13 posts tagged “books and ideas”
Eugenie Scott, the Executive Director of the National Center for Science Education, was interviewed in Episode 21 of Books and Ideas.
The focus of our conversation was the importance of teaching evolution
in the public schools. Dr. Scott and the NCSE have worked for over 20
years to promote the teaching of evolution because it is an essential
component of a modern education in the life sciences. Unfortunately,
nearly 150 years after Darwin's On the Origin of Species (1859) many
Americans still reject this fundamental idea and much of Scott's work
is focused on trying to keep creationism and so-called Intelligent
Design out of school curriculum.
Recently the NCSE launched a very valuable site called Expelled Exposed, which focuses on exposing the many inaccuracies presented in Ben Stein's recent pro-intelligent design "documentary" Expelled. One of the things that has come out in numerous interviews is that the producers of the film mislead all the pro-evolution guests that appear in the film. We discuss this briefly near the end of the interview, but it was not the focus of our discussion. (see below for more links regarding Expelled)
Since Dr. Scott has been interviewed about Expelled and Expelled Exposed on several other podcasts, I wanted to focus our interview more on the importance of accurate science education. Also, we discussed the fact that despite the claims of right-wing fundamentalists there are many Christians and people of other faiths who accept the theory of evolution as scientifically valid. Accepting evolution does not mean one is choosing atheism. I think this is a very important distinction because while atheists are outspoken in their support of evolution they represent a small minority. I was encouraged to learn from Dr. Scott that the NCSE is working closely with religious leaders and scientists of faith to try to educate their members.
Since Books and Ideas reaches an international audience I thought that it was important that we discuss the origins of the evolution versus creationism controversy, which is unique to the United States. Scott does an excellent job of explaining how our unique religious heritage along with our locally controlled school systems combine to create a situation that most of the world find's rather mystifying. Her book Evolution vs. Creationism: An Introduction also provides an excellent overview of the subject from both an historical and scientific prospective.
Finally, we talk about the importance of evolution as a basic idea in modern biology. While we didn't dwell on this, I think we are both concerned about the implications for the future if a majority of young Americans are reaching college without a solid foundation in the principles of evolution. We also talked about why intelligent design fails to meet the basic definition of a scientific theory since it provides no testable hypotheses. Dr. Scott also provides a excellent review of the basic writings for those who want to learn more.
Episode 20 of Books and Ideas is an interview with forensic psychologist Delany Dean, PhD.
Dr. Dean began her career as a criminal lawyer but his interest in the
mind and the brain lead her to a second career as a clinical
psychologist. Besides forensic psyschology she has extensive experience
with therapies based on the use of mindfulness meditation. In this
interview, Dr. Campbell and Dr. Dean share there personal experiences
with meditation, and Dr. Dean explains why she feels mindfulness
meditation provides a extremely valuable tool for helping people deal
with a wide range of problems, including the stress that we all face
from time to time. They also give practical advise for listeners
interested in beginning a mindfulness practice.
Listen to Delany Dean's Interview.
Links and References:
Mind Expressions: Delany's Dean's blog
Teachers and Scientists mentioned in the interview:
- Jon Kabat-Zinn: pioneer in secular use of mindfulness meditation
- Marsha Linehan: another pioneer in the therapeutic use of meditation
- Sharon Salzberg: cofounder of the Insight Meditation Society
- Jeffery Schwarz, MD: pioneered the use of mindfulness in treating obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). He wrote The Mind and the Brain: Neuroplasticity and the Power of Mental Force with Sharon Begley
- Gil Fronsdal: respected teacher and director of the Insight Meditation Center in Redwood, CA
Books and Other Resources for Beginners:
- Mindfulness in Plain English by Bhante H. Gunaratana-one of Dr. Campbell's favorites
- Insight Meditation: A Step-By-Step Course on How to Meditate by Sharon Salzberg, Joseph Goldstein
- Wherever You Go, There You Are: Mindfulness Meditation in Everyday Life by Jon Kabat-zinn
- For more books and videos go to Delany Dean's private practice site.
- Insight Meditation Society-learn more about Vipassana
- Spirit Rock- this is where Dr. Campbell did the retreat she mentions in the podcast
You can find more references at the Brain Science Podcast Discussion Forum where there is on-going thread devoted to meditation and the Brain. There is also a section for discussing episodes of Books and Ideas.
Subscribe to Books and Ideas Blog
Leave comments at the Discussion Forum
Dan Ariely is a professor of behavioral economics at MIT and author of the bestseller, Predictably Irrational: The Hidden Forces That Shape Our Decisions. He was my guest for episode 19 of Books and Ideas. During the interview he explains how his came to study human behavior. He uses examples from his book to explore the question "What makes a good experiment?" He also discusses how he hope that his findings can help strengthen our society despite our human tendency to make "irrational" choices.
