atheism

The Great Geek Sexism Debate

Over the past few months, three of the most influential conventions in geekdom — Readercon (for science fiction writers), The Amazing Meeting (for skeptics), and DefCon (for hackers) — have been at the center of very public discussions about sexism and sexual harassment in their communities. After all three conventions in 2012, women spoke out…

io9 Annalee Newitz Sep 8

Religion can improve your self-control — even if you don’t believe in God

Think your beliefs preclude you from being influenced by religious thoughts? Think again. Psychologists at Queen’s University have demonstrated that test subjects who are primed to think subconsciously about religion — including agnostics and atheists — actually perform better at tasks requiring self-control than those who aren’t. Sound bizarre? It gets weirder: test subjects who…

io9 Robbie Gonzalez May 17

Atheists can win your trust by appealing to secular authority

Everybody hates atheists. One recent study found that atheists are trusted about as much as rapists — or maybe even less. Why do people find atheists so untrustworthy? Maybe it’s because they don’t believe there’s an all-seeing judge monitoring their actions. Top image: Pond5/1@henrischmit Now new research has found that when you remind people of…

io9 Charles Choi Apr 27

Analytical thinking really does reduce your belief in God

Does God exist or not? That question may never be answered to everyone’s satisfaction — but the question of why people become religious might be. Scientists found a way to meddle with the level of analytical thought people used, and in turn were able to influence the strength of people’s religious beliefs. Top image: CowGummy…

io9 Charles Choi Apr 26

Atheist scientists often expose their children to religious views for “scientific reasons”

It turns out that atheist parents don’t attempt to raise their children in an “atheist tradition” the way religious parents do with religious traditions. Rice University sociologist Elaine Ecklund surveyed over 2,000 scientists and found that half expressed “no religious identity.” She pulled 275 of these atheists, and found that at least 17% had brought…

io9 Annalee Newitz Dec 5

Anthony Hopkins reveals the secret atheist message he put into The Rite

In the exorcism thriller The Rite, Anthony Hopkins plays an unconventional priest locked in mortal combat with Satan. But Hopkins, an agnostic, was uncomfortable with his character – he told us how he slipped a doubter’s message into the film. The Rite opens this weekend, and earlier this month we joined several journalists to interview…

io9 Alasdair Wilkins Jan 27

The key to presenting religion in science fiction

People who are interested in seeing science fiction handle religion in a non-kludgey way should check out B.J. Keeton’s essay on the subject. Inspired by Eric James Stone’s “alien Mormons” story in the September Analog, Keeton derives some no-nonsense rules. After reading Keeton’s description of Stone’s story as well as the excerpt up at Analog,…

Books & Comics Charlie Jane Anders Aug 3

Atheists’ Latest Gadget: The Hairdryer

What does an atheist do when they’re trying to prove a point and “de-baptize” non-believers? Why, use a hairdryer of course, as Edwin Kagin has done with a “flock” of atheists at this year’s American Atheists Convention in New Jersey. Kagin, no stranger to provocative speeches against religion (pictured), uses his “Reason and Truth” hairdryer…

Tech News Jack Loftus Jul 18

Get Your Terry Gilliam Fix From “Franklyn”

Did The Imaginarium Of Dr. Parnassus not satisfy your Terry Gilliam cravings? Good thing Franklyn is out on DVD, featuring some absurd dystopian world-building that feels like a series of outtakes from Brazil or Time Bandits. We were waiting for Franklyn to come out in theaters, but unfortunately it never arrived. But the good news…

Movies Charlie Jane Anders Jan 12

Is Science Fiction Really A Religion-Free Zone? Two More Points Of View

The debate over religion’s place in science fiction still rages on the Internet, and two new blog posts take very different stances on the matter. Over at Tor.com, Teresa Jusino posts that good science fiction acknowledges the place of religion in our lives, and even accepts that people of faith could have valid opinions about…

io9 Charlie Jane Anders Jan 7

Richard Dawkins Hates The Mentalist and Harry Potter

Atheist activist Richard Dawkins has retired from his post at Oxford, but is hard at work on a children’s book about the “abusive” nature of both religion and fantasy stories like the Harry Potter series. He told the Telegraph this fall that he’s never read Harry Potter, but wants to investigate whether it has a…

io9 Annalee Newitz Dec 15

“Expelled” Conspiracy?

Much has been written in advance of the April 18th release of Expelled. Some might say too much. Even Fox News panned the film, which claims that an Athiest/Darwinist conspiracy has hijacked academia and is kicking out anyone that finds scientific evidence supporting Intelligent Design. The commentary’s been highly predictable, though — a little too…

io9 Michael Reilly Apr 10

The Great Geek Sexism Debate

Religion can improve your self-control — even if you don’t believe in God

Atheists can win your trust by appealing to secular authority

Analytical thinking really does reduce your belief in God

Atheist scientists often expose their children to religious views for “scientific reasons”

Anthony Hopkins reveals the secret atheist message he put into The Rite

The key to presenting religion in science fiction

Atheists’ Latest Gadget: The Hairdryer

Get Your Terry Gilliam Fix From “Franklyn”

Is Science Fiction Really A Religion-Free Zone? Two More Points Of View

Richard Dawkins Hates The Mentalist and Harry Potter

“Expelled” Conspiracy?

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