sign in sign up
<<
Home , Carl Wieland, CICAP, Ed and Lorraine Warren, Guy Lyon Playfair, Humanists Sweden, Poltergeist

SI JA Cover_SI JF 10 V1 5/30/12 4:26 PM Page 1

Vegetarian T. Rex? | Enfield | ‘Fly’ing Saucer Video | Laws | Kahneman’s Thinking, Fast and Slow

the Magazine for Science and Reason Vol. 36 No. 4 | July/August 2012

INTRODUCTORY PRICE U.S. and Canada $4.95

Published by the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry July August pages_SI new design masters 5/30/12 4:30 PM Page 2

AT THE CEN TERFOR IN QUIRY –TRANSNATIONAL

Paul Kurtz, Founder , Senior Research Fellow Richard Schroeder, Chairman , Research Fellow Ronald A. Lindsay, President and CEO , Research Fellow www.csicop.org Bar ry Karr, Ex ec u tive Di rect or , Research Fellow

James E. Al cock*, psy chol o gist, York Univ., Tor on to Thom as Gi lov ich, psy chol o gist, Cor nell Univ. Jay M. Pasachoff, Field Memorial Professor of Mar cia An gell, MD, former ed itor-in-chief, Wendy M. Grossman, writer; founder and first editor, Astronomy and director of the Hopkins New Eng land Jour nal of Med i cine The Skeptic magazine (UK) Observatory, Williams College Kimball Atwood IV, MD, physician; author; Sus an Haack, Coop er Sen ior Schol ar in Arts and John Pau los, math e ma ti cian, Tem ple Univ. Newton, MA Sci en ces, professor of phi los o phy and professor Massimo Pigliucci, professor of philosophy, of Law, Univ. of Mi ami Steph en Bar rett, MD, psy chi a trist; au thor; con sum er City Univ. of New York–Lehman College ad vo cate, Al len town, PA Harriet Hall, MD, family physician; investigator, Stev en Pink er, cog nitive sci en tist, Harvard Univ. Willem Betz,MD, professor of medicine, Univ. of Puyallup, WA Ir ving Bie der man, psychol o gist, Univ. of C.E.M. Han sel, psy chol o gist, Univ. of Wales Philip Plait, astronomer; lecturer; writer South ern CA David J. Helfand, professor of astronomy, Mas si mo Pol id oro, sci ence writer; au thor; ex ec u tive Sandra Blakeslee, science writer; author; New York Columbia Univ. di rect or of CI CAP, It a ly Times science correspondent Doug las R. Hofstad ter, pro fes sor of human Anthony R. Pratkanis, professor of psychology, Sus an Black more, vis it ing lec tur er, Univ. of the West un der stand ing and cog ni tive sci ence, In di ana Univ. Univ. of CA, Santa Cruz of Eng land, Bris tol Ger ald Hol ton, Mal linc krodt Profes sor of Phys ics and Benjamin Radford, investigator; research fellow, Mark Boslough, physicist, Sandia National Laborato- pro fes sor of his to ry of sci ence, Har vard Univ. Committee for Skeptical Inquiry ries, Albuquerque, NM Ray Hy man*, psy chol o gist, Univ. of Or e gon James “The Amazing” Randi, magician; CSICOP Hen ri Broch, phys i cist, Univ. of Nice, France Le on Jar off, sci en ces ed itor emer i tus, Time founding member; founder, Jan Har old Brun vand, folk lor ist; pro fes sor emer i tus Stuart D. Jordan, NASA astrophysicist emeritus; Educational Foundation of Eng lish, Univ. of Utah science advisor to Office of Mil ton Ro sen berg, psy chol o gist, Univ. of Chic a go Mar io Bunge, phi los o pher, McGill Univ., Montreal Public Policy, Washington, DC Wal la ce Sam pson, MD, clin i cal pro fes sor of med i cine, Robert T. Carroll, emeritus professor of philosophy, Ser gei Ka pit za, former ed i tor, Rus sian edi tion, Sacramento City College; writer Sci en tif ic Amer i can Stan ford Univ.; ed i tor, Sci en tif ic Re view of Sean B. Carroll, molecular geneticist; vice president Barry Karr, executive director, Committee for Al ter na tive Med i cine for science education, Howard Hughes Medical Skeptical Inquiry, Amherst, New York Am ar deo Sar ma*, chairman, GWUP, Ger ma ny Institute, Madison, WI Law rence M. Krauss, foundation professor, School Richard Saunders, vice president, Australian Thomas R. Casten, expert; founder and of Earth and Space Exploration and Physics Dept.; Skeptics; educator; investigator; podcaster; chairman, Recycled Energy Development, director, Origins Initiative, Arizona State Univ. Sydney, Australia Westmont, IL Harry Kroto, professor of chemistry and Eu ge nie C. Scott*, phys i cal an thro pol o gist; ex ec u tive John R. Cole, an thro pol o gist; ed i tor, Na tion al biochemistry, Florida State Univ.; Nobel laureate di rect or, Nation al Cen ter for Sci ence Ed u cation Cen ter for Sci ence Ed u ca tion Ed win C. Krupp, as tron o mer; di rect or, K.C. Cole, science writer; author; professor, Grif fith Ob ser va to ry, Los Angeles, CA Rob ert Sheaf fer, sci ence writer Univ. of Southern California’s Annenberg Paul Kurtz, professor emeritus of philosophy, El ie A. Shneour, bi o chem ist; au thor; president and School of Journalism SUNY at Buffalo research director, Bi os ys tems Re search In sti tute, Fred er ick Crews, lit er ary and cul tur al crit ic; pro fes sor Law rence Kusche, sci ence writer La Jol la, CA emer i tus of Eng lish, Univ. of CA, Berke ley Le on Le der man, emer i tus di rect or, Fer mi lab; Seth Shostak, senior astronomer, SETI Institute, Rich ard Dawk ins, zo ol o gist, Ox ford Univ. No bel lau re ate in phys ics Mountain View, CA Geof frey Dean, tech ni cal ed i tor, Perth, Aus tral ia Scott O. Lil i en feld*, psy chol o gist, Emory Univ., Simon Singh, science writer; broadcaster; UK Cor nel is de Ja ger, pro fes sor of as tro phys ics, Atlanta, GA Dick Smith,film pro duc er; pub lish er; Ter rey Hills, Univ. of Utrecht, the Neth er lands Lin Zix in, former ed i tor, Sci ence and N.S.W., Aus tral ia Dan i el C. Den nett, Aus tin B. Fletch er Pro fes sor Tech nol o gy Dai ly (Chi na) Keith E. Stanovich, cognitive psychologist; of Phi los o phy and di rect or of Cen ter for Cog ni tive Je re Lipps, Mu se um of Pa le on tol o gy, Univ. of CA, Stud ies, Tufts Uni v. Berke ley professor of human development and applied psychology, Uni v. of Ann Druyan, writer and producer; CEO, Eliz a beth Loft us*, pro fes sor of psy chol o gy, Cosmos Studios, Ithaca, NY Univ. of CA, Ir vine Rob ert Stein er, ma gi cian; au thor; El Cer ri to, CA Sanal Edamaruku, president, Indian Rationalist Da vid Marks, psy chol o gist, City Univ., Lon don Vic tor J. Sten ger, emer i tus pro fes sor of phys ics Association and Rationalist International Mar io Men dez-Acos ta, jour nal ist and sci ence writer, and as tron o my, Univ. of Ha waii; ad junct pro fes sor Edzard Ernst, professor, Complementary Medicine, Mex i co City of phi los o phy, Univ. of CO Peninsula Medical School, Universities of Exeter and Kenneth R. Miller, professor of biology, *, linguist; skeptical investigator; Plymouth, Exeter, UK Brown Univ. writer; podcaster Ken neth Fed er, pro fes sor of an thro pol o gy, Marv in Min sky, pro fes sor of me dia arts and sci en ces, Jill Cor nell Tar ter,as tron o mer, SE TI In sti tute, Cen tral Con nec ti cut State Univ. M.I.T. Barbara Forrest, professor of philosophy, Moun tain View, CA Da vid Mor ri son, space sci en tist, NA SA Ames Re search Car ol Tav ris,psy chol o gist and au thor, Los Ange les, CA SE Louisiana Univ. Cen ter An drew Fra knoi, as tron o mer, Foot hill Col lege, Rich ard A. Mul ler, pro fes sor of phys ics, Univ. of CA, Da vid E. Thom as*, phys i cist and math e ma ti cian, Los Al tos Hills, CA Berke ley Per al ta, NM Kend rick Fra zier*, sci ence writer; ed i tor, Joe Nick ell, sen ior re search fel low, CSI Neil de Grasse Ty son, as tro phys i cist and di rect or, SKEP TI CAL IN QUIR ER , mathematician, Waalre, Hay den Plan e tar i um, New York City Christopher C. French, professor, Department The Netherlands Ma ri lyn vos Sa vant, Pa rade mag a zine of Psychology, and head of the Anomalistic Lee Nis bet, phi los o pher, Medaille Col lege con trib ut ing ed i tor Psychology Research Unit, Goldsmiths College, Univ. of , MD, assistant professor Stev en Wein berg, pro fes sor of phys ics and as tron o my, Yves Gal i fret, executive secretary, of neurology, Yale Univ. School of Medicine Univ. of Tex as at Austin; No bel lau re ate Bill Nye, sci ence ed u ca tor and tel e vi sion host, l’Union Rationaliste E.O. Wil son, Univ. pro fes sor emer i tus, organismic and Nye Labs Luigi Garlaschelli, chemist, Università di Pavia evolutionary biology, Har vard Univ. James E. Oberg, sci ence writer (); research fellow of CICAP, Rich ard Wis e man, psy chol o gist, Univ. the Italian skeptics group Irm gard Oe pen, pro fes sor of med i cine (re tired), of Hert ford shire, England Maryanne Garry, professor, School of Psychology, Mar burg, Ger ma ny Victoria Univ. of Wellington, New Zealand Lor en Pan kratz, psy chol o gist, Or e gon Health Benjamin Wolozin*, professor, Department of Mur ray Gell-Mann, pro fes sor of phys ics, San ta Fe Sci en ces Univ. Pharmacology, Boston Univ. School of Medicine In sti tute; No bel lau re ate Robert L. Park,professor of physics, Univ. of Maryland Marv in Zel en, stat is ti cian, Har vard Univ.

* Mem ber, CSI Ex ec u tive Coun cil (Af fil i a tions giv en for iden ti fi ca tion only.) July August pages_SI new design masters 5/31/12 12:51 PM Page 3

Skep ti cal In quir er July/August 2012 | Vol. 36, No. 4

SPECIAL SECTION COLUMNS 26 FROM THE EDITOR ...... ‘Mystery Illness’ Dr. Phil Gives a Pass 4 in Western New York NEWS AND COMMENT Is Social Networking Spreading New Info Challenges 9/11 Thermite Mass Hysteria? Claims/Measles Cases Up Sharply in U.S./Placebo Bands Help Fund Grass- The recent outbreak of twitching, facial tics, and roots /Anti-Evolution Bill garbled speech—symptoms of a form Becomes Law in Tennesse/ Capital of conversion disorder—at a school in Western Punishment Research Inconclusive, New York may signal a growing trend in NRC Reports...... 5 the United States. ROBERT E. BARTHOLOMEW IN VES TI GA TIVE FILES Enfield Poltergeist 30 JOE NICK ELL...... 12 Neurologic Illness THINKING ABOUT SCIENCE or Hysteria? Explanations in Search A Mysterious Twitching Outbreak of Observations MAS SI MO PI GLI UC CI ...... 15 JOE NICKELL NOTES ON A STRANGE WORLD Stairway to Heaven: A Firsthand Account 34 of a UFO Sighting The Social and Symbolic Power MAS SI MO POLIDORO ...... 16 of AIDS Denialism VIBRATIONS NICOLI NATTRASS Flying Saucer or Fly: The Case UFO Skeptics Have Been Dreading? 39 ROBERT SHEAFFER...... 18 Eyewitness to the : THE SCIENCE OF MEDICINE The Experimental Psychology The Non-Mysterious Mass Illness in Le Roy, New York of the ‘Unexplained’ STEVEN NOVELLA ...... 21 MATTHEW J. SHARPS

SCIENCE WATCH 44 Besieging the Last Bastions of Race The Top 20 Logical KENNETH W. KRAUSE...... 23 JESSE RICHARDSON SKEPTICAL INQUIREE Diving HeadOn into 48 BENJAMIN RADFORD...... 25 Political Myths that Influence Voters NEW AND NOTABLE ...... 59 JEFFREY S. VICTOR LETTERS TO THE ED I TOR...... 62 52 THE LAST LAUGH...... 66 Dinodang: The Melon Rex Myth PHIL SENTER BOOK REVIEW

SPECIAL REPORT What’s Going On in Our Minds? 8 PAUL BROWN...... 58 Why the GOP inking, Fast and Slow Distrusts Science by Daniel Kahneman CHRIS MOONEY July August pages_SI new design masters 5/31/12 10:27 AM Page 4

[ FROM THE EDITOR Skep ti cal In quir er™ THE MAG A ZINE FOR SCI ENCE AND REA SON Dr. Phil Gives Psychics a Pass ED I TOR Kend rick Fra zi er ED I TO RI AL BOARD James E. Al cock, Thom as Cas ten, Ray Hy man, Scott O. Lilienfeld, e know cable television has gone bonkers with paranormal program- Joe Nick ell, Amar deo Sar ma, Eugenie C. Scott, Karen Stollznow, David E. Thomas, Leonard Tramiel, ming. But if you think that network television, more than half a century Benjamin Wolozin old, has matured on that topic, think again. I just watched a new episode CON SULT ING ED I TORS Sus an J. Black more, W Ken neth L. Fed er, Barry Karr, E.C. Krupp, of the popular afternoon show Dr. Phil (May 25 on my local CBS affiliate) that Da vid F. Marks, Jay M. Pasachoff, Rich ard Wis e man professed to put psychics to the test. The good news is that they included one CON TRIB UT ING ED I TORS Austin Dacey, D.J. Grothe, Harriet Hall, Kenneth W. Krause, Chris Moon ey, of our colleagues, Jim Underdown, as their skeptic to examine psychics’ tech- James E. Oberg, Rob ert Sheaf fer, Karen Stollznow niques. Jim is executive director of our Center for Inquiry–Los Angeles and DEPUTY ED I TOR Ben ja min Rad ford head of the Independent Investigations Group. He is quite knowledgeable. MAN A GING ED I TOR Julia Lavarnway But—surprise, surprise!—it turned out that he was up against not one, not two, ART DI RECT OR Chri sto pher Fix but five self-proclaimed psychics. And while the psychics were given the status PRO DUC TION Paul E. Loynes of sitting on the stage with host Dr. Phil (clinical psychologist Phil McGraw), ASSISTANT EDITOR Brittany Muscarella Jim was relegated to the audience. This is what TV producers regard as balance. WEBMASTER Matthew Licata PUBLISH ER’S REP RE SENT A TIVE Bar ry Karr The show got off to a reasonable start with Jim describing and COR PO RATE COUN SEL Steven Fox, then doing a reading of a group of selected people. He impressed three of them Brenton N. VerPloeg with his apparent personal knowledge of their problems. Then one of the psy- BUSI NESS MAN A GER Pa tri cia Beau champ chics was shown making five or six straight misses as she attempted to cold read FIS CAL OF FI CER Paul Pau lin the same group. But those misses were quickly forgotten, and from there the SUBSCRIPTION DATA MANAGER Jacalyn Mohr STAFF Melissa Braun, Cheryl Catania, show, from any rational viewpoint, plunged rapidly downward. That first psychic Roe Giambrone, An tho ny San ta Lu cia, recovered and managed to get several in the group highly emotional about her John Sul li van, Diane Tobin, Vance Vi grass apparent knowledge of their personal issues. Jim’s protests that they had told COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR Paul Fidalgo IN QUIRY ME DIA PRO DUC TIONS Thom as Flynn the psychic the very information that they thought was being revealed were to DI RECT OR OF LI BRAR IES Tim o thy S. Binga no avail. One by the one, the numerologist, the color reader (yes!), the intuitive, and The SKEP TI CAL IN QUIR ER is the of fi cial jour nal of the Com mit tee for Skeptical Inquiry, the others were given free rein. Jim had little further opportunity to point out an in ter na tional organ i za tion. what they were up to and none to test any of them. And once he was revealed The SKEP TI CALIN QUIR ER(ISSN 0194-6730) is pub lished bi month - as a skeptic, the “psychics” repeatedly disparaged him. Finally “a scientist” was ly by the Com mit tee for Skeptical Inquiry, 3965 Rensch Road, proudly brought in. I expected some scientific viewpoint to be expressed. But Am herst, NY 14228. Print ed in U.S.A. Pe ri od icals post age paid at Buf fa lo, NY, and at ad di tion al mail ing of fi ces. Sub scrip tion their scientist was in fact an ardent believer in psychic powers! How many re- pri ces: one year (six is sues), $35; two years, $60; three spected psychologists—who tend to be overwhelmingly skeptical about psychic years, $84; sin gle is sue, $4.95. Ca na di an and for eign or ders: Pay ment in U.S. funds drawn on a U.S. bank must ac com pa - powers—the producers had to pass over to find one that actively advocates psy- ny or ders; please add US$10 per year for ship ping. Ca na di an chic powers we’ll never know. As for Dr. Phil, he professed some mild skepti- and for eign cus tom ers are en cour aged to use Vi sa or Mas ter - Card. Canada Publications Mail Agreement No. 41153509. cism but demonstrated none. Only Jim exhibited any critical thinking. An au- Return undeliverable Canadian addresses to: IMEX, P.O. Box dience survey at the show’s start indicated 78 percent believed in psychic powers; 4332, Station Rd., Toronto , ON M5W 3J4. In quir ies from the me dia and the pub lic about the work of the another at the end showed belief had risen to 84 percent. Given the show’s to- Com mit tee should be made to Barry Karr, Executive Director, tally biased set up, it’s surprising it wasn’t 100 percent. The producers should be CSI, P.O. Box 703, Am herst, NY 14226-0703. Tel.: 716-636- ashamed. 1425. Fax: 716-636-1733. Email: [email protected]. Man u scripts, let ters, books for re view, and ed i to rial in quir ies * * * * should be sent to Kend rick Fra zi er, Ed i tor, SKEP TI CAL IN QUIR ER, 944 Deer Drive NE, Al bu querque, NM 87122. Fax: 505-828- This issue is packed with solid articles. We begin with three independent 2080. EMAIL: [email protected]. Be fore sub mit - examinations of the much-publicized case of collective conversion disorder, or ting any man u script, please con sult our updated and ex- panded Guide for Au thors for styles, ref er en ce requirements, mass psychogenic illness, in Le Roy, New York. Robert Bartholomew, Joe Nick- and submittal re quire ments. It is on our website in two for- ell, and Steven Novella (in his “The Science of Medicine” column) provide mats at www.csi cop.org/pub lications/guide. complementary perspectives to understand such events. Nicoli Nattrass of the Ar ti cles, re ports, re views, and let ters pub lished in the SKEP TI- CALIN QUIR ERrep re sent the views and work of in di vid u al au thors. AIDS and Society Research Unit at the University of Cape Town contributes Their pub li ca tion does not nec es sa ri ly con sti tute an en dorse - her second SI article on AIDS denialism, this one explaining why it is so re- ment by CSI or its mem bers un less so stat ed. Cop y right ©2012 by the Com mit tee for Skeptical Inquiry. All silient. And in this election season sociologist Jeffrey S. Victor steps back to rights re served. The SKEP TI CALIN QUIR ERis availa ble on 16mm mi - cro film, 35mm mi cro film, and 105mm mi cro fiche from Uni - look at some longstanding and powerful political myths that still influence ver si ty Micro films In ter na tion al and is indexed in the Read - voters. And that’s just a start. Happy reading. ers’ Guide to Pe ri od i cal Lit er a ture. Sub scrip tions and chan ges of ad dress should be ad dressed —KENDRICK FRAZIER to: SKEP TI CAL IN QUIR ER, P.O. Box 703, Am herst, 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 nec es sa ry for change of sub scrib er’s ad dress, with six weeks ad vance no - tice. SKEP TI CAL IN QUIR ER sub scrib ers may not speak on be half of CSI or the SKEP TI CAL IN QUIR ER. Committee for Skeptical Inquiry Post mas ter: Send chan ges of ad dress to SKEP TI CALIN QUIR ER, P.O. “... promotes scientific inquiry, critical investigation, and the use Box 703, Am herst, NY 14226-0703. of reason in examining controversial and extraordinary claims.” July August pages_SI new design masters 5/31/12 12:08 PM Page 5

[ NEWS AND COMMENT

New Info Challenges 9/11 Thermite Claims DAVE THOMAS

9/11 Truthers say that three World Trade Millette’s conclusion contradicts that croscopic spheres of iron, which 9/11 Center (WTC) towers were taken down claim: “The red/gray chips found in the Truthers have long maintained could by controlled demolitions (CDs) and that WTC dust at four sites in New York only have been formed with thermite, airplanes and/or fires alone could not City are consistent with a carbon steel thus proving their controlled demoli- have toppled the buildings. However, coated with an epoxy resin that contains tion/inside job claim. Ron Wieck, who CDs almost al ways require the use of primarily iron oxide and kaolin clay pig- produces an Internet debate program high explosives, which produce a series ments. There is no evidence of individual called Hardfire, re cently asked the R.J. of insanely loud bangs that can be heard elemental aluminum particles of any size Lee Group to clarify what they thought for miles. Since the “boom boom boom” in the red/gray chips, therefore the red layer about the iron microspheres. Rich Lee of ex plosives was totally absent in Man - of the red/gray chips is not thermite or himself answered (in part): hattan on 9/11, Truthers needed to hy- nano thermite.” What about the iron microspheres? pothesize a quiet method of doing CDs. If these chips aren’t thermite, then The iron has a thin layer of rust flakes That’s when thermite, a mixture of alu- what are they? Millette performed sev- that can be easily removed by sticky minum and iron oxide powders, became eral tests, including Fourier transform tape. The iron is heated red hot or infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), on the hotter and subjected to hurricane a basic part of 9/11 Truther mythology. force blast furnace like wind. The iron Thermite is quite stable at room tem- chips and clearly showed that the chips flakes are liberated as small particles perature, but once ignited it burns are a mixture of kaolin and epoxy. and some iron is vaporized. Like brightly and slowly until the chemical Kaolin, also called aluminum silicate drops of water, the iron flakes form chain reaction runs its course, getting and china clay, is a platy mineral fre- molten spheres that solidify and the quently used as a pigment in paints. fume also condenses into spheres, the hot enough to melt iron and steel in the most efficient geometrical form.... process. Epoxy resins have been used in coatings The formation of iron and other type Thermite became the CD option the since the 1940s. spheres at temperatures obtainable by the 9/11 Truthers wanted—capable of melt- Whatever the chips are, they are not combustion of petroleum or coal based ing steel columns quietly in secret. thermite, as particles of elemental alu- fuels is not a new or unique process. minum are as crucial to thermite or These spheres are the same as iron Truthers now claim that both red-gray and alumino-silicate spheres in the chips and iron-rich microspheres in nanothermite as heat and oxygen are to well-studied fly ash formed from WTC dust can only be explained by ther- fire. No aluminum, no thermite. contaminants in coal as it is burned mite, thus providing a “smoking gun” that On a related note, in February 2012 in furnaces. (emphasis added) 2 proves their inside job/controlled demo- I posted a letter from Rich Lee of the lition hypothesis. R.J. Lee Group on the JREF Forum. The answer to the mystery of the mi- A new report on studies of dust from This company’s post-9/11 2003 report crospheres (i.e., “Iron melts only at tem- the destruction of the Twin Towers has on WTC dust samples mentioned mi- peratures much higher than possible in been released. The report by James R. Millette, PhD, of Georgia is titled “Pro gress Report on the Analysis of Red/Gray Chips in WTC Dust.”1 Journ alist Chris Mohr, who has a whole series of YouTube videos about 9/11 conspiracy theories, commissioned the study; members of the James Randi Ed- ucational Founda tion (JREF) helped raise funds for the study, which was is- sued February 29, 2012. The study took another look at sam- ples of WTC dust, which Niels Harrit of Denmark and several others (includ- ing Steven Jones) purport contains nano thermitic materials (“Active Ther- mitic Material Discovered in Dust from the 9/11 World Trade Center Ca- tastrophe,” The Open Chem ical Physics Millette’s FTIR plot shows that the chips in WTC dust are likely a mixture of kaolin and epoxy, both common Journal). ingredients in paints and coatings.

Skeptical Inquirer | July/August 2012 5 July August pages_SI new design masters 5/31/12 1:16 PM Page 6

normal fires, so how could micros- the 9/11 Truth movement—that sci- Placebo Bands Help pheres have possibly been formed on entists found thermite residues in 9/11?”) is simply that very small metal WTC dust and that iron micros- Fund Grassroots particles have much lower melting points pheres in WTC dust prove that Skepticism than their bulk material counterparts thermite was used—have both been GURMUKH MONGIA (around 900o C for iron nanoparticles, found to have no basis in fact. as opposed to 1535o C for bulk iron). The is, at its heart, This is called the “thermodynamic Notes a system of small grassroots organiza- size effect.” The towers contained 1. Millette study online: http://dl.dropbox.com tions. While there are a few large play- /u/64959841/9119ProgressReport022912 ers, most activity comes from small thousands of computers and electric _rev1_030112webHiRes.pdf. gadgets. Wires and filaments and 2. R. J. Lee letter online: http://forums.randi groups of friends acting at the local level, meshes from electronics, as well as .org/showpost.php?p=8013472&postcoun or even individuals acting on their own, thin rust flakes and other small iron t=1329. to encourage skepticism and critical 3. Dave Thomas “Microspheres from Steel thinking. particles, could all have easily been Wool” video: http://www.youtube.com/ made into microspheres during the watch?v=jZ9wSD4Hcys. It should come as no surprise that WTC conflagration. To see a vivid small organizations may experience dif- ficulty raising the funds needed to engage demonstration of this phenomenon, Dave Thomas, a physicist and mathemati- in certain forms of skeptical activism. watch the video3 on the New Mexi- cian, is president of New Mexicans for Sci- ence and Reason and a fellow of the Commit- Even professional-looking flyers can be a cans for Science and Reason’s tee for Skeptical Inquiry. He is currently a little difficult to come by, especially in a YouTube channel, “theNMSR,” in scientist/programmer at IRIS/PASSCAL in So- time when economic instability creates which a normal lighter is used to corro, New Mexico, and also teaches classes tight budgets and strict priorities. burn steel wool, creating numerous in physics, psychology, and critical thinking Two skeptical entrepreneurs have iron microspheres without any ther- at New Mexico Tech. He wrote “The 9/11 Truth taken steps to address this lack of fund- mite at all! Movement: The Top Conspiracy Theory, a ing in grassroots skepticism. Christo - For now, two principal claims of Decade Later” in the July/August 2011 SI.

Measles Cases Up Sharply in U.S.

Measles cases in the United States hit a States. Europe suffered an outbreak of the fifteen-year high in 2011, with 90 percent disease in 2011, reporting more than of the cases traced to other countries that 37,000 measles cases. France, Italy, and have lower immunization rates, according Spain, popular destinations for U.S. tourists, to the Centers for Disease Control and were among the hardest hit. Prevention’s Mor bidity and Mortality Week - More than 90 percent of U.S. children ly Re port in April. have been vaccinated against measles, Between 2001 and 2010 there had the CDC said. been only about sixty cases of measles “We don’t have to have this much per year, but in 2011 the U.S. experienced measles,” Schuchat said. “Measles is pre- 222 cases. No one has died of measles ventable. Unvaccinated people put them- in the United States, but about twenty mil- selves and other people at risk for measles lion people contract the measles virus and its complications.” each year worldwide, and about 164,000 The World Health Organization (WHO) die from it, said Anne Schuchat, MD, di- launched a week of vaccination campaigns rector of the CDC’s National Center for Im- and public education touting the value of munization and Respiratory Disease. immunizations. It said that with in creased All but twenty-two of the 222 cases immunizations worldwide, global measles last year involved patients who had been mortality has declined by 78 percent from infected overseas or caught the virus from 733,000 deaths in 2000 to 164,000 someone who had been abroad, the CDC deaths in 2008. Nevertheless, WHO esti- said. The source of the other twenty-two mated that 19.3 million children under the cases could not be determined. age of one—more than half of them in Many of the cases were traced to Eu- Africa and Southeast Asia—did not receive rope, where in some countries im mu - the diphtheria-tetanus-pertussis (DTP3) nization rates are lower than in the Unit ed vaccine.

6 Volume 36 Issue 4 | July August pages_SI new design masters 5/31/12 1:16 PM Page 7

[ NEWS AND COMMENT

pher Brown of the podcast Meet The ries for children ages three to five, a Skeptics (meettheskeptics.libsyn.com) market that she believes is underrepre- Anti-Evolution Bill and Travis Roy of the Granite State sented in skeptical children’s literature. Skeptics (granitestateskeptics.org) have One story from the book, “Otterly-Im- Becomes Law in Tennessee joined together to become the North possible,” tells the story of three otters American distributors of the popular that love to swim in such a way that A bill that encourages teachers to present Placebo Band (placebobandstore.com). they are often mistaken for a sea mon- the “scientific strengths and scientific Brown and Roy wanted the pro- ster. Placebo Band North America do- weaknesses” of topics that arouse “de- ceeds from their sales to go toward nated to Kitty’s efforts, distributing bate and disputation,” such as “biological some form of social good. They do- copies of her book for free to children evolution, the chemical origins of life, nated the proceeds from their first attending skeptic camp. global warming, and human cloning” has batch of sales to the charity Autism Now Brown and Roy are looking for now become law in Ten nes see. Speaks. Now they’re looking for some more grassroots skeptical projects to be- Scientists and science educators see grassroots skeptical causes to support, come involved with. Anyone who knows such bills as thinly disguised attacks on and they’ve already participated in two of a local skeptical organization or indi- evolutionary science and other scientific very worthy ventures. vidual that could use a small donation for topics that trouble religious conserva- When SKEPTICAL INQUIRER Deputy a specific activity related to skeptical ac- tives. Editor Ben Radford wanted to protest tivism is encouraged to contact either The bill became law April 10, 2012, Sylvia Browne’s performance in Albu- Christopher Brown (meettheskeptics@ without the governor’s signature. Governor querque, New Mexico, last year by print- aol.com) or Travis Roy (travis@granites Bill Haslam declined to sign it, expressing ing up a pair of large vinyl banners in- tateskeptics.org) with a full explanation reservations about its value, but appar- forming the public of Browne’s criminal of the project, including its overall goal ently realized a veto would be overridden record, Placebo Band North Amer ica, and a list of the project’s participants. by a majority vote in both chambers. The among other private donors, promptly Placebo Band North America will con- bill had passed both chambers by a 3- contributed to the cause, defraying some sider all requests and will be happy to do- of the project’s costs. nate their money to a worthy cause. to-1 margin. Brown and Roy also responded to a Haslam said in a statement: request for funds to help create and dis- Gurmukh Mongia is a computer scientist work- I have reviewed the final language of HB tribute a skeptical book for children by ing in the field of web development. He is a 368/SB 893 and assessed the legisla- Kitty Mervine, who contributes to the graduate of Niagara College of Applied Arts and tion’s impact. I have also evaluated the She Thought blog (shethought.com) and Technology, where his interest in critical think- concerns that have been raised by the bill. I do not believe that this legislation advocates scientifically based support ing led him to take additional courses in statis- changes the scientific standards that are for people who believe they’ve been ab- tics and public disinformation. He currently taught in our schools or the curriculum ducted by aliens through her Bad Alien operates a blog and podcast related to critical that is used by our teachers. However, I website (badalien.org). Mervine has thinking, The Dumbasses Guide To Knowledge also don’t believe that it accomplishes also written a number of skeptical sto- (www.dumbassguide.info). anything that isn’t already acceptable in our schools….Good legislation should bring clarity and not confusion. My con- cern is that this bill has not met this ob- Capital Punishment Research Inconclusive, jective. For that reason, I will not sign the NRC Reports bill but will allow it to become law with- out my signature. Research to date on the effect of capital serve as a basis for policy decisions The bill had been opposed by the punishment on homicide rates is not use- about capital punishment, the commit- ful in determining whether the death tee said. state’s major newspapers and state and penalty increases, decreases, or has no The lack of evidence about the deter- national civil liberties, educational, and sci- effect on these rates, says a new report re- rent effect of capital punishment—wheth er entific groups. leased April 18 from the National Re- it is positive, negative, or zero—should “Telling students that evolution and search Council. not be construed as favoring one argu- climate change are scientifically contro- The committee that wrote the re port ment over another, the report stresses. versial is miseducating them,” said Euge- evaluated studies conducted since a four- “Fundamental flaws in the research we nie C. Scott, executive director of the Na- year moratorium on the death penalty reviewed make it of no use in answering tional Center for Science Edu cation. was lifted in 1976; it found that the the question of whether the death penalty “Good science teachers know that. But studies do not provide evidence for or affects homicide rates,” said Daniel S. the Tennessee legislature has now made against the proposition that the death Nagin, the Teresa and H. John Heinz III it significantly harder to ensure that sci- penalty affects homicide rates. These Uni versity Professor of Public Policy and ence is taught responsibly in the state’s studies should not be used to inform Statistics at Carnegie Mellon Uni versity public schools.” judgments about the effect of the death and chair of the committee that wrote the penalty on homicide and should not report. n

Skeptical Inquirer | July/August 2012 7 July August pages_SI new design masters 5/30/12 4:30 PM Page 8

[SPECIAL REPORT

Why the GOP Distrusts Science

It’s not just evolution and climate change—conservatives’ trust in science is plummeting across the board.

