There is a paper that has been causing lots of chatter recently. It is a paper released by authors from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and it suggests that using generative AI (in this case ChatGPT) has important effects humans write essays. Folks who I associate with are educators and technology experts, so they have Read More
Category: Science
On Pseudoscience
We live in a world where claims about everything from climate change to health remedies are constantly vying for our attention. How do we figure out which claims are grounded in solid science and which belong to the realm of pseudoscience? This isn’t just an academic puzzle; it has real-world consequences for our health, our Read More
Science and Pseudoscience
We often hear claims about what is or isn’t “scientific.” Science holds a distinctive place in modern society; we trust its pronouncements on everything from building bridges to who counts as an expert. Yet, history is full of scientific theories that turned out to be wrong. This leads us to a fundamental question: what exactly Read More
Thoughts on Science
One of my favorite things to do is buy books from a seller of overstocked books. I look for titles I need but then I buy other as they ship for one price no matter the number of books in the lot! Johnjoe McFadden’s Life is Simple arrived on my “to read” pile in that Read More
Thinking About Science and Popper
Karl Popper has significantly influenced how people think about science by emphasizing the importance of falsifiability as a way to distinguish between genuine science and pseudoscience. Popper argued that a good scientific theory should be bold in its claims and open to being disproven by observational evidence. According to Popper, scientists should actively seek to Read More
Darwin’s Ghosts
Darwin’ Ghosts begins with the recognition that Charles Darwin was not the first person to propose life evolves. We know that, and Darwin did too; as did lots of those who read his The Origin of Species. In later editions of the work, Darwin did include a section recognizing those who published before he did. Read More
On Identifying Plants & Technology
My undergraduate preparation was to be a science teacher. Like most with that career goal, I expected to spend my life teaching high school biology. At the university I attended, there was a small and active botany department (I studied with experts in acid rain) and there was an active pre-med curriculum. Again, like other Read More
Science’s Credibility Problem
In a recent social media interaction, a member of Mastodon challenged my observation that: “The fact a large part of society has been convinced to abandon science with devastating effects is going to be what the early 21st century is known for.” In an interesting thread of replies, the responder made many observations that seemed Read More
On Problem Solvers
Good problem solvers recognize three realities:
Gregor Mendel- Lessons on Politics and Science
Science is a valuable endeavor for humans. It is through these efforts to understand how nature works that we fulfil our curiosity, contemplate our place in the universe, improve the health of humans, and otherwise affect our environments. Of course, when scientific discoveries are used to create technological “solutions,” things get far more complicated. In Read More