Ramblings of an Armchair Skeptic

The Cult of Reason

2010-10-28T14:00:00.003-06:00

I don't know if this is a problem with many skeptics but I know of three (including myself) who have been accused by loved ones of being associated with a cult. It seems that this cult has slowly been integrated into my life with such a subtlety that I had barely noticed my transformation from a normal, functioning human being to a crazy zealot. So it got me to thinking, have I been brainwashed without my knowledge? Has a fundamental change come over me? Do I treat people somehow badly or differently if I deem them unskeptical? Maybe the JREF is a cult with Randi as our revered leader and I need some major deprogramming. So I thought I'd look it up and see what similarities the skeptical movement and the JREF in particular have to cults. So here is a checklist I found on the interwebs which describes the characteristics of cults. I will examine each one and determine if similarities exist. This way I can assure my family and friends that there is no need to hire people to jump out a black van and throw a bag over my head.

1. The group displays excessively zealous and unquestioning commitment to its leader and (whether he is alive or dead) regards his belief system, ideology, and practices as the Truth, as law.

I wouldn't even say there is a "leader" of the skeptical movement. Sure James Randi founded a non-profit educational foundation that bears his name and he his one of the best out there but that by no means makes him a leader. And even there are people who view him as such, there certainly is no unquestioning commitment. Not too long ago James Randi wrote an article about global warming that was criticized by skeptics everywhere. Skeptics will call other skeptics out, even if they have some celebrity status, just take a look at the JREF forum to see skeptics bicker amongst themselves all the time.

2. Questioning, doubt, and dissent are discouraged or even punished.

On the contrary. Questioning and doubt are encouraged. The entire point of skepticism is to question and doubt claims that seem outrageous.

3. Mind-altering practices (such as meditation, chanting, speaking in tongues, denunciation sessions, and debilitating work routines) are used in excess and serve to suppress doubts about the group and its leader(s).

Aside from some folks losing sleep over self induced late night drinking sessions at TAM, I can say with absolute certainty that this is most definitely something not being put into practice.

4. The leadership dictates, sometimes in great detail, how members should think, act, and feel (for example, members must get permission to date, change jobs, marry—or leaders prescribe what types of clothes to wear, where to live, whether or not to have children, how to discipline children, and so forth).

Once again, the lack of "leadership" really negates this entire point and skeptics are free to lead their personal lives however they wish. Some even date or marry (gasp!) non-skeptics.

5. The group is elitist, claiming a special, exalted status for itself, its leader(s) and members (for example, the leader is considered the Messiah, a special being, an avatar—or the group and/or the leader is on a special mission to save humanity).

Well I guess we are on a mission to help people. We try to educate and teach folks critical thinking skills so they aren't taken advantage of due to their credulity by ummmm....cults for example.

Skeptics don't claim any elitism or exalted status. I don't even get any tax breaks dammit!

6. The group has a polarized us-versus-them mentality, which may cause conflict with the wider society.

I suppose I'll agree with this one marginally. Skeptics seem to be the minority (although the tide may appearing to be turning) and when we voice our oppositions to such things as creationism, homeopathy and anti-vaxxers, it definitely causes conflict with the much larger group of believers. Although I disagree with it as well since oppositions are voiced not in order to create conflict and shove our views down throats but to get law makers to see reason and affect change for the greater good. For example when governments were using dowsing rods to detect bombs, skeptics spoke up as to the ineffectual nature of these modern day magic wands and many lives were saved.

7. The leader is not accountable to any authorities (unlike, for example, teachers, military commanders or ministers, priests, monks, and rabbis of mainstream religious denominations).

Again, since there is no "leader" we can rule this out but if you still insist on calling Randi a leader type then this also rings untrue. Not only is Randi accountable to fellow skeptics but if he were to break the law, he would be arrested and dealt with like anybody else.

8. The group teaches or implies that its supposedly exalted ends justify whatever means it deems necessary. This may result in members' participating in behaviors or activities they would have considered reprehensible or unethical before joining the group (for example, lying to family or friends, or collecting money for bogus charities).

Not once have I heard of any skeptic doing any of these things to "justify the means". We are encouraged to do such awful things as write letters to our elected officials and credulous publications. I know, reprehensible.

9. The leadership induces feelings of shame and/or guilt in order to influence and/or control members. Often, this is done through peer pressure and subtle forms of persuasion.

Perhaps other skeptics are using persuasion on me. Although I wouldn't know about it since it is so subtle. Not feeling any shame or guilt about being a skeptic though.

10. Subservience to the leader or group requires members to cut ties with family and friends, and radically alter the personal goals and activities they had before joining the group.

No fellow skeptic has ever dictated who my friends should be or told me to cut ties with family members. I suppose I do have some new personal goals relating to skepticism but since I've never had any major goals before, I say they haven't been radically altered. I can't speak for other skeptics who have perhaps gotten involved with a local skeptic group and found themselves making time in their lives for skeptical related goals and activities but is that any different from anyone else who has found a new interest and made time for it?

11. The group is preoccupied with bringing in new members.

If by that they mean trying to impart critical thinking skills onto the masses, then guilty.

12. The group is preoccupied with making money.

Trust me, there is NO money to be made in skepticism. Sadly.

13. Members are expected to devote inordinate amounts of time to the group and group-related activities.

Every skeptic can spend as much or as little time as they wish on skeptical related group activities. But the pub nights do seem to be popular.

‪14. Members are encouraged or required to live and/or socialize only with other group members.

Not even true a little bit.

15. The most loyal members (the “true believers”) feel there can be no life outside the context of the group. They believe there is no other way to be, and often fear reprisals to themselves or others if they leave (or even consider leaving) the group.

You can stop being a skeptic anytime you want and although you may be chided and asked what sort of evidence caused your strange departure, no one is going to flog you with a wet noodle.

So after that exhaustive list I think I can safely say that I am not a member of a zany cult. At any rate, skepticism isn't a "belief" or a "doctrine", it's merely a process. A way of looking at the world through a bullshit filter. Skeptics simply look at wild claims, analyze the evidence for these claims and then accept or reject said claim based on the evidence available at that time. Unlike members of a religion or cult, skeptics will change their worldview if new, reliable evidence is presented. I like to hang out with other skeptics because they share my views, not because they are fellow members of the cult of reason.

Now if you'll excuse me, I have a gathering to attend. I can't tell you the details or I would have to kill you but I hear that there may be some virgin chickens and sacrificing involved.

World of Woomen

2010-10-18T12:33:00.007-06:00

No. The title is not a typo. I recently visited an annual trade show here in Red Deer which is called World of Women. But as I walked around I noticed that tucked in between the booths hawking cookware, make-up and spices were many purveyors of woo and I believe my new moniker may be a more apt description. As a female, I was distressed that these scams were so blatantly directed mostly towards women. I have a sneaking suspicion that had the show been entitled "World of Men", there would have been much less woo. Or at least the woo would not be so overtly geared to just women. Why are women the targets? Is my gender just more gullible? All of the woo products were somehow related to health and wellness. I think it's because women tend to take on the role of caregiver more than men. They are the ones usually in charge of making sure their families are happy and healthy. This draws them to anything and everything that holds a promise of curing or preventing ills. And I can see the appeal. I played the part of the curious and credulous consumer to find out what the snake oils could do for me and I can understand why the women not familiar with critical thinking would fall for a lot of what was offered.

So a nice man took a picture of my eyeball. He then examined the picture and compared it with an eyeball chart which was labeled with body parts which corresponded to certain parts of my eye. This is of course known as Iridology and their notion that areas of your eyeball have any correlation to various parts of your body has absolutely no scientific basis. So according to my eyeball I have neck pain, stress, liver, pancreas and thyroid problems, low iron, a hormone imbalance and there is something apparently worrisome about my rectum. That sucks, just shoot me now. I think he mentioned a few more things but it was clear that they were common generalities that any female my age and body type may have problems with and it appeared that he was doing some unknowing cold reading as well. He then gave me his card and I was instructed to make an appointment if I wanted said problems alleviated. I'm guessing through the orthotics, herbs, kinesiology and vitamins as stated on his card.

Next I wandered past the Aromatherapy booth and sniffed a few of the open jars of scents. According to one website:

"Aromatherapy is the practice of using the natural oils extracted from flowers, bark, stems, leaves, roots or other parts of a plant to enhance psychological and physical well-being.

The inhaled aroma from these "essential" oils is widely believed to stimulate brain function. Essential oils can also be absorbed through the skin, where they travel through the bloodstream and can promote whole-body healing."

Yeah, I'm just thinking "mmmm.....smells nice" but whole-body healing is a bit far fetched. The efficacy of aromatherapy has yet to be shown in any scientific studies and any perceived benefits would stem directly from the placebo effect as opposed to an actual physiological change. Any success stories are just that, stories, and as we all know (say it out loud now), anecdotes are not evidence. So as I'm inhaling a lovely jasmine which is said to help with apathy, listlessness, indifference, and depression, I overhear a young lady talking with who I guess is her mother. She says "what do you think? There's no harm in trying it. After all, nothing else has helped." She seemed uncertain but at the point of spending some of her hard earned money on crap so I leaned over and said, "don't bother, it doesn't work." Well, the aromatherapy saleslady overheard me and I was certain that she was going to throw a jar of lavender at my head. But at $28.00 a jar, I guess she reconsidered.

The picture at the beginning of this post is me about to get my neck scanned by a computer. This is what they do at Hoffman Chiropractic & Wellness Centre to determine how best to crack your neck. There were at least four chiropractor booths there. I guess I should say "only" four as there are what seems like hundreds in Red Deer. The scan of my neck correctly determined that I have very tense muscles and pain. But he was wrong about the headaches and other symptoms he was sure I would have along with my sore neck. Now this is where I can see people falling for the hype. My neck has been sore for as long as I can remember and massage therapists or physiotherapists alike have been unable to alleviate the tension. When I rotate my shoulder, I can create a marvelous crunching, cracking sensation and while this makes for a neat party trick, it's also very uncomfortable and I would love for it to be fixed. The chiropractor said that he has had many patients extol the virtues of his healing subluxations. "I thought I would have to live with this forever," they exclaim, "who knew it would be so easy to fix." Very tempting if you don't know it's all woo. And that's just a sore back. I can imagine people with fatal ailments or having children with awful illnesses. I can certainly see why folks would want to try anything. His website has a "for skeptics only" section where you can find out exactly how chiropractic is completely scientific. Thoughts?

On the way out I stopped at a booth selling pretty shiny necklaces and bracelets. But this wasn't ordinary jewelery. Oh no! It was magical, magnetic jewelery with super healing powers. From their flier: "Here is a partial list of some of the many conditions that have been relieved, improved, increased, enhanced, reduced, and helped clear up, by using magnetic therapy: Acne, Allergies, Arthritis, Asthma, Back Aches, Burns, Broken Bones, Bursitis, Diabetes, Carpal Tunnel, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, Colitis, Cramps, Earaches, Fibromyaglia, Frozen Shoulder, Gout, Irregular Bowel Movements, Heel Spurs, High Blood Pressure, Infections, Insomnia, Menstrual Cramps, Migraines, Osteoarthritis, Poor Circulation, Rheumatoid Arthritis, Sciatica, Sinus Congestion, Strep Throat, Swelling Tendentious, Tennis Elbow, plus many more. In addition, magnets increase energy and vitality in many people." And that's just a PARTIAL list? Get outta town! Again, magnetic therapy has never been proven to help with any of these conditions. It is considered pseudoscientific due to both physical and biological implausibility. Magnets are good for holding those pretty pictures your kids draw for you on the fridge but don't count on them to cure your allergies. To their credit though, the flier also stated "The use of magnets should not replace treatment of a qualified medical professional."

The healing properties of gemstones were also highlighted at this booth and I shall provide you with this amusing and sad website for your viewing pleasure. Have abandonment issues? Just carry some garnet in your pocket. Accident prone? Tiger Eye is what you need. Enjoy.

There were other booths galore filled with nonsense (detox, magic juice, weight loss) but these are about as much as I can talk about in one sitting without losing my mind. One thing was certain, every snake oil salesman appeared absolutely sincere. They had bought hook, line and sinker into their own little fantasy land and no one was about to talk them out of it. I wonder how an anti-bullshit booth would go over at next year's show. Hmmmmm.......

Your Sins are Killing Your Children

2010-05-16T22:03:00.001-06:00

"Do you need a healing?" is what the highway sign I passed asked me. Below that was the name Thurman Scrivner and the dates that he would be in town. When I got home I looked up Mr. Scrivner and discovered that he was your run of the mill faith healer. His The Living Savior Ministries website is full of testimonials from those he has "healed". There is a man who had both his legs crushed and a young girl with a severe peanut allergy. But the big one is his granddaughter Katlynn whom I will tell you about later. If you have a lifetime of free time to waste, you could also listen to his over 400 sermons either through the website or by having free DVDs mailed to you. Now I've never been to a healing and so even though I wasn't really in need of one, I thought I would go check it out and see what actually happens at these things. Naturally, I pictured the afflicted people on the stage in a state of rapture having their demons cast out and throwing away their crutches while they writhe in some sort of self induced ecstasy. This turned out to be much different from that, not too mention hugely disappointing.

Bart and I walked into the conference room at a hotel in Leduc, Alberta about half an hour before the show was to start. It wasn't a very large room with about 120 seats. Only a handful of guests had arrived and they were being directed by ushers to their seats. I noticed that they didn't really talk to people or question them. We were asked where we were from and that was all. We took some second row seats and grabbed a handful of DVDs from a back table. I found out later that 10,000 of these DVDs are given away every week! At first we were heartened by what seemed to be a paltry turnout but nearly all the seats were eventually filled. A few of the folks were there the night before and would perhaps be there for the entire five day affair. Then there was the music. A trio of musicians regaled us with song after song about how fantastic God is. This was tolerable for about three songs and I even enjoyed singing along and pretending to blend in. Several people around us had their hands in the air or their eyes closed, singing the words by heart. I soon began praying (pun intended) for the music to stop.

