Dave just read me a letter that he received from his dad when he was a teenager. Most of the letter, sent from Malaysia where his dad was serving as a missionary, was admonishing Dave for playing pool with his friends.
If you ever saw "The Music Man" you know how middle America felt back then about the presence of a pool hall in their communities.
My mother-in-law had a strange belief that men don't eat mayonnaise.
For years my husband, Ken, refused to let our daughters have their ears pieced. "Only bad girls have their ears pierced."
In a 2009 Harris poll, 45 % of the people polled believed in Darwin's Theory of Evolution. 42 % believed in ghosts.
What do you believe and (more importantly) why?
The founding publisher of Skeptic Magazine, Michael Shermer, has written a new book called "The Believing Brain." His premise is that we form our beliefs for a variety of subjective, personal, emotional and psychological reasons and then selectively filter data to reinforce rather than refute.
I haven't read all of the book but even though I disagree with some of what he says he makes me think. And what I think is that it's important to be able to articulate our beliefs. But I think it's even more important to articulate why we have them. And then be willing to listen to, and respect other's ideas.
Michael Shermer was on the Corbert Report the other night. Corbert suggested that we're even more sure of our beliefs if they rhyme.
If the glove don't fit, you must acquit.
***
If you ever saw "The Music Man" you know how middle America felt back then about the presence of a pool hall in their communities.
My mother-in-law had a strange belief that men don't eat mayonnaise.
For years my husband, Ken, refused to let our daughters have their ears pieced. "Only bad girls have their ears pierced."
In a 2009 Harris poll, 45 % of the people polled believed in Darwin's Theory of Evolution. 42 % believed in ghosts.
What do you believe and (more importantly) why?
The founding publisher of Skeptic Magazine, Michael Shermer, has written a new book called "The Believing Brain." His premise is that we form our beliefs for a variety of subjective, personal, emotional and psychological reasons and then selectively filter data to reinforce rather than refute.
I haven't read all of the book but even though I disagree with some of what he says he makes me think. And what I think is that it's important to be able to articulate our beliefs. But I think it's even more important to articulate why we have them. And then be willing to listen to, and respect other's ideas.
Michael Shermer was on the Corbert Report the other night. Corbert suggested that we're even more sure of our beliefs if they rhyme.
If the glove don't fit, you must acquit.
***
