JREF
The James Randi Educational Foundation is a not-for-profit organization founded in 1996. Its aim is to promote critical thinking by reaching out to the public and media with reliable information about paranormal and supernatural ideas so widespread in our society today.
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So Many Flavors of Medical Nonsense
“There is nothing new under the sun but there are lots of old things we don't know.” ― Ambrose Bierce Science and discovery – expanding the limits of our concepts of reality – takes real imagination. Pseudoscience (or the cheap imitation, as Sagan called it), not so much. Perhaps that is why old ideas are recycled over and over again as if they were new with the world of pseudoscience. Alternatively, new ideas are stolen from real science and then twisted into the latest scam. In my previous post … [more]
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JREF Media Roundup, May 18, 2012
Los Angeles Times, May 1, 2012 TLC renews 'Long Island Medium' Last month, respected skeptic group the James Randi Educational Foundation awarded Caputo one of its 2012 Pigasus Awards, "bestowed on the most deserving charlatans, swindlers, psychics, pseudo-scientists, and faith healers" and gave a media Pigasus to TLC for airing her show, which Randi called "utter nonsense." Scientific American, May 14, 2012 How Neuroscientists and Magicians are Conjuring Brain Insights “I’m … [more]
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Skeptic History: Doyle vs. Rhine
One of the most famous early parapsychologists was Joseph Banks Rhine . He didn’t initially set out to study psychic powers. He was trained as a botanist at the University of Chicago. His life would change after he had a fateful encounter with none other than Sir Arthur Conan Doyle . Doyle, who was born May 22, 1859, is best known as the author who created the character of Sherlock Holmes. Later in his life, Doyle became a major advocate of Spiritualism. In 1922 he embarked on a multi-city tour of the Uni … [more]
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TAM 2011 on YouTube
With The Amaz!ng Meeting 2012 just around the corner, now is a great time to look back at some of the remarkable talks delivered by skeptical luminaries at TAM 2011. Just as it is again this July, last year's schedule was packed with fascinating and entertaining speakers from all corners of our community. We've made many of their presentations available for free on our YouTube channel . Below, we've embedded just some of these talks: Michael Shermer on the "believing brain", Eugenie Sc … [more]
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Pseudoscience In Education – Seeking To Solve The Rabbit Out Of A Hat Fallacy
At the Sixth World Skeptics Congress in Berlin this year, I'll be presenting a talk on " Why Can't a Teacher Be More Like a Scientist? – Pseudoscience In Education ". I wish I could take credit for the start of the title: I was initially inspired by a paper written by Mark Carter and Kevin Wheldall, published in the Australasian Journal of Special Education, back in 2008. Although it is now many years after that paper's publication, many of the things it discusses are pertinent to educ … [more]
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This Week In Doubtful News
Here is a rundown of the top stories in pseudoscience, paranormal and anomaly news from the past week courtesy of Doubtful News . The big news this week was an outbreak of whooping cough, or pertussis. Cases have exploded in Washington state . Tragically, a baby dies in Idaho . In Australia,the ad commission required removal of homeopathic claims for pertussis. Meanwhile, anti-vaxxers are injecting misinformation into warnings about a real threat of disease spread with the upcoming Summer Olympics. For more … [more]
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Helping Your Fellow Skeptics at the Grassroots
Just a few weeks ago, I had the pleasure of speaking about grassroots organization at the SkeptiCal conference in Berkeley. While our database of grassroots skeptics' groups shows that it's easier than ever to find like-minded critical thinkers in areas all over the world, there are still plenty of gaps to fill. In the U.S. alone, there are over a dozen states with no such organizations at all. There are plenty of great resources and role models for established groups looking for a way to spread ske … [more]
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Last Week At Science-Based Medicine
Here is a recap of the stories that appeared last week at Science-Based Medicine , a multi-author skeptical blog that separates the science from the woo in medicine. Plausibility bias? You say that as though that were a bad thing! (David Gorski) http://www.sciencebasedmedicine.org/index.php/plausibility_bias/ Homeopaths criticize scientists for rejecting homeopathy because of bias against its implausibility. Good science requires considering plausibility and not wasting time and money on every crazy idea. P … [more]
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The Quack Clinic Checklist
I am asked almost daily about one kind of medical pseudoscience or another. The free market has produced a seemingly endless variation of medical quackery and nonsense for sale. I could never address all of them, because by the time I worked by way through the catalogue of chicanery there would be a fresh crop waiting for me. There are, however, a couple of strategies for dealing with the thousands of claims and products. The first is to lump them into categories – many dubious claims are just variations on … [more]
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Skeptic History: Spam, Spam, Spam
Skeptics often fill a vital role in consumer protection. This is particularly true when pseudoscience and quackery are advertised directly to unsuspecting members of the general public. Today this can occur via unsolicited commercial email, or “spam”. Anything from so-called herbal viagra to astrology readings to worthless diploma-mill degrees are commonly marketed this way. Of course, “spam” messages are well known to anyone with an email address now, but when did they start? Online histories often … [more]
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