http://www.reasonproject.org/newsfeed/ en Copyright 2009 2009-11-05T10:59:59+00:00 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/ReasonProject/~3/Xb3h87Fv4pw/ http://www.reasonproject.org/newsfeed/item/Diagnosis_What_Doctors_Are_Missing/#When:10:59:59Z Some 10 to 15 percent of all patients either suffer from a delay in making the correct diagnosis or die before the correct diagnosis is made. Misdiagnosis, it turns out, is rarely related to the doctor being misled by technical errors, like a laboratory worker mixing up a blood sample and reporting a result on the wrong patient; rather, the failure to diagnose reflects the unsuspected errors made while trying to understand a patient’s condition. These cognitive pitfalls are part of human thinking, biases that cloud logic when we make judgments under conditions of uncertainty and time pressure. Print, Reason Some 10 to 15 percent of all patients either suffer from a delay in making the correct diagnosis or die before the correct diagnosis is made. Misdiagnosis, it turns out, is rarely related to the doctor being misled by technical errors, like a laboratory worker mixing up a blood sample and reporting a result on the wrong patient; rather, the failure to diagnose reflects the unsuspected errors made while trying to understand a patient’s condition. These cognitive pitfalls are part of human thinking, biases that cloud logic when we make judgments under conditions of uncertainty and time pressure.

]]> 2009-11-05T10:59:59+00:00 http://www.reasonproject.org/newsfeed/item/Diagnosis_What_Doctors_Are_Missing/#When:10:59:59Z http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/ReasonProject/~3/3Clw0ng6qm8/ http://www.reasonproject.org/newsfeed/item/Italy_school_crucifixes_barred/#When:09:25:27Z The European Court of Human Rights has ruled against the use of crucifixes in classrooms in Italy. It said the practice violated the right of parents to educate their children as they saw fit, and ran counter to the child’s right to freedom of religion. Print, Religion The European Court of Human Rights has ruled against the use of crucifixes in classrooms in Italy. It said the practice violated the right of parents to educate their children as they saw fit, and ran counter to the child’s right to freedom of religion.

]]> 2009-11-03T09:25:27+00:00 http://www.reasonproject.org/newsfeed/item/Italy_school_crucifixes_barred/#When:09:25:27Z http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/ReasonProject/~3/iG2HjPKwNpo/ http://www.reasonproject.org/newsfeed/item/Scientists_versus_politicians/#When:18:04:59Z Governments have a history of not listening to their scientific advisers. Politicians, popes and princes want things that can be said unequivocally, while scientists know that their advice is necessarily provisional, and sometimes open to dispute. Print, Reason Governments have a history of not listening to their scientific advisers. Politicians, popes and princes want things that can be said unequivocally, while scientists know that their advice is necessarily provisional, and sometimes open to dispute.

]]> 2009-11-02T18:04:59+00:00 http://www.reasonproject.org/newsfeed/item/Scientists_versus_politicians/#When:18:04:59Z http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/ReasonProject/~3/xkwEh4p8Ggs/ http://www.reasonproject.org/newsfeed/item/Dawkins_et_al_bring_us_into_disrepute/#When:06:00:33Z I am not whining (in fact I am rather proud) when I point out that a rather loud group of my fellow atheists, generally today known as the “new atheists”, loathe and detest my thinking. Richard Dawkins has likened me to the pusillanimous appeaser at Munich, Neville Chamberlain. Jerry Coyne, author of Why Evolution is True, says (echoing Orwell) that only someone with pretensions to the intelligentsia could believe the silly things I believe. And energetic blogger PZ Myers refers to me as a “clueless gobshite” because I confessed to seeing why true believers might find the Kentucky Creationist Museum convincing. I will spare you what my fellow philosopher Dan Dennett has to say about me. Print, Hall of Shame I am not whining (in fact I am rather proud) when I point out that a rather loud group of my fellow atheists, generally today known as the “new atheists”, loathe and detest my thinking. Richard Dawkins has likened me to the pusillanimous appeaser at Munich, Neville Chamberlain. Jerry Coyne, author of Why Evolution is True, says (echoing Orwell) that only someone with pretensions to the intelligentsia could believe the silly things I believe. And energetic blogger PZ Myers refers to me as a “clueless gobshite” because I confessed to seeing why true believers might find the Kentucky Creationist Museum convincing. I will spare you what my fellow philosopher Dan Dennett has to say about me.

]]> 2009-11-02T06:00:33+00:00 http://www.reasonproject.org/newsfeed/item/Dawkins_et_al_bring_us_into_disrepute/#When:06:00:33Z http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/ReasonProject/~3/NHHZMMWVEE0/ http://www.reasonproject.org/newsfeed/item/Second_pop_at_universes_secrets_for_LHC/#When:19:06:48Z More than £30m-worth of damage was done to the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), the most advanced particle accelerator ever built, a few days after its ceremonial opening. It has taken Myers – and hundreds of other Cern scientists – more than a year to pinpoint the guilty piece of cable and repair the wreckage. “It was a very small piece, but it did immense damage,” he said. It remains to be seen whether Myers can fix Cern’s tattered technological reputation in the process – when his team restart their great machine in a few weeks. Print, Reason More than £30m-worth of damage was done to the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), the most advanced particle accelerator ever built, a few days after its ceremonial opening. It has taken Myers – and hundreds of other Cern scientists – more than a year to pinpoint the guilty piece of cable and repair the wreckage. “It was a very small piece, but it did immense damage,” he said. It remains to be seen whether Myers can fix Cern’s tattered technological reputation in the process – when his team restart their great machine in a few weeks.