Just as I was about to yell "for the love of God, make it stop!" a local Pastor got a hold of the microphone and asked us to place our donations in the "seedvelopes" provided. With sentences liberally peppered with "praise the Lord", "hallelujah", and "amen" he explained that even though the message is free, getting it to the people costs money and that we need to reap what we sow. Hence, the "seedvelopes". Clever, no? The donation begging went on for about twenty minutes and then he finally introduced Thurman Scrivner. The 71 year old self professed man of God took centre stage and began his endless preaching. Three things became evident. 1. Our diseases and injuries are the direct result of our sins. 2. He believes that the Bible is 100% accurate and the absolute word of God that is not to be questioned in the slightest. 3. I was going to have a hard time not rolling my eyes, pulling my hair out or screaming in sheer agony. He told us about a trip to Norway where he preached for some TV show. He noticed that many of Norway's women were sick. Why were they sick? Because they were committing the sin of not loving themselves. He explained to the hapless Norwegians that sin is the cause of their woes and that they must repent. The Norwegians were not convinced at first but were soon swayed into repenting and the whole country apparently experienced a turnaround in the general healthiness of it's citizens. Cool. Funny that we didn't hear about that.

So really, the general gist is that if you or your child is sick, it's because you have sinned in some way. It's not hard to sin either. Such things as unforgiveness, not going to church, deception, having sex or children out of wedlock, having oral sex, cussing or not loving yourself can get you a one way ticket to hurtville. If you do these or anything else God strictly forbids you from doing, don't be surprised if you or your children suffer from disease or injury. It's your own damn fault, got it? Now it may take awhile. Since God loves you, he may let you get away with your sinning for many years before he strikes you down. He'll send messengers such as neighbours and friends who will gently remind you of your impending doom. You ignore these messengers at your peril. But it's okay, if you were a bad person and managed to sin and got yourself all sick, you have an out. In John 15:7 we are told: "If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you." So it clearly states that anything we want we can have. Awesome! Dear God, please bring me Nathan Fillion. Hello? Oh wait. There are caveats. First you must believe. I mean REALLY believe. Faith is the absolute cornerstone to all of this even having a chance of working. Then you must figure out how you have sinned and repent for said sin. If none of this works, the healers have an out as well. Only God knows what's really in your heart, so even though you may be going through the motions, you don't really mean it enough.

We listened as Thurman recounted some of the miraculous healings he has performed and then he told us a heart wrenching story. Nine years ago, his wife of forty one years, his twenty four year old daughter, his three year old granddaughter and another six year old girl were involved in a head on car collision that instantly killed his wife and daughter and left the little girls fighting for their lives. So naturally people asked him what the sin was that would make God cause this tragedy. He thought long and hard and came to the conclusion that it must have been the weight his wife was gaining over the years even though he had warned her to curb her gluttonous ways. So let that be a warning to you. If you gain weight, heart disease is the least of your worries. So Thurman's granddaughter Katlynn is lying broken and near death. He says that the doctors told him that her brain stem was disconnected as well has her eyes. Her skull is fractured in five places, her face is cut and bleeding, her left knee cap is crushed and her right leg is broken in two places. She is being kept alive via ventilator and the doctors say that there is no chance of survival. They tell him that the best thing to do is tho remove her from the machines and let her die. Now, being a man of God with the strongest Faith ever, Mr. Scrivner is not accepting this. He tells the doctors that they are wrong and that his merciful God will fix both of the broken girls. He prays over them for hours and hours. Lo and behold, both girls make full recoveries to the awe and amazement of all the doctors who claimed it was impossible. You can watch Thurman recount his story on Sid Roth's "It's Supernatural" - Scroll down and click on Katlynn, The Miracle Child. Someone please tell me I'm not the only one who thinks Sid Roth is creepier than Freddie Krueger.

The entire time, the rapt audience in the room lapped up every word and yelled out the occasional "praise the Lord". I could tell they agreed with everything he said. It's in the Bible after all, so it must be true. At one point he asked the folks if they believed that God would punish them. Only a handful of people put up their hands. I mean God loves us right? But when he pulled up a Bible verse on the screen that clearly stated that God would discipline you for pissing him off, there was an uncomfortable shift of mindset in the room. When he asked one poor lady behind us if she believed it, she sadly mumbled "but I don't want him too." He asked "But do you believe it?" It broke my heart when she answered, "well, I have to now." I don't know what Bible these people are reading but have they checked out the Consequences of Disobedience in Deuteronomy 28:15-30? Yikes!

I got angry at one point when he told of a six year old boy who was brought into the hospital, he had been shot. The boy's mother asked Thurman to pray for her son's recovery. But it's not that easy. Thurman noticed that the woman was pregnant and asked her if the child was conceived out of wedlock. The woman conceded that it was. Well then, this is the reason that her son was dying from a gunshot wound. Truly reprehensible. There are dire consequences for having a mindset such as the deluded one that Thurman Scrivner and his ilk have. Look, here's some. Faith healing has been studied and people supposedly healed have been followed up on. There have been studies done on the efficacy of prayer. Guess what, none of it has any evidence to support the claims. It doesn't work. It's a fairy tale.

Astral Harassment

2010-01-04T21:21:00.004-07:00

There are those amongst us who claim to have the ability to Astral Project. Also called Astral Travel or Out of Body Experience (OBE). Many have felt that at one time or another, their soul has left their body. Some simply float to the ceiling and say they can see their sleeping body below. Most OBEs occur when someone dies and their soul leaves their body to go to the "other side". Some claim that they can astral travel at will and go wherever they want to. In this amusing, um, I mean educational article, "expert" Jerry Gross says that not only does he project whenever and wherever he wants to but he can also teach this marvelous super power to anyone. Apparently we do it all the time without knowing it. You guessed it, it happens when we are fast asleep. What sane people call dreams, Gross calls an OBE. We have this ability in abundance as children but "lose" it somewhere along the way. Yeah, that would be called growing up and no longer believing in fanciful notions.

Be that as it may, Gross thinks that this ability is a good thing and that teaching others to have OBEs that would allow them to travel to any location at will is just hunky dory. I disagree. I see a dire downside to anyone being able to wield this power. Stalking, for example, could be taken to a whole new level. No need to skulk outside a pretty girl's bedroom window when you can just project yourself into her bedroom without worry of being detected. Location would also no longer be an issue as one could travel to anywhere in the world for their stalking pleasure. Here's a question. With all those souls floating about the planet all willy nilly, do they ever run into or even see each other? Could you get together with your buddies for poker night without ever having to leave your sofa? What would happen if you were watching your favorite stalking victim sleeping and she were to leave her body and spot you? I imagine it would be pretty hard to convince the police to issue a restraining order for an incorporeal stalker who lives half a world away. Just locking your doors and keeping your curtains closed would no longer be an option. Yikes! That's it, from now on, I'm showering fully clothed to be on the safe side.

So next time someone extols the virtues of being able to float around in spirit, remind them that there are also shocking consequences to be considered.

#5 - Sly as a Fox

2009-12-20T03:30:00.007-07:00

March 31, 1848. What is so special about this date you ask? I’m glad you asked. I feel a story coming on.

Once upon a time in Hydesville, New York, there lived two young sisters by the name of Kate and Margaret Fox. The house that the sisters lived in was reputed to be haunted. This was confirmed one night when the spirit that dwelled with the Fox’s began making its presence known. Banging and rapping noises would echo throughout the house effectively frightening the entire family. On the night in question, Kate Fox decided to try to communicate with the spirit. She challenged it to repeat a series of finger snaps and to rap out the ages of the girls. The ghost happily obliged and the modern spiritualist movement was henceforth born.

From that night on, the Fox sisters were able to have conversations with the spook. These would consist of questions that were answered with one rap for “yes” and two raps for “no.” Or a number of raps would correspond with a letter of the alphabet. The spirit was eventually identified as that of a murdered peddler. The neighbours insisted on knowing who murdered the poor man and they soon decided that an innocent fellow villager was to blame. All the excitement was hard on the young girls so they were sent to live with their older sister Leah. Unfortunately for them, and quite curiously, the rapping seemed to follow them. Word soon spread far and wide of the Fox sister’s special talent of communicating with the dead. Folks insisted that they perform séances for them so they too could speak with loved ones that had passed on. The news spread amongst the Quakers who then formed the beginnings of the spiritualist movement. The Fox sisters became quite famous and under the tutelage of their equally gifted older sister Leah, their talents flourished. They held séances for the rich and famous and were pioneers in the field of mediumship. Hundreds of people were enamored and found that they too either miraculously developed these powers or had them all along but were too afraid to reveal themselves until the sisters gave them the courage to come forth. Suddenly séances were all the rage and you couldn’t swing a dead cat without hitting a medium. The Fox sisters enjoyed many years of notoriety and people everywhere were now able to reconnect with those on the other side. The End.

Sounds great. Who wouldn’t want to be able talked to dead loved ones? The problem? The founders of the modern spiritualist movement were hoaxers. Yup, on October 21, 1888 Kate and Margaret Fox confessed to faking all of it. Not only did they confess but they also demonstrated how they created the rapping noises by simply cracking their fingers and toes. Margaret explained how they used an apple on a string to create banging noises on that fateful day in 1848. Spiritualists today will say that the confessions were somehow coerced or a product of too much drink in the latter lives of the sisters. Margaret actually wrote a letter in 1889 recanting her confession. The demonstration of how they did it was the nail in the coffin though. Margaret herself even told of how people’s perceptions can so easily be fooled. She is quoted as saying:

"A great many people when they hear the rapping imagine at once that the spirits are touching them. It is a very common delusion. Some very wealthy people came to see me some years ago when I lived in Forty-second Street and I did some rappings for them. I made the spirit rap on the chair and one of the ladies cried out: "I feel the spirit tapping me on the shoulder." Of course that was pure imagination."

So if we can’t trust the founding members of spiritualism then who can we trust? Are any of the mediums the real thing? I’m going to go out on a limb here and say NO.

#4 - Git yer doodle out of my field!

2009-11-15T14:00:00.001-07:00

This is what I imagine pitchfork wielding farmers are yelling into the sky after waking to find that their wheat fields have been vandalized by unearthly visitors. Crop circles first began appearing in the media in the mid 1970's when crude circles were found in farmer's fields in Southern England. These circles were a mystery until Doug Bower and Dave Chorley admitted to making the circles as a hoax. Since then, circles and other increasingly complex designs have been mysteriously forming all over the world. But is it so mysterious? There are those that study this phenomena and claim that the circles are being made by aliens wishing to send us messages. These people are called "cereologists” (after Ceres, the Roman goddess of vegetation). They have yet to provide any credible evidence for their claims.

It's pretty self evident though that crop circles are man-made. Joe Nickell has done extensive studies and had the brilliant idea of creating a timeline and graph of all the circles found and documented. The results were telling. After the circles in England were exposed in the media, circles began forming in other parts of the world and followed a predictable pattern. An increase in complexity may sound like something a cereologist would point to as being indicative of intelligent alien life but it's clearly a product of man-made hoaxing and people simply trying to out do one another. New circles proliferated after each media report and conformed to the geographic location of said reports. Plus there have been many hoaxers who have demonstrated how complex circles are made and the best is when cereologists claim certain circles as not possibly being man-made but are later proven wrong as hoaxers come forth with video of them making the formation. The "professionals" clearly do not have any criteria to properly distinguish a "fake" circle from a "real" one. There is also what Nickell calls the "shyness effect" which means that circles are never actually seen being made. Why is this I wonder? Are the aliens shy?

So let's see. What could be causing crop circles? Intelligent beings from a planet outside of our known galaxy who are visiting earth with the intent of imparting some sort of arbitrary message to us hapless earthlings. And apparently the only way they can think of sending us this message is by doodling random pictures in our farmer's fields. Or there are people with too much time on their hands who have decided to have a little laugh and get a little attention by stomping down some wheat with a board. Occam's razor would strongly suggest the latter.

They are all trying to kill you!

2009-11-02T20:56:00.004-07:00

Look out! Modern medicine is trying to kill you. That's right. Every nurse, doctor and scientist is out for nothing but your blood and money. You'd best not catch a cough because I've heard that Nyquil is laced with toxins that enables the government to plant suggestions in your mind while you sleep. Big pharma is evil and is busy with over medicating the earth's inhabitants so they can keep making billions of dollars. So what's an uneducated public to do? It's okay. Don't panic. There are people out there who care about you and have the answers that big pharma and the government don't want you to know about. People like me who know about ancient cures. Cures that could potentially rid the world of such evils as cancer, autism and bad hair days. Like the natural cure for tummy aches which is as simple as rubbing a mixture of pig poop, cumin and peppermint tea on your stomach under a full moon whilst humming "Girl From Ipanema." Shhhhh. THEY don't want you to know for if such knowledge were to get out, people would stop buying the toxin laden drugs that are actually killing us. But there are some who are fighting the good fight and care about getting the truth out and not in it for the easy cash from gullible folk. You can read more about these unknown cures in my new book. "Cures I'm Telling You About Even Though My Life Is In Grave Danger For Telling You About Them." Only $29.95 plus shipping.

Medical conspiracy theories seem all the rage these days. Especially in the light of the anti-vax movement which appears to be gaining ground. The truth is that modern medicine is a good thing. Hundreds of years of study has brought us to an age where people are living longer than ever before and diseases that have killed thousands have been eradicated or rendered curable. We've seen such advancements as vaccines, organ transplants and medicines that help people with incurable diseases live longer, more comfortable lives. Yet there are folks out there that are crying foul. They claim that the big pharmaceutical companies and governments are conspiring against you and me. That things like chemotherapy for cancer is not only unnecessary but not even helping at all. Or that vaccines contain poisons and that the only reason these poisons are forced upon us is to make the CEO of Pfizer and your local MP richer. Ridiculous. The fear mongering simply does not stand up to scrutiny and the facts are irrefutable. For example If you were diagnosed with cancer in the 1940s in Canada, you had a 25% chance of surviving five years. Today, the figure is 62%.

If your loved one were to collapse right now clutching their chest, what would be the first thing you would do? My guess is that you (or any of those bitching about the evils of modern medicine) would pick up the phone and dial 911. You would put your trust in the trained paramedics, doctors and nurses. They would use all that we've learned over the years to save your loved one because they care. They entered their professions not to get rich or conspire with big pharma to kill people. They will do all they can and they have science on their side. Not witch doctors and pig poop.

#3 - The Morristown UFO

2009-10-20T13:41:00.000-06:00

As you know, UFO is an acronym for Unidentified Flying Object. This simply means that you don’t know what the thing in the sky is. The key words here being “don’t know”. This is when a lot of people fall for the ad ignorantium fallacy which is the argument from ignorance and simply put means that you don’t know what it is therefore you do know what it is. That’s when you say “I can’t identify the thing in the sky, so therefore it must be an alien spaceship.” Wrong. You don’t what it is so therefore you don’t know what it is. Get it? Good because I’m getting repetitive. It might be an alien spaceship but it could also be (and likely is) many other things. Planes, clouds, earthly lights, stars, balloons, satellites, birds, etc. Many sightings and pictures have simply been the work of industrious hoaxers.

