Committee for Skeptical Inquiry

Volume 24, Number 6, November/December

• Buy this back issue
• The New Paranatural Paradigm: Claims of Communicating with the Dead
• Why Bad Beliefs Don't Die
• Investigative Files: The Flatwoods UFO Monster

Articles

The Face Behind the 'Face' on Mars
A Skeptical Look at Richard C. Hoagland
From the "Face" on Mars, to the Pioneer plaque, to the possibility of a liquid ocean on Europa, Richard Hoagland boasts of his scientific prescience. But beneath that facade lies a yawning credibility gap.
Gary P. Posner

The New Paranatural Paradigm
Claims of Communicating with the Dead
The paranatural paradigm deals with other dimensions of reality beyond our own and apart from the supernatural. Philosopher Paul Kurtz examines the paradigm in the context of life after death.
Paul Kurtz

Francis Bacon and the True Ends of Skepticism
Long ago, Bacon asserted that science must begin with doubts in order to end in certainties, a paradox that stills leads to misunderstandings about Bacon and about science.
Barbara Friedberg

Worlds in Collision
Applying Reality to the Paranormal
Paranormal claims are a double-edged sword, and many believers would likely be unhappy with the logical implications of their beliefs. Our world would be a very different place if paranormal abilities truly existed. Psychic powers, if they were real, would raise serious ethical and philosophical questions regarding individuality, privacy, freedom, and free will.
Benjamin Radford

Why Bad Beliefs Don't Die
Because beliefs are designed to enhance our ability to survive, they are biologically designed to be strongly resistant to change. To change beliefs, skeptics must address the brain's "survival" issues of meanings and implications in addition to discussing their data.
Gregory W. Lester

Supernatural Power and Cultural Evolution
An evolutionary perspective that emphasizes the observable consequences of religious faith, and recognizes how beliefs can give rise to behavior that regulates access to essential material resources, may be productive in explaining the early origins and universality of belief in supernatural power.
Anthony Layng

Columns

Editor's Note

News and Comment

• 60 Minutes Gets Substandard C Grade for Medical Reporting in ACSH Study
• Three More Little Adventures on the Voodoo Science Front
• Reincarnation Watch Fails After Four Days
• Kansas Vote Ousting Creationist Board Members Helps Restore Science Standards
• Science Educators Rebut Creationist-friendly Wall Street Journal Column
• 'Prophet for Profit' Describes New Cult Leader O'Brien

Notes of a Fringe-Watcher
The Brutality of Dr. Bettelheim
Martin Gardner

Investigative Files
The Flatwoods UFO Monster
Joe Nickell

New Books

Science Best Sellers

Articles of Note

Letters to the Editor

Forum

• Knowledge, Certainty, and the Principle of Tolerance
  Ralph Estling

• On Inventing Your Own Disorder
  Bobby Newman

• Margaret Mead's Coming of Age in Samoa and Boasian Culturalism: A Brief Report
  Derek Freeman
  James Côté and Paul Shankman Respond

• Irresponsible Speculation and Scientism?
  John E. Chappell, Jr.
  Ralph Estling Responds

Book Reviews

Therapeutic Touch
Edited By Béla Scheiber and Carla Selby
Martin Gardner
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Encyclopedia of Pseudoscience
Edited By William F. Williams
David Bloomberg
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Rare Earth: Why Complex Life is Uncommon in the Universe
By Peter D. Ward and Donald Brownlee
Mark Wolverton
[Shop for this book]

Sleeping with Extra-Terrestrials: The Rise of Irrationalism and Perils of Piety
By Wendy Kaminer
Jim Sullivan
[Shop for this book]

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