CHRIS MOONEY

or a long time, those of us who monitor the troubled relationship between science and Fthe American public had at least one thing we could feel good about. And that was knowing that while we might argue endlessly over global warming or the teaching of evolution, at the end of the day Americans in general still expressed strong confidence—strong trust—in the institu- tion of science and its leaders. Spats over a handful of divisive issues didn’t seem to have soured them on science across the board. The evidence for this came in the form of polling data from the General Social Survey, which for decades has asked people to rate their level of confidence in the leaders of a variety of institutions. Even at a time of declining trust in institutions in general, science always seemed to fare pretty well by this metric. “In 2008, more Americans expressed a ‘great deal’ of confidence in scientific leaders than in the leaders of any other institution except the military,” noted the National Science Foun da tion’s 2010 Science and Engineer ing Indicators report, which serves as a clearinghouse for these sorts of public opinion findings. This spring, however, such claims seemed to all but fall apart. In a new study published in the American Socio- logical Review [“Political ization of Science in the Public Sphere: A Study of Public Trust in the United States, 1974-2010,” ASR, 77(2): 167–187, 2012], Gordon Gauchat of the University of North Carolina–Chapel Hill analyzed re sponses to this “confidence in institutions” question—which has been asked since 1974—based on the political ide- ology of the respondents. And in doing so, he found

8 Volume 36 Issue 4 | Skeptical Inquirer 8 Volume 36 Issue 2 | Skeptical Inquirer July August pages_SI new design masters 5/30/12 4:30 PM Page 9

that confidence in the scientific com- centered on Fox News and Rush Lim- tions, combined, before you can under- munity had declined quite dramatically baugh’s radio show—where scientists stand many political phenomena. among self-described U.S. political con- often fell under attack on a key set of In a psychological sense, there are servatives. This downward trend in the politicized issues like global warming, many reasons to think that self-described data, says Gauchat, had previously been evolution, embryonic stem cell research, political conservatives today are just dif- hidden by “not breaking out the political and many others. ferent people than they were in 1974— part of it”—by treating all Americans as The idea, then, is that conservatives more rigid, more closed-minded. Con- a uniform group. came to define the worlds of science and sider, for instance, the work of political And not only did Gauchat find that, academia as a liberal domain that was scientists Marc Hether ington of Vander- from 1974 to 2010, conservatives march- biased against them—one they had to bilt and Jona than Weiler, also of the Uni- ed away from the scientific community. actively combat by generating their own versity of North Carolina–Chapel Hill. He also found, quite disturbingly, that sources of “counter-expertise.” And - In their 2009 book Authoritarianism and this had a surprising and paradoxical urally, this led to de creased trust in sci- Polar ization in American Politics (Cam - relationship with their levels of educa- entists and their institutions, especially bridge Uni versity Press) Hetherington tion. It turns out that it was the edu- cated conservatives who became the most distrusting of science over time— a phenomenon that I have called the “smart idiot” effect, and that likely reflects their higher level of political knowledge and engagement. Liberals, In a psychological sense, there are many in contrast, remained relatively uniform reasons to think that self-described political in their trust in science over the period. In one sense, I suppose I should be conservatives today are just different gratified by these results: Gauchat ex- plicitly set out to test the thesis of my people than they were in 1974—more rigid, 2005 book The Republican War on Sci- more closed-minded. ence, and writes that his results provide “strong evidence” in my favor. (Not that this is the sort of thing that you want to be right about.) But how do we explain this occurrence—this big move, by con- servatives, away from science? among the most politically attuned con- and Weiler show that the United States Just as I did in Republican War, Gauchat servatives, who were most familiar with became not only more politically divided, points the finger at the rise of the “New the nature of these battles, and tracked but also more psychologically divided, Right” as a political movement in the them most closely. during the time period in question. 1960s and 1970s. He underscores how Sounds plausible enough—but is The chief catalyst for this develop- upstart conservatives generated their own that the full story? ment was Nixon’s infamous “Southern alternative sources of expertise—in other There’s no doubt it’s partly true; but Strategy” and the rise of an array of “cul- words, created their own version of real- in recent years, I’ve come to question ture war” issues during the 1960s and ity, scientific and otherwise—at think whether it is a complete account. In par- 1970s. As a result of these forces, Het- tanks like the Heritage Foundation and ticular, in my new book, The Repub lican herington and Weiler explain, a group of Cato Institute. The goal was to hit back Brain, I emphasize that beyond such people called “authoritarians” —a gener- against liberal academia, as well as the in- surface-level political and sociological ally conservative personality type charac- tellectuals and scientists who worked explanations, we also have to examine terized by cognitive rigidity, viewing the there. the powerful sub-surface psychological world in black-and-white terms, and At the same time, conservatives also determinants of political behavior. Re- holding fixed beliefs, often fundamental- forged an alternative media universe— ally, you need both types of explana- ist Christian ones—became much more

Skeptical Inquirer | July/August 2012 9 July August pages_SI new design masters 5/30/12 4:30 PM Page 10

“It is error only, and not truth, that shrinks from inquiry.” – Thomas Paine You Are Invited to Join the Center for Inquiry to Act, Combat, and Promote…

Since 1976, three remarkable organizations have been at the forefront of efforts to promote and defend critical thinking and freedom of inquiry. The Committee for Skeptical Inquiry (founded in 1976), the Council for Secular (1980), CSI Fellow and SkEPTICAl INquIrEr Editorial Board Member and the Center for Inquiry James Alcock leads a class at a Skeptics’ Toolbox event. The Toolbox (1991) have advocated, has been held every year, except once, since1992. championed, and, when necessary, defended the freedom to inquire—while Your Help Is a Necessity! ACT, COMBAT, and PROMOTE demonstrating how the fruits Each year, magazine of objective inquiry can be We are currently focused on three subscriptions fund a smaller used to understand reality, goals central to our core objectives: percentage of this work, even refute false beliefs, and achieve as the need for activism in- Act to end the stigma results that benefit humanity. attached to being creases and the population nonreligious. we serve grows. In many ways, our organiza- tions have been ahead of their Combat religion’s More than ever, CFI and its time. Now, they are privileges and its influence affiliates depend on the on public policy. truly 3 For Tomorrow. generosity of our supporters Through education, advocacy, both to fund daily operations Promote science-based publishing, legal activism, skepticism and critical thinking. and to build capital and their network of regional for the future. branches, CFI and its affiliate Make your most generous gift

organizations continue to today, or request information on Your support today can provide support for everyone planned giving or a bequest. who seeks a better life—in protect tomorrow for us all. For more information, return the this life—for all. Your generous gift can perpetuate our work toward attached card or contact us at: Center for Inquiry the kind of world you—and Development Office your grandchildren—can feel P.O. Box 741 Amherst, NY 14226 proud to live in. 1-800-818-7071 [email protected] website: www.centerforinquiry.net July August pages_SI new design masters 5/30/12 4:30 PM Page 11

SPECIAL REPORT]

strongly clustered in the Republican Party, and the conservative movement, than they had been previously. In other words, the “conservatives” analyzed in Gauchat’s study seem to have changed psychological identities If you see the world in an authoritarian way, over time. According to Weiler, “those self-identifying as conservative have then you’re more likely to dismiss your been increasingly likely to be authori- ideological opponents (scientists or otherwise) tarians over the past generation.” This occurred for a number of rea- without compromise—to define them as an sons, Weiler explains. Concerted at - tacks on “liberalism” pushed working- out-group, an “other.” class whites—once supportive of the New Deal—away from embracing that label; instead, the term came to be more associated with the civil rights struggle, and later, with women’s rights and gay tists (and for that matter, liberals). It and science will get along very well to- rights. At the same time, the political just won’t feel right to you. Author - gether, any more than that authoritari- mobilization of conservative Chris- itarians are known for their intolerance anism and liberalism will go together. tians—many of them authoritarians— of uncertainty; yet uncertainty is the They’re just such deeply op posed ways of helped draw a much stronger linkage lifeblood of science. thinking—and being. You could argue between calling oneself a “conservative” And indeed, if you look at the Tea that the clash between science and au- and embracing religious fundamental- Party today—a highly authoritarian thoritarianism dates all the way back to ism. “As liberalism and conservatism group of people, according to Hether - the time of Galileo, if not farther. came to be redefined,” ex plains Weiler, ington and Weiler—this is exactly what Gauchat’s findings are the farthest “authoritarians had reason to gravitate you see. Take the issue of global warm- thing from heartening—especially when much more readily toward one ideolog- ing. Not only do Tea Partyers dismiss combined with Hetherington and ical camp, and one political party.” the overwhelming body of science Weiler’s. But together, they do give us an So under this theory, it’s not just that showing that humans are causing opportunity to examine the root causes movement conservatives built think it; polling data from the Yale Project on of the ideological war on science now tanks that allowed for an end-run Climate Change Communication (http: being prosecuted by political conserva- around scientific expertise. And it’s not //environment.yale.edu/climate/ tives in the U.S. You can’t begin to ad- just that they constantly attacked aca- news/PoliticsGlobalWarming2011/) dress a problem until you find its source. demia, where liberals and scientists were also show they’re confident they don’t And in this case—as in so many others— clustered. It’s also that people inclined need any more information about the that source appears to lie in both politics to view the world in black and white issue. They’re not just wrong, then; it’s and also psychology, combined. n terms increasingly came to call them- considerably worse than that. They’re selves “conservative” in the first place. wrong and also sure of themselves. How does psychological authoritar- It is important to acknowledge that ianism set the stage for a distrust of sci- authoritarianism refers to a psycholog- Chris Mooney, a SKEPTICAL IN- ence? If you see the world in an author- ical trait or disposition, not an explicit QUIRER contributing editor and Committee for Skeptical In- itarian way, then you’re more likely to ideology. At least theoretically, it’s con- quiry scientific consultant, is dismiss your ideological opponents tent neutral. So it’s conceivable that in author of four books, in - (scientists or otherwise) without com- a very different political context, au - cluding The Republican War promise—to define them as an out- thoritarians might well have lined up on Science. This article, which group, an “other.” At the same time, behind science, rather than against it. first appeared on salon.com, is based on argu- you’re also less likely to appreciate the That would be an odd political case, ments developed fully in his latest book, The Re- nuanced, measured style of thinking though; especially in a democracy, it’s publican Brain: The Science of Why They Deny and writing that is so typical of scien- not very likely that authoritarianism Science—and Reality, published in April.

Skeptical Inquirer | July/August 2012 11 July August pages_SI new design masters 5/30/12 4:30 PM Page 12

[ INVESTIGATIVE FILES JOE NICKELL Joe Nickell, PhD, is CSI’s senior research fellow and author of such books as Inquest on the Shroud of , Relics of the Christ, and Looking for a .

Enfield Poltergeist

n August 1977, a series of distur- A female police constable witnessed found on the stairs with one leg ex- bances that were soon characterized a chair wobble and slide but could not tended behind her in a manner that Ias a case of poltergeist phenomena determine the cause of the movement. could easily be explained as play-acting. or even began in By the next morning, marbles and Lego She was also involved in other inci- Enfield, a northern suburb of London. toy pieces began to “zoom out of thin dents, and when on one occasion the The subject of a forthcoming movie, air and bounce off the walls.” girls were separated (with Peggy sent to the occurrences, including the actions “Janet, did you throw that?” Her a neighbor’s home), the antics contin- of an eleven-year-old girl who repeat- mother’s question began a long series of ued at both houses; moreover, when edly “levitated” above her bed, “held the witnesses’ suspicions—or outright ac- neither girl was present—for example nation spellbound” for over a year, ac- cusations—that Janet was the cause of when Playfair spent a night alone in the cording to Britain’s Daily Mail; “no ex- the trouble that centered on her. Ac- house—there were no disturbances at planation other than the paranormal cording to —who, all (1980, 80). Were both girls playing has ever been convincingly put forward” with colleague Maurice Grosse, ob- tricks, or could the poltergeist be in two (Brennan 2011). served and recorded much of the phe- places at once? When Janet was in the hospital for six weeks for evaluation, some incidents occurred only at home (Playfair 1980, 69, 90, 102, 263). Still, says Playfair, Janet was all energy, big for her The poltergeist tended to act only when it age, jumping up and rushing around on the slightest pretext, was not being watched. Stated Grosse: and talking so fast that I had some difficulty at first in under- “It’s smarter than we are....” standing her. She had an impish look, and I could understand why some visitors to the house in the later months would suspect her of playing tricks. (1980, 44)

Suspicious Acts nomena over their course—Janet was Children’s Tricks The events began on August 30 in the the “main focus” or “epicentre” of inci- Even Playfair himself, who chronicled Enfield home of Margaret Hodgson. dents. “She was always near when the events in his book This House is The divorced Hodgson lived there with something happened, and this in - Haunted: The True Story of a Poltergeist her four children—Peggy, thirteen; evitably led to accusations that she was (1980), had occasional doubts. After a Janet, eleven; Johnny, ten; and Billy, playing tricks, although Grosse was al- chest of drawers tipped and jammed at seven—whose names, in early accounts, ready fully convinced that she could not an angle against a wall, Playfair played were fictionalized. Two of the children, be responsible for all the incidents” his tape recorder and heard suspicious Janet and Johnny, attempted to con- (Playfair 1980, 37). creaking noises, as if someone like Janet vince their mother that their beds were Was her sister, Peggy, partly to had slipped up to the chest. “Could they unaccountably shaking. The next night blame? Although Janet was by far the have been made by her?” Playfair asked. brought mysterious knocking sounds most frequently present suspect, with “I was beginning to have my doubts and the sliding of a chest of drawers in disturbances even following her to again” (1980, 52). the girls’ room. There were more school, her older sister was also central There were reasons aplenty for sus- knockings, and soon Hodgson had a to some events. Once, for example, picion. The poltergeist, a.k.a. “The police car making a call to 284 Green when Peggy shouted, “I can’t move! Thing,” tended to act only when it was Street (Playfair 1979; 1980, 12–33). Something’s holding me!” she was not being watched. Stated Grosse: “It’s

12 Volume 36 Issue 4 | Skeptical Inquirer July August pages_SI new design masters 5/30/12 4:30 PM Page 13

smarter than we are. Look at its tim- faked the Voice, the other mysterious nated paranormally (Gregory was a ing—the moment you go out of a room happenings remained un explained (Play- British parapsychologist inclined to be- something happens. You stay in the fair 1980, 233). lieve in the paranormal), she concluded room for hours, and nothing moves. It This remained Playfair’s and Grosse’s it had turned quickly into a farcical per- knows what we’re up to” (Playfair 1980, defense even when Janet was caught at formance for investigators and reporters 53). Indeed, when Janet knew a camera trickery (Playfair 1980, 196–7) and when desiring a sensational story (Gregory was on, nothing occurred (1980, 53). In- Janet and Peggy confessed their pranking 1980; Clark 1981). credibly, Playfair and Grosse found that to reporters. The two investigators soon Even more skeptical was American the children were sometimes “motivated elicited a retraction from the girls magician , who to add to the activity with some tricks of (1980, 218–21). Others, such as the pro- investigated briefly at the house. On one their own.” When members of the Soci- fessional ventriloquist, were not so quick occasion, when Janet claimed she was ety for Psychical Re search (SPR) made to rationalize. unable to open the bathroom door to get visits, the children’s trickery was the main Anita Gregory, who was investigat- out, Christopher stated that he could not feature of their interest, whereas, says ing for the SPR, reported on the events determine paranormal causality if he Playfair, “it did not bother us very much. in the Journal of the Society for Psychical could not see an incident. Playfair writes, We had already seen incidents with our Research. She suggested that the case “It almost seemed that the poltergeist own eyes that the children could not pos- had been overrated, describing several was out to incriminate her, by producing sibly have done deliberately” (1980, 70). episodes of behavior on the part of third-rate phenomena in the presence of (More on this presently.) Janet and Peggy that were revealing. a first-rate observer” (1980, 170). An- The incidents involving “curious Gregory concluded that the girls were other time, when Janet was sent to her whistling and barking noises coming nonpsychically responsible for many of room and the Voice manifested, Christo- from Janet’s general direction” suggest the incidents that were attributed to pher slipped upstairs to observe. He saw the extent of Playfair and Grosse’s “poltergeist” phenomena. Although she Janet quietly steal out of her room to peer credulity. In time, the entity began to thought the outbreak might have origi- down the stairs as if to make sure she was voice words, including obscenities, and although Playfair wondered if it were really Janet acting as “a brilliant ventril- oquist,” he did not think so. His faith in Janet continued even though “the Voice” refused to speak unless the girls were alone in the room with the door closed (Playfair 1980, 138, 146). More over, the credulous investigators noted that, when the growling voice occurred, “as always Janet’s lips hardly seemed to be moving” (1980, 190). Evidence of ventriloquial fakery was even taken as proof of authenticity! Ac- cord ing to Playfair, “The connection be- tween Janet and the Voice is obviously very close. There have been several oc- casions when she says something it ob- viously meant to say, and vice versa. Would she slip up like that if she was faking the whole thing?” (1980, 173). Is he kidding? Even after profes- sional ventriloquist Ray Alan visited and concluded that the girls were pro- ducing the Voice because they “obvi- ously loved all the attention they got,” Playfair and Grosse were not persuaded that the girls were faking. In fact, they Figure 1. An eleven-year-old girl is supposedly levitating during the poltergeist outbreak of 1977–79 in Enfield, England. were quick to claim that even if the girls (Forensic illustration by Joe Nickell based on a photo in This House Is Haunted, 1980.)

Skeptical Inquirer | July/August 2012 13 July August pages_SI new design masters 5/30/12 4:30 PM Page 14

not being watched. Seeing Christopher suspect tension in the household fol- best one—well applies here. Inter - clearly flustered her. Christopher would lowing the parents’ divorce—eventually viewed by the Lon don Daily Mail later conclude that the “poltergeist” was ran its course. But the question re mains: (Brennan 2011), Janet at age forty-five nothing more than the antics of “a little Is it true that Janet and the other chil- (living in Essex with her husband, a re- girl who wanted to cause trouble and dren really could not have caused cer- tired milkman) ad mitted that she and who was very, very, clever” (1984–85, tain disturbances, as Grosse and Play- her sister had faked some of the phe- 161). fair insisted? Let us look at just one nomena. “I’d say 2 percent,” she admit- Paranormal investigator Melvin instructive incident. Maurice Grosse re- ted. The evidence suggests that this fig- Har ris also weighed in on a fast photo ported that “[the poltergeist] just threw ure is closer to 100 percent; however, as sequence that supposedly “recorded a slipper while we were all in the room. poltergeist activity on moving film for It was not within the reach of the chil- another eleven-year-old girl insisted the first time” (Playfair 1980, 106). dren, it was down near the end of the after confessing to playing poltergeist Harris (1980) demonstrated how the bed” (Playfair 1980, 82). to attract attention in an earlier case: “I photos actually reveal the schoolgirls’ However, all that would have been didn’t throw all those things. People just pranking. While demonologist Ed necessary would be for Janet, say, to have imagined some of them” (Christopher War ren claimed that Janet at least once earlier gotten hold of the slipper and then 1970, 149). n

Acknowledgments Barry Karr, CFI’s executive director, tipped Janet at age forty-five (living in Essex with me to the forthcoming 2012 movie being made about this case (which I had discussed her husband, a retired milkman) ad mitted briefly in my book Entities), and Timothy Binga, director of CFI Libraries, assisted that she and her sister had faked some of the with research.

phenomena. “I’d say 2 percent,” she admitted. References The evidence suggests that this figure is Brittle, Gerald. 1980. The Demonologist: The True Story of , the World- closer to 100 percent. Famous Team. New York: St. Mar - tin’s Paperbacks. Brennan, Zoe. 2011. What is the truth about the Enfield Poltergeist? (October 28). Online at www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2054842/ was “sound asleep, levitating in midair” waited for the proper moment—when Enfield-Poltergeist-The-amazing-story-11- (Brittle 1980, 223), the photographs Grosse was not looking at her—to toss year-old-North-London-girl-levitated-bed. did not record these levitations nor did it. Time and again in other “poltergeist” html. independent witnesses see them. War - outbreaks, witnesses have re ported an Christopher, Milbourne. 1970. ESP, Seers & Psy- chics. New York: Thomas Y. Crowell, 124–31. ren was notorious for exaggerating and object leaping from its resting place sup- ———. 1984–85. A final interview with Mil - even making up incidents in such cases, posedly on its own, when it is likely that bourne Christopher, by Michael Den nett, often transforming a “haunting” case the perpetrator had secretly ob tained the SKEPTICAL INQUIRER 9:2 (Win ter), 159–165. into one of “demonic possession” (Nick- object sometime earlier and waited for an Clark, Jerome. 1981. Update . . . Fate. July: 94. Gregory, Anita. 1980. Letter to the editor. Journal ell 2009). Harris dubbed the pho - opportunity to fling it, even from outside of the Society for Psychical Research 50(786) tographed levitations “gymnastics,” the room—thus supposedly proving he (December): 538–41. commenting, “It’s worth remembering or she was innocent. Harris, Melvin. 1980. Letter to the editor. Journal that Janet was a school sports cham- As a magician experienced in the dy- of the Society for Psychical Research 50(786) pion!” (1980, 554). (See Figure 1.) namics of trickery, I have carefully ex - (December): 552–54. Nickell, Joe. 2009. Demons in Connecticut. amined Playfair’s lengthy account of the History’s Verdict SKEPTICAL INQUIRER 33(3) (May/June): 25– disturbances at Enfield and have con- 27. By 1979, the Enfield “poltergeist” had cluded that they are best explained Playfair, Guy Lyon. 1979. Poltergeist on a ram- left the Hodgson home “inexplicably,” as children’s pranks. The principle of page. Fate. June: 74–81. except for an occasional isolated inci- Occam’s razor—that the explanation ———. 1980. This House Is Haunted: The True Story of a Poltergeist. New York: Stein and dent. The motivating force—we may requiring the fewest assumptions is the Day.

14 Volume 36 Issue 4 | Skeptical Inquirer July August pages_SI new design masters 5/31/12 12:13 PM Page 15

[THINKING ABOUT SCIENCE MASSIMO PIGLIUCCI Massimo Pigliucci is professor of philosophy at the City University of New York–Lehman College, a fellow of the American Association for the Advance ment of Science, and author of Nonsense on Stilts: How to Tell Science from Bunk. His essays can be found at www.rationallyspeaking.org.

Explanations in Search of Observations

any scientists use models to authors start out by building a highly ab- what’s going on in the real world. In help make sense of what they stract rendition of whatever problem this manner, a hypothesis can be seen Mstudy. Think of the Copernican they are interested in (racial segregation, as a theoretical construct that asserts a model of the solar system, econometric animal competition, or inter-species hy- similarity between the model and the models, or the famous Watson-Crick bridization) and then explore the prop- real world, and it doesn’t really matter model of the double helix that consti- erties of the resulting models. In so whether that similarity is recognized tutes the standard arrangement of doing, they discover some features that before or after a given observation is DNA molecules. A great deal of discus- are displayed by the model but not, as far carried out in the world. sion in philosophy of science has been as they know, by the real world. Sugden Are any of these propositions of in- devoted to what, exactly, models are and suggests that these are cases in which the terest to the skeptic involved in fighting what their role in scientific theorizing process of modeling has produced an pseudoscience? I think so. When pseu- is. This is a complex issue, one that “explanation” even though there was not doscience supporters talk about “theory” gives interesting insight into the way a corresponding previously known ob- they clearly have no idea what a scien- science works and, conversely, the way servation to explain. tific theory actually is and how it works. pseudoscience does not. This may seem a bit bizarre. After Unfortunately, the concept of theory be- I was reminded of this discussion re- all, if scientists produce models (and comes difficult to explain if the skeptic cently while reading a paper by Robert theories) it is because they wish to ex - himself doesn’t have an account—as Sugden published in the Sep tem ber plain some natural phenomenon; com- philosophers call it—of scientific theo- 2011 . Sugden ex- ing up with an explanation that needs Biology and Philosophy rizing. Giere’s account is particularly plores in detail the structure and use of an observation to explain feels a lot like promising because it is flexible enough three models—one from econometrics putting the cart before the horse. In - to apply to a range of disciplines, from and two from evolutionary biology—as deed, philosopher Nancy Cart wright, physics to biology, from economics to an entry into a discussion of two alter- quoted by Sugden, has a problem with psychology. Where it clearly doesn’t native conceptions of the purpose of many econometrics models precisely apply is, for instance, models. because they do put the explanans (the “theory,” or any explanation (such as it Sugden draws his examples from thing that does the explaining) before Thomas Schelling’s model of racial seg- the explananda (the things to be ex- is) of how paranormal phenomena al- regation, John Maynard Smith and plained). According to Cartwright, this legedly work. Geof frey Parker’s model of “evolutionary is not how models in science are sup- So a major difference between sci- stable strategies” that reduce conflict posed to work—for ex amples of how ence and pseudoscience is precisely the among animals competing for mates, they are supposed to work, Cart wright fact that science isn’t simply a collection and Nicholas Barton’s model of the dy- points to law-like idealizations in of observations and experiments about namics of hybridization between closely physics, such as Gali leian models of the the world; it is also an activity that pro- related species that come into geograph- behavior of objects moving on friction- duces abstract and idealized models of ical proximity to each other. Fortunately, less planes. possible worlds, linking them to the real we do not need to get into the details of Cartright’s problem with models one via a set of specific and empirically these works to appreciate Sugden’s main doesn’t trouble Sugden, though, be cause testable hypotheses. That is not to say point and what it may say about the na- he prefers another philosopher’s ac- that some pseudo- or quasi-science may ture of scientific theorizing. count of models. Richard Giere has not one day be able to produce such These models all produce what Sug- proposed that a scientific theory just is models and hypotheses. But until it den calls “explanations in search of ob- a set of models and that those models does, it cannot seriously be considered servations.” That is, in all three cases the produce hypotheses that link them to a science. n

Skeptical Inquirer | July/August 2012 15 July August pages_SI new design masters 5/30/12 4:38 PM Page 16

[NOTES ON A STRANGE WORLD MASSIMO POLIDORO Massimo Polidoro is an investigator of the paranormal, lecturer, and cofounder and head of CICAP, the Italian skeptics group. His website is at www.massimopolidoro.com.

Stairway to Heaven A Firsthand Account of a UFO Sighting

t was a nice mid-June afternoon. The sun was shining and I was en - Ijoying solitary tranquility on the bal- cony of a country house in Porde none in northern Italy. Birds chirped and the sky was blue; not a single cloud could be seen in the vicinity. Suddenly, I saw something unusual up in the sky. By in- stinct I thought of a bird or a plane, but it didn’t seem to be anything of the kind. In fact I was watching something quite impossible: up there, in the middle of the sky, was what appeared to be a three-stepped black ladder. The notes of the poetic song “Stairway to Heaven” by Led Zeppelin and the melodic “Stair - way to Paradise” by Gersh win in - stinctively came to mind, but I doubted that I was actually looking at a true stairway to the sky.

The mysterious three-stepped stair seen by the Here is the stair upside down; its shape becomes more easily author in the sky of Pordenone. recognizable.

16 Volume 36 Issue 4 | Skeptical Inquirer July August pages_SI new design masters 5/30/12 4:38 PM Page 17

It seemed incredible, but that mys- At that time, in fact, it became known was for it to get smaller and smaller. terious object hovered there—I don’t that the U.S. Air Force was in posses- The final disappearance without a know how far from the ground—per- sion of a revolutionary “invisible” air- trace was due to the fact that it was a fectly still. I was going to call some- craft, the B2 Spirit. It was the first subsonic plane, with two turbo fans body to confirm that what I was plane with a “stealth” technology that and no afterburner—meaning the craft watching was real and that I was not could render the carrier invisible to left no vapor trails. imagining it; as soon as I started mov- radars. It all depended on the particular There was one last peg that needed ing, however, the stairway appeared to shape of the fighter, a shape that to be put in place: how plausible was it get shorter and shorter until it sud- quickly became an icon of modern for an American stealth combat air- denly vanished into thin air. aeronautic design. plane to fly above Porde none? The an- What the heck had I seen? What I When, finally, I had a chance to swer is very likely, since near Porde - knew about UFOs at the time was that look at a picture of the B2 Spirit every- none, in Aviano, there was (and still is) when someone spotted one, they al- thing fell into place and I could at last a NATO base managed by the U.S. Air ways described it as a roundish object, solve the mystery of the stairway to Force. There is no doubt, then, that in a “saucer,” or a sphere- or cigar-shaped heaven. The plane had a sharp line and the early 1980s, after the invention of vessel of some kind. But UFOs resem- a flat body, united in a solid block with such a carrier, some military exercises bling a three-stepped stairway? I had the wings in order to create a triangle- were taking place in the sky above Por- never heard of such a thing. shaped body, with the tail also ending denone. Yet there was no doubt in my mind in a wedge—an ad hoc design studied Once I was able to solve this mys- that I saw an unidentified flying object. by engineers. That particular shape, in tery, the episode clarified for me how it At the time—it was the early 1980s— fact, was able to offer a radar surface of there was no Internet; the only way in 0.003 meters, similar to that of a swal- was possible for a rational, sober person which you could learn more about the low. This shape helped the fighter es- to be convinced, in perfectly good faith, subject was to read books or ask the cape radar detection. that he or she had witnessed a UFO opinion of a friendly UFO enthusiast. The fact is that if you see it from sighting. An alternative explanation ex- That’s exactly what I did, but that above, the plane looks exactly like a isted, but it was not available to the didn’t lead anywhere. The mysterious three-stepped stairway. If you see it in public at the time. Had I not learned steps in the sky did not seem to have backlight as well, like I had, it would about the existence of stealth planes, I any possible rational explanation, and appear to be black and it would be im- might still be here today wondering for years I carried with me the memory possible to discern any of the details of what in the world that little stairway in of that absolutely impossible sight. the craft. Finally, the impression that it the sky had been. And who knows how was standing still was an illusion due many other military experiments, suc- An ‘Invisible’ Solution to the fact that, probably, when I saw it cessful or not, have taken place above It was only during the first war in the plane was turning around and, our heads. We will probably never the early 1990s that things got clearer. when it turned on its axis, the effect know. . . n

The solution to the mystery: the stair was a B2 Spirit, a stealth plane “invisible” to radars, un- The planes flying beside the triangular shape now make much clearer the nature of the known to the public at the time of the sighting. object. Skeptical Inquirer | July/August 2012 17 July August pages_SI new design masters 5/31/12 12:15 PM Page 18

[ PSYCHIC VIBRATIONS ROBERT SHEAFFER Sheaffer's “Psychic Vibrations” column has appeared in the SKEPTICAL INQUIRER for more than thirty years; its high- lights have now been published as a book (Create Space 2011). Sheaffer blogs at www.BadUFOs.com, and his website is www.debunker.com.

Flying Saucer or Fly: The Case UFO Skeptics Have Been Dreading?

n March 13, 2012, the well- Army photogrammetric technicians,” all over, the video was re leased only in a known UFOlogist Leslie Kean of whom found the video unexplainable. highly compressed ten frames-per-sec- Owrote a story for the Huffington (Kean is very im pressed by panels of sup- ond version instead of the standard Post titled “UFO Caught On Tape Over posed “ex perts” no matter what foolish twenty-four frames per second. Some- Santiago Air Base” (http://tinyurl.com/ things they might say, like the French body seems to have been “stage manag- KeanChile). Kean is also the author of COMETA, which fellow UFO propo- ing” this case to let us see only certain the 2011 New York Times best seller nent John Alexander called “an embar- portions of the “evidence.” Kean said, UFOs: Generals, Pilots, and Government rassment ... [that uses] un substantiated “Each video included three different, Officials Go On the Record (see my review data from questionable sources.”) Kean mainly horizontal loops flown by the “‘Unexplained’ Cases—Only If You Ig- asks provocatively, “Is this the case UFO UFO within seconds of each other. The nore All Explanations,” SI, March/ skeptics have been dreading?” She obvi- object made elliptical passes either near April 2011, now online at http://www. ously thought she had an extremely or around each of three sets of perform- .com/texts/kean.htm). Kean’s strong UFO case here considering that ing jets. It flew past the Halcones, F5s, most re cent article describes a supposed she provided the video exactly as released and F16s at speeds so fast it was not UFO caught on video during a Novem- by the Chilean CEFAA (http://tinyurl. noticed by the pilots or anyone on the ber 5, 2010, air show at the El Bosque com/ChileUFO). ground below.” She continued, “This airfield in Chile (although nobody at the Kean claims that the object was cap- extraordinary machine was flying at ve- air show saw the supposed UFO until it tured on seven different videos by seven locities too high to be man-made. Sci- was spotted in the video afterward). different people, each from a different entists have estimated the speed, de- CEFAA—the Chi lean Air Force’s vantage point. However, the video re- pending on the size of the object, to be equivalent of the USAF’s disbanded leased seems to represent just one of the at least 4,000–6,000 mph.” Kean should Project Blue Book—provided the video. seven videos, and even that one video is have realized that speed estimates are The El Bosque video was said to have not complete; instead we see only some only valid if one knows for certain the been subjected to “intense scrutiny” by a carefully chosen snippets. (She later distance from the “UFO” to the camera, panel of “scientists from many disciplines, cautioned, “You can’t draw conclusions which in this case we obviously don’t. aeronautical experts, and Air Force and from looking at only one tape.”) More- Kean continued, “Images show it as

Figure 1. “UFOglobe” posted a video frame (with close-up) of a swarm of bees. Figure 2. The Chilean “UFO” close-up from Leslie Kean’s article.

