Neil deGrasse Tyson was asked by the Templeton Foundation to answer the question; “Does the Universe Have a Purpose?”. Click along to discover the rather astonishingly comprehensive response.
READ MORE »Posts tagged English
What makes ethno-nationalisms non-rational?
Ethno-nationalism is the strand of nationalism that is most often characterised as ‘non-rational’ by various authors. W. Connor (1992; 1994) attributes this mainly to the nature of the bond that constitutes the basis of ethno-nationalism, a bond which allegedly lacks logical coherence and empirical basis. It therefore seeks to appeal to emotion, rather than to [...]
READ MORE »Public Lecture: Extinction Rates Through Time
On Monday 30 July, Cyprus FreeThinkers is organising a talk on extinction rates through time, given by Marc Srour at the University of Cyprus. It is free to attend and aimed at the general public, so feel free to come and invite anyone (you can also print out the poster above for advertising). Below are [...]
READ MORE »Does prayer work? Not really…
Prayer is attempted communication with supernatural beings (SBs) or metaphysical energies. The word derives from a 14th century French word (preiere) meaning “to obtain by entreaty.” The most common use of the word “prayer” is asking an SB for some favor or entreating an invisible force or energy to fulfill one’s desire. This type of prayer I’m calling intercessory [...]
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Documentaries on Human Evolution
1. The Incredible Human Journey is a five-episode science documentary and accompanying book, written and presented by Alice Roberts. It was first broadcast on BBC television in May and June 2009 in the UK. It explains the evidence for the theory of early human migrations out of Africa and subsequently around the world, supporting the Out of Africa Theory.
READ MORE »Is Astronomy a respectable science?
Letter, sent as an answer to a prominent biologist claiming that Astronomy is not a respectable science because it deals with things we can’t even touch, makes hypotheses we can’t test, and asks questions that are really unanswerable and should be part of metaphysics or religion, such as “how did the Universe begin”. (University of [...]
READ MORE »Public Lecture: Natural Selection
Natural selection is one of the most important theories of biology, and is the only one that explains the evolution of adaptations. This lecture, aimed at both students and non-biologists, will go through the science behind the theory, illustrating its principles with examples from nature and with classic experiments, as well as providing an overview [...]
READ MORE »‘Any attempt to provide an adequate theory of cognition that ignores emotion is probably doomed to failure’ (Eysenck, 1995). Critically discuss
Abstract The discussion on emotions in relation to cognition has been thoroughly investigated in the last years in the field of neuroscience and has sparked a lot of controversy in the scientific community. A wide range of theories have been proposed starting from the beginning of the last century, in the writings of William James, [...]
READ MORE »Cyprus Free Thinkers Meeting - Sunday, June 26 · 7:00pm - 10:00pm
Sunday, June 26 · 7:00pm - 10:00pm map http://dl.dropbox.com/u/6164784/meeting%20map.jpg Come join us and meet the new members of our group and share issues/views that you would like to be discussed.
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