There are 400 posts on Synapses – browse the archives here, or use the search bar on the right.
Expand All
- May 2013 (3)
- 17: Deciding when to die (0)
- 10: Minds are what brains do (0)
- 03: So what are universities for? (0)
- April 2013 (6)
- 26: Mantashe wants to help you “Know your DA” (0)
- 24: Icasa approves TopTV porn channels (0)
- 19: Hey, teacher, leave them kids alone! (0)
- 12: UCT, race, and the seductive moral outrage machine (2)
- 06: The sound and fury of sanctimony (5)
- 05: On that “most attractive race” thing in the UCT student newspaper (11)
- March 2013 (10)
- 30: Burn the witch! (0)
- 25: The naked truth about porn on television (3)
- 23: Not even Madiba can turn anecdotes into data (0)
- 22: Cansa indulges the quacks (and students indulge the homeopaths) (2)
- 17: Pornography is coming to eat your children! (3)
- 09: Do you know what’s good for you? (5)
- 08: Why a secular society? (3)
- 06: The idea of an afterlife (0)
- 02: Magical intentions and the principle of charity (0)
- 01: University of Cape Town march: #WeSayEnough (1)
- February 2013 (9)
- 23: (Strange arguments for) An African Pope (0)
- 16: Talking about risk-mitigation is not (always) victim-blaming (1)
- 16: Fetish, Mercury Live, 15 February 2013 (0)
- 08: Can frankensalmon triumph over uninformed ad-hoc opinions? (0)
- 08: Tiny dead baby corpses (1)
- 05: Alain de Botton: 10 virtues for atheists (2)
- 04: Liberalism, the Democratic Alliance and identity (2)
- 03: Inconsistency and intolerance (1)
- 01: You can leave your hat on (2)
- January 2013 (9)
- 25: Let them have EPO! (2)
- 24: Maiming, killing and dying for “culture” (1)
- 21: Jansen “ashamed of South Africa”. Or not. (0)
- 19: Blood deferrals – too important to take personally (1)
- 15: Chester Missing and the authority of race (0)
- 14: I get (real) mail (2)
- 12: Doing Reiki in your sleep (0)
- 11: President Zuma: dogging South Africans with stereotypes about culture (2)
- 06: COSAS is hamster number one (1)
- December 2012 (7)
- 27: Peter Higgs on the “fundamentalism” of Richard Dawkins (2)
- 24: Regardless of all else, Christmas is still a holiday (0)
- 20: Labelling Jews with a “mark of shame”? (0)
- 14: A free market in false choices (0)
- 10: IHEU report on social media and discrimination against the non-religious (1)
- 09: Welcome, robot overlords (1)
- 01: Setting aside our differences (2)
- November 2012 (5)
- 25: I benefit(ed) from apartheid (0)
- 16: Brands vs. personal identity on Twitter (3)
- 10: Body Worlds – a collision of materialism with dignity? (2)
- 07: Secular World Podcast (0)
- 05: Do liberals misrepresent Mourdock? (1)
- October 2012 (8)
- 29: Rebecca Watson on Slate (0)
- 26: Should identity politics dictate beliefs? (1)
- 22: Two “strange world” observations (2)
- 21: The privilege of avoiding arguments? (3)
- 19: On liberal bullying (0)
- 15: Drama free? I guess we’ll see. (0)
- 12: Paedophilia is not (yet) child abuse (6)
- 05: Fetish – Little Heart (an album review of sorts) (0)
- September 2012 (6)
- 29: More on dealing with trolls (4)
- 24: On dealing with trolls (6)
- 15: Democracy doesn’t magic us into equality (1)
- 13: More on civil discourse and Jen McCreight (10)
- 08: Attention, white people in South Africa! (24)
- 01: SAA and justified racial discrimination (5)
- August 2012 (9)
- 25: South Africa: Why do you make me hate you? (0)
