Skeptic (Altadena, CA) articles from September 2005

Skeptic (Altadena, CA) archives from September 2005

'Twas brillig ...: million dollar excuses, Dutch psychic caught cheating, Sylvia Browne and the Virginia Miners, From the JREF Museum.
September 22, 2005... Million Dollar Excuses Every week or so, I'm offered ingenious rationalizations from or on behalf of applicants for the $1 million JREF prize (www.randi.org /research/index.html) who have failed their tests. The spectrum of alibis is wide:...

Randi's heart condition: was psychic Sylvia Browne right?
September 22, 2005... IN A 2001 EPISODE OF CNN's Larry King Live, psychic Sylvia Browne stated that skeptic James Randi should have his heart checked out. Shortly after the January 2006 Amazing Meeting in Las Vegas, Randi experienced a heart attack and underwent...

Underwhelmed by Evolutionary Psychology.(FORUM)(Letter to the editor)
September 22, 2005... Although fascinating and thought provoking, I have always been scientifically underwhelmed by Evolutionary Psychology. It seems to me that the hypotheses are created by the following: (1) Somebody notices that people tend to act in certain ways...

Skeptical of Freakonomics.(FORUM)(Letter to the editor)
September 22, 2005... I was disappointed in Michael Shermer's almost wholly positive and deferential review of Steven Levitt and Stephen Dubner's Freakonomics. While I found the book to be both interesting and entertaining, I also thought it would be well served by...

The real Mary of Magdala.(FORUM)(Letter to the editor)
September 22, 2005... Regarding "The Da Vinci Code Cult," by Robeit Sheaffer (Vol. 11, No. 4, 2005), I was pleased over all with his treatment of the subject. However, Sheaffer appears to depend on an introduction to The Gospel of Mary given in the The Nag Hammadi...

Natural selection cannot explain all life.(FORUM)(Letter to the editor)
September 22, 2005... I am writing in response to the article on the World Summit on Evolution. Natural selection is a fact. It is demonstrated in many ways. But, the Darwinian theory that natural selection accounts for the entire progression from inorganic...

A challenge to intelligent design.(FORUM)(Letter to the editor)
September 22, 2005... In light of the continuing attempts of ID creationists to promote their agenda in the public schools, the media, and the courts, I would like to propose that the following challenges be issued to ID proponents: 1. Provide a scientific...

Separation of church and science and state.(FORUM)(Letter to the editor)
September 22, 2005... In David Brin's review of Chris Mooney's book, The Republican War on Science, in SKEPTIC Vol. 12, No. 2, Brin said that the book portrays "a methodical campaign to politicize, ignore, twist, or undermine science." So what else is new? Like the...

Flying artificial intelligence.(AI Skepticism Long Overdue)(Letter to the editor)
September 22, 2005... Peter Kassan on "AI Gone Awry: The Futile Quest for Artificial Intelligence" in Vol. 12, No. 2 is long overdue. AI in the 21st century is nothing more than promises and failures. Over 20 years ago, as senior defense analyst-cum-engineer...

Cybernetic axiom.(AI Skepticism Long Overdue)(Letter to the editor)
September 22, 2005... Sometime in the late 1950s I read W. Ross Ashby's book Design for a Brain. If I remember correctly, he posited a cybernetic axiom to the effect that no machine could be constructed that had the requisite complexity or capacity to fully...

Artificial intelligences in operation today.(Skeptical of AI Skepticism)(Letter to the editor)
September 22, 2005... I must object to the article title "The Futile Quest for Agdficial Intelligence." A very reasonable definition of intelligence is "a system to handle all of the calculations from crude inputs through to overt actions in an adaptive way so as to...

Don't give up on a young field.(Skeptical of AI Skepticism)(Letter to the editor)
September 22, 2005... As a hardcore rationalist and dabbler in artificial intelligence, I was startled to see SKEPTIC trying to debunk AI alongside pyramid power and creationism. Though the article gives me pause, it leaves me still unwilling to give up hope. Here's...

Conclusion was disappointing.(Skeptical of AI Skepticism)(Letter to the editor)
September 22, 2005... While Mr. Kassan's brief history of M was well done, his conclusion was disappointing. AS a computer science professional, but an M outsider, I have never taken the academic version of Madison Avenue marketing seriously. I have taken the wild...

