Settle down Rick, I’m not talking about the enormously gifted guitarist for that Irish band. Once again, The Edge Foundation has released its annual ‘World Question‘, posed to some of the brightest and/or freshest thinkers around:
The Edge Annual Question — 2008
When thinking changes your mind, that’s philosophy.
When God changes your mind, that’s faith.
When facts change your mind, that’s science.WHAT HAVE YOU CHANGED YOUR MIND ABOUT? WHY?
Science is based on evidence. What happens when the data change? How have scientific findings or arguments changed your mind?
163 contributors gave their answer, including Richard Dawkins, Freeman Dyson, Rupert Sheldrake, Michael Shermer. Sheldrake’s comments are bound to cause some controversy, although he does have a central point worth making. And Susan Blackmore’s commentary was ‘interesting’, considering the passages I’ve just read in Chris Carter’s Parapsychology and the Skeptics. Perhaps more on that later. Plenty of excellent reading all round though, so get over there and take a look.