18 Volume 36 Issue 4 | Skeptical Inquirer July August pages_SI new design masters 5/31/12 12:15 PM Page 19

a dome-shaped, flat-bottomed object with no visible means of propulsion. The rounded top reflects the sun and appears metallic; the bottom is darker and flat, emitting some form of energy which is visible in photo analysis. Infra - Almost immediately, many people began critically red studies show the entire object is ra- diating heat, just like the jets.” She did examining this supposedly game-changing not explain how it would be possible to do an “infrared study” of the object video and its analysis, even in places like the captured by an ordinary video camera conspiracy-oriented Above Top Secret forum. with no infrared capabilities; indeed she seemed to not even realize that this claim is absurd. Almost immediately, I am happy to say, many people began critically exam- ining this supposedly game-changing very closely I discovered the objects are deceive the audience. Otherwise, it video and its analysis, even in places passing in front of the hills a couple would have been ob vious that the UFO like the conspiracy-oriented Above Top times. I was also looking for other in- was a bug. Blog ger Kentaro Mori noted Secret forum. Many noted the object’s sects that might be flying around closer how the CEFAA recently released an- resemblance to an insect flying wildly to the ground and found what I think other supposed UFO photo touted as close to the camera. Poster UFOglobe is one that is visible for a moment.” He the “best evidence” yet for a UFO, (http://tinyurl.com/7mx7muz) com- posted a thirty-second video to which turned out almost certainly to be pared the close-up of the UFO in YouTube, highlighting the UFO as it is a light reflection (http://tinyurl.com/7t Kean’s article with that of bees in a seen not only flying in front of the dis- qkymy). He also noted that the swarm (compare Figures 1 and 2). The tant hills but also in front of the nearby CEFAA was then, as now, unwilling to resemblance is easily seen. ground. Case closed: this UFO is a fly- release any additional images or infor- A detailed discussion and analysis of ing insect. mation regarding the supposed UFO. the CEFAA video appears on the web- UFO skeptic Tim Printy notes, Clearly, any future UFO claims from site of The Hoax Killer (http:// “What this demonstrates is that the Chile’s CEFAA must be viewed with tinyurl.com/7acu9x6), who did excel- original video that was posted was edited great suspicion. lent work exposing the recent Jerusa - in a way so one could not see the UFOs As one might expect, this case was lem UFO video hoaxes. He down- with the ground in the background.” In widely discussed on the Internet in the loaded the highest-resolution version of other words, somebody—presumably weeks afterward. Even many who are the video from the Huffing ton Post site. someone within the CEFAA—edited favorably inclined toward UFO claims He writes, “After studying the videos the video with the deliberate intent to dismissed the El Bosque video as a fly- ing insect. But instead of giving up and admitting the obvious, on March 24 Leslie Kean doubled down on the case, writing on her Facebook page, Have patience folks. More info will be presented soon. You can’t draw conclusions from looking at only one tape. And please remember, these images have been analyzed by ex - perts in Chile. Didn’t I emphasize that enough in my Huffington Post story? They too thought the footage was a bug at first, until they collected the other tapes. It is an insult for you to carry on about this being a bug, when obviously if you can figure that out so easily, the Chilean experts would have done the same. (http://www.face A strange metallic flying object? book.com/lesliekean)

Skeptical Inquirer | July/August 2012 19 July August pages_SI new design masters 5/31/12 12:50 PM Page 20

Like I said, she really is trusting of so- at El Bosque, shot eight months before ple”—meaning us skeptics—and she ex- called experts who make proclamations the now-famous one, shows similar fly- horts us to wait patiently until the “ex- about UFOs. She seems to have forgot- like UFOs zipping around (http://tiny perts” finish their analysis. ten that experts just like these, many with url.com/cgkjgda). So either UFOs in fest Michael Naisbitt replied with a blis- PhDs, also analyzed the Petit-Rechain the El Bosque airfield in Chile—or flies tering rejoinder to Kean on his UFO- UFO photo from Bel gium and con- do. Perhaps the airfield’s name should be blog.com (http://tinyurl.com/832lj23). cluded that “the picture was not faked” changed to El Mosca—“The Fly.” He pointed out that Kean had originally (p. 30 of her book UFOs: Generals, Pilots Clearly stung by the criticism even written that the CEFAA “had commis- and Govern ment Offi cials Go On the from many in her own camp, Kean kept sioned scientists from many disciplines, Record). Yet it’s now a confessed hoax promising an update on her Facebook aeronautical experts, and air force and (see this column, SI, January/February page but then kept delaying it. On the af- army photogrametric technicians to sub- 2012). It seems that “experts” do not have ternoon of April 13, exactly one month ject the videos to intense scrutiny. They a very good track record when it comes after her initial story, she finally posted to all came to the same conclusions.” Now to authenticating a UFO photo or video. the Huffington Post her promised up date she was claiming that the analysis was ongoing: “now a mere four weeks later we are told that the earlier analysis wasn’t re- ally complete and if that is the case then what of the earlier conclusions, were they So either UFOs in fest the El Bosque airfield in incomplete as well?” Naisbitt concludes that Kean and General Bermúdez of the Chile—or flies do. Perhaps the airfield’s name CEFAA both “do a bang-up job of con- tradicting themselves.” should be changed to El Mosca—“The Fly.” At this point, Kean is clearly wishing for the whole matter to simply go away. Clearly we are waiting for Godot to fin- ish his analysis, and until that happens, “we all have to wait for further informa- But the story doesn’t end there. You on the Fly Saucer. Unlike Kean’s initial tion, and be respectful of that process”— Tube user Stiverinmypocket analyzed a story, there does not seem to be any link even though it’s already been shown that longer video of the same November 5, to it on the Huffington Post homepage. the “UFO” is a fly. You don’t need a pho- 2010, airshow on the Chilean website However, the update appears promi- tometric scanner and a PhD to see that Aviacion Total, independent of the video nently on Kean’s Facebook page. It al- the “UFO” is sometimes between the of the CEFAA (http://tinyurl.com/c45 most seems that she did not want to camera and the nearby ground. npv6). It, too, is filled with fly-like UFOs bring any new readers into this contro- “Is this the case UFO skeptics have buzzing in front of the airplanes. How- versy. Her new piece is titled “Update on been dreading?” asked a hopeful Leslie ever, on this video the UFO moves in an Chilean UFO Videos: Getting the Bugs Kean. As a skeptic, I don’t dread any opposite direction with respect to the Out” (http://tinyurl.com/7qcg6k3). Sur - such thing. I would welcome solid evi- jets than in the CEFAA video. Stiverin- prisingly, this update changes almost dence that something extraordinary is mypocket wrote, “My intention was to nothing: we don’t really learn anything flying around openly in Earth’s skies. show that the object in the CEFAA that we didn’t know before. She com- But it’s been said many times that ex- video can NOT be a UFO, because the plains that “Skeptics caused quite a stir traordinary claims require extraordinary respective object in this old video travels by taking it upon themselves to do their proof, and UFO proponents will have to in the opposite direction. It is probably own ‘analysis’ of the video clips and then present a far better video than a fly another bug close to Olave’s camera, to declare, with bravado, that the object buzzing around to prove their case. In- who was shooting simultaneously from of concern was simply a bug.” How dare deed, the very fact that a video of a fly another vantage point.” I’m sure that we take it upon ourselves to question her? doing loops is being cited by some of there are plenty of bugs to go around. She proclaims that “[General] Bermúdez the world’s top UFOlogists as among In a March 25, 2012, posting on his [of the CEFAA] isn’t going to prema- the best UFO images of all time reveals UFO-Blog.com, Michael Naisbitt noted turely toss the videos out onto the Inter- how utterly lightweight even the best that a March 2010 video of an air show net to be played with by unqualified peo- UFO photos and videos are. n

20 Volume 36 Issue 4 | Skeptical Inquirer July August pages_SI new design masters 5/30/12 4:38 PM Page 21

[ THE SCIENCE OF MEDICINE STEVEN NOVELLA Steven Novella, MD, is assistant professor of neurology at Yale School of Medicine, the host of the Skeptics’ Guide to the Universe podcast, author of the NeuroLogica blog, executive editor of the Science-Based Medicine blog, and president of the New England Skeptical Society.

The Non-Mysterious Mass Illness in Le Roy, New York

n early 2012 the story of fifteen sick sion to expose the risks of environmental cially if it’s something you want to find. children in the same high school in toxins see in this case a possible environ- Rosario Trifiletti, MD, PhD, is an ILe Roy, New York, hit the media, mental toxin. Apparently, some of the expert in a rare condition known as which labeled this rash of symptoms as parents of the affected children called PANDAS (pediatric autoimmune neu- a “mystery illness.” Of course, doctors upon famous activist Erin Broc ko - ropsychiatric disorder associated with were described as “baffled” (Almasy and vich, who sent her team to investigate. streptococcal infection), and she has Spellman 2012). Over a short period of She has speculated about “. . . whether come forward to claim that this is what time the teens started to exhibit invol- students have been ex posed to contami- these children have (Swedo et al. 2012). untary movements and vocalizations nants from the train derailment that oc- I cannot get into a thorough evaluation described as tics, similar to the symp- curred within a few miles of the school of this complex condition, but suffice to toms of Tourette syndrome. in December 1970. That derailment say that Trifiletti, who claims to be per- In response to the media attention, spilled cyanide crystals and leaked carbon sonally treating some of its patients, is several groups and individuals came tetrachloride” (Ciavarri 2012). a major promoter of this diagnosis. forward to publicly hypothesize about Of course, an environmental toxin There is a tendency to see what we what might be causing this rash of such as carbon tetrachloride would not know, and experts in a narrow illness symptoms. Antivaccinationists sus- explain the timeline of the illness or its often see their pet disease everywhere. pected that it was a vaccine—or envi- predilection for girls. Why would a The National Institute of Mental ronmental toxin, at least—that had forty-year-old spill suddenly have an Health’s (NIMH) definition of PAN- caused the illness. Chiropractor Russell adverse effect on people living in the DAS does not seem to fit this case well. Caram speculated that The other possibility here are HPV vaccines, Gardasil and Cervarix. The timing becomes more easily ex - The “mystery illness” has become a Rorschach plained—as most children “get their shots” (and boosters, such as DTaP test of sorts: people see in the illness a and the flu shot) before enrolling in school in the fall. It also satisfies the diagnosis that fits their worldview or pet cause. girls-only attack (even though they’re trying to convince boys to get the Gardasil shot also), as well as the age group. (Caram 2012) Caram’s hypothesis suffers from general area? The results of a search for Age of onset for PANDAS is supposed more than the fact that it is pure spec- environmental toxins in the area have to be between three and puberty, but ulation. Half of the children affected by already turned up negative, and the stu- the Le Roy children are between the the illness did not even receive the Gar- dents themselves have tested negative ages of twelve and eighteen. There is no dasil or Cervarix vaccines, nor is there for toxic exposure. However, this poses indication that PANDAS is a selective any evidence to suggest that either vac- the problem of proving a negative. illness, affecting girls more than boys. cine can cause such neurological symp- Brockovich claims that the search has Furthermore, PANDAS is a clinical di- toms in the first place. (Similarly, no ev- not been thorough enough, but such a agnosis without laboratory confirma- idence supports the claim that Tourette claim can be made arbitrarily without tion; part of that clinical diagnosis is syndrome can be caused by vaccines or limit. You can keep searching for toxins that symptoms are triggered by a strep- toxins.) When Caram wrote the article, with lower and lower thresholds until tococcal infection (such as strep throat), only girls showed signs of the illness, you find something. Toxins are ubiqui- which does not appear to be the case but later one boy also developed symp- tous in the environment in background here. PANDAS also involves more than toms, which further suggests that the concentrations generally too low to tics—it can include mood changes and HPV vaccines are not to blame. worry about, but if you look hard obsessive compulsive symptoms, too. Those who have made it their mis- enough you can find something—espe- Altogether, based on publicly available

Skeptical Inquirer | July/August 2012 21 July August pages_SI new design masters 5/30/12 4:38 PM Page 22

information, PANDAS does not seem can be demonstrated in someone with of a mass psychogenic illness. Most of the a great fit for answering the question of psychogenic blindness that their visual symptomatic individuals are women who this “mystery illness.” system actually works. Similarly, many are part of the same small, close-knit The “mystery illness” has become a patients with psychogenic seizures dis- community and have social contact with Rorschach test of sorts: people see in the play features that are neuro-anatomi- each other. The diagnosis is therefore not illness a diagnosis that fits their world- cally incompatible with actual seizures. based en tirely on the exclusion of other view or pet cause. But now that the dust It is always challenging to deal with causes; the case also has a natural history has settled somewhat on this outbreak, conversion disorder. We medical profes- and epidemiological features that fit a what can we reliably say about it? To re- sionals try very hard to accurately and mass psychogenic illness. Al though the view the facts of the case, eventually fif- constructively convey to patients and available details of this case point to a teen children were af fected with invol- their families what is happening, but un- mass psychogenic illness as the culprit, untary tics, which are sudden “jerk-like” fortunately our culture attaches an unde- there may be one or two index cases of motor movements, between October served stigma to psychological ailments, true Tourette syndrome that triggered the 2011 and January 2012. All fifteen of and many patients resist such a diagnosis. outbreak. It is an important lesson, as the children attend the same junior-se- We tend to focus on the positive—psy- most people underestimate the ability of nior high school and range in age from chogenic symptoms can completely cure our brains to generate physical symptoms. twelve to eighteen; all but one of them themselves (and usually do with encour- On the one hand, there are the neu- is female. All of the children have been agement and reassurance to the patient) rological experts who have presented examined by pediatric neurologists— because there is no irreversible damage what seems to be a sound diagnosis. On twelve of the fifteen at the Dent Neuro- to the nervous system. the other, there is a circling of those logical Institute by the same two neurol- The diagnosis of psychogenic illness, who want to promote their causes or ogists, includ ing Laszlo Mechtler, MD. however, is also partly a diagnosis of ex- ideology. In the middle of all this are the Mechtler—and, in fact, all of the pe- clusion. It is often the case that a phys- students and their families who have to diatric neurologists who have examined ical ailment underlies the psycho genic deal with a delicate neurological ailment any of the children—has come to the symptoms and has, in fact, triggered before the public eye. We can certainly diagnosis of conversion disorder and them. The diagnosis, therefore, is usu- hope that science and reason win out, mass psychogenic illness. A conversion ally made only after a thorough workup but often the most alluring and media- disorder occurs when psychological to rule out other causes. friendly answers come from the cranks stress manifests as physical symptoms. In the case of the children in Le We take this for granted to some de- Roy, doctors report that they have thor- who would manipulate the diagnoses of n gree; when people feel anxious they may oughly evaluated the children—in - experts to weave a sinister tale. get sweaty, nauseated, or short of breath cluding screening them for any toxins, References and have palpitations. People who ex- infections, or signs of a physical ill- Almasy, S., and J. Spellman. 2012. N.Y. town still perience panic attacks can have these ness—with completely negative results. baffled by teens’ mysterious tics. CNN (Febru- symptoms along with difficulty swal- The school has been examined also, and ary 4). Available at www.cnn.com/ lowing and episodes that may resemble no environmental toxins or chemicals 2012/02/03/us/new-york-students-illness/ index.html. certain types of seizures with feelings of have been discovered. Broderick, J.E., E. Kaplan-Liss, and E. Bass. being separate from reality or from Here we are probably dealing with 2011. Experimental induction of psycho - themselves. These are physical symp- not only a psychogenic illness but also a genic illness in the context of a medical event toms resulting from purely emotional case of mass psychogenic illness, which and media exposure. American Journal of Dis- aster Medicine 6(3) (May/June): 163–72. stress. But in some cases, psychological is also a known phenomenon that can Caram, R. 2012. Le Roy, N.Y. mystery continues stress can also lead to neurological even be induced experimentally (Brod- and frustrates. ... Available at http://drcaram. symptoms—pretty much any neurolog- erick et al. 2011). In cases of mass psy- com/the-Le Roy-n-y-mystery-continues-and- frustrates/. ical symptoms, such as weakness, diffi- chogenic illness, the appearance of Ciavarri, A. 2012. Erin Brockovich’s team in town, culty speaking, loss of vision, and invol- symptoms in other people, which causes Le Roy reluctant to allow access. WHEC.com untary movements. anxiety about a contagious illness or a ( January 28, updated January 29). Available online at www.whec.com/news/stories/ It is important to note that this is a toxic exposure, can be the stressful trig- s2473055.shtml. known and well-established syndrome ger. In susceptible individuals this can Stone, J., W.C. Lafrance Jr., R. Brown, et al. 2011. (Stone et al. 2011). Neurologists see pa- induce a psychogenic illness that mim- Conversion disorder: Current problems and tients with conversion disorder fre- ics the symptoms of those already af- potential solutions for DSM-5. Journal of Psy- chosomatic Research 71(6): 369–76. quently, and many cases positively fected. Media coverage only enhances Swedo, S.E., J.F. Leckman, N.R. Rose. 2012. demonstrate that the neurological this phenomenon; in fact, some specu- From research subgroup to clinical syndrome: symptoms are not due to any damage or late that social media increased the Modifying the PANDAS criteria to describe PANS (Pediatric Acute-onset Neuro - lesion in the nervous system but rather spread of the Le Roy children’s illness. psychiatric Syndrome). Pediatrics and Thera- to psychological stress. For example, it The Le Roy case has all the hallmarks peutics 2(2).

22 Volume 36 Issue 4 | Skeptical Inquirer July August pages_SI new design masters 5/31/12 12:16 PM Page 23

[ SCIENCE WATCH KENNETH W. KRAUSE Kenneth W. Krause is a contributing editor and “Science Watch” columnist for the SKEPTICAL INQUIRER. He may be contacted at [email protected].

Besieging the Last Bastions of Race

here’s no point in telling someone wrong-headed bastions of polite soci- from two projects launched by the that being “black,” for example, no ety. Earlier this year, the University of Council for Responsible Genetics. The Tlonger matters in the twenty-first Wisconsin–Madison—notably liberal first examined the effects of expanded century. As history plainly demon- and otherwise highly respected in sci- DNA databases on racial disparities in strates, being black will continue to entific circles—was criticized for its ad- criminal justice. The second, more in- matter profoundly so long as “black- missions policies that intentionally dis- teresting to me, explored how modern ness” exists. The more helpful and, as it criminate against two races in favor of scientific—especially medical—prac- turns out, honest approach might be to two others. tices have actually re vived a dangerous explain that “race”—like , In 2010, the U.S. Census Bureau en- concept that should have been tagged transcendence, or holiness, for in - deavored to segregate more than 300 and bagged years ago. stance—is, in reality, all in our heads. million highly intermixed Americans In a concise historical essay, contrib- We have a knotty problem indeed into fourteen discrete racial categories. utor and Drexel University public whenever society accepts or even em- And even social scientists routinely em- health expert Michael Yudell considers phasizes what science deems a danger- ploy self-identified race as a variable in the recent “upsurge” in race-based med- ous myth. In 1972, geneticist Richard international studies—despite the fact icine and its possible drivers. The ge- Lewontin told us that more genetic di- that the concept’s meaning varies from netic revolution, he finds, combined versity exists among West Africans than country to country. with our noble desire to resolve certain between West Africans and Europeans. But, thankfully, we can depend on the health disparities—especially in heart We also know that disease polymor- “harder” sciences and their more rational disease, cancer, and diabetes, for exam- phisms are totally inconsistent with the practitioners to promote a relatively sys- ple—has scientists rummaging for so- nineteenth-century notion of taxonomic tematic and objective approach. lutions in every possible direction. race and that blood types don’t sort by geographic region. Yet the notion of race endures. Why? And who should be targeted for We have a knotty problem indeed whenever blame? Don’t waste all of your arrows society accepts or even emphasizes what on the easiest, most familiar targets— the uneducated or otherwise unworldly science deems a dangerous myth. xenophobes who will likely never come within spitting distance of this publica- tion or any remotely like it. Racism is far more inclusive these days, even if Or can we? Unfortunately, many well-inten- seldom referred to as such. In his introduction to Race and the tioned researchers have reverted to race. Personal case in point: My former fi- Genetic Revolution: Science, Myth, and According to Yudell, this reckless trend ancée and I recently applied for a mar- Culture (Columbia University Press, suggests that “an analysis of the com- riage license in Wisconsin. Upon arrival, 2011), Sheldon Krimsky, Tufts Uni- plex relationship between individuals, the county clerk asked each of us to des- versity community health specialist and populations, and health will be surren- ignate our race. “None,” we replied in coeditor (along with human rights ad - dered to a simplistic, racialized world- turn, choosing our responses carefully. vocate Kathleen Sloan), confirms that view.” But the clerk nevertheless typed “re- race amounts to nothing more than a Enter BiDil, a drug manufactured to fused” on our application, as she ap - “scientific myth”—a “vestigial cultural treat heart failure. A small Massa - parently had been instructed to do. artifact” persisting only in our “minds chusetts biotech company called Nitro But the racist bug continues to and public policies.” Med brought BiDil to the FDA in spread deeper into well-meaning but Race and the Genetic Revolutionemerged 2001, expressly requesting race-specific

Skeptical Inquirer | July/August 2012 23 July August pages_SI new design masters 5/31/12 12:16 PM Page 24

approval. Based on a trial in which ure it out? Are Australian Aborigines or those of other races. every participant self-identified as dark-skinned South Asians in cluded? Contrastingly, advocates of evolu- “African American,” the FDA acceded Fourth, race-based labeling might pre- tionary medicine claim that diseases re- in 2005. The drug was subsequently la- vent non-blacks from obtaining benefi- sult from combinations of infection, beled as indicated only for blacks. cial or even life-saving medicine, and it genes, novel environments, design com- In reality, however, BiDil is just a might in effect render insurance com- promises, and evolutionary legacies. Af- combination of two generic vasodila- panies the defining agents of race. Finally, fecting all humans, the first and the lat- tors—hydralazine and isosorbide dini- Kahn stresses, by granting race-specific ter two tend not to cause health trate—that have been used without re- approval, the federal government falla- disparities. gard to race for more than a decade. ciously en dorsed the use of race as a bio- In the United States, these discus- Deeply troubled by the BiDil story for logical category. sions focus on maladies like cancer, stroke, heart disease, and diabetes—all of which are influenced by several genes Race-based labeling might prevent non-blacks along with copious environmental fac- tors. Thus, to address health disparities, from obtaining beneficial or even life-saving according to Joseph Graves Jr., contrib- medicine, and it might in effect render insurance utor and biologist at North Carolina A&T University, “we really must utilize companies the defining agents of race. the full intellectual arsenal of evolution- ary genetics.” The evolutionary theory of aging in- forms us that genes causing certain dis- a number of reasons, contributor and Kahn’s argument, however, is not eases in old age can be either neutral or Hamline University professor of law that race should never play any role in beneficial early on in life (mutation ac- Jona than Kahn indicts the FDA for genetic research. “There may be occa- cumulation or antagonistic pleio tropy, opening a “Pandora’s box of racial pol- sions where race can be productively respectively). Stomach cancer repre- itics.” used,” he instructs, but we must “differ- sents one such evolutionary legacy in First, Kahn says, no scientific evi- entiate between using a racial group to mammals generally. In the United dence has ever suggested that race has characterize a gene versus using a gene States, however, the disease tends to af- anything to do with how the drug to characterize a race.” It is entirely ac- flict East Asians at a higher rate than works. BiDil was never evaluated on a ceptable, for example, to study the Pima others. But contrary to common med- control population of non-blacks, after Indians of the American South west to ical opinion, according to Graves, the all. Nor does common sense support characterize the genetic basis for dia- primary explanation for this disparity is the drug’s designation: The FDA never betes. But scientists should never em- obviously not genetic. Rather, infection, approves and companies never market ploy genetics to brand the Pima as a frequent tobacco use, high salt intake, the numerous drugs tested only on people burdened with the gene or genes and low fruit and vegetable consump- white people as “white drugs.” Second, for diabetes. had NitroMed requested and acquired The proponents of “racialized med- tion are more culpable. only race-neutral approval, its patent icine” thus allege the reliable pre- The National Institutes of Health would have expired in 2007 rather than dictability of a person’s disease predis- spends $2.7 billion on health disparity 2020. Though scientifically inappropri- position through determination of his research every year. But much of the re- ate, in other words, the company’s strat- or her biological race. Critics, on the sulting literature presumes genetic pre- egy was very impressive from a purely other hand, emphasize the lack of any disposition—a false paradigm and a economic perspective. solid and consistent bases for biological “fool’s errand,” Graves concludes, that Third, one wonders who counts as race; even if such foundations existed, will persist until both the government “African American”—or “black,” as they say, we could never be certain that and the science it supports choose to BiDil’s label designates. Should we re- members of one race would share spe- abandon the bizarre and highly toxic vert to Jim Crow era blood ratios to fig- cific disease-related genes distinct from concept of race. n

24 Volume 36 Issue 4 | Skeptical Inquirer July August pages_SI new design masters 5/30/12 4:38 PM Page 25

[SKEPTICAL INQUIREE BENJAMIN RADFORD Benjamin Radford is a research fellow at the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry and author or coauthor of six books, including Tracking the Chupacabra: The Beast in Fact, Fiction, and Folklore.

Diving HeadOn into Pseudoscience

I’ve seen an extensively advertised product called HeadOn, which claims to cure headaches by the application of an ointment to the skin of the fore- head. Is there any truth to this? Q: —L. Herring

“Apply directly to the fore - head,” infamously com - manded a TV commercial : for HeadOn, a pain re - liever introduced in 2006 A by a company called Mi- ralus Health care. The product, sold in drug stores and online for $25, claims to relieve headache and migraine pain. It is neither a pill nor a solution but instead a waxy paste. Topical medicines are sometimes used to relieve local skin and muscle pains, but the idea that they could somehow relieve headache pain has aroused plenty of skepticism. The first clue that something’s amiss with this product is its homeopathic formula. Homeopathic solutions are often so literally watered-down that down, enters the bloodstream, and trav- about its product’s efficacy; six years later they don’t contain a single molecule of els to my brain?” On the James Randi the company has yet to do so, perhaps as the original medicine or substance: es- Educational Foundation website, Pryor a result of the BBB’s lack of enforcement sentially the patient is drinking or using posted the official company response, power. Consumer Reports concluded, “Giv - nothing but water. Homeopathic med- which was as concise and evasive as it was en the lack of clinical evidence showing icines have not been shown to work medically ignorant: “It works through that HeadOn works, it makes more sense better than placebos, yet many people the nerves.” to try proven drug treatments” (see www. use and endorse . Consumer Reports noted that no clin- consumerreports.org/health/prescription- In 2006, skeptic James Pryor con- ical trial data proving that the product drugs/headon-9-07/overview/0709_head tacted the makers of HeadOn, request- works had been made available and that ing information about how the product “A company executive said such studies ache_ov_1.htm). could possibly work, since HeadOn had been conducted but were not yet Though the kitschy HeadOn com- “does not penetrate the skull. So it published and therefore could not be di- mercials are not as common as they must enter the blood stream. The only vulged. Without those data, our medical used to be, the product is still around. way for it to get to my brain is for it to consultants said, any apparent efficacy On its Amazon.com page, there are travel to the heart through the blood- may be the result of the placebo effect.” twice as many five-star reviews touting stream, then back out through the In March 2006 the Better Busi ness Bu- the miracle product’s amazing relief as bloodstream to my brain. So how is it reau (BBB) recommended that HeadOn one-star reviews dismissing it. The better than a swallowed pill that breaks discontinue making unproven claims placebo effect is powerful indeed. n

Skeptical Inquirer | July/August 2012 25 July August pages_SI new design masters 5/31/12 12:18 PM Page 26

‘Mystery Illness’ in Western New York Is Social Networking Spreading Mass Hysteria?

The recent outbreak of twitching, facial tics, and garbled speech—symptoms of a form of conversion disorder—at a school in Western New York may signal a growing trend in the United States. During the twentieth century similar outbreaks were recorded in only four schools, yet in the past decade alone this form of psychogenic illness has already appeared in three U.S. schools. We may be witnessing a milestone in the history of psychogenic illness, where the new vectors are the Internet and social media. ROBERT E. BARTHOLOMEW

Of all our passions, fear weakens judgment most. —Bertrand Russell

thirteen-year-old schoolgirl exhibits facial tics, trem- ing of these episodes and the role that pent-up stress can play bling, twitching, and difficulty communicating. Class - in their development; such stress-induced episodes are diag- A mates soon develop similar symptoms. This outbreak, nosed as conversion disorder. In cases where multiple indi- reported in Basel, Switzerland, in 1904, parallels the one that viduals are affected, the diagnosis may be mass psychogenic students at Le Roy Central School in Western New York ex- illness. Stress disrupts the nerves and neurons that send mes- perienced in 2011–2012. In all, twenty-seven students were sages to the muscles and brain. As a result, the body of a affected in the Swiss episode (Zollinger 1906); twelve years stressed individual may undergo temporary bouts of twitch- earlier in 1892, similar symptoms swept through the same ing, spasms, and shaking. Sometimes affected individuals ex- school, affecting twenty pupils. Often the twitching would hibit -like states and amnesia. subside at home only to flare up upon a student’s return to While the onset of symptoms may be gradual, it usually the school grounds (Aemmer 1893). In a similar vein, Dave takes weeks or months for the anxiety to subside, the nerves Watson, a parent of one of the affected Le Roy students, ob- to settle down and function normally again, and the symp- serves: “How can you send your child to school perfectly nor- toms to disappear (Bartholomew and Wessely 2002). In some mal and a couple of hours later you’re picking her up in this individual cases of conversion disorder, the patient disputes condition?” (Nelson 2012). the diagnosis; in the case of a student, for example, where The symptoms exhibited by the students in Le Roy and neither parents nor the public will accept a psychological Basel are nothing new; in fact, they recall a similar rash of cause for the symptoms, the symptoms can spread to other symptoms that affected a group of girls in 1692 in Salem, students and endure for years. One outbreak affecting thirty- Massachusetts Bay Colony. It is the same disorder in a dif- six students at an Islamic school in Alor Star, Malaysia, dur- ferent cultural guise. What is new is the way these outbreaks ing the mid-1980s endured five years in a waxing, waning appear to be spreading. Traditionally, they have affected close- fashion. The episode, which included twitching, shaking, and knit students in the same classes or classroom, but in the “,” only subsided permanently after the for- three recent outbreaks in the United States, the pattern of mer prime minister intervened and had the affected girls spread was more dispersed throughout the school. This new transferred to a more liberal school (Bartholomew 2000). trend conspicuously coincides with the rise of the Internet Such outbreaks most commonly oc cur in schools and fac- and social networking sites as such Facebook, YouTube, and tories where close-knit groups exist in restricted, stressful envi- Twitter. ronments that are not easy to escape. Though factory workers can quit their jobs and students can walk out of school, doing Historical Perspective so comes at a high price. Between the nineteenth and early When individuals or groups of people come under significant twentieth centuries, outbreaks of twitching, shaking, convul- stress for long periods of time, they may develop strange be- sions, fainting spells, and trance states were common in Euro- haviors and symptoms as a result of the stress. After elimi- pean schools, especially in France, Germany, Switzerland, and nating organic and environmental causes of the behaviors, Austria. At Gross-tinz, Germany, between June and October scientists and health professionals focus on the social pattern- 1892, hand tremors, trance states, and amnesia struck twenty

26 Volume 36 Issue 4 | Skeptical Inquirer July August pages_SI new design masters 5/31/12 12:18 PM Page 27

SPECIAL SECTION ]

students (Hirt 1893), while arm and hand tremors forced a nificant number of students were sexually active. The symp- school in Chemnitz, Germany, to cancel its writing classes in toms started after rumors that authorities were going to ad- 1906 (Schoedel 1906). The schools involved were always those minister pregnancy tests, with offenders to be transferred to with high performance standards that placed significant reform school, began to circulate among the students (Knight amounts of pressure on the affected students over an extended et al. 1965). The rumors were un founded, but in cases of mass period of time. The German cases seem to have been triggered psychogenic illness perception is everything. by the implementation of tedious, monotonous writing classes. When several girls in Mount Pleas ant, Mississippi, began to act strangely in April 1976, school officials suspected drug Two Types of Conversion Disorder use, and narcotics agents swarmed the building after fifteen British psychiatrist Simon Wessely (1987) has identified two students fell to the ground “writhing and kicking before pass- main types of collective conversion disorder, or mass psy- ing out” (“Fainting Spells” 1976). Police found the girls were chogenic illness. The most prevalent type in Western coun- drug-free and concluded that hysteria was the culprit. Many tries is triggered by the sudden exposure to a stressful agent, students and parents blamed voodoo. The girls would sud- most often a foul odor that is believed to be toxic. Symptoms denly fall to the floor, kicking and screaming, “Don’t let it get typically include fainting, dizziness, head aches, and hyper- me!” or “Get it off!” before passing out. Attacks lasted up to ventilation, with most episodes lasting less than twenty-four fifteen minutes. The trigger was identified as a schoolgirl ri- hours and victims recovering rapidly with encouragement valry over the affections of a boy. One group of girls said that and support. In cases where a harmful agent is believed to re- a jealous classmate had put a voodoo hex on them. The fear main on the school grounds, relapses may occur. Outbreaks of spells spread quickly through the group after the of this type became common beginning in the mid-twentieth first few girls suffered fits, which only confirmed their class- century, coinciding with the rise of the environmental move- mates’ suspicions of sorcery and fueled their own fears that ment and concern over the con tamination of food, air, and they would be next. water. A second rarer form of conversion disorder is trig- gered by long-term stress that disrupts the nerves and neurons that send messages to the muscles and brain. Sometimes referred to as motor hysteria, this second type of conversion disorder features outbreaks of twitching, shaking, difficulty in walking and speaking, seizures, and trance states, all of which appear slowly over a period of weeks or months. Many cases take weeks or months to subside, too—and only after the stress has been reduced or eliminated. Outbreaks of mass psychogenic illness affecting motor function are common, and dozens of cases are reported each year. Most of these cases are confined to Africa and Asia, where symptoms often involve collective spirit possession triggered by a belief in witches, demons, and ; twitching and the blurt- ing out of unintelligible words or phrases are also common (Bartholo mew and Sirois 1996). These cases are rare events in Western countries, yet many of the Le Roy Junior/Senior High School senior Thera Sanchez few recent cases evidence anxiety generated by inter- speaks on the Today show in New York. Sanchez said she personal conflict. was fine until she woke up one day and began stuttering. In 1939, a twitching epidemic broke out among a She said symptoms worsened to the point she couldn’t even group of girls at a high school in Bellevue, Louisiana. attend class. She said she’s had some psychological counsel- The first girl, a poor dancer who feared her boy friend ing, which she says increased her stress but has not resolved would leave her, began to twitch and was recused whatever is causing her condition. “I want an answer. A from dance classes. Investigators theorized that the straight answer,” she said on the show. (AP Photo/NBC symptoms spread to six other girls over the next sev- News/TODAY)) eral weeks because of the attention that was given to the first victim, including increased affection from her boyfriend (Schuler and Paren ton 1943). In 1962, a series of blackout spells affected an African American school in Louisiana where a sig-

