hindu being published in texts in CA. These books will likely be sold in other states as well. And while I'm not sure how the end result turned out with this controversy (I guess it was about a year ago--but you can still find articles by googling key words), the fact that religious groups are reviewing textbooks that the state is buying to use in their public schools is, well, _interesting_.
Being a state that is very "PC," like CA, can have the same problems, but for different reasons, as states like TX.
I mentioned the CA issue to the head of a secular group recently, and he knew nothing about it--never heard it before. I shot him a link to an article and a group that can give him more info. But it's not just the Bible Belt having these issues--we just get more press.
I don't doubt it's worse in some regions than others--don't misunderstand. But it's wrong to think, "Place X is really liberal, so this couldn't happen there." And I'm not saying you don't get this--but I am saying I think there are too many people who don't. I think it's less a schism and more the endemic problem of "what's the harm?" As was said on the NP show, different skeptics have different fields of expertise, and in some cases I think they tend to devalue the other skeptical fields that they haven't looked into as deeply. Just as there are some skeptics who don't understand what the big deal is about ghost hunters, I think there are some who do the same with religion.
The problem here is exacerbated by the popularity of religion and by the general attitude in our society that religion should not be criticized and has various nebulous benefits.
As skeptic-atheists, we're keenly aware of the harm presented by religion on its own, while skeptics in other fields only really encounter religion when it's pushing creationism or denying medicine and so forth. They deal with aspects of religion, and may buy, to some degree, the arguments that moderate religion isn't as bad or makes people happy and is therefore something we shouldn't focus on.
There's also the issue of the Golden Mean fallacy, to which even skeptics (particularly Shermer) are prone. Shermer's description of why he claims "agnostic" as a term in "Why People Believe Weird Things" is just another iteration of the "atheists = fundamentalists" tripe we've heard in a bazillion other places. I think people like Shermer, who are largely concerned with PR and public opinion, are wary of making too-strident statements, particularly about religion, since there are so many people who take it for granted.
One thing that I think I have noticed, though, is skeptics being more willing to focus on aspects of religions (usually specific claims like faith healing and pareidolia) than calling out religion in general.I'm not sure that there is, in reality, an actual schism between the skeptical community, and the atheist community. I certainly see it as being easily possible however. It seems like, at least from my experience, that the skeptical community is trying to go as mainstream as possible (not a bad thing), however that means they have to somewhat limit their scope to maintain the popularity. Given the stigma, and often times visceral reaction to the word 'atheist' or even 'non-believer', the skeptical community seems to want to distance themselves from it; in order to maintain a level of acceptability across the board with the religious majority of the country.
You can see evidence even of the atheist community themselves, trying to distance themselves from the stigma associated with the label. Such as trying to come up with a new, albeit less effective and less communicative label, such as Brights. In order to at least, in one's own mind, say that you don't believe in a God; while still not really saying that to the other person in the conversation, as to avoid the potential backlash.
I think Matt is good for at least bringing it to light, as The Atheist Experience, has a fairly wide popularity, among atheists and religious people alike. I'm not entirely sure the separation is as widespread or intentional as Matt believes it to be. However, it is something we should certainly be wary of. It's hard to claim to be a skeptic if you have sacred cows you refuse to be skeptical of, or just ignore.I do think there is a schism. I have mixed feelings about this. I like both Atheism and Skepticism, however Skepticism does seem to dance on the edge of the religion line.
Can you really be a Skeptic and a religious person? I don't think you can. On the one hand you demand evidence for extraordinary claims, and then you turn around and go into your magical little happy place. I do not see how that is compatible.
For the most part it does not bother me or come up since Skeptics generally realize they are being irrational. I like one of Matt's recent comments about the truth being more comforting than believing in god(s) for false comfort.
My main problem recently with Skepticism as of late is their disdain towards Atheism. They act like it's such a bad word, perhaps even a bad thing. They choose fluffy words like "Agnostic".
I do not see how you all can hold up so well when someone wants to be called an Agnostic. That deals with knowing, Atheism/Theism deal with believing. Most people are Agnostic, Atheists and Theists alike.
I could rant on that forever, but yeah Skeptics are pissing me off as of late.I'd put it down to simple math.
Skepticism wants to expand, and they can loose 80% of the potential expansion over one topic.
Pragmaticly it's just safer to not touch that one.
