ريتشارد دوكنز's Blog, page 17

OPEN DISCUSSION JULY 2021

This thread has been created for discussion on themes relevant to Reason and Science for which there are not currently any dedicated threads. Please note that our Comment Policy applies as usual. There is a link to this at the foot of the page. If you would like to refer back to previous open discussion …

Holding Out for a Hero

From the Richard Dawkins Foundation Newsletter. Subscribe here. We were bracing for the worst, and we may well have gotten it. Last week, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that a Catholic foster care agency in Philadelphia could continue to discriminate against same-sex applicants while taking taxpayer funding. The narrow scope of the ruling—and the multiplicity of …

A Dose of Vaccine Confidence

The nonsense about magnetization is only one example of the kind of vaccine misinformation that science communicators are fighting so hard to counter. Dr. Krishana Sankar has made it her business to reach out to communities where fear of vaccines is particularly pronounced. As she explains in her talk for Skeptical Inquirer Presents, it’s not …

The War on Magnets

By now you’ve probably seen it in your social media feeds: people trying to stick pieces of metal to themselves, attempting to prove that the COVID-19 vaccine has somehow magnetized them. Perhaps the most infamous example comes from the duo of Dr. Sherri Tenpenny, whose testimony before the Ohio legislature was filled with claims about …

The Son of God and the Man of Steel

Jesus and Superman: They both have incredible superpowers, were both sent to Earth by their fathers, and both try to save people. But we’re expected to follow only the example of one of them, which is also the one we’re supposed to believe is real. Angel Eduardo of course knows that neither of them actually …

Saving Zee: A Secular Rescue Story

CFI’s Secular Rescue program seeks to assist persecuted freethought writers and activists whose lives are threatened by violent extremists in countries such as Iraq, Bangladesh, and Saudi Arabia. Unfortunately, helping them is never as simple as picking them up and moving them to a nicer place to live, especially in the middle of a global …

No Silver Lining in the Fulton Decision

The seemingly interminable wait for the Supreme Court’s decision on Fulton v. City of Philadelphia is finally over. In a case about whether Catholic Social Services could continue to take public funding while discriminating against same-sex couples in foster care services, we expected the worst. The Court did indeed rule in favor of Catholic Social …

What We Know about Immunity

Some fact-checks are easier than others. For example, ridiculous claims about magnets or 5G chips in vaccines are easily debunked. But not all questions about vaccine efficacy are based on conspiracy theories and pseudoscience. One argument being pushed by anti-vaxxers is the idea that COVID-19 immunity gained from actual infection is stronger than the immunity …

No Time for Wishful Thinking

From the Richard Dawkins Foundation Newsletter. Subscribe here. There is an awful lot of wishful thinking going on. There always is, of course. Even in the face of contrary facts, human beings tend to view the world through a lens that puts things in a more favorable, hopeful light. A prime example: Chances are you’ve heard …

Video: Evolution Education, Stated Clearly

The Teacher Institute for Evolutionary Science (TIES) has been offering up a wealth of free tools and content for teachers, students, and parents throughout the pandemic, including a series of fun and accessible webinars from experts in evolutionary topics, from the coronavirus to chestnut trees. Its latest webinar is particularly fun, as TIES Director Bertha …