Skepticism
denialism | May 31, 2007Apparently, I'm not the only one who thinks the Independent is a joke when it comes to science reporting. The latest idiocy is the idea of "electrosmog", which I think results from having watched The Ring too many times (just that first scene with the two girls talking about radio signals). It results in a condition known as "electrosensitivity", which I think is a synonym for "nuts" or "wants attention" or "you have a dumb doctor".
If you want your eyes to fall out, you can read the Independent article yourself.
The problem, and the real sad part of this is that we are watching the…
tsmith | May 30, 2007As a native Ohioan and longtime creationist watcher, of course I'm morbidly fascinated with (and dismayed by) the opening of the new Creation Museum just outside of Cincinnati. I'm not going to give a full response to its ridiculous "science;" others have done that across the blogosphere (collected by PZ here). However, you may have seen the New York Time's particularly bad piece on the museum opening (if you haven't, you can find it here), where the writer--instead of commenting on the atrocious science--lauds the museum's "daring" more than once, for example. Well, John Hawks has dug up…
tsmith | May 29, 2007A few readers have asked in comments or emailed me regarding the tenure denial of Iowa State astronomer (and Discovery Institute fellow) Guillermo Gonzalez. I noted that I've not written about it because I've just not been around much lately due to travel, and because others are covering it quite well themselves (including lots of coverage over at The Panda's Thumb.) There are so many angles to the story--the reasons for tenure denial, the "academic freedom" issue (and is it really "academic freedom" to espouse anti-scientific beliefs in a scientific department?), the tenure process itself…
denialism | May 27, 2007And kicks its ass.
What is up with the British and their fear of "radiation"? People complain about poor science comprehension here in the US, but it is by no means an isolated phenomenon. The fact someone was able to put a documentary on BBC suggesting that radiofrequencies of WiFi had any chance of affecting human health is pretty pathetic. And the fearmongering and anti-scientific conduct of the documentary is clearly pretty shameful.
Between this and the Independent's coverage of the environment, I think they're trying to bring down environmentalism from the inside.
denialism | May 24, 2007The 61st Skeptic's circle is at Skepchick's.
It's a special towel day version. In particular I like Orac's coverage of anti-peer review attitude among cranks.
Like I say, beware the bashers of peer review.
aardvarchaeology | May 17, 2007[More blog entries about atheism, religion, christianity, science, god; ateism, religion, kristendom, vetenskap, gud.]
Science can never have an opinion about the existence or non-existence of a god who keeps himself hidden and doesn't interfere with the world. Thus many scientists take the position that god questions are beyond scientific inquiry. In this book, Victor Stenger starts from an interesting observation: no religious people actually believe in a god who keeps himself hidden and doesn't interfere with the world. Quite the contrary, most believe that he has a strong and direct…
denialism | May 16, 2007A must read from Slate on Oprah, the Secret, and the American excess of wishful thinking - starting with a lovely story about a woman who stopped taking her cancer meds because of the secret.
I find the Secret to be pretty typical idiotic woo, that taken to its logical conclusions becomes dangerous, nasty and ugly woo. Beyond the stupid quantum mechanics fallacy, and the outrageous woo claims which have no credibility whatsoever, If you think about it, they're really just blaming the victims and offering false hope.
pharyngula | May 15, 2007Lewis Wolpert has a pleasant interview in Salon today — I find most of what he says copacetic. I very much like his developmental biology textbook, but I'm afraid I found his recent popular book, Six Impossible Things Before Breakfast(amzn/b&n/abe/pwll), far too scattered and unfocused to be memorable. It's a pleasant enough read — get it and you won't regret it — but it was more like an agreeable conversation with an intelligent and eccentric fellow than a work that will either shake you up or strengthen your views…and that also comes through in the interview. He's pretty much a sensible…
pharyngula | May 14, 2007You might not want to look at this story about the televangelist fraud, Peter Popoff around lunchtime — it contains graphic visuals of a known con artist cheerfully defrauding the sick and elderly, and it might leave you a little squeamish. Popoff was discredited by James Randi 20 years ago, as is vividly shown at the link, but he's back now, sucking in millions of dollars every year with his lies.
There's also a couple in the story who were sick and unemployed, and who borrowed thousands of dollars from relatives to help them pay their bills…and who instead sent all the money to Popoff, who…
aardvarchaeology | May 11, 2007[More blog entries about skepticism, superstition; skepticism, skepsis, vidskepelse.]
I recently found out that some of Sweden's most influential science journalists like to refer, among themselves, to the Swedish Skeptics Society as "The League of Asperger Patients Against Superstition". It ain't pretty, and it ain't surprising. Skeptics need to learn from this.
The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV) begins its list of Asperger Syndrome symptoms thus:
Qualitative impairment in social interaction;
The presence of restricted, repetitive and stereotyped behaviors and…
denialism | May 11, 2007Happy Mother's Day this weekend! In honor of the day I'd think we should talk about divorce myths. I was scanning the Family Research Council blog and they repeated the commonly-believed myth that half of all marriages end in divorce. But what is the evidence this is true?
