But the string theory was disappointingly scant

So last night I went to the latest of Robin Ince’s science-themed, rationalist, comedy and music shows, A Night of 400 Billion Stars (And Maybe Some String Theory). Here are some scattered thoughts about it, loosely strung together in a way that can’t really be called a “review”. Robin Ince is still utterly superb. The [...]

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Faith of the faithless

Let’s own up to a dark and terrible truth. We atheists all know that we have just as much faith in unproven superstitions as the religious people we so gleefully despise. I mean, secretly, we’re all well aware that our beloved “science” is just another way of seeing the world, dependent on at least as [...]

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Feeding the trolls

Today, instead of being particularly original, I responded to a couple of comments on my post about Kent Hovind from a while back. Well, I was bored. So, here are my responses in full, because I’m unlikely to come up with anything else of substance to post here today. (You might want to read this [...]

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Look at me, I’m being skeptically activisty!

The following is an email I’ve just sent to the Daily Telegraph. They posted this article on their website today, which Ben Goldacre alerted me to on Twitter earlier, and it inspired me to another rant about what rubbish homeopathy is. Quite possibly it’s all rather petty and pointless, but I’ve decided I’m going to [...]

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What if you only had a trillion years?

This isn’t an argument I’ve seen put forward anywhere before, so it’s possible I’m having one of my more original moments here. I’ve written before about the idea that only a god, or an eternal afterlife, or something of that ilk, can give life any meaning or purpose, and why I think it’s bollocks. But [...]

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And don’t you forget it

New Skeptictionary post due up tomorrow.

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If the BCA ask to borrow your library card…

…my advice would be to politely decline. If the books they return are as overdue and in as bad condition as the evidence they provide, you’ll be in for a hell of a fine. The British Chiropractic Association have released a statement (PDF file here) in which they attempt to refute Simon Singh’s claims that [...]

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Special pleading

It’s logical fallacy hour again, here in Skeptictionary corner. That rule doesn’t apply to me because I’m a beautiful and unique snowflake. Special pleading can often look reasonably convincing, and be quite persuasive if you don’t know what to watch out for. It might also appeal if you’re already inclined to believe in the amazing [...]

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Casey Luskin breaks the law

I had hoped to write something properly about this today, but it became 11:30 on Friday evening more quickly than I’d expected, and now even gathering a coherent set of opinions seems like too much effort. Maybe I’ll talk more about it later, but for now, go watch this video here to see Casey Luskin [...]

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Nobody expects an ill-conceived attempt at satire!

Actually, from me, they really do. Crispian Jago posted a brilliant parody earlier of Simon Singh’s BCA hearing, in the form of a Monty Python sketch. (“And who do you sue apart from scientists?” “More scientists!”) So, obviously, I’ve spent the afternoon since then obsessing over coming up with a Python/CAM routine of my own. [...]

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