Blog Posts

Science

“Science” seems to be the new god. All sides of the U.S. political spectrum claim “science” to be on their side, very much as partisans of days-gone announced that God supported—or perhaps demanded—their policy preferences. What are they talking about? One can look up countless works about both the philosophy of science and the nature

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Evolution and Stories

When we think of evolution, we usually think in terms of biology. We think of the accumulated biological differences that accrue to a species through a series of generations. This is sometimes characterized as a competition between individuals wherein the winners pass on their superior genes to subsequent generations and the losers become archaeological curiosities.

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The Gendering of Sex

sex (seks), n. 1. either the male or female division of a species, esp. as differentiated with reference to the reproductive functions. 2. the sum of the structural and functional differences by which the male and female are distinguished, or the phenomena of behavior dependent upon these differences. 3. the instinct or attraction drawing one

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The One-Party State

I just read an article in Discourse, the new online magazine from Mercatus Center, in which the author recalls her childhood in Taiwan under the Kuomintang one-party rule. The Kuomintang, also called the Chinese Nationalist Party, exercised one-party rule over the the island of Taiwan for 40 years, from 1949 to 1989, and still holds

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Reinfection!

The news media tell us to beware of possible reinfection with the SARS-CoV-2 virus, the virus that causes the disease called COVID-19. The news also warns us we may become infected even after vaccination. Should we be surprised? If a microorganism, such as a virus, enters your body and reproduces, that is an infection, but

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