lawrence krauss on his debate with william lane craig

on a guest post on pharyngula

'it sometimes surprises me, although it shouldn't, how religious devotees feel the need to regularly reinforce their own convictions in groups of like-minded individuals. i suppose this is the purpose of regular sunday church services, for example, to reinforce the community of belief in between the rest of the week when the real world may show no evidence of god, goodness, fairness, or purpose.

nevertheless i was not prepared for the self-congratulatory hype that i have seen spouted on the web, and have received in emails, including a typically disingenuous email from wiliam lane craig to his followers regarding a debate i had with him in north carolina last week. while carrying out the debate in the first place was something that broke my normal rules--as i said during the debate, i far prefer civil conversation and discourse as a way of illuminating knowledge and reality--i will break another rule and write this blog-like note on my own perspectives, in the hope that it may circulate and counter some of the nonsense that has propagated in the fundamentalist and religious blogs of late. perhaps craig will post this on his blog and send it out as well.'

read on...


i wish people would quit debating these crackpots.

you can watch the debate here.

william lane craig vs lawrence krauss

evidence for god



EDIT: lawrence krauss wrote an excellent review of this debate as a guest post on pharyngula.

i wish people would quit debating these crackpots.

via debunking christianity

is warp drive possible?

the interviewer at the world science festival asks lawrence krauss about his book, the physics of star trek, warp drives, and where star trek got it right, and wrong.



EDIT: erm... that doesn't look like a balloon to me...

the great debate: what is life?

oh, joy... enthralling, fast-paced, funny -- please listen to this discussion at TSN:



'richard dawkins, j. craig venter, nobel laureates sidney altman and leland hartwell, chris mckay, paul davies, lawrence krauss, and the science network’s roger bingham discuss the origins of life, the possibility of finding life elsewhere, and the latest development in synthetic biology.'

this discussion combines cutting-edge thinking with humor, science, star trek -- you name it, it's got it.

thank you, RDFRS!

forgotten dreams by lawrence m. krauss

on scientific american

'just think of the intellectual poverty suffered by those who miss the rich cultural and intellectual opportunities afforded by witnessing our past when they decide the real story of our development must be replaced by an abbreviated and redundant myth. it is a disservice to the spirit of adventure and curiosity that we should nurture in our children to rob them of the opportunity to be inspired by nature, and for some of them, to go on to make profound new discoveries.

there is poetry in the real world and it diminishes the human spirit to deny it or reject it. what goes for evolution is true for the big bang, which left a beautiful and rich pattern on the sky that we observe with our many telescopes, each galaxy or cluster providing a clue to a cosmic puzzle that we are still trying to unravel to decode the secrets of our own cosmic origins.'

and

'we owe it to ourselves and our children to celebrate the richness and mystery of being human in all its aspects, from the biological creatures we are, to the social and cognitive wonders that have made it possible for a creative and imaginative species to be caught across the ages in the lens of a creative artist who helps force us to reconsider our own place in the cosmos.'

via RDFRS

TSN: the great debate

at the science network:



'on november 6th, 2010 a panel of renowned scientists, philosophers, and public intellectuals gathered to discuss what impact evolutionary theory and advances in neuroscience might have on traditional concepts of morality. if human morality is an evolutionary adaptation and if neuroscientists can identify specific brain circuitry governing moral judgment, can scientists determine what is, in fact, right and wrong? the panelists were psychologist steven pinker, author sam harris, philosopher patricia churchland, physicist lawrence krauss, philosopher simon blackburn, bioethicist peter singer and the science network’s roger bingham.'

can science shape human values?

and should it? .... on NPR

with lawrence krauss, simon blackburn, sam harris and steven pinker.



description with transcript

the poetry of reality

yay! another wonderful video from melody sheep and the symphony of science!




lyrics:

[michael shermer]
science is the best tool ever devised
for understanding how the world works

[jacob bronowski]
science is a very human form of knowledge
we are always at the brink of the known

[carl sagan]
science is a collaborative enterprise
spanning the generations
we remember those who prepared the way
seeing for them also

[neil degrasse tyson]
if you're scientifically literate,
the world looks very different to you
and that understanding empowers you

refrain:
[richard dawkins]
there's real poetry in the real world
science is the poetry of reality

[sagan]
we can do science
and with it, we can improve our lives

[jill tarter]
the story of humans is the story of ideas
that shine light into dark corners

[lawrence krauss]
scientists love mysteries
they love not knowing

[richard feynman]
i don't feel frightened by not knowing things
i think it's much more interesting

[brian greene]
there's a larger universal reality
of which we are all apart

[stephen hawking]
the further we probe into the universe
the more remarkable are the discoveries we make

[carolyn porco]
the quest for the truth, in and of itself,
is a story that's filled with insights

(refrain)

[greene]
from our lonely point in the cosmos
we have through the power of thought
been able to peer back to a brief moment
after the beginning of the universe

[pz meyers]
i think that science changes the way your mind works
to think a little more deeply about things

[dawkins]
science replaces private predjudice
with publicly verifiable evidence

(refrain)

a universe from nothing

by lawrence krauss, AAI 2009

the reason project

'the reason project is a 501(c)(3) charitable foundation devoted to spreading scientific knowledge and secular values in society. drawing on the talents of some of the most prominent and creative thinkers across a wide range of disciplines, the reason project seeks to encourage critical thinking and wise public policy through a variety of interrelated projects — all with the purpose of eroding the influence of dogmatism, superstition, and bigotry in our world.'

sam harris
co-founder and ceo
annaka harris
co-founder

the reason project advisory board:
clifford s. asness,
peter atkins,
jerry coyne,
richard dawkins,
daniel c. dennett,
brent forrester
rebecca goldstein
ayaan hirsi ali
christopher hitchens
lawrence krauss
harold kroto
bill maher
ian mcewan
steven pinker
salman rushdie
ryan scott
lee m. silver
j. craig venter
ibn warraq
steven weinberg'