The Rogues Gallery

Politics and Skepticism

This is an issue that keeps coming up, and I am sure this is not the last time I will have to answer it. We are often asked whether or not we address political issues (in much the same way we are asked if we address issue of faith), and sometimes people don’t like our answer, which is “no.”

Below is adapted from a recent e-mail exchange I had with a listener who characterized our position as a “cop out.”

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Science can inform political value judgments, but cannot make them. You can apply logic and critical thinking to political questions - basically to show whether or not they are internally consistent - but again, this will not objectively resolve any political value judgments.

We do this all the time on the show - analyzing factual premises and logic employed. But we stop short of voicing our personal value judgments.

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Posted in Skepticism | 1 Comment » |

Introducing Teen Skepchick!

Yes, SGU Blog readers, it’s another very short post from yours truly. But hey, I have an excuse! I’m very pleased to introduce you to Skepchick’s new little sister site: Teen Skepchick. I’ve posted an introduction over there explaining everything, so go check it out!

Plus, if there are any SGU listeners in Philadelphia who would like to get together with me and other fun skeptics this Friday SATURDAY (July 5th) for lunch, beer, and a visit to the Mutter Museum, visit this thread on Skepchick and RSVP!

Posted in Events, General, Skepticism | 6 Comments » |

Change For A Hundred?

I had to break a one hundred dollar bill at a store last night. I handed the note to the cashier, whom could not have been more than 17 years old. He proceeded to hold the bill up to the light, supposedly to look for the watermark and the reflective strip of filament that is embedded in the bill. As he was doing this, I knew immediately what was coming next, and sure enough, out came one of those pens (or “highlighter”, if you prefer) and he proceeded to mark the note with the pen. The pen dispenses an amber-colored ink. The idea is that if the ink turns from its yellow-tint in to black, it is an indicator that the bill might be counterfeit. So when he marked my bill, guess what happened to the yellow ink?

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Posted in Technology | 13 Comments » | Tags: fake, money

The Cult of Skepticism

We recently received the following e-mail:

After listening to this podcast and to the 100 or so that I’ve listened to over the past two years I offer all of us a caveat ( ok, more of a reminder than a caveat ) regarding skepticism in general. We all must embrace variability within skeptics. Without individualism ( not all must be atheists or agnostics, not all must be liberal, not all must be of a certain age, etc etc etc ) we become a cult. I do not want to become a cult, blindly following dogma, even if that dogma is the scientific method. There are no absolutes; there may be absolutes as we presently know the world; Plato begat Gallileo begat Newton begat Einstein begat the next heroic world view - paradigm shifter ( I’ve never written a sentence with 4 begats before - woo hoo! ). We should constantly be open minded to all possibilities at all times as long as we are guided by evidence, and molded by replication. But we can’t be stifled by the evidence. Einstein changed the world by thinking outside of the box. Thus we should always be ready to engage in discussion all comers. All of us bring biases into our world view. As skeptics , our world view is guided by the scientific method - other’s bring wu or religion or Oprahism. But one never knows where an inspired idea may come from; even if an apple didn’t fall on Newton’s head, it IS a cool tale. And he was a religious zealot! There’s hope for all of us. Communication and empiricism is the key. As you say, concentrate on the evidence and the ideas, not the person who you are debating; we should also concentrate on the motive of those involved.

Hal

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Posted in Skepticism | 11 Comments » | Tags: religion, science, skeptic, skepticisim

Group Health Insurance - Woo vs Common Cents

SGU listener Jim recently wrote the following:

My company sent out a health benefits newsletter that really stuck in my throat. (I’d love to send the pamphlet to you, but I didn’t think that would be prudent since it is a national company…and I like my job.) Here’s what it says (note: BCBS is Blue Cross Blue Shield):

BCBS is pleased to offer discounts (up to 30%) on complementary and alternative medicine products and services such as:

. Fitness Centers
. Nutrition Counseling
. Spas
. Massage Therapy
. Holistic Practitioners
. Acupuncture
. Vitamins
. Pilates
. Yoga
. Health Magazines, and many others

Two things irritate me here. First, they mix legit items like Fitness and Nutritional counseling with such crap as Acupuncture. Ugh! The context gives legitimacy to the woo.

I work in the group benefits insurance industry, so I’ll try to shed a little light on this.

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Posted in Skepticism | 6 Comments » | Tags: alternative medicine, insurance, money

The Skull of Doom

Most people that know me would agree that I like skulls. I actually have over 100 of them in my basement right now.

Most are plastic or rubber but 3 of them are the real deal. Why the hell do I have 100 human skulls? Well…some people collect beer cans or stamps…I collected bone heads.

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Posted in Logic/Philosophy, Myths and Misconceptions, Paranormal, Science and Medicine, Skepticism | 8 Comments » |

Wine Ghosts

I got an e-mail the other day from one of my old acquaintances from the wine world (why I have those acquaintances I’ll leave to another time).  In the e-mail, he relates what may be a tongue-in-cheek story about haunted wine.

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Posted in Skepticism | 7 Comments » |

TAM 6: Wrap-up!

Maybe 400 of you are thinking, “Oh good, another TAM update,” and 40,000 others are thinking, “Look, stop rubbing it in.” Lucky for me, this blog is not a democracy.

The Amaz!ng Meeting 6 is now finished and I am home in Boston. Once again, I am stunned by the sudden lack of neon and the preponderance of taupe. Each year, TAM gets bigger, more exciting, and more stressful — accordingly, each year it leaves me more drained and sad in the days and weeks that follow. Still though, when I think about how much fun it was to run around recording all those interviews live and in person with my SGU buddies, followed by long nights of talking and laughing about everything from black holes to blackjack, I seriously think that if I’d like nothing more than to do that as a full-time job for the rest of my life. I mean, I’d probably die within a few months from all the craziness, but I’d die a happy girl.
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Posted in Skepticism | 1 Comment » |

Truly Amaz!ng

I am back from The Amaz!ng Meeting 6 in Las Vegas, and it was one of the most incredible times I have ever experienced.

This annual meeting is a congregation of people who come together to celebrate all of the facets of the diamond that is ’skepticism’; defending science and the scientific method, promoting critical thinking, attacking anti-science, debunking paranormal claims, exposing frauds and con artists - just to name a few. This year’s meeting did not disappoint in any respects.

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Posted in Skepticism | 13 Comments » | Tags: meeting, skeptic, TAM

Since nobody at TAM is posting…

The Crop Circles of Google Earth

Posted in Skepticism | 11 Comments » |