Field of Science

Templeton, give me the fucking money

I'd like to make it officially known that I would accept a grant from the Templeton Foundation, should they see fit to offer me one. Just in case they stumble on to my blog:
Dear Templeton, please give me your money. If you would do your job and fund my research, then I promise I shall do mine and continue to do the research that I already have in mind. Additionally, I would be willing to muse about science eroding all things superstitious, should you care to print it.

Yours truly, etc...
I say this because of a discussion going on over on Pharyngula about Michael Shermer accepting money from TF for the Origins conference, which I liveblogged earlier. Many people apparently shudder at the thought of being tainted by the Touch of Templeton©, but I personally don't have any such reservations, even after reading John Horgan's account of his own experiences being one of their fellows. It's a great read, and I highly recommend it.

Shermer states his case in a letter posted on Richard Dawkins' site, in case you'd be interested in knowing what went down.

The mission of the John Templeton Foundation is to serve as a philanthropic catalyst for discovery in areas engaging life’s biggest questions. These questions range from explorations into the laws of nature and the universe to questions on the nature of love, gratitude, forgiveness, and creativity. (source)

P.S. I will award a special prize to the first who can tell me where I took the title from.

No comments:

Post a Comment

Markup Key:
- <b>bold</b> = bold
- <i>italic</i> = italic
- <a href="http://www.fieldofscience.com/">FoS</a> = FoS