]]> 2009-10-31T19:06:48+00:00 http://www.reasonproject.org/newsfeed/item/Second_pop_at_universes_secrets_for_LHC/#When:19:06:48Z http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/ReasonProject/~3/dOJIdXxYzMc/ http://www.reasonproject.org/newsfeed/item/bible_is_a_catalogue_of_cruelties_says_saramago/#When:18:50:31Z After a nearly two-decade truce, Portuguese Nobel literature laureate José Saramago has returned to the charge against the Catholic Church. This time his target is the Bible itself, which he describes as “a manual of bad morals,” and a “catalogue of cruelties and of the worst of human nature.” Print, Religion After a nearly two-decade truce, Portuguese Nobel literature laureate José Saramago has returned to the charge against the Catholic Church. This time his target is the Bible itself, which he describes as “a manual of bad morals,” and a “catalogue of cruelties and of the worst of human nature.”

]]> 2009-10-31T18:50:31+00:00 http://www.reasonproject.org/newsfeed/item/bible_is_a_catalogue_of_cruelties_says_saramago/#When:18:50:31Z http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/ReasonProject/~3/Phv0riFInIs/ http://www.reasonproject.org/newsfeed/item/the_future_of_abstinence/#When:20:31:12Z For as long as anyone can remember, McLennan County has been abstinence country. Nestled in the heart of Bible-Belt Texas, it’s the kind of place where the local newspaper prints “In God We Trust” on the front page of every edition. So when the McLennan County Collaborative Abstinence Program (MCCAP) came to her a little more than a decade ago, offering an abstinence-only sex education program, she says, “It was the answer to our prayers. It was exactly the way we wanted to go.” All that may change with a recent federal funding cut for abstinence only programs. Print, Reason For as long as anyone can remember, McLennan County has been abstinence country. Nestled in the heart of Bible-Belt Texas, it’s the kind of place where the local newspaper prints “In God We Trust” on the front page of every edition. So when the McLennan County Collaborative Abstinence Program (MCCAP) came to her a little more than a decade ago, offering an abstinence-only sex education program, she says, “It was the answer to our prayers. It was exactly the way we wanted to go.” All that may change with a recent federal funding cut for abstinence only programs.

]]> 2009-10-29T20:31:12+00:00 http://www.reasonproject.org/newsfeed/item/the_future_of_abstinence/#When:20:31:12Z http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/ReasonProject/~3/DL0GQfcOXCg/ http://www.reasonproject.org/newsfeed/item/America_comes_out_in_opposition_to_defamation_of_religion_move/#When:19:00:48Z Christian groups around the world have joined human rights and civil liberties organisations in opposing the reintroduction of a motion at the United Nations Human Rights Council that would outlaw “defamation of religious” – in effect an international blasphemy law. Print, Religion Christian groups around the world have joined human rights and civil liberties organisations in opposing the reintroduction of a motion at the United Nations Human Rights Council that would outlaw “defamation of religious” – in effect an international blasphemy law.

]]> 2009-10-29T19:00:48+00:00 http://www.reasonproject.org/newsfeed/item/America_comes_out_in_opposition_to_defamation_of_religion_move/#When:19:00:48Z http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/ReasonProject/~3/-KfyGYAKUXw/ http://www.reasonproject.org/newsfeed/item/Creationism_in_science_classes_Brits_give_it_the_green_light/#When:19:00:17Z According to a Mori poll commissioned by the British Council, more than half the population believes it’s OK for children to be told about creationism and Intelligent Design in school science lessons along with evolution. The poll shows 54 per cent of Britons would not object to biology teachers discussing ‘alternative perspectives’ on the origin of life alongside explanations of evolution. Print, Religion According to a Mori poll commissioned by the British Council, more than half the population believes it’s OK for children to be told about creationism and Intelligent Design in school science lessons along with evolution. The poll shows 54 per cent of Britons would not object to biology teachers discussing ‘alternative perspectives’ on the origin of life alongside explanations of evolution.

]]> 2009-10-29T19:00:17+00:00 http://www.reasonproject.org/newsfeed/item/Creationism_in_science_classes_Brits_give_it_the_green_light/#When:19:00:17Z http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/ReasonProject/~3/Y6BEyAznmQU/ http://www.reasonproject.org/newsfeed/item/is_scientology_a_cult_is_paul_haggis_the_next_martin_luther/#When:18:53:29Z In this opinion piece, David Gibson considers the nature of Scientology and its cult-like characteristics. Auto-bio of author: David Gibson is an award-winning religion journalist, author, filmmaker, and a convert to Catholicism. Print, Religion In this opinion piece, David Gibson considers the nature of Scientology and its cult-like characteristics. Auto-bio of author: David Gibson is an award-winning religion journalist, author, filmmaker, and a convert to Catholicism.

]]> 2009-10-28T18:53:29+00:00 http://www.reasonproject.org/newsfeed/item/is_scientology_a_cult_is_paul_haggis_the_next_martin_luther/#When:18:53:29Z