Simon Singh is the author of the *incredible* books Big Bang: The Origin of the Universe and Fermat’s Enigma. His remarkable talent is taking complicated math and science topics and making them accessible to everybody. His latest work combines two worlds that have a much closer relationship than you ever knew: It’s called The Simpsons and Their Mathematical Secrets: In the excerpt below, republished with permission from Dr. Singh, we learn how a nugget of dialogue from the show can open the door to a greater understanding of infinity: Read more
An article at The Atlantic by Miles Kimball and Noah Smith argues against the notion that some people are just not “math people” and I couldn’t agree more: … we believe that the idea of “math people” is the most self-destructive idea in America today. The truth is, you probably are a math person, and by thinking otherwise, you are possibly hamstringing your own career. Worse, you may be helping to perpetuate a pernicious myth that is harming underprivileged children — the myth of inborn genetic math ability. … So why do we focus on math? For one thing, math skills are increasingly important for getting good jobs these days — so believing you can’t learn math is especially self-destructive. But we also believe that math is the area where America’s “fallacy of inborn ability” is the most entrenched. Math is the great mental bogeyman of an unconfident America. If we can convince you that anyone can learn math, it should be a short step to convincing you that you can learn just about anything, if you work hard enough. This is precisely what I’ve noticed in nearly a decade of teaching math at the high-school level: The students who say they’re “bad at math” tend to do just fine when they’re given good instruction and practice properly. The students who don’t do well are usually the ones who aren’t trying very hard in the first place. Read more
Wayne Hensler, an atheist in his mid-80s, has decided to leave a “legacy for [his] grandchildren” by putting up a billboard showcasing his thoughts on the afterlife in his hometown of Janesville, Wisconsin. It reads “Enjoy Life Now: There Is No Afterlife”: Read more
We learned earlier this month Pennsylvania Rep. Rick Saccone (R-obviously), who has a history of sponsoring and supporting unnecessary legislation to promote Christianity, planned to propose legislation to put the words “In God We Trust” in every public school — and possibly every classroom — in the state. As Justin Vacula correctly pointed out then, Public schools which ought to be secular — neutral in regards to religion — will be forced to prominently display religious messages if Saccone’s proposal… Read more
The video below, part of The Atheist Voice series, answers the question: What questions do atheists struggle with?: We’d love to hear your thoughts on the project — more videos will be posted soon — and we’d also appreciate your suggestions as to which questions we ought to tackle next! Read more
This is just a reminder that we’re beginning a book club for readers of this site and we’ll begin discussing Candace R. M. Gorham’s The Ebony Exodus Project: Why Some Black Women Are Walking out on Religion — and Others Should Too starting later this week! If you’d like to join us on this endeavor, please register soon! Read more
While the subject of this story has since died, it remains one of the most memorable stories I’ve ever posted. Read more
Earlier this year, the Upstate Atheists from Spartanburg, South Carolina attempted to volunteer at the Spartanburg Soup Kitchen. Unfortunately, its director Lou Landrum denied their offer, saying atheists weren’t welcome there. Landrum took things even further last week when she told the Spartanburg Herald Journal that allowing atheists to help in her kitchen would be a “disservice to this community.” … Landrum, executive director of the Soup Kitchen, told the Herald-Journal she would resign from her job before she let atheists volunteer and be a “disservice to this community.” “This is a ministry to serve God” she said. “We stand on the principles of God. Do they (atheists) think that our guests are so ignorant that they don’t know what an atheist is? Why are they targeting us? They don’t give any money. I wouldn’t want their money.” Despite the setback, the atheists pulled through for the people they were trying to help. On Saturday, they gave away over 300 care packages to the homeless, each package costing about $15 and including things like gloves, toothpaste, hand sanitizer, lip balm, snacks, etc. Landrum had said “They can have the devil there with them, but they better not come across the street.” I don’t see the devil in any of those pictures. Just kind, wonderful, godless people trying to help the people around them. I also don’t see a “No Christians Allowed” sign. And this is just the beginning. Read more
We know there aren’t gathering spaces for atheists on damn near every street (like there are for some religious groups we know…) and a bunch of atheists in Denver, Colorado attempted to amend that situation earlier this year with the opening of the Secular Hub: Read more
A judge in Tennessee is set to receive a well-deserved rap on the knuckles for mixing her religious views with the affairs of the state. Magistrate Lu Ann Ballew undid a couple’s decision to name its baby Messiah, on the grounds that “The word ‘messiah’ is a title, and it’s a title that has only been earned by one person, and that one person is Jesus Christ.” Read more
