MARTIN GARDNER ON SOKAL HOAX • NOT-SO-SPONTANEOUS HUMAN COMBUSTION • EVOLUTION BATTLES

Leon M. Lederman

Cosmic Menagerie That's Entertainment! Neil deGrasse Tyson- TV'S UFO Coverup Philip J. Klass Scientific Consensus » and Expert Testimony The Dogon Revisited The 'Roswell Fragment'—Case Closed

Published by the Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims Of the Paranormal THE COMMITTEE FOR THE SCIENTIFIC INVESTIGATION OF CLAIMS OF THE PARANORMAL

AI THE CENTER fC* INQUIRY (ADJACENT TO THE STATE UNIVERSITY Of NEW YORK AT BUFFALO] AN INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATION Paul Kurtz. Chairman; professor emeritus of philosophy. State University of New York at Buffalo Barry Karr, Executive Director and Public Relations Director Joe Nickell, Senior Research Fellow Lee Nisbet, Special Projects Director FELLOWS

James E. Alcock.* psychologist, York Thomas Gilovich, psychologist, Cornell Joe Nickell,* senior research fellow, CSI­ Univ., Toronto Univ. COP Jerry Andrus, magician and inventor, Henry Gordon, magician, columnist, Lee Nisbet,* philosopher, Medaille College Albany, Oregon Toronto James E. Oberg. science writer Robert A. Baker, psychologist, Univ. of Stephen Jay Gould, Museum of Loren Pankratz, psychologist, Oregon Kentucky Comparative Zoology. Harvard Univ. Health Sciences Univ. Stephen Barrett, M.D., psychiatrist, C E. M. Hansel, psychologist, Univ. of John Paulos, mathematician, Temple author, consumer advocate, Allentown, Wales Univ. Pa. AI Hibbs, scientist. Jet Propulsion Mark Plummer, lawyer, Australia Barry Beyerstein,* biopsychologist, Laboratory W. V. Quine, philosopher. Harvard Univ. Simon Fraser Univ.. Vancouver, B.C., Douglas Hofstadter, professor of Canada Milton Rosenberg, psychologist, Univ. human understanding and cognitive of Chicago Irving Biederman, psychologist, Univ. of science, Indiana Univ. Carl Sagan, astronomer, Cornell Univ. Southern California Gerald Holton, Mallinckrodt Professor of Wallace Sampson, M.D., clinical profes­ Susan Blackmore,* psychologist, Univ. Physics and Professor of History of sor of medicine, Stanford Univ. of the West of England, Bristol Science, Harvard Univ. Evry Schatzman, President, French Henri Broch, physicist Univ. of Nice. Ray Hyman,* psychologist, Univ. of Physics Association France Oregon Eugenie Scott, physical anthropologist, Jan Harold Brunvand, folklorist, profes­ Leon Jaroff, sciences editor emeritus. executive director, National Center for sor of English, Univ. of Utah Time Science Education Vern Bullough, professor of history, Sergei Kapitza, editor, Russian edition, Glenn T. Seaborg, University Professor California State Univ. at Northridge Scientific American of Chemistry, Univ. of California, Mario Bunge, philosopher, McGill Philip J. Klass,* aerospace writer, engi­ Berkeley; Nobel Prize laureate University neer Thomas A. Sebeok, anthropologist lin­ John R. Cole, professor of anthropology, Marvin Kohl, professor of philosophy, guist, Indiana Univ. Univ. of Mass. at Amherst SUNY at Fredonia Robert Sheaffer, science writer F. H. C. Crick, biophysicist, Salk Inst, for Edwin C. Krupp, astronomer, director, Elie A. Shneour, biochemist; author, director, Biosystems Research Institute, Biological Studies, La Jolla, Calif; Nobel Griffith Observatory La Jolla, California Prize laureate Paul Kurtz,* chairman, CSICOP Dick Smith, film producer, publisher, Richard Dawkins, zoologist. Oxford Lawrence Kusche, science writer Terrey Hills, N.S.W., Australia Univ. Leon Lederman, emeritus director, Robert Steiner, magician, author, El L. Sprague de Camp, author, engineer Fermilab; Nobel laureate in physics Cerrito, Calif. Cornells de Jager, professor of astro­ Elizabeth Loftus, professor of psychol­ Jill Cornell Tarter, SETI Institute physics, Univ. of Utrecht the ogy, Univ. of Washington Carol Tavris', psychologist and author, Netherlands Paul MacCready, scientist/engineer, Los Angeles, Calif. Bernard Dixon, science writer, London, AeroVironment, Inc., Monrovia, Calif. Stephen Toulmin, professor of philoso­ U.K. David Marks, psychologist Middlesex phy, University of Southern California Paul Edwards, philosopher. Editor, Polytech, England Steven Weinberg, professor of physics Encyclopedia of Philosophy Walter C. McCrone, microscopist, and astronomy, University of Texas at Antony Flew, philosopher, Reading Austin; Nobel Prize laureate McCrone Research Institute Univ., U.K. Marvin Zelen. statistician, Harvard Univ. Marvin Minsky, professor of Media Arts Andrew Fraknoi, astronomer. Foothill Lin Zixin, former editor, Science and and Sciences, M.I.T. College. Los Altos Hills. Calif. Technology Daily (China) Kendrick Frazier,* science writer. Editor, David Morrison, space scientist. NASA SKEPTICAL INQUIRER Ames Research Center * Member, CSICOP Executive Council Yves Galifret Exec. Secretary, I'Union Richard A. Muller, professor of physics. * Associate Member, CSICOP Executive Rationaliste Univ. of Calif., Berkeley Council Martin Gardner,* author, critic H. Narasimhaiah, physicist president (Affiliations given for identification only.) Murray Gell-Mann, professor of physics, Bangalore Science Forum, India Santa Fe InstituteVisi; Nobet l Prizthee laureat CSICOe DorothP wey Nelkinb sit, sociologise at thttp://www.csicop.or New York g • • • Univ. The Skeptical Inquirer (ISSN 0194-6730) b published bimonthly by the Committer for che Scientific work of individual author* Their publication does not necessarily constitute an endorsement by CSICOP Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal. 3965 Rensch Rd Amherst NY 14228-2743. Printed in USA or in members unless to stated Second-claw, pottage paid at Amherst, New York, ind additional mailing office*. Subscription prices one Copyright 1996 by the Committee lor Use Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal All year (m ana), $32.50; two yean. $5400; three yean, $75.00; tingle iussue. $4.95. rights reserved. The Skeptical Inquirer is available on 16mm microfilm. 35mm microfilm, and 105mm Inquiries from the media and the public about die work of the Committee should be made to Paul microfiche from University Microfilms International and ii indexed in the Readers Guide to Periodical Kara. Chairman CSICOP. Box 703. Amherst. NY 14226-0703 Td 1716) 636-1425. FAX: 716-636- Literature. 1733. Subscriptions change of address, and advertising should beaddressed to : Skeptical Inquirer, Box Manuscripts, letters, books for review, and editorial inquiries should be addressed to Kendrick Frazier, 703. Amherst. MY 14226-0703. Or call toll-free 1-800-634-1610 outside VS. call 716-636-1425). Old Editor. Skeptical Inquirer )44Deer Drive NE..\lbuqL«rqueNMri22-li06 FAX 505-828-2080 For address as well as new are necessary for change of subscriber's address, with us weeks advance notice Guide for Author tee page 65 of the May /Jun e 1996 iuue or tax request to die Editor Skeptical Inquirer SUBSCRIBERS may not speak on behalf of CSICOP or the Skeptical Inquirer Articles, reports, reviews, and letter published in the Skeptical Inquirer represent the views and Postmaster Send changes of address to Skeptical Inquirer Box 703. Amherst. NY 14226-0703. Skeptical Inquirer 'Roswell fragment', p. 5 November/December 1996 • VOL 20, NO. 6

ARTICLES

23 A Strategy for Saving Science Judas Priest trial, p. 32 To preserve our four-hundred-year commitment to a scientific worldview, we need our educated people to incorporate scientific thinking—the COLUMNS blend of curiosity and skepticism, the habit of critical questioning—into their very nature. Pioneering new teaching styles in science and math, EDITOR'S NOTE 4 carried out in cooperation with the liberal arts, can help achieve that. LEON M LEDERMAN NEWS AND COMMENT The 'Roswell Fragment' /Penthouse 'Autopsy1 / Where Are the Antiscience Attitudes? / 'Evolution' 29 Thafs Entertainment! TV's UFO Coverup Loses Out in New Mexico Science Standards / 'Klass Network television documentaries about UFOs have willfully ignored County' UFO Abductions / Some Double-Blind evidence that contradicts the pro-aliens theme. Experiments May Not Be So Blind After All / The PHILIP J. KLASS New Medicine Goes to Congress / That's Astronomy, Not Astrology / In Memoriam: Gordon Stein 5 32 Scientific Consensus and Expert NOTES OF A FRINGE-WATCHER Testimony: Lessons from the Physicist Alan Sokal's Hilarious Hoax MARTIN GARDNER .14 Judas Priest Trial Can a subliminal message induce someone to commit suicide? INVESTIGATIVE FILES Not-So-Spontaneous Human Combustion This was the central question at the Judas Priest trial. JOE NICKELL 17 TIMOTHY E. MOORE MEDIA WATCH 39 The Dogon People Revisited CD-ROM Encyclopedias: How Does Their Coverage of Pseudoscience Topics Rate? The 1970s claim that the Dogon tribespeople of Africa had extraordinary astronomical knowledge has been revived, amplified, and widely dissemi­ nated in recent years. Here is a new examination and evaluation. NEW BOOKS 53 BERNARD R. ORTIZ de MONTELLANO 54 43 Cosmic Menagerie: Some FORUM Beyond the Rational Underpublicized Truths about the GLORIA J. LEITNER 55 Constellations Extraterrestrial Unintelligence? The stars in our night sky are only a few thousand dots of light, but ALTA WALKER 56 since ancient times people have been mentally connecting the dots to cre­ ate a cosmic zoo. But don't look to them to tell you about your personal LETTERS TO THE EDITOR 61 life or fortune. NEIL DEGRASSE TYSON BOOK REVIEWS

Saving science, p. 23 The Night Is Large by Martin Gardner MICHAEL DIRDA 47

Jeopardy in the Courtroom: A Scientific Analysis of Children's Testimony by Stephen J. Ceci and Maggie Bruck LLOYD STIRES 49

ON THE COVER: The Tenth Insight Hubble Space Telescope photo of by James Redfield the van nebula NGC 604. JOSEPH P. SZIMHART.. Hui Yang (University of Illinois). 50 Jeff J. Hester (University of Arizona) and NASA Ground- Test Your Psychic Powers: Find out the based image courtesy of Palomar Observatory. Caltech and the Truth for Yourself STSd Digitized Sky Survey. by Susan Blackmore and Adam Hart-Davis LeonLederman phot o by Sherwood Fohrman CHRISTOPHER C. FRENCH 52 EDITOR'S NOTE Skeptical Inquirer TNI MAGAZINE ro> SCIENCE AND REASON

EDITOR Saving Science and Searching for Aliens Kendrick Frazier EDITORIAL BOARD James E. Alcock ith his twinkly smile and ready wit, Leon Lederman might not be your Barry Beyerstein stereotypical expectation of a Nobel laureate physicist. He speaks and Susan J. Blackmore writes with zest, informality, and irreverence. His book The God Particle Martin Gardner W Ray Hyman is a surprising and entertaining tour of current topics in modern physics. He devotes Philip J. Klass much of his time diese days to issues of science education and scientific literacy. At Paul Kurtz CSICOP's twentieth-anniversary conference Lederman delivered a lively, informal Joe Nickell trademark address on all manner of threats to science, from funding cuts to anti- Lee Nisbet Bela Scheiber science attitudes among intelligentsia, to the dismal scientific illiteracy among our CONSULTING EDITORS public today. He also offered constructive suggestions and programs for stimulating Robert A. Baker young people's interest in science, improving science education, and creating better John R. Cole informed citizens. His article "A Strategy for Saving Science," in this issue, is based Kenneth L. Feder C. E. M. Hansel on that talk. E. C. Krupp David F. Marks Andrew Neher James E. Oberg Philip J. Klass has no peers for the title of world's leading UFO skeptic. A tire­ Robert Sheaffer Steven N. Shore less investigator, this veteran of some four decades at Aviation Week & Space MANAGING EDITOR Technology magazine and head of CSICOP's UFO subcommittee for its two decades, Gwen A. Burda has looked in vain for some solid evidence of UFOs as extraterrestrial spacecraft. In ASSISTANT EDITOR his article in this issue, also based on a talk at the CSICOP conference, Klass shows Alice Loweecey that there is indeed a coverup in regard to what the public is told about the supposed ART DIRECTOR Roswell crashed flying saucer of 1947. That coverup is being carried out by the Christine Kuzniarek nation's television networks. Klass has on several occasions provided them documen­ PRODUCTION Paul Loynes tary proof in die form of once top-secret documents that disprove the Roswell myth. CARTOONIST These documents show that in late 1948 top Pentagon intelligence officials thought Rob Pudim UFOs may have been of Soviet origin. No alien spacecraft, let alone "aliens," were

known. Will the networks tell the public? PUBLISHER'S REPRESENTATIVE Barry Karr BUSINESS MANAGER Mary Rose Hays Two other items on the Roswell incident, in our News and Comment section, ASSISTANT BUSINESS MANAGES show how shoddy this whole mess has become. The one of most significance concerns Sandra Lesniak an unusual looking fragment of metal that surfaced this spring. It was alleged to be ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR Of DEVELOPMENT Anthony C. Battaglia from the Roswell "crashed saucer." Legitimate scientists have now subjected the metal to isotopic analysis. As David E. Thomas reports, the results show mat its origin is CHIEF DATA OFFICER Richard Seymour Earthly. Then in early September die fragment's origin was pinpointed a litde more FULFILLMENT MANAGER closely. An artist in St. George, Utah, made it. To his credit, the artist had never rep­ Michael Cione resented the material as anything other than leftover scraps from his own line of jew­ STAFF elry. But someone else certainly did. Elizabeth Begley Elizabeth O. Fellendorf Amy Goble Linda Heller Diana Picciano The NASA announcement that U.S. scientists have detected in a Martian mete­ Alfreda Pidgeon orite what may be microfossil evidence of past life on Mars is—in contrast to all the Etienne Rios bogus "alien" allegations—legitimately exciting. Good scientists have found and pre­ Ranjit Sandhu sented good evidence in appropriate forums, including publication of thcit data and Sharon Sikora Vance Vigrass microphotos in die journal Science. They agonized over how and when to announce Dana Walpole their findings and conclusions, and dicy provided all necessary caveats. They invited CORPORATE COUNSEL further scrutiny. We will eventually see how diis all comes out, but die excitement in Brenton N, VerPloeg both the scientific community and the media was appropriate. If die discovery is con­ INQUIRY MEDIA PRODUCTIONS firmed, it is epic. Thomas Flynn DIRECTOR OF LIBRARIES Gordon S. Stein

The SKEPTICAL INQUIRER is the official journal of the Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal, an international organization.

4 November/December 1996 SKEPTICAL INQUIRER NEWS AND COMMENT The 'Roswell Fragment1—Case Closed

t was said to have come from outer space. On Sunday, March 24, 1996, Ia small piece of strange, swirly-pat¬ terned metal was delivered to the Roswell International UFO Museum and Research Center in Roswell, New Mexico. The man who turned in die fragment of metal to die museum, Blake Larsen, had been told it was retrieved from die 1947 crash of an alien craft near Roswell. But on Friday, September 6, it was revealed that the fragment wasn't made on another planet—it came from St. George, Utah. Here is die story of die fragment that has gained interna­ tional attention for die last six months.

Shorty after receiving the piece of metal, the museum announced plans to have it scientifically tested. Museum offi­ cial Max Littell said, "If some metallur­ gist says there is nothing in die book like this, and he has got all his degrees and is The fragment during testing at the Bureau of Mines in Socorro, New Mexico. an expert source, dien we are home free. Isotopic analyses reveal its origin is Earthly, and an artist confirms he made it. This is it." Photo by C. B. Moore. When I heard of the fragment on local television, I promptly contacted C. B. alien artifacts such as implants. Sagan mass spectrometer and measured. The Moore, professor emeritus of physics at noted that none had been observed to Cu-63 results for fragments 1 and 2 were New Mexico Tech. Back in 1947, Moore have unusual isotopic content. I did a lit— 69.127% and 69.120%, respectively. A launched the balloon train now widely de research and found that most isotopes piece of normal, refined copper, tested as diought to have precipitated die actual of copper decay quickly, but two are sta­ a control, had a value of 69.129% Cu-63¬ "Roswell Incident" (SKEPTICAL INQUIRER, ble: Cu-63 and Cu-65. No matter where The accepted value for Cu-63 is July/August 1995). Moore men spoke copper is found on Earth, it always con­ 69.174%. And so, the copper was not with Museum Board member Miller sists of the same percentages of these iso­ found to deviate significantly from Johnson and was invited to join in die topes. But heavy elements like copper are Earthly isotopic ratios. A similar result first inspection of die fragment, scheduled forged by a variety of thermonuclear was obtained for die silver, which con­ for die following day (March 29), at die events in red giants or supernovae, and tains 51.840% Ag — 107 and 48.160% Ag- Bureau of Mines at New Mexico Tech in thus the ratios of various isotopes will 109. Socorro. Department manager Chris most likely vary from star to star. I passed The results of the LANL test were McKee carried out die analysis, while the suggestion of isotope testing to mentioned in NMSR Reports (the New Roswell police chief Ray Mounts recorded die procedure. The results of the Moore, who passed it on to Johnson, Mexicans for Science and Reason newslet­ X-ray fluorescence measurements indi­ who began setting up die tests in May. ter), where they caught the eye of cated die metal was about 50% CU (cop­ The isotopic analyses took place at Los Albuquerque Journal reporter John Fleck. per) and 50% Ag (silver) on die front Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) on Flecks August 13 report on the isotopic side, and 87% Ag and 12% CU on the August 1 and 2, 1996. The museum paid analyses caught die eye of someone in St. back side, with 1% odier trace elements. $725 for the work. E. Larry Callis of the George, Utah, who called Fleck to tell At about that time, I came across a Chemical Metallurgical Research division him where the fragment really came from. statement by astronomer Carl Sagan in performed the tests, which were taped It turns out die fragment was a piece die March/April 1996 SKEPTICAL and photographed by LANL personnel of leftover material created by artist INQUIRER regarding testing of purported and Johnson. Pieces of both die original Randy Fullbright. Fullbright uses an and a second "fragment" were placed in a ancient Japanese technique (translated as

SKEPTICAL INQUIRER November/December 1996 5 NEWS AND COMMENT

Penthouse 'Autopsy': The hospital gurney, the fingers bent exacdy the same, the pock marks on the Deja View face—everything is identical. Anyone can tell it's the same. We've had a lot of Bob Guccione seems to playing P. T. people calling and saying, 'That looks Barnum. When Barnum could not pur­ like yours.'" chase the "Cardiff" Giant"—a fake "pet­ rified man" carved from a block of gyp­ sum—he exhibited a replica and billed it as the original. Now the Penthouse publisher is pro­ moting a strange creature, and it's deja vu all over again. Branding as a hoax Fox TVs "Alien Autopsy" film—which pur­ ports to depict extraterrestrials that Examples of artist Randy Fullbright's crashed at Roswell, New Mexico, in work on display at James Kallas 1947—Guccione alleges he has the real Jewelers in Santa Fe, New Mexico. thing. Claiming as a source the daughter Photo by David A. Thomas. of a scientist who came here from Germany at the beginning of World "wood-grain-metal" by Johnsons wife War II, Guccione published a few of Marilyn) to create the swirly patterns of several frames of movie film that show the "real" alien autopsy. copper and silver. Fullbright gave the The model is a prop from the movie material to a gallery owner, yet to be "A photograph of Jesus Christ might Roswell which further disseminated the named, and did not identify it as any­ be a comparable story to the first real legend of a flying saucer that supposedly thing other than scraps from his own art­ photo of an extraterrestrial," he boasts crashed near that town in 1947. (For work. The gallery owner gave it to Blake (without apparently intending to equate what really crashed on the Brazel ranch, Larsen, who was leaving St. George to his images with the fraudulent Shroud see the special report, "The Roswell move to Roswell. The gallery owner told of Turin). "Otherwise, there's nothing Incident and Project Mogul," SKEPTICAL Larsen that the fragment was "found near that compares to this." Not surprisingly, INQUIRER 19(4): 15-18.) Roswell in 1947." When Larsen got to he accuses the government of attempt­ We spoke with Ms. Crosby who Roswell, he gave the piece to the ing to suppress the nude photos—no assured us of a match between the museum. Fleck confirmed the details of doubt the ugliest ever published by the museum's model and the Penthouse pho­ the story with Fullbright and with men's magazine. tographs. She sent the accompanying Larsen, as well as with museum officials. That helps explain why Guccione photograph of their display. He published the story in an article, placed the September 1996 issue in plas­ "Artist: Fragment Is Bogus," appearing tic bags. "I don't want people picking it on the front page of the September 6 —Joe Nickel! up and flipping through it and putting Albuquerque Journal it back on the newsstand," he told the Tampa Tribune (August 12). And so ends the saga of the Roswell Where Are the fragment. The museum officials took the As it happens, Penthouse's foray into risk of having the debris definitively the Roswell morass was quickly branded Antiscience Attitudes? tested, and scientists reciprocated with a hoax. According to the Albuquerque serious, careful measurements. The spec­ Journal (August 20), "The people who Not among the imen turned out to be Earthly this time. run the International UFO Museum on General Public If extraterrestrial landings are ever to be Main Street in Roswell recognize the confirmed in the future, it may be with naked, milky-skinned star of the photo The antiscience sentiment that scientists experiments like these. spread as a local—the alien model that and skeptics have been widely bemoan­ lies on a gurney in one of the museum's ing does not yet seem to have spread —David E. Thomas displays." from academics and intellectuals into David E. Thomas is a physicist. He is vice The Journal quoted museum director the general population, according to president and communications officer of Deon Crosby as saying, "We have no data in the National Science New Mexicans for Science and Reason. question whatsoever that it is the prop. Foundation's Science & Engineering

6 November/December 1996 SKEPTICAL INQUIRER NEWS AND COMMENT

Indicators 1996 report.* tion and organized religion dropped by as much a measure of religious resistance Indeed, support and appreciation for about one-third. Confidence in the to the idea of evolution as a lack of science among the general public has leaders of major companies dropped by knowledge. For example, a concept at held remarkably strong and steady over about 15 percent. least equally nonintuitive—that the the decades, according to the study's sur­ Yet the percentage of adults who continents on which we live move over vey. (For more than two decades the expressed a great deal of confidence in periods of millions of years and will con­ National Science Board, NSF's policy­ the scientific community rose slightly tinue to do so—was correctly rated as making body, has issued biennial reports from 37 percent to 38 percent during true by 79 percent. on the state of science in the U.S. The the same two decades, with only slight The more education, the more science chapter on public attitudes and public year-to-year variations (low of 36 education, and the more the respon­ understanding in the 1996 report was percent in 1977, high of 45 percent in dents rated themselves as attentive to prepared by Jon D. Miller and Linda 1987). Medicine retained its top rank­ science, the better the scores. Males gen­ Pifer of the Chicago Academy of ing despite dropping over the two erally scored better, except on several Sciences, under contract to NSF.) decades from a 54 percent to a 41 per­ biomedical-related questions. For instance, 86 percent of American cent rating. Several questions asked about the adults surveyed in 1995 for the new When the report was issued earlier nature of scientific inquiry. These asked report agreed that "science and technol­ this year, most of the attention was about such things as the meaning of sci­ ogy are making our lives healthier, eas­ devoted to the public's generally poor entific study and the reasons for the use ier, and more comfortable," up slightly understanding of scientific vocabulary of control groups in experiments. The from the 84 percent in 1983. And 72 and concepts. Only 21 percent could study found that only 23 percent of percent agreed that "the benefits of sci­ give a satisfactory explanation of DNA Americans understand the nature of sci­ ence are greater than any harmful and only 9 percent could explain what a entific inquiry well enough to make effects," up from 57 percent in 1983. molecule is. Only 44 percent knew that informed judgments about the scientific About 40 percent of Americans electrons are smaller than atoms, and 73 basis of results reported in the media. expressed a high level of interest in sci­ percent knew that the earth goes around Again, higher levels of education and ence discoveries and in the use of new the sun, meaning that 27 percent got it greater exposure to science courses technologies. The NSF says this level of the other way around. As might be resulted in higher results. expected, only 44 percent said it was interest has been relatively stable for the So, as other commentators have true that human beings developed from past decade, "indicating that science and noted before, the American public seems earlier species of animals. This less-than¬ technology have become an integral part to have a strong appreciation for science majority agreement is probably at least of American culture." but little substantive knowledge of it. Similarly, the survey's tracking of public confidence in die people running various institutions, surveyed every year Public Less Positive about Certain Technologies or so since 1973, shows the scientific community ranked second among thir­ The one part of the National Science Board's Science & Engineering Indicators teen institutions, behind only medicine. survey that does show some public ambiguity toward science showed up in Third was the military, followed by the questions about the impact of several important science-based technologies. U.S. Supreme Court. At the bottom of The survey showed Americans evenly divided on the benefits and drawbacks the list were Congress, the press, and TV. of using nuclear power to generate electricity. This division has lasted more than Remarkably, among the thirteen a decade, say the survey authors. institutions, the scientific community A similar division exists over the benefits and potential drawbacks of genetic and the military were the only two that engineering; but the balance was slightly toward the positive, and there is a showed an increase in public confidence clearer difference by level of education. College graduates hold a more positive from 1973 to 1994. The survey data view of such research. confirm the widespread drop in public As for the space program, the general public was evenly divided over the rel­ confidence in U.S. institutions that vir­ ative benefits and costs. College graduates and those who say they are inter­ tually everyone has noted. For instance, ested in space exploration were very positive about the space program. public confidence in Congress, the exec­ In all these areas, those attentive to the related policy issues continue to have utive branch of the federal government, strong positive views of the technologies and programs, say the survey authors. and the press each dropped by about a But the attentive public remains fairly small, approximately 10 percent of adults. factor of three over those two decades, and confidence in the leaders of educa­

SKEPTICAL INQUIRER November/December 1996 7 NEWS AND COMMENT

So what about the antiscience senti­ movement, he says, "signals die resur­ another. ment that has so concerned scientists— gence of a recurring rebellion against The Journal editorial was titled that has been the subject of books, arti­ some of die presuppositions of Western "Include Evolution in School cles, debates, and symposium sessions at civilization derived from the Enlighten­ Standards." "A well-educated student the recent CSICOP twentieth-anniver­ ment period." He adds, "The impact of should have basic knowledge of evolu­ sary conference "Science in the Age of this reviving rebellion on die life of die tion by die time she or he graduates from (Mis)Information"? scientist, on die education of die young, high school," it said. "Studying science Well, this survey didn't seek out atti­ on public understanding of science gen­ without learning about evolution would tudes among the populations where sci­ erally, and on die legislation of science be like studying English literature with­ entists say antiscience attitudes are ram­ support is measurably growing." out ever learning about Shakespeare." pant—in university humanities and It would be interesting to ask non- Unfortunately, the Journals strong social science departments and among science academics and other opinion editorial support for inclusion of the sci­ other intellectuals and writers and opin­ leaders the same questions that are sum­ entific view of evolution came after the ion leaders. The concern, they say—and marized in the Science & Engineering August 22 vote of the board to adopt this was emphasized several times at the Indicators report and track die trends in standards omitting the word "evolu­ CSICOP conference by Natures John their attitudes toward science over the tion." Instead, the board approved a new Maddox and others—is that antiscience years. draft it made available only a short time attitudes are endemic among a relatively In the meantime, scientists can take before the vote, stating students should small but especially articulate and influ­ some consolation from the fact that the "know theories of biological origin based ential group of academics, including Science & Engineering Indicators report on direct observations, investigations, or numbers of teachers of the next genera­ shows that support and appreciation for historical data." tion of liberal arts majors, our future science among the American adult gen­ In die weeks leading up to the deci­ politicians and business leaders. eral public remains strong and steady, sion, members of the New Mexicans for Paul Gross and Norman Levitt's while lamenting the very real concern Science and Reason (NMSR)—the local much-discussed book on antiscience about the public's lack of understanding CSICOP-type group—and other mem­ altitudes in academia, Higher Super­ of die science they hold in such high bers of the local scientific and educational stition, focused especially on the "pecu­ esteem. community worked hard trying to liarly troubled relationship between die achieve science standards that did justice natural sciences and a large and influen­ —Kendrick Frazier, Editor to science and to the needs of the state's tial segment of die American academic science teachers. They invited board of community," which, "for convenience "National Science Board. Science & Engineeringeducatio n staff to an NMSR meeting for but witii great misgiving," they called Indicators—1996. Washington, D.C.: U.S. an open discussion, had private meetings Government Printing Office. 1996. (NSB 96-21) "die academic left." with board officials, compiled and sent "To put it bluntly," they said, "die memos and statements, and participated academic left dislikes science." In addi­ in the board's meetings. tion to die academic left's expected hos­ 'Evolution' Loses Out in The initial concern was chat the draft tility to die uses to which science is put New Mexico Science standards, which included a short sec­ by die economic and military establish­ tion on evolution, were so vague as to be ments, Gross and Levitt identify a "more Standards almost meaningless. One goal was to surprising" open hostility to die content urge the board to beef them up with of science and to die assumption "which When New Mexico's state Board of additional phraseology from the national one might have supposed universal Education dropped die word "evolution" science education standards recently among educated people, that scientific from its new science education stan­ published by the National Academy of knowledge is reasonably reliable and dards, local science groups stepped up Sciences. rests on a sound methodology" (p. 2). their educational campaigns, the But the board, which includes several In his new book Einstein, History, and American Civil Liberties Union said it anti-evolution sympathizers and at least Other Passions, subtitled "The Rebellion would sue, and die Albuquerque Journal one confirmed creationist (who likes to Against Science at die End of the published a lengthy and well-informed quote the Institute for Creation Twentieth Century," Gerald Holton editorial condemning die board for los­ Research), voted to sidestep die evolution indicts "a segment of academics, eloquent ing its backbone. A day later it also pub­ issue by avoiding die word altogether— popularizes, and policy makers" for lished die accompanying editorial car­ as the Albuquerque Journal editorial put mounting "a challenge to die very legiti­ toon by its brilliant cartoonist John it, "by leaving out specific reference to macy of science in our culture." This Trever. He followed a week later with one of the major scientific theories in the

8 November/December 1996 SKEPTICAL INQUIRER NEWS AND COMMENT

asked that scientists, students, clergy, and parents write him about their concerns. On September 1, the Journal promi¬ nendy published on the front page of its Sunday "Dimension" section a lengthy Chicago Tribune article by Jeremy Manier about the most recent efforts of religious creationists to push evolution out of U.S. schools. On September 2, the afternoon Albuquerque Tribune published an op-ed page column by NMSR member and physicist Mark Boslough tided "State School Board Should Not Have Coddled Creationism." Boslough said the cre­ ationists "are not just anti-evolution; they are anti-geology." He also stated that "evolution is no more controversial among scientists than is the shape of the Trever, Albuquerque Journal, by permission. earth." According to Boslough, the tac­ tics of creationists in labeling evolution controversial are meant to intimidate history of human knowledge." "unofficial science expert"—described by teachers. He also addressed the question On August 31 came word from the Thomas as "an eloquent and effective of why the final draft omitting references American Civil Liberties Union mat if the speaker" who appears to hold most of to evolution was made public only a state school board requires mat creation- the board and the Department of short rime before the board's vote, ignor­ ism be taught in science classes, it will be Education in his sway"—"appears to be a ing the testimony of all the scientists pre­ hit with a lawsuit "it can't win," according committed anti-evolutionist." sent and the formal opinions issued by to ACLU president Jennie Lusk. The state Thomas reported the misleading New Mexico science organizations. His school superintendent was quoted as say­ claims about evolution Lenard had made hypothesis? The board is controlled by ing he wouldn't be intimidated by lawsuit in an August 21 board work-study ses­ "one or more stealth creationists." threats and maintained mat me new stan­ sion on standards. (These claims dards weren't an opening for entrance of included that no transitional fossils have Further protests were quickly religious dogma into the schools. been found, that scientists deeply dis­ mounted. The University of New In contrast, board member Virginia pute evolution, and that evolution can't Mexico's biology and physics and astron­ Trujillo, with whom NMSR members be proved. Elsewhere Lenard had main­ omy departments issued strong state­ had worked closely, said the board's tained that evolution hasn't been ments condemning the board action. The actions "opened the door to creationism. observed and that it has no testable pre­ chairman of the earth and planetary sci­ I really think that, by taking the word dictive capability.) "Each of these pseu¬ ences department also spoke out against 'evolution' out of the standards, they doscience claims has appeared for years it and called on the university itself to opened the door. ... I'm hoping, at in creationist literature, and each has issue a statement. The Albuquerque Tribune published a long, well-researched some point, we'll be able to amend it." been soundly refuted by one scientist front-page article "Scientists Fight for The same issue of the Journal that after another," Thomas said. He outlined Evolution" (September 14). The reported the ACLU's warning contained examples from the scientific literature. Albuquerque Journal published a front­ an excellent op-ed page article by David Thomas described efforts parents, page poll showing that 73 percent of E. Thomas, NMSR's vice president and teachers, and local scientists had made to New Mexico voters surveyed agreed with one of the scientists most active in fight­ stop the new science standards from die board action. Scientists said the ques­ ing the watered-down science standards. "degenerating into a state-approved tool tion's wording was subtly biased—it Titled "Bad Science Sneaks Into for the promotion of pseudosciencc." appealed to everyone's sense of fairness in Schools," Thomas's article skillfully "The new science standard will cheat allowing "other theories" to be taught. reported behind-the-scenes details of the the children of New Mexico," Thomas They requested national support in fight­ state board's decisions. wrote. "This is not simply an issue of ing the board decision. Thomas also revealed that one mem­ creation versus evolution. This is about ber of the board, Roger Lenard, its good science versus bad science." He —Kendrick Frazier, Editor

SKEPTICAL INQUIRER November/December 1996 9 Fund for the Future CSICOP AT THE CENTER FOR INQUIRY An Unprecedented $20 Million Drive for the.

