SI DIGEST 5-19-98
SkeptInq (SkeptInq@aol.com)
Tue, 19 May 1998 20:35:42 EDT
SKEPTICAL INQUIRER ELECTRONIC DIGEST
For free Digest subscriptions, go to:
<A HREF="http://www.csicop.org/list/index.html#subscribe">
http://www.csicop.org/list/index.html#subscribe</A>
May 19, 1998
SI Electronic Digest is the bi-weekly e-mail news update of the Committee for
the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal (CSICOP.)
Visit <A HREF="http://www.csicop.org.">http://www.csicop.org.</A>
The Digest is written and edited by Matthew Nisbet and Barry Karr. SI Digest
has over 2000 readers worldwide, and is distributed via e-mail from the Center
for Inquiry-International, Amherst N.Y., USA.
PERMISSION IS GRANTED TO REPRINT OR RE-POST ON THE WEB. WE ENCOURAGE
TRANSLATION INTO FOREIGN LANGUAGES.
PLEASE FORWARD TO YOUR SKEPTICAL FRIENDS.
Send comments, media inquiries and news to:
SINISBET@aol.com (716-636-1425)
CSICOP publishes the bi-monthly SKEPTICAL INQUIRER, The Magazine for Science
and Reason. The May/June issue features a Special Section titled "The Alien
Files" with articles on the Roswell myth, the 1997 Roswell Air Force Report,
the Men In Black hoax, and alien abductions.
To subscribe at the $17.95 introductory price, go to:
<A HREF="http://www.csicop.org.">http://www.csicop.org/si/subscribe/</A>
Or call 1800-634-1610 (1-716-646-1425 outside the U.S.)
In this week's SI DIGEST:
-- Nickell Exposes Van Praagh
-- FEATURE: New Poll Points to Increased Belief in the Paranormal
-- _The Outer Edge_: A Hot Seller as College Text
-- Center for Inquiry Summer Institute, July 9-12
-- PREVIEW: Scientific Review of Alternative Medicine, Spring/Summer 1998
-- OPINION: Gen X Faces Crisis of Credulousness
NICKELL EXPOSES VAN PRAAGH
SAN DIEGO, CA-- Self-described psychic medium James Van Praagh met more than
his match over the radio today as he faced off against CSICOP Senior Research
Fellow Joe Nickell. Van Praagh, author of the NY Times best seller TALKING TO
HEAVEN, has appeared on Oprah Winfrey, Larry King Live, and the Charles Grodin
show. Publicity for his book has fueled sales topping $13 million.
(For detailed criticism of Van Praagh, go to:
<A HREF="http://www.csicop.org/list/archive/0056.html">
http://www.csicop.org/list/archive/0056.html</A> )
CSICOP has been tracking Van Praagh across the country as he visits major
cities while on his book tour. In Dallas and Atlanta, CSICOP has helped
reporters with detailed criticism of Van Praagh's cold reading and
spiritualist propaganda.
This morning on the San Diego-based Stacy Tay Show, KSDO AM 1130, Nickell
appeared for the first half-hour to fill in listeners on the history of
spiritualism and the artful cold reading techniques of Van Praagh. He was
then joined on-the-air by Van Praagh, and the two engaged in a debate over the
authenticity of "psychic mediumship."
Nickell challenged Van Praagh to channel the spirt of his long dead uncle,
but Van Praagh declined proclaiming that such methods wouldn't work on a
skeptic. Later, Nickell offered to psychically read Van Praagh. Jokingly,
Nickell told Van Praagh that he was communicating with Abraham Lincoln, and
that the deceased U.S. President admonished Van Praagh for his spiritual
hoaxes.
-------------------------
NEW POLL POINTS TO INCREASE IN PARANORMAL BELIEF
-----------------------
THE OUTER EDGE: A HOT SELLER AS COLLEGE TEXT
-----------------------
CENTER FOR INQUIRY SUMMER SESSION JULY 9-12, 1998
<A HREF="http://www.csicop.org/cfi/summer1998/">
http://www.csicop.org/cfi/summer1998/</A>
To Register, Call 1-800-634-1610 within the U.S. or 1-716-636-1425.
From the Office of the Dean
Dear Reader,
I am pleased to invite you to share an extraordinary learning opportunity.
