The human capacity for self-delusion is boundless, and the effects of belief are overpowering.

But the power of science lies in open publication, which, with the rise of the Internet, is no longer constrained by the price of paper.

We want to be special. We want our place in the cosmos to be central. We want evolution-even godless evolution-to have been directed toward us so that we stand at the pinnacle of nature's ladder of progress. Rewind the tape of life and we want to believe that we (Homo Sapiens) would appear again and again. Would we? Probably not.

Dualists hold that body and soul are separate entities and that the soul will continue beyond the existence of the physical body.

The actual atoms and molecules that make up my brain and body today are not the same ones that I was born with on September 8, 1954, a half-century ago this month.

To be a fully functioning moral agent, one cannot passively accept moral principles handed down by fiat. Moral principles require moral reasoning.

Smart people believe weird things because they are skilled at defending beliefs they arrived at for non-smart reasons.