- 22: Errol Naidoo, allegedly a Christian, on Marikana (23)
- 21: Atheism + some mission-creep and potential confusion (16)
- 19: (Reposted) South African religiosity in decline? Not likely. (0)
- 17: (Reposted): Being Right Doesn’t Guarantee That You’re Not Wrong (4)
- 12: Voracious and mostly dumb: Lehrer, Daly and the Internet audience (1)
- 08: An unstoppable tide of trolls (14)
- 03: When fried chickens become homophobic (3)
- 02: The 2012 TB Davie lecture: Introductory remarks (2)
- July 2012 (5)
- June 2012 (5)
- May 2012 (10)
- 28: Did the #Zumaspear bullies win? (0)
- 26: Zuma’s Spear and egalitarian anti-racism (1)
- 23: Zuma’s Spear and the distractions of “culture” (9)
- 19: Idiotic opinions on Zuma’s penis (4)
- 19: Freedom of (hate) speech (2)
- 16: Errol Naidoo: remove religion as example of unfair discrimination from the Constitution (2)
- 15: Installing Cyanogenmod on your Samsung Galaxy S2 (31)
- 14: While you’re at it, take Holomisa to the HRC (2)
- 11: Racist models: apparently worse than homophobes in the legislature. (2)
- 03: The ethics of eating meat (4)
- April 2012 (6)
- 26: Thinking fast and slow (2)
- 18: Brief thoughts on the Global Atheist Convention (#atheistcon) (6)
- 13: “New atheists”, stridency and fundamentalism (0)
- 07: President Zuma on religion and “humanity” (0)
- 06: What’s the harm? Well, homeopathy could (indirectly) kill you. (6)
- 05: Installing Ice Cream Sandwich on your Samsung Galaxy S2 (103)
- March 2012 (8)
- 31: Tim Noakes on carbohydrates (4)
- 29: Halaal cross buns and Christian hypersensitivity (0)
- 24: Analysts, opinionistas and their (occasional) irrelevance (1)
- 21: Jackson Mthembu and the Twittering revolutionaries (6)
- 17: Icasa’s poor reasons for TopTV decision (1)
- 16: Char Margolis back to astound SA audiences (apparently) (2)
- 09: Giubilini and Minerva on abortion and infanticide (0)
- 02: Being wrong (the value of agnosticism) (7)
- February 2012 (6)
- 24: Some questions from a believer (1)
- 23: Slavemaster Dawkins and declining religious belief (9)
- 17: Freedom’s just another word for “not allowed to choose” (1)
- 11: The South African Charter on Religious Rights and Freedoms (1)
- 07: And Rasool (allegedly) bribing journalists is okay (0)
- 04: #TwitterBlackout (0)
- January 2012 (7)
- 31: A ‘temple to atheism’ (0)
- 26: The privilege in not finding things offensive (2)
- 24: So now non-racialism is racist too (10)
- 20: Alain de Botton’s Atheism 2.0 (7)
- 20: The ‘Protect Life Act’ and Republican conservatism (1)
- 14: Ritual sacrifice and the ANC centenary (0)
- 10: Brief thoughts on Jack Bloom (3)
- December 2011 (7)
- 31: Reasons for optimism in 2012 (0)
- 27: #Jugcam – private, public and the paparazzification of the everyday (1)
- 17: What happened to Plan A, Obama? (2)
- 16: Christopher Hitchens, 1949 – 2011 (4)
- 14: TopTV plans to “release a flood of filth into our communities” (2)
- 10: Sometimes we’re just like the rest of us (1)
- 02: Premier Zille is nudging people to Get Tested (0)
- November 2011 (6)
- 26: Lotter trial: Satan (or maybe God) made me do it (0)
- 18: Helen Zille on HIV (5)
- 18: Tori Amos at GrandWest Arena (0)
- 11: More on Foschini’s sexist T-shirts (1)
- 06: Sensationalism, morality and the media (2)
- 03: Feminism, sexism and Foschini T-Shirts (3)
- October 2011 (6)
- 29: You’re only 1% if you don’t Tweet (0)