Links:
Predictably Irrational: The Hidden Forces That Shape Our Decisions by Dan Ariely
Dan Ariely
Listen to Books and Ideas Episode 19
Episode 16 of Books and Ideas is a conversation with Dr. Steven Novella from the popular podcast The Skeptics Guide to the Universe. This interview is a response to numerous requests from fans of the Brain Science Podcast, but I put it in the Books and Ideas feed so that Dr. Novella could share some of his personal experiences both as a physician and as a podcaster.
Show Notes:
Dr. Novella talked a little bit about why he became a physician and about choosing neurology as his specialty. We talked about the role of imaging and how recent advances in neuroscience are influencing patient care. We also talked about the importance of helping patients get accurate information, both from the internet and from their physicians, and how the pressure for physicians to see large numbers of patients hinders good communication. Dr. Novella is committed to evidence-based medicine and we talked about the role of skepticism in evaluating medical claims, both from mainstream and alternative sources. Dr. Novella also talked briefly about his podcast and his blogs, including a new blog specifically devoted to promoting evidence-based medicine.
In the last section of this episode I looked back on the first 15 episodes of Books and Ideas. I particularly want to thank Matthew Cobb for being my first guest back in episode 7. You can get his book Generation at the Books and Ideas aStore at Amazon.com.
Links:
- The Skeptics Guide to the Universe
- Dr. Novella's Blogs:
- Matthew Cobb:
- Listen to discussion of his book Generation (episode 6)
- Listen to interview (Episode 7)
- Cobb's home page
- Cobb's blog on Vox
Listen to Dr. Novella's interview
The audio files for both of my podcasts are hosted on Libsyn and they have recently changed the addresses for people's podcast audio files. Unfortunately this means that I probably have a lot of bad links floating around not just on this site, but in numerous other locations around the internet. I intend to try to fix the ones I remember posting, but that may take a while, so if you find a bad link please let me know.
Thanks to SpiritSeeker for originally bringing the problem to my attention.
If you are in a hurry to find an old episode you can go directly to my Libsyn sites:
Books and Ideas is at http://booksandideas.libsyn.com
Brain Science Podcast is at http://brainsciencepodcast.libsyn.com
Those
of you familiar with Orson Scott Card's long-running Ender series know
that he has an unusual interest in history and how it shapes political
events. In his latest novel, Empire, the assassination
of the US president and vice-president lead to a civil war between the
extreme right wing and the extreme left wing. The scenario he presents
challenges our tendency to assume that such an event could never occur.
The near-realism of the story is both chilling and thought-provoking. This is not a feel-good book, but while it is disturbing, it also provides a strong argument in favor of a return to a politics of moderation, in contrast to the increasing polarization of the current political landscape. In the tradition of great science fiction and great storytelling in general, Card uses his characters to communicate an important message.
No matter what your political beliefs you will find characters in the story that you can respect and root for. The book comes to a conclusion that is both satisfying and open-ended.
The narration by Stefan Rudniki is excellent though you might find yourself wishing for the print version so that you can re-read some of the more complicated arguments. I recommend this to all OSC fans and to anyone who enjoys speculative, political fiction.
I have posted a special episode of my Books and Ideas podcast devoted to Harry Potter.
Even if you haven't finished reading Book 7, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, by JK Rowling you can enjoy this podcast, which features guest co-host Patrick Pricken, from Germany. Patrick's blog, which features movie and book reviews can be found at http://www.p-pricken.de/. (The blog is in German, but translation to English is available from Google.)
We talked about what why JK Rowling's work has international appeal, even among adult readers. We explore our favorite characters and talk about whether Book 7 lived up to our expectations.
The episode is spoiler-free up to the 17 minute mark. The last 15 minutes does contain specific material from the last book, so if you haven't read it yet you will want to stop listening at 17:00, until you finish the book.
If you would like to talk about the podcast or share your favorite Harry Potter memories, please join us in the the special section with in the Brain Science Podcast Discussion Forum.
I have posted episode 12 of Books and Ideas. It is my response to The Myth of Free Will (2007), which was edited by Cris Evatt.
This is a very controversial subject. I hope that you will listen and then submit your comments to the new Brain Science Podcast Discussion Forum, which is at http://brainscienceforum.com.
This week's episode of Books and Ideas is a discussion of the book Challenging Nature: The Clash of Science and Spirituality at the New Frontiers of Life, with author Lee M. Silver of
Princeton University. I have inserted it into the Brain Science Podcast
feed so that listeners can sample my second podcast. If you are already
subscribed to both podcasts this will be a duplicate, which you can
delete.
Subscribe to Books and Ideas via iTunes™
Click here to visit Lee M Silver's websiteThis book fills in some of the gaps that most Americans have in their knowledge about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. In particular, President Carter gives us some insight into the plight of the Palestinians living in the occupied territories.
Usually my podcasts are intended to give the main ideas for people to busy to read, but in this case I think everyone should read this book for themselves.
To learn more or to listen go to http://booksandidea.com.
