Comments by JasonG

Comment #150029 by JasonG on March 26, 2008 at 12:06 pm

Happy birthday, and many thanks for all that you do!

Comment #115994 by JasonG on January 25, 2008 at 8:07 am

For those seeking an antidote to the godtube video, this Rowan Atkinson clip might help:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XFGrQMD6Uqc

3. Survey finds most Americans believe Jesus born of virgin

Comment #102359 by JasonG on December 22, 2007 at 1:11 pm

The Barna Group has a web site discussing their survey in a bit more detail:

http://www.barna.org/FlexPage.aspx?Page=BarnaUpdateNarrow&BarnaUpdateID=286

Notably, however, they don't say precisely how they phrased their questions or whom they were labeling as "atheist" or "agnostic." The fact that *any* atheists or agnostics answered "yes" to this query ought to have prompted the Barna Group to question the validity of their survey (unless, of course, they were interested in inflating the numbers).

Something that's not mentioned in the Toledo Blade article---on the web site above, the Barna Group also claims that 8% of atheists and agnostics accept the story of Eve and the serpent!

4. Postmodernism Disrobed

Comment #32263 by JasonG on April 16, 2007 at 1:54 pm

By writing something clear and rational? :)

5. Postmodernism Disrobed

Comment #31546 by JasonG on April 13, 2007 at 7:59 am

In comment 31035, suiladuaidh notes that we should be careful about attacking academic disciplines, and I quite agree. Although I often lament the lack of intellectual rigor present in some strains of musical scholarship, I feel that I should note that there is plenty of scholarship in the humanities in general---and musicology more specifically---that is highly valuable. But not surprisingly, the best humanistic scholarship is scientific in its methodology, basing its conclusions on empirical evidence gathered and analyzed under sound protocols.

In my view, the division of disciplines between the humanities and sciences is not especially useful. For example, while the production of music may be considered an art, the study of its production is (or ought to be) a science. Moreover, segregating scholarship on humans from that on the rest of the universe is not only chauvinistic, but also creates a risk of adopting methodologies designed to reinforce this chauvinism.

6. Postmodernism Disrobed

Comment #29279 by JasonG on April 2, 2007 at 12:57 pm

In comment # 29272, Robert notes that one of the hallmarks of postmodernism is hostility toward science. In my own field of musicology, I've encountered a wide range of attitudes toward science and scientific methodology. There are some who embrace it wholeheartedly--mostly those investigating compositional algorithms or studying music cognition. However, there are plenty of others who reject or even ridicule it. (I discuss this problem in some more depth here, for those who are curious: http://richarddawkins.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=6772.)

I would be curious to hear about the experiences of others in the humanities whose interest in science or dislike of postmodernism led to conflicts with colleagues or advisors.

7. Postmodernism Disrobed

Comment #29252 by JasonG on April 2, 2007 at 8:48 am

Gersh's Corollary to Dawkins's Law of the Conservation of Difficulty states that obscurantism in an scholar's writing expands to fill the vacuum of his intrinsic ignorance.