Category Archives: Science

Do We Make Our Own Choices?

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This is just a short note, sharing some interesting resources about a subject that I find highly intriguing.

One of my favorite interests these days is the question of whether humans really have free will. You might think that this sounds like a paranoid fantasy and chalk me up as a “big brother”-fearing government-conspiracy-believing crackpot. But, hear me out.

There is lots of evidence from brain research, behavioral studies, and even economics that suggest that what we humans perceive as our ability to choose based on our own whims is actually predictable and–frighteningly–controllable by outside forces. The matter is one of much debate, but if you it piques your curiosity like it does mine, here are some resources to explore.

1. “Predictably Irrational” by Dan Ariely: Ariely is one of the most interesting scientists I have ever seen speak. You can appreciate his message in this talk from the 2008 EG conference (not technically TED, but closely related).

2. “The Brain on Trial” from The Atlantic: This recent article discusses how tumors in the brain can cause much of the behaviors that we associate with the worst criminals in society.

3. “Blink: The Power of Thinking without Thinking” by Malcolm Gladwell: This book contains a lot of information about how the brain handles decision-making.

4. “Drive” by Daniel Pink: If you haven’t read this book yet, you’re really missing out. While making choices is not a major theme of the book, Pink spends some time sharing some of the current research.

Check these out and let your brain do a little stretching.

photo credit: “lapolab” via photopin cc

Politics and Science

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This post is a bit of a departure from what I usually blog about and I hope regular readers won’t be offended.  Bear with me, there’s more of the usual stuff coming soon…

I work hard to keep my religious and political views out of this blog.  I don’t think that these issues really matter when we’re talking about improving the public education system in this great country.  I used to feel the same way about science–my first career–and my views came from a place that I don’t talk about very much.  I have strong feelings about the size of government, but there are three major roles that I think are worthy of our tax dollars: healthcare, education, and science research.

While we have recently witnessed a remarkable erosion of the public’s perception of educators, I always (naïvely) believed that scientific endeavors would remain above the political fray because of the obvious value they bring to our world.  In our everyday lives it would be difficult to name even one minute when we aren’t benefitting from the work of scientists.

And so, it is with tremendous sadness and fear that I watch the Republican candidates for U.S. President trip over each other trying to be the most ignorant and anti-science.  I don’t understand how disparaging scientists and denying proven scientific evidence can make a public figure popular.  Who are these members of the voting public who value candidates oblivious to the world around them?  Who are they pandering to?  What happened to the old Grand Old Party?

Michelle Bachman’s latest rant, during the recent Republican debate, about the Gardisil HPV vaccine is full of ridiculously false accusations.  And, thankfully, even pundits in her own party are challenging her:

But, she’s not alone… or unpopular.  How bad is it?  Even Republican candidate John Huntsman said in a recent debate,

“Listen, when you make comments that fly in the face of what 98 out of 100 climate scientists have said, when you call into question the science of evolution, all I’m saying is that, in order for the Republican Party to win, we can’t run from science.”

My frustration is eclipsed only by the fear I feel for our students.  How many of their role models will make clear the importance of science?  What will their science classrooms look like?  Their textbooks?

That’s What I’m Talking About: Creationism

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The last few weeks have been a flurry of activity related to my “day job” and the many responsibilities that I have (voluntarily) taken on there.  I’ve spent a lot of mental time trying to figure out how to maintain the conversation here that I value so much personally and professionally, while slogging through the day-to-day joys and challenges of being a middle school teacher.

An idea that I’ve come up with is a new type of post called That’s What I’m Talking About or TWITA, for short.  I plan to use this type of writing from time to time to share the work of other authors that jives so well with my thinking that I wish I wrote it.  In each case, I’ll add some commentary of my own and try to start up some interesting conversations here.

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And you thought your family was weird…

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Image courtesy of NotRocketScience

Courtesy of NotRocketScience

Deep-sea biology has always interested me, mainly because of the sheer enormity of what we don’t yet know about the creatures that live in this unique habitat.

Nothing beats the conclusions of a recent genetic study by David Johnson at The Smithsonian confirming the work of a Japanese group.  Breaking it all down is Ed Yong of Not Exactly Rocket Science in a recent post.  In a nutshell, there are three very different organisms that turn out to be the larva, male, and female of the same species.  Imagine what doors this opens up for re-investigating what we already “know”.