Human beings have never understood trie material uni- CSICOP and the Skeptical Inquirer are leading advocates verse as thoroughly as they do today. Yet never has pop- for skepticism nationally and worldwide. But so much ular hunger for superstition, pseudoscience, and the more must be done in the years to come, paranormal been so acute.

Day and night, the Center for Inquiry has become a focus of i*r i academic and popular inquiry.

Publishing revenues alone cannot fund the bold out­ reach todays challenges demand. Hence the Fund for the Future Campaign, a ten-year effort to add 20 million dollars to the Center for Inquiry endowments.* Gifts and endowment income will fund projects including: ;> 1 SR

•I**** Enhancing Library Coui: Resources Adult Education \ The Center for Inquiry's skeptics' library—already the finest of its br inquiry Institute to kind in the world—needs n <**,* ?eor^ ' and already**"^* rcerffi- expanded funding to enlarge its , Cooney .. monitor foe core collection and add electronic media. Worldwide modem access to the library's catalog is already nearly complete.

•Combined endowment goo) of CSICOP ond me Council for Secular Humanism, both nonprofit tax-exempt educational organizations. How Can / Help?

The Center for Inquiry Fund for the Future depends on generous sup­ port from each of our readers and Future of Science and Reason friends. Gifts of cash, securities, and other assets are sought. A three- year pledge can make more sub­ stantial gifts surprisingly afford­ The New Ten-Year Plan able. Many forms of planned giving arrangements can be arranged. All To continue its leadership in the defense of reason, CSICOP has articulated requests will be held in confidence. a Ten-Year Plan designed to:

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(716)636-1425 FAX (716) 636-1733 NEWS AND COMMENT

'Klass County' UFO bottom of an Imperial Star Destroyer, it sometimes reflect deliberate acts to alter turns out be the base of an electric utility findings," he said. "At other times, suc­ Abductions: Inside cherry picker. cumbing may be an innocent reflection Jokes Are Flying in • An alien autopsy video ("Dead of human inquisitiveness and ingenuity Alien! Truth or Humbug," hosted by rather than scientific malevolence." X-Files Episode Stupendous Yappi) in which the scene Schulz said researchers "intellectually revealing die "alien" to be Vallee in a rub­ grasp die need" for randomized, blinded If a lot of names and images in an April ber suit has been conveniently excised. trials, but human nature may tempt episode of The X-Files resonated with them to cheat. "They perhaps 'know' faithful readers of the SKEPTICAL —C. Eugene Emery, Jr. the more effective treatment, so they INQUIRER, it's because the case of a UFO may want certain patients to benefit or kidnapping was filled with inside jokes, may want the results of the study to references, and concepts involving peo­ Some Double-Blind reveal what they believe to be valid." ple in the UFO field. Experiments May Not The findings, which raise the same The case, told from several (some­ issues that have swirled around experi­ times distorted) perspectives, took place Be So Blind After All ments in parapsychology for years, may in Klass County, a reference to CSICOP explain why studies with inadequate fellow Philip J- Klass. The two military High-quality research is conducted in a safeguards against cheating tend to officers posing as space aliens were Air randomized, double-blind fashion, make a treatment look 30 to 40 percent Force Major Robert Vallee and Lt. Jack where the subjects and the scientists more effective than experiments where Sheaffer (switch the first names and you don't know who is getting exposed to good safeguards are in place, according get UFO author Jacques Vallee and CSI­ which treatment or test. The system is to Schulz. COP fellow and SKEPTICAL INQUIRER supposed to be designed so the investi­ In other cases, cheating can have the columnist Robert Sheaffer). The officer gators can't unconsciously influence the unintended effect of undermining an who comes looking for them is Sgt. outcome. But in a report that resonates effective treatment. If doctors can sur­ Hynek, a reference to the late J. Allen with some of the problems seen when reptitiously guide their sickest patients Hynek, founder of the Center for UFO scientists explore the supernatural, away from the control group and into Studies. Kenneth F. Schulz of the Centers for the treatment group, it can make an One of the two mysterious Men In Disease Control and Prevention has experimental treatment appear less Black, in an effort to dissuade electric- uncovered evidence that many double- effective than it actually is. company line repairman Roky blind studies may not be as blind and Criksenson from believing that he saw random as they're supposed to be. —C. Eugene Emery, Jr. the UFO abduction, argues that "no Reporting in the Journal of the other object has been misidentified as a American Medical Association (274 [18]: Gene Emery writes the SKEPTICAL flying saucer more often than the planet 1456-8 [November 8, 1995]), Schulz INQUIRER'S "Media Watch" column. Venus." UFO believers and X-Files fans said that in workshops he's conducted have delighted in noting that the dia­ "more than half of the participants at logue sounds like it came straight out of each workshop" say they have deci­ a Klass book. (The lineman's name is phered or witnessed someone else deci­ The New Medicine apparently based on a band, Roky phering the code for assigning people to Erickson and the Aliens.) Goes to Congress at least one clinical trial. The show included: Among the methods used: checking Robert L. Park of the American Physical • A scene where Lt. Sheaffer, still a bulletin board to adjust who goes into Society, Washington, D.C., is known for stunned after his capture by a real UFO which treatment group, opening his perceptive if acerbic reports and com­ while he and Vallee are staging their own unsealed assignment envelopes, holding mentaries on the science policy scene. The UFO "abduction," is carving a mountain the envelopes up to the light (in some following is printed by permission from his out of mashed potatoes a la Richard cases using a special "hot light" in die "What's New" electronic newsletter of Dreyfuss' character in Close Encounters of radiology department), feeling the dif­ August 16, 1996. the Third Kind. ferent weights of the envelopes, and • An opening scene, reminiscent of opening many envelopes that were not 1. Book Review: Manifesto for a New sequentally numbered "until a desired die beginning of Star Wars, where a Medicine. By James Gordon. The first treatment was found." seemingly endless superstructure sweeps thing you learn about die "new medi­ across the sky. But instead of being the "Succumbing to temptation may cine" is that it's the old medicine. Really

12 November/December 1996 SKEPTICAL INQUIRER NEWS AND COMMENT

old. "It draws on the perspectives and practices of the world's great healing tra­ reviews for SKEPTICAL INQUIRER, he was ditions, including Chinese medicine and Technical Consultant for CSICOP. He was also a well-known authority on hoaxes and Indian Ayurveda, Native American and In deceptions. He was editor of the Encyclo­ African healing," according to Gordon, Memoriam pedia of Hoaxes (1993) and. most recently. who is Director of the Center for Mind- The Encyclopedia of the Paranormal (1996). Body Medicine at Georgetown Gordon published by Prometheus Books. University. Throw in just about anything In addition, he was Senior Editor of Free else that hasn't been scientifically vali­ Stein Inquiry magazine. He also edited the maga­ zine American Rationalist. His rationalist/ dated, from Rolfing to homeopathy, and 1941-1996 humanist books included Robert G. Ingersoll you have Gordon's "new medicine." The (1969). An Anthology of Atheism and common ingredient is belief. In the 18th keptical Inquirersadl y reports the passing Rationalism (1980), and The Encyclopedia of Century, a French royal commission Sof one of its best-known writers, Gordon Unbelief (1985). debunked Franz Mesmer's "magnetic Stein. An internationally known humanist His two areas of specialty, humanism and expert on hoaxes, Gordon died Tuesday, and hoaxes, combined to make him an healing" in which patients were August 27, at Buffalo General Hospital after authority on spiritualism (the supposed immersed in vats of iron filings. Gordon d brief illness. He was only 55. communication with spirits of the dead) as applauds the commission, which Gordon received a Ph.D. in physiology well. He wrote and lectured extensively on included Benjamin Franklin and Antoine from Ohio State University in 1974. He later that subject, and he penned a biography of Lavoisier, not for exposing a charlatan, obtained a second master's degree in man­ the notorious spiritualist medium D. D. Home, called The Sorcerer of Kings (1993). but for pointing out the importance of agement and a third in library science at the University of California at Los Angeles. He Survivors include a former wife, Barbara "expectation and suggestion." In taught at the University of Rhode Island (Laiks) Stein, and their daughter Karen. He is Gordon's mind, Mesmer "mobilized the and—at the time of his death—was Director survived by another former wife. Eve Triffo, patients' belief," altering the physical of Libraries at the Center for Inquiry in and his only sister, Irna S. Jay. processes that made them ill. Indeed, Amherst, New York. He was making excel­ In keeping with his wishes, his remains Gordon believes hypnosis can improve lent progress in amassing the largest collec­ were cremated. A humanist ceremony to tion of freethought and skeptical literature honor his life was held Friday, August 30, at immune response, heal burns, cure warts, in the world. the Center for Inquiry. and increase breast size! James Gordon, In addition to his articles and book —Joe Nickell by die way, also chairs the Advisory Council of die NIH Office of Alternative Medicine, the office responsible for eval­ That's Astronomy, cially since the book jacket shown alongside the erroneous description uating the "new medicine." Is there a Not Astrology mind-body connection? Of course! I read plainly states that the books is a guide Gordon's book and got sick. The following Utter to the Book-ofthe- for astronomers. Month Club by Jamie Hagedorn of In general, I have been depressed to 2. Alternative Legislation: "Access Evans ton. III, is self-explanatory. Ms. see the great number of books on New to Medical Treatment Act." Gordon Hagedorn kindly sent it to us, and we Age topics and pseudoscience that have testified on behalf of S.1035 at a Senate share it with you: been offered by BOMC in the last year hearing just before the August break, or so. I realize that you are in the busi­ June 24, 1996 while waving his book above his head. ness of selling books, and that the fact Wayne Jonas, head of the Office of Greg Tobin, Editor-in-Chief that you are selling a book does not Alternative Medicine, also testified, Book — of — theimply —agreemen Montht wit h itClus bcontent . along with a former congressman who Camp Hill, PA 17012-0001 However, given the extent to which claims he was cured of Lyme disease by pseudoscience has superseded science in eating whey. The bill guarantees the Dear Mr. Tobin: the public imagination, I am troubled to right to treatment by the witch doctor of I was dismayed to read in the July 1996 see it promoted as well by Book — of — the — MonthClub , which I once thought had your choice (no licensed required) and BOMC Views that Terence Dickinson's more sense than that. shifts die burden to die government to astronomy handbook. Summer Star­ prove that a treatment is unsafe; efficacy gazing is described as a "practical guide For a refresher course on the pitfalls, didn't even come up. The good news is for recreational astrologers." I trust that even the dangers, of elevating supersti­ that S.1035 has no chance of passage you and all the members of your staff tion over science, I suggest you reread diis year, and several of its Senate cham­ know the difference between astrology one of your excellent recent offerings, pions, Pell, Kassebaum, Hatfield, and Carl Sagan's The Demon-Haunted World. Simon, are retiring—one, Bob Dole, has and astronomy, so it is difficult for me retired already. to imagine how this error made it into Yours truly, print without anyone catching it—espe- Ms. Jamie Hagedorn

SKEPTICAL INQUIRER November/December 1996 13 MOTES OF A FRINGE-WATCHER MARTIN GARDNER

Physicist Alan Sokal's Hilarious Hoax

It is simply a logical fallacy to go from another physicist? They did not. To theory. the observation that science is a social their everlasting embarrassment, at the process to the conclusion that the • The axiom that two sets are identi­ final product, our scientific theories, same time they published the hoax, cal if they have the same elements is a is what it is because of the social and Lingua Franca, in its May/June 1996 product of "nineteenth-century liberal­ historical forces acting in this process. issue, ran an article by Sokal in which he ism." A party of mountain climbers may revealed the joke and explained why he argue over the best path to the peak, • The theory of quantum gravity has had concocted it. and these arguments may be condi­ enormous political implications. tioned by the history and social struc­ Sokal opened his parody with a • Jacques Derrida's deconstructionist ture of the expedition, but in the end strong attack on the belief that there is doctrines are supported by general rela­ either they find a good path to the "an external world whose properties are tivity, Lacan's views are boosted by peak or they do not, and when they get there they know it. (No one independent of any human individual topology, and the opinions of Ms. Luce would give a book about mountain and indeed of humanity as a whole." Irigaray, France's philosopher of femi­ climbing the title Constructing Science, he continued, cannot establish nism, are closely related to quantum Everest.) genuine knowledge, even tentative gravity. knowledge, by using a "so-called" scien­ The funniest part of Sokal's paper is —Steven Weinberg, Dreams of tific method. its conclusion that science must emanci­ a Final Theory, Chapter 7 "Physical reality ... is at bottom a pate itself from classical mathematics social and linguistic construct," Sokal before it can become a "concrete tool of n a Spring/Summer 1996 issue maintained in the next paragraph. In his progressive political praxis." Mathe­ devoted to what they called "Science Lingua Franca confessional he com­ matical constants are mere social con­ IWars," the editors of Social Text, a ments: "Not our theories of physical real­ structs. Even pi is not a fixed number leading journal of cultural studies, ity, mind you, but die reality itself. Fair but a culturally determined variable! revealed themselves to be unbelievably enough: Anyone who believes the laws I hope no reader tries to defend this foolish. They published an article tided of physics are mere social conventions is by pointing out that pi has different "Transgressing the Boundaries: Toward invited to try transgressing those con­ numerals when expressed in a different a Transformative Hermeneutics of ventions from the windows of my apart­ notation. To say that a notation alters pi Quantum Gravity." It was written by ment (I live on the twenty-first floor)." is like saying 3 has a different value in Alan Sokal, a physicist at New York Here are a few more absurdities France because it is called trois. University. His paper included thirteen defended in Sokal's magnificent spoof: Pi is precisely defined within the for­ pages of impressive endnotes and nine • Rupert Sheldrake's morphogenetic mal system of Euclidian geometry, and pages of references. fields arc at the "cutting edge" of quan­ has the same value inside the sun or on Why were the editors foolish? tum mechanics. (On Sheldrake's psychic a planet in Andromeda. The fact that Because Sokal's paper was a deliberate fantasies see Chapter 15 of my The New space-time is non-Euclidian has not the hoax, so obvious in its gibberish that any Age, published by Prometheus Books in slightest effect on pi. African tribesmen undergraduate in physics would have at 1991.) may think pi equals 3, but that's a mat­ once recognized it as a hilarious spoof. •Jacques Lacan's Freudian specula­ ter not of pure math but of applied Did the editors bother to check with tions have been confirmed by quantum math. This confusion of the certainty of

14 November/December 1996 SKEPTICAL INQUIRER mathematics within a formal system and are [sic] socially constructed." Mars is not a social construction. die uncertainty of its applications to the In plain language, Fish is telling us Einstein did not make up E^mc* die way world is a common mistake often made that of course there is a structured world game rules are made up. To see rules of by ignorant sociologists. "out diere," with objective properties, science as similar to baseball rules, traf­ The media had a field day with but the way scientists talk about those fic rules, or fashions in dress is to make Sokal's hoax. Edward Rothstein's article properties is cultural. Could anything be a false analogy that leads nowhere. in the New York Times (May 26, 1996) more trivial? The way scientists talk It goes without saying that sociolo­ was tided "When Wry Hits Your Pi obviously is part of culture. Everything gists are not such idiots as to deny an from a Real Sneaky Guy." Janny Scott's humans do and say is part of culture. outside world, just as it goes without say­ piece "Postmodern Gravity Decon­ Having admitted that a huge uni­ ing that physicists are not so foolish as to structed, Slyly" ran on the front page of verse not made by us is out there, inde­ deny that culture influences science. To the New York Times (May 18). Roger pendent of our little minds, Fish then cite a familiar example, culture can Kimball wrote in The Wall Street Journal proceeds to blur the distinction between determine to a large extent what sort of on "A Painful Sting within the Academic scientific truth and language by likening research should be funded. And there are Hive." George Will, in his syndicated science to baseball! He grants that base­ indeed fashions in science. The latest column, gloated over Sokal's flimflam. ball involves objective facts, such as the fashion in physics is die superstring the- Social Text, he predicted, "will never distance from the pitcher's mound to ory of particles. It could be decades again be called a 'learned journal.'" home plate. Then he asks: "Are there before experiments, not now possible, decide whether superstring theory is The editors of Social Text were balls and strikes in nature (if by nature fruitful or a dead end. But that science understandably furious. Stanley Arono¬ you understand physical reality inde­ moves inexorably closer to finding objec­ witz, cofounder of the journal, is a pendent of human actors)?" Fish tive truth can only be denied by peculiar Marxist sociologist. He branded Sokal answers: No. Are balls and strikes social philosophers, naive literary critics, and "ill-read and half-educated." Andrew constructs? Yes. misguided social scientists. The fantastic Ross, another leftist and the editor Let's examine diis more closely. The success of science in explaining and pre­ responsible for putting together the spe­ sense in which balls and strikes are dicting, above all in making incredible cial issue, said he and the other editors defined by a culture is obvious. advances in technology, is proof that sci­ thought Sokal's piece "a little hokey" Chimpanzees and (most) Englishmen entists are steadily learning more and and "sophomoric." Why then did they don't play baseball. Like the rules of more about how die universe behaves. publish it? Because they checked on chess and bridge, the rules of baseball Sokal and found he had good creden­ are not pan of nature. Who could dis­ The claims of science lie on a contin­ tials as a scientist. agree? Nor would Fish deny that pitched uum between a probability of 1 (cer­ The strongest attack on the hoax baseballs are "out diere" as they travel tainty) and a probability of 0 (certainly came from Stanley Fish, an English pro­ objective paths to be declared balls and false), but thousands of its discoveries fessor at Duke University and executive strikes by an umpire. Even the umpire is have been confirmed to a degree director of die university's press, which not needed. A camera hooked to a com­ expressed by a decimal point followed publishes Social Text. Fish has long been puter can do the job just as well or bet­ by a string of nines. When theories under die spell of dcconstructionism, an ter. The basis for such decisions are of become this strongly confirmed they opaque and rapidly fading French course cultural rules, but the ball's tra­ turn into "facts," such as the fact that movement that replaced existentialism jectory, and whether it goes over the the earth is round and circles the sun, or as the latest French philosophical fad. In plate within certain boundaries, is as that life evolved on a planet older than a his "Professor Sokal's Bad Joke," on the much part of nature as die path of a million years. comet that "strikes" Jupiter. New York Times OP-ED page (May 21, The curious notion that "truth" does 1996), Fish vigorously denied that soci­ The deeper question that lies behind not mean "correspondence with reality," ologists of science think mere is no die above banalities is whether the rules but nothing more dian die successful external world independent of observa­ of baseball are similar to or radically dif­ passing of tests for truth, was dealt a tions. Only a fool would think that, he ferent from the rules of science. Clearly death blow by Alfred Tarski's famous said. The sociologists contend nothing they are radically different. Like die semantic definition of truth: "Snow is more than what observers say about die rules of chess and bridge, the rules of white" is true if and only if snow is real world is "relative to their capacities, white. The definition goes back to education, training, etc. It is not the baseball are made by humans. But rules of science are not. They are discovered Aristotle. Most philosophers of the past, world or its properties but the vocabu­ all scientists, and all ordinary people by observation, reason, and experiment. lary in whose terms we know them that accept this definition of what they mean Newton didn't invent his laws of gravity when they say something is true. It is except in the obvious sense that he denied only by a small minority of prag¬ Martin Gardner's latest hook is The thought of diem and wrote diem down. matists who still buy John Dewey's Night Is Large: Collected Essays Biologists didn't "construct" the DNA obsolete epistemology. 1938-1995 (St Martins Press, 1996). helix; they observed it. The orbit of

SKEPTICAL INQUIRER November/December 1996 15 Those who see science as mythology science, and above all, in their obfusca¬ tal sense scientists and sociologists of sci­ rather than an increasingly successful tory style of writing. Examining interac­ ence may not disagree. It's just that the search for objective truth have been tions between cultures and the history of sociologists and postmoderns talk roughly grouped under the term "post- science is a worthwhile undertaking that funny. So funny that when Sokal talked moderns." It includes the French decon¬ may even come up someday with valu­ even funnier in one of their journals structionists, some old-fashioned able new insights. So far it has had litde they were unable to realize they had Marxists, and a few angry feminists and to say that wasn't said earlier by Karl been had. Afrocentrists who think the history of Mannheim and other sociologists of * * » * science has been severely distorted by knowledge. Meanwhile, it would be male and white chauvinism. Why did good if postmoderns learned to speak After this column was written, Lingua men study the dynamics of solids before clearly. Scientists and ordinary people Franca, in its July/August 1996 issue, they turned their attention to fluid talk in a language that takes for granted published an article by Bruce Robbins dynamics? It is hard to believe, but one an external world with structures and and Andrew Ross, co-editors of Social radical feminist claims it was because laws not made by us. The language of Text, in which they do their best to jus­ male sex organs become rigid, whereas science distinguishes sharply between fluids suggest menstrual blood and vagi­ tify accepting Sokal's brilliant prank. nal secretions! language and science. The language of Their reasons fail to mention the real the sociologists of science blurs this one—their total ignorance of physics. A typical example of postmodern commonsense distinction. In an amusing rejoinder, Sokal antirealism is Bruce Gregorys Inventing It is almost as if Fish were to astound writes: "[M]y goal isn't to defend science Reality: Physics as Language. The title everyone by declaring that fish are not from the barbarian hordes of lit crit tells it all. See my SKEPTICAL INQUIRER part of nature but only cultural con­ (we'll survive just fine, thank you), but column "Relativism in Science" structs. Pressed for clarification of such a to defend the Left from a trendy seg­ (Summer 1990), reprinted in On the bizarre view he would then clear the air ment of itself." His reply is followed by Wild Side (Prometheus, 1992), for a by explaining that he wasn't referring to a raft of letter from scholars, some review of this peculiar book. For a more "real" fish out there in real water, but praising Sokal, some condemning him. resounding attack on such baloney, I only to the word "fish." In a fundamen­ They add little substance to the debate. highly recommend the recently pub­ lished Einstein, History, and Other Passions: The Rebellion Against Science at In his Lingua Franca article Sokal selected this as a typical passage from his hoax: the End of the Twentieth Century (Addison Wesley, 1996) by the distin­ guished Harvard physicist and science From "Transgressing the Boundaries": historian Gerald Holton. Thus, general relativity forces upon us radically new and counterintuitive The late Thomas Kuhn's famous notions of space, time, and causality; so it is not surprising that it has had a pro­ book The Structure of Scientific found impact not only on the natural sciences but also on philosophy, literary Revolutions has been responsible for criticism, and the human sciences. For example, in a celebrated symposium much postmodern mischief. Pragmatist three decades ago on Les Langages Critiques et les Sciences de I'Homme, Jean Kuhn saw the history of science as a Hyppolite raised an incisive question about Jacques Derrida's theory of struc­ series of constantly shifting "para­ ture and sign in scientific discourse. . . . Derrida's perceptive reply went to the heart of classical general relativity: digms." The final chapter of his book contains the following incredible state­ The Einsteinian constant is not a constant, is not a center. It is the very concept ment: "We may, to be more precise, of variability—it is, finally, the concept of the game. In other words, it is not the have to relinquish the notion, explicit or concept of something—of a center starting from which an observer could master implicit, that changes of paradigm carry the field—but the very concept of the game. scientists and those who learn from In mathematical terms, Derrida's observation relates to the invariance of the them closer and closer to the truth." As Einstein field equation G^=8TTGT^ under nonlinear space-time diffeomor¬ if Copernicus did not get closer than phisms (self-mappings of the space-time manifold which are infinitely differen¬ Ptolemy, or Einstein closer than tiable but not necessarily analytic). The key point is that this invariance group Newton, or quantum theory closer than "acts transitively": this means that any space-time point, if it exists at all, can be earlier theories of matter! It takes only a transformed into any otfter. In this way the infinite-dimensional invariance glance at a working television set to see group erodes die distinction between observer and observed; the Tr of Euclid the absurdity of Kuhn's remark. and die G of Newton, formerly thought to be constant and universal, are now perceived in their ineluctable historicity; and the putative observer becomes Fish and his friends are not that fatally de-centered, disconnected from any epistemic link to a space-time point extreme in rejecting objective truth. that can no longer be defined by geometry alone. Where they go wrong is in their overem­ phasis on how heavily culture influences

16 November/December 1996 SKEPTICAL INQUIRER • INVESTIGATIVE FILES 4T| JOE NICKELL

Not-So-Spontaneous Human Combustion

ike Count Dracula, the mythical Arnold leads off with the 1966 case kept wooden matches in both pockets specter of "spontaneous human of Dr. John Irving Bentley who was con­ of his day robe—a situation that could Lcombustion" (SHC) refuses to die. sumed by fire in the bathroom of his transform an ember into a fatal blaze. The latest book to fan the flames of home in Coudersport, Pennsylvania. Apparently waking to find his clothing belief, so to speak, is Ablaze! by Larry E. About all that was left of him—in rec­ on fire, Dr. Bentley made his way into Arnold. The dust-jacket blurb states that ognizable form—was his lower leg that the bathroom with the aid of his alu­ the author "redirected a background in minum walker—probably at an acceler­ mechanical and electrical engineering to ated pace—where he vainly attempted explore the Unconventional." Indeed, to extinguish the flames. Broken Arnold is a Pennsylvania school bus dri­ remains of what was apparently a water pitcher were found in the toilet. Once ver who has written a truly bizarre the victim fell on the floor, his burning book—one that takes seriously such clothing could have ignited the flamma­ pseudoscientific nonsense as poltergeists ble linoleum; beneath that was hard­ and ley lines (Arnold 1995, 362-6), and wood flooring and wooden beams— that suggests that the Shroud of Turin's wood for a funeral pyre. Cool air drawn image was produced by "flash photoly­ from the basement in what is known as sis" from a body transformed by SHC the "chimney effect" could have kept the "into a higher energy state" (463). fire burning hotly (Arnold 1995, 1—12; As if he were a trained physicist on a Nickell and Fischer 1984). par with any Nobel laureate, Arnold blithely posits a subatomic "pyrotron" as In chapter 6, Arnold relates the fiery the mechanism for SHC (99-106), and death of a widow, Mary Reeser, who he casually opines that "extreme stress perished in her efficiency apartment in could be the trigger that sets a human St. Petersburg, Florida, in 1951. The being ablaze" (163). In the many cases case, a classic of SHC, has long been in which the alleged SHC victim had known as the "cinder woman" mystery. been a careless cigarette smoker or in Except for a slippered foot, Mrs. Reeser's which the victim's body was found lying had burned off at the knee; it was lying body was largely destroyed, along with the overstuffed chair in which she had on a hearth, Arnold dodges the issue of at the edge of a hole about two and a been sitting and an adjacent end table SHC by invoking "preternatural com­ half by four feet which had burned into and lamp (except for the latter's metal bustibility" (84), an imagined state in the basement. core). The rest of the apartment suffered which a body's cells reach a heightened Spontaneous human combustion? little damage. "Nor," adds Arnold, "did susceptibility to ignition by an outside Actually the infirm ninety-year-old the carpet beyond her incinerated chair physician had a habit of dropping spark. To understand Arnold's approach show signs of fire damage!" (76) we can look at a few of his major exam­ matches and hot ashes from his pipe ples, those cases which are treated at upon his robes which were spotted with In fact, the floors and walls of Mrs. chapter length. burns from earlier occasions. He also Reeser's apartment were of concrete.

SKEPTICAL INQUIRER November/December 1996 17 When last seen by her physician son, filed by Angel's attorney in Fulton 227-36; Nickell with Fischer 1992, Mrs. Reeser had been sitting in the big County Superior Court tells how Angel 165-75). chair, wearing flammable nightclothes, (the plaintiff) was in his motorhome Arnold's next major case is that of and smoking a cigarette—after having and "while Plaintiff was in die process of Helen Conway, who perished in 1964 in taken two Seconal sleeping pills and taking a shower, the water suddenly Delaware County, Pennsylvania. Except stating her intention of taking two stopped flowing from the shower for her legs, her body was largely more. The official police report con­ plumbing." In attempting to learn why destroyed along with die upholstered cluded, "Once the body became ignited, there was insufficient water pressure, chair in which she sat in her bedroom. almost complete destruction occurred Angel "exited said motorhome and The destruction took place in only from die burning of its own fatty tis­ attempted to inspect the hot water twenty-one minutes (according to the sues." (Mrs. Reeser was a "plump" heater. In making said inspection, the fire marshal), although Arnold uses woman, and a quantity of "grease"— pressure valve on die hot water heater "commonsense deduction" (and an obviously fatty residue from her body— released and as a result, scalding hot assumption or two) to whittle the time was left at the spot where the immola­ water under tremendous pressure was down to just six minutes (which tion occurred.) As the fat liquefied in sprayed upon plaintiff." The complaint becomes "a few seconds" in the caption the fire, it could have been absorbed claimed that the defendant, the manu­ to a photograph). Arnold asserts Mrs. Conway's body "exploded." Arnold wonders why extremities, such as a victim's In fact Mrs. Conway was an infirm woman, who (according to the fire mar­ leg, and nearby combustibles are not burned. shal) was also "reported to have been a The answer is that fire tends to burn upward ... heavy smoker with careless smoking habits." He added: "Cigarette burn into the chair stuffing to fuel still more facturer of the motorhome, was negli­ marks were evident about the bed­ fire to attack still more of the body gent both in the design of the heater and room." (It is curious how people who (Arnold 1995, 73-91; Nickell and valve and in failing to provide adequate are careless with fire are those who Fischer 1984). We will discuss the "can­ warning of the damage. The suit was attract SHC.) dle effect" more fully later on. later transferred to federal court where it Apparently the fire took less time to In chapter 15, Arnold relates the case was eventually dismissed for costs paid destroy Mrs. Conway's torso than it did of one Jack Angel, who told him "an by die defendant. the body of Mary Reeser, but it may incredible incendiary tale." Angel stated Arnold attempted to rebut this evi­ have begun at the base of the seated that in mid-November 1974, while he dence, for example, by quoting some body and burned straight upward, fed was a self-employed traveling salesman, motorhome mechanics, but it does not by the fat in the torso, and may have he awoke in his motorhome in seem that he gave the mechanics die full thus been a much more intense fire— Savannah, Georgia, to find that he had a facts in soliciting dieir statements. For not unlike grease fires that all who cook severely burned hand, which later had to instance, forensic analyst John F. Fischer are familiar with. Indeed, in searching be amputated, plus a "hell of a hole" in and I did not postulate "a bad valve" (as through the dense smoke for the victim, his chest, and other burns—in the groin Arnold quoted die servicemen as stating an assistant chief sank his hand "into area, and on die legs and back "in we did in Fate magazine). Indeed, something greasy" that proved to be die spots!" Angel claimed one of his doctors Arnold has repeatedly dodged—even woman's remains. said he had not been burned externally outright omitted—powerful corrobora­ As to the bits of scattered debris that but rather internally, and he claimed to tive evidence, such as the water pump's Arnold cites as evidence of "Spon­ be a survivor of SHC. Interestingly, his drive belt being off, die water pump's taneous Human Explosion" (388), they clothing had not been burned, and there drive pulley being loose, and the water could have been scattered by the chair's were no signs of burning in his heater's safety relief valve being in the motorhome. open position! In our investigative heavy right arm having fallen across the report John Fischer and I listed more body at one point. Another possibility is Unfortunately, when Arnold and I than a dozen additional corroborative revealed by die fact that the assistant fire appeared on a Canadian television show factors, including the unburned clothes, marshal stated, "There wasn't debris to debate SHC, Arnold was unaware of which were especially consistent with scattered all over" (384), even though an earlier story about die injuries that scalding. We even included the opinions bits of debris are indeed shown in pho­ Angel had told—in court. I revealed it of two doctors whom Arnold cites as tos of the scene (illus. facing p. 212). In on the show for die first time (courtesy having diagnosed "electrical burns" as if odier words, the scattering may not have of fellow investigator Phil Klass), thus dieir opinions—which were again originally been present at the scene but publicly embarrassing Arnold, who has apparently based on incomplete infor­ could have been due to splashback from ever since been trying to rationalize mation—were more harmful to our the firemen's high-pressure spray that away die evidence. position than his (Arnold 1995, was used to extinguish nearby flames. It As it happens, a 1975 civil-action suit is important to note diat it is only

18 November/December 1996 SKEPTICAL INQUIRER Arnold—and not the fire officials, who And so he often dismisses what he feels fered severe heat damage. The answer is actually blamed the fire on a dropped is unlikely in favor of that which the one of elevation: Heat rises. In Mrs. cigarette—who claimed the body best scientific evidence indicates is Reeser's apartment, due to the accumu­ exploded (378-92). impossible. Such thinking has been lation of hot gases, soot had blackened The fifth and last of Arnold's chap­ called "straining at a gnat and swallow­ the ceiling and walls above an almost ter-length cases is that of a fifty-eight- ing a camel." level line some three and a half feet year-old retired fireman named George In fact Arnold's process-of-elimina¬ above the floor, there being negligible Mott. He died in 1986 in tiie bedroom tion approach here as elsewhere is based heat damage below the smoke line but of his home outside Crown Point, New on a logical fallacy called "arguing from significant damage above it: for exam­ York. His body was largely consumed ignorance." As the great nineteenth-cen­ ple, plastic electrical switches had along with the mattress of the bed on tury scientist Justus von Liebig melted. Thus, in George Mott's house, which he had Iain. A leg, a shrunken explained: "The opinion that a man can reports Arnold, "On the counter skull (reported to have shrunk to an burn of himself is not founded on a directly beneath the melted towel holder implausibly small size), and pieces of the knowledge of the circumstances of the sits an unopened roll of Bounty towels, rib cage were all that remained that were death, but on the reverse of knowl- upright. Ironically, it and its plastic wrapping were undamaged except for a recognizably human. Arnold insists that c—on complete ignorance of all the glazed film on the top!" (Arnold 1995, there was no credible source for the igni­ causes or conditions which preceded 398) tion. the accident and caused it" (Liebig Whether or not we agree with 1851). Other factors relevant to heat-dam­ Arnold's dismissal of the theories of two In his relentless drive to foster any age "selectivity" include the object's fire investigators—first, that an electric sort of mystery, in this and other cases, composition, density, confinement (for arc shot out of an outlet and ignited Arnold raises many attendant questions. example, in a cupboard), placement on a Mott's clothing, and second, that an For example, he wonders why extremi­ surface that either radiates or retains "undetected" gas leak had been respon­ ties, such as a victim's leg, and nearby heat, or its placement relative to convec¬ sible—there are other possibilities. Mott combustibles are not burned. The tive currents, cinders carried aloft, and was a man who formerly drank alcohol answer is that fire tends to burn upward; so forth. and smoked heavily. The day before he it burns laterally (sideways) with some While acknowledging that there is died he had been depressed over his ill­ difficulty. Anyone with camping experi­ often a source for the ignition of the nesses which included respiratory prob­ ence has seen a log that was laid across a body, Arnold points to the sometimes lems and high blood pressure. What if, campfire reduced to ashes by the follow­ extreme destruction—of the torso espe­ as could easily happen in such a state of ing morning while the butt ends of the cially—as evidence, if not of SHC, then mind, he became fatalistic and, shrug­ ging off the consequences, opted for the enjoyment of a cigarette? This possibil­ Anyone with camping experience has seen a log that ity gains credence from the fact that he was not wearing his oxygen mask was laid across a campfire reduced to ashes ... although he was in bed and his oxygen¬ while the butt ends of the log remained intact. enricher unit was running. On top of the unit, next to the mask, was in oth­ erwise puzzling canister of "barn log remained intact. Thus, outside the of preternatural combustibility, the burner" matches, yet there was no stove circle that burned through the carpet imagined heightening of the body's or other device in the room they would covering the concrete floor of Mary flammability. In the nineteenth century, be used for. (At least Arnold does not Reeser's apartment was found her slip­ alcohol consumption was thought to mention a stove or other device being in pered foot, because Mrs. Reeser had a cause increased flammability, but we the room. If there was, then we have stiff leg that she extended when she sat. now know that its only effect is in mak­ another possible explanation for the fire, Beyond the circle some newspapers did ing people more careless with fire and and there are additional potential expla­ not ignite, while a lamp and table less effective in responding to it (Nickell nations in any case—each more likely within it did burn. Similarly, Dr. and Fischer 1984). than SHC.) (Arnold 1995, 393-411) Bently's intact lower leg extended out­ Arnold and other SHC advocates are side the edge of the hole that burned quick to suggest that bodies are difficult through his bathroom floor. Now Arnold cites the Mott case as a to burn (which is true under certain cir­ quintessential one of SHC, based on the Beyond this matter of proximity, cumstances). According to popular SHC process of elimination. He does not Arnold cites other examples of fire's writer Vincent Gaddis, "the notion that allow SHC to be eliminated, however, "selectivity" that puzzle him. For exam­ fluid-saturated fatty tissues, ignited by an although there is no single instance that ple, in the Mott case, he wonders why outside flame, will burn and produce proves its existence and no known matches near the burning bed did not enough heat to destroy the rest of the mechanism by which it could occur. ignite, while objects in other rooms suf­ body is nonsense" (Gaddis 1967).

