Thoughtful Geeks

Episode 8: Intelligent Design "Expelled?"

2008-06-22T23:11:00Z

After a long break, the Thoughtful Geeks are back with a new episode! This time we review the recent controversial documentary by Ben Stein called "Expelled," which argued for the case of intelligent design (a.k.a. "ID") in the academic square, albeit in quite a provocative manner. What the film may have missed was actually defending and properly identifying what ID actually is, and what it isn't. We attempt to do that in this episode, reviewing its foundational arguments and counter-arguments. For example, we postulate whether there could be alternate universes with a separate set of physical constants that can sustain life... Why would that be important? We look into writings by Michael Behe and William Dembski, among others to provide context to this debate.

We hope to add a follow-up episode to this one to address more of the philosophical arguments here, and also address the issue of academic freedom (which is a hot issue given ID and, more prominently, the debate on global warming).

We'd love your comments and suggestions, as well as recommendations for future topics.

Episode 7: Listener Mailbag

2008-04-19T22:54:00Z

This episode we dig into our mailbag and address a hodgepodge of suggested topics and issues.

(1) Do GPS devices 'make people dumber?' More generally, does technology in general cause the 'dumbing down' of people?

(2) The ethics of DDoS-ing (Distributed Denial of Service attacking) the website of a group you don't like. How does the ideas of 'justice' and 'the greater good' play into this debate?

(3) Texting while driving: is this a case of not trusting human judgment and therefore having to legislate human behavior?

(4) In a related matter, we also address recent news that the federal government is looking to require DNA samples of all suspects in federal cases, irrespective of innocence. How do you balance the competing goods of government protection versus the human liberty or privacy?

(5) Next, we try to define what a geek is and if that label is applicable to a philosopher.

(6) We end the show talking about recent tech we are playing with. We comment on the design flaw with Windows Home Server, which is a concern for Jay's quest to custom-build a WHS machine. Bill comments on how he loves his new Macbook with VMWare...

Please send us your suggestions!!! Jay is going on vacation next week to the sunny Caribbean, so Thoughtful Geeks will also be on a short break. Episode 8 will come sometime mid-May.

Episode 6: Do Human Clones Have Souls?

2008-04-17T11:09:00Z

This week we address a requested topic from our listener mailbag; we attempt to answer the question of whether human clones (that is, human beings duplicated buy artificial means) have souls. The discussion is heavy on the philosophical language at times, but we try to offer some real world illustrations and analogies and define some of the important terms. Not only is this our most "technical" episode, but also our longest, and we barely scratched the surface!

If you would like more information about some of the terminology or concepts mentioned in this week's episode, please send your questions in the comments link below.

Episode 5: Raising Geeky Kids

2008-03-19T06:15:00Z

This week we talk about raising kids in this modern, digital age, and some ideas about how to lead them to be interested in science and technology. We reflect a bit on our own childhoods (Legos and video games) and our new guest, Greg, a dad of two and fellow thoughtful geek, offers his insights and experiences to our discussion.

Below are some of the issues we tried to address. One hour is barely enough time to cover this, and we hope to lend more time on this topic in the future, perhaps as a follow-on to this week's episode.

(1) Children today grow up with more technology around them than ever before. For example, by the time today's preschoolers are in high school, it's likely that cell phones will be powerful handheld computers. Does this mean that children today are more oriented towards engineering and science (as subjects of interest or as careers), or will these children simply be end-users and consumers of these technologies? Why has enrollment in computer science programs decreased so much over the last decade or so, and will it rebound?

Here's a Link to a Washington Post Article about Bill Gates addressing Congress about the lack of skilled tech workers (because of the Visa program and fewer students coming out of college in science fields.

(2) There's a TED talk about dangerous things children should be allowed to do (e.g. play with fire, own a knife, take things apart). There are also popular books about dangerous activities for children. Have we made things too safe for children? For example, kids' chemistry sets no longer contain any dangerous chemicals, but those chemicals made many interesting and educational reactions possible. What will happen when kids who have never had to face danger or harm (whether from bullies, running on the playground, or whatever) grow up? Are we making indecisive and weak kids? (If so, what can we do about it?) Some links:

The book: "The Dangerous Book For Boys"

Gever Tulley's talk at the recent TED conference about '5 dangerous things you should let your kids do'

Photos from Tulley's "Tinkering School" Program

Wired's 'Geek Dad' blog

Instructables, a website for 'show and tell' for DIY projects

Playing with Boxes

Lego Mindstorms

The endangered chemistry set

(3) Our culture is sensual, sensational, secular, relativistic, and popular. We're more oriented to sound bites and entertainment than to deep and meaningful discussion. What are some practical steps parents can take to moving their children towards a life of meaning, virtue, and flourishing, intellectual and otherwise? How are churches helping and hindering this? What about the educational system?

Enjoy listening to our podcast! Feel free to chime in with your comments and suggestions, or even provide links to some good links related to our topic.

