Posts Tagged ‘skepdad’
Monday Meta: Literary Skepdad
A little more than a year ago when I started this blog there was such a clear purpose in my mind: fill the apparent gap in rational insight into being a dad that wasn’t awash with the stereotypical stuff. I mean, I looked around for all sorts of “fatherhood” information, a new baby on the way and all, and what I found was drenched in some kind of sports metaphor, psuedo-science drivel, end-of-life reconciliation with dear-old-pop stories, or pure religious holier-than-thou-isms. (Like you need to be a Christian to be a good father!) It wasn’t the point to just write about “skepticism and parenting.” But when I started piecing together the bits and pieces of what I thought I could meaningfully contribute the legacy of paternal experiences, I started thinking of — honestly — the father in the movie Contact. You know the one — Jodi Foster, SETI, message from Vega, based on a book by Carl Sagan — and you may or may not remember dear old dad, but he was the kind of soft spoken, knew the right answers to science-type-questions, let you tinker with ham radios kind of dad that every well-meaning science geek tells himself he’s going to be for his daughter.
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Monday Meta: A Little More Focus
Mondays? Filling in the Blogging and Communication Gaps.
I gotta send thanks out to any of you who have been hanging on during these moments of Skepdad confusion and transition. The whole idea of the Skepdad Blog has been to explore some issues around (a) skepticism, (b) skeptical parenting, and (c) grasping onto an understanding of what do with this little version of me who is growing up in a culture and community rife with superstition and pseudoscientific messages. My objective is and was to do a lot of thinking and writing on the topic — non-expert that I am — and hopefully cobble together a better understanding of the issues. I aimed for that goal for a number of months then came to the frustrating conclusion that I was aiming at a goal that was beyond the scope of either me or a blog like this. I’ll leave you to figure that out.
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lost musings
If you’ve been privy to the six months that comprise the early development of this blog, visiting often, reading diligently, and participating on the fringes of wordsmithery that drapes this domain in some vague recollection of pandering advice, then you have also witnessed a bumbling fool of a new father attempt to compose the impossible. I often have this deep rooted fear that my own cherry-picked musings on the state of critical thought are in jeopardy, caught in the gravity-well of logical fallacy — and it is with straining effort and scattered triumph that I continue to pluck away on this project. As such, we were traveling recently, bumbling through an international jaunt with our little hatchling in tow, and lest not be saved from our typical mid-vacation discovery of some local bookstore, we spent a few hours wandering the foreign stacks and perusing literature from a bevy of random topics.
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Future skep/dad Topics, Perhaps?
I’ve not had much time to sit down and write this week. Truth is, I scraped together some cash and bought myself a new notebook that has been occupying too much of my attention whilst I try out the many new features. That said, the plan in buying the new notebook was to give me more time and convenience in writing for this project (as well as a few others). Convenience? Well, it’s a notebook, so I can sit on the couch, put on some tunes, and type. Time? A rare commodity as a parent, but the new computer is, admittedly, a Mac so (as promised by the onslaught of advertising) its been running all weekend trouble free right out of the box. No more precious hours shared between changing diapers, reading aloud, and wireless connectivity maintenance. Of course, this gives me reason to pause and consider what I should write.
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Avoiding Logical Fallacies: Presuming Causation
The story so far: My pal, Victor Dillweed, has a time traveling baseball cap. He calls it his Chrono-Hat, and when he wears it he can travel backwards and forwards through time, visiting the far future and the ancient past. His visits are instantaneous, ephemeral, and he can only make a return journey if he comes back empty handed. Or so he claims. These rules, after all, leave him a little short on hard evidence. As usual, the skep/kids (Winston and Julia) and I attempt to debunk his claims — but this time around make the mistake of presuming causation.
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Avoiding Logical Fallacies:
Argument from Authority
The story so far: My pal, Victor Dillweed, has a time traveling baseball cap. He calls it his Chrono-Hat, and when he wears it he can travel backwards and forwards through time, visiting the far future and the ancient past. His visits are instantaneous, ephemeral, and he can only make a return journey if he comes back empty handed. Or so he claims. These rules, after all, leave him a little short on hard evidence. As usual, the skep/kids (Winston and Julia) and I attempt to debunk his claims — but this time around make the mistake of the Argument from Authority.
