Robert Todd Carroll
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Skeptic's Dictionary Newsletter
Issue # 14
A faith that cannot survive collision with
the truth is not worth many regrets. - Arthur C. Clarke
October 26, 2002
Subscribers 1,410
(Past issues posted at
http://skepdic.com/news/)
**********
Contents
1) New or revised entries
2) Responses to selected feedback
3) News
**********
1) New or revised entries in The Skeptic's Dictionary
& Skeptic's Refuge
Since the last newsletter, I have
-
updated the
intelligent design
page to include a link to a
report on a
survey by Case Western Reserve University that found 90 percent of Ohio
science professors think intelligent design is not supported by scientific
evidence [which makes me wonder about the other 10%];
-
updated the
crop circles page to include a link to a
BBC News report
on Matthew Williams of
Wiltshire, England, who has made a 3-hour video that he claims proves that
crop circles are not the results of alien or supernatural forces;
-
updated the
miracles page to include a
link to an article
about the skepticism of the Science and Rationalist Association of India
regarding an alleged miracle by Mother Teresa;
-
updated the
New Books page to
include
The Mind and the Brain: Neuroplasticity and the Power of Mental Force
by Jeffrey M. Schwartz and Sharon Begley. I also posted some
comments on an
excerpt from the book that appeared in The
Wall Street Journal;
-
updated the
polygraph page to include a link to the
press release from the National Research Council regarding an
18-month study that "the polygraph's accuracy is not good enough for
security screening for two reasons. First, accuracy is almost certainly
lower when the tests are used this way rather than in the investigation of
specific incidents. Second, the large groups of people being checked include
only a tiny percentage of individuals who are guilty of the targeted
offenses; tests that are sensitive enough to spot most violators will also
mistakenly mark large numbers of innocent test-takers as guilty. Tests that
produce few of these types of errors, such as those currently used by
several federal agencies, will not catch most major security violators - and
still will incorrectly flag truthful people as deceptive."
-
posted an
e-mail from Nadine
Gary PR (Professional Raelian?) inviting a
physics professor and his class to attend a public "lecture/debate" in Las
Vegas on human cloning as the way to eternal life;
-
added some
comments on the
fallout from Jerry Falwell's remark that Mohammed was a terrorist;
-
added some
comments about the
Cobb County (Georgia) School Board policy change to allow "disputed views"
into the science classroom to compete with evolutionary biology. I also
published at the end of these comments a "sermon"
written by the Reverend Michael Shermer on equal time for everybody;
-
updated the
magnet therapy page to include a
link to Michael Shermer's latest column for
ScientificAmerican.com, which includes
some details about Benjamin Franklin's and Antoine Lavoisier's testing of
"animal magnetism;"
-
revised the
craniometry entry to include a claim by forensic anthropologists that by
skull measurements they can identify race with 80% accuracy; I've also added a
link to a New York Times article on Dr. Corey S. Sparks of
Pennsylvania State University and Dr. Richard L. Jantz of the University of
Tennessee. The pair re-examined Franz Boas' data and concluded that the
founder of American anthropology was wrong about environment affecting head
shape and size [thanks to Florin Clapa];
-
updated the New Books page to include Michael Shermer's
latest book:
In Darwin's Shadow: The Life and Science of Alfred Russel Wallace: A
Biographical Study on the Psychology of History;
-
updated the
animal quackers page to
include a link to an article in the Miami Herald called "Telepathic
communication with pets draws skepticism;"
-
updated the
cabala page to include a link to a
story about
Rabbi Berg and his Los Angeles-based Kabbalah Centre, which is a
magnet for celebrities like Elizabeth Taylor, Madonna, Jeff Goldblum,
Roseanne Barr, and Mick Jagger;
-
updated the
Raelian page to include a link to a
story about the latest attack on the Catholic Church by the Raelians;
-
added a
link
with only a rhetorical question for comment (Who says crime doesn't pay?)
about two men who bilked the gullible followers of Miss Cleo out of half a
billion dollars: Steven L. Feder, 52, was on probation for less than an hour
without ever leaving a courtroom and his cousin Peter Stolz, 54, got two
years probation, but his lawyer expects it to last no more than five months;
-
finally, I revised the entry on
ghosts.
**********
2) Responses to selected feedback
Sometimes the mail is a bit strange. Like this one:
Dear Robert Todd Carroll:
I like your dictionary. It would be my favorite were it not for the
OED and
The Devil's Dictionary.
My suggestion for an entry is accounting. The basic problem with
accounting is not greed or fraud but rather that accounting reports
contain free floating numerals with no empirical referents. This is not to
deny the existence of greed and fraud but rather to say that even if that
were eliminated accounting would still be much more akin to astrology than
science.
Accountants don't think there is need for change any more than
astrologers do. I am now retired having spent my life trying to get
accountants to adopt some simple form of scientific realism or
correspondence theory of truth or the like but they cannot see either the
need or possibility of it. They rewarded me and awarded me but they never
changed. I think the only thing left to do is warn others about
accounting, just as we warn them about astrology instead of trying to
change astrologers. Hence this suggestion to you.
Sincerely,
Robert Stafford Sterling
Free floating numerals with no empirical referents.
I like that. I have no idea what it means, but I like the way it sounds.
Maybe accounting is a sub-species of
occult statistics.
***
Jim Polzois of Charleston, S.C. wonders "why more
attention [in The Skeptic's Dictionary] is not given to such
common political and philosophical myths as 'ethnic identity,' political
'rights,' 'historical evidence,' or 'sovereignty'....I think a subsection in
your dictionary devoted to 'history versus myth' would be exciting and
worthwhile."
Jim may be right....but....so many myths, so little
time!
