On dialogue and changing minds

From a recent Boston Globe article entitled “How facts backfire”:

[A] few political scientists have begun to discover a human tendency deeply discouraging to anyone with faith in the power of information. It’s this: Facts don’t necessarily have the power to change our minds. In fact, quite the opposite. In a series of studies in 2005 and 2006, researchers at the University of Michigan found that when misinformed people, particularly political partisans, were exposed to corrected facts in news stories, they rarely changed their minds. In fact, they often became even more strongly set in their beliefs. Facts, they found, were not curing misinformation. Like an underpowered antibiotic, facts could actually make misinformation even stronger.

Yikes. If facts do not disabuse people of false beliefs but instead further entrench those beliefs, how can we (SHAFT) successfully promote skepticism and scientific literacy?

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Stop sign ahead

Andrew (of Irresistible Disgrace) has written a great series entitled “Excuses for not blogging.” It got me thinking about my involvement at this blog…

I fear my foray into the ex-Mormon/atheist blogosphere may be coming to a close shortly. Absent a second wind, I just don’t have the stamina to continue past the summer. Preparing posts and participating in their discussions is really time-consuming, and that time will be harder to come by as I start work and develop hobbies like guitar.

On a more personal note, my blogging has been a detriment to several friendships. Some theist friends think I’m too strident, and some atheist friends think I’m too accommodating. I’ve tried to strike the appropriate balance while still being authentic to myself. That balancing act has just proved to be too difficult a chore for me.

I have also been asked why I still write for the blog now that I’ve graduated from USU. The question occurs to me often. Well, the primary reason is that I don’t want to see this blog and this community die. Once other contributors become more active, I’ll gradually withdraw. But if others don’t become more active (and relatively soon), I’ll probably withdraw anyway. This is a USU student blog, and current students (aka not me) should be writing for it.

This is not a goodbye; you haven’t gotten rid of me quite yet ha ha. I just wanted to give everyone a heads-up. I plan on blogging here for at least the next month or two, and on a regular basis. So I hope you will continue to visit.

If you want to dissuade me from leaving (I’m still amenable to suggestion) or if you want write for this blog, please comment to that effect. Thanks.

Feedback, please

With your help, the USU SHAFT blog has enjoyed tremendous success. It was voted “Best New Blog” in the 2009 William Law X-Mormon Awards. And since August 2009, when it was launched, the site has received nearly 30,000 visits and 70,000 pageviews! Not bad. Not bad at all. But there is always room for improvement, so I’m requesting your feedback.

Any feedback—positive or negative—is appreciated, but your responses to the following questions would be especially helpful:

  • What is your favorite SHAFT post? Your least favorite?
  • Would you like to see more authors contribute to the blog?
  • Which topics are discussed too often? Which are not discussed enough?
  • Do you like the layout/appearance of the blog?
  • How is the frequency of new posts?
  • What sites should we include/delete from our blogroll at the right?
  • Do you feel welcome to express your opinions here?
  • Any other suggestions?

Thanks in advance!

SHAFT is up for 2 Brodies!

Last week, I wrote about Main Street Plaza’s ex-Mormon awards. Well, good news: This site was nominated for two “Brodies”!

USU SHAFT is in the running for “Best Humor Piece” (my post entitled “Watching LDS General Conference so you don’t have to” ) and “Best New Blog.” If you follow this blog, please show your support by voting for us here. It’s a great way to bring more traffic to our humble blog.

So vote! Vote! Vote! Thanks.

Calling All Bloggers!

USU SHAFT is looking for guest bloggers! We need you!  8)

Do you know something interesting about science? Do you have something thoughtful to say about religion? Do you want to share your expertise in sociology? Have you found or even conducted an interesting piece of research? Is there something that you’ve been wanting to get people thinking about? We’re looking for anyone interested in writing short, thought-provoking blog posts for the usu-shaft.com site. Interesting content might include thoughts, stories, or personal experiences that deal with the humanities, the natural sciences, or the social sciences. If you are interested in becoming a guest blogger, please leave a comment on this post.

Our Induction into the Atheist Blogosphere!

SHAFT was recently spotlighted by prominent atheist bloggers PZ Myers of Pharyngula and Hemant Mehta of Friendly Atheist! It’s really quite the honor for our fledgling group. The support for our group in these posts’ respective comments was astounding! We also got several laughs and kudos for our name ha ha.

Also, our website has recently been added to ranks of nearly 1,000 other blogs at The Atheist Blogroll. The Atheist Blogroll is a community building service provided free of charge to atheist bloggers worldwide. If you would like to join, visit Mojoey at Deep Thoughts for more information. It’s an easy and effective way to put your website on the radar.

And so it came to pass that USU SHAFT did wax exceedingly powerful among the godless. :twisted:

Introductions

Hey hey everyone! I want to thank everyone visiting from elsewhere (Pharyngula, probably) and checking us out. Stick around; we’re really interesting. Probably.

I thought I’d put up a quick introduction of the SHAFT officers, the people who will be posting on this blog. First off, there’s myself, James Patton. I’m studying computer science and am the group’s finance officer. Which will be an important job once we have some finances.

You’ve already met Jon Adams, a crazily prolific writer and student doubling in sociology and political science. Keep an eye on his “Why I Don’t Believe” series currently in progress, especially if you have any experience with Mormonism. Or–more particularly–if you haven’t. He’s our administrative officer.

Also posting here is the lovely and talented Kimi Anderson, studying english. Watch for her planned blog series “Haunted Utah,” a look at and debunking of supposedly haunted places in Utah (spooky). She also happens to be the group’s public relations officer and my smart and gorgeous girlfriend.

Rounding out the club’s five officers are Caitlin Laughlin and Jake Nelson, who have yet to show, slackers. Caitlin is advertising officer, and studying like, Birdomancy or something. Jake is our activities officer, and I’m pretty sure he’s a student in civic engineering. Show up and say hi, you guys!

I’m looking forward to some good discussions here, and a great godless (I wish :roll: ) school year.

By Way of Introduction…

My name is Jon Adams. I’m a co-founder of Utah State University’s SHAFT (Secular Humanists, Atheists, and Freethinkers). I’m thrilled that SHAFT finally has an operational website! I hope it proves to be an important tool in organizing our group and in promoting secular humanist values.

I’m a blogoholic, but my writing has largely been restricted to Facebook. I’ve been encouraged to transfer some of my notes to a blog in order that they receive a wider audience. So over the next couple days, expect a torrent of posts from me—I’ll be posting those Facebook notes that I think will be relevant and welcome here. If all goes according to plan, my posts will spark discussions and bring some traffic to our humble site.

You will undoubtedly tire of my writing. But no worries—in due time, there will be other contributors. This is NOT my personal blog and it won’t function as such. I just want to get the proverbial ball rollin’.

I hope you’ll continue to grace this site with your readership. SHAFT will regularly update this site with event information and freethought writings, so stay tuned!