Skeptical Inquirer | July/August 2012 27 July August pages_SI new design masters 5/31/12 12:18 PM Page 28

Twenty-First Century Outbreaks—a New Trend eleventh-graders, three were tenth-graders, and four were in the ninth grade. Historically, outbreaks of psychogenic illness In 2002, a mysterious malady swept through a high school in schools occur among students who share classrooms, but in rural North Carolina. Ten girls developed seizures at the in this case just two were in the same class. It took four start of the new school year along with fainting, headaches, months for the symptoms to subside. Neurological exams lightheadedness, muscle twitching and jerking, tingling, and confirmed that the seizures were psychogenic. numbness. The school nurse noted that the fits were unlike In 2007, an epidemic of twitching limbs, headaches, and any epileptic seizures that she had ever seen. When she dizziness were reported at William Byrd High School in Vir- placed smelling salts near the noses of a couple of the girls, ginia (Harrison 2007). At least nine girls and one female teacher they cringed, while the mothers of two girls said that when were affected. Media reports indicate that the students did not their daughters began to have fits they “could ‘talk her out of all share a common denominator, such as being from the same it’ as the episode started to develop” (Roach and Langley classroom. The outbreak occurred amid a spate of public health 2004, 1270). There was another oddity: the malady rarely oc- concerns for the Roanoke County Public Schools, including an curred in class but struck students in the hallway between asbestos scare, warnings about a drug-resistant Staphy lococcus classes, in the cafeteria, or in the schoolyard during recess. (Golden Staph) infection that was blamed for the death of an The first stricken was a cheerleader, and the fear of “catch- area resident, and concern over the recent mass shooting at Vir- ing” her seizure may have made her fellow cheerleaders and ginia Tech. After conducting a battery of tests, the Virginia other classmates nervous, triggering their blackout spells. It State Health Department officially listed the cause as psy- may have also been some kind of identification with a school chogenic. role model, as four others who were affected were either Fear 101—the Le Roy Affair cheerleaders or former cheerleaders. This case is unusual in the scientific literature, for three of the students were In 2012, another outbreak of motor conversion disorder was reported among students at Le Roy Central School in Western New York. By early February the total number of affected students had reached fifteen, in- cluding one boy. What makes the case unusual is that based on media reports, the symptoms were not confined to one class or group but were scat- tered throughout the school. The media first brought attention to the “mystery illness” in 2011. Naturally parents and community members were concerned because the symptoms were dramatic: facial tics, twitching muscles, and unintelligible ver- bal outbursts that resembled Tourette syndrome. Some of the girls could not complete a single sen- tence without severely garbling her words. Given that Le Roy was the site of a chemical spill resulting from a train de railment in 1970, ex - posure to toxins became an immediate theory be- hind the cause of the outbreak. Fox News medical consultant Marc Siegel, MD, said he was almost certain the symptoms were the result of PANDAS, an illness caused by strep infections (see www. youtube.com/watch?v=eOSJs3aOTlE& feature=related). Other causes were posited: Lyme Le Roy Junior/Senior High School, the location of the recent disease, pesticides, electromagnetic fields, govern- ment ex periments, and magnesium deficiency. outbreak of mass psychogenic illness. There seemed no end to the list of possible causes. The New York State Health Department tried to allay the public’s fears by announcing in early January 2012 that they had eliminated environ- mental and organic causes. They even claimed to have identified the cause of the outbreak but said

28 Volume 36 Issue 4 | Skeptical Inquirer July August pages_SI new design masters 5/31/12 12:19 PM Page 29

SPECIAL SECTION ]

they could not disclose it publicly due to medical privacy to the girls subconsciously underscores their status as spe- laws. Their cryptic announcement only served to generate cial, different, and suddenly “visible” (Cropper 2012). further anxiety among the public. Clearly the Health Department’s failure to render its di- In early January 2012, a Buffalo-area neurologist, Laszlo agnosis public has eroded its credibility and fuelled the pub- Mechtler, MD, who was treating many of the girls, revealed lic’s suspicion, ensuring that this issue will continue to con- the Health Department’s diagnosis: conversion disorder, for- sume public and private resources and generate needless merly termed “mass hysteria.” An outcry arose among the anxiety. With disgruntled parents contacting the likes of girls’ parents who did not want to accept a psychological Erin Brocko vich, who is now searching toxic dump sites for cause behind the girls’ physical symptoms. Presumably, their the “real” cause behind the outbreak, this episode will haunt parents’ outcry created more stress for the affected students. the New York State Health Depart ment for years to come. The New York State Health Depart ment contributed to Scientists will publish journal articles about it. Residents will the fear surrounding the illness by withholding the diagno- write books on it. Allow me to suggest a title: The “Mystery sis, generating undue alarm and public suspicion. The Illness” in Western New York: How Not to Handle a Case of Depart ment’s position that privacy issues prevented their Mass Psychogenic Illness. n release of the diagnosis generated so much public anxiety References that it transformed the case into a public health issue in Aemmer, Fritz. 1893. Eine Schulepidemie von Tremor Hystericus [A school which the rights of the public to know outweighed the pri- epidemic of hysterical tremor]. Inaugural dissertation, Basel. vacy rights of a small group of individuals. But it is clear that Bartholomew, Robert E. 2000. Exotic Deviance. Boulder, Colorado: Uni- the Health Depart ment was correct in its diagnosis: not versity of Colorado Press. Bartholomew, Robert E., and Francois Sirois. 1996. Epidemic hysteria in many diseases or toxic agents almost exclusively affect young schools: An international and historical overview. Educational Studies girls. If exposure to toxins in the area near the school caused 22(3): 285–311. the symptoms, as many locals and other professionals sug- Bartholomew, Robert E., and Simon Wessely. 2002. Protean nature of mass sociogenic illness: From possessed nuns to chemical and biolog- gested, why were teachers and maintenance staff who had ical terrorism fears. The British Journal of Psychiatry 180: 300–306. been present at the school for decades or parents not af- Cropper, Paul. 2012. Personal communication, January 24. fected? The way in which the cases spread from one student Fainting spells making school nervous. 1976. Associated Press (April 10). Harrison, David. 2007. Expert: Mystery illness is stress. The Roanoke Times to another, combined with the elimination of environmental (November 18). and organic causes, points to conversion disorder as the log- Hirt, L. 1893. Eine Epidemie von Hysterischen Krampfen in einer Schlei- sischen Dorfschule [An epidemic of hysterical cramp in a village ical diagnosis. school in Schleisischen]. Zeitschrift fur Schul gesundheitspflege 6: 225– 29. (Summary of an article by L. Hirt in the Berliner Klinische Mass Hysteria and the Social Network Wochenschrift). Knight, J.A., T.I. Friedman, and J. Sulianti. 1965. Epidemic hysteria: A The Le Roy case is significant in that it is the first vigor- field study. American Journal of Public Health 55: 858–65. ously disputed case of conversion disorder to occur in the Nelson, Sara C. 2012. Erin Brockovich investigates mystery Tourette’s ill- United States during this social networking era. People can ness at Le Roy High School in New York. Huffington Post UK (Feb- ruary 3). view the girls on YouTube, follow the latest events on Twit- Roach, E. Steven, and Ricky L. Langley. 2004. Episodic neurological dys- ter, and exchange Facebook links related to the case. The function due to mass hysteria. Archives of Neurology 61(8) (August): case is likely to endure, not just because of the toxic dump- 1269–72. Schoedel, Johannes. 1906. Uber Induzierte Krank heiten [On induced ill- sites located in Western New York but also because the in- ness]. Jahrbuch fur Kinderheilkunde 14: 521–28. volvement of high-profile people like Erin Brocko vich has Schuler, E.A., and V.J. Parenton. 1943. A recent epidemic of hysteria in a brought even more media attention to the situation. There’s Louisiana high school. Journal of Social Psychology 17: 221–35. Wessely, Simon. 1987. Mass hysteria: Two syndromes? Psychological Med- another reason behind the persistence of this case: we may icine 17: 109–20. be witnessing a shift in the history of psychogenic illness Zollinger, E. 1906. Uber die Padagogische Behandlung des Nervosen Zit- in which the primary agents of spread are the Internet, terns der Schul kinder [On the educational treatment of nervous trem- bling in school children]. Jahrbuch der Schweiz Gesellschaft fur Schul - media, and social networking sites. gesund heitspflege 7: 20–47. Australian expert on conversion disorder Paul Cropper believes that mass psychogenic illness can act as a force for instant social networking. He observes that the Le Roy girls Robert Bartholomew teaches in the Depart ment of may not have known each other well, but they “may have History at Botany College in Auckland, New unknowingly shared the fact that they felt ‘invisible,’ ex- Zealand. He is the author of The Martians Have cluded, neglected (if only in a minor way), stressed, etc., but Landed! A History of Media-Driven Panics and once Case 1 arrives it becomes a public invitation for all the Hoaxes (with Benjamin Radford) and Outbreak! The others to join this exclusive club or protest—‘the tic suffer- Encyclopedia of Extraordinary Social Behavior (with ers.’” Crop per believes that the attention the case has drawn Hilary Evans). He can be reached at [email protected].

Skeptical Inquirer | July/August 2012 29 July August pages_SI new design masters 5/31/12 12:57 PM Page 30

Neurologic Illness or Hysteria? A Mysterious Twitching Outbreak

JOE NICKELL

t began in 2011, a “mysterious illness” among teenage girls against a dozen girls at one location suddenly developing at the high school in Le Roy, New York (Figure 1) (Asz- Tourette syndrome are astronomical (Mink 2012; Tan Italos 2011). Six cases were reported, then twelve, then fif- 2012a). Indeed it was not that disorder that assailed the Le teen and counting as the story captured attention across the Roy teens. United States and beyond (“Doctors baffled” 2012). The But if not Tourette syndrome, then what could it be? story’s development included significant coverage on NBC’s Health professionals considered a variety of possibilities: Today show and CNN’s Dr. Drew’s Lifechangers. I twice vis- Autoimmune disorder. A Health De part ment report pointed ited Le Roy (just fifty miles from my office) on behalf of the to a lack of evidence for one touted theory, an autoimmune dis- SKEPTICAL INQUIRER, to talk with parents and others in- order known as pediatric autoimmune neuropsychiatric disor- volved, visit relevant sites, and otherwise investigate this ders associated with streptococcal infections (PANDAS). While four of the six girls tested did have elevated levels of a strange outbreak. strep antibody, the levels were not high enough to involve PAN- Failed Theories DAS. Besides, for a diagnosis of PANDAS to be made five cri- teria must be met, and not one of the Le Roy cases met all cri- Beginning with at least one case as early as May 2011 and teria (New York 2012; Orr 2012). Moreover, PANDAS occurs increasing to twelve by early January 2012, the phenomenon three times more often in boys than in girls (Swedo 2012). originally struck only teenage girls, who exhibited the symp- Vaccines. Some persons suggested vaccines—especially the toms of a strange Tourette-like condition with tics (involun- Gardasil human papillomavirus vaccine, which is given to young tary twitches) and uncontrolled verbal outbursts. females to prevent cervical cancer and is now also approved for Tourette syndrome is an inherited neurological disorder, use by males—as a potential cause of the outbreak. How ever, and it is not caused by environmental conditions. It is some according to a New York State Department of Health report, three to four times more likely to affect boys than girls and while seven of the twelve girls had received one or more injec- tends to occur sporadically in a given population, so the odds tions of that vaccine, they were at different stages in the vaccination process; for six of the seven the onset of their symptoms came over a year after their last injection. Moreover, the scientific liter- ature does not show any links between the Gar- dasil vaccine and tic disorders (New York 2012; Orr 2012). Drugs. That the symptoms might be caused by something the students ingested—including stimulants, prescription drugs, or other sub- stances—was discounted as unlikely by Jonathan Mink, chief of child neurology at the University of Rochester Medical Cen ter. (Mink is also cochair of the Tourette Syndrome Association’s scientific advisory board.) Mink noted that it would take a significant dosage of a drug— whether prescribed or not—to cause tics, where- upon other behavior changes would become ap - Figure 1. Le Roy Junior/Senior High School in Western New York is the site parent (Mink 2012). The Health Depart ment of a “mysterious illness.” (Photos by Joe Nickell) noted that toxicology screens for five of seven of the students were negative, while two were posi-

30 Volume 36 Issue 4 | Skeptical Inquirer July August pages_SI new design masters 5/31/12 12:50 PM Page 31

SPECIAL SECTION ]

Environmental causes. Some environmentalists, such as tal stress into actual physical symptoms, such as blindness, high-profile activist Erin Brockovich, have suggested that paralysis, numbness, fainting, and mutism. While conver- toxic substances may be responsible for the girls’ symp- sion disorder (formerly called “hysteria”) is the diagnosis toms. In particular they have referred to a site some three- for an individual, the group diagnosis is mass psychogenic ill- and-a-half miles away (outside the nearby village of Lime ness (popularly called “mass hysteria”) (New York 2012, 7; Rock) where, on December 6, 1970, a train derailment re- Goldenson 1970, 260–63). Much additional evidence in sulted in the spill of one ton of cyanide crystals (which the Le Roy outbreak appeared to confirm both individual were promptly removed) and 30,000 gallons of trichloro- and group diagnoses. ethene (TCE), which still contaminates the site (En viron - Of the twelve girls, three had previous medical illnesses mental Protection Agency 1999) (Figure 2). Brockovich associated with tics—one of them “a pre-existing Tourette’s (2012) referred to reports of “an orange-yellow substance diagnosis” (New York 2012, 4, 6). One of these could have oozing up from the ground” in a Le Roy school field. I served as an “index” case that produced subconscious mim- talked with one afflicted girl’s father, Jim DuPont (2012), icry in the other girls. Of the remaining eight (one girl did who also called attention to the possibility of incomplete not seek medical attention), each was discovered to have had combustion of natural gas from four wells drilled on school a major stress in her life—such as parents divorcing—ac- property. cording to a pediatric neurologist in nearby Batavia, Jennifer I spent more of my time on environmental concerns than McVige, who has seen ten of the girls (Stobbe 2012). Not on any other theory—speaking with parents, an environmen- only had some of the teens’ own physicians diagnosed them tal activist visiting from Toronto (Tarr 2012), an environ- with conversion disorder, but McVige and colleague Laszlo mental tester (Rumrill 2012), and beleaguered school super- Mechtler, MD, also confirmed the diagnosis (Tan 2012b). intendent Kim Cox (2012a); twice visiting the toxic-spill site, Neurologists are able to distinguish between movements where I met investigating U.S. Repre sentative Kathy Hochul; caused by neurological conditions and those due to conver- and more. Ms. Cox exhibited grace under fire, especially at a sion disorder. For example, one girl was observed in a video raucous community meeting (Figure 3). She has worked for to have a flailing right arm that she was able to later use to months with numerous medical professionals and other rel- carefully apply eyeliner (Tan 2012d). evant agencies (the state’s Department of Health and En - vironmental Conser va tion and the U.S. Environmental Pro- Some of the parents, however, refused to accept the con- tection Agency). Professionals from these agencies provided version disorder and mass psychogenic illness diagnoses. assurance that the school is safe, and an independent firm is Jim DuPont (2012) told me that he instead suspected “a conducting ongoing research. So far, tests of air quality and combination of things”—such as some students’ predispo- drinking water confirm that conclusion (New York 2012; sition toward illness, as well as anything that could impair Holvey 2012; Cox 2012b; Tan 2012c). The alarming “orange the im mune system and, of course, any of the various envi- ooze” was simply rust fungi, which is common to ronmental causes—was to blame. Another parent, Beth the Ken tucky bluegrass sod used for the field. The Health Department’s report (New York 2012) concluded that “the occurrence of symptoms in only female students and the range of time of symptom onset are not consistent with an envi- ronmental cause.” Kim Cox (2012a) stressed that point to me, stating that environmental causes would not discriminate between girls and boys, that a wide range of people—younger students, more boys, teachers, staff—would also have been affected.

Conversion Disorder In time, neurologists diagnosed the students with conversion disorder, “a group of symptoms suggestive of organic disease but without an identified cause in a group of individuals with shared beliefs about the cause of symptoms.” Figure 2. U.S. Representative Kathy Hochul investigates the site, about 3.5 Conversion disorder is, there fore, a psychological miles from Le Roy school, where a 1970 train derailment caused a serious toxic spill. condition whose cause is, typically, “significant life stressors,” the brain “converting” severe men-

Skeptical Inquirer | July/August 2012 31 July August pages_SI new design masters 5/31/12 12:21 PM Page 32

Miller (2012), told me that she suspected a toxin or other cause, possibly a strep virus. She said the authorities have not looked at other children who report migraines and stomach conditions. (To play Devil’s advo- cate, I suggested to her that probably some students at any school anywhere would ex- hibit some such common symptoms.) David G. Lichter, MD, a clinical professor of neu- rology at the University at Buffalo, observes that it is not uncommon for parents in such a situation to refuse to accept a psychological Figure 3. Panel of school officials and environmental experts hears criticisms at cause and to “doctor shop” for another diag- an often heated community meeting held at the school, February 4, 2012. nosis, which delays proper treatment (Tan 2012a). As for others, Mechtler notes that 20 some will not accept such a psychological diagnosis because “they live a conspiracy life in a bioterrorist world” (qtd. in Tan 2012b). 18 Yet cases of conversion disorder and mass psychogenic ill- 18 ness are well known: in 2002, ten teenage girls at a rural North Carolina high school exhibited epileptic-like seizures and fainting spells. In 2007 some 600 girls at a Catholic 16 boarding school in Chalco, Mexico, suffered fever and nausea and, in some instances, an inability to walk. Later in 2007, at 15 least eight girls at a high school in Roanoke, Virginia, exhib- 14 ited twitching symptoms like those that afflicted the girls in Le Roy. In none of these outbreaks was a physical cause found. Mark Hallett, MD, who helps field calls for the Na- 12 tional Institutes of Health (NIH), states that the NIH aver- 12 ages two individual reports of conversion disorder per week. But while those cases are common, actual outbreaks involv- 10 ing several people are unusual. And why these outbreaks typ- 10 ically in volve females is unclear. Some believe it is because 9 of the manner in which girls are socialized to deal with stressful situations (Stobbe 2012). Those susceptible to con- 8 version disorder tend to be “highly smart, vulnerable to sug- gestion, and very sensitive,” according to a child and adoles- 7 cent psychiatrist (Tan 2012d). 6 Meanwhile the Le Roy numbers had increased. By Feb- ruary 2, as many as fifteen cases were reported, including one boy and a thirty-six-year-old licensed practical nurse 4 and mother, Marge Fitzsimmons, whom I met at a com- 4 munity meeting at the school. She accepts her doctor’s di- 3 agnosis of conversion disorder (Schenek 2012). By Febru- 2 ary 4 the number had increased to eighteen students—still only one boy among them (Tan 2012c). (See Figure 4.) Added to this were reports of two girls with similar symp- toms in Corinth, New York, some 250 miles away. Inter- 0 APR MAY JUN JUL AUG SEP OCT NOV DEC JAN FEB estingly, the Corinth girls are members of a softball team that had stopped in Le Roy during a road trip in July 2011, Figure 4. Le Roy Outbreak, 2011–2012. The original three cases had pre-existing conditions; school was out during the summer; though this was after one girl’s symptoms had appeared then cases resumed at an accelerating rate. (Roman 2012). While two Le Roy students had reportedly

32 Volume 36 Issue 4 | Skeptical Inquirer July August pages_SI new design masters 5/31/12 12:57 PM Page 33

SPECIAL SECTION ]

(Roman 2012). While two Le Roy students had reportedly me confidentially). Thanks are also due my wife, Diana, CFI Exec- recovered after treatment, a few others regressed somewhat utive Direc tor Barry Karr, CFI Libraries Director Timothy Binga, following the publicity and controversy (Mrozek 2012). Librarian Lisa Nolan, and others, including Roe Giambrone and my assistant, Ed Beck, for research assistance. Although cases like those at Le Roy sometimes provoke allegations of fakery (indeed one restaurant employee there References told me she thought the girls were just looking for attention), Asztalos, Jaclyn. 2011. Mysterious illness at Leroy High School. WKBW most experts think otherwise. Using the analogy of stage News (Novem ber 8). Available at www.wkbw.com/home/Leroyjac-133 fright—which can produce shortness of breath, nausea, and 424788.html. Brockovich, Erin. 2012. Appearance on Anderson Cooper 360 on CNN, Jan- other physical symptoms—experts believe the patients have uary 30 (cited in Michel 2012). actual symptoms that they cannot consciously control (Tan Cox, Kim. 2012a. Personal communication at press conference. February 4. ———. 2012b. Letter to community, January 31; address at community 2012a; Stobbe 2012). meeting, February 4. Doctors baffled as Tourettes-like syndrome spreads.... 2012. Daily Mail Corroborative Evidence (UK) ( January 27). Du Pont, Jim. 2012. Personal communication, February 4. A preponderance of the evidence tends to corroborate the di- Environmental Protection Agency. 1999. Lehigh Valley Railroad Derailment agnosis of conversion disorder/mass psychogenic illness in Site, New York, report NYD986950251 ( January 19). the Le Roy outbreak: (1) Medical examinations of the stu- Goldenson, Robert M. 1970. The Encyclopedia of Human Behavior, vol. 1. Garden City, NY: Doubleday. dents failed to show any organic disease; (2) expert scientific Holvey, Mary Ellen. 2012. Public presentation as certified industrial hygien- investigations of the school and its environs failed to disclose ist (February 4). any credible infectious or environmental sources for the cases; Jaslow, Ryan. 2012. Mass hysteria outbreak reported in N.Y. town ... cb- snews.com ( January 19). (3) the sufferers are mostly females, and conversion disorder Michel, Lou. 2012. Brockovich’s efforts in Le Roy halted. The Buffalo News is more prevalent among fe males than males; (4) the diag- ( January 31). noses were made by physicians, including neurological spe- Miller, Beth. 2012. Personal communication, February 4. Mink, Jonathan. 2012. Cited in Owens 2012. cialists, who actually examined the patients; (5) neurologists Mrozek, Paul. 2012. Doctor treating 10 Le Roy students says media satura- noted the difference between patients’ imitative movements tion not helping. The Daily News (Batavia, New York, February 2). and those caused by an actual neurological condition; (6) New York State Department of Health. 2012. Investigation of Neurologic Symptoms among Le Roy Jr/Sr High School Students, October 2011– three students had pre-existing illnesses associated with tics January 2012, Interim Re port, January 31. (one with a Tourette syndrome diagnosis), which could have Orr, Steve. 2012. More Le Roy details emerge. Rochester Democrat and Chronicle sparked cascading cases of subconscious mimicry; (7) a band- (February 4). Owens, Howard. 2012. Expert to discuss tic outbreak in Le Roy.... The wagon effect may be evidenced by the increased number of Batavian ( January 10). cases, the off-site case of an adult female, and the cases of Roman, Dayelin. 2012. Girls’ illness still a puzzle. Available at www.time- two teenage girls in distant Corinth, New York; (8) students sunion.com/local/article/Girls-illness-still-a-puzzle-2830889.php. Rumrill, Michael P. Personal communication, February 4. who accepted the diagnosis and treatment began to improve; Saltz, Gail. 2012. Speaking on NBC’s Today show, January 17. (9) two students treated for conversion disorder were consid- Schenek, Dan. 2012. NY medical mystery: Woman showing same symptoms ered re covered; (10) overall, the Le Roy outbreak fits the pro- as Le Roy teens. Available at www.hintiv.com/video/2012/01/31/ medical-mystery-adult-shows-symptoms. file of other cases of mass psychogenic illness that have been Stobbe, Mike. 2012. Associated Press release by AP medical writer, reprinted investigated elsewhere; and (11) the diagnosis has been sup- in ABC News online, “Mass Hysteria Rare, but Usually Seen in Girls,” ported by numerous knowledgeable medical and psycholog- February 3, 2012. Swedo, Susan. 2012. As investigator for the National Institutes of Health, ical professionals who re viewed the evidence. cited in Tan 2012d. Such an outbreak eventually runs its course. Lichter points Tan, Sandra. 2012a. Mass hysteria cited as cause of problems in Le Roy. The out that suffering from a psychogenic illness does not mean Buffalo News ( January 13). ———. 2012b. Le Roy students, public still seek answers. The Buffalo News that one is mentally deficient or otherwise unhealthy (Tan ( January 29). 2012a). It is important to understand that al though the teens’ ———. 2012c. Le Roy residents air concerns. The Buffalo News (February 5). ———. 2012d. In search of answers to the many questions in Le Roy. The symptoms may have a psychological origin, they are none - Buffalo News (Febru ary 9). theless real and painful. According to psychologist Gail Saltz Tarr, Charley. 2012. Personal communication, February 4. (2012), the sufferers “need a psychiatric or psychological treat- See also Steven Novella’s “The Science of Medicine” column, page 21 ment. Treatment does work.” And the neurologist Mechtler assured, “The bottom line is these teenagers will get better” Nickell is CSI’s senior research fellow. He has been in- (Jaslow 2012). n vestigating unsolved mysteries and fringe-science claims since 1969. His website is www.joenickell.com. Acknowledgements I am grateful to the many persons in and near Le Roy, New York, who assisted me in my efforts (including several who spoke with

Skeptical Inquirer | July/August 2012 33 July August pages_SI new design masters 5/31/12 12:22 PM Page 34

The Social and Symbolic Power of AIDS Denialism

AIDS denialism has proved socially resilient because dissident “hero scientists” provide legitimacy, “cultropreneurs” offer fake cures in the place of antiretroviral treatment, and HIV-positive “living icons” seem to provide proof of concept.

NICOLI NATTRASS

he discovery of antiretroviral therapy (ART) trans- a recent “documentary” funded in part by Rethinking AIDS. formed HIV infection from a death sentence into a Duesberg does more than merely Tmanageable chronic disease.1 Yet a small group of question or rethink HIV science: he ac- “AIDS denialists” rejects the science underlying ART, be- tively publicizes his unfounded claims. Mark Wainberg, a microbiologist and lieving it rests on rotten foundations and that the therapy is past president of the Inter national toxic. These ideas have had deadly consequences. Most in- AIDS Society, called him “probably the famously, South African president Mbeki set up a panel of closest thing we have in this world to a scientific psychopath.”6 Duesberg’s sup- AIDS denialists and HIV scientists to debate the issue while porters, however, interpret such criti- delaying the use of ART in the public sector. Over 330,000 cism as evidence of his unfair oppres- South Africans died unnecessarily as a result.2 sion by a corrupt “AIDS establishment.” Accord ing to Celia Far ber, Duesberg’s In an earlier article3 for the SKEPTICAL powerful community-building effects. leading praise-singer, “As AIDS grew in INQUIRER I described the different vari- AIDS denialism gains social traction the 1980s into a global, multibillion- eties of AIDS denialism, highlighting the through four symbolically and organiza- dollar juggernaut of diagnostics, drugs, views of Berkeley virologist Peter Dues- tionally important roles: the “hero scien- and activist organizations, whose sole berg, who believes—despite never having tists” (notably Duesberg) who provide a target in the fight against AIDS was done any clinical research on HIV—that patina of scientific legitimacy for the HIV, condemning Duesberg became it is a harmless “passenger virus” and that movement; the “cultropreneurs” who part of the moral crusade.”7 AIDS is caused by recreational drugs, offer fake cures in the place of ART; the David Rasnick, who writes with malnutrition, and even antiretroviral HIV-positive “living icons” who seem to Duesberg, is also a hero scientist of therapy itself. He and the other AIDS provide proof of concept by appearing to sorts. He assisted the Rath Health denialists on Mbeki’s panel recom- live healthily without ART; and the Foundation with its illegal South mended that HIV testing be halted and “praise singers,” sympathetic journalists African trial (which resulted in several that immune deficiency be treated and filmmakers who publicize the move- unnecessary deaths) in which AIDS pa- through “massage therapy, music therapy, ment. tients were taken off antiretroviral ther- yoga, spiritual care, homeopathy, Indian Figure 1 shows the organizational apy and put onto high-dose vitamin Ayurvedic medicine, light therapy and connections between the key AIDS de- products in stead. The Alive and Well many other methods.”4 nialists. Duesberg is particularly in - website claims he is the creator of pro- This article draws on my recent work fluential. He sits on the boards of Re- tease inhibitors, but his name does not revisiting the problem of AIDS denial- thinking AIDS (an organization that ap pear on any of the relevant patents. ism, this time focusing on its organized promotes his views about HIV) and More important is Kary Mullis, an ec- character.5 I argue that the symbiotic Alive and Well (founded by HIV-posi- centric chemist who won the Nobel connection between AIDS denialism tive “living icon” Christine Mag giore to Prize for inventing the polymerase and alternative healing modalities is fa- promote alternative therapies). He also chain reaction. Mullis, who openly dis- cilitated by a shared conspiratorial stance served on Mbeki’s Panel and received cusses his experimentation with hallu- toward HIV science, which has had extensive coverage in House of Numbers, cinatory drugs and alleged encounters

34 Volume 36 Issue 4 | Skeptical Inquirer July August pages_SI new design masters 5/31/12 12:22 PM Page 35

with extraterrestrials, has never worked new medical protocols and alternative A common notion promoted by cul- on HIV; however, precisely because he therapies, many of which are AIDS re- tropreneurs is that AIDS symptoms are won a Nobel Prize, he is a symbolically lated.” caused by stress and harmful mental important hero scientist. The link between AIDS denialism states. For example, Michael Ellner, the Robert Leppo, a venture capitalist and is embodied by president of HEAL (Health Education who sits on the board of Rethinking what I term “cultropreneurs.” Cul tro - AIDS Liaison), runs a “medical hypno- AIDS, funds Duesberg’s laboratory as preneurs use AIDS denialism and re- sis” service and claims10 that it is the well as Rethinking AIDS. Farber de- lated conspiracy theories to undermine shock of an HIV diagnosis that kills scribes Leppo as the “reluctant hero of the credibility of antiretroviral ther- people because such a diagnosis creates the underground” who “saved Duesberg apy—a convenient marketing device for “very toxic emotional states,” which from utter dissolution” after his federal their alternative therapies. For example, supposedly “knock out and undermine” funding was supposedly cut off “as pun- the Rath Health Founda tion describes the body’s natural defenses. Repairing ishment for advancing a scientific hy- antiretroviral therapy as a form of geno- the victim’s mental state is thus his so- pothesis that differed from that of the cide inflicted on society by the “pharma- lution to AIDS—a convenient prescrip- establishment.”8 Leppo was also the ex- ceutical drug cartel.”9 Gary Null, who tion given Ellner’s line of work. ecutive producer of an AIDS denialist sells a variety of books and alternative Roberto Giraldo, another member of film, The Other Side of AIDS, the pro- healing products, makes similar con- HEAL who sits on the boards of organ- motional material of which describes spiratorial suggestions and often fea- izations such as Rethinking AIDS and him as “deeply involved in researching tures AIDS denialists on his radio show. Alive and Well, describes himself as a “natural health counselor” and runs a clinic of “integral psycho immunology” in . Infamous for advising Mbeki’s health minister on nutritional alterna- On Mbeki’s Panel tives to ART, Giraldo subsequently went Board of Rethinking AIDS on to promote organized AIDS denial- ism in Latin America. Cultropreneurs, and indeed all alter- Robert Leppo David Crowe native therapists, rely on anecdotal evi- Andrew Herxheimer Gordon Stewart dence and testimonies of people who Christian Fiala Manu Kothari Claus Koehnlein Sam Mhlongu* were pleased with their treatments. The (deceased) “living icon,” the person who through David Rasnick* Etienne de Harven his or her very existence “proves” that Charles Gesheckter HIV disease can be fought with alterna- Roberto Giraldo tive remedies, thus plays a crucial role in Peter Duesberg the cultropreneur’s success. The most important of these icons for the AIDS Celia Farber Liam Sche Harvey Bialy denialist movement was Christine Mag- Brent Leung giore, who not only actively promoted Eleni Papadopulos-Eleopulos Christine Maggiore Valender Turner, the cause of AIDS denialism but tragi- (deceased) Kary Mullis# Neville Hodgkinson cally also put her own health and that of her family on the line. In the preface to her widely distrib- Mohammed Al Bayati, Juan Jose Flores uted book, What if Everything You Thought You Knew about AIDS Was Featured in House of Numbers Wrong?, Maggiore says she lost faith in Board of Alive and Well HIV science after a series of inconsistent HIV tests. This prompted her to con- duct her own investigation “outside the confines of the AIDS establishment” Figure 1. AIDS denialist networks. Names marked by an asterisk (*) are also linked to Mattias and to start her own organization, Alive Rath (The Rath Health Foundation); name marked with a pound sign (#) was invited onto and Well, to “share vital facts about HIV Mbecki's panel but did not attend; names in italics are journalists/filmmakers. and AIDS that are unavailable from

