01 July 2009

Atheist summer camp, funded by Richard Dawkins' foundation

Via Boing Boing via The First Post, we learn that Richard Dawkins' foundation is funding a summer camp to teach children reason, skepticism and science. From the article:

Alongside the more traditional activities of tug-of-war, swimming and canoeing, children at the five-day camp in Somerset will learn about rational scepticism, moral philosophy, ethics and evolution.

Camp-goers aged eight to 17 will also be taught how to disprove phenomena such as crop circles and telepathy. In the Invisible Unicorn Challenge, any child who can prove that unicorns do not exist will win a £10 note -- which features an image of Charles Darwin, the father of evolutionary theory -- signed by Dawkins, Britain's most prominent atheist.

Related TEDTalks:
+ Richard Dawkins on militant atheism
+ Dan Dennett says religion should be taught in schools -- objectively
+ Michael Shermer on why people believe strange things
+ Diane Benscoter on escaping a cult
+ Julia Sweeney on letting go of god

Or visit the TED.com theme Is There a God?

Posted by Matthew Trost | Permalink

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29 October 2008

Update: Now hiring: Professor for the Public Understanding of Science [position filled]

Updated 10/29/08: Oxford announced yesterday the appointment of Professor Marcus du Sautoy to the Charles Simonyi Chair for the Public Understanding of Science. Du Sautoy is a mathematician and a dedicated popularizer of math and science. To get to know him, you might start with today's installment of his London Times column "Sexy Maths."

From 02/20/08: Richard Dawkins' website points us to a most interesting career opportunity: the Charles Simonyi Professorship in the Public Understanding of Science at the University of Oxford. Dawkins, who has held the Chair since 1995, will be retiring in September of 2008. (He has reached the Chair's mandatory retirement age.)

Lest his fans worry -- or his detractors celebrate -- Dawkins has assured his devoted forum community at RichardDawkins.net that he'll continue to speak out for the humanist cause. TED wishes Dr. Dawkins and his successor well.-- Matthew Trost

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03 June 2008

Building a new kind of meme: Susan Blackmore on TED.com

Susan Blackmore studies memes: ideas that replicate themselves, passing from brain to brain like a physical virus. At TED2008, Blackmore makes a bold new argument: Humanity has spawned a new category of meme, the "teme," which spreads itself via technology -- and invents brand-new ways to keep itself alive. (Recorded February 2008 in Monterey, California. Duration: 19:28.)

Watch Susan Blackmore's talk on TED.com, where you can download it, rate it, comment on it and find other talks and performances.

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01 May 2008

Vote for your favorite public intellectuals

Not to be outdone by the Time 100, the journals Foreign Policy and Prospect have together released a list of the Top 100 public intellectuals -- with voting. Many TEDTalks favorites appear on the list, and you can help choose the eventual top 20 by voting for your very own top 5. From Foreign Policy's site:

Although the men and women on this list are some of the world’s most sophisticated thinkers, the criteria to make the list could not be more simple. Candidates must be living and still active in public life. They must have shown distinction in their particular field as well as an ability to influence wider debate, often far beyond the borders of their own country.

TEDTalks speakers on this top 100 list include George Ayittey, Steven Pinker, Neil Gershenfeld, Malcolm Gladwell, Craig Venter, Al Gore, Richard Dawkins, Vilayanur Ramachandran, Larry Lessig, Steven Levitt, E.O. Wilson, Dan Dennett and Bjorn Lomborg -- and look for upcoming TEDTalks from others on this list, including Paul Collier, who spoke at TED2008 about "the bottom billion."

See the full list of 100 >>

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02 January 2008

Edge question 2008: What have you changed your mind about? Why?

Many TEDTalks speakers have answered the 2008 Edge Foundation question: What have you changed your mind about? Why?

Among the more than 160 essays from leading thinkers -- scientists, philosophers, artists -- look for Wired's Chris Anderson, Nick Bostrom, Stewart Brand, Richard Dawkins, Aubrey de Grey, Juan Enriquez, Helen Fisher, Neil Gershenfeld, Daniel Gilbert, Daniel Goleman, Kevin Kelly, Steven Pinker, Carolyn Porco, Martin Rees, Michael Shermer and Craig Venter. Block out some time to sample these -- it's an addictive read.

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20 April 2007

The universe is queerer than we can suppose: Richard Dawkins on TED.com

Biologist Richard Dawkins makes a case for "thinking the improbable" by looking at how the human frame of reference limits our understanding of the universe.

NEW: Read the transcript >>

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18 October 2005

Some strange choices on this list...

Here's a quirky line-up of "the world's top 20 public intellectuals" published by a couple of magazines after a widely-promoted internet vote.

1 Noam Chomsky
2 Umberto Eco
3 Richard Dawkins
4 Václav Havel
5 Christopher Hitchens
6 Paul Krugman
7 Jürgen Habermas
8 Amartya Sen
9 Jared Diamond
10 Salman Rushdie
11 Naomi Klein
12 Shirin Ebadi
13 Hernando de Soto
14 Bjørn Lomborg
15 Abdolkarim Soroush
16 Thomas Friedman
17 Pope Benedict XVI
18 Eric Hobsbawm
19 Paul Wolfowitz
20 Camille Paglia

Looks like there are three criteria to make the list. 1) Be really smart. 2) Write a best-selling book.  3) Have your supporters organize an Internet voting campaign.  Here's the inside scoop.

Our congrats to TED speakers Dawkins, Diamond and Lomborg.

Posted by Chris Anderson | Permalink

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12 October 2005

An M&M-sized traffic jam

At TEDGlobal this summer, Richard Dawkins outlined the limitations of the human mind. We live, he explained, in a middle-sized world, and have difficulty understanding anything very large — like solar systems — or very small, like atoms.

So when Dartmouth researchers created the world's smallest mobile robot, which measures a hundredth of an inch by one four-hundredth of an inch, we had a little trouble visualizing it. Fortunately, the New York Times article supplied a brilliant measurement metaphor: "A traffic jam of 200," they explain, "would stretch the length of an M&M." Now that's something we can relate to.

Posted by June Cohen | Permalink

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