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FACTS is an acronym standing for Freethought, Atheism, Critical Thinking and Science. It is also a special section of BookTalk.org for any and all members with an interest in reading about and discussing these areas of study. In no way is FACTS the core mission of BookTalk.org, but is merely a special interest section for those interested in freethought, atheism, critical thinking and the sciences.
BookTalk.org will regularly feature FACTS book selections, chosen by a small group of members, made available for discussion to the entire community. As with all official book selections a forum will be created exclusively for the FACTS book selection and the forum will be clearly labeled as a "FACTS Selection."
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FREETHOUGHT
Wikipedia says:
Freethought is a philosophical viewpoint that holds that beliefs should be formed on the basis of science, logic, and reason, and should not be influenced by authority, tradition, or any other dogma. The cognitive application of freethought is known as freethinking, and practitioners of freethought are known as freethinkers.
The Freedom from Religion Foundation says:
Free-think-er n. A person who forms opinions about religion on the basis of reason, independently of tradition, authority, or established belief. Freethinkers include atheists, agnostics and rationalists.
No one can be a freethinker who demands conformity to a bible, creed, or messiah. To the freethinker, revelation and faith are invalid, and orthodoxy is no guarantee of truth.
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ATHEISM
Wikipedia says:
Atheism can be either the rejection of theism, or the assertion that deities do not exist. In the broadest sense, it is the absence of belief in the existence of deities.
About.com says:
The broader, and more common, understanding of atheism among atheists is quite simply "not believing in any gods." No claims or denials are made — an atheist is just a person who does not happen to be a theist. Sometimes this broader understanding is called "weak" or "implicit" atheism. Most good, complete dictionaries readily support this.
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CRITICAL THINKING
Wikipedia says:
Critical thinking is purposeful and reflective judgment about what to believe or what to do in response to observations, experience, verbal or written expressions, or arguments. Critical thinking might involve determining the meaning and significance of what is observed or expressed, or, concerning a given inference or argument, determining whether there is adequate justification to accept the conclusion as true.
About.com says:
Critical thinking is an effort to develop reliable, rational evaluations about what is reasonable for us to believe and disbelieve. Critical thinking makes use of the tools of logic and science because it values skepticism over gullibility or dogmatism, reason over faith, science of pseudoscience, and rationality over wishful thinking. Critical thinking does not guarantee that we will arrive at truth, but it does make it much more likely than any of the alternatives do.
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SCIENCE
Academic Press Dictionary of Science & Technology:
Science is (1) the systematic observation of natural events and conditions in order to discover facts about them and to formulate laws and principles based on these facts. (2) the organized body of knowledge that is derived from such observations and that can be verified or tested by further investigation. (3) any specific branch of this general body of knowledge, such as biology, physics, geology, or astronomy.
Dr. Sheldon Gottlieb in a lecture series at the University of South Alabama:
Science is an intellectual activity carried on by humans that is designed to discover information about the natural world in which humans live and to discover the ways in which this information can be organized into meaningful patterns. A primary aim of science is to collect facts (data). An ultimate purpose of science is to discern the order that exists between and amongst the various facts.
Matt Ridley, 1999
Genome: the autobiography of a species in 23 chapters, p. 271
"The fuel on which science runs is ignorance. Science is like a hungry furnace that must be fed logs from the forests of ignorance that surround us. In the process, the clearing that we call knowledge expands, but the more it expands, the longer its perimeter and the more ignorance comes into view. . . . A true scientist is bored by knowledge; it is the assault on ignorance that motivates him - the mysteries that previous discoveries have revealed. The forest is more interesting than the clearing."
Robert M. Pirsig, Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance
"The real purpose of the scientific method is to make sure Nature hasn't misled you into thinking you know something you don't actually know."
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