Skeptical Inquirer | July/August 2012 35 July August pages_SI new design masters 5/31/12 12:48 PM Page 36

mainstream venues.” Writing in 2000, predictions” and to conduct further tests. prove for people on ART because they she observed that her HIV status had These were apparently indeterminate, are “surrogate markers” of the presence been “decidedly positive” for five years, positive, negative, and positive. Evidence of HIV. but that she was enjoying good health for the negative test result is unclear, When she was pregnant in 2002 with and was living “without pharmaceutical however, as the clip shown in House of her second child, Maggiore was featured treatments or fear of AIDS.”11 Numbers focuses on a fragment of the on the cover of Mothering (a now-de- The saga of Maggiore’s test results is test result that shows nothing demon- funct pro-alternative healing and anti- a crucial foundational narrative for her as strative of a negative result. But when vaccination magazine) with a red circle an AIDS denialist and features promi- the film shows the final test result, it is slash symbol over the letters “AZT” (an nently in House of Numbers. Indeed a cen- clear that all bands on the Western blot antiretroviral drug used to reduce the tral AIDS denialist claim is that because are positive for HIV antigens—an un- chances of transmitting HIV from different HIV tests can deliver different equivocally positive result. mother to child) emblazoned across her results, the entire edifice of AIDS science Maggiore concludes from her expe- abdo men. After the baby, a daughter is flawed. Mag goire’s test results are pre- rience that HIV tests are “unreliable and called Eliza Jane, was born, Maggiore sented as a case in point. inaccurate.” Yet the progression of her in creased the risk of transmitting HIV The laboratory report shown in HIV tests from indeterminate to posi- to the baby yet further by breastfeeding her. Tragically, Eliza Jane died at age three of what the Los Angeles coroner ruled to be AIDS-related pneumonia. Seven weeks earlier, Maggiore had stated on a radio show that her children had “excellent records of health,” yet the After her daughter Eliza Jane was born, AIDS denier coroner reported that Eliza Jane was Maggiore in creased the risk of transmitting HIV to the under-weight, under-height, and had pronounced atrophy of her thymus and baby yet further by breastfeeding her. Tragically, Eliza other lymphatic organs. He found Pneu- Jane died at age three of what the Los Angeles coroner mocystis jirovecii, a common AIDS-re- lated opportunistic infection that is the ruled to be AIDS-related pneumonia. leading cause of pediatric AIDS deaths, in the baby’s lungs and protein compo- nents of HIV (p24) in her brain. Maggiore and her supporters, how- ever, denied that HIV had anything to do with the death, relying instead on a House of Numbers purporting to be tive is consistent with her first test hav- rival report by Alive and Well advisory Mag giore’s first HIV test result is a pos- ing been conducted soon after she be- board member Mohammed Al Bayati, itive Elisa test (for the presence of HIV came infected with HIV and sub sequent an animal toxicologist who is neither a antibodies) and a positive Western blot tests being performed in line with clin- medical doctor nor board-certified in test (for HIV antigens) showing reactive ical practice and culminating in an un- human pathology and who consults on bands for the p24 and gp120/160 anti- ambiguously positive test result. “health issues related to AIDS, adverse gens but not for p31. The absence of Maggiore’s book, endorsed by Dues- reactions to vaccines and medications” p31 suggests either a relatively new berg, Rasnick, and Mullis, is a good il- for $100 per hour.12 According to him, HIV infection or a 4.8 percent chance lustration of AIDS denialist tactics. The Eliza Jane died because of an allergic of a false positive test—thus the correct first tactic is to deny the evidence. Thus, reaction to an antibiotic. procedure in such a scenario is to coun- in her section on ART, Maggiore makes Maggiore also raised questions about sel patients that the result is inconclu- the baldly false statement that four years the autopsy tests and dismissed the sive and further testing is necessary. into the era of highly active antiretroviral presence of p24 capsid protein in Eliza Maggiore states that the second test treatment “there are still no reports in Jane’s brain (a clear indication of HIV came back “indisputably positive” and scientific journals that provide evidence infection) as being the result of a med- she was told that she had “five to seven” for health improvement in patients tak- ical “scavenger hunt” designed to make years to live and that her only treatment ing these powerful drugs.” The second an HIV diagnosis. Farber agreed, writ- options were the eventual use of ART. tactic is to dismiss the evidence that does ing that the coroner had gone out of his Maggiore’s response was to find another not suit the case; for example, to reject way to make the death look like it was doctor who “didn’t routinely fill people studies showing that CD4 counts (an AIDS-related simply because she was with toxic pharmaceuticals and lethal indicator of immune functioning) im- Maggiore’s child. Farber attributed pub-

36 Volume 36 Issue 4 | Skeptical Inquirer July August pages_SI new design masters 5/31/12 12:48 PM Page 37

lic anger against Maggiore for Eliza spreading “dangerous views” by claim- negative children without taking Jane’s death—manifested in angry ing she was simply raising “unanswered anti-HIV meds. The common fac- emails, web postings, and even printed questions” in the hope of being pro- tors among them are natural good health prior to testing positive, excel- flyers—to “the impossibly censorious vided with “answers and references.” lent nutrition, regular use of vitamin and even brutal treatment one can ex- I subsequently provided her with supplements, regular exercise, no use pect if one is branded an ‘AIDS denial- references showing high death rates of AIDS meds, prescription drugs or ist.’” She observed: among untreated HIV-infected chil- street drugs, no smoking or drinking. dren and pointing to the benefits of Why are their experiences not “cause I started to see the story as one that for celebration and hope” for a was less and less medical, more and ART in extending life (and she pre- healthy, low cost alternative to toxic more psycho-social—a story of an al- dictably responded by raising problems drugs whose long-term effects on most crushing kind of mob rule, with the design of the trials, including mother or child remain unknown? where the victims have no rights. Few their reliance on “surrogate markers” In other words, our exchange was could resist the delicious temptation and denying that there had been any to condemn a “denialist” mother, or to clearly fruitless. It illustrates how peo- scientific advance showing how HIV appropriate EJ as their own tragic lit- ple in denial can, as psychologist Seth tle girl. It was all done in the pitch- causes AIDS). When I argued that not all children born to HIV-positive Kalichman observes, construct a reality perfect tones of the AIDS morality 16 play some of us know so well.13 mothers test negative, and hence that that is “impenetrable by facts.” When her son Charlie was one of the “lucky Eliza Jane died, Maggiore told re - Farber’s argument is remarkable for ones,” she responded by asking for a porters: “I have been brought to my its failure to consider that Eliza Jane “more cogent explanation.” emotional knees, but not in regard to was the victim in this instance, and that I also expressed the wish that the science of this topic.... I am not the “AIDS morality play” she sneers at second-guessing or questioning my un- is rooted in genuine social concern When you reach the stage when derstanding of the issue.” Maggiore re- about the wellbeing of children. As HIV has undermined your immune system sufficiently to start causing mained in denial to the end, dying in Wain berg put it, “Maggiore was so mis- you serious health problems, I sin- 2009 at the age of fifty-two of bilateral guided in believing this concoction of cerely hope that you start taking an- bronchial pneumonia and disseminated bullshit, that it cost not only her life, tiretroviral therapy. By all ac counts, herpes viral infection, each of which is which is her business, but also the life you are a good mother to Charlie, a common AIDS-related opportunistic of her three-year old kid, and that is and it would be sad for him to lose you unnecessarily early. Three of the infection. That she was prepared to en- 14 everybody’s business.” survey fieldworkers who work in my danger her own life, and that of her John Moore (a virologist) and I research centre started antiretroviral family, speaks volumes about the pas- made a similar point, arguing in a New treatment in the past two years and sion and sincerity with which AIDS York Times op-ed (“Deadly Quackery,” they are all doing very well—and one of them even gave birth to a (HIV- denialist beliefs can be embraced and to June 4, 2006) that those who stand in negative) child. This is all great cause the powerful psychological forces at positions of authority, be it president of for celebration and hope in this hor- work within those beliefs. a country (Mbeki) or a parent, should rible epidemic. A professional independent pathol- not indulge their own intellectual ques- She responded by pointing out that ogist conducted an autopsy on Mag - tionings and rejection of the scientific she was in her fourteenth year of living giore, but the report was never released consensus when it is others who pay the with HIV “with no medications and no by the family. Instead, Al Bayati offered price. This prompted a subsequent health problems” and asking rhetori- a predictable “interpretation” of it— email exchange with Maggiore—later cally, “How long do you suppose I namely that despite the presence of posted by Rethinking AIDS on the In- might expect to continue in this way?” AIDS-defining conditions, Maggiore, 15 ternet —which is illuminating for the (Although Maggiore lived longer like her daughter, had died of antibiotic way in which scientific evidence is im- than average, she eventually progressed poisoning. Clark Baker, a retired traffic mediately deflected by AIDS denialists to AIDS and died three years later. cop and active AIDS denialist, came up with further questions as if the ques- Most people progress from HIV infec- with a variation on the typical AIDS tions themselves are sufficient to dis- tion to AIDS within ten years, but 5 to conspiracy theory, stating that “it is miss the evidence. Maggiore ques- 15 percent are able to fight off the in- clear that corrupt officials from within tioned our conclusion (based on the fection for much longer—a feat scien- the LA County Department of Health coroner’s report) that Eliza Jane had tists believe is genetic.) With regard to have pressured officials into making died of AIDS and asked me to explain my fieldworkers, she said: false claims that Maggiore and her “how does Eliza Jane’s eight-year-old daughter died of HIV so that pharma- How do you measure “doing well”— brother, raised in the same manner as clinical health, lab markers? I know a ceutical marketers could induce useful his sister, test HIV negative?” She also great number of HIV positive media idiots to perpetuate the myth on disputed our observation that she was women who have given birth to HIV their behalf.”17

Skeptical Inquirer | July/August 2012 37 July August pages_SI new design masters 5/31/12 12:49 PM Page 38

The death of this important living and found the memorial text about HIV Infection.” The Lancet 376: 49–62. icon was obviously a hard blow for or- Maggiore’s death. It didn’t mention 2. Nattrass, N. 2008. “AIDS and the Scientific the cause (of course) so I Googled Governance of Medicine in Post-Apartheid ganized AIDS denialism. Maggiore’s or- away thinking “please, let it be a traf- South Africa.” African Affairs 107 (427): 157–76. ganization Alive and Well posted a me- fic accident or something,” and bam! Chigwedere, P., G. Seage, S. Gruskin, T. Lee, morial notice when she died, but visitors Pneumonia.... M. Essex. 2008. “Estimating the Lost Benefits of You know how denialists usually Antiretroviral Drug Use in South Africa.” Journal to the website today are still greeted with of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome 49: 410– say it’s just a coincidence, like “why 15. a “message” from Christine Maggiore on not? Anybody can have pneumonia,” the “about us” page that gives no indica- 3. Nattrass, N. 2007. “AIDS Denialism versus but having recently read the list of Science.” SKEPTICAL INQUIRER 31 (September/ 18 tion that she is dead. Anti-AIDS de- dead denialists and wondering if October): 31–37. nialist sites respond to such attempts to those weren’t too many untimely co- 4. http://www.info.gov.za/otherdocs/2001/ obscure and downplay the deaths of liv- incidences, for me Maggiore’s death aidspanelpdf.pdf is where I drew the line. For me it 5. Nattrass, N. 2012. The AIDS Conspiracy: ing icons by publicizing them—see for was the “one too many” coincidence. Science Fights Back (Columbia University Press, example www.aidstruth.org/denialism/ That’s where I secretly started to New York). Additional references and citations wonder if I had been wrong.20 for this article can be found here. dead_denialists. Other at tempts have 6. www.whale.to/a/wainberg_h.html. 7. Farber. C. 2006. “Out of Control: AIDS and the Corruption of Medical Science.” Harper’s Magazine March: 37–52. 8. Farber, C. 1999. “Ignoring the Flames.” Impres sion August. Available at www.virusmyth .com/aids/hiv/cfflames.htm. 9. http://www4.dr-rath-foundation.org/ That [Maggiore] was prepared to endanger her own life, THE_FOUNDATION/the_truth_about_arvs/ index.html. and that of her family, speaks volumes about the 10. www.ellner.info. 11. Maggiore, Christine. 2000. What If Every- passion and sincerity with which AIDS denialist beliefs thing You Thought You Knew about AIDS Was Wrong?, fourth edition revised. American Foun- can be embraced and to the powerful psychological dation for AIDS Alternatives, Studio City, CA. 12. http://www.toxi-health.com/consult.html. forces at work within those beliefs. 13. Farber, C. 2006. “A Daughter’s death, a Mother’s survival.” LA City Beat ( June 8). Avail- able at http://justiceforej.com/Farber-CityBeat- EJ.pdf. 14. quoted in Law, S. 2009. “In Denial.” McGill Daily (November 16). Available at http://www.mcgilldaily.com/2009/11/in_denial/. 15. http://www.rethinkingaids.com/challenges/ moore-maggiore-scovill.html. been made to create new “living icons”— Medical science is more trustworthy 16. Interview with Seth Kalichman: http:// for example, the people profiled on a than alternative medicine precisely be- www.thebody.com/content/art52090.html. 19 cause the former is built on randomized 17. http://www.pinknews.co.uk/?comments_ website called We Are Living Proof — popup=14994. but none of them comes close to being controlled trials, whereas the latter rests 18. http://www.aliveandwell.org/html/top_ able to replace Mag giore’s symbolic and on anecdotes and individual testi- bar_pages/aboutus.html. monies. It is thus somewhat ironic that 19. http://wearelivingproof.org/. organizational power. 20. http://denyingaids.blogspot.com/2010/07/ The symbolic importance of Mag- a single death—Maggiore’s—has pos- how-aids-denialism-can-kill-you-part.html giore—and now of her death—is illus- sibly done more than scientific rebuttals trated in this posting by a one-time to fight AIDS denialism. Precisely be- AIDS denialist. He talks about how his cause this death was that of a living “dissident” beliefs encouraged him to icon who rejected HIV science in favor ignore his positive HIV test result, but of alternative therapies, it carried dis- Nicoli Nattrass is director of that when he heard that Maggiore had proportionate weight for those tempted the AIDS and Society Re- search Unit at the University died, alarm bells started ringing for him by AIDS denialism. It illustrates how the battle for science and reason is not of Cape Town and visiting for the first time: professor at Yale University. always just about “the facts,” as some In 2008 I had bumped into the web- Her earlier research helped site aidstruth.org and, while reading facts are symbolically more important change South African AIDS it in a “yeah blah blah whatever” kind than others. n policy and her new book, The AIDS Conspiracy: of attitude, I saw the “denialists who Science Fights Back (Columbia University have died” and “who the denialists Notes are” sections. Something clicked. 1. For a recent readable summary of the evi- Press, 2012), considers the link between AIDS And very soon after I paid one of my dence, see Volberding, P., and S. Deeks. 2010. denialism, conspiracy theory, and the rejection usual visits to the Alive and Well site “Antiretroviral Therapy and Management of of evidence-based medicine.

38 Volume 36 Issue 4 | Skeptical Inquirer July August pages_SI new design masters 5/31/12 12:23 PM Page 39

Eyewitness to the Paranormal: The Experimental Psychology of the ‘Unexplained’ Research in experimental psychology has shown that many paranormal sightings fall directly within the realm of eyewitness memory. Experiments reveal that such “sightings” derive from the psychology of the observers rather than from sources. Experiments show these proclivities. MATTHEW J. SHARPS

f many sources on cable TV and the Internet are to be is the case, then these misinterpreta- believed, the world is currently under attack by a variety tions are very literally eyewitness errors and, as such, are governed by the same Iof supernatural forces, apparently acting in concert. psychological principles that operate in Such reports are ubiquitous. Aliens appear at night on de- eyewitness processes in the forensic serted country roads. The ghosts of hoary and defunct Scot- world. tish peers turn up on castle battlements, demanding retri- Eyewitness Memory and the ‘Paranormal’ bution for ancient defeats at the hands of the Sassenach. On average, most of us think of eyewit- Bigfoot, all eight or nine feet of him, runs past a given cabin ness memory in relatively narrow terms, such as criminal identification via police on his way to some cryptozoological tryst—and all of it lineups. In fact, the eyewitness field has winds up on television. much broader significance both in the criminal justice system and beyond. What, exactly, is going on? There is a difficulty in explaining many of these paranormal “sightings.” At first, one might expect that the wit- nesses to these phenomena would be residents of the wilder shores of psycho- logical instability; however, many of the people who report these things are sober, educated, reasonable individuals. Many are ac tively adverse to publicity, and an ap preciable fraction of them passes poly- graph tests. In short, many of these wit- nesses—in fact, probably the majority of them—are neither lying nor mentally ill. They have normal nervous systems, and they are convinced that they have expe- rienced something extraordinary. Logically, therefore, there are only two viable explanations for the events these people claim to experience. Either Bigfoot, the ghosts, and the Gray aliens actually exist, or the individual wit- nesses to these exotic beings have actu- ally observed and misinterpreted rela- tively prosaic phenomena. If the latter

Skeptical Inquirer | July/August 2012 39 July August pages_SI new design masters 5/31/12 1:33 PM Page 40

Every human phenomenon involving of this type per witness) was one of “in- reportage—from recall of childhood ference, extrapolation, or imagination”: memories in psychotherapy to the ob- in other words, the average witness sim- servation of a planetary transit—coa- ply made up, out of whole cloth, one and lesces around some kind of account of one-quarter nonexistent “facts” about a some variety of human experience. This given violent crime. means that the processes involved in eyewitness cognition per se are continu- ‘Seeing’ the Supernatural ally operating, albeit at a relatively subtle Human memory, therefore, is malleable: level, through the entire fabric of human what you see is not necessarily what you existence. get. This concept has obvious relevance Unfortunately, eyewitness memories to sightings of the “unexplained.” It is are frequently wrong. In my own work I clearly possible for a human being—for have found that people, including and example, at twilight when visual acuity perhaps especially jurors, tend to think is reduced—to see an angry cow behind of the human nervous system as some a bush but come out of the situation kind of digital recorder, faithfully repro- with a clear memory of a menacing Big- ducing what we’ve actually seen when, in foot. A wisp of fog or smoke seen in the fact, nothing could be further from the indirect glare of a streetlight becomes a truth. Eighty years ago (Bartlett 1932) it ; the bright lights of a factory, seen was demonstrated that human memo- at night through an industrial haze, be- ries become reconfigured—changed in come a UFO. terms of gist, brevity, and personal belief. Yet how does a given witness trans- Our memories lose detail; they become form the prosaic into the miraculous? shorter; and what we think we’ve seen What are the psychological processes frequently replaces what we’ve actually operating in a normal person by which seen. These aspects of human memory this transmutation is to be accom- have been reconfirmed by modern stud- plished? In other words, what psycho- ies (e.g., Ahlberg and Sharps 2002) and logical factors would be likely to turn have been shown as far back as the 1970s prosaic reality into a supernatural or to be directly important for eyewitness paranormal representation in the mind? memory; for example, Loftus (1975) showed that witnesses will typically “re- The Psychology of Atypical Perception member,” and confidently re port, the My students and I (Sharps et al. 2006) color of a barn in a given scene as red focused on three specific psychological even when there is no barn in the scene to characteristics—depression, dissocia- be observed. This illustrates the effect of tion, and tendencies toward attention personal belief on an individual’s mem- deficit hyperactive disorder (ADHD)— ory. People generally expect barns to be in a study of seventy-eight adults. This red; therefore, when Loftus asked exper- study employed standardized instru- imental witnesses for the color of the ments for the measurement of ADHD, barn they had seen, their imaginations dissociation, and depression in each re- obligingly provided the most typical spondent and evaluated these measure- color even though no actual barn had ments against respondents’ self-ratings been presented to them. of paranormal beliefs of various types. Our recent experimental research has We chose these characteristics for two underscored this effect (Sharps et al. reasons. 2009; see also Sharps 2010). In studies The first reason is that while none of of witness errors derived from a violent these conditions is something you’d crime scene, the most prevalent error want to have, none constitutes mental ill- (an average of nearly two errors of this ness per se. Although these conditions type per witness) was a mistake in the may, at their higher levels, become clas- physique or clothing of a gun-wielding sifiable as symptoms of mental illness, perpetrator. However, the second most at their lower, everyday levels, virtually prevalent error (an average of 1.25 errors everyone experiences depression or dis-

40 Volume 36 Issue 4 | Skeptical Inquirer July August pages_SI new design masters 5/31/12 12:24 PM Page 41

sociation at times. Even symptoms of incline those with even subclinical lev- tributes in scientifically predictable ways ADHD are distributed normally in els of dissociation to view impossible or to what you’re willing to believe. large populations (Buitelaar and Van highly improbable things with an en- However, this initial study addressed Engeland 1996). In other words, you hanced level of credulity. For this rea- belief, not perception. While we would don’t have to have a diagnosable condi- son, it was anticipated that people with theoretically expect belief to drive per- tion of ADHD to have a little ADHD. dissociative tendencies would be prey to ception, the question of perception it- Subclinical, non-diagnosable levels of paranormal beliefs at higher levels than self is another matter. There is, after all, these three conditions are highly preva- the general population. However, here a significant difference between believ- lent in the human population. we see no thematicity as we did with ing that there might be a Bigfoot and The second reason we focused on depression or ADHD; in short, we seeing one in your yard. What evidence these three conditions is that they make would not expect individuals with dis- is there that specific psychological char- sense as potential predisposing agents for sociation to focus on any specific area acteristics drive the tendency to see belief in and perception of the paranor- of the paranormal. paranormal things, to misinterpret the mal. Consider ADHD, especially those Therefore, we hypothesized a higher prosaic as if it were the fantastic? forms that involve a degree of hyperac- tivity. Individuals with these characteris- tics tend to be attracted to active, ex - ploratory activities and lifestyles (Bark ley et al. 2008) similar to those often de - Very specific hu man psychological characteristics picted in science fiction. There fore, it makes sense that people with subclinical can be used to predict belief not only in levels of ADHD might find themselves supernatural prospects generally, but also in thinking about, wishing for, and believ- ing in strange and menacing animals specific kinds of paranormal “beings.” such as Bigfoot and the Loch Ness mon- ster, or in UFOs and space aliens, which would provide evidence of adventurous possibilities beyond the Earth. Similar considerations apply to the degree of belief in “cryptids” (unknown Why We See Things That Aren’t de pressed, although these involve differ- animals such as Bigfoot) and in aliens Really There ent paranormal objects. While we could for those with ADHD tendencies; a My students and I addressed this issue in find no reason why a depressed person higher degree of belief in aliens and a second study (Sharps et al. 2010) of would be attracted to Bigfoot, ghosts are ghosts for those with depressive ten- ninety-eight adults, using the same stan- another matter—they represent the dencies; and a generally higher level of dardized instruments for the measure- prospect of an afterlife in which things nonspecific belief in the paranormal for ment of dissociation, ADHD, and might get better. Also, the depressed those with dissociative tendencies. depres sion. We acquired from public-do- might be more likely to believe in aliens main Web sources a series of digital pho- and their UFOs as well: an abundance Experimental Confirmation tographs purporting to depict Big foot, of movies and TV programs preaches These hypotheses were entirely sup- space aliens, or ghosts, which we then the joys of being selected for a benevo- ported by the empirical results of our presented in counterbalanced series to lent alien abduction, removed from study (Sharps et al. 2006). We found this our respondents via PowerPoint. Re - earthly torments, and presented with ex- result exciting because, for the first time, spondents were asked to rate the proba- otic new cosmic possibilities. we had proof of the involvement of spe- bility that the given photograph actually What about dissociation? People cific psychological processes in paranor- depicted the Bigfoot, ghost, or alien in with some level of dissociation tend to- mal beliefs. Very specific hu man psycho- question. ward a diminished critical assessment logical characteristics can be used to This study, then, tested directly the of reality. Dissociated people may feel predict belief not only in supernatural effects of psychological characteristics “strange” about themselves, even to the prospects generally, but also in specific on the tendency of an individual to iden- extent of feeling that they are undergo- kinds of paranormal “beings.” In view of tify a stimulus item as paranormal in na- ing out-of-body experiences. They may abundant research demonstrating the ture. In this study, dealing with effects have anomalous perceptions of the pas- malleability of memory in the face of on perception as opposed to belief, the sage of time or of their own experience. personal beliefs, this research clearly in fluence of neither ADHD nor de- The world may appear to be “not quite brings belief in the paranormal into the pression was sufficiently powerful real or … diffuse” (Cardena 1997, 400). realm of predictive scientific psychology. enough to influence perception. How- This disconnection with reality might What you are like as a person con- ever, dissociation strong ly predicted the

Skeptical Inquirer | July/August 2012 41 July August pages_SI new design masters 5/31/12 12:24 PM Page 42

tendency to perceive a given photo- be “gestalt” (Sharps 2003, 2010), lack- All three of the conditions addressed graph as actually depicting a paranor- ing immediate direct challenge from are those that many people in the nor- mal being. More specific analyses the physical environment; people can mal population experience at subclini- demonstrated that this influence of dis- believe in Bigfoot, for example, without cal levels. These were normal people, sociation was significant for Bigfoot actually expecting to see one. However, yet their proclivities in these regards and for aliens but not for ghosts. Thus, perception of a given paranormal being made them particularly susceptible to although the effects of psychological is much more immediate and feature-in- beliefs and perceptions of a paranormal characteristics were shown to be differ- tensive; therefore, some psychological or supernatural type. Since normal peo- ent and more limited for perception tendencies that influence belief may not ple in their everyday lives are not typi- than for belief, the overall effect was be powerful enough to alter feature-in- cally subjected to psychological analysis confirmed: those with dissociative ten- tensive perception of immediate reality— of their subclinical tendencies, we are dencies were more likely to identify “be- to actually transform a bear into a forag- faced with an interesting fact: anybody ings” as genuinely paranormal or super- ing Sasquatch. Only dissociation, we could be the person who sees Bigfoot natural than were those without these found in our experiments, is sufficiently or a space alien emerging from his tendencies. Since the majority of human powerful to influence both belief and UFO. The unfortunate individual who beings report some dissociative experi- perception, to propel a real-world stim- sees such a thing is vanishingly unlikely ences (DePrince and Freyd 1999), this ulus into the realm of the paranormal. to know of the psychological quirks that rendered the given observation— or rather its interpretation—possible. Why do we characterize such a per- Only dissociation, we found in our experiments, son as unfortunate? This is a critical is sufficiently powerful to influence both belief point, more important than it may at first appear. If searching for Bigfoot, and perception, to propel a real-world stimulus looking for the Loch Ness monster, or into the realm of the paranormal. delving after little green men from the planet Grak were merely a pleasant di- version, an excuse to hike in the woods and deserts or to buy a really good tel- result may be of substantial interest in Why Don’t the Dissociated ‘See’ Ghosts escope, there would be little reason to explaining the burgeoning numbers of as Well as Cryptids and Aliens? extend scientific anathema to these paranormal beings infesting our cable Bigfoot and alien perceptions were sub- concepts. These ideas obviously don’t television. ject to the effect of dissociation, but ghost elevate the level of scientific discourse; perceptions were not. Why? In Western but beyond that, for most people, what’s Experiments in Context culture, cryptids and aliens are largely the harm? These studies showed us two things. perceived as “fringe” constructs. Ghosts Unfortunately, these ideas can prove First, people with identifiable psycho- are less so; for example, many sober in- harmful. Much of the evidence is anec- logical profiles are not only more likely dividuals, the late novelist Michael dotal or derived from popular sources, to believe in the paranormal or super- Crich ton among them (1988), feel and but it appears that an encounter with the natural, but their psychological tenden- report a strong conviction that a dead perceived paranormal can be a life-dam- cies may also be used to predict the loved one is “present” in the mortuary or aging if not life-destroying experience. exact types of “unexplained” phenom- at that person’s funeral. In short, “seeing” Social, marital, and economic harm can ena in which they are likely to believe. or “feeling” a ghost may be more socially readily accompany the obsessive interest Second, one of these psychological legitimized than the same perception of of a “contactee” whose life, relationships, characteristics—a tendency toward dis- a cryptid or a space alien, with a resulting and career are derailed by the conviction sociation—allows us to predict individ- enhancement in feelings of credulity. If that “the truth is out there.” The author ual proclivities toward seeing a given so, this phenomenon points to the need alone has known intelligent individuals stimulus item as a paranormal creature, for further research on the intersection of whose lives of semi-employment and whether Bigfoot or an alien. culture with individual psychology in this solitude have resulted at least in part area. from the search for nonexistent beings Seeing Is Not Believing A person need not, in any techni- from beyond; none of this is necessary, It should not be surprising that the in- cally accurate sense, be mentally ill to for the simple reason that we now un- fluence of psychological factors on per- “see” a paranormal “being.” This is a derstand what brings human beings, ception is different from that influence crucial caveat. Our respondents were with human nervous systems, to para- on belief. Beliefs in the paranormal can not in any sense “crazy” or mentally ill. normal perceptions and beliefs. We can

42 Volume 36 Issue 4 | Skeptical Inquirer July August pages_SI new design masters 5/31/12 12:25 PM Page 43

now demonstrate, using well-established Buitelaar, J.K., and H. Van Engeland. 1996. Epi- pression, and dissociation. Journal of Psy chology methods of experimental psychology, demiological approaches. In S. Sandberg 140(6): 579–90. (ed.). Hyperactivity Disorders of Childhood. Sharps, M.J., E. Newborg, S. Van Arsdall, et al. that the human mind is perfectly capable Cambridge, United Kingdom: Cambridge 2010. Paranormal encounters as eyewitness of constructing the beliefs and the per- University Press, 26–68. phenomena: Psychological determinants of ceptions that frequently lead to a profit- Cardena, E. 1997. Dissociative disorders: Phan - atypical perceptual interpretations. Current toms of the self. In S.M. Turner and Michel Psychology 29(4): 320–27. less search for the creatures of the Twi- Hersen (eds.). Adult Psychopathology and Di- light Zone. We hope these findings will agnosis, third edition). New York: Wiley, 400. help lead intelligent, educated individu- Crichton, M. 1988. Travels. New York: Alfred A. Knopf. Matthew J. Sharps is profes- als to pursue the genuine mysteries of DePrince, A.P., and J.F. Freyd. 1999. Dissociative sor of psychology at Califor- neuroscience, zoology, and astronomy tendencies, attention, and memory. Psycho - nia State University, Fresno, to the exclusion of the useless pursuit logical Science 10(5): 449–52. Loftus, E.F. 1975. Leading questions and the and serves on the adjunct of the phantoms that reside in the in- eyewitness report. Cognitive Psychology 7(3): faculty of Alliant International terstitial spaces of our infinitely inven- 560–72 University in forensic clinical tive minds. n Sharps, M.J. 2003. Aging, Representation, and Thought: Gestalt and Feature-Intensive Process - psychology. He specializes in eyewitness phe- ing. Piscataway, New Jersey: Transac tion. nomena and related areas in forensic cognitive References ———. 2010. Processing Under Pressure: Stress, science. He is a Diplomate and Fellow of the Ahlberg, S.W., and M.J. Sharps. 2002. Bartlett re- Memory, and Decision-Making in Law En- American College of Forensic Examiners, as visited: Reconfiguration of long-term mem- forcement. Flushing, New York: Looseleaf well as the author of more than 160 publica- ory in young and older adults. Journal of Ge- Law. netic Psychology 163(2): 211–18. Sharps, M.J., J. Janigian, A.B. Hess, et al. 2009. tions and professional papers, including the Barkley, R.A., K.R. Murphy, and M. Fischer. Eyewitness memory in context: Toward a tax- 2010 book Processing Under Pressure: Stress, 2008. ADHD in Adults: What the Science Says. onomy of eyewitness error. Journal of Police Memory, and Decision-Making in Law Enforce- New York: Guilford. and Criminal Psychology 24(1): 36–44. ment (www.LooseleafLaw.com). He has con- Bartlett, F.C. 1932. Remembering: A Study in Ex- Sharps, M.J., J. Matthews, and J. Asten. 2006. sulted on eyewitness issues in numerous perimental and Social Psychology. Cam bridge, Cognition, affect, and beliefs in paranormal United Kingdom: Cambridge Uni versity phenomena: Gestalt/feature intensive process- criminal cases. Email: matthew_sharps@csu Press. ing theory and tendencies toward ADHD, de- fresno.edu.

Earn your master’s degree in Science and the Public through the University at Buffalo and the Center for Inquiry!

Explore the methods and outlook of science as they intersect with public culture and public policy. This degree is ideal for enhancing careers in science education, public policy, and science journalism—and prepares you for positions that involve communicating about science.

This unique two-year graduate degree program is entirely online. Take courses from wherever you are in the world at your own pace! Courses include: Science, Technology, and Human Values; Research Ethics; Critical Thinking; Scientific Writing; Informal Science Education; Science Curricula; and History and Philosophy of Science.

For details, visit www.gse.buffalo.edu/online/science Questions? Contact John Shook, CFI Vice President for Research, at [email protected].

Skeptical Inquirer | July/August 2012 43 July August pages_SI new design masters 5/31/12 12:33 PM Page 44

The

20

by Jesse RichardsonLogical F

44 Volume 36 Issue 4 | Skeptical Inquirer July August pages_SI new design masters 5/31/12 12:33 PM Page 45

while ago I was trying to explain logical fallacies to my two boys, Daniel and Caleb.

They’re smart enough kids, but they’re still, you know, kids—and so I tried to come up with really simple ways of explaining the concepts behind some of the more common fallacies.

I found that distilling a into a single simple sentence (without using any big pretentious words) was something of a challenge, but because I’m an ad guy I had some “skillz” with regard to making sure the lowest common denominator could understand the message. (Not that my kids are the lowest common denominator, but you get my point.) So having simplified the explanations of some of the fallacies, I tried to come up with fun examples to go along with them. Then I thought, “Hey, what if I were to make these into a poster infographic that parents could hang on their kids’ bedroom walls and fellow skeptics could hang in their o!ces and whatnot?” And that’s how this project began.

