[ FRom tHE EDItoR Skep ti cal In quir er™ THE MAG A ZINE FOR SCI ENCE AND REA SON

EDI TOR Kend rick Fra zi er EDI TO RI AL BOARD James E. Al cock, Cautions and Enthusiasms Harriet Hall, , Scott O. Lilienfeld, , , , Am ar deo Sar ma, Eugenie C. Scott, n their “Losing Our Minds in the Age of Brain Science,” in this issue, Karen Stollznow, David E. Thomas, Leonard Tramiel Sally Satel and Scott O. Lilienfeld offer needed cautionary warnings about CONSULT ING EDI TORS Sus an J. Black more, Iover-enthusiastic popular simplifications and exaggerations concerning mod- Ken neth L. Fed er, Barry Karr, E.C. Krupp, Da vid F. Marks, Jay M. Pasachoff, ern neuroscience. The advent of powerful new brain imaging tools, particularly Rich ard Wis e man functional magnetic resonance imaging, is a remarkable intellectual advance. CONTRIB UT ING EDI TORS D.J. Grothe, Kenneth W. Krause, Chris Mooney, David Morrison, James E. They acknowledge that. The brain now has a powerful cultural presence. But Oberg, Rob ert Sheaf fer uncritical coverage and hype about the images and what they may mean have DEPUTY EDI TOR Ben ja min Rad ford implied a promise of simply decoding its functionings. New stories pop up every MANA GING EDI TOR Julia Lavarnway day. Politicians, marketers, addiction researchers, law officials, defense attor- ART DIRECT OR Christo pher Fix Paul E. Loynes neys—just about everyone now has a vested interest in making it seem this or PRODUC TION ASSISTANT EDITOR Sean Lachut that part of the brain explains our behavior and controls our lives. Misapplica- WEBMASTER Matthew Licata tions and misrepresentations of modern neuroscience are perhaps an inevitable PUBLISH ER’S REPRE SENT A TIVE Bar ry Karr consequence of all this new knowledge, but it is well to remember that this new CORPO RATE COUNSEL Brenton N. VerPloeg “neurocentrism” is not the be all and end all in understanding behavior; other BUSINESS MANA GER Pa tri cia Beau champ levels of analysis are essential. And we should guard against overestimating, in FISCAL OFFI CER Paul Pau lin SUBSCRIPTION DATA MANAGER Jacalyn Mohr the authors’ words, “how much neuroscience can improve legal, clinical, and STAFF Melissa Braun, Cheryl Catania, marketing practices, let alone inform social policy.” Roe Giambrone, An tho ny San ta Lu cia, Diane Tobin, Vance Vi grass * * * COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR Paul Fidalgo INQUIRY MEDIA PRODUC TIONS Thom as Flynn Philosopher and CSI Fellow Susan Haack of the University of Miami here pres- DIRECT OR OF LIBRAR IES Tim o thy S. Binga ents the first of a two-part article, “Six Signs of Scientism,” from her new book DEVELOPMENT DIRECTOR Alan Kinniburgh

Putting Philosophy to Work: Inquiry and Its Place in Culture. As was obvious in The SKEP TI CAL IN QUIR ER is the offi cial journal of the Com mittee for Skeptical Inquiry, her previous book, Defending Science—Within Reason (which we also excerpted), an in ter na tion al or gan i za tion.

Haack is a well-informed friend of science, not an overt critic. As she says here, The SKEP TI CAL IN QUIR ER (ISSN 0194-6730) is pub lished “Science is a good thing . . . but it is not a perfectly good thing,” and we science bimonth ly by the Commit tee for Skeptical Inquiry, 3965 Rensch Road, Amherst, NY 14228. Printed in U.S.A. Peri od- enthusiasts should not over-reach toward an uncritically deferential attitude to i cals post age paid at Buf fa lo, NY, and at ad di tion al mail ing offi ces. Subscrip tion prices: one year (six issues), $35; what is, after all, a very human undertaking. I think her two-part article offers two years, $60; three years, $84; sin gle is sue, $4.95. both lively intellectual substance and valuable cautionary advice. Cana di an and foreign orders: Payment in U.S. funds drawn on a U.S. bank must accom pa ny orders; please add US$10 per year for shipping. Cana di an and foreign custom ers are * * * encour aged to use Visa or Master Card. Canada Publications Mail Agreement No. 41153509. Return undeliverable Ca- I write shortly after participating in a successful 15th European Skeptics Con- nadian addresses to: IMEX, P.O. Box 4332, Station Rd., Toronto, ON M5W 3J4. gress in Stockholm, Sweden. This is the latest of a series of biennial confer- In quir ies from the me dia and the pub lic about the work of the Com mit tee should be made to Barry Karr, Executive ences established by the European Council of Skeptical Organizations (ECSO). Director, CSI, P.O. Box 703, Amherst, NY 14226-0703. Tel.: ECSO has been chaired for the past twelve years by our longtime colleague 716-636-1425. Fax: 716-636-1733. Email: bkarr@center forinquiry.net. Amardeo Sarma of Germany, a member of our Committee for Skeptical In- Man u scripts, let ters, books for re view, and ed i to ri al in quir- ies should be sent to Kend rick Fra zi er, Ed i tor, SKEP TI CAL quiry’s Executive Council and a editorial board member. INQUIR ER, EMAIL: [email protected]. 944 Deer The Swedish Skeptics group, headed by Martin Rundkvist, ably hosted this Drive NE, Al buquerque, NM 87122. Be fore sub mit ting any man u script, please con sult our updated and expanded lively conference, which was designed to allow fruitful networking among at- Guide for Au thors for styles, ref er en ce requirements, and submittal re quire ments. It is on our website in two formats tendees. With 2,700 members, the group proudly notes that as a proportion of at www.csi cop.org/pub lications/guide. the country’s population, it may be one of the world’s largest skeptic groups. Arti cles, reports, reviews, and letters published in the SKEP- TICAL INQUIR ER rep re sent the views and work of in di vid u al The enthusiasm of the young skeptics attending and contributing points to a authors. Their publi ca tion does not neces sa ri ly consti tute an endorse ment by CSI or its members unless so stated. bright future for science-based skeptical inquiry and the pursuit of knowledge Copy right ©2013 by the Commit tee for Skeptical Inquiry. about the real world. All rights reserved. The SKEPTI CAL INQUIR ER is availa ble on 16mm micro film, 35mm micro film, and 105mm micro- fiche from Univer si ty Micro films Inter na tion al and is in- dexed in the Read ers’ Guide to Pe ri od i cal Lit er a ture. — Subscrip tions and chan ges of address should be ad- dressed to: SKEP TI CAL IN QUIR ER, P.O. Box 703, Amherst, NY 14226-0703. Or call toll-free 1-800-634-1610 (out side the U.S. call 716-636-1425). Old ad dress as well as new are neces sa ry for change of subscrib er’s address, with six weeks advance notice. SKEPTI CAL INQUIR ER subscrib ers Committee for Skeptical Inquiry may not speak on behalf of CSI or the SKEP TI CAL IN QUIR ER. “... promotes scientific inquiry, critical investigation, and the use Post mas ter: Send chan ges of ad dress to SKEPTI CAL IN- of reason in examining controversial and extraordinary claims.” QUIR ER, P.O. Box 703, Amherst, NY 14226-0703.