The Center for Inquiry Institute will hold its annual Summer Session from
Thursday through Sunday, July 9-12, 1998, at the Center for Inquiry-
International in Amherst, New York. Offerings include Reason in Ethics, a core
course from our Humanistic Studies curriculum, and Leadership Training, a bi-
disciplinary workshop applicable to either the Science and the Paranormal
program or the Humanistic Studies
program.
The Center for Inquiry Institute was founded in 1987 as a joint project of
the Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal
(CSICOP) and the Council for Secular Humanism. Its objective is to increase
public awareness and utilization of critical thinking and rationality,
particularly with respect to social and ethical concerns. To meet this
challenge, the Institute has formed a diverse and distinguished international
faculty which embodies the highest standards of academic excellence and
objectivity. The Institute offers three-year certificate programs in two
program areas:
1.Science and the Paranormal, examining the nature of alleged paranormal
phenomena; and
2.Humanistic Studies, examining the nature of social and ethical conduct
while critically exploring and contrasting the roles of reason, freethought,
and religion.
Students matriculated to a certificate program are awarded a Certificate of
Proficiency upon successful completion of their chosen curriculum. They must
complete 30 credits (15 credits in core courses, 8 credits in workshops, and a
7-credit research paper or thesis). Individual courses and workshops may also
be taken for credit or audited (no written evaluation, no credit). Should a
student later elect to matriculate in either certificate program, courses and
workshops previously completed for credit will apply toward the certificate.
Humanists and skeptics have gathered at Amherst to learn and enjoy one
another's company each summer for a decade. Today you can benefit from the
outstanding facilities at The Center for Inquiry -- International, including
the world's leading libraries in the fields of humanism, atheism, and
freethought and science and the paranormal. Hotel accommodations for every
budget are available nearby. I hope you'll consider extending your stay in our
area, too. Amherst is half an hour by car from world-famous Niagara Falls;
just over an hour from the famed Chautauqua Institution, two hours from
sparkling Toronto with its rich cultural and recreational opportunities; and
only three hours from New York's beautiful Finger Lakes, home of (among many
other attractions) the Robert Ingersoll Birthplace Museum.
The faculty and staff look forward to welcoming you. Please review the
information in this brochure and the enclosed catalogue. Then register today!
Sincerely,
Vern Bullough, Ph.D.
Dean, Center for Inquiry Institute
P.S. Remember to reserve accommodations by June 8th by contacting the hotel
or motel of your choice directly (see below for list).
REASON IN ETHICS
Core Course H4
(3 credits applicable to the Humanistic Studies Certificate)
Examines the basic principles of ethics and humanist virtues. Strong
emphasis is placed on the importance of developing "good conduct and
wisdom in living" by drawing on science and philosophy.
Faculty:
Paul Kurtz
Professor emeritus of philosophy, State University of New York at
Buffalo, author of Forbidden Fruit, The Courage to Become, and other books.
Valerii Kuvakin
Professor of philosophy, Moscow State University, Russia, and director of the
Center for Inquiry-Moscow
Tad Clements
Professor emeritus of philosophy, State University of New York at
Brockport, author of Science vs. Religion
LEADERSHIP TRAINING
Workshop WS8/WH8
(2 credits applicable to the Science and the Paranormal or Humanistic Studies
Certificate)
This workshop gives practical instruction in organizing and operating
skeptical and/or humanist groups. Includes planning meetings and programs,
publicity, finances, and other skills.
