Build a good old-fashioned bonfire, we’ve got some scientific heretics to burn. An unbelievable row has erupted at the British Association for the Advancement of Science, after Rupert Sheldrake, Peter Fenwick and Deborah Delanoy were (gasp!) allowed to speak at the meeting. Plenty of scientists professed their outrage to The Times, including Lord Winston and mis-titled ‘paranormal researcher’ Richard Wiseman (who at least varied the usual Nazi slur on parapsychology, with a much more tasteful racist analogy). Ironically, the AS is a charity “that seeks to advance public understanding, accessibility and accountability of the sciences”. We can’t have the public understanding the research presented by the ‘heretics’. so let’s throw out some pithy and unresearched opinions to let them know that the church of materialism remains infallible. I actually laughed at the sheer 1633-ness of it all while reading. Thanks Kat.
Update: Rupert Sheldrake has an article in The Times with more background on his topics of interest. Also, Sheldrake’s website has been redesigned, it now looks like this.