I want to talk about a recent hoax that took place in Morristown, New Jersey on January 5, 2009. Joe Ruddy and Chris Russo decided to conduct a little social experiment. They wanted to show just how unreliable eyewitness reports were in such a situation. Plus perhaps also discredit some of the so-called UFO experts who do nothing but manage to encourage the credulity of the masses. So on the night of January 5^th, Joe and Chris trekked to a secluded field with their supplies and got to work. They inflated five 3” balloons with helium and released them into the sky. They attached flares to the balloons with fishing line fifteen seconds apart from each other. All was dutifully filmed and documented. The effect was immediate and extensive. Numerous 911 calls were recorded and the media went crazy with stories of the strange lights in the sky that according the witnesses “didn’t appear to be manmade” and “were moving fast, holding formation, and then moving in three different directions.” The Hurley family was sought after by the media since Mr. Hurley was a pilot and therefore a credible witness and they gave many interviews describing what they saw that night. Then the UFO "professionals" got wind of the story and that's when things got interesting. The History Channel's show "UFO Hunters" featured the Morristown UFO as their main story and the lead investigator of the show, Bill Birnes, declared with confidence that the lights were not created using flares or Chinese lanterns. Now Birnes seems like a smart man having written over 25 books so you'd think he'd know better than to be fooled by two amateurs with balloons and fishing line. The original launch was followed by three more on January 29, February 7 and February 17. Each time gave the UFO story more credibility. You can see reactions from the public in this video made by Joe and Chris. To be fair, the Morristown police did originally call foul and saw the hoax for what it was. This made no difference to witnesses or Birnes however. I think it's irresponsible of the so-called professionals to simply throw their lot in without proper investigation. Birnes was wrong about Morristown and that should call into question every case he has ever investigated.

The bottom line is people will simply believe what they want to believe and there's not a whole lot that can be done about that. Sadly, credulity will persist despite our best efforts.

#2 - For some reason I don't think there will be a Project Beta

2009-09-27T18:13:00.001-06:00

Back in 1979 board chairman of McDonnell-Douglas aircraft, James S McDonnell, gave a $500,000.00 grant to Washington University. Thus was established the McDonnell Laboratory for Psychical Research. This laboratory was to be headed up by physics professor Peter R. Phillips who already had a strong background in parapsychology. When James Randi heard of this, he immediately got the idea of testing some hypotheses. He was certain that the testers chosen could be fooled by a conjurer placed in the lab under the guise of being psychical gifted. Randi sent Phillips a list of caveats that he urged the professor to heed. Amongst these was the very important rule of not letting the subjects run the experiments by changing the protocols along with other suggestions that Randi has found to be a good way to rule out those who are using subterfuge to feign supernatural powers. James Randi is after all a gifted magician and conjurer and knows very well the ways of trickery. These rules were dismissed by Phillips and his team. They were certain that they were incapable of being fooled. So Randi had an idea and Project Alpha was born.

Enter Steve Shaw, an 18 year-old mentalist. Steve is now known as the famous Banachek and yes, that is me cuddling with him in the picture. You may all be jealous now. Steve, along with 17 year-old magician Michael Edwards, were the only two subjects chosen from a pool of 300 considered for the experiments. Problem was, these two were asked by Randi to pretend they had psychic abilities with the intent of fooling the experimenters. They were, however, instructed to tell the truth if they were ever asked directly if they were faking it. Nobody ever asked.

From the beginning, Randi’s suggestions were disregarded and Steve and Michael found it easy to work around the protocols and convince Phillips that they were truly gifted. In one experiment the boys were given a sealed envelope containing a random picture. They were then to divine the picture’s contents. To do this they were LEFT ALONE in a room with the envelope. They then returned the still sealed envelope to the tester and astounded them with their amazing accuracy. How was this done? As I mentioned the boys were unwisely left alone so they simply had to open the envelopes which were unwisely sealed only with a few staples and were then resealed by reinserting the staples. Of course, they were careful to not get them ALL right to avoid suspicion. This poorly designed test was rife with easily circumvented loopholes. There were many more examples of bad experiments which gave Steve and Michael free reign to employ their conjuring skills and use simple trickery to get around the very few rules imposed upon them. Now if Phillips would have simply heeded Randi’s words, the deception would have been revealed early on but the experimenter’s pro-psychic bias blinded them to even the consideration that they were being deceived. Proper protocol is essential for exposing deception, whether intentional or not.

This carried on for three years with no one catching on. Randi continued to offer his advice and services but none was accepted. Then even after Randi “leaked” information about the hoax, the folks at the lab still insisted that they were in the company of the gifted and laughed about the alleged “hoax” with Steve and Michael but yet never even asked them directly if they were in on it. When the hoax was finally revealed the lab was shut down and many other parapsychologists who endorsed Steve and Mike as the real deal were humiliated. Some even went so far as accusing the boys of lying about using trickery and maintained that they were psychic. Hopefully some lessons were learned from this debacle and at least some people now realize that no matter how much they think otherwise, it's still possible to be fooled.

#1 - Carlos

2009-09-15T09:51:00.005-06:00

In 1988 Australia a phenomenon called channeling was becoming very popular indeed. Channeling is when an ancient spirit decides to enter a human body and speak through them. This is usually for the purpose of imparting some great wisdom that the spirit feels we need to know. It looks like a painful process and involves much writhing and speaking as if one just had good swift kick in the nether regions. Australia's channel 9 decided that things were getting a bit out of hand and thought they might be able to find a way to encourage some critical thinking in the populace. They contacted James Randi for some ideas and Carlos was born. Randi enlisted 19 year old Jose Luis Alvarez to play the part of a channeler who was being possessed by a 1000 year old spirit by the name of Carlos. Jose would give free performances to packed theatres. He spouted spiritual teachings and extolled the various powers of crystals. People lapped it up and worshipped the wise spirit and his nonsensical advice. Various items were offered for sale at outrageous prices after the performances. A piece of dried tar was passed off as an ancient Altantis crystal. No money was ever taken from the people though. There was no need to fleece the sheeple on top of tricking them.

Now this hoax wasn't designed so much to fool the Australians as it was to show how uncritically the media reports on such matters and the media did not disappoint. They eagerly lauded Carlos and sang his praises with credulity. There was never any effort to expose the truth even though a little bit of digging would have brought the whole house of cards down. Clues to the hoax were blatantly planted by Randi. Radio and TV stations that Carlos was said to appear on never even existed. Magazine articles were presented that were obvious forgeries. One simple phone call could have exposed all. But this was a story that brought in the viewers and so no such effort was made. There were some red faces indeed when the hoax was eventually revealed. You know that saying "you can't believe everything you see on TV"? News flash....it's true.

The thing that struck me about it all though is the fervor of the die-hard believers. Even after the truth about Carlos was divulged, there were folks who STILL believed that he was the genuine article. There it was, in your face proof that it's not real, yet they held on to the delusion with a zany intensity. I just find that odd.

You can see James Randi talk about the Carlos affair here.

Being dead is no excuse for bad manners.

2009-08-30T19:27:00.009-06:00

I know I promised to blog about hoaxes but I need to interrupt to talk about my Friday night. I promised Nathan I would. Hi Nathan!

On Friday night I was at Heritage Park Historical Village in Calgary. I was with a group of people who signed up to learn about and hopefully see some of the ghosts that allegedly abound in the area. We also enjoyed a fabulous salmon dinner. Mmmmm salmon. I met the organizer. A man by the name of Brad Dotten. He is the founder and lead investigator of Things That Go Bump In The Night Paranormal Investigations. Brad was a polite, well dressed, likable guy who seems level headed and intelligent. He also wholeheartedly believes that our consciousness continues on even after we are six feet under. This consciousness is capable of wandering around and scaring the bejesus out of people. Brad regaled us with a PowerPoint presentation which explained the different classifications of ghosts. All very imaginative but yet still all simply conjecture and folklore. Unless there are scientists out there that have managed to catch these ghosts, keep them in a jar and poke them with sticks, there is no reason to believe that any of this is fact. But I was thrilled when he said that orbs are merely dust and NOT ghosts. Excellent! A tiny bright spot of reason. I listened quietly to his lesson until he mentioned one of the "most famous" hauntings ever. The events that allegedly took place at 112 Ocean Avenue in Amityville, New York in 1975 have been proven to be a hoax. I decided to take the position of heckler and point this fact out to Brad. He said that the paranormal investigators on the case, Ed and Lorraine Warren, maintain to this day that everything the Lutzes reported actually happened. Well of course they do. If they were to come clean about this case being a hoax then that would call into question every other case they have ever been involved with. Brad dismissed this with informing me that this didn't matter since it only matters if you believe it happened or if you believe that it was a hoax. What?! Sorry honey, just because you believe something, doesn't make it true. I can believe all I want that Nathan Fillion is madly in love with me but that won't make it real. Belief does not equal fact.

So after our presentation we went for a little walk around the park and heard some of the stories of unexplained and eerie events. We also got free reign of the Prince house which is said to be one of the most haunted buildings in the park. We heard about the mysterious lights that were seen on the third floor although there are no fixtures up there. A lady in white is seen in one of the bedrooms cooing an imaginary baby and dogs have gotten all weirded out while in or around the house. Alas, even after poking around in the dark and taking several pictures, no ghosts were kind enough to make even a cursory appearance. Rather rude of them. Although one member of our group had an EMF meter app for his iPhone (seriously?) and I made the shocking discover that my camera appears to be haunted. I knew I shouldn't have trusted that salesman. On a high note, there was a fellow skeptic in the group. She even knew what the JREF was. Sweet. I also meet a very nice man who is sitting on the fence. He was kind enough to listen to my skeptical rantings without getting a restraining order. I can get a little carried away sometimes.

So what do we make of the thousands of experiences that we hear about? Tons of books have been written relating anecdotes from people who truly believe that they have had a paranormal or ghostly experience. Do we just dismiss these out of hand? I'm afraid we must. It's well known amongst skeptics that anecdotal evidence is not evidence and I'll tell you why. When someone relates a story we have to rule out many things before accepting the reliability. Things such as confirmation bias, misremembering, misinterpretation, imagination, dreaming, embellishment and collusion have to be accounted for. Also, many of the stories are second or third hand or even repeated so many times that the original event is convoluted beyond anything resembling the truth. This also may be a good time to quote Dr. Gregory House. "Everybody lies."

Brad also showed us famous ghost pictures. Many of which have been examined and dismissed. Such as the Brown Lady. Joe Nickell examined this photo and determined that it is merely two images composited together. Brad also showed some videos that if real, would be very compelling. Note the "if real" part of that statement. There is no way to tell if amateur videos of things moving on their own accord has been faked. We just can't accept those at face value. More examination and reproducible results would be necessary.

The mystery mongers may think they have lots of evidence in their corner but is it enough? No. Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence and so far the evidence proffered has been mediocre at best. Please dazzle me with extraordinary and I will sit up and take notice.

Fooling Around

2009-08-23T19:44:00.004-06:00

Many people I've talked to who believe in certain types of woo believe it because they have experienced something that they can't otherwise explain in natural ways. They tell me that I will believe once it happens to me. They were there, they saw it with their own eyes and that is all the proof they need. Well I'm sorry to break it to them but people are unfortunately frighteningly easy to fool. For one thing, our memories are far more malleable then we would like to acknowledge. Professor Richard Wiseman describes a memory manipulation test in his book "Quirkology" which involved showing adults several pictures of themselves as children. Two of the pictures were real but a third was a doctored photo of an event (a hot air balloon ride) that never happened. The participants were asked to describe the events in the photos and after awhile half of them were able to describe the day the hot air balloon ride took place. Many in great detail. We also routinely engage in confirmation bias which is remembering certain events that fit and forgetting others. This is a reason people believe in the false contention that the full moon causes adverse behavior. Or when someone thinks that every time they look at a clock it's 11:11. how many times did you look at the clock and see a different time? Confirmation bias also accounts for psychics enjoying a seemingly high hit rate. You're impressed that she "knew" your grandma's name was Sofia but you forgot that she also mentioned 28 other names that had no meaning for you at all.

Our senses are fallible. Again, I reference "Quirkology" (an excellent book by the way) to explain how people's senses can be messed with. Prof Wiseman purchased two innocuous items from a hardware store and asked passersby in a mall to hold the items and tell him if they made them feel odd. Not surprisingly, people did not feel a thing. But when he donned a white lab coat and told people that the objects were designed to elicit strange feelings, folks were suddenly reporting tingling, electricity and vibrations. One person actually felt high and another felt as though his hands were magnetic and being drawn towards each other. Many of these people said they would pay a lot of money for these objects which were merely a brass curtain ring and a chrome light-pull. Another experiment has two groups of people being toured through a theatre which has had no reports of paranormal activity. The first group is told that the theatre is undergoing renovations and they were asked to rate how each room made them feel. The second group was told that there was much reported ghostly activity and so they should look out for anything unusual. Not surprisingly, the second group reported significantly more strange experiences than the first group. Also, low frequency "infrasound" which is below normal human hearing causes people to feel odd and almost like they are being watched. This can explain why some locations seem to be haunted. Not to mention magicians. It's their job to fool our senses and they do it very well.

Not surprisingly, people who already believe in ghosts and other paranormal things are more susceptible to being fooled. They see what they want to see and interpret it as something otherworldly instead of trying to decipher the real cause. They want and need to believe and although comforting, the truth should matter and I think it's much more useful to discover the truth than to persist in delusion.

Sometimes, like in Richard Wiseman's experiments, it's easier to show people how simply they can be fooled instead of just telling them. Over the next several posts I will be talking about some famous "hoaxes" perpetrated by fellow skeptics designed to show people just how gullible they can be. Also, I'll talk about some other revealed hoaxes perpetrated by con artists wanting money or their fifteen minutes of fame. Stay tuned.

Teacher, Teacher, Can You Teach Me?

2009-07-31T16:54:00.007-06:00

I will tell you a story.

