Tuesday 7 July 2009

Darwin, Humanism and Science - James Williams on Creationism in schools

James Williams talks to the Darwin, Humanism and Science day conference (6 Jun 2009) on "Insidious Creationism" and why we should teach children early in their education about geological time and the theory of evolution.

Thursday 2 July 2009

The Baloney Detection Kit (or Scientific Method Made Simple!)


As Carl Sagan said "There is a lot of baloney out there". What is the Baloney Detection Kit? It's the scientific method.. or just science!
Credit to Carl Sagan who originally developed the Baloney Detection Kit in his book 'The Demon Haunted World".

Over 300 comments on RichardDawkins.net

Download Quicktime version: Small (640x360, 122.4 MB)
Download Quicktime version: Large (1280x720, 342.9 MB)
Download mp3 version (13.4 MB)

source: http://www.michaelshermer.com/2009/06/baloney-detection-kit/

The Baloney Detection Kit (on RDF TV)

June 2009
With a sea of information coming at us from all directions, how do we sift out the misinformation and bogus claims, and get to the truth? Michael Shermer, Publisher ofSkeptic magazine, lays out a “Baloney Detection Kit” — ten questions we should ask when encountering a claim.

THE TEN QUESTIONS

  1. How reliable is the source of the claim?
  2. Does the source make similar claims?
  3. Have the claims been verified by somebody else?
  4. Does this fit with the way the world works?
  5. Has anyone tried to disprove the claim?
  6. Where does the preponderance of evidence point?
  7. Is the claimant playing by the rules of science?
  8. Is the claimant providing positive evidence?
  9. Does the new theory account for as many phenomena as the old theory?
  10. Are personal beliefs driving the claim?

CREDITS

This is the first video by RDFTV.
Presented by The Richard Dawkins Foundation for Reason and Science
Directed by Josh Timonen
Copyright © 2009 Upper Branch Productions, Inc.