Implicit Bias and the Election

Psychologists from San Diego State and the University of Chicago have just published an interesting study. They used a common research technique, the implicit association test, to measure whether people regarded Barack Obama and other candidates as more foreign or more American. They found that research subjects — particularly when primed to think of Senator [...]

For Those Who Confuse Correlation With Causation

For those who confuse correlation with causation, we salute you!
It is now possible to assign blame for the current economic crisis.
According to Alexis Petridis, who writes for the British newspaper The Guardian, it is the Australian rock band AC/DC to blame.
The venerable band’s latest release, Black Ice, just became the number 1 recording in Britain. [...]

Why I should Have Paid More Attention in Science Class

When I was a kid, my teachers loved to show us “educational” films. These were old 16mm films that had been viewed so many times they were guaranteed to break at least once per showing. The picture was usually grainy, the sound garbled, the story line preachy and boring.
The only films I really liked [...]

Sarah Cipher

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The Los Angeles Times did a bit of investigative reporting and discovered that, “Sarah Palin’s college years left no lasting impression.”
“Looking at this dynamic personality now, it mystifies me that I wouldn’t remember her,” said Jim Fisher, Palin’s journalism instructor at the University of Idaho, where she graduated with a bachelor of science degree [...]

I guess I have been paling around with terrorists!

We all know that one of the basic logical fallacies is “guilt by association.” I suppose on some level this “birds of a feather flock together” argument is persuasive. For example, if someone were married to a member of an organization that preached armed insurrection against America, that would be cause for concern.
But the current, [...]

Suspending His Campaign One State at a Time

O.K.  I get it now.  When McCain decided to “suspend” his campaign to concentrate on saving the nation, I didn’t understand how the process would work.  Now I see that he plans on suspending one state at a time!
John McCain is pulling out of Michigan, according to two Republicans, a stunning move a month away [...]