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Sample the Skeptic's Dictionary

illusion of skill

The illusion of skill refers to the belief that skill, not chance or luck, accounts for the accuracy of predictions of things that are unpredictable, such as the long-term weather forecasts one finds in farmers' almanacs and the predictions of market gurus about the long-term ups and downs of the stock market. The illusion of skill also accurately describes the apparent accuracy of remote viewers. Given all the guesses remote viewers make about what they claim to see telepathically, chance alone would account for some of those guesses being somewhat accurate. Much of the accuracy ascribed to remote viewers, however, is due to the liberal and generous interpretations given by themselves or "experts" of their vague and ambiguous descriptions of places or things. Also, subjective validation accounts for the illusion of skill of "experts" in such fields as palm reading, mediumship, astrology, and criminal profiling.>>more

sample Mysteries and Science (for kids 9 and up)

palm reading

In a nutshell: Palm reading is a kind of fortune telling by reading the lines on a person's hands. Scientists don't think you can tell much about a person's future by the lines on her hands.

Palm reading (also called palmistryis telling fortunes from the lines, marks, and patterns on the hands, especially the palms.

Palm reading was practiced in ancient India, China, and Egypt. The first book on palm reading came out about 600 years ago.

Palm readers name the various lines on your hand as the life line, the head line, the heart line, and so on. The life line supposedly shows physical health and how long you'll live, the head line shows your brain power, and the heart line shows your emotions.>>more

a blast from the past

not dying to get to heaven

December 14, 2007.

Jeanne Assam is a heroine by any standard. Others may try to belittle her for her past actions but she did something most of her critics probably couldn't do. A gunman shot into a congregation of the church she attends - New Life Church in Colorado Springs, Colorado - and she confronted him and shot him several times before he took his own life. Moments earlier, the gunman had shot and killed Stephanie and Rachael Works, aged 18 and 16, in the church and badly injured their father. When the shooting stopped, it was discovered that the killer, Matthew Murray, had an assault rifle, two handguns, and a backpack stuffed with about 1000 rounds of ammunition as well as smoke grenades. There is no telling how many lives Assam saved by her action.>>more