After starting on the poster design, the idea of a website was a natural progression. To make it kind of fun, I bought the domain www.yourlogicalfallacyis.com with the idea that each fallacy would have its own directory so that the URL itself would become a kind of passive-aggressive comment to leave underneath the kinds of fallacious Facebook statuses, blog articles, forum posts, and random comments that might, on very rare occasions, appear on the Internet. For example, if someone commits a straw man fallacy, you simply post a reply with a link to www.yourlogicalfallacyis.com/strawman.

So anyway, now the website is up and the poster is free for anyone to download and print out at various sizes as high-resolution pdf files at yourlogicalfallacyis.com. I approached SKEPTICAL INQUIRER asking if they would be interested in publishing this article as a way to help spread the word that there’s now a website that skeptics can use to tell people on the Internet exactly how and why they’re wrong; so without further ado, here’s the Top 20 Logical Fallacies:

1 2

Misrepresenting someone’s argument to make it Presuming that a real or perceived relationship easier to attack. between things means that one is the cause of After Will said that we should put more money into health and the other. education, Warren responded by saying that he was surprised Pointing to a fancy chart, Roger shows how temperatures have that Will hates our country so much that he wants to leave it been rising over the past few centuries, while at the same time defenseless by cutting military spending. the number of pirates has been decreasing; thus pirates cool the world and global warming is a hoax.

l Fallacies (or should that be the bottom 20?) Skeptical Inquirer | July/August 2012 45 July August pages_SI new design masters 5/31/12 1:13 PM Page 46

3 4 1

Asserting that if we allow A to happen, then Z will Attacking your opponent’s character or personal consequently happen, too; therefore, A should traits instead of engaging with their argument. not happen. After Sally presents an eloquent and compelling case for a more Colin Closet asserts that if we allow same-sex couples to marry, equitable taxation system, Sam asks the audience whether we then the next thing we know we’ll be allowing people to marry should believe anything from a woman who isn’t married, was their parents, their cars, and even monkeys. once arrested, and smells a bit weird.

5 6 1

Manipulating an emotional response in place of a Presuming that because a claim has been poorly valid or compelling argument. argued, or a fallacy has been made, that the claim Luke didn’t want to eat his sheep’s brains with chopped liver and is necessarily wrong. Brussels sprouts, but his father told him to think about the poor, Recognizing that Amanda had committed a fallacy in arguing starving children in a third-world country who weren’t fortunate that we should eat healthy food because it was popular, Alyse enough to have any food at all. resolved to eat bacon double cheeseburgers every day.

7 8 1

Avoiding having to engage with criticism by Saying that because one finds something di!cult turning the accusation back on the accuser. to understand it therefore must be not true. The blue candidate accused the red candidate of committing the Kirk drew a picture of a fish and a human and then with e!usive tu quoque fallacy. The red candidate responded by accusing the disdain asked Richard if he really thought we were stupid enough blue candidate of the same, after which ensued an hour of back to believe that a fish somehow turned into a human through just, and forth criticism with not much progress. like, random things happening over time.

9 10 1

Moving the goalposts or making up exceptions Asking a question that has an assumption built

when a claim is shown to be false. into it so that one cannot answer it without

Edward Johns claimed to be psychic, but when his “abilities” were appearing guilty.

tested under proper scientific conditions, they magically Grace and Helen were both romantically interested in Brad. One disappeared. Edward explained this by saying that one had to have day, with Brad sitting within earshot, Grace asked in an inquisitive faith in his abilities for them to work. tone whether Helen was having any problems with a drug habit.

11 12

Appealing to popularity or the fact that many Using the opinion or position of an authority people do something as an attempted form figure, or institution of authority, in place of an of validation. actual argument. Shamus pointed a drunken finger at Sean and asked him to Not able to defend his position that evolution “isn’t true,” Bob says explain how so many people could believe in leprechauns if that he knows a scientist who also questions evolution (and they’re only a silly old . Sean, however, had had a few presumably isn’t a primate). too many Guinnesses himself and fell o! his chair.

46 Volume 36 Issue 4 | Skeptical Inquirer July August pages_SI new design masters 5/31/12 1:14 PM Page 47

13 14

Judging something good or bad on the basis of A circular argument in which the conclusion is where it comes from or from whom it comes. included in the premise. Accused on the 6 o’clock news of corruption and taking bribes, The word of Zorbo the Great is flawless and perfect. We know the senator said that we should all be very wary of the things we this because it says so in “The Great and Infallible Zorbo’s Best hear in the media because we all know how very unreliable the and Most Truest Things That Are Definitely True and Should media can be. Not Ever Be Questioned.”

15 16

Making the argument that because something is Using personal experience or an isolated example natural it is therefore valid, justified, inevitable, instead of a valid argument, especially to or ideal. dismiss statistics. The medicine man rolled into town on his bandwagon o!ering Jason said that his grandfather smoked, like, thirty cigarettes a various natural remedies, such as very special plain water. He day and lived to be nintey-seven, so don’t believe everything you said that it was only natural that people should be wary of read about meta analyses of sound studies showing proven “artificial” medicines, such as antibiotics. causal relationships between smoking and lung cancer.

17 18

Saying that the burden of proof lies not with the Using double meanings or ambiguities of person making the claim but with those who language to mislead or misrepresent the truth. deny the claim. When the judge asked the defendant why he hadn’t paid his Bertrand declares that a teapot is, at this very moment, in orbit parking fines, the defendant said that he shouldn’t have to pay around the Sun between Earth and Mars, and that because no them because the sign said “Fine for parking here” and so he one can prove him wrong his claim is therefore a valid one. naturally presumed that it would be fine to park there.

19 20

Making what could be called an appeal to purity Presenting two alternative states as the only

as a way to dismiss relevant criticisms or flaws of possibilities when in fact more possibilities exist.

an argument. While rallying support for his plan to fundamentally undermine citizens’ rights, the Supreme Leader told the people they were Angus declares that Scotsmen do not put sugar on their porridge, either on his side or on the side of the enemy. to which Lachlan points out that he is a Scotsman who puts sugar on his porridge. Angrily Angus yells that Lachlan cannot be a true Scotsman if he sugars his porridge.

A3 Poster A2 Poster A1 Poster 420x297mm 594x420mm 841x420mm

To download a high resolution logical fallacies infographic poster to print and hang in your favorite place that has walls, visit www.yourlogicalfallacyis.com

Skeptical Inquirer | July/August 2012 47 July August pages_SI new design masters 5/31/12 12:34 PM Page 48

Political Myths that Influence Voters

By taking advantage of political myths, politicians convey subconscious messages in their political speeches to persuade voters. In America, conservatives and liberals use two different political myths to appeal for votes.

JEFFREY S. VICTOR

themes and are created and transmitted any political appeals to voters hide subconscious by many forms of entertainment media, messages. Advertisers are well aware of the influ- such as books, comics, television, and ence that subconscious associations have on selling movies. These cultural themes also ap- M pear in public ceremonies, in speeches products from cars to cornflakes. Political consultants are and rituals, and in school history books. equally aware of the persuasive powers of subconscious Popular culture plays an important role messages, as in the famous “Willie Horton” political ads in the dissemination of political myths, bringing their influence to the mass used in 1988 to evoke racial concerns among voters. Euro- population. While political myths are pean scholars, too, understand the power of what they call embedded in popular culture, they are “political myths” to exert a subconscious political influence; rarely expressed directly in political party ideologies. Instead, political myths yet American social scientists continue to neglect in their can be found in the “buzz words” of po- studies the power of imagination in politics. In this hotly litical rhetoric. contested American election year, it seems useful to con- Unfortunately, the term myth is sider some of the key political myths used to affect voters. commonly used to mean a false story; however, a myth can also be understood The eminent French social historian Bottici and Benoît Challand (2006) de- as a metaphor for reality. While parts of Raoul Girardet broke ground in his in- fine a political myth as “the continual political myths may be total fabrica- sightful book Mythes et Mythol ogies process of work on a common narrative tions, others may have been verified by Politiques (1986). Girardet recognized by which the members of a social group serious historical research. The imagi- that political myths in contemporary can provide significance to their politi- nary parts of political myths should not societies play a similar role to sacred cal conditions and experience.” They distract us from the fact that these myths in traditional societies in that suggest that what defines a myth as myths are real in the sense that they they appeal to symbolic, nonrational specifically “political” is not its content have a real impact upon the way people thinking. He suggests that political but rather the meaning it provides for live. They frame the way people think myths are embedded in all political ide- the political goals of believers. about political behavior, such as organ- ologies as allegories that tap into the col- How can we identify the political izing, voting, and promoting political lective imagination of people’s past his- myth phenomenon? Political myths are policies. Political myths endure and tory and future possibilities. Most of the obvious in stories from the distant past evolve because they serve the psycho- time, political myths are simply part of that purport to be true historical mem- logical needs of millions of people. As public ceremonies and celebrations; how- ories of events that convey pride in a its themes evolve, the myth’s believers ever, during times of rapid change and people’s nation. These stories are alle- adapt it to fit current circumstances and disorganization, political myths are ex- gorical narratives composed of a mixture their hopes for the future. pressed in angry social movements, such of true events, folk legends, exaggera- A political myth, then—like any as with today’s Tea Party movement. tions, distortions, and pure imagination. myth—is best understood as a social Italian political scientists Chiara They are expressed in recurrent cultural process that is never completely fin-

48 Volume 36 Issue 4 | Skeptical Inquirer July August pages_SI new design masters 5/31/12 12:35 PM Page 49

ished. Political myths have generic sim- very much alive in French culture to day. ture today, the French trace their ori- ilarities with contemporary (or urban) At its core, the Myth of the Revolution gins not to the Germanic Francs but to legends that have political effects. Some highlights the class struggle between the ancient Celtic Gauls (the Gaulois) examples include the Jewish world con- the miserable disadvantaged and the who courageously resisted Roman in- spiracy legend (Cohn 2006), the satanic privileged wealthy and powerful. A bas vasion and occupation. This myth en- cult legend (Victor 1993), and the baby les lois d’exception (“down with the laws courages autonomy and independence body-parts legend (Campion-Vincent of privilege”) was a graffiti slogan that against a dominant power, against all 2011). By creating constantly evolving I saw painted on the wall of the Beaux odds. The heroic model of Joan of Arc storylines, collaborative behavior con- Arts School in Paris during the events demonstrates the ideal of resistance veys both political myths and contem- of 1968. Its message is constantly re- against a dominant foreign power. Joan, porary legends. Some contemporary peated in French literature, in movies, a teenage girl from Lorraine, suppos- legends are based upon centuries-old in French chansons, in the rhetoric of edly led armies to liberate France from stories, as are most political myths. socialist political speeches, in the al- English dominance; the symbol for However, there are differences between most daily political demonstrations on DeGaulle’s resistance against the Ger- these legends and political myths. Con- the streets of Paris, and even in pop- man occupation of France was the cross temporary legends are disseminated culture musicals like Les Misera bles. of Lorraine. Joan also provides a symbol mainly by rumors, although some are (The wording of the English language for the French nationalist party, the written into books and movie scripts. version had its revolutionary rhetoric Front National, which pays homage to They also serve different psychological toned down.) Joan at its celebrations in front of her and social needs: whereas political myths The “Myth of Resistance” is another shining bronze statue on Place des serve to cultivate group pride, contempo- French political myth. In popular cul- Pyramides in Paris. Their ideology em- rary legends function to provide justifi- cation for ambiguous fears. Political myths commonly inspire nationalist sentiment and pride in the superiority of one’s nation. They inspire civic virtues and self-sacrifice for the sake of one’s nation. (National myths Most political myths are rarely questioned and founding myths are other terms for the same social phenomena.) Political with a skeptical eye. Like religious myths, myths commonly portray the struggles of they are usually taken on faith. a people’s origin, their special vir tues, and the behavior necessary for their survival; they provide national ideals toward which people should strive and, like all myths, often provide heroes as role mod- els for moral behavior. In most cases, they legitimize the power of dominant groups in a society (Miller 1995). However, some political myths can legitimize the resentment of minority groups as well.

French Political Myths Most political myths are rarely ques- tioned with a skeptical eye. Like reli- gious myths, they are usually taken on faith. Thus, it is easier to become aware of the political myths of other countries than those of one’s own. The “Myth of the Revolution” is an example of a political myth that is cen- tral to understanding French culture. This myth was created in the cauldron of the French Revolution but is still

Skeptical Inquirer | July/August 2012 49 July August pages_SI new design masters 5/31/12 12:35 PM Page 50

phasizes resistance to the “invasion of ” of a Nation and Gone with the Wind. This was more democratic, more egalitarian, (immigration into) France by Arab and political myth supported white power more distrustful of government author- black Africans from France’s former during the Jim Crow days; however, ity, more individualistic, and also more colonies. after the success of the civil rights move- violent than any in Europe. It required Even humorous popular entertain- ment, the narrative was contested and American men to have more self-re- ments reflect the resistance myth. One gradually lost credibility. It is still alive liant and independent characters and of the most popular figures in a French today among conservative white people the ability to endure extreme condi- comic book series, the diminutive As- in the rural South. tions. Turner’s ideas contributed to terix the Gaulois, leads the only ancient Two important political myths affect popular beliefs that Americans are a Gaulois village able to resist Roman oc- American political dynamics today—the unique, superior, and virtuous people. cupation (by intelligence, courage, and “Frontier Myth” and the “Immigration President Ronald Reagan provided a magic potions). French criticism of the Myth.” The symbolism of the Frontier perfect symbol for this political myth in invasion of American culture—through Myth tends to inspire political conserva- the ideals he professed and with his fattening fast food, violent movies, and tives, while the ideals of the Immigration cowboy hat as a political prop. misogynist “rap” music—can be seen in Myth attract political liberals. The Frontier Myth is essentially a light of the ideal of striving for inde- Historian Frederick Jackson Turner national founding myth about the char- pendence against a dominant economic expressed a clear statement of the Fron- acter of the people who made America. power. tier Myth in his 1893 essay “The Sig- Popular and fine literature, such as the works of James Fenimore Cooper, nar- rated the challenges and struggle of the settlement of the western frontier, when the frontier was just beyond the Two important political myths affect American east coast, and played a part in the grad- ual evolution of the Frontier Myth. political dynamics today—the “Frontier Myth” Later, action-packed Western novels, and the “Immigration Myth.” The symbolism of movies, and television shows featured the Frontier Myth tends to inspire political moralistic tales about courageous, lone men called upon to fight evil-doers. conservatives, while the ideals of the Immigration Most of these stories were one-dimen- Myth attract political liberals. sional, good versus evil, often featuring dark-skinned evil-doers—usually Indi- ans or Mexicans. The “good guys” were almost always white Anglo-Americans. Ironically, many Western movie ac- tors—Jews and Italians from Brook- American Political Myths nificance of the Frontier in Amer ican lyn—were given Anglo-American stage It is easier to be skeptical of a political History” (Turner [1893] 2009). He names. Such was the influence of the myth if it is one we do not believe. The claimed that the settlement of the fron- Frontier Myth on Anglo-American “Lost Cause Myth of the Confederacy” tier gradually created an American cul- cultural dominance until the 1960s. is one such example (Gallagher and ture different from those found any- The Immigration Myth is embodied Nolan 2000). This myth portrays the where else in the world.Turner suggested by the cliché that “we are all immi- cause of the South in the Civil War as a that the first settlers who arrived on the grants.” This narrative focuses not on noble one, led by chivalrous men and east coast in the seventeenth century the struggle of individuals but rather on fought by courageous volunteers in pur- thought and acted like Europeans; how- that of the many ethnic groups that suit of the principle of states’ rights. As ever, they encountered an environment came to America to find political and the story goes, the South was outnum- vastly different from the one they had religious freedom and opportunities for bered and overwhelmed by the brutal experienced in Europe—the forest economic advancement. The Immigra- force of Northern armies. The myth as- wilderness, hostile natives, and most tion Myth emerged more recently than serts that the Civil War was not fought important, free or cheap land to farm. the Frontier Myth, though its roots go over the issue of slavery and that most As they moved farther and farther west, back to the first settlement of Anglo- slaves in the South were well treated. the frontier borderlands became a place Americans in North America. The The myth was created by and perpetu- that reshaped their culture so that each myth developed from the experiences ated through popular literature, the po- successive generation pushing westward of the millions of immigrants who litical speeches of Southern politicians, became less and less European and came to America from Southern and and commemorative celebrations, and it more distinctively American. Turner Eastern Europe beginning in the was even spread by movies such as Birth claimed that the new American culture 1880s. However, it was only in the late

50 Volume 36 Issue 4 | Skeptical Inquirer July August pages_SI new design masters 5/31/12 12:36 PM Page 51

1970s, after the success of the civil false, believers will regard the ideals in truth is taken as self-evident because rights movement, that popular culture the myth as meaningful, just as people they serve important functions in the began to romanticize immigration and do with the ideals of religious myths, social system. The skepticism of serious ethnicity. Third generation Americans because it is the myths’ ideals that are researchers trained as historians, sociol- created many of these popular books most important for believers. Some ogists, or political scientists calls atten- and movies out of a kind of nostalgia dogmatic believers, of course, will cling tion to the contradiction between un- over their lost cultural roots. The ethnic to all mythical accounts of the past as questioned claims of truth and the pride movement also gave rise to many being true, ignoring or even suppressing evidence that many of the supporting sympathetic books and movies about any unpleasant past circumstances that claims and stories are exaggerations or Afro-Americans and Native Amer - run counter to their core political ideals. total falsehoods. n icans. These cultural products present a American high school textbooks have new vision of America in which ethnic been at times censored by nationalistic Acknowledgements minorities are not totally absorbed into right-wing guardians of virtue for this The author thanks the following people for Anglo-American culture but retain reason (McKinley 2010). critically reading versions of this article: Robert Bartholomew, Veronique Campion- some worthy distinctiveness. The new Many political myths offer a dis- Vincent, Erich Goode, Gary Allan Fine, pop culture celebrates ethnic diversity torted nationalistic portrait of reality. and Jonathan O’Brian. rather than Anglo conformity. The claim that the American frontier Descendants of Southern and East - experience created a unique people, for References ern Europeans, Catholics, and Jews now example, runs counter to the reality that Bottici, Chiara, and Benoît Challand. 2006. Re- have a narrative expressing the reason many other countries—such as Canada, thinking political myth: The clash of civiliza- tions as a self-fulfilling prophesy. European why America is a unique and special na- Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Journal of Social Theory 9(3): 315–36. tion among nations. In popular culture Mexico, and Brazil—had “frontiers” that Cohn, Norman. 2006. Warrant for Genocide: The and its clichés, America has always been included a wilderness and hostile na- Myth of the Jewish World Conspiracy and the Protocols of the Elders of Zion. London: Serif a refuge for the world’s poor and perse- tives displaced by invading Euro peans. Publishing. cuted. Pop culture portrays the United Each frontier experience is distinctive. Campion-Vincent, Veronique. 2011. Organ Theft States as the only country that welcomes Canada, for example, had a federal gov- Legends. Jackson: University Press of Missis- sippi. immigrants from countries around the ernment that organized land settlement Gallagher, Gary W., and Alan T. Nolan, eds. world and claims that America attracts and sent in law enforcement agents (the 2000. The Myth of the Lost Cause and Civil more immigrants than any other country. Mounties) before most settlers arrived, War History. Bloomington: Indiana Uni versity Press. “Everywhere around the world, they are thereby minimizing lawlessness and Girardet, Raoul. 1986. Mythes et Mythologies Poli- comin’ to America,” the Neil Dia mond conflict with the Native Americans. tiques. Paris: Editions du Seuil. song espouses. The essence of this belief The claim that American society has McKinley, James C. 2010. Texas conservatives win curriculum change. New York Times is that “We Americans are all immi- always been a uniquely welcoming and (March 13): A10. grants.” The central message of the Im- tolerant society runs counter to the evi- Miller, David. 1995. On Nationality. New York: migration Myth suggests that Amer ican dence of blatant prejudice and bigotry, Oxford University Press Turner, Frederick W. (1893) 2009. The Signifi- society is a uniquely welcoming and tol- beginning with racism toward black cance of the Frontier in American History. New erant society because America is the only people and Native Americans, then York: Penguin Press. nation composed of many diverse reli- anti-Catholic/anti-Irish prejudice, and United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs. 2006. World Population Policies, gious, racial, and cultural groups. This later anti-Chinese hatred. The list is 2005. myth is not simply about the opportunity long. Also, contrary to the claim that the Victor, Jeffrey. 1993. Satanic Panic: The Creation of to earn a lot of money; it expresses the United States is unique in that it wel- a Contemporary Legend. Chicago: Open Court Press. ideals of tolerance and social justice, comes more immigrants than any other which now inspire Americans whose an- country, the evidence is that many in- cestors came from Africa as slaves, as dustrial countries receive large numbers well as recent immigrants from Asia and of immigrants. A recent United Nations Latin America. President Obama’s pro- report notes that in terms of the per- fessed ideals and mixed ethnic ancestry centage of immigrants in relation to the make him a perfect symbol for this myth. national population, Australia has 19.9 Jeffrey Victor is a sociologist percent; Canada has 18.7 percent; the retired from SUNY College at Believers and Skeptics United States has 12.8 percent; Ger- Jamestown. He has pub- lished books and articles It may be possible to scientifically verify many has 12.3 percent; has about collective behavior, some of the specific historical events 12.3 percent; and France has 10 percent such as satanic cult rumors that appear in political myths, and be- (United Nations Department of Eco- and mass hysteria. He is a frequent contributor lievers may point to these events as ev- nomic and Social Affairs 2006). to SI and other critical thinking magazines. idence of the myths’ relevance today. Most political myths arouse little Correspondence should be addressed to Even if some specific events may be skepticism. The stories persist and their [email protected].

Skeptical Inquirer | July/August 2012 51 July August pages_SI new design masters 5/31/12 12:39 PM Page 52

Dinodang: The Melon Rex Myth To reconcile religious doctrine with dental morphology, some young-Earth creationists claim that tyrannosaurs ate melons. The history of this concept is as entertaining as it is absurd. PHIL SENTER

clude members with nearly ziphodont e all have our little vices, our guilty pleasures. En- teeth, all of which are carnivores (Com- joying young-Earth creationist (YEC) literature on pagno et al. 2005). The teeth of T. rex dinosaurs is one of mine. As a paleontologist with a itself fit the ziphodont description ex- W cept that they are wider from side to specialty in dinosaurs, I am familiar with and accept the ev- side (Figure 1). Holtz (2001) intro- idence that dinosaurs and humans were separated by millions duced the term incrassate for such teeth. of years. In contrast, YEC literature asserts that ancient hu- Paleontological Evidence mans and dinosaurs coexisted. The fun of reading such liter- Several lines of evidence reveal that ature is not in that assertion but in the more tangential claims ziphodont-toothed theropods were car- nivorous. Dinosaurs, like other reptiles, that often accompany it. Some are so ridiculous that one mar- continuously shed old teeth, which vels that their authors take their own claims seriously. were replaced from beneath by new When writing about religious views Tyrannosaurus, although it often gets teeth. As the crown of the replacement I usually use wording that is diplomatic special mention (Taylor 1987; Ham et tooth developed next to the root of the and respectful, avoiding ridicule. But di- al. 1990; Unfred 1990; Gish 1990, old tooth, the root of the latter degen- nosaur-related claims of this kind are 1992; Ham 1998, 2006, 2009; Larsen erated until the crown was no longer nearly impossible to relate without be- 2001; McIntosh and Hodge 2006). In anchored and was shed, after which the traying mirth. I call such claims “din- YEC children’s books a pair of Dilopho - replacement tooth would migrate into odang” (as in “Dang! I can’t believe you saurus munches on leaves (Taylor place (Sander 1997). As with extant actually said that!”), and among their 1987), a Compsognathus bites at a berry reptiles, old tooth crowns were shed number is the Melon Rex Myth. (Gish 1990), a Ceratosaurus chomps a during feeding, allowing identification In the children’s book Dinosaurs and banana frond (Ham 2001), a Deinony - of the feeder. The fossil remains of the Bible (Unfred 1990) we are asked to chus enjoys a meal of fruit (Ham 2001), Mesozoic prey carcasses are often sur- “examine more closely the teeth and jaws and a Carnotaurus breakfasts on a rounded by shed ziphodont theropod of Tyrannosaurus rex. The teeth are long bunch of bananas (Ham 2001). All of teeth (Bakker and Bir 2004), which in- and sharp—they seem to be just right the above dinosaurs are theropods: dicates that such theropods fed on for a terrible killer. But when we look members of Theropoda, the group of other animals. closer, we can see a problem. The teeth dinosaurs that includes T. rex and kin. Tooth marks on fossil bones also in- have shallow roots. What do you think The teeth of each are ziphodont— dicate carnivory for ziphodont-toothed would happen if Tyrannosaurus sunk his which means pointed, recurved, later- theropods. Because they are thin from teeth into the leg of a five-ton galloping ally compressed (flattened from side to side to side, to avoid breakage zipho - Triceratops? He would probably leave a side), and serrated on the fore and hind dont teeth must approach bone at an few of his best teeth behind! Although edges—clearly indicating a carnivorous acute angle, and because of this angle those long, sharp teeth of Tyrannosaurus diet (Figure 1). Among today’s terres- such teeth often leave serration marks may not have been good for fighting, trial animals, ziphodont teeth are pres- (Erickson and Olson 1996). The serra- they would be excellent for ripping the ent only in the lizard called the Ko- tion marks can often be matched with rinds off ripe melons.” In the accompa- modo monitor (Varanus komodoensis), a the serration size and shape of specific nying illustration, a T. rex holds a melon carnivore (Auffenberg 1981). Among theropods, so the feeder can be identi- in its hands and takes a satisfying recently extinct species, the elongated fied. Tyranno saurids (members of chomp. In a photo in a later YEC book canines of some saber-toothed cats are Tyrannosauridae, the family that in- a T. rex replica holds a watermelon in its also ziphodont (Aker sten 1985). The cludes Tyrannosaurus rex and its closest mouth; the caption assures the reader shark families Lam nidae (mackerel kin) left their tooth marks on the bones that “T. rex originally ate vegetables” sharks, including the great white) and of hadrosaurs (the wide-snouted her- (McIntosh and Hodge 2006). Carcharhinidae (requiem sharks, in- bivorous dinosaurs commonly called Such depictions are not limited to cluding the whitetip and bull shark) in- “duckbills”), ceratopsians (horned her-

52 Volume 36 Issue 4 | Skeptical Inquirer July August pages_SI new design masters 5/31/12 12:40 PM Page 53

bivorous dinosaurs like the popular Tricer- atops), and even other tyrannosaurids ( Ja- cobsen 2001; Fowler and Sullivan 2006). Tooth marks on North American sauropods (long-necked, herbivorous di- nosaurs) from sites of the Jurassic age match the shed teeth of the theropod Al- B losaurus that surround the sauropod bones (Bakker and Bir 2004). Deinonychus, a close relative of the well-known Velo ciraptor, also left identifiable bite marks on the bones of A its prey (Gignac et al. 2010). The distinc- tive tooth marks of the Madagascan thero- pod Majun gatholus appear on bones of var- ious Mada gascan dinosaurs, including D other Majungatholus (Rogers et al. 2003). The thickened teeth of T. rex leave con- clusively identifiable marks. Incrassate teeth can take a more dead-on approach to bone than ziphodont teeth can; although the angle of approach does not leave serration marks, molds of certain bite marks match the unique shape of T. rex teeth (Erickson and Olson 1996). Such marks are known from specimens of Triceratops, the hadrosaur Edmontosaurus , and even other T. rexes (Er- ickson and Olson 1996; Longrich et al. 2010). C E Some evidence for theropod carnivory is more direct. Stomach contents within artic- ulated skeletons of ziphodont theropods in- clude a lizard (Ostrom 1978), a small mam- mal (Currie and Chen 2001), and a small dinosaur (Ji et al. 2007). Occasionally a ziphodont theropod tooth is found embed- ded in prey bone (Currie and Jacobsen 1995). Obviously, then, Tyrannosaurus rex and its ziphodont-toothed counterparts were carnivores. So how could they handle this lifestyle with the shallow roots described by Unfred (1990)? They didn’t have to, be- cause Unfred is incorrect. Theropod teeth, including those of T. rex, had very deep roots (Figure 1), anchoring each firmly in the jaw until the replacement tooth began to develop beneath it.

Figure 1. Teeth of carnivorous dinosaurs. (a) Incrassate teeth (cast of Tyrannosaurus rex). (b) Ziphodont teeth (Ve- lociraptor mongoliensis). (c) Casts of an incrassate tooth (Tyrannosaurus rex, left) and a ziphodont tooth (Allosaurus F fragilis, right), showing deep roots. (d) Casts of an incras- sate tooth (T. rex, left) and a ziphodont tooth (Gorgosaurus libratus, right), showing the difference in cross-section be- tween the two tooth types. (e) Ziphodont tooth (Deinony- chus antirrhopus) showing serrations. (f) Cast of T. rex tooth with enlargement showing serrations.

Skeptical Inquirer | July/August 2012 53 July August pages_SI new design masters 5/31/12 12:40 PM Page 54

the sin of Adam brought spiritual, not physical, death (Bray 1998). However, many of today’s YECs insist that Adam’s sin brought physical death. Without death there can be no car- nivory, so all the animals that God cre- ated were originally herbivores. Her - bivory does kill plants, but according to proponents of the doctrine of original herbivory (hereafter abbreviated DOH), the semantics of biblical Hebrew indicate that plants are not considered alive in the same sense that animals are, so the Curse Giant panda introduced only animal death (e.g., Ham et al. 1990; Mitchell 2006). DOH proponents often claim that tyrannosaurs and other theropods were originally herbivores. In two children’s books on dinosaurs, (1977, 1992) acknowledged that theropod teeth, claws, and jaws suggest carnivory—but he also insisted that all animals were cre- ated herbivorous. “Whether these ani- mals were able to change naturally into meat-eaters merely by a change in the kind of food they liked, or whether God had to change them, we do not know,” he wrote (Gish 1977), essentially asking whether God created theropods with ap- parent weaponry for some peaceful pur- American black bear pose or whether he created them without the weaponry that appeared only in later generations. In a dinosaur book for adults, (1998) posed the same question, this time specifically about the teeth of T. rex. So far no YEC author has expressed a preference for the second answer (that theropod teeth changed in later genera- tions) over the first (that theropods were created with their characteristic teeth), Lion (above) possibly because the second answer intro- duces limited acknowledgement of evo- domestic cat (left) lution. The first answer raises another question: if theropods originally had ziphodont or incrassate teeth, then on what were those teeth used if not meat? Figure 2. Teeth of a panda and three carnivores showing how short and blunt the canine teeth of the panda are in contrast with the longer, sharper canines of the carnivores. So far the only concrete proposals are Unfred’s (1990) melon rind suggestion, History of the Myth fruit in the Garden of Eden. In the Gish’s (1990) suggestion that the teeth Despite a mountain of evidence to the New Testament book of Romans, the and claws of T. rex “were used to eat contrary, the Melon Rex Myth persists. Apostle Paul says that it was through tough roots and bark, etc.,” Ham’s (2009) So where did this dinodang come the sin of Adam that death entered the suggestion that theropods ate pumpkins from? Its root is the doctrine that world (Romans 5:12–14). Death is and watermelons, and this bizarre tidbit death—hence also killing and therefore therefore part of the Curse, the penalty from children’s author Larry Dye “The carnivory—did not exist before Adam for Adam’s sin. Early Christian church Creation Guy”: T. rex teeth “were de- and Eve sinned by eating the forbidden leaders interpreted this to mean that signed to rip apart branches. Like a tree

54 Volume 36 Issue 4 | Skeptical Inquirer July August pages_SI new design masters 5/31/12 12:41 PM Page 55

saw, God designed T-Rex [sic] teeth with In support of the idea that theropod which use the canines to grip fruit serrated edges so the animal could easily teeth were designed for herbivory, some (Neuweiler 2000). Also, in pandas the cut through branches. Animals like a bra- YEC authors have offered examples of canines are not sharp but quite blunt, chiosaur would keep leaf foliage under putative extant analogs. Several authors especially in comparison with those of control, and a T-Rex would keep branch name the giant panda as an example of other bears (Figure 2). growth under control” (Dye 2008). an herbivore with “sharp teeth” (Taylor Second, bears and apes are not strict Unfortunately for the pumpkin and 1987; Ham et al. 1990; Gish 1992; herbivores. Vertebrate prey and carrion watermelon suggestions, pumpkins did Ham 2001, 2006, 2009; McIntosh and make up significant portions of the diets not leave their native South America Hodge 2006). Some also list fruit bats of most bear species. Grizzlies even hunt until after the time of Columbus (Sanjur (Taylor 1987; Ham et al. 1990; Gish big game like elk, and the polar bear is et al. 2002). Watermelons are native to 1992; McIntosh and Hodge 2006; almost exclusively carnivorous (Nowak southern Africa and did not leave the Ham 2009), bears (Taylor 1987; Ham and Paradiso 1983; Kurt et al. 1990). continent until the first millennium BCE 2001, 2009), camels (Ham 1998), spi- Cannibalism is common in the brown (Dane and Liu 2007). Theropods in the der monkeys (Unfred 1990), and apes bear, the polar bear, and the American rest of the world would have starved until (Taylor, 1987; Gish 1992) as examples black bear (Kurt et al. 1990). Among the then if these items were their staples. of herbivores with “sharp teeth.” apes, Sumatran orangutans regularly Poor T. rex could not have eaten water- There are problems with all these hunt and eat the smaller primates called melons because they did not arrive in its examples. First, none of these animals has lorises (van Schaik et al. 2003); chim- North American home until four cen- ziphodont teeth! Their “long, sharp” panzees hunt and eat antelope, wild pigs, turies ago (Dane and Liu 2007). teeth (the canine teeth) are therefore rodents, and other primates (Uehara In another children’s book, Taylor not applicable to the question of what 1997); and bonobos eat rodents and ju- (1987) lists several reasons to doubt theropods ate. In all these animals the venile antelope (Uehara 1997). theropod carnivory. Taylor claims that teeth that process food are the cheek Furthermore, in spider monkeys and T. rex could not have been a predator teeth, which are flattened with low apes, the canines are long and sharp because it moved too slowly, walked in cusps. The canines are not typically only in the males. The canines are a “stooped-over” position, had poorly used for herbivory except in fruit bats, unimportant in food processing, and in rooted teeth, and had weak forelimbs. The thin head crests of Dilophosaurus were too delicate to escape harm while the animal tore into the insides of car- casses; the “long, delicate spines at- tached to the back bone” of Spino saurus would have broken easily during violent encounters; and unworn teeth in an adult specimen of the tyrannosaur Al- bertosaurus suggest a lack of contact with bone. None of Taylor’s arguments holds water. The limb proportions of T. rex are no worse for speed than those of its known ceratopsian and hadrosaur prey. Walking “stooped-over” with its mouth low put the mouth at a perfect height to bite prey (Senter 2007). As mentioned above, the teeth were rooted well. The forelimbs of T. rex, despite their short- ness, were powerfully muscled (Carpen- ter and Smith 2001). Thin crests on the top of a head are in no danger if prey is Figure 3. Members of three separate “created kinds” of coelurosaurian theropod dinosaurs (not drawn to scale), approached from above. The dorsal according to Wood (2011). The lower left group is composed of oviraptorosaurs. The upper left group includes early birds (Epidexipteryx, Archaeopteryx, Jeholornis, Sapeornis, Confuciusornis), troodontids (Mei, Anchiornis), spines of Spinosaurus were not delicate and dromaeosaurids (the rest). The group on the right includes Falcarius, the herbivorous ornithomimosaurs at all but quite robust (Stromer 1915). (not shown), Ornitholestes, tyrannosaurs (Guanlong, Gorgo saurus, T. rex), and compsognathids (the rest). Lack of wear on teeth indicates only that Note that although two of the groups include members with carnivory-indicating ziphodont (Z) or incrassate they were new teeth in a mouth that (I) teeth, each group also contains herbivores (H). This shows that there was never a need for young-Earth creationists (YECs) to postulate that ziphodont- and incrassate-toothed theropods were herbivores, because constantly replaced old teeth with new; they are related to herbivores even according to YEC criteria. It is therefore consistent with the YEC paradigm it does not indicate that the old, replaced to postulate that the original members of each “created kind” were herbivores, and their descendants acquired teeth had never contacted bone. ziphodont or incrassate teeth only after turning carnivorous as a result of the Curse.