Personally I think that skepticism is the gateway drug of critical thinking. Which naturally leads people away from religion over time.Here's the link to Zvan's blog on the topic:
I've noticed the inchoate schism also. I don't think it's anything to be worried about, meself. But I definitely don't think those of us who believe *everything* is on the skeptical table should be asked to keep silent or ever consider keeping silent (not that we would) because, and this excellent point was made during NP 8.16 is that, aside from medical issues, religion has the most power to affect our lives in real ways in both the short and long term. Btw, I found Shermer's comment annoying in the Mr. Deity video, too.I listened to the podcast last night, and I vote on the side of there being a schism, very similar to the faux politically correct agnostic vs atheist schism.
There seems to be a sizeable number absolutely intent, particularly in the aspect of religion, sitting in a non-existent middleground, and I'm glad Matt mentioned the phrasing of "extremists on both sides" because that's exactly it.
Not only do I think this thought process is wrong, I think it's destructive to scepticism in general. To properly express scepticism, you're simply going to have to be blunt. Giving some kind of credence to an unsubstantiated god claim is the opposite of scepticism,Yes, I've noticed the extra efford that some speakers have taken to accomodate religious skeptics. And I find it very bewildering that there's a willingness to give some of the biggest peddlers of bullshit a free pass.
Skepticism applied to religion generates atheism.
I don't have a problem if someone says: "I don't apply skepticism to my religion". That's fine, if you can do that compartmentalization in your head.
There's also the skeptically holdable position of a non-intervening deist god. But does this notion have any value at all? As a skeptic I feel compelled to say: No, it's redundant. And when someone tells us that the two most important philosophical aspects of his life are religious belief and skepticism I simply don't get it.
With apologies to Hal, who's a great guy, but a "skeptic of faith" for me could just as easily be the campaign leader of "Fucking for Virginity".
That said: I'm a football fan. And I'm a skeptic. On purpose I don't apply skepticism to fandom (unless I aim at realistic assessment and not entertainment) and I'll never call myself a "Skeptic of 1.FC Koeln Fandom", because while I enjoy the emotional ride of spectator sports in the end skepticism and reality have to prevail.
So while it is OK for an individual skeptic exclude aspects of his life from skepticism it is IMO not OK for a speaker at a skeptical event to single out the the group that holds the rational belief.
"Welcome skeptics! Please be aware that skepticism does not equal not being a homeopath"Why do we differentiate between fortune telling/communicating with the dead, astral travel and religion?
Religions, specifically the so called "New Age" ones are full of woo, readily attacked by skeptics, yet it's apparently on with the kid gloves with the "real' religions.
Starting to sound awfully like skepticism hitting the easy targets, the minority religions.I hate to pull a "no true scotsman" but I personally feel that if one compartmentalizes their skepticism, picks and chooses what to apply it to, choosing only topics that are not controversial, then they are not truly practicing skepticism. Sounds a bit like calling yourself a teetotaler because you only drink on Fridays.
ReplyDeleteThe last Skepticality http://www.skepticality.com/ had some very positive interviews with the Charolette Atheists on it. It was good to hear.
I think we should be encouraging as many of the religious as possible to be involved in skeptisim. The critical thinking involved should sink in slowly.
Then at some point they'll (probably) have to apply it to their religion. Skepticism will let them do it in their own time, and on their own terms.DEAR MATT:
In my town, we have a skeptics group and an atheist/secular humanist group. Most of the members are the same for both groups. We respect the integrity of the mission of each group. We don't go on about alternative medicine at the atheist meetings and avoid religion at the skeptics meetings.
TAM and the skeptics groups you seem to feel slighted by probably don't want to be co-opted by religious discussion. I think TAM should have a separate yet equal track for atheists. In fact, you should make it happen. If the "powers that be" who are "keeping you down" don't like it, have a seesion in a hotel room and charge money. I'd probably pay.
As sometime moderator of the local skeptics group, I don't go for religious discussion for two reasons: (1) It's handled better at atheist meetings and more importantly, (2)once you get someone on the topic of religion, they won't shut the fuck up.
Blah, blah, blah - amiright?"Schism" might be a strong word, but I do think there are fault lines between skeptics and atheists. Especially in the United States, if you want to market a worldview of science and critical thinking that teachers can pass on to students, then you're going to feel obliged to be religion-neutral to a large degree. Since the skeptical movement is heavily invested in influencing teachers and the politics of education, then it makes sense that a lot of skeptical leaders would shy away from discussion of religion.
On the other hand there's a meme among some skeptics and agnostics that atheism represents a stream of irrationalism -- after all, you can't *prove* there's no god, blah blah blah. And some folks are so heavily invested in preserving for themselves a pose of unimpeachable rationality that they'll attack atheists with more fervor than they'll criticize religion.
I think the first kind of schism or fault line has some practical value; the second kind is just self-interested bullshit.
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