SKEPTICAL INQUIRER November/December 1996 19 Actually the reference to "fluid-satu­ molten and the liquid is drawn onto a body to ash in this way. You can the wick and burns. With a body, produce local, high temperatures, by rated" tissues is correct but misleading which consists of a large amount of means of the wick effect and a com­ in Gaddis' attempt to suggest that an fat, the fat melts and is drawn onto bination of smouldering and flaming external source of ignition could not the clothing which acts as a wick, and to reduce even bones to ash. At rela­ cause such extreme destruction to a then continues to burn. (Drysdale tively low temperatures of 500 degrees C—and if given enough body because the great amount of water 1989) time—the bone will transform into would retard burning. In fact the argu­ something approaching a powder in ment works more strongly against the Experiments show that liquefied human composition. concept of SHC than for it, there being fat bums at a temperature of about two no known means by which such fluid- hundred and fifty degrees Celsius; how­ saturated tissue could self-'ignite. On the ever, a cloth wick placed in such fat will It is interesting that the major propo­ other hand, it is a fact that human fatty burn even when the temperature falls as nents of SHC—Michael Harrison (Fire tissue will burn, the water it contains low as twenty-four degrees Celsius (Dee from Heaven, 1978), Jenny Randies and being boiled off ahead of the advancing 1965). In an 1854 English case, a Peter Hough (Spontaneous Human Combustion, 1992), and Larry E. Arnold fire. woman's body had been partially (Ablaze!, 1995)—are all popular writers Referring specifically to claims of destroyed in the span of two hours; it who arc credulous as to oilier paranor­ SHC (and favorably citing research was explained that "beneath the body there was a hempen mat, so com­ mal claims. They stand in contrast to done by John F. Fischer and me), a stan­ bustible, owing to the melted human fat the physicists and chemists, the forensics dard forensic text, Kirk's Fire Investi­ with which it was impregnated, that specialists, and other scientists who gation, states: when ignited it burnt like a link [i.e., a question—on the evidence—the reality of spontaneous human combustion. Most significantly, there are almost pitch torch]" (Stevenson 1883, always furnishings, bedding, or car­ 718-27). pets involved. Such materials would not only provide a continuous source Even a lean body contains a signifi­ References of fuel but also promote a slow, smol­ cant amount of fat, which is present dering fire and a layer of insulation even in the bone marrow (Snyder 1967, Arnold, Larry E. 1995. Ablaze! The mysterious fires around any fire once ignited. With 233, 242). Indeed, "once the body starts of spontaneous human combustion. New York: this combination of features, the to burn, there is enough fat and inflam­ M. Evans and Company. investigator can appreciate the Bennett, Valerie (crematorium superintendent). basics—fuel, in the form of clothing mable substances to permit varying n.d. Quoted in Randies and Hough 1992, p. or bedding as first ignition, and then amounts of destruction to take place. 50. furnishings as well as the body to Sometimes this destruction by burning Blizin, Jerry. 1951. The Reeser case. St. Petersburg feed later stages; an ignition source— will proceed to a degree which results in smoking materials or heating appli­ Times (Florida), August 9. almost complete combustion of the ances; and finally, the dynamics of Dee, D. J. 1965. A case of "spontaneous combus­ tion." Medicine, Science and the Law 5: 37-8. heat, fuel, and ventilation to promote body," as police officials reported in the DeHaan, John D. 1991. Kirk's fire investigation, Mary Reeser case (Blizin 1951). a slow, steady fire which may gener­ 3rd ed. Englewood Cliffs. N.J.: Brady. ate little open flame and insufficient Moreover, in general, "women burn hot­ Drysdale, Dougal. 1989. Quoted in Randies and radiant heat to encourage fire ter and quicker than men, because pro­ Hough 1992, p. 43. growth. In some circumstances the portionally, women carry more fat" fat rendered from a burning body can Gaddis, Vincent. 1967. Mysterious fires and lights. New York: David McKay. act in the same manner as the fuel in (Bennett n.d.). an oil lamp or candle. If the body is Harrison, Michael. 1978. Fire from heaven. New York: Methuen. positioned so that oils rendered from Arnold tries to compare favorably the it can drip or drain onto an ignition partial destruction of bodies that occurs Liebig, Justus von. 1851. Familiar letters on chem­ istry, letter 22. London: Taylor, Walton and source, it will continue to fuel the in his SHC cases (in which limbs, large Maberly. flames. This effect is enhanced if segments of bone, and other matter may there are combustible fuels—carpet Nickell, Joe, and John F. Fischer. 1984. Spon­ remain, although that which does is padding, bedding, upholstery stuff­ taneous human combustion. The Fin and rarely quantified ot described scientifi­ Arson Investigator 34 (March): 4-11; (June): ing—that can absorb the oils and act 3—8. This was published in abridged form in cally) with the more complete destruc­ as a wick. (DeHaan 1991, 305) Joe Nickell with John Fischer, Secrets of the tion typical of crematories. But this is an supernatural (Buffalo, N.Y.: Prometheus apples-versus-oranges comparison at Books, 1988, 149-57, 161-71). Dr. Dougal Drysdale of Edinborough best. As Drysdale (1989) explains: Nickell, Joe, with John F. Fischer. 1992. Mysterious realms. Amherst, N.Y.: Prometheus Books. University agrees: Randies, Jenny, and Peter Hough. 1992. Spon­ In a crematorium you need high taneous human combustion. London: Robert The idea that the body can burn like temperatures—around 1,300 degrees Hale. a candle isn't so far fetched at all. In a C or even higher—to reduce the Snyder, Lemoyne. 1967. Homicide investigation. way, a body is like a candle—inside body to ash in a relatively short 2nd ed. Springfield. III.: C.C. Thomas. period of time. But it's a misconcep­ out. With a candle the wick is on the Stevenson, Thomas. 1883. The principles and prac­ inside, and the fat on the outside. As tion to think you need those temper­ tice of medical jurisprudence. 3rd ed. the wick burns the candle becomes atures within a living room to reduce Philadelphia: Lea. •

20 November/December 1996 SKEPTICAL INQUIRER MEDIA WATCH C. EUGENE EMERY, JR.

CD-ROM Encyclopedias: How Does Their Coverage of Pseudoscience Topics Rate?

ooking for good information on rating in the bunch. subtracting one point. I had hoped to the Bermuda Triangle? Don't The lowest score was garnered by the have the survey include Uri Geller, Jeane Lexpect to find it in the brand widely regarded as having the Dixon, pyramid power, Atlantis (the Encyclopaedia Britannica's CD-ROM. It highest level of scholarship—Britannica. New Age version), crop circles, iridology talks about missing ships and aircraft but It rated -6 points out of a possible low (diagnosing a wide variety of ills by look­ never mentions that the disappearances score of-28. ing at patterns in the colored portion of have usually been associated widi storms Compton's Interactive Encyclopedia the eye), and near-death experiences, but or fabricated by authors. scored almost as poorly, with -5 points. I couldn't find a reference to any of these Looking for an authoritative evalua­ Encarta got-1. topics in any of the products. tion of dowsing? You won't find it in I looked at encyclopedias available on My second bias is die belief that it is Microsoft Encarta. That CD-ROM ency­ CD-ROM because (a) the content is irresponsible for an encyclopedia to clopedia simply says that many scientists similar, if not identical, to the print ver­ mince words when there's overwhelming have "dismissed belief in divining rods as sions, (b) most give you a "search" option evidence to show th.it a particular idea is superstition," giving the false impression to help you locate references on a topic, wrong. To outline the creationist view that scientists have never seriously and (c) the popularity of computers is that die universe was spawned in six looked into the phenomenon. making these encyclopedias popular as twenty-four-hour days and simply label General-interest encyclopedias are well. Some print encyclopedias are avail­ the idea as "controversial" is to ignore or often die first place students turn to able on commercial services like Prodigy belittle die extraordinarily overwhelming when they're looking for information on and America Online. evidence that the concept is hogwash. pseudoscientific topics. Most are easy to My informal rating system was based Third is my belief that a good refer­ use, have an air of authority, and are on several personal biases. ence source should explain why a pseu­ widely available. The first is that a good encyclopedia doscience idea is disputed or dismissed But when it comes to discussing areas shouldn't ignore a pseudoscience topic. by scholars. Simply stating that "scien­ that are of interest to SKEPTICAL The student who can't find information tists don't believe it" is only a small step INQUIRER readers, the encyclopedias on the Tunguska fireball or Kirlian pho­ above declaring it "controversial." The aren't as informative as one might hope. tography in the encyclopedia may turn In fact, of the four general-interest instead to the local bookstore, where sci­ Gene Emery is a veteran science and med­ CD-ROM encyclopedias I sampled, ence-based analyses are swamped by ical writer whose computer software col­ only one. The Grolier Multimedia books with sensationalism and misinfor­ umn is carried by the Reuters news service. Encyclopedia, offered reasonably respon­ mation. Taking the elitist view that "peo­ His involvement with encyclopedias con­ sible coverage of the supernatural. The ple don't really believe in such nonsense" sists of contributing the article "The encyclopedias were rated in three areas— isn't a good excuse for ignoring a pseu­ Media and the Paranormal" to The doscience topic. Surveys show that a sig­ whether a topic was mentioned, the Encyclopedia of the Paranormal, pub­ nificant chunk of the population gives quality of the skepticism, and the quan­ lished by Prometheus Books (1996). He credence to pseudoscientific ideas. tity of the skepticism. On this system, can be reached at 46 Highland St., Grolier notched 19 points out of a possi­ Therefore, if a topic wasn't men­ Cranston Rl 02920 or by e-mail at ble high of 56. It was the only positive tioned, the product was penalized by gene. emery@prodigy com.

SKEPTICAL INQUIRER November/December 1996 21 scientific community has been wrong the evidence, experiments, or studies Finally, each article was assessed on about plenty of things. The idea of con­ that support a skeptical stance. Two the quantify of the skepticism expressed. tinental drift, for example, was originally points were bestowed on "mildly skepti­ One point was bestowed if the skeptical shot down by most geologists because cal" articles that suggested there was arguments seemed to get more attention gaps in our understanding of the earth some rationale for scientists' disbelief. than the information supporting the provided good reasons for that skepti­ One point went to articles with "token belief. One point was taken away if the cism. Providing a sense of the debate lets skepticism," where it simply stated that assertions of the believers got more. No readers see whether an idea is completely scientists don't believe it or the concept is points were given if the article was too outlandish or whether more research is unproven, without explaining why. A short to give much detail or if the skep­ likely to resolve the objections and turn "pseudoskeptical" article, one that only tics got roughly an equal amount of space. the skeptics around. suggested that the concept was contro­ versial, got zero points. If there was no Thus, I graded the entries on the The rating system did not take into hint of controversy, the article got —1 quality of the skepticism. A "very skepti­ account encyclopedias that had long point. cal" entry got three points for explaining entries explaining a pseudoscience topic in detail, with the skepticism buried at the end. PSEUDOSCIENCE COVERAGE IN CD-ROM ENCYCLOPEDIAS Assessing the encyclopedias in this Topic Grolier Britannica Encarta Compton's manner, I found that some general-pur­ Astrology 1 1 1 0 pose encyclopedias misinform more than Bermuda Triangle 3 0 -1* 1 they inform when it comes to scientifi­ Bigfoot, Yeti, etc. 2 0 -1* -1 cally assessing pseudoscience topics. Creationism 1 0 2 -1 Here are some examples to give you a Dowsing 0 -2 -1 -1* sense of how the different encyclopedias Ghosts 2 -2 -2 -2 treat these topics: Graphology The Bermuda Triangle: Britannica (to analyze character) 1 -2 -2 -1 nearly promotes the legend, reporting Homeopathy 0 -2 -1 -2 for example that "some ships were dis­ Loch Ness Monster 1 -2 1 -1* covered completely abandoned for no Kirlian photography 3 -1* 1 -1* apparent reason; others transmitted no Ouija 1 0 -1 -2 distress signals and were never seen or Parapsychology, heard from again." After a sentence on clairvoyance, missing aircraft, the article states: ESP, and other "However, wreckage has not been found, psychic powers 1 0 and some of the theories advanced to Subliminal advertising -1 -1* explain the repeated mysteries have been UFOs 4 4 fanciful." Missing wreckage has often TOTALS: 19 -1 -5 added to the mystery. Britannica gives no rational explanation for the legend. * not mentioned The briefer article in Compton's has sus­ THREE GRADING CATEGORIES: piciously similar information. The Grolier entry at least mentions violent MENTION storms in the area and notes how the tri­ 0 Topic mentioned angle's boundaries often vary "among -1 Topic not mentioned writers trying to establish a Bermuda QUALITY OF SKEPTICISM Triangle 'mystery.'" Very skeptical (explains evidence/experiments/studies for skepticism) Mildly skeptical (states some reasons scientists don't believe) Bigfoot, Yeti, etc.: Grolier says the Token skepticism (states that scientists don't believe, or the concept is most plausible explanation for the tracks unproven, without explaining why) of the abominable snowman "is that they Pseudoskepticism (states that it's controversial, but the author may are probably those of foxes or dogs, not have a clue as to why) -1 Zero skepticism expressed melted together by die heat of the Sun." Britannica says none of the evidence for QUANTITY OF SKEPTICISM Sasquatch has been verified and that 1 Skepticism given more space than belief "most scientists do not recognize the 0 Skepticism and belief given equal time, or article too short to give much detail -1 Belief given more space than skepticism CD-ROM continued on page 60

22 November/December 1996 SKEPTICAL INQUIRER A Strategy for Saving Science

To preserve our four-hundred-year commitment to a scientific worldview, we need our educated people to incorporate scientific thinking—the blend of curiosity and skepticism, the habit of critical questioning—into their very nature. Pioneering new teaching styles in science and math, carried out in cooperation with the liberal arts, can help achieve that.

LEON M. LEDERMAN

he support of scientific (and engineering) research in the U.S. has been steadily eroding for the past Tdecade. There are three institutions that conduct research and all are in retreat. Industry, once the source of basic research with vast technological implications, has been retreating, with once-great laboratories now only shadows of their former splendor. Universities, both public and private, are losing money and are, through hiring freezes and general austerity, reducing their own contribution to match the reduced overhead collected from federal contracts. Opportunities for young faculty are thereby restricted. And the U.S. government, by far the largest contributor to basic research, has not kept pace with the consumer price index, not to mention the increases needed to continue research with ever more profound, challenging, and therefore more expensive measurements. Some of the results are the wors­ ening of morale, the loss of young scientific recruits, and the

SKEPTICAL INQUIRER November/December 1996 23 loss of new science as senior investigators spend increasing the Religious Wrong—people who have a desperate need to amounts of time searching for funding to keep their experi­ believe; that's okay, but they have an equally desperate need to ments going and their graduate students fed. have you believe, too. Superposed upon this state of gracelessness is the emer­ On another plane are the academicians who know no sci­ gence of antiscience. Perhaps it has always been there but our ence, are proud of their ignorance, or who, mortified by this explosive growth in communications changes things. More disconnectedness, generate contempt for the scientific enter­ likely, antiscience waxes and wanes over the decades and we are prise. Others, swept into the antimodernist, end — of — objectivity in a waxing phase. And the antiscience comes in many flavors. collective, hold the goals of science to improve human society "Parascience" or "junk science" includes astrologers, mystics, as not only unrealizable but as harmful. Surely the seemingly psychics, clairvoyants, fortune tellers, soothsayers, pyramidal¬ intractable problems of poverty, urban decay, crime, hatred, ists, pendulum dowsers, spiritualists, Israeli magicians, faith and general inequities seem irrelevant to how much we learn healers, UFO witnesses, ESP wizards. Whew! I suspect that about the world. Certainly some of the more exotic views of most of them simply want to earn a dishonest dollar. I'm per­ this group, often at the edge of environmental, feminist, or sonally protected from astrology because I am a Gemini, and animal rights movements, are rooted in a deep ignorance of Geminis don't believe in astrology. the nature of science—what it does successfully and what it cannot do. If only we could get into their heads, expose them At a more sophisticated but equally dishonest level, in my to the luminescent, emerging worldview of the physical and opinion, are the late-night talk show liars, the now mostly biological universes and the scientific magic that allows arro­ jailed crowd of TV evangelists ("In the name of God" send gant, passionate, revolutionary, imperfect humans—scien­ money), and the TV networks (NBC is clearly in the lead tists—to create so magnificent an edifice as our ever-tentative here!) that prey on gullible viewers with their sensational "sci­ but ever-evolving scientific knowledge base! ence-like" programs such as Sightings, Paranormal Borderlands, and the NBC special "The Mysterious Origins of Man." There Now scientists are too often genetically infected optimists. are also credentialed scientists who, for a buck or a fat book We believe that problems, even seemingly intractable ones, can advance, will provide a mathematical proof that God exists be addressed and solved. In any case, it is too late to retreat— (there was an error in the proof!) or that life after death is won­ the world is stuck with science and technology. The problem derful enough to discourage you from exercising and eating will be to design a strategy that maximizes the possibilities of oat bran. Included here are also the political gumshoes, the using science and technology for the advance of humankind. modern-day McCarthy sleuths, Congressional investigators Now we have recently been reassured by the biennial NSF like Congressman John Dingell. Then there were Senator survey (National Science Board, Science and Engineering William Proxmire's obscene "Golden Fleece" awards—cheap, Indicators—1996. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government ignorant publicity devices disguised as protection of the pub­ Printing Office, 1996. [NSB 96-21]), which tells us that 70 lic purse. Let's not forget the self-appointed, tattletale peeping percent of the American public loves us, thinks that scientists Toms disguised as whistle-blowers, who make their reputa­ are among the most honorable of professionals, and believes tions as St. Georges, slaying the dragon of guilry-until-proven- that scientific research is a public good. And this number has innocent scientists. been about the same for decades! So why the paranoia? Antiscience includes fundamentalists, creationists, cultists, Perhaps because antiscience has grown from 1 percent to 10 percent in the past decade or so. Perhaps because the I percent Leon Lederman is Director Emeritus of the Fermi National or 10 percent are congressmen, TV anchors, newspaper and Accelerator Laboratory in Batavia, Illinois, having been Director magazine editors. Perhaps because many of the favorable 70 from 1979 to 1989, and is Pritzker Professor of Science at the percent also watch dopey TV programs and listen to Rush Illinois Institute of Technology. He was professor of physics at Limbaugh. I don't know. Columbia University from 1958 to 1989 and the Frank L. But, given this background, let me address a much deeper Sulzberger Professor of Physics at the University of Chicago from problem that underlies the success of antiscience in all of its 1989 to 1991- Lederman received his Ph.D. from Columbia forms and then suggest a strategy. University in 1951. He was chairman of the board and past pres­ The deeper problem already well identified today is the ident of the American Association for the Advancement of Science problem of illiteracy, scientific illiteracy. If, as our experts tell (1991-1993) and is a member of the National Academy of us, the U.S. public is 93.8 percent scientifically illiterate (or Sciences. His research has spanned four decades and includes such 97.3 percent, depending on how one measures), then small remarkable achievements as the discovery of the neutral K-meson wonder that our population is helpless before the onslaught of particle, evidence for the "bottom quark, "and the discovery of the antiscience. Look at its advantages: antiscience is positive, muon neutrino, for which he received the Nobel Prize in Physics authoritative, a haven for people who need safety and assur­ in 1988. This article is based on his Conference Address at the ance, whereas science is hesitant, skeptical, even of—especially twentieth'anniversary conference of the Committee for the of—its own heritage. Not too much comfort there. And sci­ Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal, June 20-23, ence demands some effort, a thought process. Antiscience says: 1996, Amherst, N. Y, where he also received CSICOP's In Praise Don't think! Believe! Trust us! We know! Science says: This is of Reason Award He is a newly elected CSICOP Fellow. the best we can do here, the most we can say, note the error

24 November/December 1996 SKEPTICAL INQUIRER bars in our statements. . . . Not a fair fight. Some nasty critics out there will point out that, much like religious organizations, science has its high priests who speak to each other in an esoteric and incomprehensible jargon and, when pressed, often invoke their gods with exotic names like Heisenberg, Schrodinger, Pasteur, and Einstein. However, die truth is that scientific authority exists to be overthrown, usually by very young revolutionaries, wielding logical bombs but perhaps not too unlike the caricature of the old Latin American country with a revolution every two weeks. The dramatic distinction, with­ out penetrating to the details, is that scientific revolutions leave behind an improved knowledge base, a more comprehensive synthesis of what the laboratory has revealed.

Science has a four-hundred-year track record of progress, and this is measured in many ways: by the ever-widening domain in space, time, and conditions over which we can describe nature and make predictions. All the antiscience armies com­ bined could not tell you the date of arrival of Halley's comet, whereas, science can give you the year, day, hour, and minute. Science's only com­ petition in the prediction business are the long­ haired, barefoot sandwich board carriers upon whose boards doomsday is spelled out to the microsecond. It is science that has converted night to day, in a ghetto housing project, with your children in dysfunc­ extended human longevity, cured many dread diseases, tional schools on dangerous streets; or if you live in a dirt-floor enabled people of very modest means to drive across conti­ cabin in the Amazon but you can watch the good life on tele­ nents, fly over oceans, and surf webs. Following the rules of vision. Even the most successful systems for harvesting the antiscience (collectively) would condemn the vast majority of new wealth that science generates are still full of glaring humans to extremes of poverty, starvation, and early death, inequities and filled with damages inflicted by greed and igno­ allowing the priests and kings to inhabit their drafty castles, rance. monasteries, and rectories. Science makes available to many the best of what mankind produces—jazz, rock, Beethoven's Like art, music, and literature, science creates (or reveals) late quartets; Shakespeare, Leonardo da Vinci, and Michael beauty and wonder, but science and technology also create Jordan. Antiscience sells some comfort in community and the wealth and empowerment; control passes to government, dubious promise of eternity in a better place or potions that commerce, and ultimately, in principle, to the citizens of guarantee all kinds of joy through strength. However, the ulti­ democratic society. The challenge to problem solvers is how to mate argument for not abandoning science to the dark forces prepare these elements to better manage this truly unimagin­ of superstition, ignorance, and rigid belief systems is that the able power. So the thoughtful citizen, whether science illiter­ planet will not survive a population of upwards of ten billion ate or not, asks good questions. Isn't it science that generates people (by the year 2050?) without significant increases in our the greenhouse gases, the acid rain, the new weapons, nuclear knowledge base, without new forms of energy, food produc­ waste dumps? And doesn't technology mostly benefit the rich? tion, and mechanisms for raising the standard of living of the As we watch with bemusement or astonishment the incred­ poorest people. ible changes being brought about by developments of technol­ ogy, we see the following major issues: But of course there arc more serious tensions between sci­ • A growth in short-termism with its consequent turning ence, with its associated technology, and society; and these away from such investments as research and education. problems are also well known: the distribution of scientific knowledge is uneven, and the benefits are far from uniformly • A prevailing ignorance about how science works. spread. Yes, there is trickle down, but it's no fun to be poor in • Excesses of science and technology deployments: indus­ an affluent society even if you have a car and an average life trial wastes, huge oil spills, toxic and radioactive debris, pro­ span of sixty or more years. It is even less fun if you are trapped duction of COJ ... • An exponential world population growth, a product of

SKEPTICAL INQUIRER November/December 1996 25 the spread of our understanding of sanitation and health care. domain—in other words, education spans a lifetime; it does • A failed educational system that has settled so long for not stop with formal, conventional education. The strategic low standards and lack of priority. vision is that if an ever-increasing number of our citizens could • Failed cities, crowded jails—as Roosevelt said in his be taught to think scientifically, to understand the critical famous 1932 presidential campaign speech, "One third of a methods that have allowed scientists and engineers to create so nation is still ill-housed, ill-clothed, ill-fed." much wealth, these citizens, in the democratic context, would •A commercial-TV wasteland that, for its easy profits, be intolerant of sound bites and baloney, would insist on the encourages mindlessness, violence, vacuous entertainment, proper allocation of national resources, would insist on a bal­ and rampant consumerism. The exceptions only compound ance between operation and investment, would insist that the the frustration of what could be but isn't. products of science and technology be deployed for the long- term benefit of the many, and would understand the role of And now we can contemplate the wave of antiscience that knowledge in social, economic, and cultural contexts. They pushes and pulls at our four-hundred-year-old commitment to would be shielded from the philosophical con men and women science and rationality. and snake-oil purveyors. They would surely understand that Almost like the drunk clutching the lamp post, scientists education must count almost as much as deficit reduction in clutch education as a long-term solution to the problem. the future well-being of their children. Whereas in an earlier People have long placed faith in education—from Thales of time, public understanding of science and technology was a Miletus to Richard Feynman of Brighton Beach, from the cultural plus, in today's and tomorrow's world the stakes are ancient prophets of biblical times to die profits of McGraw much higher—nothing less than the preservation of our four- Hill, from King Solomon, who was the education king, to hundred-year-old commitment to a rational worldview. George Bush, the education president. Education is my approach, too. (It is now known as ".edu".) This almost unrea­ There is, in our activities, the belief, perhaps born of soned belief in education is our article of faith. Of course, despair, that the universal absorption of the scientific tradi­ there are a depressing number of examples to tell us that edu­ tion, leavened by the liberal arts, will produce a new citizen­ cation does not inevitably produce ethical, virtuous, or even ship insistent on the application of science to fulfill the wise human beings. Creationists count heavily on their dozen promise of progress. or so Ph.D.'s, ignoring the fact that in a Ph.D.-counting con­ So let's look at our educational system with pithy comments test they'd lose by over a thousand to one. on what is going on or should be going on in each of the con­ Today we have the Unabomber example, and whereas one ventional phases of education. It is here that I will restrict can dismiss him as one individual having gone "over the edge," myself to my personal experiences and activities. I do, however, we also have the example of the Nazi scientists cheerfully par­ make the disclaimer that whereas I address science and math ticipating in World War II concentration camp experiments; education, I realize that the social sciences, language, the arts, we have pillars of our society and graduates of our best col­ and literature are also in trouble and need urgent attention. I leges, the tobacco company executives whose products con­ believe that the pioneering new teaching styles in math and sci­ tinue to generate more casualties than Hitler, Stalin, Ghengis ence can have a strong influence on the rest of the liberal arts Khan, and Napoleon put together. Articles in the New York curriculum if we can only give teachers time to talk and learn Times and Time magazine on alternative medicines are dis­ from one another. In fact, I believe we must be allies and work couraging. Facing die attacking antiscience forces, if I had the together for a renaissance of education across all subjects. Unabomber on the left and the new Republican congressmen I like to think about education as a kind of circle [see fig­ on the right, 1 would attack left. Why? The Unabomber only ure]. We learn in elementary electricity that if the circuit is not wanted to kill scientists and engineers, and he blew you up complete, but is cut somewhere, that no current will flow. cleanly and humanely, whereas these others will starve and tor­ Education is a circle because it starts, for example, with pre­ ture science to a slow and agonizing decay while their leaders school children, circles up to grades K through 8, continues to murmur in your ear about how much they love basic research. grades 9 through 12, whereupon some threads separate out— Still, we must not lose faith in education. It has to be done those who leave school—and others continue on to grades 13 better, and the ambitious reforms I will review need to be orga­ through 16 or further; but they all circle around as pan of the nized and coordinated in some kind of new strategy, perhaps a "general public," with the majority returning to the circle as general high-command center. We are still stuck with the age- parents of the pre-school children. So we have: preschool, old problem of how to teach ethics, morality, and social respon­ K — 8, 9-12, 13—16, and general public, which of course sibility. However, "they are working on it" and I really do not includes media professionals, politicians, doctors, lawyers, vot­ know how else to proceed. Education must be the antidote to ers, and parents, and so around we go. superstition, victimization, totalitarianism, bigotry. If it fails It is clear that we need a coordinating strategy that does not here and there we must make it better. We must work now exist. We must cover all arcs of the circle. We can improve together—scientists, educators, psychologists, neuroscientists, the schools only if we get to parents, teachers, school boards, linguists, and anthropologists—to make it better. The urgency the media. We need a coordinated battle plan—I've already of doing better and the common peril should make this easier. mentioned a central headquarters, perhaps festooned with But education spans a K — 16, or better, what I call a "K — 100" electronic screens and nattily outfitted Star Trek crews—with