***
Several readers wrote to tell me that I didn't make it
very difficult to figure out how old I was from the Pi Search program (where
you can find your birth date somewhere in the decimal part of pi). The
correct link is
http://www.angio.net/pi/piquery.
***
Jim Collier wrote to correct my claim that the odds of
9-1-1 being selected in the New York State lottery on September 11th are 1
in 1,000. The odds are actually one in 500 because NY has two drawings a
day. John Allen Paulos explains it all in his recent
column for ABCNews.com. Both Jim and John point out that the chances of
some significant number being selected on any given day are very, very good,
especially since we get to
shoehorn whatever we want into the numbers after the drawing has
taken place.
***
Just when I start to feel that things are hopeless and
that the work of skeptics is having no impact, I get some
encouragement from a reader who gives me the impetus to
keep up the Lord's work. I must admit that when I saw what happened recently
in Cobb County Georgia and the state of Ohio (see
comments), I was
disheartened that so many people have been suckered by the radical
fundamentalists into thinking that these people really care about truth, science,
and fairness. They don't care about any of those noble things. They
want to destroy natural science, not correct it. They don't want to advance
science; they want to revert to a
period hundreds or thousands of years ago. They pretend to defend fairness, but they don't want to hear
viewpoints different from their own. Their goal is to wreak havoc in the
science classroom, to cause confusion and doubt, to divert attention from
truly scientific issues, to engage scientists in trivial pursuits that make
things like "intelligent design" seem worth refuting. In short, their
main
objective is to terrorize with rhetoric not just the teachers of evolution
but the entire scientific community. They also claim they are being persecuted for
their religious views and try desperately to arouse sympathy for their plight from
politicians and the general public. The
Discovery Institute and defenders of so-called
Creation Science should be exposed for what they are: anti-science
religious groups bent on turning back the clock to a time before the rise of
modern science. They'd like to force all scientific claims to pass the litmus test of
their bizarre interpretation of Scriptures. (Do I sound like a voice crying
in the wilderness?)
Then, I receive encouragement like the following
from John Clavis and I'm spurred on to keep fighting the good fight.
While watching an archived
episode of the "James Randi Show" (www.randi.org),
I was reminded (by his mentioning you) of the Skeptic's Dictionary site, and
I thought I should send you a message. Simply put, I am a skeptic, amateur
scientist and writer who values the Skepdic.com as a source of excellent and
thorough coverage of pseudoscience and paranormal codswallop. You are to be
commended. More times than I can count, I have responded to a challenge from
a New Ager by simply going to your site and gathering the necessary
information and references. I often end up with a better understanding of
what they believe than they do! It can be disheartening to see how little
many people have thought about their own beliefs and assumptions. But I can
also think, with satisfaction, of the times I have actually gotten through
to someone and helped them to understand the value of the skeptical and
scientific perspective. Your site has been invaluable to my education.
Please, please keep up the good work. You are needed.
OK, John, I won't quit just yet. In the meantime, I'm
looking for a corporate sponsor to underwrite a campaign to put stickers on
all Bibles. The stickers will read: WARNING! CREATION BY GOD IN SIX DAYS IS
A RELIGIOUS MYTH, AND NEITHER A THEORY NOR A FACT. We could include a
brochure about the nature of religious myths, as well.
**********
3) News
October 23rd was a busy day. In the morning I got a courtesy
call from AP reporter Matt Moore who is doing a story on
Egyptian TV's planned
41-part
mega-series on the Protocols
of the Elders of Zion. (He was going to use some material from my
entry in his article about the planned series.) Somehow I don't think
Egyptian TV will treat the Protocols as a forgery based on a bit of plagiarized fiction,
event though that's what it is.
In the
afternoon, I spent more than an hour being interviewed for an as yet unnamed
TV series (13 planned episodes) for Showtime. Penn and Teller will host the
series, which should begin airing next spring. I was quizzed on creationism,
astrology, Nostradamus, numerology, Tarot cards, and palmistry. The shoot
took place on the roof of a building at Sacramento City College, with our observatory
dome as a backdrop. The location was thanks to Liam McDaid,
our astronomer-in-residence. Liam, a senior scientist for
Skeptic magazine, also went on
camera to demonstrate the latest in detecting ghosts with high-tech
equipment. Right.
***
On October 28th, the Discovery Channel's series
"Critical
Eye" will have its premiere at 8 pm ET/PT.
The series will investigate 34 topics including,
subliminal messaging,
alien abduction,
acupuncture,
ghosts,
astrology,
exorcism, Stonehenge,
near-death experiences, and
the lost city of Atlantis.
Each topic will be addressed by leading experts and scientists. These
subjects will be brought to life through lively debate and extraordinary
visuals in order to shed light on its scientific relevance.
CSICOP was consulted throughout. Their executive
director, Barry Karr, said "I think it's pretty safe to say that the skeptical point
of view will be very well represented."
The programs will run on Monday nights for 7 weeks (there
are 8 episodes, with two being shown the first night).
***
On November 15th I'll be giving a talk to the Sacramento Skeptic's Society.
The time and location have yet to be determined, but it will be at a
restaurant in the Sacramento/Carmichael area. The topic will be "Christian Terrorism - Lobbing Rhetorical Hand Grenades into the Science
Classroom for Jesus" or something equally obnoxious. If you are
interested in attending, contact Terry Sandbek at
terry@sandbek.com
***
If you're going to be in Ft. Lauderdale January 31 to
February 2, 2003, why not register for "The
Amazing Meeting," hosted by the James
Randi Educational Foundation? I will be one of the "additional
speakers" not yet listed in the program. My topic will be "Christian
Terrorism - the War against Science." (Anybody recognize a pattern
here?)
***
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