- 25: William Creasey and media responsibility, redux (6)
- 23: #Occupy doesn’t travel well (0)
- 17: William Creasey: Sex-offenders and media responsibility (7)
- 16: Keeping Steve Jobs in perspective (0)
- 11: Does it matter if you’re black or white? #CensusSA2011 (0)
- September 2011 (6)
- 30: Woo-woo fest comes to Wits (0)
- 23: Gendered epithets: Short-term battles vs. long-term wars (3)
- 20: John Gray’s accommodationist waffle (6)
- 16: Opinions on opinions on opinions (1)
- 10: The JSC hearings on Mogoeng Mogoeng (2)
- 02: Redistribution of wealth (1)
- August 2011 (5)
- July 2011 (5)
- 28: John Edward is coming to eat your brain (2)
- 26: Breivik, terror and Islamophobia (38)
- 21: Racial nationalism and white guilt (3)
- 14: Elevatorgate and the power of words (7)
- 07: What is the point of feminism? (3)
- June 2011 (6)
- 25: On Grayling’s New College of the Humanities (0)
- 17: Tuning out (and in) (0)
- 17: Remedial teaching at universities (2)
- 09: Elitism and the university (2)
- 05: Cilla Webster takes issue (1)
- 02: Carry on (mocking) Camping (1)
- May 2011 (5)
- 19: On respect, and whether Errol Naidoo is a fool (5)
- 17: Racist Cape Town (redux) (4)
- 11: Train your Muslamic rayguns on the alien overlords (0)
- 05: The Erasmus judgement on Makhaza (3)
- 02: Racist Cape Town? (16)
- April 2011 (5)
- March 2011 (8)
- 31: Why we should reject the Bill of Responsibilities (2)
- 29: LeadSA responds (sort of) to Bill of Responsibilities criticism (7)
- 24: So what if prejudice is ‘natural’? (2)
- 23: The Bill of Responsibilities for the youth of South Africa (19)
- 18: The limits of our language (6)
- 17: Someone’s serious business, my frivolity (3)
- 10: Patrick Holford’s feel-good quackery (3)
- 03: Kuli Roberts, and the right to (offensive) free speech (3)
- February 2011 (6)
- 24: U2, provincialism and our reluctance to criticise (1)
- 19: U2 360° Tour, Cape Town (12)
- 17: Freedom of the press doesn’t entail facilitating bias (1)
- 15: Patrick Holford supports Malema! (2)
- 10: Kunene can eat his sushi as he likes (4)
- 03: Static on the radio (2)
- January 2011 (8)
- 27: PowerBalance and the war on woo (3)
- 25: Logical sledgehammers can miss their targets (1)
- 24: Martin Amis on religion (1)
- 18: Freedom and dignity, in life and in death (5)
- 17: T4ProBalance – if you want headaches, burns and allergies (1)
- 13: The politics of identity (6)
- 07: Guns, booze, rednecks and traffic cops don’t mix (well) (16)
- 03: Updated African science and skepticism blogroll (1)
- December 2010 (6)
- November 2010 (6)
- 25: Religious education in South African schools (8)
- 18: A science of morality #2 (9)
- 15: Crazies gang up against god (0)
- 13: Mngxitama on Gareth Cliff (0)
- 11: A science of morality #1 (0)
- 03: Moral absolutism: deontology and religious morality (2)
- October 2010 (8)
- 28: Pastor Michael’s apology (2)
- 27: Moral debate and the problem of relativism (3)
- 20: Woolworths offends the Christians (6)
- 20: The possibility of moral debate (3)
- 14: Burning the closet (0)
- 11: Sad/strange scenes at Council for Secular Humanism conference (2)
- 09: Devils in the City of Angels (0)
- 07: Offensive comments on the interwebs (4)
- September 2010 (9)
- 30: Sincerity is (probably) bullshit (0)
- 27: Media freedom is not a black-and-white issue (0)
- 22: It’s often not the product that’s defective – it’s us (0)