26 November/December 1996 SKEPTICAL INQUIRER reports coming in from the front lines on where there is resis­ lem is easily traced to die poor training of primary school tance, with reinforcements to dispatch to the places of need, teachers, but also to constraints on supplies, preparation time, with public information releases so that progress can be fol­ and above all, professional development. Although this seems lowed, with CNN coverage of frontline action in die war on to be an international invariant, the reasons why we do so ignorance, and with yellow ribbons tied outside die homes of poorly in the U.S. can be catalogued. Teachers have lost social teachers! Most of all, we need a national priority for education. sums in the post-World War II era. Teacher training institu­ My personal opinions as we go around this education circle tions have failed and largely continue to fail to produce ele­ are dominated by die big IF. We can succeed if we motivate mentary school teachers who can teach math and science. our teaching of science by die desired outcome that is What makes this so tragic is that die new pedago­ all-important: we want our educated people gies for teaching math and science are so brilliant to have incorporated scientific and so engaging. thinking—die blend of curiosity Yet the situation in pri­ and skepticism, the habit of mary schools is far from hope­ critical questioning—into less. The buzzwords of dieir very nature. This hands-on, inquiry-based, should reduce the vul­ cooperative, construc¬ nerability of our citi­ tivist teaching of zens to quackery and math and science misdirection. This are spreading should raise die level from sea to of debate where sci­ shining sea. ence, technology, and The problem skepticism have is that profes­ role. Of course, sional develop­ grade K — 12 stu- ment of teach­ dents ha 7/i Education Circle ers has been basic grasp of e grossly neglected by the school sys­ science content: tems. Teacher col­ Earth is one of nine or so plan­ leges must change. The ets; the solar system is one of bil­ new pedagogy is noth- lions in our galaxy; there are chemical ing less than a cultural change, and elements and chemical compounds; the seed it requires patience and persistence. Acquiring is father of the plant; there are cells, membranes, nerves, scientific literacy must become a central aspect of K — 8 educa­ and muscles; there is a molecular basis of genes; and so on. tion to match die central aspect that science and technology Many of these details will be forgotten in the adult, but in increasingly play in our society. a coherent, hopefully seamless K — 12 experience, the student should permanently absorb a grasp of general scientific princi­ Consider grades 9-12, high schools. The science curricu­ ples and a sense of why such principles—for example, conser­ lum in 99 percent of U.S. high schools begins with biology, vation of energy—play so vital a role in science. The basic continues to chemistry and, for about 20 percent of U.S. stu­ requirements of the educational system have been written dents, ends with physics. This has been the way for one hun­ down in some detail in new national standards diat have been dred years, and it is obviously backwards. As the science and developed such as die Benchmarks issued by die American math standards become part of state and local school policy, it Association for die Advancement of Science in 1992 and die will be clear that all students, whatever their futures, will need National Science Standard issued by the National Academy of at least three years of math and three years of science. We have Sciences in 1995. So we do have a consensus on what students learned diat to begin to understand chemistry, one needs to should master. The new standards aim to: ". . . emphasize a understand die construction and working of atoms and mole­ new way of teaching and learning about science that reflects cules. We have learned that DNA is the bridge between how science itself is done, emphasizing inquiry as a way of physics, chemistry, and biology. A few cities, including New achieving knowledge and understanding about the world . . . York and Chicago, have adopted die policy of installing a and ". . . strengthen many of the skills that people use every­ three-year requirement. We must see to and encourage this for day, like solving problems creatively, thinking critically, work­ all schools, and there is some optimism here. This would be ing cooperatively, in teams. . . ." the time to rethink the high school curriculum: Science I, II, and III, a coherent, integrated sequence which, at every stage, We obviously do not teach science and mathematics very makes continuous use of what has been learned, to enlarge the well to children (K — 8). The situation is so bad thascopet we. arSeverae l promising programs arc around, and one I am indeed "a nation at risk." Incidentally, in this case, we are not most interested in is project ARISE (American Renaissance in much worse than most other nations of the world. The prob-

SKEPTICAL INQUIRER November/December 1996 27 Science Education), a loose coalition of scientists and educa­ * Should we decriminalize drugs? tors from die National Academy of Sciences, the American • How do we understand and control the information revolu­ tion? Association for the Advancement of Science, and die National Science Teachers Association, and a few government agencies Perhaps it is too idealistic to hope that a science-savvy pub­ and universities. It seems to me that it makes sense to start lic will be able to follow the scientific debates and to reason­ with ninth-grade conceptual physics (very light on math, ably weigh die pros and cons of public policy decisions. Any heavy on concepts), which would culminate in the develop­ approach to raising the level of the public's science savvy must ment a model of the structure of atoms. Science II, mostly be saturated with reality. Where do we start? Like Zsa Zsa chemistry, would take over here and hand over students with Gabor's seventh husband, we ask: How do we make it inter­ a command of chemical reactions and molecule formation, esting? Science needs all the help it can get from media pro­ ready for modern biology. fessionals. Just consider the power of a prime time TV dra­ In such a sequence, we would include some history of sci­ matic series that glues the viewers in their couches and teaches ence, some science in history and society, the interplay of sci­ them some science. Such a program, its episodes cycling over ence and technology, and the structure of such multidiscipli¬ the variety of research disciplines, could show scientists as nary subjects as earth science and ecology. humans (I know it's hard to believe), as often young, occa­ sionally and increasingly female, as spanning the range of If our fifteen thousand high schools would adopt one or human qualities but as addressing scientific and technological another sequence of three years for all students (subject to the problems (entertainingly apocalyptic) in the scientific spirit, national standards), in a decade we should have substantially demonstrating die essential qualities of skepticism and curios­ raised die level of behavior of our general public. The impact ity, insight, and imagination. Were it to catch on and become on grades K — 8 and die use of community colleges, trade highly popular, its educational impact could be huge. schools, as well as die offerings in liberal arts colleges, would all have to change. Here again my assessment is optimistic. But approaches to public understanding have many more The resistance to change in die high schools must not be avenues. There is cable, and public television and radio (for underestimated, but die virtues of reform are overwhelming. example, Ira Flatow's Science Friday on NPR). There are op-ed On our side we have the as-yet unorganized support of the sci­ opportunities like the corner of the New York Times that is usu­ ence establishment. We have the customers for high school ally rented by Mobil Oil. Occasionally, Henry Kendall's Union graduates in industry and government. And we have the sup­ of Concerned Scientists writes good science stories as does port of perceptive educators. Give it ten years! Scientific American. And, as they said when a cruise ship full of I will skip grades 13—16 except to make a plea, guaranteed lawyers sank in Lake Erie, "It's a start!" Let me challenge you to fall on resistant ears, diat a two-year science requirement for to write a 600- to 800-word essay on your favorite science nonscience and nonengineering students is really minimum. story. Make it lively and readable. Mail it to me, and I'll try Certainly the standard "Rocks for Jocks" will no longer work hard to get it published. for our ARISE generation high school graduates. It is here that In all of this, we should pay close attention to the profes­ critical examinations of antiscience can be made. It is also here sionals who have studied die history and the complexities of diat the moral and ethical obligations on science and technol­ "public understanding." ogy can be discussed at a much deeper level. My penultimate remark may not be necessary for this audi­ Finally, let me comment on die "grade 17-100" students— ence: raising the level of public understanding of science has John Q. Public in the wide spectrum of our citizens as they clear objectives. The future is like navigating a sea with islands exist today: 97.3 percent scientifically illiterate; addicted to of disaster, islands of human fulfillment, and islands not yet dieir PCs, CD-ROMs, digitized toothbrushes, Superbowls, explored. The steering of die ship cannot be left to captains and mindless sitcoms; and filled with a love for their children. who can't read the maps, nor should it be left to scientists or We must reach them because they vote now, because they are any special priesthood. History and our love and respect for the parents and school board members, because they produce democracy favors the selection of able representatives by all the NBC documentaries, because national and local and personal literate and knowledgeable passengers, sensitized to the scien­ decisions increasingly involve science and technology. Here are tific spirit. The captain must also be wise, compassionate, some typical questions out of todays news: visionary, and managerial (but, of course, not perfect!).

Finally, let's be clear on die difference between education • Should we ban cigarettes? and marketing. That a science-literate public would favor • Are silicone breast implants dangerous? increasing science funding is not at all clear. Honest education • Can peach pits cure cancer? may generate, will generate, as many critics as admirers of sci­ • Is there any good data on the efficacy of alternative medi­ ence. This is the kind of criticism diat science needs to keep it cines? sharp. Ethical and social responsibility at the highest level is • Should our military continue to employ psychics? essential to our future. The skepticism we so desperately want • Are aliens kidnapping and molesting U.S. citizens? to instill in citizens may turn to skepticism about the useful­ • Should we put a tax on carbon emissions? • What is the population crisis problem? ness or value of science. But I do believe most of us are willing • Are humans influencing global climate change? to take our chances. D

28 November/December 1996 SKEPTICAL INQUIRER That's Entertainment! TV's UFO Coverup

Network television documentaries about UFOs have willfully ignored evidence that contradicts the pro-aliens theme.

PHILIP J. KLASS

on't be surprised or shocked if you discover that a good friend—a well-educated, intelligent person— Dbelieves in UFOs, or that he or she suspects that the U.S. government recovered a crashed extraterrestrial craft and ET bodies in New Mexico and has kept them under wraps for nearly half a century. Don't be surprised if your respected friend, or a member of your own family, is convinced that ETs are abducting thousands of Americans and subjecting them to dreadful indignities. The really surprising thing is that you do not believe in crashed saucers, alien abductions, and government coverup if you spend even a few hours every week watching TV. There are many TV shows that promote belief in the reality of UFOs, government coverup, and alien abductions. And they attract

SKEPTICAL INQUIRER November/December 1996 29 the next month, some fourteen hundred people claimed that their Audi 5000s had experienced sudden acceleration prob­ lems (P. J. O'Rourke, Parliament of Whores, Atlantic Monthly Press, 1991, pp. 86—7). Subsequent investigation by the National Transportation Safety Board revealed that the prob­ lem was the result of driver error—stepping on the accelerator

Air Intelligence K-Jvurl fa.. lOO-OO-tS when they intended to step on the brake. Here's another example: several years ago, a man who ANALYSIS Of Flying Objects Incidents IW THE U 3. claimed he had found a hypodermic needle in a Pepsi-Cola can

Air Intelligence tvuioa Study No. 203 became an instant celebrity when he appeared on network TV news to describe his amazing discovery. Within several weeks, Directors of Intelligence* ud Office of Naval intelligence roughly fifty other persons around the country claimed they DtSTRlBUTlON "C" too had discovered hypodermic needles in Pepsi-Cola cans. WARNING This document contains Information' affecting In* national defense of ths United Stalls Investigation showed all these reports were spurious. • within the meaning LJ IS* ESPIONAGE Act. 30 UiC. 31 and 32. as ammended. lis It-ant transmission la* ravaiatlata of IIA coottaaa la any satnntr lo an urjMAho*la*»J ratraut la proftibinl by law. TV's brainwashing of the public on UFOs occurs not only HaproduclUMi of lac Intelligence under publicationtulsi on 310-3. la authorizediled anus llu-.r, af.-reirs nrnvljea II.- .-*»rcc Is Directorate of Intelligenceon NBC' Office of Navals Unsolved Intelligence Mysteries and Fox network's Sightings, but

Headquarters United States Air Force Navy Department also on more respected programs such as CBS's 48 Hours and

Washington, D. C. ones hosted by CNN's Larry King. classified , Why pick on the TV networks? Cannot the same criticism be leveled at the print media? No. Generally, even cub reporters know that when writing an article on a controversial subject they should try to present both sides of the issue. If they fail to do so, their older and wiser managing editors will remind them. An article may devote 60 or 70 percent of its content to pro-UFO views, but with TV the pro-UFO content very large audiences—typically tens of millions of viewers. typically runs 95 percent—or higher. Often they are broadcast a second, possibly even a third time. TV news programs do try to offer viewers an even-handed TV has become the most pervasive means of influencing treatment of controversial subjects. Thus it is not surprising what people believe. That explains why companies spend bil­ that many viewers assume they are getting an equally balanced lions of dollars every year on TV advertising to convince the treatment in TV shows that follow the news, such as Unsolved public that Brand X beer tastes best, that you should eat Brand Mysteries and Sightings. This is especially true when the show Y cereal, and that a Brand Z automobile is the world's best. is CBS's 48 Hours, hosted by news anchor Dan Rather. According to a recent survey reported in Business Week mag­ This "schizophrenic" policy would be less troubling if such azine, our children spend nearly twice as much time watching TV programs were required to carry a continuous disclaimer, TV as they do in school. such as "This program is providing you with a one-sided treat­ Consider the problem that TV created for the Audi 5000 ment of a controversial issue. It is intended solely to entertain automobile and the claim that the car would suddenly accel­ you," or at least if such a disclaimer were voiced by the host at erate and crash into the front of an owner's garage when the the beginning and the end of such a program. But alas, at best automatic transmission was in neutral. The Audi 5000 was there is only a brief disclaimer which typically says: "The fol­ introduced in 1978, and during the next four years only thir­ lowing is a controversial subject." teen owners complained of a mysterious sudden acceleration Consider a typical NBC Unsolved Mysteries show dealing incident. Then, in November 1986, CBS featured the alleged with the Roswell "crashed-saucer" incident. The show, which Audi 5000 problem on its popular 60 Minutes show. During aired Sept. 18, 1994, included an appearance by me. Prior to the taping of my interview, I gave the producer photocopies of Philip J. Klass has spent thirty years investigating famous UFO once top-secret and secret Air Force documents that had never incidents, searching (in vain) for scientifically credible evidence before been seen on TV and that provided important new evi­ of extraterrestrial visitors to enable him to write the most impor­ dence that a flying saucer had not crashed in New Mexico. tant story of his forty-year-plus career with Aviation Week & These documents, dating back to late 1948, revealed that if Space Technology. Klass has authored four (skeptical) books on an ET craft was recovered from New Mexico in July 1947, the subject, the most recent being UFOs: The Public Deceived nobody informed top Pentagon intelligence officials who and UFO Abductions: A Dangerous Game (both published by should have been the first to know. One of these top-secret Prometheus Books). Klass publishes the Skeptics UFO documents, dated December 10, 1948, more than a year and Newsletter (SUN). He is a Fellow of CSICOP and chairs its a half after the alleged recovery of an ET craft and "alien" bod­ UFO Subcommittee. This article is based on his presentation at ies, showed that top Air Force and Navy intelligence officials the twentieth-anniversary conference of CSICOP, June 20-23, then believed that UFOs might be Soviet spy vehicles. 1996. Amherst, N. Y. When the hour-long Unsolved Mysteries show aired, I

30 November/December 1996 SKEPTICAL INQUIRER appeared for only twenty seconds to discuss the early history of the UFO era. Not one of die once top-secret and secret Inquirer f. Tut oruciH of Oat aaoaaaa U aat I—111MI1 TV,™ ui M riinmlli aoaalaltHaar documents, which disproved the Roswell myth, or my taped Of Taa oajacla ara *OTMK oavtcao, aa* If ao. laolr MraUncaUaa or orlflo can ba aoaaMaabal by a aarvar «t all llaM-alasi af alrbarao ateaafl nil malic frflat.alas iff" afrrraa. Jmirtie a, WkM u«U of ni«M atlfM bo laapnafili (or BOOM of tlto raportad nrtnr ablicta. partlo,- references to diese documents, was used. Urt. laooa aaacrlbaa aa olaaa oat roof* clfar rlilil, (Ma A|| laVll •*e* aral -'D-J Aanaj taaao abaca baaa baaa aaararlnaal U raaaa roan ara la. xrJU-Y Cnrus naplorVl aaaaaaaat a» Caaaca-V»aIM. lao Kortaraa B-36, aaa Ifto taraa-lal aaajarai fawlaraa, YB-*». Tbo araaaaa On October 1, 1994, the famed Larry King aired a two- aaUaaaca at aa* arlratalr U ili|l« OjaaJ aaar Ifaa.aircraft baa aol aaaa JllliailaH aal aaa hour special program on the TNT cable network. It's tide was aacb alrcran. la* Araa lalllaaa I HI ••Till I, aaa n 11 Ml I tail at, SaatS •—«. fill • Prior fa IDS. 01 oblort* ara loraaja. aaa • aa. at aaaaw aaam —« aarlaal u r lao* u-r ar* traai a SaVa* aoarcr. Tw •avaau oaaaaaa lilinaiaTIIII aa a aaiaiir of Oaraaaa QTbw-ortar. trot atrcnfl "UFO Coverup? Live From Area 51." (Area 51 is part of an Air aacb aa oat Cofaa Patu, huaMn IT 130 loar-raaro. fcaf> laiofl |al aoaabar Bad lao Uorua OB larla-b* tlcMar. a*0ca panicalarrjr aaaaa of aa, tm Hollar at aaataauria* nrlaaj aMaoa Force base in Nevada where Paa lao •*!• "VI. AM aarrr aa ISM Taialllaaiilrr Mi aim* a "Parabaaa" alrcran, aa all new aircraft and weapons arc Irani- tested. UFO believers allege ball that one can see alien space­ **- aarr a**s craft flying over the area and at aaa a that the government has secret aa*. at aa dealings and encounters with ;rrd aliens there.) -oral Approximately one hour— half the two-hour program— was broadcast live from Nevada. For this hour, four IB aaa pro-UFO guests were allowed oajocu aaa* a aaaaaaafj 01141a. Oraoralaa. If N U llrnu, indicated urn Uarra la aa daoaoauc artunallao. lao oajocu ara a Uaraat iad aarraat aaara acllva attorta of Idaamicattao. aad tatar. to make wild claims, without a single live skeptic to respond. oaatloa. U. IT MUST aa accral** laat aaaaa lyao at arbaj eaiarta tarra boaa obaaraad. akaecara UaMr To give viewers the illusion of "balance," the show included aaaatatarallea aaa oriel* ara aol «ai aiaaali la Hat lataraat ef national aafaaaa R weald ao pre-taped interviews with Carl Sagan and with me. Sagan •aaalao la oaaHaah lao aooaiallHr taaa aoaao of laaaa oaiocu aiar bo of foraara o.lilr. appeared in five very brief segments, averaging less than fifteen seconds each, for a total of one and one-quarter minutes. I appeared in four brief segments for a total airtime of one and a live—to interview pro — UFOlogist Fred Whiting, who was given half minutes. nearly three minutes of airtime. Whiting assured the viewers: So during the two-hour show, the audience was exposed to "There is indeed a coverup." But I was not invited to be inter­ less than three minutes of skeptical views on UFOs, crashed viewed. saucers, and government coverup. And because Sagan and I In early 1994,1 received a phone call from a producer of the were taped many weeks earlier, neither of us could respond to CBS show 48 Hours, saying they were producing a segment on nonsense spouted by the four UFO promoters who appeared the Roswell crashed saucer and would like to come down from live for an hour. New York in mid-April to interview me. Some weeks earlier, when I went to the studio for my taped In late March 1994, I visited Roswell in connection with a interview for this Larry King show, I handed producer Tom new crashed-saucer book that was making its debut there. Not Farmer photocopies of the same once top-secret and secret doc­ surprisingly, the CBS film crew from 48 Hours was on hand uments I had given to Unsolved Mysteries. Once again I stressed and they did a brief interview with me. In an effort to inform that these documents had never before appeared on any televi­ the viewers of the 1948 top-secret document, I pulled it out of sion show. Yet not one of these documents was shown during my pocket and held it up in front of the CBS camera. And I the two-hour program. promised to provide the producer with more such documents, Near the end of the program, Larry King summed up the never before shown on TV, when they came to Washington for situation in the following words: "Crashed saucers. Who the more lengthy interview. knows? But clearly the government is withholding some­ CBS never came to Washington for my interview. And thing. ..." In fact, it was Larry King and his producer who when the show later aired, with Dan Rather as its host, CBS were withholding the hard data that would show that the gov­ opted not to include any of the brief interview with me in ernment is not involved in a crashed-saucer coverup. Roswell—holding up the once top-secret document. Larry King ended the program with these words: "We hope Young children, and their parents, will experience similar that you learned a lot tonight and that you found it both enter­ "brainwashing" when they visit Disney World's new taining and informative at the same time." "Tomorrowland" in Orlando. A new dynamic exhibit is called If you were looking for a truly "informative" program on "Alien Encounters and Extra-TERRORestrial Experience." To UFOs, you'd expect to find it on the Science Frontiers program encourage parents and children to visit the new UFO exhibit, broadcast on The Learning Channel, right? Wrong! in mid-March 1995 Walt Disney Inc. broadcast a one-hour TV Last spring. The Learning Channels Science Frontiers pro­ show on ABC tided "Alien Encounters from New Tomorrow- gram aired a one-hour program tided "UFO." Not one of the many "UFO experts" interviewed on the program was a skeptic. The British producer sent a film crew to Washington—where I UFO Coverup continued on page 58

SKEPTICAL INQUIRER November/December 199. 31 Scientific Consensus and Expert Testimony: Lessons from the Judas Priest Trial

Can a subliminal message induce someone to commit suicide? This was the central question at the Judas Priest trial.

TIMOTHY E. MOORE

he face of Jesus was "discovered" in a forkful of spaghetti in a Pizza Hut billboard advertisement in TDeKalb County, Georgia, in May of 1991. Joyce Simpson said she was debating whether to quit her church choir as she was leaving a gas station when she felt compelled to look up. "And I saw Christ's face," she said (Guevara- Castro and Viele 1991). Subsequently, dozens of motorists claimed to have seen Jesus shrouded in spaghetti and tomato sauce on the chains billboard. God works in mysterious ways, but this tactic seems unnecessarily convoluted. On the other hand, compared to being abducted by aliens, seeing a face in a blob of spaghetti is small potatoes. Sometimes perceptual illusions or faulty reasoning can have more pernicious consequences. For example, in 1986 a

November/December 1996 SKEPTICAL INQUIRER Philadelphia jury awarded a woman more than $900,000 in good forum for illustrating some important and often misun­ damages because she claimed her psychic powers had been derstood aspects of subliminal perception. damaged during a CAT scan conducted at Temple University Judas Priest was a British heavy metal rock band—one of Medical School (New York Times, March 29, 1986). Her com­ the first of that genre. Their popularity peaked in the mid-70s. plaint was supported by the "expert" testimony of a doctor. The album in question (Stained Class) was produced in 1978; Unfounded fears are not unusual, but when they are accorded the shootings took place in December 1985. It was alleged that further esteem by a credulous judge or jury we risk surrender a particular subliminal phrase in one of their songs ("Better by to the irrational. What the courts take seriously is believed to You Better Than Me") on the album triggered a suicidal be serious by the common citizen. While science can suppos­ impulse. The phrase at issue was "Do It." In isolation, this edly provide some protection against litigious foolishness, phrase has litde meaning unless there is some antecedent to sometimes science itself seems to be part of the problem. which the "It" refers. Moreover, the antecedent could not have How do scientific beliefs been anything that was influence courtroom delib­ audible on the record (or erations? More specifi­ visible on the album cally, what happens to an cover), because such mate­ extraordinary claim when rial would have been pro­ it plays a pivotal role in a tected by the First high-stakes criminal trial? Amendment. Consequently Within the scientific com­ the plaintiffs were in the munity there are accepted difficult position of having methods and procedures to acknowledge that die for establishing the truth boys were suicidal to begin or falsity of an extravagant with, and ih.it die sublim­ claim (Gardner 1981), but inal phrase "Do It" trig­ the courtroom is a differ­ gered the already existing ent kind of forum. It disposition. is adversarial in nature. What happens to scien­ First Amendment tific consensus in court, Protection and the especially if scientific Denial of Summary information is distorted, Judgment misrepresented, or per­ haps not science at all? The defendants denied any Peter Huber has described and all knowledge of sub­ what he calls "junk sci­ liminal messages, and they ence" (Huber 1991), and Cover of Judas Priest's 1978 album Stained Class. (Cover design: R. Szaybo. denied having engaged in according to Huber junk Photography: R. Kass.) any tricks or mischief dur­ ing production of the science may (and often does) wreak havoc with scientific record. Nevertheless, the case went to trial. The defense was integrity and with justice. unsuccessful in arguing that any and all speech (including sub­ This article explores the issue of junk science in the con­ liminal speech) should enjoy First Amendment protection. In text of a specific trial—the Judas Priest trial that unfolded in a pre-trial motion. Justice Jerry Carr Whitehead ruled that Reno, Nevada, in the summer of 1990. Two teenage boys, subliminal speech docs not deserve protection because it does James Vance and Ray Belknap, had attempted suicide. At the not perform any of the functions that free speech accom­ time of the shootings, Belknap died instantly. Vance was plishes. Since the recipient of a subliminal message is unaware severely injured but he lived, only to die of drug complications of it, the message can't contribute to dialogue, the pursuit of three years later. The plaintiffs (the boys' parents) alleged that truth, the marketplace of ideas, or personal autonomy. There subliminal messages hidden in the heavy metal rock music is no information exchange. No arguments are possible if that Vance and Belknap listened to contributed to their suici­ recipients are unaware of the message's presence. People also dal impulse. This trial is interesting for a number of reasons. have a right, the judge added, to be free from unwanted First, it provides a classic example of junk science. Second, die speech. Since subliminal materials cannot be avoided, they trial established a legal precedent that has already influenced constitute an invasion of privacy. For all these reasons, sub¬ the ruling in a similar subsequent suit. Third, it provides a liminals were not afforded First Amendment protection (Vance v. Judas Priest 1989b). This ruling makes logical sense Timothy E Moore is in the Psychology Department, Glendon //a subliminal message could hzvc the power attributed to it by College, York University, 2275 Bay view Ave., Toronto, Ont. the plaintiffs. The plaintiffs thus achieved a major victory in M4N 3M6. E-mail: [email protected]. getting the case to trial in the first place.

SKEPTICAL INQUIRER November/December 1996 33 While First Amendment protection has never been Priest 1990, 2-3). The plaintiffs were obliged, however, to absolute, the exceptions have been narrow and carefully lim­ acknowledge some degree of risk, otherwise the "Do It's" would ited. Speech that is obscene, libelous, or an incitement to law­ have been meaningless. What were some of these risk factors? lessness is not protected by the First Amendment. Justice According to the clinical psychologist who testified for the Whitehead's ruling provided another exception—subliminal defense, both boys had serious, long-term adjustment prob­ speech. We may not have seen the last of trials concerning alle­ lems. Both were violent and abusive in their relationships. They gations about subliminal influences (Dee 1994). A few months felt socially alienated; they were emotionally distressed, often after Judas Priests acquittal, Michael Waller, the son of a depressed, and impulsive. Vance once broke another student's Georgia minister, shot himself in the head while listening to jaw in a fight at school. Both had a history of drug abuse, petty Ozzy Osborne's record Suicide Solution. His parents claimed crime, school failure, and unemployment. Family backgrounds that subliminal messages may have influenced his actions. The were violent and punitive. Belknap had attempted suicide judge in that trial granted the summary judgment because the before and had expressed suicidal intentions. Just prior to the plaintiffs could not show that there was any subliminal mater­ shootings, Belknap gave out some of his Christmas presents ial on the record. He noted, however, that if the plaintiffs had early and indicated a desire for his sister to name her baby after shown that subliminal content was present, the messages would him if anything happened to him. Most of these factors were not have received protection under the First Amendment mentioned by the judge in his final ruling. They were included because subliminal messages are, in principle, false, misleading "reluctantly" to show that the deceased were at high suicide risk or extremely limited in their social value (Waller v. Osbourne (see Litman and Farberow 1994). Was this a reasoned depar­ 1991). Justice Whitehead's ruling in the Judas Priest trial was ture from the "subverted causality" that often typifies liability cited to support his position. cases? Who can say? The concession may simply have been an artifact of the logical necessity for the plaintiffs to recognize the Liability 'Science' high-risk status of the boys. At any rate, multiple causes were If a car accident causes severe injury or death, it may be more recognized, albeit somewhat grudgingly. The judge stated that appealing and more comforting to the driver if the cause of the "[t]here exist other factors which explain the conduct of the accident can be attributed to a mechanical defect rather than to deceased independent of the subliminal stimuli. . . . [t]he operator error. It may also be more appealing and more lucra­ deceased had propensities which made them a high suicide tive to lawyers interested in liability. Liability science often risk" (Vance v. Judas Priest 1990, 31-32). assumes that every ill has a distant cause—often a technologi­ cal cause. Food additives, environmental toxins, and mechani­ The Plaintiffs' Experts cal defects have all been alleged culprits in liability suits within The pursuit of isolated, distant, and mysterious causes for var­ the last two decades. The Judas Priest suit was a product liabil­ ious mishaps sometimes results in a search for distant and mys­ ity case. An allegedly defective product was placed on the mar­ terious experts. Experts are invited to provide support for the ket and it caused harm. According to Timothy Post, one of the contentious claim. When courts are tolerant of a subvened plaintiffs' lawyers, the subliminal message triggered the sui­ sense of the meaning of causality, they may also be tolerant of cides. The defense denied placing any subliminal messages, and fringe experts. There were several at this trial. One of them was further contended that subliminal stimuli are not capable of Wilson Key. He is the man who pretty much single-handedly compelling any behaviors, let alone suicidal ones. popularized the myth of subliminal advertising. He sees sub­ One of the threats to scientific integrity mentioned by liminal conspiracies everywhere (Key 1973, 1976, 1980, 1989), Huber (1991) has to do with abandoning the usual scientific so it was not surprising that he was present to support the meaning of the term causality. From a scientific perspective, we plaintiffs' claims. While Key provided extensive pre-trial testi­ typically want to understand a phenomenon by discovering all mony, his contribution to the actual trial was negligible. It is the causal factors that contribute to it. According to Huber, possible that he undermined his own credibility with the court however, liability science has its own rules. Liability science by opining that subliminal messages could be found on Ritz likes to simplify matters. A specific potential cause is selected crackers, the Sistine Chapel, Sears catalogues, and the NBC and other contributing factors are ignored. It is assumed that evening news. He also asserted that "science is pretty much no other variables were operating except the one of interest. what you can get away with at any point in time." The standard scientific approach is abandoned. Multiple risks The most influential expert to testify for the plaintiffs was are disregarded—especially obvious, ubiquitous, taken-for¬ Howard Shevrin, whose credentials were unassailable. He has granted risks—and all attention is focused on remote and (per­ conducted research on subliminal influences for over twenty haps) implausible causes that implicate negligence on the part years and has a respectable track record of publications in peer- of someone else. reviewed books and journals (e.g., Shevrin 1988). Sherin's There was some evidence of this approach—the tendency to argument was that subliminal commands are especially potent subvert the meaning of causality—at the Judas Priest trial. In because the recipient is unaware of their source and attributes his final ruling, the judge explicitly stated "the deceased and the directive or the imperative to himself—to his own inner their parents are not on trial. The court is not to judge the lives motivational state. While there is a certain logic to this, Shevrin of the decedents or evaluate their families." (Vance v. Judas was hard-pressed to describe any research that supported his

34 November/December 1996 SKEPTICAL INQUIRER opinion. The argument also presupposes that a command or strongest evidence presented at the trial showed no behavioral directive is inherently compelling—tliat because it is an impera­ effects other than anxiety, distress or tension" (Vance v. Judas tive in a linguistic or syntactic sense, it compels compliance in Priest 1990, 31). The judge's conclusion about subliminal a psychological sense. According to Shevrin, when we con­ effects is not too far from the consensus to be found among sciously experience a command, we can ignore or comply with most cognitive psychologists. Well-established subliminal commands as we see fit, but if the command is subliminal, it effects are rather modest in their magnitude and nature— may become part of our ongoing stream of motives, feelings, semantic activation of single words under highly constrained and inner promptings. It can therefore add an increment to any conditions (see Holender 1986). To quote from a recent influ­ current predisposition that may be present, such as suicide. The ential review: ".. . unconscious cognition is severely limited in fallacy lies in assuming that an imperative message has some its analytic capability" (Greenwald 1992,775). inherently motivating effect. His position also required the At one point during pre-trial testimony, Bill Peterson (one assumption that a suicidal disposition requires a trigger or pre­ of the defense counsels) asked Shevrin to describe the empirical cipitant in order to be acted on. This assumption does not basis for his opinion: "What experiments are you referring to square with the research literature on adolescent suicide (Maris when you say you're referring to a body of literature, experi­ 1981). Shevrin was nevertheless persuasive. He provided an ments on which you base your conclusion that subliminal mes­ apparently respectable conceptual framework for explaining sages may be sufficient to induce suicidal behavior?" how such a mysterious and almost magical force could operate. "I'm basing my opinion, my expert judgment, on a corpus of literature, on hundreds of experiments," said Shevrin. The Defendants' Experts "Name one," said Mr. Peterson (Vance v. judos Priest 1989a, 138-139). Three experts were called by the defense: myself, Anthony Shevrin eventually alluded to three or four studies (e.g., Pratkanis (a professor of social psychology from the University Kupper and Gerard 1990; Silverman 1982; Smith, Spence, and of California at Santa Cruz), and Don Read (a cognitive psy­ Klein 1959)—none of which demonstrated anything remotely chologist from the University of Lethbridge). I testified about method­ ological and interpretational flaws in The argument also presupposes that a command or some specific investigations of subliminal auditory stimuli (e.g., Borgeat and directive is inherently compelling—that because it is Chaloult 1985; Borgeat, Elie, Chaloult, an imperative in a linguistic or syntactic sense, it and Chabot 1985; Henley 1975) and about the dubious empirical foundation compels compliance in a psychological sense. underlying psychodynamic constructs. It was my opinion that there was no scientific support for the proposition that sublim­ close to subliminal commands influencing motives. In fact, inal directives could induce behaviors of any kind, let alone sui­ very few published studies have attempted to use subliminal cide. Pratkanis reiterated some of the main points of my testi­ directives, and those that have used them produced singularly mony regarding the history of research on subliminal influence, unci impelling evidence for subliminal influences on intention¬ and described a recently conducted experiment (since pub­ ality (e.g., Zuckerman I960; see Moore [1982] for commen­ lished) showing that subliminal self-help tapes were ineffective tary). (Pratkanis, Eskenazi, and Greenwald 1994). He also expressed Sherin's position was supportive of the plaintiffs' claims. additional misgivings about the validity of the Borgeat stud­ Moreover, if logically extended, it constitutes an endorsement ies—studies Shevrin had cited as supportive of his position. of auditory subliminal self-help tapes. If Sherin's position were Pratkanis resisted the intimation by the plaintiffs' lawyers that valid, subliminal self-help tapes should be effective for a sub­ scientific findings were not of an enduring nature—that what stantial number of people. Users are predisposed and some may is known today may be abandoned and replaced by a new opin­ even be preoccupied with changing their behavior in the direc­ ion tomorrow. Finally, Don Read provided an eloquent tion of the affirmations on the tapes. Those messages should, description of research on the comprehension and retention of therefore, according to Sherin's logic, alter and increase the lis­ reversed speech (see Vokey and Read 1985). teners' inner motives. There is ample evidence, however, that subliminal self-help tapes are therapeutically useless (Greenwald, Spangenberg, Pratkanis, and Eskenazi 1991; Scientific Opinion vs. Scientific Evidence Merikle 1988; Merikle and Skanes 1992; Moore 1988; The judge may have been seduced by psyche-dynamics, but Pratkanis, Eskenazi, and Greenwald 1994; Russell, Rowe, and perhaps not entirely convinced. Although Shevrin was success­ Smouse 1991). ful in helping obtain the exception to First Amendment pro­ While Sherin's testimony may have been logical, it was not tection, he did not prevail during the actual trial. The ruling good science. The judge, to his credit, appears to have made a about subliminal effects stated: "The scientific research pre­ distinction between a scientific opinion based on personal con­ sented docs not establish that subliminal stimuli, even if per­ viction and the logic of psychodynamics, and one based on ceived, may precipitate conduct of this magnitude. . . . [t]he empirical support.