Once upon a time, because all good stories start with once upon a time, little Susie came home from school crying. She clung to her mother and sobbed. "What's wrong darling?" her mother asked. "Oh momma (sob) it's awful (sob) Mr. Jones told us today that dinosaurs were alive like (sob) 250 million years ago!" "Oh dear." says Susie's mother. Susie is so upset that she can barely continue "But you, Daddy and Pastor John always say that the whole world was made by God 6000 years ago!!!" (SOB)

So what's a distraught parent to do? Aside from assuring Susie that all of science is wrong that is? Well, the Alberta government has provided that solution in the form of Bill 44. Litigate! That's right, parents can now bring teachers in front on the Human Rights Commission when they make the mistake of saying something in the classroom that goes against their beliefs. Schools have always had their own opt-out programs but I don't think it's ever been a legal or human rights matter. But now teachers have to comb through their curriculum and warn parents ahead of time if there will be material that may disagree with religious beliefs. This makes teachers scared and scared teachers can't be effective teachers.

I know this is old news as this bill was passed into law months ago. But I'm curious to know if anyone will take advantage of this. Does anyone reading this know if there is a way to find out if anyone has used this law to reprimand a teacher? Maybe not yet but perhaps more into the upcoming school year.

So what would I do if my daughter came home crying one day because her teacher started spouting creationism? I would tell her to think critically, do some research and make an informed decision. Maybe even engage the teacher more one-on-one. He/she would likely dig their own grave the more they talked anyways. I once asked a religious friend of mine if she would care if I had a discussion with her daughter about why I am an atheist. She was less than enthused with that idea. But why? I guess she is afraid that her daughter might actually start to question or even maybe to (gasp) doubt. Why is questioning a bad thing? I fully expect that my daughter will be getting information coming at her from all angles her whole life. Maybe things I agree with, maybe not. But I want her to question it all, think about it, and be skeptical of extraordinary claims.

And they all lived happily ever after, ummmm, except the teacher who got suspended. Okay so I lied, it's not a good story. Kind of depressing really. But my story does have a moral.

Teach your kids HOW to think, not WHAT to think.

The End.

The Biggest Douche in the Universe

2009-07-27T13:34:00.004-06:00

Skeptics everywhere (and fans of South Park) will know the above as none other than John Edward. Psychic medium extraordinaire and top shelf asshat. John is famous for his show "Crossing Over" which featured him making contact with the deceased family members of a studio audience. A friend recently reminded me of how bad he is at what he does. By "what he does" I don't mean talk to the dead as he would have us believe. I mean cold reading. What is cold reading you ask? Well, I'm glad you asked. Cold reading is when the psychic throws out generalities or initials and hopes for a hit that they can build upon. They rapid fire guesses and make vague statements, inviting the subject to interpret them. For example, they may say "I see the name Marg or Maggie, some sort of M-G name." When there is several people in an audience then that is likely to resonate with someone. Also, people reveal more about themselves than they realize. The psychic can tell loads about a person just from age, dress, and body language. This is beautifully illustrated in an episode of Penn & Teller's "Bullshit". A man gets a reading from three different psychics but he dresses completely different for each one. A stressed out, suit clad, clean-shaven business man. A shaggy, unkempt man with alcohol on his breath. I think the third one was a casual, happy, family man. Needless to say, he received three very different readings.

Then there is confirmation bias. People are very prone to forgetting all the misses that the psychic makes and remembering and exaggerating the hits. Many names might be mentioned in the course of a reading but only the ones that hit will be remembered and the others discarded. People will also actually remember the psychic as knowing certain information when in fact, they supplied the information themselves.

Example:
Psychic: "I see the letter B connected to your mother. Does that mean anything to you?"
Beatrice: "Ummm....I don't think so."
Psychic: "Think hard, maybe an aunt or distant cousin who's passed over. I'm definitely getting the letter B."
Beatrice: "Well.....we once had a dog named Boomer."
Psychic: " Yes, that's it! Your mom is telling me that Boomer is there with her and he is very happy."
Later, Beatrice will recount her experience to a friend and exclaim that the psychic knew she had a dog named Boomer and "there's no way he could possibly have known that!"

That example also highlights another trick of the psychics. They will browbeat their subjects and insist that even though they don't know what the psychic is talking about they will later. I saw a video of John Edward doing a phone reading with a lady. He said he saw a man in her life that had passed on and he was wearing a uniform. The lady said that she could think of no one who would have been in uniform. He didn't accept no as an answer and was actually insisting that she was wrong and he was right!

A good psychic can turn a miss into a hit. On another episode of "Bullshit" psychic Rosemarie Altea tells a man that his deceased mother is standing behind her. She says that his mother appears shy and nervous. In a split second she sees that she is not getting a reaction from the man so she changes it to "which is unusual for her because she is normally not like that at all." This gets the desired emotional response and she moves on from there.

Sometimes psychics seem to hit on some pretty amazing things that seem like something they wouldn't know. One suspects then that they are employing hot reading. This is when advanced knowledge of the subject is gleaned through various methods. Before John Edward's show is taped, the audience is intentionally left to mill about while John's aids mingle with them and ask some very interesting questions. John Edward was actually caught hot reading during a Dateline special.

So why is John so bad at what he does? Even with all the bones he's thrown, he's often wrong more than he is right. Two hours of tape ends up mostly on the cutting room floor and less than an hour of the best hits are kept for airing. In one case a man was shown nodding after something John said when he clearly remembers disagreeing.

John Edward and his ilk will insist that what they do is a good thing. They help the grieving move on and give them closure. I disagree. I have nothing but empathy for those who have lost loved ones and I would love it if talking to the dead were actually possible. Emotions run high and people in that position look for comfort anywhere they can get it. But all we have left of our loved ones after they pass is our memories of them and it makes me very mad when these show boaters piss on those memories and twist them around to make a buck. They are deceiving people for their own personal gain and it's wrong. Harry Houdini used to fake seances and do essentially the same thing as John Edward until he experienced loss himself and then he realized how wrong it was. This is what he said about that:

"At the time I appreciated the fact that I surprised my clients, but while aware of the fact that I was deceiving them I did not see or understand the seriousness of trifling with such sacred sentimentality and the baneful result which inevitably followed. To me it was a lark. I was a mystifier and as such my ambition was being gratified and my love for a mild sensation satisfied. After delving deep I realized the seriousness of it all. As I advanced to riper years of experience I was brought to a realization of the seriousness of trifling with the hallowed reverence which the average human being bestows on the departed, and when I personally became afflicted with similar grief I was chagrined that I should ever have been guilty of such frivolity and for the first time realized that it bordered on crime."

Now most skeptics will probably disagree with me on this, and I could be wrong, but I think that John Edward may have mostly deluded himself into believing he actually has these powers. He has been doing it since he was fifteen years old after he was told he had "wonderful psychic abilities." It's not uncommon for people to fool themselves into believing they have these wonderful gifts. They also forget their own misses and remember the hits and get positive feedback from clients. When I see interviews with John, I see a sincerity in his eyes that leads me to believe that he may have fallen victim to his own scam.

Further reading: Joe Nickell, "John Edward: Hustling the Bereaved"

Would you tell?

2009-07-18T19:55:00.005-06:00

I apologize. It appears as though I have been harping a lot on religion lately. Maybe that’s because I’m reading “God is Not Great, How Religion Poisons Everything” by Christopher Hitchens. It would be awesome to see him at TAM. But let’s discuss something else. How about some more about psychic abilities? I was telling my step father about how I’m quite certain that there are no people out there that are psychic. I cited the fact that Randi’s million remains unclaimed along with the many other challenges that offer monetary prizes. He disagreed and said that he still believes that there are psychics out there but that they are few and far between and that they prefer to remain hidden. Now if they are hidden, I’m not sure how he knows about them but I guess he just does.

So I asked him why these folks would prefer to remain anonymous. After all there is a lot of fame and fortune involved in letting the world know they exist. Not to mention the fact that they are selfishly hoarding a power that could help millions. He asked me if I would go public if I discovered that I had had psychic powers. I told him that the first thing I would do would be to win the MDC and then I would move someplace nice and hot. I would also spend much of my time finding missing children and solving crimes. Yeah, I know I said that I hated that but we are assuming that I ACTUALLY am psychic not just deluded.

But according to my step dad, that would be a very bad idea. He said that there once was a “real” psychic who called the police and informed them that she knew where the body of a murder victim lay. This was a case that had few leads and was far from being solvable. But this psychic lead them right to the body and was promptly arrested and jailed for four years. Whether or not this actually happened, I have no idea as my step dad was unable to recall the exact details of the case or even where he heard about it. I think it was just something he saw on TV. So it must be true. Regardless, he thinks that this happened and that’s good enough for him to believe that psychics coming out of the closet would be a mistake on their part. He also cites that those with extraordinary powers would likely also be dissected, studied and feared just like you see on the movies. I recall the movie “Jumper” where the lead character and a few others like him could instantly teleport from one place to another place just by looking at a picture. Now THAT would be way cool. He had to remain hidden though as he was being hunted by not only the police but also by a group of people who had decided that his powers were unnatural and therefore an abomination in the eyes of god. I know it’s just a movie but I can see my step father’s objections.

So there’s something to think about. If you did suddenly develop a super power, would you reveal yourself to the world or keep it a secret?

The Jedi Teachings of Master Joe Nickell

2009-07-14T13:25:00.003-06:00

As I've mentioned before, I'm very interested in learning how to become a paranormal investigator of the scientific kind. So to that end I attended a Joe Nickell workshop at TAM7. Mr. Nickell is in his forth decade of investigating mysteries. He is the only salaried paranormal investigator in the world. Sadly, he declined my offer to serve as his apprentice citing a lack of funds to pay me with but I would gladly do it for free if I could find a way to get to New York. I would love to tag along with him to even just one of his investigations.

I learned much from his workshop and took away many things to mull over. Mr. Nickell investigates with the goal of solving the mystery. This is in contrast to those he calls mystery mongers who try to find "evidence" to support their pre-existing notions such as those on the television show "Paranormal State" which I discussed in an earlier post. He talked about a case he solved early on. That of Mackenzie House in Toronto, Ontario. This house is reputed to be one of the most haunted locations in Canada. Why it still is considered as such is odd since Joe Nickell discovered the cause of the "haunting" and it wasn't ghosts. Some strange occurrences in the house included footsteps on the stairs when the house was empty and the doors were locked, the long dormant printing press in the basement was heard clanking and clicking and the resident saw the figure of a man at the foot of her bed. How does one explain these bizarre goings on? Mr. Nickell asked those attending the workshop if anyone would be interested in knowing that there is a publishing company next door to the house. The room buzzed with ah-has and hands went up in the air. It is then that Mr. Nickell suggested two things. The first being "think slower". Skeptics are prone to jumping to conclusions that point to an obvious answer to what may be causing a certain phenomena. How to remedy this? The second suggestion of course, which was go to the site to carry out a thorough investigation. This revealed that the publishing company next door actually had no printing presses. So much for that explanation and it really highlights the think slower advice.

So how do we proceed from here? To make a long story short, it turns out that Mackenzie House has another house next door attached directly to it. The stairwell in this neighboring house was right on the other side of the wall from the Mackenzie House stairwell. Perhaps you could quite clearly hear when the neighbors are walking up and down the stairs. So Mr. Nickell went next door and spoke with the caretaker there who had been chuckling to himself for the last ten years. He knew perfectly well that his and his family's movements were causing all the alarm next door. They also had carts with metal garbage cans that when pulled along the concrete basement floor sounded suspiciously like a printing press clanking merrily away. It's not that he was perpetrating some sort of elaborate hoax but he just didn't feel that it was his place to rain on their parade. Mr. Nickell asked him if anyone else had been by and the caretaker informed him that no one had ever been next door to enquire. Ever! Of course the mystery mongers are never convinced. It's impossible to know, they say, that every time footsteps were heard on the stairs that someone was walking up or down the stairs next door. Oh dear.

How to explain the man at the foot of the bed? People can have something called a waking dream. There are two types of waking dreams: The hypnagogic state which is the state between being awake and falling asleep. The hypnopompic state which is the transition state of semiconciousness between sleeping and waking. Both of these states can cause visual and auditory hallucination for some people. In some cases there is sleep paralysis which, while in one the states above, you feel paralysed. This is a good reason for many people feeling as though they have been abducted by aliens. I have had both a hypnopompic and sleep paralysis experience myself. I'll tell you about them sometime. So ca this be an explanation to the ghostly figure? Likey, but that brings me to another thing Mr. Nickell talked about.

Occam's Razor. A term every skeptic is familiar with. This is just a fancy way of saying that when looking for an explanation for something unexplained, we should look at the explanation that makes the least assumptions. Put it this way, when you wake up and see a figure standing in your room it could either be you having a vivid waking dream or there is actually a dead person's spirit standing there with nothing better to do then to hang out and watch you sleep. Which one makes the least assumptions? Think about it.

Now that I've talked that story to death, there are two more things that stand out from the workshop. People make logical fallacies all the time and as skeptics, we must be aware of them and avoid them ourselves. One of the fallacies that believers fall into all the time without realizing it is "ad ignorantium" or "argument from ignorance". This just boils done to someone saying "I DON'T know what is was so therefore I DO know what it was." Make sense? Good. This also ties into the burden of proof that I talked about in a previous post as well. Another thing Mr. Nickell warned about was to be careful of not shifting the burden of proof. Proving the claim lies with the person making the claim. Period.

The last thing that I found very important was a lesson that many hard headed skeptics fail at. Most people who believe that their house is haunted or that they've seen a lake monster or believe in psychics, aren't crazy, drunk or lying. They are usually normal, intelligent people who are victims of hack shows like "Ghost Hunters", "Paranormal State" or "Psychic Detectives." We must be respectful and courteous at all times. Restraint from rash judgments and conclusions is of the utmost importance when dealing with things that are often very emotional and deeply affect the people involved. I believe I already practice this but it is something that I will keep at the forefront.

Mr. Nickell also shared the fact that he has made many mistakes over the years and that sort of scares me. I hate making mistakes, as I'm sure everyone does, but it would be more difficult with the high stakes involved and the mystery mongers waiting to tear you apart. I guess mistakes are inevitable and all one can do is learn from them.

I asked Mr. Nickell how one gets started with a career in paranormal investigating and he said to read his books. While this may sound like a cheesy pitch I actually agreed with that before I even met him. So I bought two books at TAM and intend to start there. Wish me luck.

Another notch in the TAM bedpost

2009-07-13T13:07:00.008-06:00

Last year I was a virgin. I'm not afraid to admit that TAM6 was my first. I went in unprepared and nervous but I felt my way around carefully and breathed in every moment. Just like that my TAM cherry was popped and I was hopelessly hooked. This year I went in feeling somewhat more confident, I was able to break out of my shell and foster a closer relationship with my new love. TAM7 has left me heady and breathless and next year can't come soon enough.