- 15: Don’t even burn the silly books (0)
- 09: More on Hawking and the (latest) death of god (0)
- 03: Hawking: science doesn’t need god (1)
- 02: What would it take to prove you wrong? (5)
- 01: Shock and horror as it’s revealed that students have premarital sex (7)
- 01: SA Blog Awards 2010 (4)
- August 2010 (6)
- July 2010 (6)
- 28: To ask for evidence is not (necessarily) scientism (0)
- 21: On Hitchens and the defense of reason (8)
- 14: Mandela’s autopsy (1)
- 13: Pastor Michael returns (1)
- 11: Emancipate yourself from mental snobbery (4)
- 05: The hand of god, revisited. (4)
- June 2010 (7)
- 30: Africa is not a country: football and nationhood (1)
- 28: Mandela’s Robben Island getaway (and other weirdness) (0)
- 23: Is Google making us stupid? (0)
- 16: The vuvuzela discriminates against smokers (3)
- 12: The vuvuzela is cooking my gees (3)
- 09: 2010 FIFA World Cup guide, part 1 (0)
- 02: The Internet and cell phone pornography bill (2)
- May 2010 (6)
- April 2010 (8)
- 29: Insecurity, and the certainty it spawns (3)
- 25: The honest Swazi nation (0)
- 21: The future of South African tertiary education? (3)
- 14: Playing the authenticity card (0)
- 12: Touch me on my studio (2)
- 08: The dangers of tolerance (8)
- 07: Suffer the little children (1)
- 06: The boer is dead (#uniteZA) (4)
- March 2010 (9)
- 31: ‘Twas Easter and the slithey toves did gyre and gimble on the roads (0)
- 25: Julius Malema is The Man (2)
- 24: Bloggers for a free press (#SpeakZA) (1)
- 22: Blogs for free press (0)
- 17: Orthorexia, Pollan and fear of food (2)
- 12: Utter awesomeness from Rev. Peasboro (7)
- 09: Freedom of (Multi)choice (1)
- 04: On JZ’s call for a national dialogue on “our moral code” (2)
- 03: Addicted to victimhood (6)
- February 2010 (7)
- 25: Taryn Hodgson’s pornography problem (24)
- 23: More on Maxwele and freedom of speech (0)
- 18: Giving Jacob Zuma the finger (10)
- 12: Good without god (1)
- 10: African Christian Action apologises for debate debacle (3)
- 09: Forgive him if you like, but Jacob Zuma should resign (3)
- 04: Sax Appeal 2010: on causing offense (7)
- January 2010 (4)
- 30: Cape Times and Argus – holocaust denialists? (2)
- 22: Help is at hand (0)
- 16: Killing gays may not be helpful (6)
- 09: Skeptical of the skeptics (5)
- December 2009 (4)
- 29: Eastwood does Oprah (2)
- 20: An atheist Christmas (0)
- 14: Beware the evangelicals (5)
- 02: Travels in the hyperreal (3)
- November 2009 (3)
- 16: The Frontline Fellowship wants your kids (1)
- 07: Carnival of the Africans #12 (0)
- 03: Passing the buck (3)
- October 2009 (4)
- 27: Which religion should you follow? (3)
- 21: Blasphemy day (10)
- 17: You deserve what you get (0)
- 07: Faith kills another child (4)
- September 2009 (6)
- 29: Stupidity kills (0)
- 26: Religion education in SA schools (9)
- 20: Moral agency (12)
- 14: Goblins and gobbledegook (1)
- 11: Moral clarity and the threat of the NILC (1)
- 06: Irate offenders (or, inversions of the natural order) (3)
- August 2009 (2)
- July 2009 (2)
- June 2009 (2)
- May 2009 (4)
- 26: A flight too many (0)
- 21: Geisha wok and noodle bar, Greenpoint (1)
- 11: Frontline Fellowship: Lying for Jesus (12)
- 05: Varsity – reporting on the blasphemy debate (0)
- April 2009 (7)
- 30: A stinging rebuttal (2)
- 29: “Open motivational letter” from Michael (Pastor) (6)
- 29: The blasphemy debate debacle (14)
