razib | June 22, 2008I happen to personally accept both of these assertions:
1) A scientific world-view entails atheism
2) A scientific world-view contradictions Creationism
That being said, as matters of debate & discussion I think the former is an open question, while the latter is not an open question. When it comes to Creationism from where I stand there's nothing to talk about; the facts of the universe manifestly falsify Creationism. Creationism is a rather clear & distinct idea. I know what I'm rejecting, and I know what the Creationists believe. Aside from the Amish and a few other groups the…
razib | June 21, 2008Comparing Genetic Ancestry and Self-Described Race in African Americans Born in the United States and in Africa (H/T Yann):
Genetic association studies can be used to identify factors that may contribute to disparities in disease evident across different racial and ethnic populations. However, such studies may not account for potential confounding if study populations are genetically heterogeneous. Racial and ethnic classifications have been used as proxies for genetic relatedness. We investigated genetic admixture and developed a questionnaire to explore variables used in constructing racial…
razib | June 20, 2008In short, liberal, yes, but godless, far less so. Religious Beliefs and Behavior of College Faculty:
Faculty are, however, not monolithic. There are divisions among faculty ranks. Science and math faculty are the least religious in belief and behavior. Business faculty are the most conservative and most religious. Humanities faculty, though the most politically liberal, are not less religious than other faculty and on some measures are more religious. Faculty, while less religious than the general population, are complex in their religiosity.
Am I the only one who has had the experience of a…
razib | June 20, 2008Steven Pinker: The evolutionary man. Also check out the GNXP interview with Pinker from 2 years ago.
razib | June 18, 2008Sexual Reorientation: The gay culture war is about to turn chemical:
If the idea of chemically suppressing homosexuality in the womb horrifies you, I have bad news: You won't be in the room when it happens. Parents control medical decisions, and surveys indicate that the vast majority of them would be upset to learn that their child was gay. Already, millions are screening embryos and fetuses to eliminate those of the "wrong" sex. Do you think they won't screen for the "wrong" sexual orientation, too?
Liberals are slow to see what's coming. They're still fighting the culture war. The Toronto…
razib | June 16, 2008Genetic and Environmental Effects on Same-sex Sexual Behavior: A Population Study of Twins in Sweden:
There is still uncertainty about the relative importance of genes and environments on human sexual orientation. One reason is that previous studies employed self-selected, opportunistic, or small population-based samples. We used data from a truly population-based 2005-2006 survey of all adult twins (20-47 years) in Sweden to conduct the largest twin study of same-sex sexual behavior attempted so far. We performed biometric modeling with data on any and total number of lifetime same-sex…
razib | June 16, 2008I have already posted on Creationism & Bobby Jindal. Here's more:
As a parent, when my kids go to schools, when they go to public schools, I want them to be presented with the best thinking. I want them to be able to make decisions for themselves. I want them to see the best data. I personally think that the life, human life and the world we live in wasn't created accidentally. I do think that there's a creator. I'm a Christian. I do think that God played a role in creating not only earth, but mankind. Now, the way that he did it, I'd certainly want my kids to be exposed to the very best…
razib | June 16, 2008The post on soft drink terms has elicited a great deal of response (on my other blog as well). Many people want a little more granularity; well, it was brought to my attention that Google Maps based survey is up. You can vote and increase the N. I ask all American readers interested in the topic to participate (doesn't look like it takes Postal Codes, only Zips), as it will offer us even more detail. My "blog reader surveys" usually return around 400 responses so I hope I can increase the sample size multiplicatively....
(if you have a weblog, you might want to link too!)
razib | June 15, 2008Every few years I post this map. Anyone have good explanations for some of the patterns? (e.g., what's going on around St. Louis and Milwaukee?)
razib | June 13, 2008Via Dienekes, Ancient mtDNA from Sampula population in Xinjiang:
The archaeological site fo Sampula cemetery was located about 14âkm to the southwest of the Luo County in Xinjiang Khotan, China, belonging to the ancient Yutian kingdom. 14C analysis showed that this cemetery was used from 217 B.C. to 283 A. D. Ancient DNA was analysed by 364âbp of the mitochondrial DNA hypervariable region 1 (mtDNA HVR-1), and by six restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) sites of mtDNA coding region. We successfully extracted and sequenced intact stretches of maternally inherited mtDNA from 13 out of…
razib | June 12, 2008Over the past decade the concurrent arrival of relatively cheap sequencing technology as well as copious computational power has resulted a flurry of research in the domain of genetic anthropology with the intent of fleshing out historical questions. Spencer Wells' Journey of Man and Bryan Sykes' The Seven Daughters of Eve were among the early entrants in this burgeoning corpus of popular science literature. Both of these were relatively expansive works, focusing on the deep time histories of the Y and mtDNA lineages, the paternal and maternal ancestry respectively. As the low hanging…
razib | June 12, 2008God makes you stupid, researchers claim:
Lynn and his two co-authors argue that average IQ is an excellent predictor of what proportion of the population are true believers, across 137 countries. They also cite surveys of the US Academy of Sciences and UK Royal Academy showing single-digit rates of religious belief among academics.
Well, I actually blogged this relationship years ago (December 2003 actually). It jumps out at you pretty clearly if you know the two traits and their international trends. I think that the causal factors which underly the relationship need to be qualified…
razib | June 11, 2008Vitamin D: New way to treat heart failure?. It's been in the news so I figured I'd point to Think Gene's roundup. It seems in the health sciences occasional fads for miracle-nutrients show up, so take it all with a grain of salt. I'm less interested in Vitamin D's relationship with late in life ailments such as cancer and heart disease as I am with its more global impact on immune function, because it is the latter which has the most evolutionary impact (most people done breeding by the time heart attacks and cancer take their toll).
razib | June 11, 2008Josh has a good overview of the wending through the legislature of a Creationist bill in Louisiana. The governor of Louisiana, Bobby Jindal, who just turned 37, has made Creationist noises before. This is interesting because Jindal is a Roman Catholic, so he has no necessary religious rationale for his Creationism. Additionally, he has a degree in biology from Brown University. Fellow ScienceBlogger Mike happens to have gone through the same biology program as Jindal at the same time at Brown, and he makes it clear that Jindal's opinions do not emerge from a vacuum of information, Brown'…
razib | June 11, 2008Unlike Others, U.S. Defends Freedom to Offend in Speech:
A couple of years ago, a Canadian magazine published an article arguing that the rise of Islam threatened Western values. The article's tone was mocking and biting, but it said nothing that conservative magazines and blogs in the United States do not say every day without fear of legal reprisal.
Things are different here. The magazine is on trial.
Two members of the Canadian Islamic Congress say the magazine, Maclean's, Canada's leading newsweekly, violated a provincial hate speech law by stirring up hatred against Muslims. They say the…