I took away something from each and every speaker. Bill Prady was the keynote speaker. He is producer and writer for "The Big Bang Theory." Unarguably the best sitcom on television. Joe Nickell is the only salaried paranormal investigator in the world. I learned much from his workshop and bought two of his books thus earning me the honor of being Mr. Nickell's close, personal friend. Phil Plait (aka the nicest guy in the world) thinks I look like Felicia Day and that's okay with me. Michael Shermer, Adam Savage, Penn & Teller, Jennifer Ouellette and all the rest. I was very happy to see my favorite Australian Richard Saunders again. I've decided that he is the sweetest man on earth. I was going to take him home with me but when I called the airline they politely explained to me that even with air holes in the crate, Mr. Saunders would likely not arrive alive and I would very much like to see him next year alive and well. Then there is the man who I blame for my obsession (but not in a bad way) the Amazing James Randi. My hero and a legend forever in the minds of skeptics the world over. There was an impromptu wedding that I was forced to attend, much to my delight. I wish Rebecca and Sid all the best.

This year also showed the incredible generosity of my fellow skeptics. Nevada has the worst vaccination rate in the nation and we were given the opportunity to help remedy this dire situation through JREF. The number I last heard was $8500.00! This is enough to give 500 children free vaccines, saving lives. There was also a food drive which saw a boatload of tuna, peanut butter and cash donated to the local food bank.

The best part of TAM though is my interactions with fellow attendees. I love walking through the casino wearing my name tag and walking past others adorned with blue lanyards. I nod at them and even though they are likely complete strangers, I feel a sense of camaraderie. I very much enjoyed interacting with forumites on a more personal level this year. Eos of the Eons (my roomie and all around beautiful person), Exarch, RustyPouch, Fitter, The Central Scrutinizer, Hutch, Cleon, Xenxabar, Tobias The Viking, Phyz, Wowbagger, King Merv, Nankay, Mattus Maximus, and Doubt. Plus meeting fabulous new friends like Winslow, Paperskater, Arthwollipot, and Kennedy plus a ton of skeptics from Edmonton (Yay!). I cherish each minute spent with each person, I hope to see them all next year and meet many more.

So until the misty feelings wear off, I'll likely be walking around with a goofy grin on my face from recalling fond memories. The only bad thing about TAM? That there is 359 days until the next one.

What if you're wrong?

2009-06-27T20:55:00.003-06:00

There’s one question that every non-religious person has been asked by a religious person at least once. “What if you’re wrong?” They are of course referring to the horrible implications for your afterlife and the dreaded fate that will await you there due to your lack of believe in their sky daddy.

First of all I like to have some fun with them and say “what if you’re wrong?”

They will usually answer with, “well, then nothing will happen if there is nothing there, so it’s no big deal if I’m wrong.”

I’ll say, “no, no, that’s not what I mean. I mean what if you die and you find yourself face to face with Zeus? Boy will he ever be pissed!”

I mean that tongue in cheek of course. I believe in Zeus just as much as I believe in God or the tooth fairy. It’s fun to throw a wrench in their system though.

But seriously, If there is a heaven and an all-loving god like I’m told then I would like to think that being a kind, moral, helpful, all around decent person would be enough to get a person entrance to the land of angels. If that’s not enough and the only thing barring my admittance is that I didn’t believe in that god then I would find that god to be a petty, egotistical, whiny brat on a power trip.

Let’s say an atheist dies (his name is Ernest) and finds out that he “was wrong” and he is now standing in front of the pearly gates with God glaring down on him. I imagine the exchange would go something like this:

Ernest: “Oh dear, I guess I was wrong.”

God: “ Yes my son and boy am I pissed.”

Ernest: “ Well, I’m sorry about that but if you had perhaps given me some reason to believe in you then things would have been different.”

God: “It doesn’t matter now. This is the final judgment and I’m sending your heathen ass to hell.”

Ernest: “But God, I’ve done my very best to be a good person while I was alive.”

God: “So you saved four orphans and a kitten from a burning building, cured cancer and found a solution to world hunger. Big deal, don’t you know it’s all about ME. You didn’t go to church once to bask in MY glory . You never said a single prayer to YOUR ONLY GOD. Not once did you acknowledge the awesomeness and power that is ME. ME. ME. ME. I AM ME! Damn you! Off to hell with you!”

I guess I should start believing immediately or I’ll be royally frakked.

It's the end of the world as we know it......again and again and again and again......

2009-06-19T18:14:00.006-06:00

Not that it's anything new but the whole end of the world thing seems to be popping up a lot more lately. I have already been given invitations to two conferences where the lucky attendees will receive the secrets to surviving the end of the world. Now when they say "survive", I'm quite sure they don't mean in a physical way. I guess they are referring to your soul and which way it will ultimately end up after the death and destruction our all-loving creator will visit upon us. Why I would want to nuzzle myself up in the arms of the mass exterminator, I have no idea, but I'm guessing it's better than the alternative. Although, given the winters around here, I'm not altogether put out by the prospect of an eternity of heat.

There are tons of end of the world scenarios and way too numerous to go into all of them here. I will mention the biggest one, the biblical prophecy which is affectionately known as the end-time. A gentleman by the name of Ronald Weinland has written two tedious books called "2008 - God's Final Witness" and "The Prophesied End Time". Both are generously provided for free. Ronald fancies himself as god's end-time witness and spokesman. Yeah, haven't heard that one before. He confidently states "Billions are prophesied to die! You do not have another decade to prepare yourself! The urgency is now!" Oh dear. Sounds serious. According to Ronald (oops, I mean god) man has been allowed to self rule for the last 6000 years (that is how old the earth is you see). Well, we royally frakked that up and now we have to pay. How did we mess things up so badly you ask? War? Pollution? Murder? Paris Hilton? No. With religion. Yup, you heard right, it seems that almost all the folks in the world are just doing the whole religion thing wrong. They are worshipping the wrong god or performing such atrocities such as celebrating the Passover on the wrong day. While the author seems unaware of the irony of this statement, I laughed heartily for several seconds.

It all revolves around the opening of seals and the sounding of trumpets and other such colorful imagery. There are seven seals to be opened and it seems that the sixth one already has been. We're in trouble folks, run for the hills and repent. When the seventh seal is opened, we have but three and a half years left. There is also talk of seven thunders. These thunders will herald the arrival of two of god's witnesses who will wander around preaching for awhile until they meet their demise in the streets of Jerusalem where their bodies will lie for three and a half days (ewwww) at which point god will call them to heaven.

The thunders so far have been:

1. 9/11 and the following war on terror.
2. The increasing destruction from earthquakes such as the 2004 tsunami.
3. The growing destructiveness from the weather.
4. Global economic upheaval.
5. Death. (?) To confusing with phases and what-not.
6. The growing revelation of god's end-time witnesses.
7. The accelerated revelation of god to man. (blah, blah, blah)

Then that's it. The witnesses preach, die, rot in the street and then Armageddon. God will deliver the ultimate smiting.

What kills me is this guy thinks that what he is preaching is something new and revolutionary. Trust me man, it's been beat to death and quite frankly, it's getting boring. I chose merely one example out of many. I didn't bother searching the Internet for them all but a quick googling of "end of the world predictions" reveals more than I care to muddle through.

You might also want to mark December 21, 2012 on your calendars. This is the day the world will experience cataclysmic and apocalyptic events. This is one even the non-religious can sink their teeth into. It revolves around the Mesoamerican Long Count calendar. This calendar is how the Mayans kept track of the days and years but it only lasts for 5125 days and terminates on December 21 or 23, 2012. There are many interpretations of this end of the world scenario and not all of them end in destruction. Some think it is just the beginning of a new age and new world order. Sounds better than "billions will die!" Other variations include the planet Nibiru smashing into us or that the earth, sun and the galactic equator will come into alignment causing a profound spiritual transition for mankind.

What worries me the most about these people is that if they think the world is going to imminently come to an end then what incentive do they have for keeping the planet safe and healthy for future generations? Troublesome.

The world has been predicted to end many times already. Fortunately for us, the earth has remained blissfully unaware of it's impending doom......much to the dismay of the doomsday prophets.

Hallelujah! Praise the merciful Lord! And bring me some of those rocks over there!

2009-06-07T18:52:00.008-06:00

Ah, the bible, that bastion of faith and holiness that the religious cling to and glean comfort from. Bible believing Christians regard both the New and Old Testament as the undiluted word of god, spoken by god and written down in its perfect form by humans. If you type bible into wikipedia you see that it’s pretty complicated. Different religions haves different bibles called by different names and each one has numerous translations and versions. I doubt that most folks who believe in god have even read the whole bible. They learn snippets in church and read the lovely cartoon children’s version (mercifully free of cartoon infanticide and other such atrocities) to their offspring. But some people take every word of the bible as truth and claim that it all happened in real life. The earth was created by god in six days along with Adam and Eve. There really was a flood and the animals (including dinosaurs) were saved by Noah on a giant ark. Etc, etc. Even many of the religious people I know think that those people who take the bible literally are kooks. I think they are kooks too but I give kudos to them for taking their faith to the max. I think that they are the only true god fearing believers.

I don’t know how the others can even claim to believe in god as they only take parts of the bible into consideration. They pick and choose which passages such sound nice and conform with their morals and lifestyle and discard the parts that are vile or unacceptable to their way of life. Doesn’t this frighten them? God is obviously against working on Sunday or being gay yet religious people still do both. Isn’t going against god’s will a bad thing to do? Just look at what happened to poor Job when he had the gall to ask god why he was being punished for no reason at all. I hereby offer a list of some things that all religious people should start to do to ensure their place in heaven. These laws are handed down by god himself and written down in the bible. You're welcome.

1. Marriage shall consist of a union between one man and one or more women. (Gen 29:17-28; II Sam 3:2-5.) Marriage shall not impede a man's right to take concubines in addition to his wife or wives. (II Sam 5:13; I Kings 11:3; II Chron 11:21)

2. A marriage shall be considered valid only if the wife is a virgin. If the wife is not a virgin, she shall be executed.(Deut 22:13-21) Marriage of a Christian and a pagan shall be forbidden. (Gen 24:3; Num 25:1-9; Ezra 9:12; Neh 10:30)

3. Since marriage is for life, neither this Constitution nor the constitution of any State, nor any state or federal law, shall be construed to permit divorce. (Deut 22:19; Mark 10:9)

4. If a married man dies without children, his brother shall marry the widow. If he refuses to marry his brother's widow or deliberately does not give her children, he shall pay a fine of one shoe and be otherwise punished in a manner to be determined by law. (Gen. 38:6-10; Deut 25:5-10)

5. Each citizen shall have the right to sell his daughter(s) into slavery, setting his own price. (Exodus 21:7)

6. All citizens may own slaves, like in the good old days, both male and female, so long as they're foreigners. (Lev 25:44)

7. Any citizen who finds his neighbor working on Sunday must kill him. (Exodus 35:2)

8. Eating shellfish of any sort must be deemed "an abomination," with penalties set by local law enforcement. (Lev 11:10)

9. Any citizen with poor eyesight and who nevertheless goes to church, shall be guilty of an abomination. (Lev 21:20)

10. Trimming the hair around the temples should be a capital crime. (Lev 19:27)

11. Since touching the skin of a dead pig makes one "unclean," no one can wear gloves made of pigskin. (Lev 11:6-8)

12. Anyone who plants two different crops in a field, who wears garments made of two different fabrics, or who curses or blasphemes, must be stoned to death. (Lev 19:19)

Where do I go from here?

2009-05-30T21:26:00.003-06:00

I found something that fascinates me. Something intriguing and stimulating. An obsession if you will. Skepticism has become more than a hobby for me and it’s driving me crazy. Much to his chagrin, I sit and bitch at my husband about all the insane wooishness that exists on this planet. There’s not much usefulness in this obsession of mine. It’s useful in the way that I know that I and my family won’t get suckered by the charlatans and snake oil salesmen, but what can I do for others? Daniel Loxton has been kind enough to give his publication “What do I do Next?” to everyone for free. It lists 105 ways of getting the word out and bringing skepticism out of the closet and into the mainstream. While I do some of the things, there are many that I just don’t think I would be capable of doing. Skepticism requires confidence and a thick skin. Sadly, I have neither and this is a barrier that keeps me from going further. I would love to find a way of making money with my newly found fascination. When one finds something that interests them so much, they try to find a way to make some cash and thusly using the time usually wasted with such a preoccupation wisely.

Some things I considered was teaching a class in critical thinking. Again the lack of confidence comes in. I’m just not very good with conflict. That sucks, I know. Another thought was to become a scientific paranormal investigator and follow in the footsteps of the greats, like Joe Nickell. I hope he has an opening for a padawan because I wouldn’t know how to get started.

Skeptics get a bad rap and I honestly don't know why. We are only interested in helping people and keeping them safe and keeping their hard earned money in their pockets. Prominent skeptics expose charlatans and keep science in the forefront. Supertitious thinking is examined and rejected. Why do people consider these things bad? Folks don't like having their bubbles burst and prefer the warm fuzzies they feel when immersed in delusion. Plus they just don't want to look stupid when proven wrong. Understandable.

I hope I can one day step out of my own bubble and help skepticism move forward which, from what I can tell, it seems to be doing. There is still much work to be done though, and I’d love to be able to do my part.

I know what you are wearing......

2009-05-17T19:47:00.004-06:00

I watched a show called “Paranormal Investigator” the other day. I was hoping they may have a bit of skepticism involved but I ended up being disappointed. They claim to be investigating phenomena with a critical eye and then letting the viewer decide the validity but it seems they skew things in favor of the phenomena being real. The show I watched dealt with remote viewing. It seems that there are those among us who can “see” things or events that are hidden or far away through psychic ability. For example, there is a picture in a sealed envelope, the remote viewer then doodles on a piece of paper and when the picture is removed from the envelope, there should be an uncanny resemblance. This is a magician's trick employed by many mentalists. The doodle is also usually vague but yet something that could fit a wide variety of things. On the show they had one man pull up a random picture on his laptop and the viewer then had to draw what he “saw.” He drew a bunch of little circles and said he saw a repeating pattern. The picture was a rocky stream with evergreen trees on one side. The viewer counted this as a hit. A bunch of little circles? Really? Even if this was a legitimate “hit” and he really saw a bunch of circles and a repeating pattern in his head that correlated to the picture, what good would that do? Would I even know to think that the picture was a stream? If I needed to know where the enemy was camping out in a secret outpost, would a bunch of circles really help? How about longitude and latitude? Little more helpful don’t you think?