The illusion of intelligence is what matters.(Skeptical of AI Skepticism)(Letter to the editor)
September 22, 2005... As a professional video game developer, I found Peter Kassan's article flawed. Mr. Kassan errs in presuming that, in order for human-level artificial intelligence to be compelling, it must emulate the means and methods of genuine human...

Don't set limits.(Skeptical of AI Skepticism)(Letter to the editor)
September 22, 2005... Peter Kassan bases his assessment of the quest for (human-like) artificial intelligence (AI) as "futile" on two basic premises: (1) the experts have made predictions about AI which have proven incorrect, and (2) the software to produce AI is...

Brain model may not be necessary.(Skeptical of AI Skepticism)(Letter to the editor)
September 22, 2005... I am not a Mensa-ite, or even particularly smart, but even I can recognize a straw-man argument when I see one. Peter Kassan's claims about the complexity of software necessary to model the brain presuppose a particular approach, and one that...

Support for cholesterol skepticism.(Cholesterol Forum Continued ...)(Letter to the editor)
September 22, 2005... I feel compelled to put in my thoughts on cholesterol after reading the negative comments in response to your article on cholesterol myths. This article spurred some light research on my part and due to my position the effort was assisted by...

Support against cholesterol skepticism.(Cholesterol Forum Continued ...)(Letter to the editor)
September 22, 2005... The responses by Joel Kauffman and Marshall Deutsch in SKEPTIC Vol. 12, No. 1 show that they failed to understand the critiques of Deutsch's article in Vol. 11, No.3, "The Troth About Cholesterol." Deutsch's article was so flawed that several...

Potentially dangerous information.(Cholesterol Forum Continued ...)(Brief article)
September 22, 2005... Joel Kauffman's claim that "Cholesterol is highly protective against cancer, infection and atherosclerosis" is extraordinary and requires more support than an appeal to authority, namely, Uffe Ravnskov's article "High Cholesterol May Protect...

A very complex pathological process.(Cholesterol Forum Continued ...)(Letter to the editor)
September 22, 2005... In response to Mr. Deutsch's complaint that I present no data in support of my beliefs, I admit that my comments were a little flippant. I must point out that cholesterol is not the only cause of coronary artery heart disease, although my...

The supernatural on television: a skeptical reassessment.(SKEPTICAL OPINIONS)
September 22, 2005... THE SUPERNATURAL TOOK OVER U.S. television this year in the wake of the success of ABC's Lost. Programs about psychic detectives, alien invaders, monster hunters, and mysterious creatures proliferated on American airwaves, and a wary public...

Prayer and healing: the verdict is in and the results are null.(Emperical Studies and Religion)
September 22, 2005... IN A LONG-AWAITED comprehensive scientific study on the effects of intercessory prayer on the health and recovery of 1,802 patients undergoing coronary bypass surgery in six different hospitals, prayers offered by strangers had no effect. In...

Religion and behavior: are you healthier, happier, and more moral if you are religious?(Emperical Studies and Religion)(Cover story)
September 22, 2005... ONE DAY IN 2005, WHILE I WAS READING Why the Crime Rates Fell, (1) my wife flipped open an article in Better Homes and Gardens and said "You might be interested in this." The July issue featured the article, "Eight Signs the Kids are Fine." The...

Religious belief and Societal Health: new study reveals that religion does not lead to a healthier society.(Emperical Studies and Religion)
September 22, 2005... IT IS COMMONLY HELD THAT RELIGION makes people more just, compassionate, and moral, but a new study suggests that the data belie that assumption. In fact, at first glance it would seem, religion has the opposite effect. The extensive study,...

Orthodox Jews and science: an empirical study of their attitudes toward evolution, the fossil record, and modern geology.
September 22, 2005... Abstract Denial of evolution is a defining characteristic of education in Orthodox Judaism. But what does the most modern segment of Orthodox Judaism--the small number of students permitted to go to a public university and be exposed to...

The great debate: Deepak Chopra v. Michael Shermer on the value of skepticism.(Column)
September 22, 2005... Is Skepticism a Negative or a Positive for Science and Humanity? Gadflies Without a Sting The Downside of Skepticism DEEPAK CHOPRA, MD, FACP "There is a field beyond all notions of right and wrong. Come, meet me there."--Rumi ...