SKEPTICAL INQUIRER November/December 1996 35 Pseudoscience subliminal manipulation and that the techniques are "taught" Up to this point, science has not fared badly. With respect to in high school and college courses (Block and Vanden Bergh causality, die judge found that there were factors independent 1985; Synodinos 1988; Zanot, Pincus, and Lamp 1983). of die subliminal stimuli that made the decedents a high sui­ Implicit, if not explicit, in both Vicary's alleged demonstra­ cide risk. With respect to the scientific literature, he found that tion, as well as media descriptions of die phenomenon, is the die research had not established that subliminal stimuli could assumption that invisible or inaudible stimuli are inevitably have the sorts of effects postulated by the plaintiffs. There were unconsciously perceived. Portions of die judge's ruling reflect other aspects of the case, however, in which scientific thinking this assumption. His historical review of subliminal stimuli is fared less well. Pseudoscience sometimes plays a role in court more a review of media coverage of the topic rather than a sci­ because of dubious "experts" who are willing to attest to just entific history, let alone a recent scientific appraisal. This pop­ about anything. In these situations, junk science appears in ular, simplified, and exaggerated notion of subliminal persua­ court because experts have been invited to educate die judge or sion is reflected in some of die other rulings, and it is in these jury. Another reason that junk science gets into court is because rulings that scientific truth fared less well. Here is what needed it already resides in court in die form of pre-existing beliefs to be demonstrated by the plaintiffs: about die phenomenon at issue. 1. An inaudible (but technically identifi­ able) "message" was physically present With respect to the scientific literature, [the judge] on the recording. 2. The message was deliberately placed found that the research had not established that there. 3. The message was subliminal. subliminal stimuli could have the sorts of effects 4. The message contributed to the suicides. postulated by the plaintiffs. As we have already seen, die judge rejected the fourth proposition, but what The judge's beliefs about subliminal perception are reflected of the other three? The judge assumed that the technical pres­ in his ruling that denied summary judgment and in his final ence of a "message" (item 1) was synonymous with its being judgment. In the latter he provided what he called a "history of subliminal (item 3). This assumption is the result of the subliminal stimuli." The tide itself reveals some confusion. It is mythological heritage of Vicary and all the media coverage not die history of subliminal perception, nor die history of sub­ since then. The judge's ruling stated that "... die 'Do It's' on liminal influences, but radier the history of subliminal stimuli. the record were subliminal because diey were only discernible The difference is not irrelevant. Determining die subliminality after their location had been identified and after the sounds of a stimulus requires some labor-intensive scientific analysis. were isolated and amplified. The sounds would not be con­ The arbitrary and capricious use of die phrase "subliminal stim­ sciously discernible to die ordinary listener under normal lis­ uli" by journalists (and some social scientists) has resulted in tening conditions" (Vance v. Judas Priest 1990, 18). The prob­ frequent reports of "subliminal" effects in the absence of any lem is that sounds diat are not consciously discernible are not demonstration of subliminality. necessarily unconsciously discernible eidier. Many stimuli are What information formed the basis of the judge's beliefs not consciously discernible because diey fall outside the range about subliminal perception? The references contained in his of our sensory apparatus. Consequently diey do not initiate history essay consisted of several articles or book chapters from any neurological activity—conscious or unconscious. The law journals, written by lawyers. He also cited information error consists of equating the physical presence of the signal obtained from: Saturday Review, New York Times, Omni, Time, with subliminality. High Times, and TV Guide. The law articles, plus many of die magazine articles, contain numerous references to James Vicary Physical Presence vs. Psychological Consequence and Wilson Key. Key's expertise has already been described. Who was James Vicary? In September of 1957, James Vicary Empirical studies of subliminal perception indicate diat, with claimed to have conducted a study in Fort Lee, New Jersey, in rare exceptions, the phenomenon appears to be confined to a which he projected the subliminal messages "Eat Popcorn" and certain range of stimulus intensities (Cheesman and Merikle "Drink Coke" onto a movie screen during movie showings to 1986). This range places die stimulus below a threshold of sub­ audiences (see Moore 1982; Pratkanis 1992; Rogers 1993). jective or phenomenal awareness, but above an objective detec­ Initial press releases reported that over 45,000 people had been tion or discrimination threshold. In cither words, subliminal tested in this way and diat on-site sales had increased dramati­ perception is not perception in die absence of stimulus detec­ cally. Five years later Vicary acknowledged that he had had only tion. It occurs when our introspective reports are at odds widi a small amount of data—too small to be meaningful. Soon or discrepant with objective measures of detection. It is not after diat he dropped out of sight completely. At best this so- unusual for subjects to profess to be guessing or to claim igno­ called study was a shallow and meaningless empirical exercise. rance of a stimulus' identity when they are nevertheless making At worst, it was a complete fabrication (Rogers 1993). Media use of stimulus information. What this means is that no coverage was nevertheless heavy and continues to this day. amount of expensive hardware or analyses of die signal can tell Surveys have demonstrated that diere is widespread belief in us if a signal is subliminal. Subliminality can only be

36 November/December 1996 SKEPTICAL INQUIRER determined by an analysis of the perceptual consequences of be surprising if a few such "discoveries" were not made. The stimulation. Signal detection methods in which the human fact that die signal in question on the Stained Class album was perceptual system is used as the measuring instrument might not contained on any particular track of die 24-track tape have provided a clearer picture of whcrJier the recording in argues further against die possibility of deliberate chicanery. question actually contained a detectable message th.it could conceivably have influenced behavior (e.g., Merikle 1988; Further Confusion Moore 1995). The two most credible witnesses testifying for the plaintiffs A physical analysis of die signal is not necessarily completely were, in die judge's opinion, Shevrin and Mrs. Rusk. Mrs. uninformative. Such an analysis could help determine die pres­ Rusk was a guidance counselor at Vance's school. Vance, die ence of a signal which might, after funher analysis, turn out to boy who survived the suicide attempt, was questioned about be subliminal. The judge assumed that if an inaudible signal the circumstances of die shootings by Mrs. Rusk in the spring was present, that signal was therefore subliminal even though of 1986. Mrs. Rusk's testimony was diat Vance said, "We got neither die plaintiffs nor the defense presented evidence estab­ a message. It told us just Do It... It [the record] was giving lishing subliminality. It should be emphasized that even if sub¬ us the message to just Do It." This statement reflects conscious liminality had been established, it would not necessarily follow awareness on Vance's part of die presence and nature of the that die message would have die influence attributed to it by "Do It" message. Recall that Sherin's position was diat the Shevrin. His claim, however, could have been obviated by the subliminal message "Do It" was influential precisely because it finding that the signal was not, in fact, subliminal. was subliminal. The boys were unaware of receiving the prompt from an external source and, therefore, misattributed Was the signal deliberately placed there? Who can say? The its source or origin to their own inner motivation. These two judge's opinion was mat the signal at issue was simply a coinci­ pieces of testimony are logically contradictory. They cannot dental convergence of a guitar chord with an exhalation pat­ both be correct. If, as Shevrin claimed, the message was sub­ tern. Under what circumstances could one confidently infer liminal, the boys should have been oblivious to its presence purposeful deception? Conceivably, the length and complexity and its meaning. It is the unconscious nature of the message of an inaudible signal might guide decisions about whether its which, according to Shevrin, affords it die exceptional influ­ placement was accidental or deliberate. Walt Disney Inc. was ence he ascribed to it. On the odier hand, if diey could actu­ recently accused of inserting the "subliminal" directive "All ally hear it, as Vance indicated to Mrs. Rusk, then the message good teenagers take off your clothes" into the animated family was not, by definition, subliminal, and was thus (a) protected film Aladdin. At around the same time the letters S-E-X were by die First Amendment, and (b) not especially influential. alleged to have been surreptitiously embedded in a scene from The judge seemed unaware of this logical conundrum: "This The Lion King (Globe & Mail, Nov. 7, 1995). Walt Disney Inc. testimony [Mrs. Rusk's] gives support to the premise that both has emphatically denied attempting any kind of subliminal tit- James and Raymond subliminally perceived 'Do It' from the illation. record" (Vance v. Judas Priest 1990, 30). In fact, Mrs. Rusk's In March of 1994, someone discovered that Jessica Rabbit Testimony refutes the notion that the signal was subliminal. had no underwear for a very short time during the animated Shevrin was well aware of this difficulty. When the plaintiffs' movie Who Framed Roger Rabbit? (Globe & Mail, March 17, lawyers suggested to him that Mrs. Rusk's testimony sup­ 1994). In diis example, there were at least three offending ported the notion diat the "message" had been retained in the frames—unnoticeable unless the tape is advanced frame by boys' memories, he expressed concern that Mrs. Rusk may frame. Were diey deliberately planted there for some nefarious have been influenced by media reports, and/or diat she was reason, or were die artists just saving some ink or playing a having trouble recalling what Vance had reported to her. practical joke? It's hard to know, but die physical presence of an Apparently, die plaintiffs' lawyers did not understand the logic uncovered Jessica tells us nodiing about die perceptual or psy­ of dieir own experts testimony. At this point one wonders who chological consequences of her undressed state. It is probable was minding the store. diat under normal viewing conditions die contents of die frames are completely and thoroughly masked by the subse­ quent material. In die absence of die appropriate tests, how­ Defining 'Expertise' ever, one cannot simply assert that stimuli are (or are not) sub­ At issue in this trial was the claim diat a subliminal directive liminal. In none of diese examples is it possible to know defin­ incited suicide. From a scientific perspective, this is an extraor­ itively if die signal ot image was subliminal, nor if it was delib­ dinary and prima facie implausible proposition. There is not erately planted. now, nor has mere ever been, any reliable empirical evidence Perception is an active, constructive process. Consequently, diat subliminal stimulation can produce anything other than people often see or hear what diey arc predisposed (or encour­ fairly brief and relatively inconsequential reactions. Further, aged) to perceive (Vokey and Read 1985). A diligent search diere is no evidence whatsoever that subliminal directives can entailing die isolation and amplification of dozens of snippets compel compliance, and no such evidence was presented at the from a three-minute heavy metal rock recording would proba­ trial. Perhaps with the help of die defendants' experts, die judge bly yield some intelligible words or phrases diat would not be came to realize diat subliminal directives do not have the influ­ intelligible under normal listening conditions. In fact, it would ence attributed to diem by the plaintiffs. A more thorough

SKEPTICAL INQUIRER November/December 1996 37 grasp of the issue might have yielded a summary judgment, References thereby precluding a long and expensive trial. By denying sum­ Blen, B. 1992. To hear or not to hear: A legal analysis of subliminal communi­ mary judgment, Justice Whitehead assumed the validity of the cation technology in the arts. Rutgers Law Review 44: 871-921. plaintiffs' central claim—namely, that subliminal messages can Block, M. P., and B. G. Vanden Bergh. 1985. Can you sell subliminal messages to consumers? Journal of Advertising 14: 59-62. influence human motivation. Borgeat. F-, and L. Chaloult. 1985. A relaxation experiment using radio broad­ There have been numerous legal commentaries on the casts. Canada's Mental Health 33: 11-13. Judas Priest ruling. Most of the post-trial controversy has con­ Borgeat, I'., R. Elie, I.. Chaloult, and R. Chabot. 1985. Psychophysiological responses to masked auditory stimuli. Canadian journal of Psychiatry 30: cerned the question of First Amendment protection for sub­ 22-27. liminal messages. If such surreptitious manipulation is ineffec­ Burnham, J. C. 1987. How superstition won and science lost: Popularizing science tive, then First Amendment protection from it becomes moot. and health in the United States. New Brunswick, N.J.: Rutgers University Press. Judging from legal scholars' commentary on Justice White­ Cheesman, J., and P. M. Merikle. 1986. Distinguishing conscious from uncon­ head's rulings, his understanding of the scientific issues was no scious perceptual processes. Canadian Journal of Psychology 40: 343-367. worse than the rest of the legal community's (cf. Blen 1992; Crews, F. 1995. The memory wars: Freud's legacy in dispute. New York: New Dee 1994; Locke 1991). Similar to the judge's description of York Review imprints. Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals, Inc. 1993. 113B S, Ct, 2786, subliminal stimulation, legal commentators' reviews contain 2792-93. copious references to Key, Vicary, and other nonscientists Dee, J. 1994. Subliminal lyrics in heavy metal music: More litigation anyone? whose backgrounds are anything but scientific. Key's books Communications and the Law (September): 3-24. constitute quintessential pseudoscience; they contain no cita­ Frye v. United States. 1923. 293 F. 1013 (D.C. Cir. 1923). Gardner, M. 1981. Science: Good bad, and bogus. Buffalo, N.Y.: Prometheus. tions, no references, and no documentation fot any of his Globe & Mail 1994. Who undressed Jessica Rabbit? March 17: E2. proclamations. While Key's testimony yw/r does not appear to Globe & Mail 1995. Tracing the winding trails of Disney obscenity rumors. have been ofmuch significance at the trial, his extravagant and November 7: C5. Greenwald, A. G. 1992. New look 3: Unconscious cognition reclaimed. well-publicized claims had had twenty years to infiltrate the American Psychologist 47: 766-779. North American psyche (including the legal profession's), Greenwald, A. G., E. R. Spangenberg, A R. Pratkanis, and ). Eskenazi. 1991. where scientific literacy is not a dominant feature (Burnham Double-blind tests of subliminal self-help audio tapes. Psychological Science 2: 119-122. 1987). Guevara-Castro, L., and L Viele. 1991. Dozens say they have seen Christ on a pizza chain billboard. The Atlanta Journal/Constitution, May 21: Dl. In the final analysis, however, it was not the obvious pseu­ Henley, S. 1975. Cross-modal effects of subliminal verbal stimuli. doscience that misled the court as much as the misleading Scandinavian Journal of Psychology 16: 30-36. opinions of the well-qualified expert—Shevrin. His views, Holender, D. 1986. Semantic activation without conscious identification in dichotic listening, parafoveal vision, and visual masking: a survey and while imaginative and logical, were anomalous with prevailing appraisal. The Behavioral and Brain Sciences 9: 1-23. scientific understanding of the phenomenon at hand. A long Huber, R 1991. Galileo's revenge: Junk science in the courtroom. New York: Basic resume and a prestigious affiliation are no guarantee of a sci­ Books. Key, W. B. 1973. Subliminal seduction. Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Signet. entifically valid opinion. An expert whose testimony is unique, , 1976. Media sexploitation. Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall. idiosyncratic, and unconfirmed by the broader scientific com­ . 1980. The clam-plate orgy. Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall. munity is not educating the court in the way that Frye v. . 1989. The age of manipulation: The con in confidence, the sin in sincere. United States (1923) intended or that more recent rulings have Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall. Kupper, D., and H. Gerard. 1990. Anaclitic depression and bulimia. Paper pre­ encouraged {Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals 1993; R. sented at the meeting of die western Psychological Association, Los v. Mohan 1994). These recent rulings have emphasized the Angeles, CA. April. need for expert testimony to be reasonably well grounded in Litman, R. E., and N. L. Farberow. 1994. Pop-rock music as precipitating cause in youth suicide. Journal of Forensic Sciences 39: 494-499. theories, methods, and procedures that have been accepted Locke, E. L. 1991. The Vance decision: The future of subliminal communica­ and validated by other scientists in the same field. It is not at tion. Law and Psychology Review 15: 375-394. all clear th.it Sherin's testimony met this standard. It is dear, Maris, R. 1981. Pathways to suicide: A survey of self-destructive behaviors. however, that the courts are generally ill-prepared to meet the Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. Merikle, P. M. 1988. Subliminal auditory rapes: An evaluation. Psychology and challenge of evaluating the scientific validity of expert evidence Marketing 46: 355-372. (Miller, Rein, and Baily 1994), especially in the social sciences Merikle, P. M., and H. Skanes. 1992. Subliminal self-help audio tapes: A search (Richardson, Ginsburg, Gatowski, and Dobbin 1995). A rig­ for placebo effects. Journal of Applied Psychology 77: 772-776. Miller, P. S., B. W. Rein, and E O. Bailey. 1994. Daubert and the need for orous application of Daubert's admissibility criteria might well judicial scientific literacy. Judicature T7: 254-260. disallow any testimony based on Freudian principles because Moore, T E. 1982. Subliminal advertising: What you see is what you get. of its inhetently unfalsifiable nature (Crews 1995). The need Journal of Marketing 46: 38-47. for systematic judicial education on scientific principles is now . 1988. The case against subliminal manipulation. Psychology and Marketing 46: 297-316. a recognized priority. Eventually, improved scientific under­ . 1992. Subliminal perception: Facts and fallacies. SKEPTICAL INQUIRER standing will result in more equitable court rulings. In die 16:273-281. meantime, as long as the legal community's scientific literacy . 1992. Subliminal messages in recorded auditory tapes, and other 'uncon­ scious learning' phenomena. Leicester, England: British Psychological skills are so little able to permit distinctions between sense and Society. nonsense, the public will continue to be entertained by (and . 1995. Subliminal self-help auditory tapes: An empirical test of per­ foot the bill for) trials like that of Vance v. Judas Priest. ceptual consequences. Canadian Journal of Behavioral Science 27: 9-20.

Judas Priest continued on page 60

38 November/December 1996 SKEPTICAL INQUIRER The Dogon People Revisited

The 1970s claim that the Dogon tribespeople of Africa had extraordinary astronomical knowledge has been revived, amplified, and widely disseminated in recent years. Here is a new examination and evaluation.

BERNARD R. ORTIZ de MONTELLANO

n 1976 Robert Temple published The Sirius Mystery, claiming that the extraordinary astronomical knowledge of the ancient Egyptians and the Dogon tribespeople of I 1 Mali was due to visitations five thousand or more years ago from inhabitants of the Sirius star system. These claims were addressed then in an article in SKEPTICAL INQUIRER (Ridpath 1978). Since that time, however, the Afrocentrist movement has revived and expanded claims about the Dogon's astronomical knowledge (Adams 1983a, 1983b, 1990; Van Sertima 1983; see also Ortiz de Montellano 1991), and they have been naively parroted in more main­ line publications (Gebre-Egziabher 1993/1994; Harding 1991). Adams (1990, 60) briefly presents the more recent claims about the Dogon:

They knew of the rings of Saturn, and the moons of Jupiter, the spiral structure of the Milky Way, where our star system lies. They claimed that billions of stars spiral in space like the circulation of blood in the human body.... Perhaps the most remarkable facet of their knowledge is their knowing intricate details of the Sirius star system, which presently can only be detected with powerful telescopes. The Dogon knew of the white

SKEPTICAL INQUIRER November/December 1996 39 dwarf companion star of Sirius, the brightest star in the sky. Adams (1983a), based on Temple, argues that the ancient They knew its approximate mass ("it is composed of 'sagala,' Egyptians had telescopes that enabled them to see Sirius B: an extremely heavy, dense metal such that all the earthly beings combined cannot lift it"), its orbital period (50 years), and its "The Russians have recently discovered a crystal lens, perfectly 5 axial rotation period (one year). Furthermore, they knew of a spherical and of great precision, used in ancient Egypt. It is a third star that orbits Sirius and its planet [sic]. The X ray tele­ short and simple step to place one lens in front of another to scope aboard the Einstein Orbiting Observatory recently con­ make a basic telescope, and chances are that it could have hap­ firmed the existence of the third star.' The Dogon with no pened and many times." This is an example of a type of rea­ apparent instrument at their disposal, appear to have known these facts for at least 500 years. soning described by Mary Lefkowitz (1993), referring to Martin Bernal's claims of massive Egyptian influence on Greece in Black Athena (Bernal 1987): "Because something is Claims diat the Dogon have known these things for at least possible, it can be considered probable, or even actual si potest seven hundred yean (not five hundred) and that the ancient esse, at." Adams (1983a, 1983b) and Van Sertima (1983) are Egyptians also possessed diis knowledge have been made by even less cautious and use the following chain of reasoning: If Adams (1983a) and endorsed by Van Sertima (1983). The sole it is conceivable, it is possible, it is probable—it is true. In (act, source of this information about Dogon astronomical knowl­ what they claim is impossible. Even if the Egyptian telescope edge is die research of two French anthropologists, Marcel existed, it would not suffice. The glare due to Sirius A requires Griaule and Germaine Dieterlen (1950, 1965), and more the use of at least a 5-inch telescope to see Sirius B at its max­ directly the book by Temple (1976). imum separation; at its closest approach, about half the time, a minimum of a 100-inch telescope is needed (Schaefer 1991, Griaule and Dieterlen, who studied the Dogon from 1931 1995). The first sighting of Sirius B in 1844 required an 18- to 1952, describe a world renovation ceremony called sigui. inch refractor telescope, the largest in die world at die time This ceremony is associated with the bright star Sirius A (on (Krupp 1991, 223). tolo or "star of Sigui")3 and is held by the Dogon every sixty years. According to Griaule and Dieterlen, die Dogon also Adams's repeated claims diat die Dogon's supposed knowl­ name a companion star, po tolo or "Digitaria star" (allegedly edge of Sirius B goes back seven hundred years are equally Sirius B), and describe its density and rotational characteris­ devoid of evidence. Adams's (1983a, 38) sole proof is the fol­ tics. Griaule and Dieterlen do not attempt to explain how die lowing statement given without attribution or citation: "A Dogon could know this about a star that cannot be seen widi- wooden mask called the kanaga, used by die Dogon to cele­ out a telescope, and they make no claims about the antiquity brate the Sirius — related Sigui ceremony, is among the archaeo­ of diis information or of a connection widi ancient Egypt. It logical finds that indicate their preoccupation with diis star for was Temple (1976, 203-227) who argued diat the Dogon at least 700 years." Adams's source is actually Griaule and learned all this from amphibious beings from a superior civi­ Dieterlen (1950; Temple 1976, 37-38). The kanaga mask rep­ lization in die Sirius system/ resents a cranelike bird, the bustard, and is connected to die Stars are rated on a visibility scale that differs by a factor of Dogon creator-god Amma (Griaule 1938, 470). The dating of 2.5 brightness per unit. The higher die positive number on die die sigui ceremony actually involves a different set of enormous scale, die dimmer the star. Adams (1983b) claims, without any wooden masks that are not worn but kept in protected shel­ reference, in regard to viewing stars widi die naked eye, diat ters. These masks have not been carbon-dated, and their true under optimum conditions people with blue-green eyes can age is not known. Griaule (1938) extrapolated the age of die see stars of 6.5 magnitude, but that dark-eyed, dark-skinned masks by counting the number of masks in shelters and mul­ people can see stars of up to 8.1. The very bright Sirius A has tiplying by sixty years per mask because a new mask was made for each sixty-year sigui ceremony. Most shelters had three or a magnitude of-1.47, while Sirius B has a magnitude of 8.7 four masks, taking the ceremony back to A.D. 1720—1760 (Allen 1973, 235). The canonical limit of visibility is 6, (Griaule 1938, 242-244; Temple 1976, 38). A single location although a few exceptional people, with lifelong training, can had eight masks, the remains of another, and three piles of achieve 7.8 from high mountains (Schaefer 1995). This maxi­ dust, which Griaule (1938, 245) interpreted as possibly three mum human performance is still 2.26 times less than would additional masks. This shaky hypothetical extrapolation is die be needed for naked-eye observation of Sirius B. Even if Sirius sole evidence dating the sigui ceremony to A.D. 1300. B were bright enough to be seen, it could not be distinguished Furthermore, it tells us nothing concerning knowledge of by a naked eye because it is too close to Sirius A. The average Sirius B, the invisible dwarf star, for die sigui ceremony is asso­ separation between Sirius A and B is 9.5 seconds of arc (Allen ciated widi Sirius A. 1973, 240) widi a maximum separation of 11 seconds. However, a person widi 20/20 vision can only distinguish two In fact, the entire Dogon question may be futile to theorize points of light that are at least 42 seconds apart, in other because Griaule's original data, on which this whole edifice is words, four times the separation of Sirius A and B (Schaefer built, is very questionable. His methodology, with its declared 1995). intent to redeem African thought, its formal interviews widi a single informant through an interpreter, and the absence of Bernard R. Ortiz de Montellano is in the Anthropology Depart­ texts in die Dogon language, has been criticized for years ment, Wayne State University, Detroit, Michigan 48202. (Goody 1967; Douglas 1968; Letters 1971; Clifford 1983).

40 November/December 1996 SKEPTICAL INQUIRER Even a sympathetic reviewer (Roberts 1987/1988), who believes diat Sinus and its two companions are important components of Dogon thought, feels diat die actual existence of Sirius B is purely coincidental: "It is equally clear diat the first companion of Sirius (Po Tolo) as recognized by die Dogon is not the companion (Sirius B) recognized by Western astronomers. . . . The two companion stars that die Dogon recognize are elements of a particular cosmology diat would exist even if Sirius B did not. That Sirius has a second com­ panion for Dogon, which has never been discovered or pre­ sumed to exist by Western astronomers, should make this point obvious." Recently, a Belgian anthropologist, Walter van Beck (1991), who has spent eleven years among the Dogon, pointed out that Griaule's data is unique:

Is Sirius a double star? The ethnographic facts are quite straightforward. The Dogon of course, know Sirius as a star (it is after all the brightest star in the sky). . . . Knowledge of the stars is not important either in daily life or in ritual. The posi­ tion of the sun and the phases of the moon are more pertinent for Dogon reckoning. No Dogon outside of the circle of Griaule's informants had ever heard of sign tolo or po tolo. ... Most important, no one, even within the circle of Griaule informants, had ever heard or understood that Sirius was a double star (or according to Renard Pdle,6 even a triple one, with B and C orbiting A). Consequently, the purported knowledge of the mass of Sirius B or the orbiting time was absent.

Van Beek points out diat Griaule's data was developed in a secret not shared is not cultural, while one shared by very few long, intense sessions widi one primary informant, Ambara. In is by definition marginal. . . . Thus, if the secrets revealed to this process. Van Beek argues, Griaule probably reinterpreted Griaule are part of Dogon culture, one should be able to statements from his informant in the light of his own knowl­ retrace them to some extent." edge about Sirius and its heavy companion, which had been Jacky Boujou (1991), an anthropologist with ten years of much in the news at the time he began his field work. In turn, the Dogon would have accepted his analysis as if it were dieirs experience with die Dogon, is in complete agreement with because Griaule was extremely respected and liked, and Van Beek: "I am struck by the degree to which Van Beck's because die Dogon culture places enormous importance on analyses coincide with those I have gradually arrived at. . . . consensus and on avoiding contradictions (Van Beek 1991, The third period [of Griaule and Dieterlen's research] is repre­ 152-155). As an example of the process, Van Beek points out sented by the Renard Pale? which remains altogether strange a Dogon tale diat explains die differences between white peo­ and entirely unverifiable in the field, whatever Dogon region ple and die Dogon, but which, in fact, is taken from die Bible. investigated. ... I would underline the obvious desire of die "Thus the story of the drunken Noah [Genesis 9, 21-27] has Dogon for collective harmony and consensus diat is striking to found its way into die stories of these Dogon, who emphati­ the participant observer." cally denied that diis was a 'white' story." Traditionalists and Paul Lane (1991), another anthropologist with fieldwork Christians unanimously declared it to be Dogon: it belonged among die Dogon, agrees: "Many of van Beck's substantive to die tan (collective knowledge). In many other instances die claims come to me as no surprise. Thus, for instance, although process was discernible: foreign elements were adopted and in the objectives of my research in the Sanga region in the early a single generation became "traditional." 1980s were quite different, along widi van Beek I found little evidence for the complex but nonetheless allegedly unified It might be argued diat die knowledge given to Griaule was symbolic ordering of daily life described by Griaule." secret and known only to a few, including Ambara. Van Beek Sagan (1980, 81-87) and Brecher (1979, 110) have pro­ (1991) points out that "neither the myths nor the song texts— posed that the information about the discovery of Sirius B and though they arc sacred—are secret. In fact, the tern is public its characteristics was told to the Dogon by another European knowledge." Van Beek argues, given die fact that he cannot find traces of Griaule's data that, "The question is then, how prior to Griaule's fieldwork. Although derided by Van Sertima secret secrets can be and yet be pan and parcel of a culture. As (1983, 13) and Adams (1983a, 37) this explanation, as the one shared meaning is a crucial aspect of any definition of culture. given by Van Beek, is plausible and docs not require extrater­ restrials or mythical telescopes.

SKEPTICAL INQUIRER November/December 1996 41 Adams, unlike Temple, does not provide any explanation African-American Worldview, WDTR, 90.9 FM, Detroit Public School's Radio, October 2. for Dogon knowledge, although one is current in the 8 . 1990 [1987]. African and African-American contributions to science Afrocentric circles in which he runs. Frances Welsing (1987, and technology. In African-American Baseline Essays. Portland, Oregon: 1991) and Adams (1987, 1988) argue that melanin has the Multnomah School District. ability to pick up all kinds of energy frequencies. Welsing Allen, C. W. 1973. Asm/physical Quantities. 3d. ed. London: Athlon Press. Bernal, M. 1987. Black Athena: The Afroasiatic Roots of Classical Civilization. (1987) further claims that the Dogon, by virtue of their New Brunswick, N): Rutgers University Press. Vol. 1. melanin, are able to pick up vibrations from Sinus B as if they Boujou, J. 1991. Comment. Current Anthropology 12: 159. possessed infrared telescopes.' Welsing also claims that Brecher, K. 1979. Sirius enigmas. In Astronomy of the Ancients, ed. by K. melanin gives ancient Egyptians and other blacks extrasensory Brecher and M. Feirtag, 91-115. Cambridge: MIT Press. Chlebowski, T, ]. P. Halpern, and ]. E. Steiner. 1981. Discovery of a new x- perception, psi, and the ability to foretell the future. This ray emitting dwarf nova le 0643.0-1648. Astrophysical Journal 247: explanation of an extraordinary claim is also not supported by L35-L38. any evidence (Ortiz de Montellano 1993). Clifford, J. 1983. Power and dialogue in ethnography; Marcel Griaule's initi­ ation. In Observers Observed, ed. by G. Stocking, 121-156. Madison: University of Wisconsin Press. Notes Douglas, M. 1968. Dogon culture: Profane and arcane. Africa 38: 16-24. Gebre-Egziabher, S. 1993/1994. Africans' contributions to science: A culture 1. The Dogon live near Bandiagara, about 300 kilometers south of of excellence. Equity Coalition (University of Michigan School of Timbuktu, Mali, in western Africa (Ridpath 1978). Education) 3(2): 30-31. 2. The paper cited as evidence for this (Chlebowski, Halpern, and Steiner Goody, ]. 1967. Review of Conversations with Ogosemmeli: An introduction to 1981) docs not claim that the X-ray-emitting dwarf 9' south of Sirius is a third Dogon religious ideas, by M. Griaule. American Anthropologist 69: companion. This star is, actually, 37 times farther from the Earth (325 light 239-241. years) than is Sirius (8.7 light years). Lindenblad (1973) deliberately searched Griaule, M. 1938. Masques Dogon. Paris: Institute d'Ethnologie. for a third component in the Sirius system and found none. Griaule, M. and G. Dieterlen. 1950. Un systeme soudanais de Sirius. Journal 3. The bright star Sirius is also referred to as "Sirius A," with its dense de la Sociese des Africanisses 20: 273-294. companion being "Sirius B." The sigui ceremony deals with Sirius A, which . 1965. Le renardpdle. Vol. 1, fasc. 1, Le mythe cosmogonique: La creation everyone agrees is known to the Dogon. It is, after all, the brightest star in the du monde. Paris: Musee de I'Homme (Travail et Mcmoires de I Institute sky. It is also known as the "Dog Star. d'Ethnologie). 4. These space travelers were very ill-informed; Jupiter has fourteen Harding. S. 1991. Whose Science' Whose Knowledge? Pp. 223-224. Ithaca: moons, not four, as they supposedly told the Dogon (Brecher 1979). Cornell University Press. 5. A sphere would be useless as a lens because the focal length would be Kolosimo, P 1973- Timeless Earth. P. Stevenson, translator. New Hyde Park, extremely short, and because the image produced would be greatly distorted by spherical and chromatic aberration (Muirden 1969. 6-7). In order to focus N.Y.: University Books. light adequately, the lens should be either concave or convex. The sole evi­ Krupp, E. C. 1991. Beyond the Blue Horizon. Myths and Legends of the Sun, dence given for this Russian discovery is a citation to a journalist, Peter Moon, Stars, and Planets. New York: Harper Collins. Tompkins (1978, 219). The academic credibility and accuracy of Tompkins Lane, P. 1991. Comment. Current Anthropology 12: 162. can be judged by his coauthorship with Christopher Bird (Tompkins and Bird Lefkowitz, M. R. 1993. Ethnocentric history from Aristobulus to Bernal. 1973) of a book that claims plants can speak to people. In turn, Tompkins's Academic Questions 6(2): 12-20. sole evidence for the Russian discovery is a reference to an obscure Italian pub­ Letters, D. 1971. Mystagogie et mystification: Evaluation de I'Oeuvre de Marcel lication ("Peter Kolosimo in Term Senza Tempo published in Milan in 1969") Griaule. Bujumbura: Presses Lavigerie. that is not listed in the bibliography of Tompkins's book. The claim can be Lindenblad, I. W 1973. Multiplicity of the Sirius system. The Astronomical found in the translated version (Kolosimo 1973, 95). In the book, Kolosimo, Journal78 (2): 205-207. who is even less critical than Erich von Daniken, claims that both Atlantis and Muirden, J. 1969\ Astronomy for Amateurs. London: Cassell. Lemuria existed and were the possible sources for this advanced Egyptian tech­ Ortiz de Montellano, B. R. 1991. Multicultural pseudoscience: Spreading sci­ nology. He also postulates that visitors from outer space have visited Earth. entific illiteracy among minorities. SKEPTICAL INQUIRER 16(1): 46-50. The Egyptian telescopes turn out to be quite evanescent. . 1993. Afrocentricity, melanin and pseudoscience. Yearbook of 6. See Griaule and Dieterlen 1965- Physical Anthropology 36: 33-58. 7. This book (Griaule and Dieterlen 1965) represents the third and final Ridpath, I. 1978. Investigating the Sirius mystery, SKEPTICAL INQUIRER 3(1) period of Griaule and Dieterlen's writing on the Sirius myth among the Fall: 56-62. Dogon. Roberts, A. E. 1987/1988. The serious business of Dogon cosmology. Archaeo- 8. A number of Afrocentrists, whom I have labeled as melanists, propose astronomy 10: 148-153. that melanin has extraordinary properties, which, in turn, make black people Sagan, C. 1980. Broca's Brain. New York: Ballantine Books. biologically superior in intellect, morals, and spirituality to white people Schaefer, B. E. 1991. Glare and celestial visibility. Publication of the Astro­ (Ortiz de Montellano 1993). nomical Society of the Pacific 103: 645-660. 9. Even this far-fetched claim is not applicable to Sirius B. Sirius B is too . 1995. Physics Department, Yale University. Personal communi­ hot (22,00O°K). Most of its radiation is emitted in the far ultraviolet, and lit­ cation. May 18. tle is emitted in the infrared (Seeds 1988. 137. 195). Seeds, M. E. 1988. Foundations of Astronomy 2d ed. Belmont, Calif.: Wadsworth. Temple, R G. 1976. The Sirius Mptery London: Sidwick and Jackson. References Tompkins, P. 1978. Secrets of the Pyramids. New York: Harper. Tompkins, P. and C. Bird. 1973. The Secret Life of Plants. New York: Harper. Adams, H. H. 1983a. African observers of the universe: The Sirius question. Van Bcek, W. E. A. 1991. Dogon restudics. A field evaluation of the work of In Blacks in Science: Ancient and Modem, ed. by I. Van Sertima, 27-46. New Brunswick Transaction Books. Marcel Griaule. Current Anthropology 12: 139-167. .1983b. New light on the Dogon and Sirius. In Blacks in Science: Van Sertima, I. 1983. The lost sciences of Africa: An overview. In Blacks in Ancient and Modem, ed. by I. Van Sertima, 47-49. New Brunswick; Science: Ancient and Modem, ed. by I. Van Sertima, 7—26. New Transaction Books. Brunswick: Transaction Books. .1987. Lecture: 1st melanin conference. San Francisco, September Welsing, F. C. 1987. Lecture: 1st melanin conference. San Francisco, 16-18, 1987. Broadcast: African-American Worldview, WDTR. 90.9 FM, September 16-17, 1987. Broadcast: African-American Worldview. WDTR. Detroit Public Schools Radio, September 25. 1990. 90.9 FM, Detroit Public School's Radio. September 5 and 12, 1989. .1988. Lecture: 2nd melanin conference. New York, 1988. Broadcast: . 1991. The Isis Papers. Chicago: Thitd World Press. D

42 November/December 1996 SKEPTICAL INQUIRER Cosmic Menagerie: Some Underpublicized Truths about the Constellations

The stars in our night sky are only a few thousand dots of light, but since ancient times people have been mentally connecting the dots to create a cosmic zoo. But don't look to them to tell you about your personal life or fortune.