“Project Stargate” was a US government project that spent millions of dollars on studying the potential of remote viewing in military operations. It was eventually shut down because the statistical evidence of any efficiency was just not there. The construction and launch date of a submarine was considered a success contributed to remote viewing and prediction. No evidence was given for this “prediction.” Or maybe I should say “guess”?

Stuart Landsborough has a challenge for psychics which would be right up the remote viewer’s alley making him/her $50,000.00 richer. There is a promissory note hidden within only 100 metres of the challenge display in Puzzling World in Wanaka, New Zealand. The note is in two pieces and the viewer need only to tell Stuart where each note is hidden to win the cash. Stuart has reduced the area over the years from 5 kilometres to 200 metres to 100 metres. Yet, since 1974, the prize remains unclaimed. I guess all the remote viewers out there are all independently wealthy. I had the chance to visit Puzzling World a few years ago and was thrilled when I discovered this challenge. Just ask my hubby who had to restrain my joyous jumpings with glee.

As for why I don’t believe in remote viewing and would consider it to be a giant pile of bantha poo? All I have to do is to point anyone to this site. Case closed. A man on the “Paranormal Investigator” show said that they can find anything. Some examples he gave where the holy grail, the ark of the covenant and Mozart’s grave. If I suddenly had the ability to find things anywhere in the world just by thinking about them, the first thing I would do is find all those missing kids. Are these remote viewers so busy doing parlor tricks with sealed envelopes that they just don’t have the time? Here's a thought......maybe it just isn’t possible.

In a Paranormal State of Delusion

2009-04-10T19:25:00.003-06:00

You hear strange noises in the middle of the night. You wake from a restless dream only to see an apparition staring at you from the foot of your bed. You feel a hand on your shoulder. What could be causing these mysterious and frightening things? You want to feel safe in your house but you can’t because you are obviously being harassed by evil entities hell bent on destroying your peace of mind and sanity. So who are you gonna call? The Paranormal Research Society of course. You can find this crack investigative team on A&E on Monday nights on a show called Paranormal State. The lead investigator, Ryan, had some scary experiences with the paranormal as a child (no details given) and he is now in search of answers. He has assembled a team and they now help people solve their own ghost mysteries.

There are two different types of paranormal investigators. The ones that use actual science to get to the truth such as Benjamin Radford and the ones (like the PRS) who use theatrics and useless equipment to try to validate what they already believe to be the cause. The cause, of course, being ghosties. The latter is the most ubiquitous and the ones who get the most publicity. I suppose “You don’t have ghosts, you have squirrels,” just doesn’t make for riveting television. The stories you hear from people who think they are haunted are quite often quite fabulous. It makes one wonder what is really going on. Sure, the reason could be dead folks coming to poke us and generally be a bother in the backside but I find that highly unlikely and refuse to accept that as a first and final answer or even as an answer at all. If I had the know-how, I would love to pursue a career in scientific paranormal investigating because I want to know the REAL reason, even if it means something as mundane as faulty electrical.

I want to discuss one episode of Paranormal State in particular because it highlights a mundane reason for a “haunting”. Ryan and his crew go into a situation with many pre-conceived notions that I believe hinder their ability to properly conduct an unbiased investigation. 1. They believe that the person in question is being haunted. Quite simply, there be ghosts. 2. They believe that there are people that can communicate with said ghosts. 3. They are very religious. Now I don't really think being religious would hinder a person but they believe it to such a point that they think evil entities can actually possess people and that exorcism is a viable option to remedy such a situation.

The episode starts with the team interviewing the family, in this case, a mother and daughter. They determine that the family is feeling ill and occasionally see a presence in the room with them. There are reports of nausea and mom feels pressure on her head and chest. The first tentative thought that popped into my head was carbon monoxide posioning. A team member does some historical research and discovers that the house is built only a few hundred feet above an old coal mine. There were two deadly accidents in the mine and sadly, not all of the men were extracted. Voila! The house is obviously haunted by the tortured souls of these miners who died so suddenly and tragically many years ago. Phew! Glad we know now what sort of ghosts we're dealing with here. Then Ryan makes his biggest mistake. He calls in the immensly irritating Chip Coffey. Chip bills himself as a "clairvoyant, clairaudient and clairsentient psychic, as well as a fully-conscious medium." Wow, fit that on to a business card! He walks around and spews nonsense about what he "senses." No evidence is given for what he says. we just have to take his word for it. Chip isn't the only medium used on Paranormal State but the rest are just as useless and entirely unhelpful.

The team then does something they call "dead time." It involves asking the spirits to reveal themselves by making some kind of noise. There is the usual drama and Blair Witch vision and we are occasionally rewarded with some random bump. For some reason, this must always be done in the middle of the night and in complete darkness. I guess it's a good way to heighten the excitment and make everyone good and jumpy. Through the course of this "investigation", Ryan and his team also begin to experience physical symptoms while in the house. Once again, I think of carbon monoxide poisoning. One morning, Ryan is called to the house, it seems that mom was "attacked" by the ghost and was taken to hospital by ambulance. While at the hospital her symptoms appear to be lessened. Ryan finally gets a clue and calls in a home inspector. Lo and behold they find.....wait for it.....a carbon monoxide leak. It seems that one of the symptoms of carbon monoxide poisoning is hallucinations along with all the other things that the family and team experienced. Not as exciting as dead miners moaning and lamenting but the lady of the house was very happy that her problem was solved. Ryan, on the other hand, actually looked a little dissapointed that the answer was not what he had hoped for.

If the PRS hadn't gone into the house with all their little pre-conceived notions then they may have solved this mystery earlier. I know I did. So if you start seeing things and feeling ill. Maybe check for gas leaks before calling in the Ghostbusters.

Happy 200th Birthday!

2009-02-12T18:52:00.006-07:00

Today is Charles Darwin's 200th birthday. I celebrated with a cupcake. Unfortunately, One of the side effects of being 200 hundred years old is that you are probably dead. Which, in Darwin's case, is probably a good thing as he didn't have to witness the circus that came to Dover, Colorado in 2005. Not the good kind of circus with elephants and popcorn either. The religious folk there decided that the kids in science class needed to hear that evolution isn't the only way that the earth and it's inhabitants came into being. They call this "science" Intelligent Design. This is simply creationism renamed and it has nothing to do with science.

They claim to have evidence and they can prove that what they say is true. The Discovery Institute has many long papers on the subject. Not sure what there is to talk about for so long since their answer for everything is simply, "God did it." Oh sorry, I mean an "Intelligent Designer did it." It seems though, that proponents of creationism spend precious little time defending their position and showing evidence for their findings. Rather, they attack evolution and pick it apart trying to find flaws and gaps. Because, if parts of evolution are not fully explained, then the whole theory must be thrown out and they must be right. Another thing that burns my biscuits is when the creationists say "after all it's just a THEORY." In science, the word theory means something different than in everyday English, in science, a theory is an explanation or model based on observation, experimentation, and reasoning, especially one that has been tested and confirmed as a general principle helping to explain and predict natural phenomena. Gravity is also a theory. Guess we should scrap that one too.

Creationism is a big and controversial topic and it's driven purely by religion. The people who believe in it don't want to look at the real science and face the fact that everything they have known their whole lives is wrong. They build museums featuring people living beside dinosaurs and try to push it down the throats of students. Luckily the judge in Dover did the right thing and ruled against teaching ID in schools. Hopefully this trend continues and religion is kept out of our schools and stays in churches where is belongs.

I also think it's funny that they cry how unfair it is that kids are taught only the one explanation of evolution and not taught that there may be another way that we all came into being. Which, according to them, is that all the animals and people just kind of poofed into existence. God was up in his playroom with his modeling clay forming t-rexs, tigers, platypuses and Angelina Jolie and then just plopped them on this planet. Okay, so why don't we then also teach the children about any of these creation stories? What makes them any less valid than evolution or genesis? If you want to know more about evolution vs. creationism, Talk Origins is a great website for much of the info you need.

Bottom line.....humans used to be monkeys. Deal with it.

It's all just Religulous!

2009-01-28T10:04:00.005-07:00

I watched the documentary Religulous with Bill Maher the other night. It sheds a light on how religion really is detrimental to the progress of humanity. I know lots of people who are of the opinion that people should just let people believe whatever they want. That's okay to a point but then they are saying that it's okay for people in Africa to murder or torture their children because they were branded as witches. This is religion, these Africans are Christians and believe in the same god that the people I know do and they believe, just as the people I know, that their beliefs are true and no one can tell them different. But then they say, people can believe in whatever they want as long as it's not hurting anyone. But religion on a world scale is hurting everyone. I'll agree that my religious friends and co-workers are harmless and their beliefs don't impact me one way or another but I'm looking at the bigger picture and every time religious beliefs get passed onto the next generation, it keeps us in the dark ages. We need to move forward and leave the superstitious thinking behind. Here are the last few minutes of Religulous. Bill Maher says things way better than I can.

"Plain fact is, religion must die for mankind to live. The hour is getting very late to be able to indulge in having key decisions made by religious people, by irrationalists, by those who would steer the ship of state not by a compass but by the equivalent of reading the entrails of a chicken. George Bush prayed a lot about Iraq but he didn't learn a lot about it. Faith means making a virtue out of not thinking. It's nothing to brag about and those who preach faith and enable and elevate it are our intellectual slaveholders, keeping mankind in a bondage to fantasy and nonsense that has spawned and justified so much lunacy and destruction.

Religion is dangerous because it allows human beings who don't have all the answers to think that they do. Most people would think it's wonderful when someone says, "I'm willing Lord, I'll do whatever you want me to do." Except that since there are no gods actually talking to us, that void is filled in by people and their own corruptions and limitations and agendas. And anyone who tells you they know, they just know, what happens when you die, I promise you, they don't. How can I be so sure? Because I don't know and you do not possess mental powers that I do not. The only appropriate attitude for man to have about the big questions is not the arrogant certitude that is the hallmark of religion, but doubt. Doubt is humble and that is what man needs to be considering that human history is just a litany of getting shit dead wrong.

This is why rational people, anti religionists, must end their timidity and come out of the closet and assert themselves. And those who consider themselves only modestly religious really need to look in the mirror and realize that the solace and comfort that religion brings you actually comes at a terrible price.

If you belonged to a political party or a social club that was tied to as much bigotry, misogyny, homophobia, violence and sheer ignorance as religion is, you'd resign in protest. To do otherwise is to be an enabler, a mafia wife, with the true devils of extremism that draw their legitimacy from the billions of their fellow travellers. If the world does come to an end, here or wherever, or if it limps into the future decimated by the effects of a religion inspired nuclear terrorism. Lets remember what the real problem was. That we learned how to precipitate mass death before we got past the neurological disorder of wishing for it. That's it. Grow up or die."

Yes Virginia there is a Santa Claus

2008-12-27T20:10:00.002-07:00

This time of year is always a time of decision for me. Should I tell my daughter that Santa is real? I don't think I can. Maybe it's the skeptic in me but I just can't make myself lie to her. She is six this year and finally grasping what Santa is supposed to be and she is bombarded with who he is and what he does from TV, books and movies. But I also find it hard to come right out and tell her that none of it's true. Yeah, I'm a gutless flip-flopper. When she comes right out and asks me if Santa is real I counter her questions with questions of my own. "Do you think he's real?" So far she has answered yes but I hear the hesitation in her voice. She is growing into a fine skepchick in her own right and I'm convinced she has doubts. But just like a true believer she WANTS it to be true so she convinces herself that it is. I'm okay with that though, as she gets older and learns to think more for herself, she will be okay with letting the myth go. I know she will outgrow it. Makes me wonder though, why do children outgrow the Santa myth but continue to hang onto believing in the other and just as equally far fetched myth of God?

This is the first year that she wrote a letter to Santa and the one thing she asked for in the letter we gave to her addressed from Santa. The first present from Santa ever actually. I was proud to see her critical thinking skills in action though. When she received her pre-printed form letter she questioned why Santa wrote her name on the envelope but addressed the letter itself to "Dear Little Friend" and then she promptly asked me if I wrote the letter. I could safely say I didn't without lying.

I don't begrudge others for telling their children it's all true but I get a little angry when people think I would be horrible if I chose to not lie to her. Why would deciding to tell my child the truth about something be a bad thing. Maybe it's spineless of me but the ire I know I would get from others is one of the reasons I can't tell her it's just not true. I don't think there is any damage done either way. I never really believed and I've become a healthy skeptic. My husband, on the other hand, bought the whole story hook, line, and sinker. He is also now a skeptic and neither of us have any psychological issues stemming from either believing or not believing in Santa.

I'm likely just over-thinking the whole thing anyhow. I'll continue to make my smart little girl question and think for herself and I'm positive all will work out in end.

Now, what to do about the Tooth Fairy?

Just a quick question.

2008-12-09T23:08:00.001-07:00

Why do the hosts of religious shows always speak as though they are addressing a room full of 5 year olds? Seriously, the blonde lady and her husband from 100 Huntley Street make my teeth ache.

The burden of proof

2008-10-05T00:16:00.001-06:00

This is another topic high on my irksome list and a concept that many believers have a hard time grasping. My friend tells me she has a cousin who has psychic powers. I say there is no such thing as psychic powers. She says, "prove there isn't!" Well it doesn't work that way. The onus of producing evidence lies with the person making the claim. Simple.

My favorite rebuttal and staple argument in the skeptical community is the unicorn. I tell my friend that I have an invisible pink unicorn living in my backyard. She says "I don't believe you." So I say, "prove there isn't an invisible pink unicorn living in my backyard, as a matter of fact, prove there is no such thing as invisible pink unicorns." She can't. You can't prove a negative. It's up to me to provide evidence for my claim. I heard a good example from James Randi of not being able to prove a negative. Now my friend tells me that reindeer can fly. She knows it's true because her best friend's cousin's sister once saw a reindeer flying. She challenges me to prove that reindeer can't fly. Okay. So we take every reindeer in the world to the top of a tall building and push them over the edge one by one. We end up with a giant pile of dead reindeer on the pavement below. So have we proven that reindeer can't fly? No. It just means that every one of the reindeer we pushed off the edge perhaps didn't feel like flying at that moment. Maybe they just aren't that bright. Or perhaps we missed some. Now wouldn't it have been easier if my friend would have just shown me one flying reindeer?