Whose final hour? The problem of naive egocentric catastrophism in doomsayers and catastrophists.(Column)
September 22, 2005... IN A SCIENTIFIC LITERATURE AWASH IN catastrophic doomsday scenarios, I would like to introduce a concept that I call naive egocentric catastrophism (NEC). (1) The most egregious example of NEC is given by England's Astronomer Royal Martin Rees...

Who really discovered America? The Solutrean hypothesis is the latest in a long line of theories about the discovery of the New World.
September 22, 2005... PITY POOR NORTH AMERICA, A LAND whose history can never be her own. For centuries scholars, prophets, and cranks have tried to prove that the continent did not belong to the native peoples who populated it when the European explorers first...

Paranormal pooches: is there any evidence in support of claims that dogs have special powers beyond those of other mammals?
September 22, 2005... IT'S THE CHINESE YEAR OF THE DOG, SO what better time to put extraordinary canine claims under a skeptical lens. Here are a few headlines that made outlandish claims about the skills of a Border Collie. RICO THE WORD DOG DOG PRODIGY MORE...

Misquoting Einstein: a statement attributed to Einstein, praising the Church's response to Nazism isn't what it claims to be.
September 22, 2005... IN 2005 WE CELEBRATED THE CENTENNIAL OF Einstein's greatest work--not just relativity but also his analysis of Brownian motion and the quantum explanation of the photoelectric effect. So it seems like a good time to examine another achievement...

Skepticism in the classroom: a high school science teacher in the trenches.
September 22, 2005... WHAT IS THE PURPOSE OF SCIENCE education? Certainly, there are many possible answers to this question, ranging from preparation for the workforce to personal enlightenment. But educational professionals in Western culture have traditionally...

Believing in belief.(Breaking the Spell: Religion as a Natural Phenomenon)(Book review)
September 22, 2005... A review of Breaking the Spell: Religion as a Natural Phenomenon by Daniel C, Denned. Viking, 2006. 425 pp. $25.95. ISBN 0-670-03472-X IN A 1997 EPISODE OF THE animated television series The Simpsons, Lisa Simpson discovers a fossil angel....

Faith v. history.(The Empty Tomb: Jesus Beyond the Grave)(Book review)
September 22, 2005... A review of The Empty Tomb: Jesus Beyond the Grave, edited by Robert M. Price and Jeffery Louder. Prometheus Books, 2005. 543 pp. $30,00. ISBN 159102286X THIS COLLECTION OF FIFTEEN scholarly essays may be a bit too dry for many readers....

What Galileo wrought.(Galileo's Children: Tales of Science vs. Superstition)(Book review)
September 22, 2005... A review of Galileo's Children: Tales of Science vs. Superstition, Edited by Gardner Dozois. Amherst, NY: Prometheus Books, 2005. 346 pp. $25.00. ISBN 1-59102-315-7 IT HAS BEEN NEARLY FOUR centuries since Galileo Galilei lost his legendary...

Dershowitz's rights and wrongs.(Rights From Wrongs: A Secular Theory of the Origin of Rights)(Book review)
September 22, 2005... A review of Rights From Wrongs: A Secular Theory of the Origin of Rights by Alan Dershowitz. Basic Books, 2004, 261 pp. $16.32. ISBN 0465017142 DOES A GOD OR NATURE PROVIDE us with a source from which we can "discover" our rights? Should...

Divine DNA.(The God Gene: How Faith is Hardwired into our Genes )(Book review)
September 22, 2005... A review of The God Gene: How Faith is Hardwired into our Genes by Dean Hamer. Doubleday, 2004. 241 pp. $14.00. Paperback. ISBN 0385500580 IN THE GOD GENE, GENETICIST Dean Hamer attempts to explain the biological basis of our...

Science on a sweatshirt.(Just a Theory: Exploring the Nature of Science )(Book review)
September 22, 2005... A review of Just a Theory: Exploring the Nature of Science by Moti Ben-Ari. Prometheus Books, 2005, 237 pp., paperback, $21.00. ISBN: 1-59102-285-1. IN JUST A THEORY: EXPLORING THE Nature of Science, computer scientist Moti Ben-Ari gives a...

Alien abduction: part one of two: the invasion begins!
September 22, 2005... You already know' what the aliens look like and why they are here. We all know. We've seen it over and over on TV, in books, and in movies. According to this modern legend, the aliens come for us in the night. They paralyze us, take us on...