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Avoiding Logical Fallacies: ad hominem
The story so far: My pal, Victor Dillweed, has a time traveling baseball cap. He calls it his Chrono-Hat, and when he wears it he can travel backwards and forwards through time, visiting the far future and the ancient past. His visits are instantaneous, ephemeral, and he can only make a return journey if he comes back empty handed. Or so he claims. These rules, after all, leave him a little short on hard evidence. As usual, the skep/kids (Winston and Julia) and I attempt to debunk his claims — but this time around make the mistake of ad hominem.
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i, skep/dad
This is a brand new blog. When I get more information here I will stuff this post into the deepest of darkest archives, but until then this is it and you’ll need to wait. For more details on me or my purpose here, try reading the About page. This may provide more info on what is coming, but only in the sense of themes and topics.
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THE SKEPDAD BLOG is a place for rational, science-minded fathers to express their thoughts, opinions, and ideas about bringing up kids to be critical thinking adults in a world filled with superstition, mysticism, and pseudoscience.
- MINIBLOG: Obama Trend - What does the election of Barack Obama mean for the course of science and science education in the US in the coming four years? How will this impact internationally? Discuss.
COMMENTS: Multiple. Add something! - MINIBLOG: Purity - We watched a documentary last night on TLC about the Purity Movement. Nothing like a good old fashioned biblical excuse to wrap one’s daughter in a bubble of ignorance and second class gender roles like a “sign this contract with your dad re: sex” to set society back a couple centuries. It’s as if they’re [...]
COMMENTS: None. First Post? - MINIBLOG: Brain Games - I’m researching. (Or that’s what I’m calling it.) I picked up one of those “intelligence” and “brain training” games for my PSP last week. How smart will I become thanks to this five dollar exercise? Look out world: I’m about to release unlimited potential of my hitherto confined mind. *sigh*
COMMENTS: Multiple. Add something! - MINIBLOG: Drinking Skeptically, October 22 - If you haven’t made plans to attend the Edmonton Skeptics’ Pub Night tonight, there’s still time. See you there.
COMMENTS: None. First Post? - TWITTER: skepdad thinks you should check out the second edition of the Skeptical Parent Crossing, Blog Carnival... >>
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- Another Skeptical Parent Crossing
- Wednesday Wild Card: Twin Troubles
- Obama Trend
- Purity
- Friday Fizzicle: Skepdad on Sex, Part 1 COMMENT: Hugo: The anti-gay bills may have passed but the anti abortion bills got shot down and while I sympathize with the GLBT community and would like to see a world where everyone is really... COMMENT: Brad: Yes, very sad about all the successful initiatives. I didn’t see much news coverage for that where I was watching. Telling? Still, a small step left trumps a small step right.... COMMENT: Ian: He may have won, but every anti-gay marriage/adoption bill passed (including California!), showing that the Right is still strong. Over 45% of Americans still voted for McCain/Palin.... COMMENT: Brad: You’re spot on with the first comment. Funny that. As for our own hang ups, I think that goes with a lot of what we’ve been taught about “touchy” subjects:... COMMENT: Jess: I think the quote “adolescents who say that their families understand them, pay attention to their concerns, and have fun with them are more likely to…” can be...
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Brad adds: As of October 2007, I'm soliciting interest for skeptics in the Edmonton, Alberta, Canada area who are interested in forming a skeptical society to contact me. Please do so through this blog or via Facebook (through the Edmonton Skeptical Society Group).
Or visit our new website: www.edmontonskeptics.org - There are children playing in the street who could solve some of my top problems in physics, because they have modes of sensory perception that I lost long ago.- Robert Oppenheimer
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- Skeptoid: Critical Analysis of Pop Phenomena
- The Skeptic Dad
- ScienceBlogs
- Skeptical Kids
- Skeptical Family Forum
- Skeptic’s Dictionary
- Skeptic’s Annotated Bible
- Domestic Father
- DIYFather.com
- Skeptical Mom
- The Blogfathers
- James Randi Educational Foundation
- Pediatrics
- The Museum of Hoaxes
- Antimattr
- Bug Girl’s Blog
- Science Creative Quarterly
- Rational Moms
- Claire’s Booklist
- SkepBitch
- The Meming of Life
- A Secular Parenting Blog–Finally!
- Skeptical Surfer
- The Philosopher Dad
- Nye Labs
- Snopes (Urban Legends Reference)
- Bad Science
- Terahertz
- NeuroLogica Blog
- The Skeptics Guide to the Universe
- Science Based Medicine
- Bad Language
- Memoirs of a Skepchick
- Skeptic Magazine
- Junior Skeptic
- Podblack Blog
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