So, here we are. To steal John Lennon's cheery thoughts on the subject: another year over, a new one just begun. It is the time of year where every newspaper, every magazine and every TV station thinks it has a duty to look back over the last twelve months and nod knowingly about contemporary culture and changing times.
But frankly, what is the point? We live in a replay culture ... When popular nostalgia gets as far as the mid-noughties and the beeb gets around to making I love 2004, probably some time next March, what will it be getting nostalgic about? What will stand out as the crazy trends that, older and wiser, we will look back on and mutter I can't believe we liked that . . ?
Literature & Art Across Frontiers: More Than a Hunch: The Tipping Point
Anyone who does a lot of public speaking knows there are certain questions that inevitably arise from the audience in a Q&A. In my case, lecturing on pseudoscience and the paranormal, I am almost always asked:
What is my position on the afterlife? ("I'm for it"), have I ever encountered a mystery that science cannot explain? ("Paris Hilton"), and have I ever been skeptical of something that turned out to be real?
For the final question I have a serious answer: intuition.
As a skeptical scientist, I have always treated with disdain the notion that one can intuit a truth about reality. Scientists should employ the logic of Mr. Spock, the deductive reasoning of Mr. Holmes, and the rational calculus of Mr. Data. Hunches, guesses, insights, feelings, and intuitions lead to misdirection and error. Thinking things through rationally and systematically is ...
• Royal Road to Reality [Only expensive new cars park here: Jaguars, Mercedes, BMWs and Rovers. Everything here looks clean. Sun Damage ]
• · The Indian Ocean tsunamis may yet prove to be our Lisbon earthquake, our 21st century equivalent of that moment on 1 November, 1755 when the Enlightenment’s faith in the perfectibility of human society was squashed by a mere flick of the cosmic finger Humanity's search for the meaning of life ... and of death ; [A Sri Lankan Buddhist blames it on bad karma. A Muslim imam sees it as a test from God. A Wiccan high priestess sees only Mother Nature's natural cycles, while a Catholic bishop and Jewish rabbi stress the charitable response to disaster Deadly Tsunami Resurrects the Old Question of Why ]
• · · We have been to the Neverland, and now we shall always believe. The world speaks many languages, but it dreams in English. The Fellowship of the Ring ; [With the current crop of television shows such as CSI and WITHOUT A TRACE forensic investigation is taken to a new level. Are We Traceable? ]
• · · · Why are we so scared of offending each other? That is what a civilised society should be able to do. And, if we keep our nerves and carefully explain to all citizens that being offended is an occupational hazard in a free society, then my guess is that in 10 years' time - if it's good enough - Bezhti will be playing to audiences of unoffended Sikhs all over Britain I don't mean to be rude ... ; [The stronger sex While 70-year-old men have the hearts of 70-year-olds, those of their female peers resemble the hearts of 20-year-olds swimmers in the Morava River]
• · · · · There's a reason why you can't remember much of anything from eighth grade science class. There's also a reason why you'll never forget the big eighth grade camping trip. It simply has to do with the fact that the camping trip is part of a story in which you were a key player. The reason you might not remember much about science class is that there's not much of a story there. It was boring.
Story writing impacts reader experience ; [They say opportunity only knocks once, but for Cold River it is knocking again. You take your two index fingers, and one and one equals the power of 11. This is not your average run of the mill review of an escape Best Book Reviews ; More Book Reviews ; And even more ]
• · · · · · Terry firmly believed that books in the future would be read electronically. Sadly, The Bell Tolls for E-Book Pioneer Terry Sheils ; [The discovery of a new species of human astounded the world. But is it what it seems? Bones of contention ]