Skeptical Inquirer | July/August 2012 55 July August pages_SI new design masters 5/31/12 12:41 PM Page 56

primate species that do use canines on camels were absent in their created such as Velociraptor) and Troodon tidae food the minuscule canines of the fe- forebears and appeared in later genera- (some of which, according to one study, males are sufficient (Greenfield 1992). tions as a result of the Curse, as some may have been herbivorous [Holtz et al. If long, sharp canines were needed for YEC authors have postulated for other 1998]). The third includes tyrannosaurs, processing plant food, then the canines biological attack/defense structures compsognathids, ornithomimosaurs, would be long and sharp in both sexes. (McIntosh and Hodge 2006). and Fal carius. Falcarius and the or- In fact, the males use them as instru- nithomimosaurs were herbivores (Bar- ments of aggression and often death Why the Melon Rex Myth Is Unnecessary rett 2005; Kirkland et al. 2005). (Plavcan et al. 1995). In spider mon- As it happens, insistence that tyran- In two of the three groups, ziphodont keys, other monkeys, gorillas, and nosaurs and ziphodont theropods were theropods are connected, via a continu- chimpanzees, males use their canines to herbivores is not necessary for the cre- ous series of intermediate forms, to her- wound and often kill rival males and ationist doctrine of original herbivory. bivores. It is consistent with the YEC the infant offspring of other males This is because some theropods had worldview to infer that God originally (Col lins et al. 1984; Fossey 1984; Shi- teeth that indicate a diet of plants, and created theropods with herbivore-style mooka et al. 2008; Vick 2008). The the results of a new study (Wood 2011) teeth like those of Falcarius and Jeho lornis males sometimes cannibalize the in- indicate that those theropods are genet- and that ziphodont and incrassate teeth fants that they have killed (Collins et al. ically related to carnivorous theropods, arose in later generations as a result of the 1984; Fossey 1984), which makes their even according to YEC criteria (Figure Curse. A shrewd creationist could there- 3). YECs could therefore rescue the fore rescue the DOH by claiming that DOH by claiming that carnivorous both baramins began with herbivorous theropods are degenerate descendants of forms, and some of their descendants be- ancestors that were created herbivorous. came carnivores after the Curse and YECs have long recognized that gained the teeth to match the diet. each baramin (“created kind” of organ- Of course, for the DOH to be res- As it happens, insistence ism) has diversified into many species cued in this manner YECs would have that tyrannosaurs and since it was created. Recognized diver- to recognize that T. rex and ziphodont ziphodont theropods were sity within a given baramin often meets theropods were carnivorous. The Melon or exceeds the level of family in main- Rex Myth would therefore have to be herbivores is not necessary stream taxonomy (Sigler 1978; Wood discarded. To me, this is a little sadden- for the creationist doctrine 2006, 2008). For example, baraminolo- ing. The Melon Rex Myth is by far my of original herbivory. gists consider all extant cat species— favorite dinodang. It has given me house cats, ocelots, bobcats, lions, tigers, countless hours of joyous chuckling, and and so forth—to be descendants of the once it finally becomes extinct I will miss original cat that God created to popu- it very much. n late Eden (Robinson and Cavanaugh 1998). Baraminologists use statistical References measures of anatomical similarity to de- Akersten, William A. 1985. Canine function in Smilodon (Mammalia; Felidae; Machairo - canines weapons for carnivory. In termine which species belong to which dontinae). Natural History Museum of Los An- camels also, the formidable, sharp front baramins (Wood 2006, 2008). The re- geles County Contributions in Science 356: 1–22. teeth are present only in the males cent study (Wood 2011) applied such Auffenberg, Walter. 1981. The Behavioral Ecology of the Komodo Monitor. Gainesville: University (Smuts and Bezuidenhaut 1987). If methodology to Coelurosauria, the of Florida Press. they were necessary for the diet of the group of theropods most closely related Bakker, Robert T., and Gary Bir. 2004. Dinosaur camel, they would be present in both to birds. The study found morphologi- crime scene investigations: Theropod behav- ior at Como Bluff, Wyoming, and the evolu- sexes. As in primates, male camels use cal continuity within each of three tion of birdness. In P.J. Currie, E.B. Koppel - their sharp front teeth to wound each coelurosaur groups and morphological hus, M.A. Shugar, and J.L. Wright (eds.). other (Klingel 1990). discontinuity between the three groups. Feathered Dragons. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 301–342. It is noteworthy that the cheek teeth The baraminological interpretation of Barrett, Paul M. 2005. The diet of ostrich di- of all these herbivores are of a crushing this is that three baramins had been nosaurs (Theropoda: Dinosauria). Palaeon - type that indicates herbivory and that identified (Figure 3). One of the three tology 48: 347–358. Bray, Gerald L. 1998. Ancient Christian Com - such teeth are absent in T. rex and groups is composed of the beaked ovi- mentary on Scripture. Downers Grove, Illinois: ziphodont theropods. A “very good” raptorosaurs, which were herbivores InterVarsity Press. creation would not include teeth that (Smith 1992; Zhou and Wang 2000). Carpenter, Kenneth, and Matt Smith. 2001. Fore- limb osteology and biomechanics of Tyran- are unnecessary for food processing and Another includes the seed-eating nosaurus rex. In D.H. Tanke and K. Car penter instead used for violence. It is more (Zhou and Zhang 2002) early bird Je- (eds.). Mesozoic Vertebrate Life. Bloomington: consistent with the YEC worldview to holornis, other early birds such as Ar- Indiana University Press, 90–116. Collins, D. Anthony, Curt D. Busse, and Jane suppose that the long, sharp, wounding chaeopteryx, and the birdlike theropod Goodall. 1984. Infanticide in two populations teeth of today’s bears, primates, and families Dromaeo sauridae (carnivores of savanna baboons. In Glenn Hausfater and

56 Volume 36 Issue 4 | Skeptical Inquirer July August pages_SI new design masters 5/31/12 12:41 PM Page 57

Sarah Blaffer Hrdy (eds.). Infanticide: Com - 159–166. Ecology and Evolution of the Genus Ateles. parative and Evolutionary Perspectives. New Jacobsen, A.R. 2001. Tooth-marked small theropod Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, York: Aldine Publishing Company, 193–215. bone: An extremely rare trace. In D.H. Tanke 329–349. Compagno, Leonard, M. Dando, and S. Fowler. and K. Carpenter (eds.). Mesozoic Vertebrate Sigler, Hilbert R. 1978. A creationists’ taxonomy. 2005. Sharks of the World. Princeton: Prince - Life. Bloomington: Indiana Uni versity Press, Creation Research Society Quarterly 15: 36–39. ton University Press. 58–63. Smith, David K. 1992. The type specimen of Currie, Philip J., and P. Chen. 2001. Anatomy of Ji, Shu’an, Quiang Ji, Junchang Lu, and Chongxi Oviraptor philoceratops, a theropod dinosaur Sinosauropteryx prima from Liaoning, north- Yuan. 2007. A new giant compsognathid di- from the Upper Cretaceous of Mongolia. eastern China. Canadian Journal of Earth Sci- nosaur with long filamentous integuments Neues Jahrbuch für Geologie und Paläontologie ences 38: 1705–1727. from Lower Cretaceous of northeastern China. Abhandlungen 186: 365–388. Currie, Philip J., and A.R. Jacobsen. 1995. An Acta Geologica Sinica 81: 8–15. Smuts, Malie M., and A. J. Bezuidenhaut. 1987. azhdarchid pterosaur eaten by a velocirap- Kirkland, James I., Lindsay E. Zanno, Scott D. Anatomy of the Dromedary. Oxford: Claren - torine theropod. Canadian Journal of Earth Sampson, et al. 2005. A primitive ther- don Press. Sciences 32: 922–925. izinosauroid dinosaur from the Early Cre - Stromer, Ernst. 1915. Results of research—Prof. Dane, Fenny, and Jiarong Liu. 2007. Diversity taceous of Utah. Nature 435: 84–87. E. Stromer’s research travel to the deserts of and origin of citron type watermelon (Citrul - Klingel, Hans. 1990. Camels: Introduction. In S.B. Egypt. II. Vertebrate remains of the Baharije lus lanatus). Genetic Resources and Crop Evolu - Parker (ed.). Grzimek’s Encyclopedia of Mam- Stage (lower Cenomanian) 3. The original of tion 54: 1255–1265. mals, Vol. 5. New York: McGraw-Hill, 84–96. the theropod Spinosaurus aegyptiacus. nov. Dye, Larry. 2008. Dinosaurs Revealed. Victoria, Kurt, Fred, Bernhard Grzimek, and Victor Zhiwot- gen., nov. spec. Abhandlungen der Königlich British Columbia: Trafford Publishing. shenko. 1990. True bears. In S.P. Parker (ed.). Bayerischen Akademie der Wissenschaften Erickson, Gregory M., and Kenneth H. Olson. Grzimek’s Encyclopedia of Mam mals, vol. 3. New Mathematisch-physikalische Klasse 28: 1–32 1996. Bite marks attributable to Tyranno saurus York: McGraw-Hill, 480–501. [in German]. rex: Preliminary description and analysis. Jour- Larsen, David. 2001. The scriptural advent of ani- Taylor, Paul S. 1987. The Great Dinosaur Mystery. nal of Vertebrate Paleontology 16: 175–178. mal carnivory. Journal of Creation 15(1): 69–75. Colorado Springs: Cook Communications. Fossey, Dian. 1984. Infanticide in mountain go- Longrich, Nicholas R., John R. Horner, Gregory Uehara, Shigeo. 1997. Predation on mammals by rillas (Gorilla gorilla beringei) with compara- M. Erickson, et al. 2010. Cannibalism in the chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes). Primates tive notes on chimpanzees. In Glenn Haus - Tyrannosaurus rex. PLoS ONE 5: 1–6. 138: 193–214. fater and Sarah Blaffer Hrdy (eds.). McIntosh, Andy, and Bodie Hodge. 2006. How Unfred, David. 1990. Dinosaurs and the Bible. Infanticide: Comparative and Evolutionary did defense/attack structures come about? In Lafayette, Louisiana: Huntington House Per spectives. New York: Aldine Publishing Ken Ham (ed.). The New Answers Book 1. Publishers. Company, 217–235. Green Forest, Arkansas: Master Books, 259– van Schaik, Carel P., Marc Ancrenaz, Gwendolyn Fowler, Denver W., and Robert M. Sullivan. 270. Borgen, et al. 2003. Orangutan cultures and 2006. A ceratopsid pelvis with toothmarks Mitchell, Tommy. 2006. Why does God’s creation the evolution of material culture. Science 299: from the Upper Cretaceous Kirtland For ma - include death and suffering? In Ken Ham 102–105. tion, New Mexico: Evidence of late Cam - (ed.). The New Answers Book 1. Green Forest, Vick, Laura G. 2008. Immaturity in spider mon- panian tyrannosaurid feeding behavior. New Arkansas: Master Books, 325-338. keys: A risky business. In Christina J. Camp - Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science Neuweiler, Gerhard. 2000. The Biology of Bats. bell (ed.). Spider Monkeys: The Behavior, Ecol- Bulletin 35: 127–130. Oxford University Press: New York. ogy and Evolution of the Genus Ateles. Gignac, Paul M., Peter J. Makovicky, Gregory M. Nowak, Ronald M., and John L. Paradiso. 1983. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, Erickson, et al. 2010. A description of Walker’s Mammals of the World, Fourth Edi - 288–328. Deinonychus antirrhopus bite marks and esti- tion, vol. 2. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins Uni - Wood, Todd C. 2006. The current status of mates of bite force using tooth indentation versity Press. baraminology. Creation Research Society Quar- simulations. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology Ostrom, John H. 1978. The osteology of the terly 43: 149–158. 30: 1169–1177. theropod Compsognathus longipes Wagner. ———. 2008. CORE Issues in Creation, Vol. 3: Gish, Duane T. 1977. Dinosaurs, Those Terrible Zitteliana 4: 73–118. Animal and Plant Baramins. Eugene, Oregon: Lizards. San Diego: Creation-Life Pub lishers. Plavcan, J. Michael, Carel P. van Schaik, and Peter Wipf and Stock. ———. 1990. The Amazing Story of Creation from M. Kappeler. 1995. Competition, coalitions, ———. 2011. Using to demon- Science and the Bible. El Cajon, Cali fornia: In- and canine size in primates. Journal of Human strate evolution? Senter’s strategy revisited. stitute for Creation Research. Evolution 28: 245–276. Journal of Evolutionary Biology 24: 914–918. ———. 1992. Dinosaurs by Design. Green Forest, Robinson, D. Ashley, and David P. Cavanaugh. Zhou, Zhonghe, and X. Wang. 2000. A new Arkansas: Master Books. 1998. Evidence for a holobaraminic origin of species of Caudipteryx from the Yixian For - Greenfield, Leonard O. 1992. Relative canine the cats. Creation Research Society Quarterly ma tion of Liaoning, northeast China. Verte - size, behavior and diet in male ceboids. Jour- 35: 2–14. brata PalAsiatica 4: 111–127. nal of Human Evolution 23: 469–480. Rogers, Raymond R., David R. Krause, and Zhou, Zhonghe, and F. Zhang. 2002. A long- Ham, Ken. 1998. The Great Dinosaur Mystery Christina Curry Rogers. 2003. Cannibalism tailed, seed-eating bird from the Early Cre- Solved. Green Forest, Arkansas: Master Books. in the Madagascan dinosaur Majungatholus taceous of China. Nature 418: 405–409. ———. 2001. Dinosaurs of Eden. Green Forest, atopus. Nature 422: 515–518. Arkansas: Master Books. Sander, P. Martin. 1997. Teeth and jaws. In P.J. ———. 2006. What really happened to the di- Currie and K. Padian (eds.). Encyclopedia of nosaurs? In Ken Ham (ed.). The New Answers Dinosaurs. San Diego: Academic Press, 717– Book 1. Green Forest, Arkansas: Master 725. Books, 149–176. Sanjur, Oris I., Dolores R. Piperno, Thomas C. Phil Senter is a vertebrate pa- ———. 2009. Dinosaurs for Kids. Green Forest, Andres, et al. 2002. Phylogenetic relation- Arkansas: Master Books. ships among domesticated and wild Cucur - leontologist with a specialty Ham, Ken, Andrew Snelling, and Carl Wieland. bita (Cucurbitaceae) inferred from a mito- in dinosaur paleobiology. He 1990. The Answers Book. El Cajon, California: chondrial gene: Implications from crop plant received his PhD in biological Master Books. evolution and areas of origin. Proceedings of sciences from Northern Holtz, Thomas R. Jr. 2001. The phylogeny and the National Academy of Sciences of the USA 99: taxonomy of the Tyrannosauridae. In D.H. 535–540. Illinois University in 2003 Tanke and K. Carpenter (eds.). Mesozoic Ver- Senter, Phil. 2007. Necks for sex: Sexual selection and teaches biology courses at Fayetteville tebrate Life. Bloomington: Indiana Uni versity as an explanation for sauropod dinosaur neck State University in North Carolina. He has Press, 64–83. elongation. Journal of Zoology 271: 45–53. published forty-plus articles on dinosaur pale- Holtz, Thomas R. Jr., Daniel L. Brinkman, and Shimooka, Yukiko, Christina J. Campbell, An- ontology, the natural history of West African C.L. Chandler. 1998. Denticle morphomet- thony Di Fiore, et al. 2008. Demography and rics and a possibly omnivorous feeding habit group composition of Ateles. In Christina J. snakes, and the creation-evolution debate. for the theropod dinosaur Troodon. Gaia 15: Campbell (ed.). Spider Monkeys: The Be havior, Email: [email protected].

Skeptical Inquirer | July/August 2012 57 July August pages_SI new design masters 5/31/12 12:44 PM Page 58

[BOOK REVIEW

What’s Going On in Our Minds?

PAUL BROWN

uick as you can, read the follow- ing sentences and answer the Qquestion. Observe your mind as Thinking, Fast and Slow. By Daniel Kahneman it fumbles to its conclusion. Farrar, Straus and Giroux, New York, 2011. ISBN: 978-0-374-27563-1 Kim buys one bat, and one ball. Kim 499 pp. Hardcover, $30. spends $1.10. Kim’s one bat cost $1 more than Kim’s one ball. How much did Kim spend on the bat? An apparently instinctive human re- action drives many people to blurt out the (wrong) answer, “One dollar!” Oth- ers pause before speaking, think for a moment, probably frown, break eye contact, and eventually respond (cor- rectly), “One dollar ... and five cents.” answers are wrong in systematic and pre- sea of unconsidered action upon which Professor Daniel Kahneman be longs to dictable ways. our relatively tiny consciousness floats. a third group of people who start think- How does all of this work? Kahne - Mental heuristics are many and mostly ing just as the rest of us stop. They pay man offers the following explanation: trivial, but they can be tremendously po- attention to the mind at work and ask Brains evolved to be pattern-seeking tent. Mental shortcuts are what “tell” an themselves, “Hello. What’s going on machines. Biologically speaking, our experienced surgeon when his patient is here, then?” Kahneman’s book Thinking, brain’s primary function is to make about to hemorrhage, or a fire captain Fast and Slow is instructive to rationalists sense of the overwhelming mess of sen- to pull his crew from a building just be- and skeptics because of what it tells us sory stimuli to which our environment fore it collapses, or a cook when the about the nature of human error. ex poses us. In Kahneman’s telling of it, salmon is grilled to perfection. Sophis- The little gedankenexperiment above is brains aren’t passive receptors. Rather, ticated, learned responses often cannot just one of a great many that anchor the our grey matter is constantly trying to be rationally justified. They just “feel ideas of Kahneman’s book to the empir- construct a coherent model of the world right.” ical bedrock. Much modern psychol- “out there” in order to guide our reac- Kahneman refers to this large collec- ogy—or cognitive science if you prefer the tions to it. tion of heuristics as “System 1.” System fashionable term—relies on experiment But there’s a problem. A brain is a 1 “operates automatically and quickly, to pick apart our mental machinery. Re - terribly expensive organ to run. Pri mate with little or no effort and no sense of searchers assemble a group of people in brains consume 20 to 25 percent of the voluntary control.” In short, System 1 is a room to ask them a list of cunningly body’s energy budget. So what’s a poor a sense-making machine, and we rely on designed questions. They time their sub- organ to do? The answer appears to be it almost exclusively to get through our jects’ responses and compare their an- that our brains use mental shortcuts days. Alas, System 1 isn’t perfect. Error swers with what is “reasonable” or “ratio- (heuristics) that allow for massive reduc- is built into its design. It is far, far better nal.” What we’ve learned from all this tions in brain-power at the cost of the that our minds “detect” or “construct” a science is that while human beings don’t occasional error. If you think about it, nonexistent snake a hundred times than all respond in precisely the same way, as even with these shortcuts our brains are overlook a real snake just once. a species we exhibit quite a few counter- pretty astounding. Stand up, walk to the Now, as we saw in the example of intuitive quirks and habitual, or instinc- bathroom, open the door, adjust the Kim’s bat and ball, there is also a second tive, cognitive biases. In other words, our shower heat, apply soap—consider the mode of mental operation. Kahneman

58 Volume 36 Issue 4 | Skeptical Inquirer July August pages_SI new design masters 5/31/12 12:44 PM Page 59

[NEW AND NOTABLE Listing does not preclude future review.

THE AIDS CONSPIRACY: Science Fights Back. Nicoli Nattrass. The world’s leading expert on AIDS conspiracies delivers a definitive refers to it as “System 2,” but you’ll also see account of the origin and the dubious science behind these it elsewhere referred to as “executive func- claims, as well as the political issues surrounding South African tion” or “cognitive control.” It’s the part of president Mbeki’s embrace of AIDS denialism. Columbia Uni - our brain that steps in from time to time, versity Press, 2012, 226 pp., $34.50. Also available as an e-book. overriding System 1. “System 2 allocates attention to the effortful mental activities that demand it, including complex com- GREY WOLF: The Escape of Adolph Hitler. Simon Dunstan and Gerrard Williams. A military historian and a journalist claim to putations,” Kahneman writes. “The oper- have uncovered evidence that Hitler did not die in 1945 but in- ations of System 2 are often associated stead escaped to South America where he died in 1962; though with the subjective ex perience of agency, the book offers perhaps the best case for this conspiracy theory, choice, and concentration.” System 1 it’s not clear how convincing historians will find it. Sterling Pub- thinks fast; System 2 thinks slowly. lishing, 2011, 384 pp., $24.95.

THE MARTIANS HAVE LANDED! A History of Media-Driven Panics and Hoaxes. Robert E. Bartholomew and Benjamin Radford. A highly readable litany of hoaxes, scares, and sensational exag- gerations promulgated variously on radio, on television, in news- Thinking, Fast and Slow is papers, on the Internet, and, for some, seemingly “every- in part a catalog of the ways where”—many of them quite recent—that have had an impact we slouch into error: on people’s lives. McFar land, 2012, 248 pp., $40. circumstances where we opt for a quick, low-cost, PROPAGANDA IN THE HELPING PROFESSIONS. Eileen Gambrill. A and coherent worldview comprehensive and fascinating review of centuries of fads, fal- lacies, and misinformation in the healing professions, this book over mental hard labor. contains countless examples of fallacious appeals to science (an advertisement for “radium suppositories” on page 201 is particularly unnerving) as well as useful discussions of spot- ting fallacies in health-related fields. Oxford University Press, 2012, 567 pp., $65.

THE SCIENCE OF GHOSTS: Searching for Spirits of the Dead. Joe System 1’s heuristics are fine as re - Nickell. Nickell begins with the cultural and psychological forces sponses to our everyday environment, but that shape beliefs in ghosts, then he presents case studies that take him to numerous supposedly haunted places. His book ex- they are poor guides for reasoning about amines and mediums who claim the ability to con- subjects expressed in terms of quantities, tact the dead and analyzes the evidence of those who visit al- time periods, or probabilities—all more legedly haunted places. Prometheus Books, 2012, 290 pp., $18. properly the province of System 2. Think- ing, Fast and Slow is in part a catalog of the ways we slouch into error: circum- SCIENCE AND PSYCHIC PHENOMENA: The Fall of the House of stances where we opt for a quick, low- Skeptics. Chris Carter. In this book reprinted from 2007, the au- cost, and coherent worldview over mental thor tries mightily to defend psi research against (mostly CSI- hard labor. Kahneman shared the 2002 affiliated) critics by appealing to quantum physics(!) and sug- gesting that science needs to be reinterpreted to allow for the Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences for the acceptance of psychic powers; a mildly interesting look at anti- application of these psychological in sights CSI polemics, peppered with logical fallacies and misquoted to the way human beings make economic skeptics. Inner Traditions, 2012, 300 pp., $18.95. decisions and, while not strictly within the scope of a review with skeptical and rationalist readers in mind, this book’s cri- tique of the shambles and shenanigans —Kendrick Frazier and Benjamin Radford that characterize financial markets is pretty withering.

Skeptical Inquirer | July/August 2012 59 July August pages_SI new design masters 5/31/12 12:45 PM Page 60

Skeptics will find that the ideas in made the mistake and it’s been pointed others. So what’s a rationalist to do? Kahneman’s book arm them with both out to us and explained to us, it takes Well it turns out that for all our fail- sword and shield. If you’re ever exasper- tremendous effort on our part to rewire ings at self-regulation, we’re actually ated at the way some human beings our brains. pretty decent at spotting mistakes made manage to remain sublimely indifferent Kahneman makes that point with by other people. Anyone who has spent to evidence, Kahneman offers an expla- another of his experiments. Based on any time in a collaborative work envi- nation that plea-bargains any charge of the following thumbnail biography, ronment will instantly recognize the malevolence down to mere laziness. which of the two subsequent state- phenomenon. It might never occur to Mental work is hard, and monkeys ments is most probably true? me to examine each step along the path don’t like it. Thinking about abstrac- from insight to conclusion, but fortu- “Wendy is young, of average ap - tions such as numbers or general laws nately other people can typically be re- pearance, and socially awkward. From a of nature reduces the amount of energy lied upon to tell me I’m wrong and why. young age she excelled at school and and attention we can invest in more Rationalists can take some comfort in went to an elite university, completing practical and immediate problems like the thought that the institutions of sci- her doctorate. She is married with a gathering fruit, not standing in fire, entific practice and peer review exploit daughter.” avoiding bad meat, or figuring out this aspect of human nature. 1. Wendy works as a librarian. when another monkey is up for a cud- What about changing the minds of 2. Wendy works as a librarian and is others? Here, Kahneman’s view is at first an active feminist. glance rather bleak, but it offers a curi- Confronted with a version of this ous kind of hope. If you ask people, “Do puzzle, no less a rationalist and skeptic you believe X?” they will answer either than Stephen J. Gould wrote, “A little “Yes” or “No.” If you ask them, “Have Skeptics will find that homunculus in my head continues to you always believed X?” they will typi- the ideas in Kahneman’s jump up and down, shouting at me.” For cally respond that they’ve never changed book arm them with those of you puzzled by the problem, it their minds. Enquire of their opinions helps to retell the story in stark, mathe- on a scientific or political controversy both sword and shield. matical terms. Given any two probabilis- and they’ll explain them to you. Then tic propositions, A and B, which is more supply new information (pro or con), re- likely? A? Or A and B? If the mathe- peat the questions, and what you find is matics of probability means anything, it that Lo! their minds have changed ... means that “Wendy works as a librarian” hardly at all. must be more “probably true” than However, if you ask people at differ- “Wendy works as a librarian and is an ent times what they think, you will find dle. If your worldview includes super- active feminist.” Every librarian who is that their minds have in fact changed. stitious or irrational beliefs, your Sys- an active feminist is still a librarian, and Psychologists have noticed that evidence tem 1 will go to extraordinary lengths there are surely librarians who are not not only changes our current beliefs but to weave your experiences to gether to feminists! But our lazy brains prefer the also our memory of what our beliefs tell you a coherent story that is consis- more detailed, coherent, and more plau- were before we acquired the new infor- tent with those beliefs—and since on a sible story to the energy-intensive work mation. Gradual evolution of public sen- day-to-day basis there’s little penalty for needed to arrive at the truth. Kahneman timent is apparent in survey re sponses to believing in things that don’t exist, why provides several examples of large-scale questions about religious be liefs, the ex- change? mistakes that required entire communi- istence of satanic cults in daycare centers, But the book also reinforces the idea ties of highly trained professionals— or the wisdom of the Raiders’ second that skeptics are human beings too, and himself included. round draft choices. Minds, it seems, human beings are never more prone to For readers interested in personal aren’t changed abruptly through reason error than when we are overconfident. error—both understanding and avoiding but gradually as the heuristics by which Hubris yields error, and Kahneman and it—the book isn’t especially comforting. our minds construct their coherent his colleagues have famously shown Kahneman explains that hu man beings worldviews adjust. And we typically fail how few human specimens display are terrible at perceiving their own errors to perceive how much change we’ve un- more hubris than “experts.” It’s apparent and worse at learning from them. Con- dergone. that even when we know we’re in error, sciously changing our own beliefs by Kahneman uses this System 1/ even when we’ve been alerted to the na- considering the evidence is ap parently System 2 framework to examine ques- ture of the mistake, even after we’ve terribly hard—never mind the beliefs of tions about how people arrive at deci-

60 Volume 36 Issue 4 | Skeptical Inquirer July August pages_SI new design masters 5/31/12 12:45 PM Page 61

BOOK REVIEW]

sions with uncertain information, how Anyone who has followed recent For readers interested in deepening we think about risk, and how we con- public policy debates about behavioral fi- their understanding of what is going in struct our lives through a combination nance or prospect theory will find little their own minds (and how to guard of experience and memory. Through out in the book that goes beyond recapitu- against their own errors), it’s hard to the book readers will find memorable, lating the greatest hits of one man’s very pass up a book with such a combination pithy pronouncements such as, “Lan- productive career as a working re search of persuasive power and pedigree. n guage implies that the world is more psychologist. Kahneman also stays mute knowable than it is” or “Nothing in life on the kinds of big questions skeptics is as important as you think it is when would like answered, such as why people Paul Brown is a computer scientist who special- you are thinking about it” or (quoting persist in irrational and even self-destruc- izes in building data management applications another psychologist) “Sub ject’s unwill- tive beliefs. He prefers to report the evi- for very large scale science projects. Although ingness to deduce the particular from dence and provide softer, more personal he has published extensively in perhaps the the general was matched only by their advice on how best to grapple with our world’s most obscure professional research jour- willingness to infer the general from own biases and guard against errors when nals, this review is his first foray into popular the particular.” pricing bats and balls. writing.

Sunday, August 5 – Saturday, August 11, 2012 | Camp Seven Hills, Holland, New York Young minds don’t just ask big questions, they search for These same skills of skeptical questioning are applicable big answers. Increased availability of information in- not only to the latest social media posts but to living a creases the need for critical thinking and the rational fil- meaningful and enriching life in both the virtual and the tering of a barrage of opinions from a world of “experts.” real worlds. Skeptics of any age don’t just want to amass information. They want real understanding. They want to know the how and the why. At Camp Inquiry, there’s an app for that.

Registration is now open for campers ages 7 to 16! The general registration fee for Camp Inquiry is $575, but for campers registered by April 30 the cost is only $495—so make your reservations now! Note: additional siblings receive a $50 discount!

Camp Inquiry 2012’s Special Guests include:

Camp Inquiry, now in its seventh year, is one of the many educational initiatives offered by the Center for Inquiry (CFI), a nonprofit educational and research institution devoted to the appreciation of science and reason and their applications to human conduct. Camp Inquiry 2012 is cosponsored by the James Randi James David Willey Michael Cardus Sharon Hill Educational Foundation. “ The Amazing” “The Mad Scientist” Founder of Author of Doubtful Randi for The Tonight Show Create-Learning News blog with Jay Leno

For more information and to register, please visit our website: www.campinquiry.org. For any questions regarding registration, please contact CFI Education Administrator Ed Beck via e-mail at [email protected] or by phone at (716) 636-4869 ext. 408. Have any questions for our Camp Director? Feel free to e-mail Karen Strachan at [email protected].