Episode 4: Reproductive Ethics

2008-03-04T05:05:00Z

This week we discuss how we would counsel an infertile Christian couple. We cover biblical and theological concerns, consider the moral value of embryonic human life, and then consider applications to various technologies.

We originally recorded this with Steve Wagner, bioethics speaker from Stand to Reason. Unfortunately, that recording was lost due to technical glitches. If you are interested in more bioethics material, especially concerning abortion, we recommend that you look at the STR website.

No Episode This Week

2008-02-04T05:06:00Z

There will be no episode this week. A few of us were unable to gather for discussion this week, and further, we hoped to spend extra time preparing for our next discussion.

Our Thoughtful Geeks crew will be back in action within the next week or two, when we'll discuss an area that is of particular interest to us: bioethics. Specifically, we will look at some common ethical, philosophical and theological arguments in the context of counseling infertile couples and modern reproductive technologies. (Bill studied genetics and computer science before his philo degree.)

We are open to your thoughts on this subject as we prepare for this in the coming days. Until then, have a great week!

-the Thoughtful Geeks

Episode 3: The Future of Books and Reading

2008-01-28T01:11:00Z

For this week's discussion, we look at the "future of books and reading." We look at the swath of 1st-generation e-ink readers, such as the Sony Reader and Amazon Kindle, and assess it's impact on the reading experience and industry (and vice-versa). What will be of libraries? What about small-volume publications, especially in the niche academic circles? Will these emerging technologies push independent/open-source distribution, or will DRM stifle it? We address these overarching issues and more.

Here are links to articles we discussed this week.

First, the Steve Jobs comment that few people read anymore...

Here are some links to techie blogs on various e-readers:

The Readius shown at BoingBoing.

The Harlin e-Reader at Gizmodo.

The iRiver e-reader at Engadget.

Some online distributors of published material employing a subscription model:

Blackwell Reference Online

O'Reilly's Safari service

An example of Lulu's online publish-on-demand service

We also discussed the Freakonomics blog mentioning the future of libraries.

We are certainly open to your thoughts on the matter. Do you go to libraries anymore? Are you open to subscription-based models for books, rather than the buying model currently employed by big box retailers and web retailers today? Would you read more if you had a convenient, affordable device with a Kindle-like screen? How you and the mass public answer these question may tell the future success of these devices and the future of reading at large... Will there be an impact on books like the iPod changed music?

Thoughtful Geeks Podcast: Episode 2

2008-01-21T00:25:00Z

Our second episode!

We decided to change our format a little for this and future episodes: we will be discussing just one topic per episode to allocate more time for an in-depth discussion, and keep the podcasts under 45 minutes (or goal is just 30 minutes hopefully). Being our name is "Thoughtful Geeks," we feel it will be a better fit to be more, well, thoughtful!

This week we discuss a recent article that has stirred a bit of controversy in Christian academia, by Dr. J. P. Moreland, Distinguished Professor of Philosophy at the Talbot School of Theology, titled "How Evangelicals Became Over-Committed to the Bible and What Can Be Done About It." We provide a brief overview of the article and then highlight some recent responses from academia, other apologists and Christianity Today, and also share our personal thoughts on the entire discourse.

Here is a link to Moreland's profile at Talbot's website

The article is posted online through Dr. Moreland's Kingdom Triangle Blog.

Here are links to a large number of responses to the article, many of which we discussed in the podcast. Take note of the variety of responses, both in support and rebuttal:

Large number of responses at Christianity Today's blog site.

A Response From Frank Pastore

Response from the A-Team blog

Response from CT Editor-in-Chief David Neff

One response on Hughbiquitous

Another response on Hughbiquitous

Response to the responses from John Mark Reynolds

Response to responses at Stand To Reason's blog

More responses here at Kingdom Triangle

Moreland's own response to all the discussion out there...

Feel free to volunteer your thoughts on the matter and suggest future topics to us. Thanks for listening!

Episode 1: Crappy Tech Year and Cloned Food

2008-01-14T04:16:00Z

Episode 1: 2007 Year in Tech; FDA approving cloned food

2008-01-12T20:36:00Z

We just recorded our first episode. It was a bit flat, but a good start. We're still figuring out how to do an interesting panel discussion.

We're not yet listing our shows in the iTunes Music Store. If you want to subscribe using iTunes, go to the Advanced menu, click on "Subscribe to Podcasts," and enter our feed URL:
http://feeds.feedburner.com/thoughtfulgeeks/podcast

Topics:
First, we discussed John Dvorak's 2007: The Miserable Year in Review.
Second, we talked about the FDA's expected decision to allow cloned animals into the food supply.
Here are some related links:
Is animal cloning ethical?
FDA set to rule on cloning-for-food
Clone-Generated Milk, Meat May Be Approved
Opinions split as FDA closes cloning comment period
The ethics debate over animal cloning
Religion a Prominent Cloned-Food Issue
Animal Cloning Links
FDA declares cloning safe

Episode 0: Introduction

2008-01-12T18:07:00Z