NEIL DEGRASSE TYSON

here are eighty-eight keys in a piano and there are eighty-eight constellations in the sky. The eighty- Teight piano keys make music. The eighty-eight con­ stellations make a zoo. The tally: one insect, two crustaceans, five fishes (with a pair among them), five reptiles, nine birds, three women, twelve men (with twins among them), five canines (inclusive of a hunting duo), fourteen other mam­ mals, five mythical-magical creatures, and thirty inanimate objects that include three boat parts, ten scientific instru­ ments, one musical instrument, two crowns, a flat-topped mountain, somebody's hair, and a river.

SKEPTICAL INQUIRER November/December 1996 43 To supplement your nighttime viewing, what follows is bright as those in Orion, but they are just as majestic. Clearly some little-known information that a well-informed, skeptical visible are four stars of a "Great Square" that form the horse's stargazer should know: body. Front legs drape below it. Extending forward is a slightly From a species point of view, die following constellations bent line of stars that resembles the curve of a horse's neck and are in the record book of celestial creatures: head. You must rely on your imagination for its wings and the rest of Pegasus because the constellation Andromeda occupies Tallest: Camelopardalis, the Giraffe the region that would otherwise complete the horses ass. By Most Massive: Hydra, die Whale coincidence of configuration, the interior of the Great Square Smallest/Lightest: Musca, the Fly of Pegasus is remarkably devoid of visible stars—the square is Most Poisonous: Scorpius, die Scorpion as impressive for its near-square geometry as it is for its empti­ Fastest: Pegasus, the Winged Horse ness. And unbeknownst to our empty-bellied, winged steed, Strongest: Hercules Pegasus flies through the sky upside down as viewed by resi­ Prettiest: Pavo, the Peacock dents of the northern hemi­ Ugliest: Medusa's snake¬ sphere. ensnarled bloody Orion's miss­ The square of Pegasus is severed head as dis­ Orion 5 ing head sufficiently impressive that if played by Perseus club the task of naming the con­ From a connect — the — dots stellations had been the duty point of view, the constella­ Orion's of late-twentieth-century tion Orion has die rare com­ shoulders Americans, then you can bet bination of large size, bright the square would have been stars, and an outline that called die "Great Television" resembles die hunter he is in the sky, and of course purported to be. His neck, Orion would have been Orion's shoulders, waist (belt), knees, belt named "Elvis." sword, and shield are all Orion's shield The most boring con­ clearly defined. Unfortunately, stellation in the sky is no he hasn't much of a head— Orior's dan­ gling sword doubt Triangulum Australis, there is a big empty space the Southern Triangle. A above his neck. There is some detailed photograph of its controversy about whether Orion's kneecaps three brightest Stars shows— Orion is left-handed or right- you guessed it-—a triangle. handed. Early drawings and Since nearly any three stars in woodcuts from the fifteenth, the sky form a triangle, sixteenth, and seventeenth Triangulum gets the award for Sirius the Hunter centuries show die back of (Dog Star) Orion, the most unimaginative con­ Orion's head, his rear end, and stellation name. To be fair to the rest of his loin-cloth- Triangulum, there are several draped body as he faces away from you. The star pattern dimmer stars in and around die triangle. But since the con­ requires that he wield his wooden battle club with his left stellation is simply the "Soudiern Triangle," these stars do not hand, which makes Orion the world's largest and most famous participate in the designated pattern. lefty. Illustrated globes of the celestial sphere from die same period (an excellent collection may be found at the Music The greatest stretch of the imagination occurs with Apus, National des Techniques, Paris) also depict Orion from the in the southern hemisphere. It is a constellation with a few rear, even though the constellations are intended to be viewed prominent stars near the south celestial pole that is supposed from the "other side" of the sky, and dius should be drawn in to be a fully plumed bird of paradise. reverse. More recent sketches of Orion (probably drawn by Some stars grow in the mind. The most famous of these is righties) show him facing you as he wields his club in his right Polaris, the North Star. In an informal poll I once asked hand. passers-by, "What is the brightest star in the nighttime sky?"

Orion's sword is commonly illustrated over a short string of Neil deGrasse Tyson is an astrophysicist with a joint appointment stars that hangs from his belt and dangles between his legs. I at New York City's Hayden Planetarium, where he is the have never hunted with a sword and club, but of all die places Frederick P. Rose Director, and at Princeton University Most on my anatomy that I might carry a sword, it seems to me that recently, he is author of Universe Down to Earth (Columbia between the legs would be low on my list. Such is the cost of University Press), which just appeared in paperback. This article connecting the dots. is based on the book's chapter "Menagerie. " Dr. Tyson is a CSI¬ The stars in Pegasus, the winged horse, are not quite as COP Scientific Consultant.

44 November/December 1996 SKEPTICAL INQUIRER Three-fourths of diem unwittingly proclaimed, "The North compose die front hoof of the Centaur as he straddles the Star!" Let it be known mat the North Star is not even in the Southern Cross. At one hundred times dimmer than the detec­ celestial top forty. In addition, its reputation puts it at the tion limit of the naked eye, Proxima Centuri makes a rather point in die sky that is directly over Earth's North Pole. In the demure nearest neighbor. real sky, however, Polaris is nearly one degree from the north The constellation widi the greatest hype is Crux Australis, celestial pole—about twice the width of die full moon. I do the Southern Cross. There are songs written about it, and it not wish to upset anybody, but in twelve thousand years, due appears on die national flags of Australia, New Zealand, Western to die wobbling of Earths axis, Polaris will be over forty-five Samoa, and Papua New Guinea. What they do not tell you is degrees from the celestial pole. Perhaps our North Star should that the constellation is small (it is the smallest of all eighty- be renamed Somewhere-near-the-pole-aris. In spite of all diis, eight—your fist at arm's length would eclipse it entirely), and residents of the northern hemisphere should not complain. its four brightest stars outline the corners of a crooked square, Currently, die region of the sky that surrounds the south celes­ or a kite. In geometric terms it is nearly a "rhombus" (although tial pole is practically blank. "Southern Cross" conveys The nearest star with a bright­ more romance than "Southern ness similar to mat of Polaris Rhombus"). There is not even is over twelve degrees away. a star in its middle that could For the record, the bright­ represent the center of a cross. est star of the nighttime sky is The Southern Cross is best Sirius (Alpha Canis Majoris) used as a signpost to find in Canis Major, die Big Dog. other, more interesting celes­ It is nearly thirty times tial objects. For example, the brighter than the North Star Southern Cross is thirty and commonly depicted as degrees north of the star- the Big Dog's eyeball. Indeed, starved south celestial pole Sirius is affectionately known and ten degrees southwest of as the "Dog Star." Sirius is the titanic, naked-eye, globu­ quite recognizable as it lurks lar cluster Omega Centauri. below and to the left of The Galactic equator (also Orion. Sirius is also visible known as the "Milky Way") from nearly the entire inhab­ also passes directly through its ited Earth during one season middle. or another, but it is best Two relatively recent viewed in December and additions to the celestial January when it rises at sunset menagerie are the southern and sets at sunrise. At the end constellations Telescopium of July, Sirius rises just before and Microscopium, the the morning sun, as though Telescope and the Microscope. the sun were walking its dog Unlike Triangulum Australis, into the summer sky. This annual celestial ritual thus heralds which is simply boring, each of these two constellations are the onset of die hot and steamy "dog days" of August. boring and undistinguished. The brightest stars in The appearance of Sirius just before sunrise was historically Telescopium and Microscopium are over one hundred times well-timed widi the annual rise of die Nile River through dimmer dian Sirius. These constellations date not from the Egypt, and dius became a harbinger of a renewed agricultural ancients but from Abbe Nicolas Louis de La Caille of die mid­ cycle. So important was (and is) die rising Nile to life in Egypt dle eighteenth century. With decidedly less imagination than diat die five-thousand-year-old Egyptian calendar uses the the ancients, La Caille identified fourteen new groups of stars appearance of Sirius just before sunrise as the first day of die from die poorly charted southern celestial sphere. He honor­ year. ably named them for the principal instruments (hardware) of the arts and sciences. As noble as all this sounds. La Caille had The nearest star to Earth, as conclusively established by no excuse, and thus is never to be forgiven, for naming two of extensive astronomical research, is the Sun. It is often quoted the least distinguished constellations in die heavens after two that die nearest star to the Sun is Alpha Centauri, the bright­ of the most important scientific instruments of our times. est star in the southern constellation Centaurus and the third brightest star in die night sky. Alpha Centauri is, however, a A constellation that was simply too big for its neighbor­ double star, not a single star, and neither star in the pair is the hood was the sprawling southern-hemisphere constellation closest star to die Sun. That privilege goes to die dim star Argo Navis, or Argo the Ship. Its length spanned nearly one- Proxima Centauri, which is near enough to the Alpha fifth of the entire sky. Mythology holds that this is the same Centauri pair to complete an orbiting triple star. All three stars ship made famous by Jason and his fifty Argonauts, who set

SKEPTICAL INQUIRER November/December 1996 45 sail from lolchis in Thessaly to Aea in Colchis to search for the the Litde Dipper. The Pleiades is above and to the right of Golden Fleece. The disproportionate size of Argo Navis led Orion's missing head. In Greek legend the seven stars of the our friend Abbe Nicolas Louis de La Caille to cut up the con­ Pleiades represent the seven daughters of Atlas: Alcyone, Maja, stellation into four smaller patterns while preserving die boat Merope, Taygete, Asterope, Electra, and Celeno. While a sim­ theme. Thus were born Carina the Keel, Puppis the Stern, ple telescope shows dozens of stars, the naked eye sees only six. Pyxis the Compass, and Vela the Sail. Celeno is missing. To reconcile this numerical error the Enduring favorites for the three-quarters of die world's pop­ fourth-century Alexandrian-Greek commentator Theon the ulation that live in Earth's northern hemisphere are the Big and Younger surmised that Celeno, which is the dimmest of the Little- Dippers. They are officially "asterisms," which simply group, must have been struck by lightning. means that they are interesting subsets of otherwise uninterest­ The constellations with the greatest irrational following are, ing constellations. The Big Dipper's seven stars form a convinc­ of course, the twelve of the zodiac: Aries, Taurus, Gemini, ing kitchen saucepan in the sky: three stars form the slightly Cancer, Leo, Virgo, Libra, Scorpio, Sagittarius, Capricorn, curved handle, four stars form Aquarius, and Pisces. One is the pot. Incidentally, the two often led to believe that the stars of the saucepan's front zodiacal constellations are edge are reputed to point prominent in the nighttime toward Polaris, but they miss sky. But astrologers do not tell their target by nearly three you that Aries, Cancer, Virgo, degrees. Hanging off Polaris is Libra, Capricorn, Aquarius, the Litde Dipper. Its handle is and Pisces are underwhelm­ curved the other way when ing constellations that are compared with the Big Dipper. barely recognizable as coher­ It looks very much like a cal­ ent patterns in the nighttime dron ladle with Polaris at the sky. Astrologers do not tell handle's tip. you that the constellations are The Big and Little Dippers not the same size so that the are actually parts of the con­ Sun does not move across stellations Ursa Major and them at equal one-month Ursa Minor, the Big and Litde intervals. Astrologers do not Bears. They are reported to be tell you that the correspon­ rather chubby bears (as bears dence of the zodiac with cal­ are wont to be) with long, endar months is shifted back­ bushy tails that form the han­ wards by an entire constella­ dles of the saucepan and ladle. tion due to Earth's ongoing But these long tails are actu­ precession on its axis. ally part of cosmic tales Astrologers do not tell you because tails of terrestrial how much money they make bears are only nubby stubs. from gullible people. An amusing addition to the above hijinks is that the Sun Keeping with the kitchen theme, we go to an asterism in passes across fourteen constellations, not twelve. The Sun, the constellation Sagittarius. Sagittarius is a centaur-archer after leaving the constellation Scorpius, enters the constella­ who is part man and part horse (the front end is the man). In tion Ophiuchus. It then stays in Ophiuchus for a longer spite of this legendary description, the brightest stars bear a period of time than Scorpius, the sign that is advertised to pre­ remarkable resemblance to a stove-top tea kettle. It is short and cede Sagittarius. The confusing conclusion is that most stout—complete with a handle and a spout. This asterism is Scorpios are actually Ophiuchans, and all Scorpios and especially revered in England because the band of light from Ophiuchans are currently Libras. The fourteenth constellation our Milky Way galaxy appears to pass through the tea kettle's in the set is Cetus. The Sun passes through Cetus briefly as it spout. In England, they always take a spot of milk in their tea. ambles through Pisces, but you are not normally informed of In China, however, milk was never a popular beverage. The this in the horoscope pages. Chinese know the Milky Way as "Yin-hur," or Silver River. Aside from its kitchen-accessory status, Sagittarius is The fact remains: all you ever see in a clear night sky is a deservedly famous because it contains the center of the Milky few thousand dots of light. If you want to see a real menagerie, Way galaxy—located about three degrees west of the spout. and you cannot hallucinate like the ancients, then visit your The most misidentified asterism in the sky is the Pleiades. nearest zoo. You will see real (tailless) bears, real (wingless) This little bunch of seven stars has a vague resemblance to a horses, real scorpions, and no centaurs. These animals will dipper. Since it is litde (your thumb held at arm's distance look exactly as nature intended. And the zookeeper will not would cover all visible stars), many people mistakenly call it tell you about your financial life, home life, or love life. •

46 November/December 1996 SKEPTICAL INQUIRER BOOK-REVIEWS

A Mansion of a Book from a Sparkling Intellect

MICHAEL DIRDA

The Night Is Large: Collected Essays, 1938-1995. By Martin Gardner. St. Martins, New York, 1996. ISBN 0-312-14380-x. 672 pp. Hardcover, $29.95.

f Edmund Wilson was, as they say, classic Fads and Fallacies in the Name of invaluable Annotated Alice and More the principal American man of let­ Science (or its sequels, starting with Annotated Alice, his charming science Iters in our time, then Martin Science: Good, Bad and Bogus). With fiction story about topology ("No-Sided Gardner must be our leading man of patient logic, faultless research, and the Professor"), introductions to G. K. numbers. Best known for his long-run­ calm inexorability of a Greek fury on the Chesterton's novels and stories, books ning and much admired "Mathematical scent, Gardner pursues those who vic­ about magic, two superb poetry Games" column in Scientific American, timize the weak-minded, sick and mis- anthologies (Best Remembered Poems and Gardner is also Famous Poems of Bygone Days), several the author of sev­ appreciations of L. Frank Baum's Oz eral important books, substantial essays on philosophi­ works of science cal issues (proofs of God, pragmatism, popularization, MARTIN modern Thomism), reflections on chiefly Logic Penrose tiles and superstrings, a religious Machines and GARDNER Bildungsroman called The Flight of Peter Diagrams, Rela­ COLLECTED ESSAYS 1938 1905 Fromm, even an edition of "Casey at the tivity for the Bat"—all these are further aspects of this Million, and the myriad-minded, multi-talented man. magisterial Am­ Not least, Gardner repeatedly shows bidextrous Uni­ himself to be without pretense, forth­ verse, this last an introduction to sym­ right, and fond of jokes: Using a pseu­ metry and asymmetry that poet W. H. donym, he once reviewed his own Whys Auden once named as his favorite book of a Philosophical Scrivener—negatively. of the year. And in the New York Review of Books, no less. But, to his many fans, Martin Gardner is considerably more than a guy That last piece is included in The who knows his way around an algo­ Night Is Large, a representative sampling rithm. He is almost certainly the most The Night Is Large of this mathematical magpie's essays and eminent debunker of pseudoscience work since 1938(!). It's a superb volume, since World War II, having exposed the guided. Who else, now past 80 and full a mansion of a book in which one can fraudulent, the gullible (reputable scien­ or honors, would take the time to write live happily for a month or visit for a tists taken in by the conjuring tricks of an entire book about the Urantia cult quarter-hour, a modern-day equivalent supposed clairvoyants and ESP adepts), and its followers? to one of those catchall classics like and the true believers (in UFOs, In truth, Martin Gardner seems pos­ Montaigne's essays or Burton's Anatomy Atlantis, New Age religions). Few books itively alphanumeric in the range of his of Melancholy Want to know about puz­ are as diverting or damning as Gardner's expertise and enthusiasms. Consider the zles in Ulysses! The flaws in the Laffer

SKEPTICAL INQUIRER November/December 1996 47 BOOK REVIEWS

curve? "Quantum Weirdness"? The by the tailed men in Tarzan the Terrible in the '30s, where he edited a campus mystery of free will? Fractal music? The is given in that book's ten-page glossary, literary magazine, studied a year of nature of induction? The Wandering along with grammatical rules." Greek (which he has forgotten), Jew? The Wizard of Oz? Wilhelm Reich One gathers, through acknowledg­ admired Robert M. Hutchins, and and the Orgone? Time travel? Physicist ments and by such phrases as "I see from majored in philosophy. Several sections Richard Feynman? The significance of my files," that Gardner methodically of The Night Is Large take up issues of nothing? The irrelevance of everything? collects clippings, letters, and notes on modern metaphysics and religion; these These, and dozens of other fascinating the many subjects that interest him. His pages are written with their author's matters, are all addressed in these arti­ archives must be hugely impressive, con­ usual clarity and panache but require cles and reviews, prefaced with brief, sidering the variety of anecdote in The keen attentiveness on the pan of the reader. Through them we learn that sometimes personal remarks or fol­ Night Is Large. Coleridge, writing about Gardner is a Platonist, an opponent of lowed by postscripts updating Gardner's Lyrical Ballads, recalled "that he had cultural relativism, a man who believes views. been told by the publisher that most of that the universe is "real" (and not, in For instance, in the introduction to the . . . sales had been to sailors who, some way, the construct of an observer's having heard of 'The Ancient Mariner,' "How Not to Talk about Mathematics" mind), a thinker who has concluded Gardner writes about the mathemati­ thought it was a naval songbook." Did that it is impossible to find a logical jus­ cian Morris Kline, who died in 1992. "I you know that "in Europe 16, like 69 in tification for God's existence, and finally had the pleasure of lunching with him the United States, is a symbol of oral a fideist: "What does it mean to say that some twenty years earlier. We agreed sex"? Or that George Eliot twice had her belief in God works? To fideists it can Using a pseudonym, he once reviewed his own mean only this—that belief in God is so emotionally rewarding, and the contrary Whys of a Philosophical Scrivener—negatively. belief so desolate, they cannot not And in the New York Review of Books, no less. believe. Beneath the credo quia absur- dum [I believe because it is absurd], as that the 'new math," then a craze among head shaved so that she could undergo Unamuno said, is the credo quia con- teachers, had been a disaster, and that phrenological analysis of the bumps on solans. I believe because it consoles me. the best introduction to calculus, to give her skull? The true water of life, says our Spanish a high school student, was Sylvanus In the whimsical "Mr. Appollinax brother, is that which assuages our Thompson's Calculus Made Easy This Visits New York," Gardner creates a thirst." amusing book was first published in mathematician who, by means of a 1910, and is still in print although no remarkable function, is able "at one Not too surprisingly, The Night Is one has troubled to update its terminol­ stroke to 1) prove Fermat's last theorem, Large will probably only heighten one's ogy." I can hardly be alone in feeling 2) provide a counterexample ... to the own thirst for further refreshment from awestruck at the prospect of an amusing famous four-color theorem of topology, this sparkling intellect: There are, for guide to calculus (though the autodidact 3) lay the groundwork for . . . the dis­ instance, 15 volumes of the math puz­ in my soul is already panting for a copy). covery, three months later, of a 5,693- zles from Scientific American, many Here's a bit from the postscript to digit integer—the first of its kind more first-rate essays (on, for example, "Klingon and Other Artificial known—that is both perfect and odd." the fantasies of Lord Dunsany, G. K. Languages": All these are, of course, notable mathe­ Chesterton and Ray Bradbury), a collec­ "Mangani is the language spoken by matical conundrums. The droll and tion of stories about the ingenious the great apes who raised Tarzan. Several salacious Mr. Appollinax is quite irre­ numerologists Dr. Matrix, and, not least, hundred of its words are scattered sistible; during his New York visit he The Universe in a Handkerchief, a just- through Edgard Rice Burroughs's Tarzan neatly observes, "I like your Village non­ published volume (Copernicus/Springer- novels. I first learned about this from conformists. They're all so much alike." Verlag, $19) of "Lewis Carroll's Math­ Joel Carlinsky who wrote that as a boy A similar taste for paradox characterizes ematical Recreations, Games, Puzzles he and his brother actually learned to much of Gardner's prose, as in the sor­ and Word Plays." One can only be speak Mangani, and that a full vocabu­ rowful observation that opens an essay grateful that Martin Gardner, at 81, lary is in one of the biographies of on H. G. Wells: "Today's college stu­ continues to think and work and take Burroughs. A related language spoken dents, preoccupied with everything unceasing delight in what Chesterton except a liberal education . . ." once referred to as "the glory of every­ thing." Michael Dirda is a writer and editor for Gardner's own education, it becomes clear, is at heart that of a philosopher. the Washington Post/ Book World, ©1996. Washington Post Book World Service/^ashing- where this review originally appeared He attended the University of Chicago lon Post Writers Group. Reprinted with permission.

48 November/December 1996 SKEPTICAL INQUIRER BOOK REVIEWS

Prosecutor What did you say to Kelly when she touched you? Child: I don't like that. Final Jeopardy By disregarding the child's initial no, LLOYD STIRES the interviewer cues the child as to the desired response and creates confusion in jeopardy in the Courtroom: A Scientific Analysis of Children's his mind as to what his testimony had Testimony. By Stephen J. Ceci and Maggie Bruck. American been. Once the child agrees that he was Psychological Association, Washington, D.C., 1995. touched with the spoon, this misleading ISBN 1-55798-282-1. 337 pp. Hardcover, $29.95. statement is incorporated into his mem­ ory of the event. The book contains many s SKEPTICAL INQUIRER readers the time memories are retrieved. The similar illustrations of suggestive ques­ know, many people have been authors then review the history of tioning from interview and court tran­ convicted of the sexual abuse of research on children's testimony and A scripts. The confirmatory bias is not children largely on the basis of the testi­ describe some typical laboratory experi­ deliberate. It feels like a logical interview­ mony of the children (Gardner 1993; ments that investigate its accuracy. The ing strategy and is characteristic of the Loftus 1995). The tide is turning. Several basic procedure is to expose some children behavior of experienced as well as naive convictions have recently been reversed (the experimental group) to an unusual interviewers. Researchers do not claim on appeal, including those of the high- experience, such as a medical examination that children are "lying" when they profile Kelly Michaels, Little Rascals, and or observing a janitor deface a book, while respond to suggestive questioning by Amirault cases. Nevertheless, prosecu­ others (the control group) are not exposed making false accusations. tions continue, as the Wenatchee, to this event. Later, children from both Washington, trials demonstrate. Jeopardy groups are interviewed using standardized Ceci and Bruck present laboratory and in the Courtroom is a summary and analy­ techniques by experimenters who don't field studies that show, in detail, how con­ sis of psychological research on the credi­ know whether the child was in the exper­ firmatory bias works. Here are some of bility of children's testimony. The authors, imental or control group. The children's the main points: Stephen J. Ceci and Maggie Bruck, have testimony is compared to the objective • Interviewers often ask leading ques­ excellent credentials for this work. They criterion of what actually happened. tions that suggest a particular answer, have done many of the studies on which The core of the book is seven chapters such as "Did he touch your privates?" their review is based. They are nonparti­ that describe what we know (and don't Such questions arc more likely to elicit an sans on the issue of children's testimony, know) about interviewing children. The incriminating response than nonsugges¬ rejecting the extreme positions that chil­ basic organizing principle is confirmatory tive questions, such as "What did he do dren are always or never accurate. Their bias (referred to by Ceci and Bruck as next?" stated goal is to discover the circum­ "interviewer bias"). Humans have a ten­ • When children deny having been stances that produce true or false testi­ dency to search for information that con­ molested, interviewers often repeat the mony, so accuracy can be improved. firms their beliefs, rather than seeking question. When this happens, children are likely to conclude that their original The book begins with descriptions of information that might disprove their denial was the "wrong answer" and switch seven cases involving children's testimony, hypotheses (Snyder 1984). When inter­ to an affirmative response. from the Salem witch trials to the Little viewers start with a hunch that a child was Rascals day care case in Edenton, North sexually abused, they are likely to engage • Interviewers sometimes negatively Carolina. The authors return to these in a variety of behaviors that ultimately stereotype the suspect by referring to the cases throughout the book as illustrations elicit answers that confirm their hunch. suspect as a bad person or someone who of how not to interview children. They Consider this segment in die book from a does bad things. This increases the likeli­ dien review our inadequate knowledge of grand jury hearing in the Kelly Michaels hood that the child will make an accusa­ die frequency of childhood sexual abuse. case (p. 121): tion. There follows a brief minicourse on • When interviewers selectively rein­ human memory, the basic point of which Prosecutor: Did she touch you with a force accusations of abuse with attention spoon? is that memory is a constructive process Child: No. and praise while ignoring denials, the that can be influenced by suggestion at Prosecutor: No? O.K. Did you like it child will repeat and expand upon those when she couched you with the spoon? accusations. Child: No. • When children are told that their Prosecutor No? Why not? Lloyd Stires is a professor of psychology at peers have already reported incidents cf Child: I don't know. Indiana University of Pennsylvania, Prosecutor You don't know? abuse by the suspect, they are more likely Indiana, PA 15705-1068. Child: No. to accuse the suspect as well.

SKEPTICAL INQUIRER November/December 1996 49 BOOK REVIEWS

• Anatomically correct dolls focus the tence of repression. When no evidence is directly relevant to a child's attention directly on what is differ­ Can experts or, more important, jurors particular point, the authors explain that ent about these dolls. In one study (Bruck distinguish between children who are giv­ they are speculating and give the reasons et al. 1995), when three-year-old children ing accurate accounts of abuse and those for their speculation. were given a routine physical exam that who are giving false accounts? I once saw A critic can always claim that sexual did not involve genital touching and a videotape prepared by Ceci of children abuse is such a traumatic experience for questioned five minutes later using an describing how they caught their finger in the child that the principles of children's anatomically correct doll, fifty percent of a mousetrap. Their stories were so testimony established in this book are not the children falsely reported that the doctor detailed and emotional that it was easy to generalizable to real-world investigations had touched their genitals. see why professionals were unable to tell of abuse. There is nothing researchers can • Having children imagine they might that the memories were experimentally ethically do to refute this claim. However, have been abused and tell a story about it created. some of the manipulations in these stud­ ("guided imagery") may cause them to Ceci and Bruck conclude with sugges­ ies involve touching the children or hav­ believe the story they made up. tions for minimizing future miscarriages ing them witness events that probably These interviewing techniques could of justice. Their most important recom­ appear just as bizarre to a child as sexual confuse adults, but they are particularly mendation is that forensic interviews be behavior. To argue that sexual abuse is confusing to children. Research shows videotaped. Reading the interview tran­ fundamentally different from these labo­ that young children are more suggestible scripts, a skeptic can easily detect confir­ ratory manipulations is to assume a dis­ than older children. matory bias. If jurors had access to taped continuity of human experience that is not justified by existing theory or One irony is that the same manipula­ interviews, they could do a better job of research. tions increase die likelihood of accusa­ evaluating the child's credibility. The tions regardless of whether the event actu­ knowledge that interviews are routinely Many of us hope someday to write a ally occurred. Suppose, Ceci and Bruck taped would be an incentive for inter­ book that makes a major contribution to ask, you had a drug that, when given to viewers to avoid suggestive questioning. the analysis of an important social prob­ people with cancer, would cure them but However, it is essential that all interviews lem. Jeopardy in the Courtroom is such a would cause cancer in healthy people. You be taped from the beginning. Perfunctory book. don't know whether your patients have videotaping at the conclusion of an inter­ References cancer or not. Do you give them the view, after the child has rehearsed his or her story, is worse than no videotape at all Bruck, M-, S. J. Ceci, E. Francoeur, and A. Renick. drug? With children's testimony, almost 1995. Anatomically derailed dolls do not facili­ any procedure that increases the number (as the mousetrap study shows). tate preschoolers' reports of a pediatric examina­ of true positives increases the number of tion involving genital touching, journal of The book is accessible to the intelli­ Experimental Psychology. Applied 1: 95-109. false positives as well. Should children be gent layperson. Readers who make the Gardner. M. 1993. The false memory syndrome. questioned aggressively? A Pragmatist effort to understand some moderately SKEPTICAL INQUIRER, 17(4): 370-375. might say it depends on how strongly you complex experimental designs will be Loftus, E. 1995. Remembering dangerously: The suspect that the child was abused (analo­ repressed memory debate. SKEPTICAL INQUIRER. amply rewarded for their patience. The 19(2): 20-29. gous to the prior probability that the authors are scrupulously honest in their Snyder. M. 1984. When belief creates reality. In patient has cancer). But given the poten­ presentation of research findings. Each Advances in Experimental Social Psychology, ed. by L Berkowitz, 18: 116-167. New York: tial for false accusations, any use of these conclusion is carefully documented. techniques violates the defendant's pre­ Academic Press. LJ sumption of innocence.

