Tribe, David Review(s) of: A Wealth of insights: Humanist Thought since the Enlightenment, by Bill Cooke Amherst, NY: Prometheus Books, 2011; ISBN 9781591027270.

Tribe, David The scientific disputation among Dr Victor Bien, Dr David Blair and myself in AH has, I hope, been of some interest to all readers. It smouldered with a dispute over the reality or unreality of anthropogenic global warming and climate change , with me for unreality in the minority, and flared with my assertion 'that scientific consensuses on all controversial issues are initially always wrong' . I adhere to both positions.

Tribe, David All serious journalists and debaters garnish their opinion pieces with facts and figures seen as 'corroborative detail, intended to give artistic verisimilitude to an otherwise bald and unconvincing narrative' . This apology for a lurid pack of lies in The Mikado has long been compared with statistics. Of course it's unjust. Nevertheless, investigation shows that statistics, widely used to interpret the past and present and forecast the future, to determine or justify public policy, are often unsatisfactory through questionable (...) processing of controversial, inadequate or bogus data. (shrink)

Tribe, David Dvorak, it is said, played to the mad: his resonance found consonance..

Tribe, David I was disappointed, but not surprised, by criticisms of my 'On science, good, bad and ugly' , which may also have prompted the appearance in the same issue of other articles confirming points in mine. While I don't agree with many details, Massimo Pigliucci's 'Science needs philosophy' directs timely attention to 'an over-enthusiastic embrace of science' and a scientism which 'leads to nihilism'.

Tribe, David In my reply to criticisms of my article 'On Death', I observed that 'the origin and nature of consciousness and self-awareness, though clearly related to brain function, are still hotly debated among scientists'. They are increasingly being joined in the fray by philosophers.

Tribe, David In reviewing Bill Cooke's Wealth of Insights (2011) (AH, Autumn 2012), I said that the age-old debate on freewill versus determinism is 'a major issue for neurophysiology, philosophy, jurisprudence and criminology'. I could have added religion, but here the debate takes on a slightly different form of freewill versus predestination (worth considering later) and appears to have divided on peaceful sectarian lines.

Tribe, David Victor Bien's 'Scientific authority: consensually agreed knowledge of nature' (AH, Winter 2012) has stimulated me to reply and dilate on other scientific principles. As a respected PhD in physical chemistry (and an IT authority) he's making a 'contribution to advancing secular ethics'. My credentials are those of a student of physical, biological, psychological and social sciences for over 60 years and author of many pieces on secular ethics, notably Nucleo-ethics: Ethics in Modern Society (1972).

Tribe, David Review of: On the nature being: A personal exploration into the origins of consciousness, by Geoffrey Collins, Geoffrey Collins and Creative Space Independent Publishing Platform, 2012-13. Amazon $US6 online.

Tribe, David When asked, we say we always speak the truth - in courts of law, the whole truth, nothing but the truth..

Tribe, David When asked, we say we always speak the truth - in courts of law, the whole truth, nothing but...