That is why the job of skeptic is a tough one. When challenged to prove it's not true we have to concede that we can't. We can point to the lack of concrete evidence or mention that no one has actually demonstrated any psychic ability in properly conducted tests or studies. Skeptics aren't out to "disprove" anything anyways. We seek evidence. If that evidence happens to support something paranormal then we adjust our mindset accordingly. We may say "there is no such thing as psychic powers" with a great deal of certainty but that sentence is always followed by "but I'm willing to be shown otherwise." I have yet to hear a believer say that. And they call skeptics close-minded! James Randi is willing to be shown otherwise and has a million dollars for anyone who can. It hasn't happened yet.

The best new show of the season

2008-10-02T10:06:00.002-06:00

I wasn't planning on watching "The Mentalist" but after reading some glowing reviews from some fellow skeptics, I had to check it out. The verdict? Loved it! I now have to make room for another show in my already packed roster of primetime TV watching. It will join all three C.S.I. shows, Criminal Minds, Terminator and (come January) Battlestar Galactica. Not like I know where I'll find the time to watch all of those.

Simon Baker plays the role of Patrick Jane. Patrick used to be a stage psychic and his performance looked a lot like the schlock that John Edward dishes out. Like John Edward, Patrick was a knowing fraud and used cold reading and keen observation skills to dupe his audiences into believing that he was communicating with their dead relatives. A personal tragedy leads him to re-evaluate his career choice and he becomes a consultant with the California Bureau of Investigation and now uses his finely honed mentalist skills to help them solve crimes. Like others, I actually cheered out loud in my living room when Patrick said that there are no such things as psychic powers. I also laughed out loud when a co-worker asked him about his previous career as a stage psychic. She asked him if the real psychics knew that he was faking it. That is just funny on so many levels. The show also scores high on more than just the skeptic angle. It's well written and the main character is likable and believable. I like the fact that he's also not always 100% right but still manages to catch the bad guy in the end.

The skeptic (and it surely is a true skeptic) at the helm of this show deserves accolades. I urge everyone to get the first two episodes to check it out and then continue to watch. I hope "The Mentalist" enjoys a long and prosperous run.

Jarvis has left the building

2008-09-20T16:32:00.000-06:00

The building I work in is haunted. It's true. At least according to the many employees who have personally had an encounter with our incorporeal mischief maker known as Jarvis. There are other spirits that call the Dow Centre home as well, but Jarvis is the one who gets the credit when things seem to be going awry. I've always found it fascinating that when some people have an experience that they can't immediately identify, they label it as paranormal. Hear a creak in the night? Must be a ghost. Got a chill? Those wacky spooks must be trying to get you riled again. Hear an eerie whisper? That's just dear departed Granny Betty wishing you a good night. Why don't people look into a natural cause first? I guess when something unexplained and scary happens, they have to justify it in their minds to make sense of it and be able to deal.

I find the main reason many of the people I've talked to believe in ghosts is because they have had an experience that they just couldn't explain and it was much too weird and spooky to be anything but a ghost. However, many of these people were believers beforehand and the spooky thing usually happens at night or when they are alone. If you are already jumpy and going into a situation with a preconceived bias, then any little thing will likely make you jump and reach the wrong conclusions. People's senses are easily fooled. What we see and hear isn't always accurate to what is really happening. Take for example a magic trick. Magicians rely on this natural human condition to make it seem that something is happening when it's not. You know the coin didn't really disappear but your eyesight has told you differently. That's why when someone says that they KNOW it's true because they saw it with their own eyes, you still can't be sure. One of the main things skeptics are known to repeat is that anecdotes do not equal evidence and no matter how many compelling ghost stories there are, without real proof, they are just stories.

People who have had experiences triumphantly ask me to "explain that!" Well, I can't, I wasn't there. I can give you my guesses as to what it may have really been but without actually witnessing it myself of course I can't explain it. They count that as a victory for the "you see, it must be a ghost" side. I've asked my co-workers to tell me about some of their experiences but the response has been less than enthusiastic. Most of them know my opinion on such matters and I think they are worried that the only reason I want their stories is for some nefarious pointing and laughing on my part. But I'm really just curious. Honestly. Well, I have heard stories and will try to type them from memory. These are second and perhaps third story accounts so accuracy is not guaranteed.

There is a small child spectre amongst us. I have heard tell of a child's laughter in the hallway late at night and the sound of quick footsteps running up behind a person but when they turn around, nothing. The little horsey on a spring in the play area has been said to start rocking entirely on it's own. A custodian saw the ladies washroom door open as if someone had just walked in. When she checked, no one was in there. One custodian is especially interesting as he claims to not only be able to see the ghosts but interact with them as well.

I did get one e-mail from a former theatre employee and she had this story to relate:

"We were in the box office (Theatre Lobby) talking. It was probably close to 4:30 pm. Marian and I were talking about food - Ukrainian farm food. We were standing in front of her desk (next to the wall across from the box office rolling gate). Out of the corner of my eye I saw a ball of light fall down in an arc (close to her desk). It went from the ceiling to the floor. Marian and I both stopped talking and I asked her "did you see that?" Oh yeah, we both saw it. She went home and left me in the office!!!

Now, please keep in mind that I wear glasses and have no clear peripheral vision. The "orb" was a little fuzzy! But since Marian saw it too, I was sure it happened!"

She also added this about some other co-workers:

"They both heard a voice in the box office one evening. I was there too but I was in the Lobby at the time. They were really freaked out. Also, someone (can't remember who, maintenance or a custodian) told a story about the mirrors in the men's lobby washroom. They were foggy. Thinking the mirrors were dirty, they went to touch it and the fog disappeared."

My own experience was easily explained. I was told that when you go to the bathroom it sometimes appears as though someone is silently gliding in front of the stall. Sure enough, one day, whilst peeing, the light outside the stall dimmed in such a way that it looked for all the world like a non-existent person had just walked by. While washing my hands it took only a moment for me for realize that when the Booster Juice right beside the bathrooms turns on the blenders, the lights momentarily dim. It's just a matter of looking at the experience in a different way to discover the truth but people don't want the truth. They want to persist in the delusion.

His will be done.

2008-09-12T20:35:00.007-06:00

So I was wondering, isn't prayer a direct defiance of god's will? I offer an example.

Tamlandia is experiencing a drought. Crops are withering and people are about to lose money and lives. The leader of Tamlandia implores it's people to pray for rain. Okay, but if god knows all then I'm sure he would already be aware of the dire situation. Not only that, he would be responsible for it. God's will. So who do the Tamlandians think they are to question god's will? Didn't other folks get into plenty of trouble for doing that? The name Job comes to mind.

I once read a statement on a believers website that all prayers are answered. It's just that sometimes the answer is no. So god has listened to all these prayers and yet has said. "Nah, I think I'll let the drought go on until a suitable number of people have died." So it doesn't matter how many people pray thousands of prayers for weeks or months. The answer could be still be no huh? Well then my next obvious question would be......why bother?

I guess people would say you don't know what the answer will be unless you ask. So here's my response to that. If this god is all knowing then you think he would know the obvious. Drought = bad and rain = good. Pretty easy choice. Why would I have to ask this being who loves me and only wants the best for me to provide me with rain to help my crops grow? The whole concept is really just incomprehensible and I really don't see why people bother when they have no guarantee of what the outcome will be. It just points all the more to the randomness of life and the lack of a sky daddy that runs it all.

Bible camp goodness

2008-08-28T23:17:00.002-06:00

I just read in our local paper that the Alliance church in Morinville wrapped up it's annual week long children's bible camp last Friday. Each year there is a different theme. This year's theme? Science.

Yeah, I'll just let the irony speak for itself.

The second wave of predator

2008-08-28T21:23:00.005-06:00

This is a topic that makes me angry for many reasons. If believers don't listen to me about anything else, I wish they would at least agree with me on this one thing. In fact, just say the next sentence out loud as you read it. Psychics DO NOT help law enforcement agencies solve crimes. This is a big argument I get from those who believe in psychics. I really don't blame them actually. Through the media and shows like "Psychic Detectives" and "Medium", the public is wrongly led to believe that this practice is commonplace. In fact, when psychics try to get involved with investigations, they only serve to de-rail progress and cost valuable man hours in following false leads. They throw out generalities like "the body is near water" or "near rocks" or "I see a field" or maybe they attempt a more specific guess like "I see the number six". Then if the case is solved, there is the chance to retro-fit. Perhaps the body was found in a field within 5 kilometres of a lake and the road nearby is Range Road 568. Well, bingo! The psychic was so right and obviously very helpful. Sigh.

Project Jason is a website created in honor of Jason Jolkowski who went missing in 2001 at age 19. His family created the site to assist others with missing family members. There is a section warning people against turning to pychics for help. Here is a great quote from that section.

"There is not one proven case in which a psychic, using special powers or abilities not given to the typical person, has located a missing person, whether dead or alive. It may be possible that some persons have an ability that defies science and logic, but there is no known scientific evidence of this. These persons re-victimize families by taking away hope where it should stand, and giving hope where there is none. No person has the right to do this to another."

Some argue that there are pyschics that don't charge for this kind or work but even they have something to gain from possible publicity. Book sales, booking more readings, etc. Not charging money doesn't make them any more accurate. I hate the way the media treats this as well. A newspaper article may state that a psychic was asked to work on a case or "helped" with a case. They don't mention any specifics or if the pychic was even helpful at all. That's not exciting and newsworthy enough I guess. What if a long cold case once had a psychic "helping"? Do they mention that this psychic was of no help at all? Nope.

Here are some stellar crimefighting highlights of some the more famous psychics. Sylvia Browne told a family that their missing son was dead when he was very much alive. She told a lady that her missing granddaughter was sold into slavery in Japan when in reality the poor little girl had been killed close to home shortly after she was abducted. Noreen Renier's claims have not held up to scrutiny. Carla Baron has solved how many crimes? Um...none. Allison Dubois simply plays the guessing game and hopes she gets lucky. Seems luck wasn't with her in this case.

Psychics prey on the grieving and desperate to further themselves. Marc Klaas, father of abducted and murdered 12 year-old Polly Klaas, has described psychics as the second wave of predator. I agree with that statement 100%.

E-mail proof that god is real

2008-07-27T10:26:00.004-06:00

What are the three topics you are supposed to avoid discussing with folks you just met? Oh yeah, sex, politics and religion. Well, I’m about to throw one of those out the window, so if you are easily offended, I suggest that you stop reading now.

I recently received a couple of e-mails which I think are meant to scare me into believing in a god. I’m also quite certain that the senders of these e-mails see them in a completely different light than I do. The first one I deleted in disgust so I will try to remember as much as I can. This was a PowerPoint presentation that started with informing me that god takes care of us even when we don’t know it. It explained that some of the people who survived 9-11 did so because they were delayed that day for some mundane reason such as being stuck in traffic, stopping at a pharmacy for some band-aids, their kid forgot lunch for school, etc. I guess this is proof that god was looking out for these people. This makes me angry. How pretentious. That completely devalues the lives of those who did perish on that day. What makes the lives of the survivors any more special. To me it just shows all the more how random and unpredictable life is. The presentation then went on to show other ways that god looks out for us, I don’t remember all the examples but the one that made me livid went something like: “Did you ever see a coupon in the paper for something you’ve been wanting for a long time?” Well that is of course god’s way of helping me out. Really? So all the little children being used as sex slaves around the world don’t need any help but Tamara just has to have those shoes she’s been eyeing up!

The next e-mail warns that mocking god can lead to untimely death. Some examples used are John Lennon, Marilyn Munroe and "the guy who built the Titanic". (Yeah, apparently one guy built the whole thing himself??) So these people mocked god in one way or another and died before their time. So this god kills people for making simple statements such as John Lennon saying that the Beatles are more famous then Jesus (14 years later I might add) but is perfectly fine with letting rapists and murderers life long, happy lives? The Titanic example is just absurd. There is no name given for "the guy" who said that even god could not sink the Titanic so we don't know what happened to him but we do know what happened to the Titanic. A fellow JREF forumite put it well when he proposed this little prayer that "the guy" would perhaps offer after being proven wrong.

"Gee, God. You were right. You could sink the ship I build. How stupid of me to question your powers. Thank you for showing me the errors of my ways and killing a couple of thousand people in the process. Won't do it again, lest you give me lung cancer or wait another 14 years before sending a maniac to shoot me dead. Amen."

And I’m now supposed to worship this spiteful, petty bully? No thanks, you can have him. Oops, did I just say that out loud? I guess I'd better make sure my will is in order.

I’m quite certain that god doesn’t have internet either. Since his almightiness obviously hasn’t heard of The Blasphemy Challenge. If he did, the death rate would no doubt spike dramatically.

Oh Oprah....

2008-07-14T11:35:00.003-06:00

I don't watch the Oprah Winfrey show. But while channel surfing the other day, I had to stop and watch for a bit. Oprah had some guests on her show that claimed they could regress people into their past lives. One guest said that the phobias we may have today are a result from something that happened in a previous life. One woman was deathly afraid of dolls. Under hypnosis she recalled herself dying in a car accident while her frightened young children watched. The dolls in this life are the representation of her children in that life. After having found this out she can now be around dolls again. Wow. Sounds compelling. And Oprah agrees, so it must be true.

Hypnosis has many problems. The person being hypnotized already knows that they are to be regressed to a past life. This could cause their mind to make up something (perhaps something they saw on TV) to fit what the hypnotist wants. In turn, the hypnotist asks leading questions and plants memories. They help the subject embellish and fill out their made up scenario. Even if they don't think that is what they are doing. Carl Sagan talks about false memories through hypnotism in his book "The Demon Haunted World". There have been many families ripped apart because a hypnotist has falsely implanted memories of abuse into their patient's minds. If someone could be made to believe something that important and life changing that never actually happened then a little thing like a car crash that never happened isn't that much of a stretch.

Now Oprah promotes a lot of woo. She is well known for her endorsement of "The Secret" and has aired shows that featured Allison Dubois and uncritical views of psychics. I hate to put down my own gender but I think women may be more gullible when it comes to far fetched claims then men. Not sure why this is but since Oprah has a much bigger female fan base then male, she is not helping to turn that around at all. While there were quite a few women at TAM in Vegas, we were still far outnumbered by the huge amounts of testosterone in the room. 29% of attendees were female. Hopefully more women will join the ranks. Go skepchicks!

Cadavers Aplenty

2008-07-06T22:20:00.010-06:00

Yesterday I went with my six year-old daughter to the Body Worlds Exhibit at the science centre. I wasn't concerned that she would be frightened. She enjoys learning about anatomy and has several books on the subject. Granted, the pictures are mainly cartoons but I showed her a picture of what we would see at the exhibit and she said she would be okay with it. She's a smart girl (yeah, I'm biased) and already knows the names of many organs and bones.