Ceci and Bruck consider the contro­ TENTH versial question of whether it is possible to INSIGHT repress and recover memories of child­ Celestine Redux hood abuse. They carefully define five explanations for memory failure: forget­ JOSEPH P. SZIMHART ting, suppression, repression, dissociation, and infantile amnesia. Their review of the The Tenth Insight. By James Redfield. Warner Books, Inc., literature uncovers no studies of memory James Redfield New York, 1996. ISBN 0-446-51908-1. 236 pp. Hardcover, failure that cannot be explained by one or $19.95. more of the alternative explanations. f you read this book you will discover seller, The Celestine Prophecy, now on top- Therefore, there is no solid evidence of that the author plans to write a sequel ten lists for more than a year. In this latest recovery of repressed memories. It is of Iabout angels. The Tenth Insight is itself spiritual adventure Celestine fans are course impossible to disprove the exis­ a sequel to James Redfield's smash best­ treated to a continuing revelation of

50 November/December 1996 SKEPTICAL INQUIRER BOOK REVIEWS

favorite New Age notions (reincarnation, mysterious and sinister is about to hap­ chotronic machine) "has the potential to paranormal powers, spiritual healing, die pen in the wilderness before us. It disrupt [nine] dimensions. It could trig­ divine self) rJirough some familiar char­ involves a secret energy experiment led by ger massive earthquakes or even complete acters who survived harrowing adven­ a power-hungry scientist, Mr. Feyman, physical disintegration of certain areas" tures in South America. The narrator who has used Charlene's higher con­ (p. 91). Curtis invokes the quack experi­ remains nameless again, but clearly "he" sciousness and tricked her into revealing ments of Nikola Tesla. Tesla (1856- represents an alter ego of the author, who invisible "vortexes" of energy in the earth 1943), an eccentric genius who invented shares and promotes the same beliefs. that he wants to exploit. the same AC "polyphase" system we use The anonymous "I" teases the reader into We meet Joel, a hiker who wants to today as well as the induction motor, was identifying more closely widi die adven­ get out of the area. He does not like the responsible for the "Tesla coil," a giant ture—not a bad device if your intent is to feel of the mysterious experiment. He high-voltage generator. The coil was sup­ trigger sympathy for die Insights. launches into a lecture about the shrink­ posed to rap energy fields and transmit In these further adventures, we learn ing middle class, the international misuse electricity without wires through the more about the meaning of the first nine of religion, our corrupt lawyers, and the earth or sky. It never worked and never Insights and how the tenth works. The doomsday prophets of fundamentalism. will (see SKEPTICAL INQUIRER, Summer first nine were written on an ancient We are introduced to the "Fear," an 1994). Nevertheless, Curtis informs us manuscript secreted since the 1600s in a important theme in Insight doctrine. The that "basically it works this way. Imagine monastery in Peru by a "Gnostic" order Fear perception of reality is what Insight the electromagnetic field of the Earth as a called the Spirituals. The tenth Insight, practitioners combat by "Holding the giant battery that can provide plenty of we discover, cannot be written down Vision"—but we are getting ahead of electrical energy if you can tie into it in because it exists only in the "Afterlife," ourselves. Celestine fans are treated to the correct way" (p. 91). many more didactic digressions, with that heavenly realm in which spirits of The pseudoscientific Curtis goes on New Age spins on history, medicine, spir­ saints and angels dwell. It seems diat Wil, to claim that the infamous "Philadelphia ituality, and science. To critics these inane a character from the first story, has some­ Experiment," a fabulous rumor about a lectures and visions can be amusing if not how achieved the Afterlife consciousness ship that "disappeared" in 1943 from a irritating. and helps the narrator to "raise his Philadelphia shipyard, actually hap­ energy" enough to glimpse it as well. After Joel moves on, the narrator tum­ pened. The narrator asks, "Do you think The story begins in the southern bles down a cliff and injures his ankle. they really made the ship disappear and Appalachian territory of, possibly, the Maya Ponder, a black doctor, happens to show up again in a new location, in Blue Ridge Mountains. Redfield dedi­ meet him during a hike. Maya, not sur­ 1943?" And Curtis answers, "Of course cates his book to his "friends" from there. prisingly, is also hooked into the Insights they did! There's a lot of secret technol­ A new character, David Lone Eagle, of the Prophecy. As she treats the narrator ogy around, and they're smart" (p. 92). appears as a stereotypical Native she shares her "awareness," a combina­ (If you are interested in a better explana­ American in the first chapter. David is tion of standard medical training and tion of the Philadelphia Experiment, somehow aware of all ten Insights. He alternative, folk, and shamanic beliefs. look up the real story behind die rumor tells the narrator to note any animals diat She teaches the narrator to go into the in The Fringes of Reason, edited by Ted come his way because diey will be telling pain and into all memories and visions Schultz [Harmony Books, 1989]). This him something on his journey to find his associated with it, even to past-life recall. same "energy" that the Fear people are lost soul mate, Charlene. Charlene has When our protagonist finally does so developing is what concerns Curtis. been missing from work for a month. All later in the story, his ankle miraculously "They could totally ruin rhis place, make she left was a cryptic note and a crudely heals. Next, Curtis comes into the story it into a twilight zone, another Bermuda sketched map. The remaining guidance as another Insight person who represents triangle where the laws of physics are in to find her comes from the same syn­ the concerned scientist. He knows what unpredictable flux" (p. 90). He says, "I chronistic coincidences and applications the experiment is about and he wants to think they're trying to tie into the energy of Insight energy introduced in Celestine. blow it up. vortexes in this valley in an attempt to stabilize the process What they're try­ We soon discover that something All Curtis manages to do is blow up a ing now is insane" (p. 93). satellite dish that is soon repaired by die Joe Szimhart is a specialist in controver­ experimenters. He reluctantly agrees to Apparently Feyman, the sinister scien­ sial new religions, therapies, and cults. He the narrators alternative plan to work tist, who knows that this technology can reviewed Surfing the Himalayas in our with the fated Insight "group" to stop the provide a cheap source of energy if it is July/August 1996 issue and Jama Red- experiment with psychic energy. Curtis allocated in small household units, wants field's The Celestine Prophecy in our explains that the experimental "device" to pre-empt the possibility. Feyman January/February 1995 issue. (presumably a kind of magical psy- believes that the economy would change

SKEPTICAL INQUIRER November/December 1996 51 BOOK REVIEWS

too quickly if the power is not first cen­ Maya in one scene. At the end, Wil game" or four-hour workshop ($44-$66, tralized. Those in power would lose con­ explains, "They're the angels. . . . They 66 maximum players) based on the trol. The Insighters believe that no such respond to our faith and vision and make "energy" of The Celestine Prophecy. One thing would happen because the emer­ miracles. They seem to be a mystery even young man wrote, "I read the book today gence of Insight awareness would create a to those in the Afterlife I think we are and feel it will affect my life in a pro­ benevolent passage (not without difficul­ to understand the angels next" (pp. 235- found and irreversible way. ... I have a ties) toward a Utopian, planetary civiliza­ 236). definite direction in life that will eventu­ tion. The Tenth Insight is a well-organized ally reveal itself to me." Perhaps. Most of In the chapter called "A History of complement to The Celestine Prophecy. It the comments I read were from Insight Awakening" we learn the past-life secret is slightly better written but the stilted enthusiasts who take the teachings seri­ of the narrator and the Celestine character development remains. The ously. They truly believe that the powers Prophecy's origins. Our narrator book will sell well, if the five million expressed—the powers of magical heal­ "remembers" that he was a member of a copies sold of Celestine are any indication. ing, soul projection, aura sex, and manip­ secret order of Franciscan "Spirituals" in The Internet is popping with Celestine ulating love and forgiveness as if they the thirteenth century. The Spirituals pages and dialogs all over the world. I were quantities of divine light—are real. (they actually existed) were supported by found the Inca Games, a "magical energy When will they learn? • Pope Celestine V (from 1294-1296) but later "were condemned as Gnostics and excommunicated" (p. 108). In reality, the Spirituals were a radical sea of Do-lt-Yourself Franciscans (they called for a literal observance of St. Francis's rules, espe­ cially poverty) who had political differ­ Parapsychology ences with the next pope, Boniface VIII. CHRISTOPHER C. FRENCH They were not Gnostics in the strict sense. Test Your Psychic Powers: Find out the Truth for Yourself. By Susan Blackmore and Adam Hart-Davis. Thorsons, London, 1995. ISBN 1-85538-441-8. 159 pp. The text suggests many techniques Paperback, $9.00. that enable an Insighter to access the Afterlife and knowledge of a personal urely on the basis of its tide, readers respectively, telepathy, crystals, dreams, destiny. The latter comes from Birth of the SKEPTICAL INQUIRER might dowsing, the pendulum, premonitions, Visions, a kind of trance state that helps Pnot feel inclined to pick up this psychokinesis, the Ouija board, palm­ one to remember one's pure "intent" slim volume in their bookstores, mistak­ istry, and astrology. The chapters tend to when entering life this time. The Life ing it for yet another New Age self-help follow a similar format, usually opening Review process is that time directly after manual. This impression would be rein­ with a few interesting anecdotal death, or during a near-death experience, forced by the fact that the book is pub­ accounts, followed by a discussion of var­ when a soul has a chance to see his life lished by Thorsons, an imprint of ious theories about how the phenome­ and prepare for whatever he needs to HarperCollins Pubs., Inc., that includes non in question might operate (includ­ atone for in the next. The technique for among its other titles such gems as ing nonparanormal accounts). Some of "Holding the Vision" includes sitting in a Understanding Astrology, Understanding the chapters include a brief historical circle with your soul "group" and focus­ Tarot, Understanding the I Ching, and account of scientific research into the ing on the faces of each member until UFOs: A Manual for the Millennium. phenomenon. The most important part one can "image," as a group, the higher However, the fact that the first author is of each chapter, however, is the detailed vision. In the story, the narrator, Maya, CSICOP Fellow Susan Blackmore might descriptions of experiments that the Charlene, Curtis, Joel, and David Lone be enough to arouse interest. In fact, this reader can try at home. As the title says, Eagle do this while captives of the sinister volume, co-written with science writer "Find out the truth for yourself?" One experimenters. At a crucial time they Adam Hart-Davis, is anything but feature of many of these experiments is manage to "hold" a "hologram" of the another unscientific, wishy-washy psychic that they often explicitly instruct the vision long enough to disrupt the func­ self-improvement guide. It is nothing less reader to contrast the results of poorly tion of the Psychotronic device. than a parapsychological do-it-yourself controlled investigations with well-con­ guide, enabling amateur scientists to trolled ones. In investigating dowsing, The Insighters receive magical help carry out simple, well-controlled investi­ for example, readers are encouraged to from "white streaks" or "movements of gations of various paranormal claims. compare the results of a situation in white light" at significant rimes. A white It contains ten chapters dealing with, which they know in advance which of six light "interferes" to stop a bullet aimed at

52 November/December 1996 SKEPTICAL INQUIRER BOOK REVIEWS

buckets contains water with one in and Hart-Davis make a common mis­ on die authors for diis error is that it is which they do not already know. If die take when they are telling their readers commonly made even in introductory dowsing rod appears to react strongly to how to interpret their findings. For textbooks on statistics! die correct bucket only in die former sit­ interpreting the results of a dowsing This is a minor quibble. This book is uation, readers will have learned some­ experiment, for example, they say: "To highly recommended. In particular, its thing very important. They will have help you work out how significant your clear and accessible style would make it demonstrated for themselves that die findings are, on page 59 there is a simple an ideal gift for the interested teenager. movement of die dowsing rod is depen­ table of probabilities. . . . The table will Furthermore, as a lecturer in psychology, dent upon the dowser's knowledge of the tell you the odds against getting that I would not hesitate to base psychology correct response and is presumably a many just by chance. ... To get a result practical classes upon the ideas con­ result of unconscious muscular move­ that professional researchers would call tained in this book. The experiments are ments. 'significant,' you need to get a score that likely to be perceived by students as proves you had a less than 5 percent The emphasis throughout is upon more fun dian yet another reaction-time chance that you were just lucky" (pp. statistical evaluation of results, and to task, and diey will also learn a lot about 58-9). In fact, the binomial probability this end the authors present simple tables experimental control in the process. is not the chance that you were just of statistical significance levels associated The book does not adopt eidier an lucky; it is the probability of getting so with possible experimental outcomes, overtly proparanormal or antiparanor- many hits if the results were due to chance, presumably based upon the binomial mal stance, and it is likely to be all the not the probability that your results were distribution. Unfortunately, Blackmore more effective for that. It will hopefully in fact due to chance. But it would be be read by many nonskeptical readers, almost impossible to explain die convo­ Christopher C. French is a Senior and some of them may decide to carry luted and unnatural logic of "null Lecturer in Psychology at Goldsmiths' out the experiments suggested. Most of hypothesis significance testing," as it is diem are likely to end up sadder but College, University of London, where he called, to lay readers in a popular book. wiser regarding the possibility diat they teaches a final-year course on psychology, Another reason for not being too harsh parapsychology, and pseudoscience. themselves possess psychic powers. Q

NEW BOOKS

Behind the Crystal Balk Magic, Science, Press in 1981 under the title The Inquisitive sions that confront us (the wagon-wheel and the Occult from Antiquity Through the Eye. A teacher of visual perception who effect, Leonardo's Window, Pulfrich's New Age. Anthony Aveni. Times Books/ wished to create a book that was intrinsically Amazing Pendulum, Poggcndrof's Illusion, Random House, New York. 1996. 406 pp. interesting, scientifically valid, and readable, etc.). More than 100 illustrations and $28 hardcover. At one time science and the Fineman explores the psychology and physi­ demonstrations are included. occult happily coexisted, barely distinguish­ ology of vision and the extraordinary illu- —Kendrick Frazier able in method and practice. Here the noted Colgate University professor of astronomy and anthropology strives to provide a bal­ Ninth Euro Skeptics Conference Tentative Program anced account of how and why people in the La Coruna, Spain Western tradition changed the way they Averroes and the think about the real world. Aveni examines Enlightenment magical belief chronologically: The first four Science, UFOIogy 1997— sections deal with magic in antiquity, magic from the Dark Ages to the Enlightenment, Pathological Science, 50-year Anniversary nineteenth-century occultism (the Fox sis­ The Role of the ters, "bumpology"), and modern manifesta­ and Pseudoscience Media: The Need tions (psychics versus physics, healing, UFO Thursday, Sept 4 - Sunday, Sept. 7, 1997 for Education abductions, life after life, crystals, and geo¬ mancy). A fifth section considers magical Unravelling For details, contact belief at the millennium. Alternativa Rational a las Pseudosciencias (ARP) Miracles Attn: Miguel A. Sabadell The Nature of Visual Illusion. Mark Parapsychologists Apdo. 1S16 versus Skeptics Fineman. Dover Books, 31 E. 2nd St., E-50080 Zaragoza Mineola, New York 11501. 1996. 171 pp. Spain Pathological $9.95 paper (add $4 if ordering by mail). Fax:+34 76 761140 • Tel.:+34 76 290043 or+34 07 201671 Science This is an unabridged republication of a E-mail: sabadellOposta.unizar.es work first published by Oxford University

SKEPTICAL INQUIRER November/December 1996 53 ARTICLES OF NOTE

Barrett, William P. "Unidentified Flying Colman, Andrew M., Susan Blackmore, August 1996 (printed in the Albuquerque Dollar." Forbes, July 15. 1996, 49, 52-53. Robert L. Morris, Richard Wiseman, and Journal, August 18, 1996, C7, CIO). Subtitled "P. T. Barnum Is Alive and Well in Christopher C. French. "A Pentalogue on Lengthy, balanced, journalistic account of Roswcll," this article reports on how Parapsychology." The Psychologist, August the wars in courts and on therapists' couches Roswell, New Mexico, has turned UFO 1996, 361-363. Psychologist Colman. rumi­ over claims of repressed memories of abuse. mystique into a nice business. "Like nating on new book by Susan Blackmore Hollywood, Roswell is in the fantasy busi­ and Adam Hart-Davis (see our review, this Morrison, Douglas R. O. "Damning ness." Article points out that nothing about issue), raises what he considers an important Verdict on Cold Fusion." Nature 382: 572 this mystery is authentic and quotes people issue that is too-little discussed: "Why (August 15, 1996). Morrison adds further laughing that it's all a hoax; but there's still bother carrying out more experiments into information about an Italian court's rejection money to be made. obviously non-existent [parapsychological of a libel action that Martin Fleischmann and other paranormal] phenomena?" The and Stanley Pons—the scientists who subsequently listed authors then respond in Barren, William P. "Now Where Was It claimed they had discovered cold fusion— turn both to Colman and to the other Those Aliens Crashed?" Crosswinds, August brought against an Italian newspaper, La authors preceding them. Most disagree with 1996. 14-16, 34. This Albuquerque Repubblica. The newspaper had said cold his contention and feel there is value in con­ monthly publishes a major investigative arti­ fusion was similar to scientific fraud. tinuing to carry out well-controlled experi­ cle tli.it pokes still wider holes in the already Morrison, who had been asked by the news­ ments; something useful may be found. very leaky Roswell crashed-saucer tale. Points paper to provide scientific and historical evi­ out that there is still not a shred of proven dence, here says the court did not merely physical evidence of any spaceship that Estling, Ralph. "The Trouble With reject the libel claim but also awarded costs would hold up in court; shows how many of Philosophers." New Scientist 382:44 (July 6, against Fleischmann and others. The "skill­ the people involved with the incident have 1996). Frequent columnist for the fully written" court judgment did not give a made significant changes to their stories over SKEPTICAL INQUIRER takes on the idea, cleat opinion on cold fusion but rather said the years—some with possible financial recently expressed by a letter writer in the the evidence is such that it was not unrea­ incentives; and reveals the curious fact that journal Nature, that "the fact that we can sonable for a journalist to express opinions veteran UFO researchers cannot agree on the imagine extrasensory perception and the like similar to those published in La Repubblica. location of the worlds most celebrated UFO is evidence for the fact that they are possible incident. Over the years, at least six different in some sense." Estling easily argues against southern New Mexico crash sites have been Marin, Rick, and Adam Rogers. "Alien that point but extends his complaint to the "identified," four in the past few years alone. Invasion." Newsweek, July 8, 1996, 50-55. more general point of "philosophers and Report on how pop culture has been capti­ their intellectual cousins" who write in vated by "all things paranormal, from psy­ Begley, Sharon. "Is There Anything to It? knowing ways about science until they come chic hot lines to out-of-body experiences." Evidence, Please." Newsweek, July 8, 1996, up against actual facts. Asks: "How did this far-out stuff get to be so 54—55. As part of a cover-article package mainstream?" (See also summary of Begley's tided "Out There," which is keyed to the article on this page.) new interest in aliens and the paranormal Kaminer, Wendy. "The Latest Fashion in triggered by the movie Independence Day and Irrationality." The Atlantic Monthly, July the TV series The X-Files, this article by 1996, 103-106. From guardian angels to "Seeking Common Ground." Science News Newsweek's science writer is a good report on The Celestine Prophecy, from reincarnation to (Letters to Editor) 150: 35. 44 (July 20. the lack of evidence to support numerous alien abductions, books about spirituality 1996). Janet Raloff June 8 Science News paranormal claims. Discovery of aliens and how to transcend mortality and reach article, "When Science and Beliefs Collide" wouldn't violate any laws of nature, but apparent higher planes of existence are now (see our Articles of Note, September/ "claims in other fringe realms, such as telepa­ all the rage. "Publishers of popular spiritual­ October 1996), was obviously provocative. thy and psychokinesis, are credible only if ity books have already died and gone to Here are published sixteen letters covering a you ignore a couple or three centuries of heaven," says Kaminer. She laments their whole range of viewpoints about the tension established science." Begley briefly outlines denigration of science, their insistence on between science and belief. the experiments that offer the best evidence "ubiquity of belief" as evidence of truth, and of paranormal phenomena and some of the their "perfectly closed belief systems: the pos­ Wilson, Philip K. "Origins of Science." objections to their conclusions. sibility of error is never considered. If you don't see angels, or energy fields emanating National Forum (Phi Kappa Phi Journal) from your rhododendron, you simply don't 76(1): 39-43 (Winter 1996). Paraphrasing Bower, Bruce. "Remembrance of Things know how to look for them." She even goes the British philosopher Bertrand Russell, False." Science News 150: 126-127 (August into the crossover from New Age beliefs to Wilson says it is not what scientists believe 24, 1996). Excellent report into how what militias and conspiracy theories, where "sci­ about natural phenomena that distinguishes researchers call implanted or illusory mem­ ence, rationalism, and established religion" them from others, but rather how and why ory "has deposited a thick layer of doubt are the enemies. they believe it. He explores when such a sys­ atop any presumptions that recall of past tem of beliefs began. events can be trusted." Recounts numerous experiments showing creation of illusory Klass. Tim. "Repressed Memories or memories. Implanted Shadows?" Associated Press, —Kendrick Frazier

54 November/December 1996 SKEPTICAL INQUIRER FORUM

Beyond the Rational

GLORIA J. LEITNER

hen skeptics strive for people of both and need to use both in living. We (Bantam, 1995). Goleman documents \ \ I to become more rational, could not be like Mr. Spock, all logic and brain research that shows how the seat of more objective, more scien­ intellectual argument, and still cultivate rationality, the cerebral cortex, is con- tific—creatures of reason rather than crea­ warm relationships or take pleasure in stantly interacting with the more primi­ tures of habit or blind emotion—diere is sunsets, music, delicious food, or a good tive, emotional part of the brain called both a fundamental truth and an equally novel. the amygdala. To say that die rational fundamental paradox in their goal. On the other side of the coin, if we cortex is "good" and the amygdala is The truth is that too many people are were to live totally mired in our emotions "bad" is a distortion, for the amygdala foolishly duped by irrational ideas and all the rime and not exercise reason in plays a key role in making quick judg­ leaders of irrational movements. deciding how to treat an illness, how to ments that can be lifesaving. On the The paradox is that at the same time start or end a relationship, or how to other hand, die cerebral cortex is needed too many people are, in a sense, ovetly make enough money to pay the rent, we to balance die sometimes too quick judg­ rational—they think mechanistically, act would lead disastrous lives. We might ments of the amygdala, which, if automatically, and possess an arid, under­ become prone to believe destructive ide­ unchecked, can lead to lashing out in used imagination and aesthetic sense. ologies that feed on emotions of paranoia anger or despair rather than thinking This can result in a shallow sense of self and hate, like white supremacists, or through an adverse situation. and soul. People seem to need an ongoing become die-hard defenders of alien Another researcher, UCLA Professor deep dose of nonrational or emotional/ abductions and Altantean telepathy. of Psychology Shelley Taylor, focuses on aesthetic experience to develop creatively, The hyper-rational and hyper-nonra¬ the importance of having an overlay of compassionately, and joyfully.* tional sketches I've outlined above are illusion beyond the mere facts of exis­ Cultivating both our rational and non- caricatures, granted. But to many, skep­ tence. In Positive Illusions (Basic Books, rational facets is a key to developing fully tics as well as nonrationalists can appear 1989), she talks about the healthy per­ and healthily. We need to enhance both absurdly narrow-minded. Skeptics are sonality as having a mildly exaggerated our skeptical sense and our poetic, aes­ often perceived (even sometimes by those positive self-image—beyond what "real­ thetic, and emotional worlds. To deny who sympathize with their aims) as hos­ ity" would call for. She thinks that some one or the other is to deny a pan of what tile toward any beliefs or activities that depressed people are stripped of their it means to be human. But to settle for a value the spiritual side of human nature positive illusions and may have a more knee-jerk skepticism or an equally knee- or the complexity of human experience. "realistic" picture of the world (e.g., about the inevitability of death) that hob­ jerk reaction against thinking skeptically The gap between rationalists and non- bles their effectiveness and happiness in is to look at appearances and not at the rationalists must be bridged. In fact, life. She argues that without an overly contexts in which both rationality and there is mounting scientific evidence that upbeat self-image and undue optimism, nonrationality have their roles. The result both physical and mental health children would never persevere in learn- is superficial thinking or superficial feel­ absolutely need and rely upon a large ing and perception. emotional, nonrational component. Of course some personalities are One excellent source is a recent book Gloria J. Leitner of Boulder, Colorado, is inclined more toward the rational than by New York Times journalist Daniel a freelance writer on health, political, the emotional. But we all have elements Goleman, Emotional Intelligence and social issues, as well as a poet.

SKEPTICAL INQUIRER November/December 1996 55 ing and adults would have a hard time nonrational attitude also misses the ing and self-righteousness. rebounding from adversity. mark. There is the simplistic "back to Calling it a battle between heart and Beneficial medical effects of "nonra¬ nature" view that condemns all technol­ head is a stark way of putting it, but as a tional" treatments—psychological, emo­ ogy or social organization as grotesquely metaphor it throws into clear relief the tional, and meditative practices—are also distorting or destroying our natural obvious fact that we have both hearts and discussed in Mind/Body Medicine world. There is also the more sophisti­ heads. We not only need them, we (Consumer Reports Books, 1993). cated (though no less silly) stance of some should revel in them, enjoy them, and "Meditation, visualization, hypnosis, academics who refuse to admit that definitely use them both to live compre­ biofeedback, and numerous relaxation objectivity can exist, whether in science hensively and successfully. techniques already show promise in help­ or human behavior, because we're all This is a plea, in other words, for emotionally and culturally bound. They ing prevent and treat a variety of illnesses, open-sightedness on both sides. Don't let believe that relativity rules in all realms. including coronary heart disease, autoim­ the fight against scientific ignorance mune disorders, chronic lung disease, A sensitive, well-rounded view of become a fight against all religious beliefs headaches, and gastrointestinal problems, humans and our life processes would or all forms of alternative medicine that as well as panic attacks, depression, and admit to the need for an intelligent, non- use unconventional psychological, spiri­ other psychological disorders," states one dogmatic skepticism—as well as a har­ tual, or emotional approaches. And don't of the contributors to the book, Kenneth nessed emotionality and spirituality that let the fight against excessive rationality R. Pelletier, a senior clinical fellow at does not degenerate into ignorant antira¬ Stanford University. become a fight against all use of technol­ tionalism. ogy, science, or objectivity. Let us respect In other words, there is mounting sci­ Unfortunately, organizations and both. Let us sec the ultimate value of the entific evidence that emotions and the spokespersons for each point of view tend heart's quest and the ultimate worth of nonrational aspects of psyche and self to exaggerate the others faults and short­ the head's questions. play a crucial, constructive role in the comings. "You're the devil" has the finger "hard facts" of physiology and disease as pointing both ways. Both are at fault, and "Note: A scientist may have this kind of emo­ well as mental health—a role that cannot both are to blame, if they oversimplify tional experience in the midst of an exciting be discounted by skeptics wishing that the "enemy." Both need to come to terms discovery or while pursuing very "rational" rationality reigned supreme. with the partiality of their points of view. experiments, if they engage him or her fully. But of course an exclusively romantic. Both need to back down from sloganeer- ©1996 Gloria J. Leitner

Extraterrestrial Unintelligence?

ALTA WALKER

fter my shrink changed my diag­ how these aliens can be so stupid. If forms, shapes, and sizes. About 75 per­ nosis from SAD (Seasonal they're smart enough to fly between the cent of known species are arthropods, AAffective Disorder) to MAD stars as easily as we fly from D.C. to tiny invertebrates with segmented bodies (Minimally Abductible Disorder) Montana, they should be able to figure and jointed appendages. Humans are because 1 have never even seen a UFO, out our basic anatomy. But during just not the largest, smallest, or most prolific let alone been abducted by one, I about every abduction, it takes them species. Why would extraterrestrials decided to check out the abduction hours to figure out that our navels are come in human shape? With 66 percent scene. Are they really up there? Are they not our reproductive organs. Why don't of Earth being ocean, why not come as really down here? they share that information with other whales? I decided to talk with Dr. Tom Holtz, ships? Why do they find our bellybut¬ "Probably because whales couldn't a paleontologist who teaches at one of tons so fascinating?" write books," Tom says. "The abductors the Georges in the D.C. area about the Maybe they are jealous, maybe they appear to be abstracted, bilaterally sym­ possibility of offworlders—ETs—visit­ like the lint, maybe they're establishing metrical humanoids, guys with no dis- ing the Blue Marble. navel observatories. Tom and I met in a restaurant in sub­ "Or could it be that the abductees, Alta Walker is with the Department of urban Washington, D.C, and I asked not the abductors, have bellybutton Geography and Earth Systems Science, him what he thought about abductions. fetishes?" Tom asks. George Mason University, Fairfax, "First thing I wonder," says Tom, "is Life on Earth comes in a myriad of Virginia 22030-4444.

56 November/December 1996 SKEPTICAL INQUIRER tinguishing features. Even the Klingons and Vulcans in Star Trek are more realis­ tic than these guys. "Speaking as a paleontologist, the default form for vertebrates on Earth is that of a quadruped which has a hori­ zontal backbone and a long tail. "Most bipeds evolved from running quadrupeds, but humans are the excep­ tion. We evolved from tree dwellers; we are the only bipedal creatures that climbed down the tree." Tom, most abductees claim that after the bellybutton test, aliens want sex. What do you think of that? "It sounds like an adolescent fantasy," Tom says. "Sex must be on the abductees' minds. If we had sex, there would be a problem of gene incompati­ bility. "Species on Earth are defined as col­ lections of individuals who can mate and produce viable offspring. On die rare occasions when interspecies mating occurs, the offspring is sterile. A com­ mon example is a horse and a donkey producing a mule. That poor mule is "No, almost certainly not," says Tom. moon," but nodiing happened. I was usually sterile. Remember, we don't mate "They probably would not be capable of crushed. Were I to be abducted, I would with lions and tigers and bears." digesting terrestrial organic matter. grab the captain's log, a pencil, or any­ Oh my! Perhaps they mount them on their walls thing else I could bring back. What If we can't do terrestrial interspecies for trophies." would you do? reproduction, what about extraterrestrial Recent crime scene analyses show "If I were so lucky, I would try to get interspecies reproduction? that people never enter or leave a room a tissue sample. Scratch the little bugger. "It would be even more difficult. We wirJiout collecting or leaving evidence Then, back on Earth, I would run a few share 98 percent of our genes with chim­ such as dust, hair, din, or fibers. Where's tests. We could tell if the tissue was or panzees, but we don't reproduce with die evidence of abduction? was not from Earth, and if it was living. diem. Extraterrestrials could be com­ "There isn't any," Tom says. All terrestrial life forms have nucleic posed of antimatter or of silicon-based What role does the human mind, acids. ETs could substitute elements cells. Even if they had a carbon-based conscious or subconscious, play in all such as silicon or fluorine for carbon or DNA system, we would still share zero this? I've read that posthypnotic stress oxygen. 1 could easily see the substitu­ percent of our genes." disorder, temporal lobe microseizures, tion in my lab. Alien nucleic acid or its analog would be drastically different But they look like us, I point out. All sleep paralysis, Munchhausen syndrome, from ours. the drawings we see show bilateral sym­ or false memory syndrome may create metry, two hands, eyes, and legs. What thoughts of abductions. "I'd also take a camera with UV film. about diat? "Those are all good possibilities," Some life forms on Earth—flowers, for "Widi all the diversity on Earth, I'd Tom says. "In fact I would call diem example—have markings in the UV. be disappointed if real aliens looked like probabilities. Some people on Earth Bees see diem, but we can't. Paintings of us," Tom says. "Every day, I work with would love to have UFOs to rescue us all the alleged aliens show big eyes, sug­ creatures that are more different from us from ourselves. We always try to make gesting that diey are nocturnal or they than are the paintings of aliens on the sense from what we see. As an example, see in the UV. Maybe they have patterns covers of some books. My creatures were look up at the next full moon and see and shapes we can't see. Infrared film real, and diey left us with souvenirs— who smiles down at you." might be nice, too. Would we recognize an alien smile? bones and trails." For years, I've tried to be abducted, If die ETs are not interested in having Tom. I even went out in the field in "I'd also want to bring a tape recorder sex with us, why else would diey take Roswell widi a big red arrow pointing to made to record sound beyond our audio sperm or human eggs? For caviar? my belly button as I sang "Fly me to the range. We can't hear mice squeak (in the

SKEPTICAL INQUIRER November/December 1996 57 ultrasonic) or cetaceans yell (in the infra- sonic), but those are viable methods of communication. Perhaps the ETs have a language we can't hear." Tom, we know that at least half the stars in this galaxy are in binary- or mul­ tiple-star systems. The only single-star system we know reasonably well has about nine planets. Recent Hubble images suggest our solar system may not be unique in the galaxy. Has life evolved elsewhere? "I think a better question would be, Could life evolve elsewhere?" Tom says. "Probably. If planetary and stellar processes produce a planet at a decent distance from the primary star, and if the environment was peppered with some of the amino acids we see in space, or if there are acids formed by chemical reac­ tions on the primitive planet, why not? Right now, I can't prove it did, and you can't prove it didn't." We have no proof of ETs, but we do have proof that humans have active imaginations. The situation reminds me of an old Pogo comic strip in which a character said, "Either we are alone in the universe, or we are not. Either way, it's a mighty sobering thought."

