Skeptical Inquirer — Volume 37.1
January/February 2013
It’s the End of the World and They Don’t Feel Fine: The Psychology of December 21, 2012
by Matthew J. Sharps, Schuyler W. Liao, and Megan R. Herrera
Volume 37.1, January/February 2013
Article
Cognitive science research on belief in the 2012 “apocalypse” demonstrates that dissociative processes contribute directly to this belief through reduction of the “feature-intensive” cognitive processing that would engender appropriate skepticism.
Indignation Is Not Righteous
by Gary Longsine and Peter Boghossian
Volume 37.1, January/February 2013
Article
Appeals to righteous indignation or sanctity—which attempt to shield ideas from contemplation, discussion, investigation, or criticism—are common, impede rational discourse, and should be recognized as logical fallacies.
Monsters and Dragons and Dinosaurs, Oh My: Creationist Interpretations of Beowulf
by Eve Siebert
Volume 37.1, January/February 2013
Article
There is no field of inquiry that young-Earth creationists can’t distort. In the area of literary and linguistic studies, they misinterpret, misrepresent, and mistranslate Beowulf to fit their agenda.
The Secret Life of J. Allen Hynek
by John Franch
Volume 37.1, January/February 2013
Article
According to legend, the astronomer J. Allen Hynek was a skeptic before becoming an outspoken UFOlogist, but is the legend true? This article takes a look at Hynek’s unusual life and career.
Miracle Dirt of Chimayó
by Joe Nickell
Volume 37.1, January/February 2013
Investigative Files
El Santuariò de Chimayó in New Mexico is a place of pilgrimages. Scores visit the little adobe church daily, while thousands walk miles to worship there on Good Friday. Many come seeking a cure for their afflictions, scooping from a small pit in the church floor a reddish soil that they rub on afflicted areas of their bodies or even sprinkle on their food or brew in tea.
Hitler’s South Pole Hideaway
by Massimo Polidoro
Volume 37.1, January/February 2013
Notes on a Strange World
“Searching for Hitler’s DNA in Antarctica.” This is the bizarre headline that made the news a few months ago, launched by Russian news agency Ria Novosti and picked up by the world media after scientists were able to successfully drill into Antarctica’s Lake Vostok.
Pretentious Whit
by Robert Sheaffer
Volume 37.1, January/February 2013
Book Review
A review of Solving the Communion Enigma: What Is to Come by Whitley Strieber.
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Mystics, Mycobacterium, and the Gospel of Matthew
by C.A. Porter
Volume 37.1, January/February 2013
Article
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The Math Behind the Myths
by Charles F. Cooper
Volume 37.1, January/February 2013
Forum
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Science Journalist Leon Jaroff, Eighty-Five
by Steven Novella
Volume 37.1, January/February 2013
Obituary
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Paul Kurtz, Philosopher, Humanist Leader, and Founder of the Modern Skeptical Movement, Dies at 86
by Tom Flynn
Volume 37.1, January/February 2013
Paul Kurtz In Memoriam
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Courage, Optimism, and Thinking Big: An Exuberant Life Well Lived
by Kendrick Frazier
Volume 37.1, January/February 2013
Paul Kurtz In Memoriam
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The Modern Skeptical Movement Would Not Exist without Him
by Ray Hyman
Volume 37.1, January/February 2013
Paul Kurtz In Memoriam
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In Memory of a Most Remarkable Man
by James Alcock
Volume 37.1, January/February 2013
Paul Kurtz In Memoriam
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Farewell, Fellow Warrior
by James Randi
Volume 37.1, January/February 2013
Paul Kurtz In Memoriam
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Exuberant Champion of the New Enlightenment
by Kendrick Frazier
Volume 37.1, January/February 2013
Paul Kurtz In Memoriam
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Paul Kurtz and the Virtue of Skepticism
by Michael Shermer
Volume 37.1, January/February 2013
Paul Kurtz In Memoriam
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A Powerful and Thoughtful Voice for Skepticism and Humanism
by Steven Novella
Volume 37.1, January/February 2013
Paul Kurtz In Memoriam
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Book of Seasons: An Elegy, for Paul Kurtz
by Joe Nickell
Volume 37.1, January/February 2013
Paul Kurtz In Memoriam
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Additional Tributes
by Daniel C. Dennett, Edward Tabash, Daniel Loxton, Amardeo Sarma, D.J. Grothe, Chris French
Volume 37.1, January/February 2013
Paul Kurtz In Memoriam
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Can We Have Civilized Conversations about Touchy Science Policy Issues?
by Kendrick Frazier
Volume 37.1, January/February 2013
From the Editor
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Physicists against Philosophers
by Massimo Pigliucci
Volume 37.1, January/February 2013
Thinking About Science
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Smithsonian-Affiliated National Atomic Testing Museum Promised to Reveal ‘UFO Secrets’
by Robert Sheaffer
Volume 37.1, January/February 2013
Psychic Vibrations
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Science Writers Gone Wild?
by Kenneth W. Krause
Volume 37.1, January/February 2013
Science Watch
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The Mysterious Bee Deaths
by Ben Radford
Volume 37.1, January/February 2013
Skeptical Inquiree
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The Return of Repressed-Memory Satanic Ritual Stories
by Douglas Mesner
Volume 37.1, January/February 2013
Book Review
A review of Twenty-Two Faces by Judy Byington.