*Updated with cohabitation information*
Divorce is often maligned, and even though quite a few of us wouldn't be here if it weren't for divorce (thanks Mom!) it still gets a bad rap. For some reason, the moralists think that divorce is a uniform negative, but really, what kind of world would it be if women didn't have…
aardvarchaeology | May 10, 2007[More blog entries about psychology, psychiatry, psychotherapy, anxiety, depression, parenting; psykologi, psykiatri, psykoterapi, ångest, depression, föräldraskap.]
I recently had a book on popular psychology recommended to me and found it absolutely dire. And today's paper reports that most of Sweden's university programs for psychotherapists have been found to be substandard and will be closed down unless they improve dramatically. This has inspired me to write something about late 20th century psychotherapy, a.k.a. humanistic psychology, a movement that has been a background presence for…
aardvarchaeology | April 30, 2007
Atheist bloggers have long had the Carnival of the Godless to publicise their work. Then came MoJoey's Atheist Blogroll. And now there's the Humanist Symposium carnival, whose first instalment came on-line the day before yesterday. If God hadn't wanted you to have contact with other atheists, then he clearly wouldn't have made all these blogging venues.
Although an atheist, I rarely feel moved to blog about my unfaith. You see, in Sweden, atheism is no big deal. Expressions of religious faith are the exception here, not the other way around. I believe in no gods, but nor do I believe in…
tsmith | April 24, 2007Last summer, I mentioned that groups receiving federal funding were providing misleading information about abortion, including the unsupported statement that having an abortion increases the risk of development of breast cancer. As I noted, this "link" has been refuted by a number of analyses, including a 2004 Lancet paper and a 2003 National Cancer Institute report. As if those weren't enough, a new study comes to the same conclusion: yep, no link. More after the jump.
The new study, appearing in Monday's Archives of Internal Medicine, looked at data from 105,716 women participating in…
pharyngula | April 18, 2007Could D'Souza be right? Does our lack of religious beliefs really impair our ability to offer help to people?
I suppose that if we actually cared, we could havesent teams to Virginia to do useful things likestroke sad people's thetans andpoint to chairs and trees for them (a technique that will also sober up drunks in minutes, which sounds very handy). Even if the VT students aren't in shock or drunk, I'm sure they'll appreciate the important study tips. Did you know that the most important thing you can do is look up words in a dictionary — the bigger the dictionary the better — and that…
pharyngula | April 17, 2007This is an amusing (but somewhat violent) movie that is an apt metaphor for the strengths of science. It starts with a Kiai Master, one of those woo-woo martial artists who claims to have the power of knocking his opponents flat with his mystical chi—and it's awfully funny how all these martial arts students come running up and do pratfalls when he waves his hands at them. Then, in a fit of hubris, derangement, or just plain stupidity, he challenges someone to come against him with 'mere' natural, physical combat skills. The results are predictable and a little bit cringe-inducing.
The woo…
pharyngula | April 11, 2007What little I've read of the extreme audiophile community makes my brain hurt, and I've avoided it like poison. James Randi deals with the freaky audiophiles now and then — people who believe their special magic cables will make your stereo sound better, or that an array of weirdly shaped hatstands in your room will make the music resonate just right — but it's not something I want to get into regularly. A reader sent me a link to the special One Drop Liquid, though, and I just had to share my cerebral agony with everyone else, out of spite.
I dare you to make sense of this. It's some liquid…
pharyngula | April 11, 2007An epidemic of quackery, that is. Shame on CNN for allowing this babbling to go on. The producer of their medical news wrote an absurd anecdote, a story that reveals his credulity.
My husband's best friend, Hans, was supposed to be in our wedding. But three weeks before the ceremony, Hans learned he had testicular cancer. He was 38. The prognosis wasn't good. The cancer had spread to his lungs, part of his stomach and his liver. We visited Hans a few days before we left on our honeymoon. He looked awful, and we were not optimistic that he would be alive when we returned. In a cold and dingy…
aardvarchaeology | March 29, 2007
Dear skeptical Reader, welcome to Aardvarchaeology and the 57nd Skeptics' Circle blog carnival! I used to blog at Salto sobrius, and now Aard offers the same salad of archaeology, skepticism, books, music and general psychedelic whimsy. We've got some really good stuff on the carnival this time.
CLEAR THINKING
Steve at NeuroLogica leads the reader through a number of insights into how our minds work, all important to "cognitive hygiene" and skeptical thinking.
Factician at Conspiracy Factory asks himself, why do smart people say such stupid things?RELIGION
Angry Professor at A Gentlemen's C…
aardvarchaeology | March 25, 2007On Thursday 29 March I'll be hosting the Skeptics' Circle blog carnival. I'd like to see Aard readers represented: if you've written anything in a skeptical vein recently, feel free to send me a link!