You may not want to read this if you are eating. The exhibit itself was fascinating in an educational yet sideshow freak way. The bodies are submitted to a revolutionary polymer preservation method called Plastination. They can then be cut up or sliced and posed any way revealing as much or little as desired. The skull can be sliced off to show the brain or any of the muscles and bones cut away to be able to see inner organs. The bodies can also be frozen and sliced into thick or paper thin sheets. There were also many individual organs and bones on display in cases. Some had diseases and some showed the consequences of bad lifestyle choices. My daughter now knows exactly why smoking is a bad idea. She also got to hold an actual human lung. Very cool. She was well behaved and very interested the whole time but I'm not sure that she has actually wrapped her brain around the fact that they were actual dead bodies. But maybe she did.

This display has also caused much controversy. Mostly the religious types crying desecration and that the human body should be treated with more respect. I'll agree that on some level it is a little disturbing just because you are dealing with death so close and personally. But every one of those people donated their bodies to that purpose and more are signing up everyday. It's what they WANTED to happen to them after death. It's their CHOICE. End of discussion. People donate their bodies to help further science and education, all the power to them. Would I do it? Not sure, not that I'll have any further need for my body once it's expired, but it's weird to think that people would be gawking at my innards (and outards) long after I'm gone. Something to think about.

Dissension and obsession

2008-07-06T09:15:00.003-06:00

Why does the word “skeptic” have such a negative connotation? Most people’s first thoughts are miserable cynic when they hear me describe myself as such. I can see it in their faces. I’ve taking to saying that I’m a critical thinker instead. It means the same thing but doesn’t seem to get the same reaction. Until, of course, I explain what that means.

Then there’s the semantics. “Well that’s just your opinion and I have mine.” I get that a lot, is that true? Isn’t an opinion something objective and personal? People have opinions about what brand of peanut butter tastes better, or if it tastes good at all (ewww). People have opinions about which political party they favour. But what about facts? Can these be opinions too? It is a fact that psychic powers have never been proven to exist. It is a fact that homeopathy hasn’t been shown to work better than placebo. It is a fact that my eyes are brown. I state these facts. If someone refuses to accept these facts, do they then just become my opinion?

Another criticism I get is that it's rude to question and put down someone's beliefs. The word belief is defined in part as “confidence in the truth or existence of something not immediately susceptible to rigorous proof.” However, except for most of religion, everything is susceptible to rigorous proof and therefore should not be considered a belief. It then comes down to fact or not. Yes, I’ll concede that no one knows everything for absolute certain and that there’s always a chance we’ll find things previously unknown and science is finding fabulous new things everyday. But the far-fetched claims have been rigorously studied and have the odds stacked against them. The evidence is so far lacking to be considered fact anytime soon.

It’s not like I go around shaking people and calling them stupid (although sometimes I want to). In fact, I rarely talk about skeptical stuff at all. Sometimes the topic of conversation just turns to woo and I feel that I must step in and try to share some of the research I’ve been doing and maybe convince someone to look into a claim more before accepting it. That is what critical thinking is all about. Most of the time the conversation remains civil but I still get the objections listed above.

Sigh, I sometimes wish I had a less controversial obsession, maybe I should take up flower arranging.

If it were just that easy....

2008-07-05T00:14:00.004-06:00

Flipping through a catalogue, I came across these frightening products. I'm not sure what's worse, the claims they are making or that gullible people will actually spend their money on this quackery.

1. Magnetic Jewelry. Magnets do not have healing properties. Period. No properly done scientific study has ever produced results that show any benefit resulting from putting magnets anywhere on your body. Do not wear if pregnant? Are they serious? I guess those in the family way should also stay away from the fridge. Wouldn't want to get too near to all those lethal fridge magnets. But it's been around for centuries you say? Yeah, well being old doesn't make it work, it just makes it....well, old.

2. Weight Loss Ring. Just think about that and try not to laugh. I dare you. Don't you think that if losing weight were that easy there wouldn't be a single overweight person anywhere? Sorry to burst your bubble but I think there is a lot of exercise and eating right involved. No magic here folks, go about your business.

Sadly, what keeps these scams in business is the many endorsements they get from satisfied customers who feel much better after using the product. The placebo effect is very powerful and sadly a barrier to trying to get the truth out.

Slap, Hold, Wiggle, Drop

2008-07-04T19:27:00.003-06:00

At TAM I participated in the world record for spoon bending along with over 800 other people.

Check it out!!

I Think my Energy is Broken

2008-07-03T14:56:00.004-06:00

I have a co-worker who is a lovely girl. She is fun, helpful and always kind. But name a woo, any woo, and she likely buys into it hook, line and sinker. She is a fan of Sylvia Browne (gag) and believes wholeheartedly in ghosts, psychic powers, "The Secret" and much more.

It seems that she is now trying her hand at Reiki. Reiki is where you simply run your hands lightly over a person's body. This "re-establishes a normal energy flow of ki (life force energy) throughout the system which in turn can enhance and accelerate the body's innate healing ability." Okay. Basically it relaxes you. Of course it would, I feel pretty relaxed too when someone is lightly touching my body in a darkened room with soft music. Doesn't mean that there's anything happening to my ki or chi (whatever the heck that is) and I'm pretty sure anyone can relax someone else with a nice massage and you don't have to spend tons of money to become a registered practitioner to do that.

That is what my co-worker wants to do however and I don't think there is much that will deter her. She was practicing her newly found skills on a more skeptical co-worker and when he inadvertently twitched his thumb, she got very excited and claimed that it was working! His feelings weren't mutual.

None of the sites I've looked at contain any mention of any studies done or any scientific explanations for this invisible energy life force that can be transferred from one person to another. All the sites were filled to the brim with glowing testimonials and those are entirely what keeps this nonsense afloat. Where things get wacky is when they start talking about how this can be done over distances (huh?) and for only $185 you can learn how to do Reiki on your pet. Maybe you can get Fido to stop tearing up your slippers by fixing his chi.

Eeeek...ants!

2008-07-02T17:44:00.003-06:00

K, this isn't really about skeptical stuff but it is about sciencey stuff. Does that count? We recently bought an ant farm which contains a blue gel instead of dirt. NASA used this when they took ants to space as dirt would have collapsed and killed the little critters.

Our industrious friends have been working night and day tunneling a new home for themselves. Very cool to watch.

Cool ant fact: All the ants you see outside are female. The males are bred selectively only for breeding purposes. Hmmm, I think they are on to something there.

The appeal of Scientology

2008-07-02T16:38:00.004-06:00

Twenty-some years ago my mother-in-law was pulled into the clutches of the Scientologists. I don't fault her for going that route. It was a hard time in her life and Scientology promises much in the way of happiness and taking control. She's just another example of why critical thinking is so important. After giving the church much more money than she should have, she came to her senses and demanded every penny back. They eventually did pay her back and all is now good. My husband was a boy of about 12 at the time that his mom was going to sessions and he often got taken along. He was put in another room to colour and kept occupied while his mom was "audited" and regressed into her past lives.

The Scientologists have now found him again. A few months ago a member of the church called us and asked Ken if he was still interested in the teachings. I found that odd since his mom sued them for the money they took from her, but I guess that may not be common knowledge in their files. Ken told them he wasn't interested and hoped that would be it. Shortly thereafter however, we got a package in the mail with some literature and a DVD. I have watched the lengthy DVD in it's entirety to get an idea of what the Scientologists claim they are all about.

The whole video is an advertisement of the good they do in the world. Only a small fraction was devoted to their creed, beliefs and practices. If what they claim is to be believed (a DVD made about The Church of Scientology BY the Church of Scientology is going to be very skewed to the positive) then it seems that they are a doing a whole lot of good for mankind. I applaud their efforts on the human rights front, anti-drug campaign and literacy. All of which are said to be secular and global efforts which appear to be very worthwhile and making a difference . Of course, many other organizations are tackling these issues as well. But like I said, that's if the propaganda of the video is to be believed.

The main theme of Scientology though just seems to be self-help. How to be happy, more fulfilled, handle your emotions and those of others, and just to be a better person. Scientology claims to give you the "tools" to achieve these goals. The "tone scale" the "ARC triangle" for example. Sounds tempting, who doesn't want to be a happier better person and be able to deal with relationships better. Especially if you are facing tough times. I think there are other ways to get there without getting sucked into the wacky religious zealotry.

They have a foundation based in Glendale California called The Way to Happiness. They print a booklet called "The Way to Happiness" (obviously) which they say is non-religious moral code based on common sense. If you need this, then you don't have common sense. This booklet is rife with groundbreaking common sense advice such as "take care of yourself", "do not murder", "do not steal", "love and help children", "safeguard and improve your environment", etc. Have we gone down so far that we need a book to tell us how to behave properly. Maybe we have. Scary.

Curiously though, I found the video completely lacking in explaining the origins and others beliefs held by it's members. Nary a mention of past lives, thetans, or Xenu the alien ruler of the Galactic Confederacy. I wonder why?

Bottom line is that I still think Scientology as a personal religion isn't good for much more than separating you from your money and people should approach it with caution. If your life sucks, look into other ways of fixing it. If their worldwide campaigns to bring awareness to human rights, drug use and literacy are truly doing what they say then I hope they continue, but as an aid organization, not a religion.

An Amaz!ng time was had by all

2008-06-30T14:15:00.006-06:00

Last Sunday I came home from attending The Amaz!ng Meeting 6 in Las Vegas. I have been wanting to go to the JREF's annual skeptics convention for many years and can hardly believe that I actually got the chance to go. I spent most of the time awestruck and tongue-tied. The whole thing still seems surreal. I met so many fabulous like-minded people. The over 900 person attendance was the highest ever and it has been touted at the best TAM ever.

I think the conference was a catalyst for this blog. I just needed an outlet for my skeptical thoughts. Somewhere where I wouldn't be offending anyone and being called a cynic and bubble burster. Maybe I still am but I doubt many people will be reading this.

The speakers at TAM were fantastic and I feel that I learned a lot. The keynote speaker was an astrophysicist. How cool is that? So many intelligent, brilliant people can't be wrong. I was in awe of how they continue to try to teach critical thinking to the masses even though the odds are so very against them. Adam Savage was there, I love him to death and he is a special kind of crazy. His brain moves faster then his mouth and even though he spent 45 minutes talking about making himself a replica of the Maltese Falcon, I enjoyed every minute of it.

Penn & Teller made an appearance but instead of having something to talk about, they just did a Q&A session. I think I would rather a presentation then listening to Penn's bizarre political rants, but it was cool to get my picture with them nonetheless.

I met many of the forum members that I sort of interact with through the JREF forum. I'm generally a pretty shy, self conscious person so I spent most of the time just hanging out with various groups of people and just listening in on the conversations. So many, many folks much, much smarter than I. I'm very glad that I got to meet them all and put faces to names as I read their posts. Hopefully next year I can interact on a more personal level having met them once already.

There were too many highlights to list but I can tell you that I won't be missing next year if I can help it.

Another blog! Yeah, I didn't think it was that exciting either.

2008-06-30T00:00:00.006-06:00

Well here I am, starting a blog. Where to begin? Don't expect much, I'm not the best writer, I'm not as elegant and witty and well-spoken as many of my counterparts, but I shall give it a go. I apologize in advance for my atrocious grammar. I guess I will start by explaining the title and a few things about myself.

I am a skeptic. I have embraced the skeptical mindset with a fervor and passion that I have not felt for anything else. I guess I've always been a skeptic, I just never gave it a whole lot of thought until a couple of years ago. That's when I found the JREF and Mr. James Randi. I started reading his weekly commentary and following links to all sites skeptical. I realized that society is sinking into superstition and nonsense seemed to be reigning supreme. Everywhere I looked, there was a crucial lack of critical thinking and real world consequences that just couldn't be ignored.

I get many responses to my skepticism. The most common and most frustrating is the closed-minded comment. I'm just a cynic who believes in nothing and dismisses all that doesn't fit into my dogma out of hand. Nothing could be further from the truth. I've come to learn what skepticism truly is and what a true skeptic is. It's really just a process. A skeptic will question an extraordinary claim and not accept it's validity without some strong evidence to support it. Simple. Why everyone doesn't do this is beyond me. This includes things like the existence of psychic powers, ghosts, lake monsters, the effectiveness of homeopathy and other new age healing, etc. The list is much too long to go into detail right now. It's not that I wouldn't love for many of these things to be true and I would change my mind about any of it in a second if reliable evidence was produced. As of yet, there is just not enough. This is why I dispute the close-minded accusation. I'm willing to change my mind, a believer, on the other hand, clings to their beliefs no matter how much evidence to the contrary is presented to them. Now THAT'S closed-minded.

Most (but not all) skeptics are atheists. I am an atheist as I have not found enough proof to convince me that an invisible sky daddy is guiding our every move. In my opinion, I have much more evidence to the contrary. Perhaps more about that later. I find it hard to wrap my brain around that fact that some skeptics are theists. For me, it's really an all or nothing thing. Why accept one thing without sufficient proof but dismiss others? Human psychology fascinates me, why people believe the weird things they do, why others don't, it's curious.

What does bother me is that sometimes I do feel a little smug. I feel like I'm privy to a reality that others aren't and I want to shake them into some sense. But I guess everyone feels that way. People who are deeply religious feel that they have found something enlightening and feel bad for those that don't have the knowledge that they do. That is really one of the reasons I became a skeptic. Everyone feels that they are right. They KNOW the truth. Who really is right? I figured it best to just not accept anything until I knew for sure. But at least I know that I have science, reason and rationality on my side, and that makes me feel a little better.

So now for the "armchair" part. I use that term because I'm not an active member of the skeptic community in that I don't give speeches, or teach, I don't have a kick-ass podcast or have a famous skepchick blog. I sit in my living room and gripe about the pervasive nonsense that's spreading like wildfire. The most I've done to further the cause is to write a few letters and e-mails to the media when I thought a story they did was biased toward the ridiculous. Well, now I have a sad little blog, maybe that puts me one notch up.

That's enough rambling for one day but one last thing. The next biggest thing that bugs me about skepticism critics is the ones that say "where's the harm?" So and so can go spend their money on a psychic if they want, you shouldn't trample on their beliefs. First of all I don't think psychics are a "belief", they are a scam, but more about that later. When people ask me why I'm so adamant about it all I point them here. Real. World. Consequences.