Jared Diamond reviews book on evolutionary explanation of religion in which contentious, often oversimplified ideas are treated fairly.… Read the rest
Welcome to our archive of news stories relevant to the project of fighting fashionable nonsense. The stories are drawn from the electronic pages of the world’s media. On this page, you’ll find links to those stories that have been featured on Butterflies and Wheels during the current year. At the bottom of the page, you’ll find links to separate archives of stories from previous years.
We’re always pleased to hear about news stories that you think should be featured on Butterflies and Wheels. Just send an email here, if you want to point one out to us.
A note about links
Inevitably links go out of date. We suggest, therefore, that you make hard-copies of the stories that particularly interest you.
Pinker, Wright and Seligman chat 
Oct 16th, 2002 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Robert Wright invites Steven Pinker and Martin Seligman to talk about happiness, genes and psychology on Slate.… Read the rest
Journalists adore, biologists not so much
Oct 16th, 2002 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Paul Gross considers the reputation of Stephen Jay Gould among colleagues as well as the general public, and finds some discrepancies.… Read the rest
Relies too heavily on rhetoric
Oct 16th, 2002 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
David Barash reviews S. J. Gould’s The Structure of Evolutionary Theory.… Read the rest
Faked research and how it is caught
Oct 15th, 2002 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Though the process worked and the fraud was exposed, scientists wish the process had worked a bit faster.… Read the rest
Audible gasp
Oct 15th, 2002 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Even on the left, even the secular left, criticism of religion is not allowed.… Read the rest
Good idea but over-optimistic
Oct 13th, 2002 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Jeremy Rifkin’s ideas about hydrogen fuel cells may depend too much on starry-eyed hopes for ‘new consciousness’.… Read the rest
He was admired, his ideas were rejected
Oct 12th, 2002 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
John Tooby examines the paradox of Darwin’s celebrity despite widespread skepticism about natural selection.… Read the rest
A Darwinian Left
Oct 11th, 2002 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Study of the psychological effects of inequality attracts thinkers to evolutionary theory, thus beginning to heal the breach between sociobiology and the Left.… Read the rest
Senator Clinton queries theology-based research
Oct 10th, 2002 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Anti-abortion doctor who writes books on “healing power of Jesus” appointed by Bush administration to drug-review panel.… Read the rest
Nobel economists go against the grain
Oct 9th, 2002 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Economists add cognitive psychology, laboratory experiment to the old ‘rational choice’ view.… Read the rest
Venus and Mars revisited
Oct 8th, 2002 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Studies on jealousy agree on evolutionary origin but differ on how it plays out.… Read the rest
Hobbes was right, Rousseau was wrong
Oct 8th, 2002 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Steven Pinker interview explores why sociobiology is so upsetting to both left and right.… Read the rest
It depends on how you frame the question
Oct 7th, 2002 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Another skirmish in the long-running debate over how evolution shapes sexual differences.… Read the rest
Just another theory, yet again
Oct 6th, 2002 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
A Georgia school board, in Postmodern vein, says diversity of opinion is the way to go–at least when it comes to evolution.… Read the rest
Euphemistic evasion or sententious aphorism
Oct 5th, 2002 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Didactic impulses or nationalist piety can shape the work of even the most detached biographer.… Read the rest
Ghastly, shameful, inadvertently hilarious
Oct 4th, 2002 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Marina Warner on the spiral of duplicity between thoughtful men and women and bogus mediums.… Read the rest
Pauline Kael against sleep-inducing lies
Oct 2nd, 2002 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Vulgar Kaelism gets it wrong: she did not think popular movies were automatically art, and she was not a moral relativist.… Read the rest
Self-esteem not a miracle cure after all?
Oct 1st, 2002 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
When scholars actually look at evidence, they find rapists and failing students as pleased with themselves as the next person.… Read the rest
When commitments hit home
Sep 27th, 2002 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Croatian President Stipe Mesic tells his fellow Croatians they must honour all their commitments, not only the painless ones.… Read the rest
