Committee for Skeptical Inquiry

Volume 24, Number 4, July/August

• Buy this back issue
• Can We Really Tap Our Problems Away?
  A Critical Analysis of Thought Field Therapy
• Rethinking the Dancing Mania
• The New Paranatural Paradigm:
  Special APS Session Examines Pseudoscience

Articles

Can We Really Tap Our Problems Away?
A Critical Analysis of Thought Field Therapy
Thought Field Therapy is marketed as an extraordinarily fast and effective body-tapping treatment for a number of psychological problems. However, it lacks even basic empirical support and exhibits many of the trappings of a pseudoscience.
Brandon A. Gaudiano and James D. Herbert

Absolute Skepticism Equals Dogmatism
There are two main kinds of skeptics: moderate and radical. The moderate skeptics do not question the totality of know- ledge. Instead, they proceed gradually, because questioning any bit of knowledge involves comparing it with another piece that is assumed, if only for the sake of the argument. By contrast, wholesale skepticism admits no benchmark and is thus an obstacle to inquiry, just like dogmatism. Scientists, technologists, and humanistic researchers practice piecemeal skepticism, which, unlike absolute skepticism, is constructive.
Mario Bunge

Did a Close Encounter of the Third Kind Occur on a Japanese Beach in 1803?
Intriguing UFO-like stories written in the Japanese books Toen Shousetsu and Ume no Chiri, which were published in 1825 and 1844 respectively, are apparently fictions based on Japanese folklore. Illustrations of the UFO-like boats in these books are results of a combination of folklore and imagination.
Kazuo Tanaka

Rethinking the Dancing Mania
While medieval dance frenzies have long been regarded as a classic example of stress-induced mental disorder affecting mostly women, there is much evidence to the contrary.
Robert E. Bartholomew

Has Science Education Become an Enemy of Scientific Rationality?
Despite the highest levels of general science education in history, distrust of science seems on the rise and the pseudo- sciences are flourishing. Students may reveal why this paradox exists.
Andrew Ede

Special Report

Krakatene: The Name is Just Fine, But It Can't Be C6
Explosive pseudoscience from the Czech Academy of Science
Zdeneùk Slanina

Columns

Editor's Note

News and Comment

• SRAM Articles Lead to Alternative Medical Doctor's Resignation
• Dr. Scholl's Steps into Pseudoscience with Magnetic Insoles
• Evidence on Antioxidants Still Insufficient, But New Report Says Megadoses Are Risky
• 'Intelligent Design' Goes to Washington: Evolution Opponents Brief Congress
• 'Powers of the Paranormal': Another Fox TV Outrage
• Newsweek Publishes Poll on Miracles

Notes of a Fringe-Watcher
David Bohm and Jiddo Krishnamurti
Martin Gardner

Investigative Files
Stigmata: In Imitation of Christ
Joe Nickell

New Books

Science Best Sellers

Articles of Note

Conference Reports

• The New Paranatural Paradigm:
  Special APS Session Examines Pseudoscience
  Donald Mainfort

• Conference Examines Efficacy, Safety of Medicinal Herbs
  Denise Grady

• Templeton and the AAAS
  Ralph Estling

Book Reviews

Voodoo Science: The Road from Foolishness to Fraud
By Robert Park
Gerry Rising
[Shop for this book]

Mind Myths: Exploring Popular Assumptions About the Mind and Brain
Edited by Sergio Della Sala
Benjamin Radford
[Shop for this book]

Three Seductive Ideas
By Jerome Kagan
Mark Durm
[Shop for this book]

The Age of Spiritual Machines
By Ray Kurzweil
Rudolph Muska
[Shop for this book]

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