Faculty:
Matt Cherry Robbi Robson
Tim Madigan Norm Allen
Barry Karr Jo Ann Mooney
Matt Nisbet
---------------------------------
PREVIEW: SCIENTIFIC REVIEW OF ALTERNATIVE MEDICINE
The Scientific Review of Alternative Medicine (SRAM) is the world's only
peer-reviewed science journal that focuses exclusively on the claims of
alternative medicine. Published by Prometheus Books (Amherst, N.Y), the
journal's editorial board includes four Nobel laureates as well as leading
international physicians and researchers. Contact Prometheus Books at
1-800-421-0351 to order or go to:
<A HREF="http://www.hcrc.org/sram/">http://www.hcrc.org/sram/</A> or
<A HREF="http://www.prometheusbooks.com/">http://www.prometheusbooks.com/</A>
The Spring/Summer 1998 issue includes:
Oxygenation Therapy: Unproven Treatments for Cancer and AIDS
Saul Green
Magnetic and Electromagnetic Therapy
David W. Ramey
Naturopathy
Barry L. Beyerstein, Susan Downie
Therapeutic Touch: Investigation of a Practitioner
Robert Glickman, Ed Gracely
-----------------------
OPINION: GEN X FACES A CRISIS OF CREDULOUSNESS
Matt Nisbet
Astounding. It is likely that my generation—the group of twenty-somethings
dubbed Generation X—will be the first generation to be cloned. Only four
centuries old, science will shape a world by the time of Generation X
retirement that will be wholly dissimilar from the world twenty-somethings
live in today. Indeed, my generation, and post-Generation X teens and pre-
teens, live on the brink of an era as transformative in human history as the
Enlightenment or the Industrial Revolution.
Consider only a few of the remarkable feats of science and technology in the
past year. Besides the globally shocking cloning of the sheep named Dolly,
science landed a craft on Mars, completed the first maps in decoding the human
genome, uncovered new clues to the origins of the universe using the orbiting
Hubble telescope, and arranged matter from colliding beams of light. Today,
microchips can be found in our cars, phones, and credit cards while computer
software has codified, organized, arranged, and eased our personal and
workplace labors. Even the way Generation X receives news and information has
been fundamentally changed by E-mail and the World Wide Web.
Yet, within the advancement that shapes the future, there exists a deeply
troubling paradox. Generation X and the generations that follow may be the
most technologically proficient generation in history but also the most
scientifically illiterate. Recently, in a comprehensive international study
of American twelth-graders, our best students in math and physics ranked only
average when compared with students worldwide. In the global marketplace, the
U.S.
ranked behind less-developed countries like Greece, Slovenia and Latvia.
The age of advancing science arrives in tandem with an information
revolution. Society is offered an explosion of data, news, and knowledge.
But with no basis in how to think critically about this information,
Generation X will exist minus the tools to sort the reliable information from
the misinformation. In a democratic republic, a generation of Americans
unable to distinguish the valid from the uncertain weakens the foundations of
self-governance. The country risks becoming a societal hierarchy of a few
"know-hows" ruling over a large electorate of "know-nots."
Joining with scientific illiteracy is a growing blight of belief in
superstition and
pseudoscience. A 1996 Gallup Poll revealed that a third of Americans believe
in ghosts, a quarter believe in the tenets of astrology, and a third believe
that an alien spacecraft crashed at Roswell, New Mexico, in 1947. In
addition, there exists an increasing public infatuation with alternative
medical therapies. Fourteen billion dollars was spent last year on health-
related treatments that have never been scientifically validated.
On college campuses, credulousness thrives. To a degree greater than the
general public, students revel in alien conspiracy scenarios, curiously
consult their horoscopes and tarot cards, fantasize about witchcraft, and
partake of alternative therapies like acupuncture, homeopathy, or the latest
fad in exercise supplements.
Universities and colleges are at partial fault for the growing gullibility of
twenty-somethings. Too often, liberal arts curriculums teach cultural
relativism with a smorgasbord of course offerings that fail to provide
students with the tools necessary to make objective evaluations and to think
critically.
The media also shares a large part of the responsibility. Television has
replaced schools as the main forum for learning, yet much of programming is
rife with the paranormal, the extraordinary and the pseudoscientific. Examples
include Fox's X-Files, the canceled NBC series Dark Skies, and
pseudodocumentaries like the Unexplained, Unsolved Mysteries, and Dan Akroyd's
Psi-Factor. The media's paranormal push and disregard for science does not
stop with television, but extends across film, book publishing, and the World
Wide Web.
The current crisis of American gullibility merits a call-to-arms to
educators, scientists, members of the media, policymakers, and students. The
future necessitates society-wide choices on increasingly complex matters. If
America trades generational science awareness and literacy for a fantasyland
of magical thinking, we risk losing the nation's place in the world as a
leader in government, science and economics.
—30—
Matthew Nisbet, twenty-three, is Public Relations Director for SKEPTICAL
INQUIRER magazine, and coordinator for the Council for Media Integrity, a
network of scientists concerned with the balanced portrayal of science in the
media. www.csicop.org
-----------------------------