The Argument From Authority

Have you ever heard of, or seen, the Hering Optical Illusion? How many of you believed that the two long lines are absolutely straight? How many other people do you think would insist, on the basis of an apparent appeal to authority alone, that this is the case? Well, it’s …

Blankslatism Strikes Again!

The following is what happens when you ignore the reality of genetic influences on populations: I’ve raised five children in the same nurturing environment. I’ve incessantly “talk-maxxed” them all. Nevertheless, the verbal ability of those five children on a variety of standardized tests is, as predicted, perfectly correlated with their …

It Depends…

I was not a fan of Bill Clinton, nor of his sexual indiscretion. But of all the things to criticize him for, this quote is not one of them. Bill Clinton is among the most intelligent presidents of all time, with common estimates of his IQ  ranging from the high …

When Should You Argue?

It is no secret that I enjoy a healthy debate. I enjoy pitting arguments against one another and finding out which is better. I enjoy discovering some truth that I heretofore did not know or was otherwise mistaken about. One of the most common criticisms that I see about religion …