Jul 20 2009
Looking Farther (41) – All Sorts of Stuff
The vast distances above contain more than simple, individual stars. Much more.
In the less-vast distances of the “interweb” there is much more material than one person could ever read. May I point you in the direction of two blog carnivals recently compiled?
1) First, over at TechSkeptic’s Data Daily we have the most recent edition of the Skeptics’ Circle. This one cleverly and picturesquely presented as A Skeptical Journey Through the Universe!
2) Second, over at Neural Gourmet you will find Carnival of the Liberals #95.
Hmm. I wonder . . . is skepticism more of a liberal endeavor or a conservative one? Most skeptics I know tend to be at least socially liberal. Yet we can be viewed/portrayed as intellectually conservative by believers in woo. We lack the imagination and freedom to see the validity of their unconventional beliefs. Or so they allege.
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[photo thanks to NASA]
I think from its inception, the modern Skeptical movement has leaned pretty hard left. Paul Kurtz, Isaac Asimov, Carl Sagan are or were all secular humanists. I’m not sure where Randi’s political sentiments lie. However, the Skeptical movement has steered clear of partisan politics until recently. The Skeptical movement has always attracted some pretty hardcore Libertarians and with Shermer and Penn & Teller becoming so visible within the movement it has taken on a definite twinge of Libertarianism. Both Shermer and P&T present Libertarian ideology as if it was skepticism, and in point of fact there’s nothing wrong with asking if there’s a better way to do government. The problem arises when they uncritically parrot Cato Institute talking points or, in the case of P&T, use Cato wonks as on-camera experts on almost every show dealing with economic, political or social issues.
Excellent points. Thanks Leo.