Skeptical Claims by Jonathan Berman

Mike and I have just returned from this year’s student leadership conference. We both agreed it was worthwhile, but could have been improved in some ways. For simplicity, I’ll break it down into pros and cons.

Pros:

Good conference food.

 BCCD (Bee Colony Collapse Disorder) is a relatively recent phenomenon with unknown causes, the effect being the widespread disappearance of bee populations. Since 2006, BCCD has affected colonies throughout North America and beyond, threatening roughly 1/3 of human food sources which rely on pollination by bees. This problem gain’s its importance by the number of people it potentially affects, and the estimated resources that would be required to combat the problem.

I now have a part time job working downtown as a rickshaw driver. So, if you need a fun or romantic afternoon activity, why not call me up and get a rickshaw ride?

Also a court in Europe is considering if they should grant status of personhood to a chimpanzee. Let’s be clear, the question is if the chimp is a person, not of he is human. While chimps (both Bonobos, and Pan Trogladites) are very close relatives of humans, we are distict species. Being a “person” is an entirely different matter. 

I kid you not.

http://richarddawkins.net/article,2524,n,n 

I just got back from driving Lori Lipman Brown to the airport. She arrived yesterday, gave a talk to the skeptics and a numbers of people who aren’t members of the group and stayed overnight at a local motel.

The talk was good. She covered topics relating to her job lobbying for the rights of non-theistic Americans. She also showed some clips of times she appeared on Fox News. I think that the most interesting part of the evening was the discussion. The questions people brought her during the Q&A, and the answers she gave were very interesting.

Lori Lipman Brown, a secular lobbyist, is going to be giving a talk at RIT tomorrow thursday at 8pm in building 70-1400. 

There is some confusion that exists about the logical fallacy known as a “straw man argument.” This is a fallacy where instead of attacking an opponents specifc position on a subject, you set up a weaker, easier to argue against arguement, and knock that down.

For example:

Smith: It’s possible that life exists elsewhere in the universe.

Jones: You’re saying that people are being abducted by little green men? There’s no evidence that that’s true.

This company claims that they can test your DNA and develop a nutritional plan based on the findings. Sounds great right? Until you critically examine their claims, they do.

Keep in mind, nothing in this post should be considered medical advice. Go to your docotor for that.

They claim that by looking for SNPs (single nucleotide polymorphisms) it is possible to identify nutrient deficiencies caused by the poor functioning of protiens.

RIT students may be aware of the new proposed ban on smoking on campus. There are two reasons why this might be a good idea. First, that secondhand smoke is a significant health hazard, and smokers do not have the right to harm others. The second argument is that tobacco smoke is unpleasant for non smoker, and they should not be subjected to it.