- 22: Blasphemy debate (update) (1)
- 21: SA Elections: The DA’s “Stop Zuma” campaign (3)
- 21: Blasphemy debate (3)
- 12: Easter media: theology takes aim at reason (5)
- March 2009 (9)
- 30: Dennett in South Africa (1)
- 21: Supernaturalism and threats to reason (1)
- 15: Carte Blanche, 15 March (0)
- 14: Another victory for the hypersensitive? (2)
- 14: UCT Sax Appeal: a satirical response (0)
- 08: Carte Blanche loses its nerve? (8)
- 05: Errol Naidoo: High priest of hysteria (10)
- 04: Student response to Sax Appeal blasphemy (16)
- 01: UCT and Sax Appeal: the Vice-Chancellor’s response (2)
- February 2009 (3)
- December 2008 (1)
- October 2008 (1)
- 22: Confirmation bias (0)
- June 2008 (2)
- 27: Further work on food? (1)
- 27: Is belief in god rational? (12)
- May 2008 (1)
- March 2008 (1)
- 29: Preliminary thoughts (0)
- February 2008 (1)
- 02: Am I an idiot? (0)
- January 2008 (1)
- 18: Put a contract out on yourself (0)
- December 2007 (1)
- 10: a better future… (0)
- October 2007 (2)
- 05: Linkage (0)
- 05: How to live (I) (0)
- September 2007 (2)
- 06: 3 signs of the end-times (0)
- 05: A fresh perspective on gender (0)
- August 2007 (2)
- July 2007 (4)
- 27: Customer care (0)
- 23: Human happiness (1)
- 14: Strange products (0)
- 02: Sophistry (1)
- June 2007 (1)
- 11: Teaching students about god (1)
- April 2007 (4)
- 27: Happiness (0)
- 19: Sobering up (0)
- 12: Vonnegut, RIP (0)
- 12: Continuing to live (0)
- March 2007 (11)
- 30: Subterranean homesick blues (0)
- 19: Friends (0)
- 13: Bright lines (0)
- 09: Paperback Bible (0)
- 07: His people are strange (1)
- 05: How much is enough? (0)
- 04: Quinn thinks about destiny (1)
- 04: Whisky as ritual (0)
- 03: Stepping Backward (0)
- 01: A small elegy (0)
- 01: Aubade (again) (0)
- February 2007 (7)
- 27: Ask the liars and the tempted (0)
- 26: A Breakfast for Barbarians (0)
- 22: We’ve got the river, down which we were sold (0)
- 22: For those who still want a soul (1)
- 18: Poetry Of Departures (0)
- 03: How strange (0)
- 03: Prince plays the Superbowl (0)
- January 2007 (5)
- 31: White spaces (0)
- 26: Aubade (0)
- 24: Consciousness (0)
- 21: Aphorism #1 (0)
- 18: Nights in the iron hotel (0)
- October 2006 (1)
- 10: A philosophical joke (0)
- September 2006 (2)
- 27: Student elections (3)
- 08: Apologists: lessons in how not to read (3)
- August 2006 (1)
- 03: Drones in denial (0)
- June 2006 (1)
- 07: Slacking, work, World Cup… (0)
- May 2006 (4)
- 26: Dumbing down (0)
- 16: Someone please save us from god (7)
- 10: Playing the game (1)
- 08: Darling Nikki (0)
- April 2006 (5)
- 24: The evils of “Democracy” (0)
- 18: Agnostics (0)
- 11: Apathy #2 (0)
- 07: Jesus update (1)
- 02: Private intellectuals, public morons (0)
- March 2006 (6)
- 27: The End of Faith (0)
- 22: Apathy (2)
- 15: Examples: emails from students (1)
- 15: Emails from students (1)
- 11: Whisky as ritual (0)
- 06: Classroom politics (0)
- February 2006 (8)
- 28: Local elections (1)
- 27: Plagiarism #3 (25)
- 22: The darkening… (0)
- 19: Plagiarism #2 (12)
- 13: The University, Inc. (0)
- 10: The Mohammed cartoons (0)
- 04: Coherentism (0)
- 03: Plagiarism (0)
- January 2006 (4)
- 27: Most of them, and I, survive (0)
- 27: Again with the marking (0)
- 25: A friend in need (0)
- 25: Report on Resistentialism (7)
- December 2005 (1)
- 03: We return, mostly unscathed (0)

