1. The books that inspire me

Comment #157392 by Bowdinium on April 9, 2008 at 3:25 am

Excuse my pedantry but Tin Men is by Michael Frayn, not Frane

2. Interview with Francis Collins

Comment #68847 by Bowdinium on September 8, 2007 at 11:34 pm

Point Of Inquiry is an excellent podcast but it can sometimes be a little infuriating. DJ Grothe is far too careful about offending his guests. There were a number of areas where Francis Collins was particularly weak but got a free pass. As Maynard pointed out, the evolutionary explanation of altruism is far more complex than Collins` caricature. In the small groups humans evolved in, it was a safe bet that a large proportion of these people would be related in some way. Thus, it makes sense to treat them decently.
Also, how on earth does he make the jump from this one point about morality to the belief that there is one specific Christian God as revealed in the Bible? Couldn`t it just as easily been Allah, or Odin or even Xenu who gave us our morality? What a coincidence that Collins happened to embrace the religious tradition which he was born into. Doesn`t sound very scientific to me.