Skeptical Inquirer | July/August 2012 61 July August pages_SI new design masters 5/31/12 1:10 PM Page 62

[INBOX

bit like cheating. I did look at these been conducted. It turns out organizations. Some even have that the efficiency of any of the scientists running them. Thus, four classic antimatter propul- they didn’t qualify as ARIGs and sion concepts is too low to were not included in my survey. make antimatter propulsion at- On the other hand, the rise in gen- tractive. For the time being uine academic interest in anomal- we’re “stuck” with chemical and istic psychology by people like Pro- nuclear fission propulsion with fessors Richard Wiseman and the hope that someday some Chris French to examine paranor- sort of fusion or advanced mal topics is an exciting direction. plasma propulsion might be de- veloped. Antimatter and Gary L. Bennett, PhD Pseudoscience Boise, Idaho John Eades replies: Regarding your article “Anti- matter Pseudo science” in the Thank you for your letter and sep- March/April 2012 issue of the arately sent papers concerning the SKEPTICAL INQUIRER, author ideas of Bob Forward et al., which John Eades was right to note I have read with great interest. In that Bob Forward (who had my opinion there is nothing long championed antimatter re- wrong with looking carefully at search) was interested in anti- questions like antimatter propul- matter for propulsion. And he sion and faster-than-light phe- was right to characterize For- nomena as long as one realizes ward as one concerned with get- that they are speculations and ting the science right. will—unless someone finds some In 1994, I cosponsored a way of getting around such things workshop at NASA’s Jet Pro - as the law of energy conservation pulsion Laboratory to consider in the first case and the observa- Amateur Investigation puses, promise at-home or over- the possibility of faster-than- tional evidence supporting the in- Groups the-Internet coursework, or light (FTL) communication variance of the speed of light in the offer “life experience” credits. and/or travel. Bob Forward gra- second—remain so. In my opin- In Sharon Hill’s article, “Ama- Often their “faculty” members ciously put together a back- ion, such developments are very, teur Para normal Research and have credentials only from that ground paper on the topic, not- very unlikely indeed. Investigation Groups [ARIGs] same institution. (John Bear ing various ideas that had Bob, who was in my opinion a Doing ‘Sciencey Things,’” (SI, has published extensively on the cropped up in physics (e.g., real gentleman, once said to me March/April 2012), Hill writes, topic of diploma mills, e.g., tachyons) but maintaining that he didn’t mind being criti- “ARIGs are unique in that they QuackWatch.com). throughout a strict scientific ap- cized or not being taken seriously. examine areas on which no or- I know a person with a PhD proach. My aim in the work- He just thought that ideas like his ganized academic research or from such an institute. As Hill shop was to bring together should not be rejected out of hand inquiry is focused—perceived described, this person expends PhD-level physicists to brain- without proper investigation. He paranormal events.” quite a bit of energy cultivating storm what might be possible also gave me the impression that I’d like to counter, perhaps a serious, science-like image to while always being mindful of his feet were firmly on the ground obviously so, that there is an en- enhance her sophistication and what we knew of physics. We and that he would accept without tire cottage industry devoted to credibility. Yet she is completely had intended to get Kip Thorne hesitation the verdict of nature. ignorant of the scientific meth - so-called “academic” paranor- there, but he was on a book Concerning antimatter, the od, the need for rigorous hy- mal research and investigation. tour; however, we were able to first spectroscopic measurements potheses and controls, and why “Holistic,” “metaphysical,” or get his student, Michael Morris on antihydrogen have just been data falsification and fabrication “parapsychic” academic institu- (“codiscoverer” of the “Morris- published in Nature. Although are to be eschewed. But she did tions offer a variety of master’s Thorne wormhole” described in this is something of a tour de force, meet the requirement of citing and PhD degrees in the scien- the American Journal of Physics). much higher precision will have to at least five references for her tific study of such areas as The workshop basically con- be attained before such experiments PhD dissertation! Ayurveda, intuitive healing, cluded that there didn’t seem to can be said to constrain the matter- angel studies, feng shui, nu- Paul Drumheller be any way to achieve FTL antimatter symmetry prin ciple merology, , and At- Flagstaff, Arizona communication or travel but (CPT invariance) mean ingfully. lantis studies, just to name a that there were enough anom- Concerning faster-than-light few. These academic institu- alies in physics that it couldn’t Sharon Hill replies: phenomena, we have recently had tions are, of course, nothing be ruled out. quite a shenanigan about allegedly more than diploma mills: they They do call themselves academic, Finally, two studies of anti- superluminal neutrinos. The gen- typically have no physical cam- but setting up your own school is a matter pro pulsion have recently eral feeling around here was that

62 Volume 36 Issue 4 | Skeptical Inquirer July August pages_SI new design masters 5/31/12 12:46 PM Page 63

this was more in the nature of a What more proof do you need test of the accuracy of geodesic time that stars (and planets and and distance measurements than a galaxies and what-not) of anti- test of the invariance of the speed matter are out there waiting to of light. In other words, people be discovered? were exercising the natural skep- Gerald J. Cavanaugh ticism basic to the practice of sci- Cincinnati, Ohio ence. Francis Bacon put it rather well when he wrote: “If a man John Eades replies: will begin with certainties he shall end in doubts, but if he will be The conventional explanation of content to begin with doubts, he the 1908 Tunguska explosion is Point of Inquiry, named a top-ten podcast by shall end in certainties.” Even the that it was caused by the arrival Business Insider, is where the brightest minds of our authors of this work began with of a large piece of ordinary matter doubts by quite properly inviting from space. Less destructive events time sound off on all the things you're not supposed the physics community to shoot of this nature happen all the time to talk about at the dinner table: science, religion, down the superluminal interpre- of course, but one of this magni- society, and politics. Chris Mooney, author of tation. As a result of this, potential tude would surely have left a The Republican Brain and The Republican War on sources of error have recently been crater and/or meteoritic remnants Science; and neuroscientist (and opera singer) found that may soon end in cer- at the site. Neither has ever been Indre Viskontas, engage in pointed and critical tainty, one way or the other. My found. conversations with leading scientists, philosophers, money is on the other, but we have In 1965 it was therefore hy- to wait and see. pothesized that this event might social critics, and entertainers. have been caused by the impact of a wandering chunk of antimatter. Previous guests include Brian Greene, I enjoyed the article on anti- Any such object must nevertheless Susan Jacoby, Richard Dawkins, Ann Druyan, matter by John Eades, but I take have come from somewhere, and Neil deGrasse Tyson, Eugenie Scott, exception to the following para- subsequent cosmic searches have Adam Savage, Bill Nye, Lawrence Krauss, graph on page 45: revealed no potential sources of and many more! What this suggests is that antimatter aggregates within we would be better off many hundreds of millions of light going and getting a few years of Earth. The AMS experi- www.pointofinquiry.org bucketfuls of the stuff from ment referred to in my article will one of those antimatter likely extend this limit even fur- stars. Here I refer you once again to Robert Park’s book ther. (2008) in which he shows Furthermore, there is no local cometary fragment ex ploded in the an intellectual camaraderie with that travel to even a nearby forensic evidence to support an an- atmosphere without leaving any other nonbelievers, and I began star within a human lifetime timatter impact. Work done since surface residue. Until such time as subscribing to humanist publi- would consume many thou- the 1960s strongly suggests that much better evidence is adduced cations. But as time has pro- sands of times the entire an- indirect neutron irradiation from nual energy production of for it, the antimatter hypothesis gressed, I’ve grown a bit weary the Earth. And as if this annihilating antimatter would will therefore remain an old of magazine articles that con- wasn’t enough, astrophysi- add a measurable amount of ra- babushka’s tale, and the answer to tinue to debunk what I have al- cists, far and wide in the dioactive carbon-14 to the local Mr. Cava naugh’s question “What ready rejected, articles written cosmos though they have environment. The dendrochrono- more proof do you need?” will con- by intellectuals who sometimes looked, have never seen even logical record of surviving trees seem emotionally distant. It’s a hint of such stars. tinue to be: plenty! reveals, however, no unusual car- not enough to be like-minded Note: An excellent book-length Surely, Mr. Park is familiar bon-14 level at that time. regarding religion. There needs treatment of this and many other with the explosion at Tunguska, Also, Mark Boslough and to be an emotional connection, a antimatter topics is Frank Close’s Russian Siberia, June 30, 1908, David Craw ford of Sandia Na- sense of compassion and fellow- Antimatter which knocked down many tional Laboratories have further (Oxford University ship, something to fill the void square miles of forest and was demystified Tunguska with new Press, New York, 2009). when one leaves the church. apparently caused by the de- supercomputer simulations show- Roy F. Johnson scent of a sizeable meteorite, or ing that the damage seen could Columbia, Tennessee at least a huge mass of some have been caused by the above- Emotional Connections kind. However, years of search- ground explosion of an asteroid ing the site have turned up no object much smaller than previ- Your editor’s column “Getting meteorite or any other object. ously thought, and therefore (be- People Emo tionally Invested” Exeter Incident Aircraft In my reading on the subject cause smaller asteroids are statis- (SI, March/April 2012) touched I am sure that I have seen at tically more frequent than larger on a long-time concern of mine: As usual, when the latest SI least once the suggestion, “Per- ones) more likely (SI, March/April the sense of loneliness as a non- (March/April 2012) came in I haps it was not a huge mass of 2008). believer. read the letters to the editor first. anything but a chunk of anti- The best explanation of Tun- After rejecting organized re- I refer to the letters about the matter the size of a baseball.” guska is still that an asteroid or ligion, I initially found at least Exeter Incident. I was assigned

Skeptical Inquirer | July/August 2012 63 July August pages_SI new design masters 5/31/12 1:08 PM Page 64

[LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

were written in collaboration with his (first) wife, Mileva There’s much more Maric. (See Chapter 20 of Theoni Pap pas, Mathematical Scandals, Wide World Publish- Skep ti cal In quir er ing/Tetra, San Carlos, 1997). Recall that after his divorce in content available on our website! 1914, Einstein’s only significant work was his 1916 paper on the general theory of relativity, the Here’s just a sample of what you’ll find: last four decades of his life being quite barren. “You are Not Entitled to Your Own Bigfoot Facts” My second surprise was that “Sounds Sciencey” columnist Sharon Hill examines long-held “facts” Frazier neglected to identify ei- about Bigfoot, the mysterious bipedal beast said to roam the North American ther Eric Idle or Michael Palin, wilderness; just how do Bigfoot proponents use the word fact? who of course were two of the six members of Monty Python, The Denver Airport Conspiracy the legendary comedy team that Robert “The Big Shill” Blaskiewicz takes a close look at conspiracy gave us Monty Python’s Flying theories surrounding the Denver International Airport; is it really a Circus on television (1969– headquarter for world domination? 1974) and movies such as The Holy Grail (1974), The Life of Brian (1979), and The Meaning of Life (1983). Thomas Wray Ottawa, Ontario, Canada

Kendrick Frazier replies: Thanks, but my little news note was only 172 words, almost as short as your letter and not allow- ing for extended discussion! And despite my flippant title, it of course was about not Einstein but a brief New Yorker parody of Shakespeare deniers. I know who Michael Palin and Eric Idle are For more online columns, features, and special content, and am a Monty Python fan, so I’m visit www.csicop.org. happy to share with readers the Monty Python credits you list. To them I’d add one of my favorites, their hilarious musical, Monty to Pease AFB NH from January in place of said external fuel Incident, just trying to straighten Python’s Spamalot. 1958 to May 1959 and worked tanks and their designation out what model aircraft was on KC-97Gs of both the 100th changed to KC-97L. To my involved. and 509th Air Refueling Squad - knowledge, no ANG KC-97Ls David Menard The Teachers Unions rons at Pease and during a three- ever refueled any B-47 at any Dayton, Ohio Controversy month temporary duty assign- time. So Mr. McGeehan and ment to Thule AB Green land Mr. Vujovich, in their two letters, I was sorry to see no one in the from late March 1958 through were incorrect. Also, when KC- Yes, But Who Wrote…? “Amen Corner” for Kenneth early July 1958. In contrast to 97Gs did refuel B-47s, these op- Krause’s column re garding the claims of two letter writers, erations did not take place at too I was very surprised to read Teachers Unions (SI, Novem - these tankers did not have any low an altitude for obvious rea- Kendrick Frazier’s article, “Yes, ber/December 2011). In your J47s (external jet engines) fitted sons—the tanker had to dive at But Who Wrote Einstein?” (SI, readers’ Follow-Up column to them, period! They did carry a shallow angle in order to keep March/April 2012). My first about it (SI, March/April 2012) large external fuel tanks out- its speed up to prevent the re- surprise was that the article was he was castigated mightily for board of the engines. Only after ceiver from possibly stalling. not a discussion of Desanka Tr- what I perceive to be sound rea- these aircraft were transferred to I am not disputing that some buhovic-Gjuric and Senta Troe - soning. Perhaps his many de- various Air National Guard night tanker operations were mel-Ploetz’s claim that Ein - tractors are standing too close (ANG) units were the J47s fitted going on that day of the Exeter stein’s three great papers of 1904 to the problem. Once upon a

64 Volume 36 Issue 4 | Skeptical Inquirer July August pages_SI new design masters 5/31/12 12:47 PM Page 65

time, after receiving a graduate SKePTICAl INquIReR has spent motives to the author or SI” in claims without providing ex- degree, I was offered “9 for 9” decades educating us on the your response to readers’ reac- traordinary evidence, it violates ($9,000 for nine months teach- proper way to do scientific re- tions to Kenneth Krause’s col- your standards, and that justifi- ing). I declined and sought search. At the same time it has umn on teachers unions. SI edi- ably provokes the ire of your other fields because, even then, also devoted a great deal of ef- tors and columnists are subject to skeptical readers. teachers unions seemed to be a fort to showing us how to write the same cognitive pro cesses as tail wagging the dog. about scientific re search. So its readers, and scientific re search Thomas Pasquarello Perhaps if Krause had origi- what is there to say about the strongly suggests that partisan Cortland, New York nally led with his rebuttal (in “Teachers unions” piece? Many political thought takes place in the March/April issue) he of the letters published in your the emotional centers of the would have defused some of March/April Follow up col- brain rather than areas associated You ended your collection of those little petards. I recall my umn addressed the specifics of with rational thought (see, for “passionate [reader] responses” early years when my teacher ar- the inadequacies in Krause’s example, the Journal of Cognitive to the 2011 November/Dec - rived early, built the fire in the piece much better than I could. Neuro science 18:11, pp. 1947–58). ember “Science Watch” column stove, attended to a fine educa- What I would like to do is ex- When you publish a column that about Teachers unions with the tion for eight grades, swept the press my sadness. I am sad- cites evidence from only two pious assertion that “we don’t floor in the evening, and had dened that such an inferior sources out of dozens of peer-re- publish diatribes; we publish in- time to cinch the saddle on my piece of work was published in viewed publications that have formed analyses.” This is fol- horse before I rode home across the first place. I was saddened reached widely differing conclu- lowed by the author’s response the prairie. And, oh yes, did I by Kendrick Frazier’s weak- sions as to the impact of teachers culminating in “public employee mention it? wristed defense of his decision unions on academic perform- collective bargaining is an im - She was non-union. to publish the original piece. ance, and when both of the proper and potentially despotic But I was saddened most of all sources are fellows at a conserva- delegation of critical governmen- Oliver R. Bishop by Krause’s response to the crit- tive think-tank, skeptical readers tal powers to un elected special Westmont, Illinois icism of the piece. Rather than are obligated to point out what interest groups....” provide a proper science-based appears to be political bias. Pardon me if I declare my- rebuttal, he rants. It is mostly Krause’s original column (SI, self, shall we say, skeptical of Bravo for your integrity and your disclaimer. devoted to belittling the letter November/December 2011) courage in publishing this arti- writers and anyone else who cle. I’m a skeptic for reasons I makes the extraordinary claim Harvey Wachtel disagrees with him. It is com- consider good reasons. I’m a po- that “the overall [my emphasis] Kew Gardens, New York pletely lacking in additional ev- litical conservative for reasons I impact of unions on society ... is idence to support his position. consider good reasons. I’m fed decisively negative” without dis- In short it embodies all the at- up with liberals hijacking skep- cussing unions other than teach- tributes that SKePTICAl IN- ticism and its institutions the ers unions. In his response (SI, quIReR has been railing against [FEEDBACK way they have hijacked and March/April 2012), Krause for all this time. prostituted innumerable other makes a further extraordinary The letters column is a forum on mat - institutions and movements. Patrick J. Russell claim that “collective bargaining ters raised in previous issues. Letters is inherently anti-democratic,” should be no longer than 225 words. May truth and reason prevail. Seattle, Washington Due to the volume of letters we receive, The squealing of stuck liberals which he supports with one sen- not all can be published. Send letters is music to my ears. Don’t be tence of general logical argu- as email text (not attachments) to let- ments and one sentence based ters@csicop. org. In the subject line, bought or bullied. I reject your blanket assertion that provide your surname and informative SKePTICAl INquIReR doesn’t on appeal to expert opinion. identi fication, e.g.: “Smith Letter on Norman Carlson pub lish “diatribes” and that read- When SI’s editor allows a col - Jones evolution art icle.” In clude your Busti, New York ers “should not ascribe political name and ad dress at the end of the let- umnist to make extraordinary ter. You may also mail your letter to the editor to 944 Deer Dr. NE, Albuquerque, NM 87122, or fax it to 505-828-2080.

Updated SI ‘Guide for Authors’ Online

Want to write for the SKEPTICAL INQUIRER? We have created an updated and much-expanded “Guide for Authors.” It has expanded sections on Categories, Topics, and General Infor ma tion; Format Require- ments (Text, References and Notes, and Illustra tions); and Submittal Instructions. Potential authors should consult these instructions before submittal. Download the updated and expanded Guide for Authors from our website at www.csicop.org/publications/guide/. —The Editors

Skeptical Inquirer | July/August 2012 65 July August pages_SI new design masters 5/30/12 4:40 PM Page 66

[ THE LAST LAUGH BENJAMIN RADFORD

SKEPTICAL ANNIVERSARIES by HIDDEN MESSAGES by Dave Thomas July 5, 1977: Vermont resident Sandra Mansi took what would The following letters are a simple substitution cipher. become the most famous photo of (and “best evidence” for) If R stands for L, it will do so everywhere. Solution is by trial the Lake Champlain monster; Joe Nickell and Ben Radford and error. Hint: Look for patterns in words; for example, the scrambled phrase “JRXJ JRq” might represent “THAT THE.” later analyzed the image and concluded it was a tree stump. July 8, 1947: A poorly worded U.S. Army press release about PUZZLE recovered balloon wreckage near Roswell, New Mexico, even- tually became the basis of a UFO legend. “GONJRJFDH LGO SFDSNCHJFDH ZFG

July 8, 1977: The FBI conducted a massive raid of Scientology EIJSI UIO ZLSUH FZ DLUCGO HCKKNX DF offices in response to the church’s “Operation Snow White” at- tempt to infiltrate the U.S. government. QLVFG KGOQJHOH.” August 4, 2007: The first Skepticamp was held in Denver, Col- orado. More than fifty of these informal community-organized —LQMGFHO MJOGSO skeptic events have since been held all around the world. August 9, 1977: The first CSICOP Executive Council meeting CLUE: X = Y was held. Among other business, Kendrick Frazier was ap- PREVIOUS PUZZLE SOLUTION (May/June 2012): “THE TRAGEDY IS THAT pointed editor of the SKEPTICAL INqUIRER. EVERY BRAIN CELL DEVOTED TO BELIEF IN THE SUPERNATURAL IS A BRAIN CELL ONE CANNOT USE TO MAKE LIFE RICHER OR EASIER OR HAPPIER.” August 11, 3114 BC: The Mayans thought this was creation day —KAY NOLTE SMITH and made it the first day of their Long Count calendar; misin- SUPER-SECRET WORD: UNSKEPTICAL terpretation of this calendar has led to predictions of cata- (Instructions: www.nmsr.org/secretword.htm) clysm in December 2012. August 16, 1987: An alignment of the planets and cosmic forces was predicted to produce a “Harmonic Convergence” and usher in a new era of world peace. Hidden Messages Puzzle Contest Tim Farley is a research fellow with the James Randi Submit your solution by email to [email protected] Educational Foundation and created the website or via postal mail to: Benjamin Radford The Last Laugh whatstheharm.net. P.O. Box 3016 Corrales, NM 87048 Winner will be chosen at random from the first three correct submissions received by both email and postal mail.

May/June 2012 Hidden Messages Puzzle Contest Winner: Jimmie J. McKinley This issue's prize: A one-year subscription (or extension) to SKEPTICAL INQUIER.

GET FUZZY BY DARBY CONLEY

©2009 Darby Conley. Reprinted with permission of UNIVERSAL UCLICK for UFS. All rights reserved. 66 Volume 36 Issue 4 | Skeptical Inquirer July August pages_SI new design masters 5/30/12 4:40 PM Page 67

Scientific and Technical Consultants CENTERS FOR INQUIRY www.centerforinquiry.net/about/branches Gary Bauslaugh, John F. Fischer, I.W. Kelly, Daisie Radner, writer and editor, forensic analyst, Orlando, FL prof. of psychology, Univ. of Saskatch ewan, prof. of philosophy, SUNY Buffalo Victoria, B.C., Canada Canada TRANSNATIONAL Eileen Gambrill, Robert H. Romer, 3965 Rensch Road, Amherst, NY 14228 Richard E. Berendzen, prof. of social welfare, Richard H. Lange, prof. of physics, Amherst College Tel.: (716) 636-4869 astronomer, Washington, DC Univ. of California at Berkeley MD, Mohawk Valley Physician Karl Sabbagh, Health Plan, Schenectady, NY AUSTIN Martin Bridgstock, Luis Alfonso Gámez, journalist, Richmond, Surrey, England PO Box 202164, Austin, TX 78720-2164 senior lecturer, School of Science, science journalist, Bilbao, Spain Gerald A. Larue, Robert J. Samp, Tel.: (512) 919-4115 Griffith Univ., Brisbane, Australia prof. of biblical history and Sylvio Garattini, assistant prof. of education and CHICAGO archaeology, Univ. of So. California Richard Busch, director, Mario Negri Pharma cology medicine, Univ. of Wisconsin-Madison PO Box 7951, Chicago, IL 60680-7951 magician/mentalist, Pittsburgh, PA Institute, , Italy William M. London, Steven D. Schafersman, Tel.: (312) 226-0420 California State Univ., Los Angeles Shawn Carlson, Laurie Godfrey, asst. prof. of geology, Miami Univ., OH INDIANAPOLIS Society for Amateur Scientists, anthropologist, Univ. of Massachusetts Rebecca Long, Chris Scott, 350 Canal Walk, Suite A, Indianapolis, IN 46202 East Greenwich, RI Gerald Goldin, nuclear engineer, president of Geor gia statistician, London, England Tel.: (317) 423-0710 Council Against Health Fraud, Atlanta, GA Roger B. Culver, mathematician, Rutgers Univ., NJ LOS ANGELES Stuart D. Scott Jr., 4773 Hollywood Blvd., Hollywood, CA 90027 prof. of astronomy, Colorado State Univ. Donald Goldsmith, Thomas R. McDonough, associate prof. of anthropology, lecturer in engineering, Caltech, and SETI Tel.: (323) 666-9797 Felix Ares de Blas, astronomer; president, Interstellar Media SUNY Buffalo Coordinator of the Planetary Society prof. of computer science, MICHIGAN Alan Hale, Erwin M. Segal, 3777 44th Street SE, Grand Rapids, MI 49512 Univ. of Basque, San Sebastian, Spain astronomer, Southwest Institute for Space James E. McGaha, prof. of psychology, SUNY Buffalo astronomer, USAF pilot (ret.) Tel.: (616) 698-2342 J. Dommanget, Research, Alamogordo, NM Carla Selby, NEW YORK CITY astronomer, Royale Observatory, Clyde F. Herreid, Chris Mooney, anthropologist/archaeologist Brussels, journalist, author, host of Point of Inquiry PO Box 26241, Brooklyn, NY 11202 prof. of biology, SUNY Buffalo Steven N. Shore, Tel.: (347) 699-0234 Nahum J. Duker, Joel A. Moskowitz, Terence M. Hines, prof. of astrophysics, Univ. of Pisa, Italy SAN FRANCISCO assistant prof. of pathology, director of medical psychiatry, Calabasas prof. of psychology, email: [email protected] Temple Univ. Mental Health Services, Los Angeles Waclaw Szybalski, Pace Univ., Pleasantville, NY professor, McArdle Laboratory, Univ. TAMPA BAY Taner Edis, Michael Hutchinson, Matthew C. Nisbet, of Wisconsin–Madison 4011 S. Manhattan Ave. #139, Tampa, FL 33611-1277 Division of Science/Physics assistant professor, School of author; SKEPTICAL INQUIRER Tel.: (813) 849-7571 Truman State Univ. Communication, American Univ. Sarah G. Thomason, WASHINGTON, DC representative, Europe prof. of linguistics, Univ. of Pittsburgh, PA Barbara Eisenstadt, John W. Patterson, Philip A. Ianna, 921 Pennsylvania Ave. SE, Washington, DC 20003 psychologist, educator, clinician, prof. of materials science and Tim Trachet, Tel.: (202) 543-0960 assoc. prof. of astronomy, journalist and science writer, honorary East Greenbush, NY en gineering, Iowa State Univ. ARGENTINA Univ. of Virginia chairman of SKEPP, Belgium William Evans, James R. Pomerantz, Buenos Aires, Argentina William Jarvis, prof. of communication, prof. of psychology, Rice Univ. David Willey, prof. of health promotion and public health, Tel.: +54-11-4704-9437 Center for Creative Media physics instructor, Univ. of Pittsburgh, PA Loma Linda Univ., School of Public Health Gary P. Posner, www.cfiargentina.org Bryan Farha, MD, Tampa, FL CANADA prof. of behavioral studies in 2 College Street, Suite 214 Toronto, Ontario, education, Oklahoma City Univ. M5G 1K3, Canada CHINA China Research Institute for Science Popularization, | NO. 86, Xueyuan Nanlu Haidian Dist., Beijing, Affiliated Organizations United States 100081 China Tel.: +86-10-62170515 ALABAMA D.C./MARYLAND MINNESOTA South Shore Skeptics (SSS) Cleveland EGYPT Alabama Skeptics, Alabama. Emory National Capital Area Skeptics NCAS, St. Kloud Extraordinary Claim Psychic and counties. Jim Kutz. Tel.: 440 942- 44 Gol Gamal St., Agouza, Giza, Egypt Kimbrough. Tel.: 205-759-2624. 3550 Maryland, D.C., Virginia. D.W. “Chip” Teaching Investigating Community 5543; Email: [email protected]. PO FRANCE Water melon Road, Apt. 28A, Northport, Denman. Tel.: 301-587-3827. Email: (SKEPTIC) St. Cloud, Minne sota. Jerry Box 5083, Cleveland, OH 44101 Dr. Henri Broch, Universite of Nice, Faculte des AL 35476 [email protected]. PO Box 8428, Silver Spring, Mertens. Tel.: 320-255-2138; Email: www.southshoreskeptics.org Sciences, Parc Valrose, 06108, Nice cedex 2, MD 20907-8428 [email protected]. Jerry ARIZONA Association for Rational Thought (ART) France Tel.: +33-492-07-63-12 http://www.ncas.org Mertens, Psychology Department, 720 Tucson Skeptics Inc. Tucson, AZ. James Cincinnati. Roy Auerbach, president. Tel: 4th Ave. S, St. Cloud State Univ., St. GERMANY Mc Gaha. Email:[email protected]. FLORIDA (513)-731-2774, Email: Cloud, MN 56301 Kirchgasse 4, 64380 Rossdorf, Germany 5100 N. Sabino Foot hills Dr., Tucson, AZ Tampa Bay Skeptics (TBS) Tampa Bay, [email protected]. PO Box 12896, Tel.: +49-6154-695023 85715 Florida. Gary Posner, Executive Director. MISSOURI Cin cinnati, OH 45212. www.cincinnati INDIA Tel.: 813-849-7571; Email: Skeptical Society of St. Louis (SSSL) skeptics.org Phoenix Area Skeptics Society (PASS) [email protected]. c/o O’Keefe, St. Louis, Missouri. Michael Blanford, 46 Masi garh, New Friends Colony http://phoenixskeptics.org OREGON 4011 S. Manhattan Ave. #139, Tampa, President. Email: [email protected]. New Delhi 110025 Email: [email protected] Oregonians for Science and Reason Tel.: 91-9868010950 FL 33611-1277. www.tampabayskept 2729 Ann Ave., St. Louis, MO 63104 (O4SR) Oregon. Jeanine DeNoma, presi- Phoenix Skeptics, Phoenix, AZ. Michael LONDON ics.org www.skepticalstl.org dent. Tel.: (541) 745-5026; Email: Stack pole, P.O. Box 60333, Phoenix, AZ Conway Hall, 25 Red Lion Square, The James Randi Educational St. Joseph Skeptics [email protected]; 39105 Military Rd., 85082 Foun dation. James Randi, Director. Tel: P.O. Box 8908 Monmouth, OR 97361. www.04SR.org London WC1R 4RL, England CALIFORNIA NEPAL (954)467-1112; Email [email protected]. St. Joseph MO, 64508-8908 PENNSYLVANIA Sacramento Organization for Rational Humanist Association of Nepal, 201 S.E. 12th St. (E. Davie Blvd.), Fort NEVADA Philadelphia Association for Critical Think ing (SORT) Sacramento, CA. Ray Span- PO Box 5284, Kathmandu Nepal Lauderdale, FL 33316-1815. Reno Skeptical Society, Inc., Think ing (PhACT), much of Pennsylvania. genburg, co-foun der. Tel.: 916-978-0321; www.randi.org Brad Lutts, President. Eric Krieg, Presi dent. Tel.: 215-885- Tel.: +977-1-4413-345 Email: [email protected]. PO Box 2215, ILLINOIS Tel.: (775) 335-5505; 2089; Email: [email protected]. NEW ZEALAND Carmichael, CA 95609-2215 Rational Examination Association Email: [email protected]. 18124 By mail c/o Ray Haupt, 639 W. Ellet St., email: [email protected] http://home.comcast.net/~kitray2/site/ of Lincoln Land (REALL) Illinois. Bob Wedge Parkway #1052 Reno, Nevada Philadelphia PA 19119 NIGERIA Bay Area Skeptics (BAS) San Francisco— Ladendorf, Chairman. Tel.: 217-546- 89511. www.RenoSkeptics.org TENNESSEE PO Box 25269, Mapo, Ibadan, Oyo State, Nigeria Bay Area. Eugenie C. Scott, President. 1218 3475; Email: [email protected]. PO Box NEW MEXICO Rationalists of East Tennessee, East Tel.: +234-2-2313699 Miluia St., Berkeley, CA 94709. Email: 20302, Springfield, IL 62708 New Mexicans for Science and Reason Ten nessee. Carl Ledenbecker. Tel.: (865)- PERU [email protected]. www.BASkeptics.org www.reall.org (NMSR) New Mexico. David E. Thomas, 982-8687; Email: [email protected]. 2123 D. Casanova 430, Lima 14, Peru Independent Investi gations Group (IIG), Chicago Skeptics Jennifer Newport, President. Tel.: 505-869-9250; Email: Stony brook Rd., Louis ville, email: [email protected] Center for In quiry–West, 4773 Holly wood contact person. Email: chicagoskep- nmsrdave @swcp.com. PO Box 1017, TN 37777 POLAND Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90027. Tel.: 323- [email protected]. Peralta, NM 87042. www.nmsr.org TEXAS Lokal Biurowy No. 8, 8 Sapiezynska Sr., 666-9797. www.iigwest.com www.chicagoskeptics.com NEW YORK North Texas Skeptics NTS Dallas/Ft 00-215, Warsaw, Poland Sacramento Skeptics Society, Sacramento. LOUISIANA New York City Skeptics Michael Feldman, Worth area, John Blanton, Secretary. ROMANIA Terry Sandbek, Presi dent. 4300 Au burn Baton Rouge Proponents of Rational president. PO Box 5122 New York, NY Tel.: (972)-306-3187; Email: Fundatia Centrul pentru Constiinta Critica Blvd. Suite 206, Sacramento CA 95841. Inquiry and Scientific Methods 10185. www.nycskeptics.org [email protected]. PO Box 111794, Tel.: (40)-(O)744-67-67-94 Tel.: 916 489-1774. Email: terry@sand- (BR-PRISM) Louisiana. Marge Schroth. Carrollton, TX 75011-1794. email: [email protected] bek.com Tel.: 225-766-4747. 425 Carriage Way, Central New York Skeptics (CNY Skeptics) www.ntskeptics.org RUSSIA Syracuse. Lisa Goodlin, President. Tel: San Diego Asso ciation for Rational Inquiry Baton Rouge, LA 70808 (315) 636-6533; Email: info@cnyskep- VIRGINIA Dr. Valerii A. Kuvakin, 119899 Russia, Moscow, (SDARI) President: Paul Wenger. Tel.: 858- MICHIGAN tics.org, cnyskeptics.org PO Box 417, Science & Reason, Hampton Rds., Vorobevy Gory, Moscow State Univ., 292-5635. Program/general information Great Lakes Skeptics (GLS) SE Michi- Fayettville, NY 13066 Virginia. Lawrence Weinstein, Old Philosophy Department 619-421-5844. www.sdari.org. gan. Lorna J. Simmons, Contact person. Dominion Univ.-Physics Dept., Norfolk, SENEGAL Postal ad dress: PO Box 623, La Jolla, CA Tel.: 734-525-5731; Email: Skeptic31 OHIO VA 23529 PO Box 15376, Dakar – Fann, Senegal 92038-0623 @aol.com. 31710 Cowan Road, Apt. Central Ohioans for Rational Inquiry (CORI) Central Ohio. Charlie Hazlett, WASHINGTON Tel.: +221-501-13-00 CONNECTICUT 103, West land, MI 48185-2366 President. Tel.: 614-878-2742; Email: Seattle Skeptics New England Skeptical Society (NESS) Tri-Cities Skeptics, Michi gan. Gary [email protected]. PO Box 282069, www.seattleskeptics.com New England. Steven Novella M.D., Presi- Barker. Tel.: 517-799-4502; Email: bark- Columbus, OH 43228 dent. Tel.: 203-281-6277; Email: [email protected]. 3596 Butternut St., [email protected]. 64 Cobblestone Saginaw, MI 48604 Dr., Hamden, CT 06518 www.theness.com

C Y E The organizations listed above have aims similar to those of the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry but are independent and autonomous. N I R T U E Q Representatives of these organizations cannot speak on behalf of CSI. Please send updates to Barry Karr, P.O. Box 703, Amherst NY 14226-0703. R F O R I N International affiliated organizations listed at www.csicop.org.