UFO Coverup from page 31 inquiry about FBI involvement in investigating UFOs. The memo said that the FBI had "no jurisdiction" to investigate land." UFO reports and referred the White House to the Air Force. The show began by showing several brief home-video seg­ But the camera panned and roomed so fast no viewer could ments of bogus "UFOs" while the narrator intoned: "This is read die memo. not swamp gas. It is not a flock of birds. This is an actual space­ Near die end of die program die narrator said: "Statistics craft from another world, piloted by alien intelligence. indicate a greater probability that you will experience extrater­ . . . Intelligent life from distant galaxies is now attempting to restrial contact in the next five years dian the chances you will make open contact witfr die human race. Tonight we will show win a state lottery. But how do you prepare for such an you the evidence." extraordinary event? At Tomorrowland in Disney World, scien­ The Disney show included the Roswell crashed-saucer case tists and Disney engineers have brought to life a possible sce­ with considerable emphasis on government coverup. At one nario that helps acclimate the public to their inevitable alien point, die narrator noted that Jimmy Carter had had a UFO encounters." sighting prior to becoming president. The narrator added: More recently, Walt Disney Inc. has purchased the ABC "Later, when he assumed the office of president ... his staff television network. I won't be surprised if Disney and ABC use attempted to explore die availability of official investigations UFOs to attract more viewers. into alien contacts." For the tiny handful of diose who produce TV and radio Then, as die camera rapidly panned a typewritten docu­ shows dealing with claims of the paranormal who truly want to ment, it zoomed in on die words "no jurisdiction," and the nar­ provide dieir audience with both sides, die Committee for the rator said: "As this internal government memo illustrates, there Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal (CSICOP) are some security secrets outside die jurisdiction even of die is an invaluable resource in providing die names of experienced White House." The implication was diat even die president did skeptics. The same is true for print-media reporters. If TV not have access to UFO secrets. shows on UFOs are 95 percent "loaded" to promote belief, In reality, the memo was an FBI response to a White House without CSICOP they would be 100 percent loaded. Q

58 November/December 1996 SKEPTICAL INQUIRER larity of the paranormal / Self-help books: FILL IN THE GAPS IN YOUR Pseudoscience In the guise of science? SPRING 1992 (vol. 16. no. 3): Special Report: The Mahanshi caper JAMA hoodwinked / Myths of sub­ liminal persuasion: The cargo-cult science of sublim­ inal persuasion / Subliminal perception; Facts and fal­ Skeptical Inquirer COLLECTION lacies / Subliminal tapes / The Avro VZ-9 'frying saucer' /Two 19th-century skeptics: Augustus de Morgan and • 15% discount on orders of $100 or more • John Flske. • $6.25 a copy. Vols. 1-18 ($5.00 Vols. 19, 20). To order, use reply card insert • WINTER 1992 (vol.16, no.2); On being sued: The chill­ SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 1996 (vol. 20, no. 5); Shades FALL 1994 (vol. 18, no. 5): Empirical evidence for ing of freedom of expression / The crop-circle of meaning: Science fiction as a new metric. Stewart I reincarnation? / Reader's guide to the ozone contro­ phenomenon / Update on the 'Mars effect' / A dis­ The first World Skeptics Congress / Traditional medi­ versy / Bigfoot evidence: Are these tracks real? / Why senting note on Ertel's 'Update' / Magic Melanin: cine and pseudoscience in China, part 2, Beyerstein we are unmoved as oceans ebb and flow / Anomalous Spreading scientific illiteracy among minorities. Part 2 and Sampson I Conspiracy theories and paranoia. phenomena in Kazakhstan / False memories. / Adventures in science and cyclosophy / Searching for Harrington I Isaac Newton, Gardner. security in the mystical. SUMMER 1994 (vol 18, no 4.): 'Extraordinary science' JULY/AUGUST 1996 (vol. 20. no. 4); Traditional med­ and the strange legacy of Nikola Tesla / Nikola Tesla: FALL 1991 (vol. 16, no. 1): Near-death experiences / icine and pseudoscience in China. Beyerstein and Genius, visionary, and eccentric / Pollens on the 'Shroud*: Multicultural pseudoscience: Spreading scientific illiter­ Sampson I CSICOP at twenty, Kurtz I Maria's near- A study in deception / Do televised depictions of para­ acy. Part 1 / Science and commonsense skepticism / Spook death experience, Ebbem, Mulligan, and Beyerstein I normal events influence viewers' beliefs? / Synchronicity Hill / Lucian and Alexander /1991 CSICOP conference. Alternative health education and pseudocredential¬ and the archetypes / The synthetic mind clashes with the SUMMER 1991 (vol. 15. no. 4): Lucid dreams/ Nature fak­ ing, Rasp / Pentagon grant funds alternative health reductionist text / Psi in psychology ing in the humanities / Carrying the war into the study, Selby and Scheiber. SPRING 1994 (vol. 18, no. 3): The Antiscience Threat: The never-never land of psi: Part 2 / Coincidences / Locating MAY/JUNE 1996 (vol. 20. no. 3) Delights and dangers growth of antiscience / The antiscience problem / invisible buildings / True believers. of sensory illusions. Wolf I The enigmatic battery of Measuring the prevalence of false memories / Bleuler's SPRING 1991 (vol. 15, no. 3): Special report: Hi-fi Baghdad. Eggert I The claims of aromatherapy, views on inheritance of acquired characteristics and on pseudoscience / Searching for extraterrestrial intelli­ McCutcheon I Fun and fallacies with numbers. Savant psi phenomena / Examining the satanic panic ... A per­ gence: An interview with Thomas R. McDonough / I A study of fantasy proneness in John Mack's sonal perspective ... A sociological and historical per­ Getting smart about getting smarts / Carrying the war Abduction, Nickel! I The great egg-bal­ spective / Philosophy and the paranormal. into the never-never land of psi: Part 1 / Satanic cult ancing mystery, Gardner. Part 2: Skepticism, miracles, and knowledge 'survivor' stories / 'Old-solved mysteries': The MARCH/APRIL 1996 (vol. 20, no. 2) Skeptical Inquirer WINTER 1994 (vol. 18. no. 2) The new Kecksburg incident / Magic, medicine, and meta­ Science and superstition, Sagan I Special skepticism / Philosophy and the paranor­ physics in Nigeria / Whafs wrong with science educa­ report: Evaluation of military's program mal. Part 1: The problem of 'psi.' / tion? Look at the family. on psychic spying, Hyman I The role of Electromagnetic field cancer scares / representativeness in erroneous and Attacks on role-playing games / Global for­ WINTER 1991 (vol. 15, no. 2): Special report Gallup pseudoscientific beliefs, Gilovich and tune-telling and Bible prophecy / poll: Belief in paranormal phenomena / Science and Savitsky I Vampires of folklore and leg­ Chernikov pattern puzzle. self-government / West Bank collective hysteria end. Barber I Miracle photos Nickell I episode / Acceptance of personality test results / Belief Claiborne Pell: Senator from outer space, FALL 1993 (vol. 16, no. 1): 'Perspectives in astrology: A test of the Barnum effect / A test of clairvoyance using signal-detection / Intercessory Gardner. on education in America: Sandia study prayer as medical treatment? challenges misconceptions/ Do 'honesty' JANUARY/FEBRUARY 1996 (vol. 20, no. tests really measure honesty? / Astrology FALL 1990 (vol. 15. no. 1): Neural Organization 1) How to make an alien for autopsy, Stokes / EMDR strikes back—but to what effect? / Diagnoses of alien Technique: Treatment or torture / The spooks of quan­ treatment, Lilienfeld I Psychic crime detectives, kidnappings that result from conjunction effects in tum mechanics / Science and Sir William Crookes / The Wiseman. West, and Stemman I Health statistics bad memory / Mathematical magic for skeptics / The blind 'N' machine / Biological cycles and rhythms vs. bio- for our health, Paulos I Science and reason in film and girl who saw the flash of the first nuclear weapon test rhythms /1990 CSICOP Conference. television, Evans I Post-Freudian dream theory, / Science: The feminists' scapegoat? Gardner. SUMMER 1990 (vol. 14, no. 4): Ghosts SUMMER 1993 (vol 17. no. 4): The right make news: How four newspapers report NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 1995 (vol. 19, no. 6) The 6A0 hemisphere; An esoteric closet? / Improving psychic phenomena / Thinking critically report on Roswell, Klass I Why creationists don't go to science teaching: The textbook problem /The and creatively / Police pursuit of satanic psychic fairs, Taylor. Eve. and Harrold Eyewitness testi­ eyewitness: Imperfect interface between crime. Part 2 / Order out of chaos in sur­ mony and the paranormal, Wiseman, Smith, and stimuli and story / Pathological science: An vival research / Piltdown, paradigms, and Wiseman I Objectivity and repeatability in science, update / Jack Horkheimer. 'Star Hustler.' the paranormal / Auras: Searching for the Mussachia I Culture-bound syndromes as fakery. interview / The false memory syndrome. light. Bartholomew / Freud's theory of dreams, Gardner. SPRING 1993 (vol 17. no. 3): Anguished SPRING 1990 (vol.14, no.3): Why we SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 1995 (vol. 19, no. 5) The silence and helping hands: Autism and need to understand science / The crisis in paradox of knowledge, Loevinger Consciousness as a facilitated communication / Facilitated pre college science and math education / valid subject for science, Ingalls I School daze; review Communication, autism, and Ouija / Police pursuit of satanic crime. Part 1 /The of African American baseline essays, Rowe I Mystical Treading on the edge: Practicing safe sci­ spread of satanic cult rumors / Lying medical alternativism, Raso / China, chi, and chi­ ence with SET) / Education for science / A about polygraph tests / Worldwide disas­ canery, Huston I Fuzzy logic, Gardner. threat to science / Charles Honorton's ters and moon phase. legacy to parapsychology / 1993 CSICOP Conference. JULY/AUGUST 1995 (vol. 19, no. 4) How to sell a WINTER 1990 (vol. 14, no. 2): The new catastrophism pseudoscience, Pratkanis I Rumors, self-fulfilling WINTER 1993 (vol 17, no. 2): Special report: 3.7 mil­ / A field guide to critical thinking / Cold fusion: A case prophecies, and national obsessions, Paulos I Rose lion Americans kidnapped by aliens? / Psychics: Do history in 'wishful science*? The airship hysteria of Mackenberg. Pankratz I Moon, planets, and disasters. police departments really use them? / Psychic detec­ 1896-97 / Newspaper editors and the creation-evolu­ Branham I Artificial languages. Gardner I The Roswell tives: A critical examination / Therapeutic touch. / tion controversy / Special report: New evidence of incident and Project Mogul. Thomas. Improving science teaching in the U.S / The Big Sur MJ-12 hoax MAY/JUNE 1995 (vol. 19. no. 3) The belief engine, 'UFO* / The strange case of the New Haven oysters. FALL 19S9 (vol. 14, no. 1): Myths about science / The Alcock I Is skepticism tenable? Beloff plus Blackmore. FALL 1992 (vol 17, no 1) A celebration of Isaac relativity of wrong / Richard Feynman on fringe sci­ Hyman. Kurtz. Alcock. and Gardner I Mediumship, Asimov: A man for the universe, Kendrick Frazier, ence; Luis Alvarez and the explorer's quest / The two Stein / Ancient aluminum, Eggert I Crop circle mania Arthur C Clarke Frederik Pohl, Harlan Ellison. L cultures / The 'top-secret UFO papers' NASA wont wanes. Nickell I Doug Henning and TM. Gardner I A Sprague de Camp, Carl Sagan. Stephen Jay Gould. release / The metaphysics of Murphy's Law. young Grand Canyon? Heaton. Martin Gardner, Paul Kurtz. Donald Goldsmith. James SUMMER 19B9 (vol. 13, no. 4): The New Age—An MARCH/APR* 1995 (vol. 19. no. 2) Remembering Randi, andE. C. Krupp Gaia without mysticism / Gala's examination: The New Age in perspective / A New dangerously, Loftus I Antiscience in academia. Gross scientific coming of age / The curse of the runestone: Age reflection in the magic mirror of science / The and Levitt I Feminism now alienating women from sci­ Deathless hoaxes / Night terrors, sleep paralysis, and New Age: The need for myth in an age of science / ence, Koertge I "Lights out"; A faxlore phenomenon. devil-stricken telephone cords from hell / Scientific cre- Channeling / The psychology of channeling / 'Entities' Brunvand I Critique of evolution study, Larhammar. ationism The social agenda of a pseudoscience / Observing stars in the daytime; The chimney myth / in the linguistic minefield / Crystals / Consumer cul­ JANUARY/FEBRUARY 1995 (vol. 19, no. 1) Wonder Does an ancient Jewish amulet commemorate the con­ ture and the New Age / The Shirley MacLaine phe­ and skepticism, Sagan I Putting away childish things, junction of 2 B.C? nomenon / Special report: California court jails psy­ Dawkins /The astonishing hypothesis. Crick. I Nuclear chic surgeon. medicine. Seaborg I Literary science blunders, SUMMER 1992 (vol. 16, no. 4): Freedom of scientific Gardner I Air Force report on the Roswell incident / inquiry under siege / Psychic experiences: Psychic illu­ For a complete listing of our back issues, 1994 CSICOP Conference. sions / The scientist's skepticism / The persistent popu­ call 800-634-1610. CD-ROM from page 22 various types of ghosts. However, Grolier says the issue is "inconclusive." Encarta flatly states: "There is no scientifically says the existence of the monster "has creatures existence"; but the encyclope­ accepted evidence of die existence of never been proven" and mentions no dia nonetheless mentions die discovery ghosts." hoaxes. of "hundreds of alleged" footprints, Graphology: The pseudoscientific Parapsychology, ESP, etc.: Grolier visual signs, and photographs, and it idea that personality can be assessed by a gives a good discussion of pros and cons, quotes a Soviet scientist as saying the person's handwriting gets its biggest including information about allegations creature could be a Neanderthal man. boost from Encarta, which explains how of fraud and shoddy experimental Compton's gives a nine-word definition. "responsible graphologists" do their design. There's no information about Creationism: All four CD-ROM work and says that, although it "has still tests of individual psychics. Britannica's encyclopedias have extensive sections on not been fully accepted as a branch of discussion of the issue is downright evolution, but the creationism debate has psychology," results from handwriting snooty. It mentions inconclusive results, special characteristics. Grolier raises sci­ analysis "sometimes correspond impres­ and it reasons, in effect, that because sci­ entific issues, but then it gives no indica­ sively with experimental evidence." entists are fighting about it so passion­ tion of why the Earth-created-in-six-days Britannica's entry is much shorter, but ately, it remains unproven and the issue hypothesis is flawed or how evolution is just as bad. may still be an open one. Encarta's sec­ misstated by die creationists. Britannica Homeopathy: Britannica's only criti­ tion on psychical research is infuriating. and Encarta bill the controversy as a reli­ cism of this highly questionable medical Although it notes how difficult it has gious-political debate, with Encarta com­ system is that it focuses on the symp­ been to replicate positive findings, it paring the Genesis accounts with "other toms—but so does a lot of medicine. talks about "reputable psychics" and Middle Eastern myths." Compton's sim­ Grolier says it's "disdained" by most "persons with apparently outstanding ply states competing ideas. physicians. Encarta says it's "discounted" ESP abilities." Compton's article is short Ghosts: With the exception of by most physicians. This suggests that and uninformative, saying that "most Grolier, all the encyclopedias talk about doctors don't want to believe it, not that scientists vigorously dispute the existence belief in ghosts with nary a hint of skep­ there's evidence for disbelief. Britannica's of ESP" without explaining why. ticism. Britannica gives a pseudoscien¬ and Compton's installments are strik­ UFOs: This is virtually the only pseudoscience topic where the encyclopedias tific description of hauntings, including ingly similar, as are Encarta's and offer good, sound scientific coverage. "apparitions, the displacement of Grolier's. Ironically, the only product to fall down objects, or the appearance of strange Loch Ness Monster Grolier men­ on the job is Grolier. Its article by David lights"; only when you go to the section tions that many purported photographs M. Jacobs gives litde indication that the on poltergeists is there a suggestion that of die creature "have turned out to be weight of the scientific evidence is "in many instances, the activities attrib­ inconclusive or outright hoaxes." against an extraterrestrial origin for UFO uted to poltergeists have been explained Britannica says nothing about past accounts. as natural phenomena." Encarta defines hoaxes, cites some positive findings, and

Smith, G. J. W, D. R Spence, and G. S. Klein. 1959. Subliminal effects of ver­ Judas Priest from page 38 bal stimuli. Journal of Abnormal Social Psychology 59: 167-176. New York Times. 1986. Woman wins $1 million in psychic power suit. March 29: Synodinos, N. E. 1988. Subliminal stimulation: What does the public think 6. about it? Current Issues and Research in Advertising 11:157-158. Pratkanis, A. R. 1992. The cargo-cult science of subliminal persuasion. Vance/Roberson v. CBS Inc./Judas Priest. 1989a. No. 86-5844 and 86-3939 (Washoe County, 2nd Judicial District Court of Nevada, motion for sum­ SKEPTICAL INQUIRER 16: 260-272. mary judgment, testimony of Howard Shevrin, June 2, 1989). Pratkanis, A. R., and A. G. Greenwald. 1988. Recent perspectives on uncon­ scious processing: Still no marketing applications. Psychology and Marketing . 1989b. No. 86-5844 and 86-3939 (Washoe County, 2nd Judicial 5: 337-353. District Court of Nevada, filed Aug. 23.1989, order denying summary judg­ Pratkanis. A. R., J. Eskenazi. and A. G. Greenwald. 1994. What you expect is ment). what you believe (but not necessarily what you get): A test of die effective­ 1990. No. 86-5844 and 86-3939 (Washoe County. 2nd Judicial ness of subliminal self-help audiotapes. Basic and Applied Social Psychology District Court of Nevada, August 24, 1990). 15: 251-276. Vokey, J. R., and J. D. Read. 1985. Subliminal messages: Between me devil and R v. Mohan. 1994. 89 C.C.C(3d) 402 (S.GG). the media. American Psychologist 40: 1231-1239. Richardson, J. T., G. P Ginsburg, S. Gatowski, and S. Dobbin. 1995. The prob­ Waller u Osbourne. 1991. 763 F. Supp. 1144. 1149 (M.D. Ga. 1991). lems of applying Daubert to psychological syndrome evidence. Judicature 79: Zanot, E. J., D. Pincus, and E. J. Lamp. 1983. Public perceptions of subliminal 10-16. advertising. Journal of Advertising 12: 37-45. Rogers, S. 1993. How a publicity blitz created the myth of subliminal advertis­ Zuckerman, M. 1960. The effects of subliminal and supraliminal suggestions on ing. Public Relations Quarterly (Winter 1992-1993). verbal productivity. Journal of Abnormal and Social Personality 60: 404-11. Russell, T G., W Rowe, and A. Smouse. 1991. Subliminal self-help tapes and Note academic achievement: An evaluation. Journal of Counseling and Develop­ ment 69: 359-362. 1. This paper is based, in part, on presentations at the annual conference Shevrin, H. 1988. Unconscious conflict: A convergent psychodynamic and elec­ of the Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal, trophysiological approach. In Psychodynamics and Cognition, edited by M. J. held in Seattle, Wash., June 25, 1994. (Symposium title: Influencing Beliefs in Horowitz. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. the Courtroom: Rules of Law, Expert Testimony, and Science), and at the Silverman, L 1982. The search for oneness. New York: International Universities Ontario Criminal Lawyers Association annual conference, Toronto. October Press. 27,1995 (Session tide: Deceptive Research: Good Science/Bad Science). •

60 November/December 1996 SKEPTICAL INQUIRER LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Maria's Near-Death Experience self-reports to be a ridiculous measure of health modalities and with therapeutic outcome in the treatment of pain ("... the touch in particular. Selby and Scheiber In "Maria's Near-Death Experience" results are measured by asking the patients know well that Colorado's board of nurs­ (July/August 1996) Hayden Ebbern, Sean if they feel better!" p. [16]). Unfortunately, ing, until quite recently, accepted continu­ Mulligan, and Barry L. Beyerstein claim to because pain is a private experience, there ing education courses in therapeutic touch have shown "that Maria's supposedly is essentially no gold standard measure of as partial fulfillment of its requirements for unobtainable knowledge could have been the pain experience. We can only ask professional nursing recertification. obtained by quite ordinary means . . ." patients to tell us of their pain experience This latest therapeutic touch study, They also point out that their "investiga­ verbally or through analog scales, or by though ludicrous, cannot simply be tion cannot prove that Marias spirit did observing the frequency of pain behaviors laughed off. It is a symptom of an underly­ not leave her body and return." (e.g., grimacing, requesting medications). ing morbidity eating at the vitals of a They are too modest. For suppose that These measures might actually be corre­ would-be professional body. Instead of Maria had as a result of her Near-Death lated with the subjective pain experience, concentrating on equipping its graduates Experience (NDE) obtained information but they can also be correlated with odier to cope with the myriad of increasingly that she could not have obtained by any nonpain variables, such as disability com­ complex technical responsibilities arising normal means. And suppose too that many pensation status (often the case with from rapid advances in medical treatment other people had as a result of either NDEs chronic back pain). Selby and Scheiber and technology, four-year nursing depart­ or Out-of-Body Experiences (OBEs) done might prefer the use of a biomarker for ments in major universities vigorously pro­ the same. Would that have provided us pain, but unfortunately there are none. We mote "alternative ways of knowing" and with a good reason for believing that mem­ are therefore left primarily with self-report evince bristling animosity toward science bers of a putative kind of immaterial enti­ measures, some of which have been sub­ and toward logic and reason. At least a few ties call souls had detached themselves from jected to vigorous validation studies in professors in graduate schools of nursing the bodies of these subjects and, while so to their development. They are not perfect, are not averse to discussing, in their class­ speak on detachment, had acquired the rel­ and one can only hope the "measurement room lectures, New Age ideas (out-of-body evant items of information for the subjects? error" is not so great as to mask the effects experiences, for example) as if to promote of an experimental treatment. and encourage belief in them. Surely not. Certainly such discoveries would be very significant and—to some of Second, the authors criticized the use of Nursing has squandered an opportu­ us—very surprising. For if they were to the mimic to control for placebo effects of nity to gain stature and acceptance as a occur, they would have to be interpreted as TT. This appears to be a valid control con­ profession by not attending to its clients. It discoveries that Extrasensory Perception dition. The study's authors likely hypothe­ has abandoned its traditional responsibility (ESP) occurs in the course of NDEs and size that TT will produce greater analgesia as patient advocate and allowed itself to be OBEs. But, by the principle of Ockham's than this "attention control" condition. If diverted by specious pseudo-theories, razor, entities are not to be multiplied both TT and die mimic treatment produce namely those of Martha Rodgers and Jean unnecessarily. So why, when ESP could equal changes in pain, then either (1) TT Watson, and by ill-considered attempts to more economically be attributed to the is not better than their fabricated imitation establish independent, autonomous areas flesh and blood subjects themselves, postu­ treatment, or (2) they have just invented of practice free of medical control. Rather late souls which, being supposedly incor­ another equally efficacious treatment in than embracing questionable or spurious poreal and thus lacking organs sensory or their control condition! We look forward alternative therapies that exploit the fears otherwise, could themselves obtain infor­ to seeing the results of this study in a peer- and desperation of the weak and infirm, mation, if at all, only by ESP? reviewed research journal, and replication nursing ought to have directed its energies by others. toward exposing their baseless and fraudu­ lent claims. That did not, and I fear will Antony Flew not, happen.... Reeding, Berks., U.K. Dennis R. Wahlgren, M.A. JoAnne E. Epping-Jordan, Ph.D. Sheri D. Pruitt, Ph.D. Sanford M. Russell, RN Therapeutic Touch Federal Study Back Pain Research Program Tlaxcala, Mexico Department of Veterans Affairs We were pleased to see Carla Selby and Ma Medical Center Scheiber's critical review of the federally San Diego, Calif. The special report on the Pentagon grant funded study of Therapeutic Touch (II) to test Therapeutic Touch raises an impor­ for pain reduction (July/August 1996). The tant question about scientific method and authors rightly pointed out several vagaries Carla Selby and Bela Scheiber don't say, its practice in a democratic society. in the text of the proposal that would likely and perhaps I'm wrong in assuming, that Authors Shelby and Scheiber say that pub­ have been fatal had the study been reviewed the researchers involved in yet another lic money would be wasted on Therapeutic at NIH. However, we are concerned with attempt to validate the efficacy of thera­ Touch because it is "highly speculative," two points made by Selby and Scheiber. peutic touch are nurses. From personal but I wonder whether it might not be in First, they made it clear through experience, however, I can attest to nurs­ the public interest and in the interests of printed emphasis that they felt patients' ing's apparent infatuation with alternative scientists and skeptics to test it anyway.

SKEPTICAL INQUIRER November/December 1996 61 LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

First, in order for science to discover come to my attention you have expressed on Arguments that the world can easily sup­ anything new, it must generate speculative numerous occasions concerns about the port the population of 11 billion predicted hypotheses, and I do not see what is wrong, Therapeutic Touch research grant which is by the World Bank (World Development in principle, with funding some long shots. funded in the UAB School of Nursing. This Report 1984, Oxford University Press, 1984) That a hypothesis is highly speculative is particular grant is for research on my burn for a century from now are based on the not sufficient reason for rejecting it. patients. It, thus far, has shown amazingly assumption not only of increasing resources Second, implausible as Therapeutic Touch good (emphasis in the original) results." but a better distribution of both resources is, it has such a large following among The proposal timeline for the study: and population. The reality is (hat almost all American taxpayers mat testing it might be October, November 1994: begin population growth is taking place in the Third World, and most of that in the poor­ in the public interest. If the public is paying recruitment of subjects . . . enter est countries, many of which are rapidly for it, why not investigate something they data as it becomes available. shifting their resources to the First World. want to know? Further, a test of November 1994 to September 1995: Therapeutic Touch could serve the public data collection. In 1992, more than 1,600 scientists, by discrediting the treatment, something After September 1995: data analysis including 102 Nobel laureates, signed a abstract arguments and authoritative state­ and dissemination. "Warning to Humanity" that stated in ments have failed to accomplish. The study only claims to be a single-blind part: "No more than one or a few decades Finally, CSICOP would not be living one. Nevertheless, with nine months of data remain before the chance to avert the up to its name if it objected to scientific collection still to be done, "amazingly good" threats we now confront will be lost and investigation of claims of the paranormal. I strikes us as premature and overly enthusias­ the prospect for humanity will be immea­ hope the SKEPTICAL INQUIRER will keep its tic at best. surably diminished . . . ." All these scien­ readers informed of how Therapeutic The final report has been delivered to the tists may be wrong, but I would rather my students analyzed their ideas with some Touch fares in the test. Pentagon by UAB researchers. We have sub­ mitted an FOIA request for the report. respect and with open minds rather than be told by me that their evidence should be Sander Gliboff refuted out of hand. Baltimore, Md.

Bela Scheiber and Carla Selby respond: Iconoclastic Teaching of Ted Lewellen Critical Thinking about Science Professor of Anthropology We certainly agree with Sander Gliboff that University of Richmond hypotheses about highly speculative topics nev­ As a college teacher, I was thoroughly Richmond, Va. ertheless warrant testing. We have, in the past, unimpressed with Paul Nickel and Nancy and continue to encourage such activity. Shelton's manner of teaching the scien­ The writer is author of Dependency and However, in the case ofTT, whose basic tenets tific method ("Wait! I've Changed My Development: An Introduction to the have never been demonstrated experimentally Mind ..." [July/August 1996]). Third World (Bergin and Garvey 1995). it is incumbent upon those conducting the Considering their emphasis on getting experiment to ensure that the outcome has not the facts right, I was puzzled by the state­ been influenced by predetermined expecta­ ment that "the Club of Rome predicted a Determining what would be needed to tions or prejudiced by personal beliefs. Our 1980s end of the world .... When its disprove one's favorite model is a worth­ critique of the UAB burn study failed to make doom model failed, the club recovered while exercise in critical thinking. Being clear the point that this particular study can­ nicely and explained . . . [that] its work required to disprove one's model, regard­ not yield anything but a favorable outcome. had miraculously alerted the world and less of its validity, (Nickel and Shelton, converted everyone to needed wise Section 4-g (Data Management and "Wait! I've Changed My Mind . . .") is resource use thus avoiding The End." In Analysis) of the proposal states that for each indoctrination. reality, the Club of Rome's The Limits to variable that is measured repeatedly new It is critical that you be aware of your Growth (by Donella H. Meadows et al., variables will be constructed to explore own biases if you teach critical thinking. Universe Books, 1972) predicted general changes over time. Complete blood count, The authors' biases are evident in their collapse as occurring about 2040. Far from urinalysis, and wound histological data will shallow and sensationalist presentation of backing off", a follow-up study {Beyond the be gathered daily These results will be exam­ doomsday strawmen. Limits, Meadows ct al., Chelsea Green, ined, and any marked differences between For example, the statement "big claims 1992) reiterated the earlier conclusions treatment groups will be analyzed by exten­ require big proof" appears similar to the and noted that many of the predictions in sion of the previous analysis. Given enough concern of skeptics that extraordinary the earlier book were coming true. data end points (prospective and nonprospec¬ claims of psychics require overwhelming tive), it becomes a practical certainty that "Indeed, if crop disease control in Africa evidence. The difference is that the claims statistical significance will be found. is ever accomplished," Nickel and Shelton of psychics are extraordinary in that they violate the known laws of science. Many of We received a copy of a letter, dated 2 claim, "reportedly useable farmland equal to the "big claims" that bother Nickel and December 1994, from a concerned UAB fac­ the area of the United States will be added Shelton are extrapolations or engineering ulty member. This letter was written to him there." This is the typical "if only" scenario models based on standard laws of science. by the Director of the Burn Center. "It has of right-wing critics of environmentalism.

62 November/December 1996 SKEPTICAL INQUIRER LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

It is the consequences, not the science, that potential positive impact upon maturing This is apparently the justification for the axe extraordinary. Timeliness is important thinkers by pejoratively equating Rachel authors' claim that the world's resource when consequences are extraordinary, Carson and Paul Ehrlich with the Indiana supply will "probably be maintained" at a while the burden of proof belongs on those Millerites and Branch Davidians. steady level no matter how much we who deny them. Carson and Ehrlich were constructive consume. Yet this is a physical impossibil­ Nickel and Shelton take the context in gadflies who sought the very goal that ity. The fact that past production has which the atomic apocalypse clock or the Nickel purports to strive for—a more risen does not mean that there will always Club of Rome model were presented too broadly informed and insightful popula­ be new areas to explore and that there is an lightly. The warning "Stop! You're about to tion, better prepared to question decisions infinite supply of minerals in a finite vol­ walk off a diffi" is not a failed prediction made by authority figures. We are indebted ume and mass of earth. because the subject of your warning stops to Carson and Ehrlich for the paradigm False analogy: The article tics together and does not fall off the cliff. shift in perspective that they helped initiate millenarians (those who predict the end in the 1960s. Their example led us to apply of the world in the year 2000, or any Robert Clear and Barbara Judd skeptical analysis (Nickel's FRSNs) to the year that is a multiple of 1000, based on Rhamphorynchus Society conclusions of many putative experts, cor­ numerology or religious reasons) and Berkeley, Calif. porate leaders, etc who in the past would environmental scientists, implying that have been left to their own devices by a the basis for environmentalism is no trusting, ignorant, or indifferent citizenry. better than the basis for the numerol­ Carson and Ehrlich were showing us how I was concerned to see Paul Nickel and ogy. .. . to question the conventional wisdom of Nancy Shelton apparently confuse falsifi¬ Furthermore, it is a distortion to say post-World War II industrial consumerism. able with false. They report that, in order to that environmentalists are predicting the demonstrate Popper's falsification test, they Paul Nickel, the resource consultant, "end" of the world. Environmentalists pre­ require their students to "prove their own and his clients may be discomforted by dict that if human population continues to favorite environmental model to be wrong the need to engage in multifaceted ecolog­ grow exponentially and consumption pat­ in a documented, 'authoritative,' article." ical impact analysis these days compared to terns do not change, then at some point in As described, such an exercise sends alto­ the good old days of no-holds-barred the future many people will die and/or suf­ gether the wrong message: that any warning exploitation of natural resources. But Mr. fer from a much lower quality of life. Few or other statement issuing from the scien­ Nickel should be pleased, as an advocate of environmentalists waste time trying to cal­ tific community may be demonstrated to critical thinking, that Rachel Carson and culate whether the "crash" will be so be false (and presumably, therefore, always Paul Ehrlich have helped usher in the age extreme as to eliminate human life on this ignored.) For a theory to be falsifiable, on of comprehensive environmental impact planet; the consequences of the expected the contrary, there need only be conceivable assessment. crash are expected to be plenty serious even evidence that would contradict it—the idea if many humans survive. . . . If Paul Nickel desires to disembowel being to ensure that the theory makes some environmental doomsayers, he should seek Finally, the article says that we must rely statement about observable reality. out better examples of agenda-driven on the scientific method to determine the I hope, therefore, that the authors pro­ thinking such as that represented by Earth size of a problem and what to do about it. vided a somewhat different explanation for First. It is thanks to the pioneering evalua­ This sounds good (and generally is good), the significance of the exercise than what tive efforts of Rachel Carson and Paul but it is neither possible nor desirable to run they described. No doubt the environmen­ Ehrlich that in the 1990s we no longer controlled experiments on the entire planet. tal sciences do furnish numerous examples believe without question that "What's It's appropriate to apply the scientific of poorly confirmed theories, and it cer­ good for General Motors is good for the method to a small quantity of nonliving tainly is a good exercise to be forced to country." substance in a test rube; it's reckless to insist subject one's beliefs to more rigorous criti­ that we use the same method of analysis and cism than is customary. Let's not throw the Lincoln C. Miller the same standard of proof when the health and survival of billions of people arc at philosophical baby out with the bathwater, Hillsdale, Mich. however. stake. Do the authors really think that we should wait until after "doomsday" before taking any action to prevent it? Paul N. Hilfinger "Wait! I've Changed My Mind . . ." pur­ Computer Sciences Division ports to describe how to teach students to University of California at think critically. But if the authors are Mark Gilkey Berkeley experts on critical thinking, why is their Mountain View, Calif. Berkeley. Calif. own article filled with the same types of logical fallacies they claim to teach others to avoid? What follows are just a few: I'm puzzled. The last letter in CSICOP is Kudos to Paul Nickel for the structural Errors in generalizing: Historically, "P" for "Paranormal." It isn't "E" for essence of his critical thinking skills and increased consumption of resources has "Environmentalism." So why did you been accompanied by increased explo­ writing course at Michigan State print that smug attack on environmental­ ration (and hence supply of) resources. University. However, he attenuates his ism by Paul Nickel and Nancy Shelton?

SKEPTICAL INQUIRER November/December 1996 S3 LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

The connection seems to be as follows: 3. Making students question and test them that, but my model attempts to open (1) Some paranormalists, such as the mil¬ experts and teachers, and having them define minds and to de-program or dis-indoctri¬ lenarians, have predicted world-wide disas­ and disprove unquestioned "models" system­ nate. I've been proved wrong before and I ters. (2) Some environmentalists have pre­ atically makes them learn and apply science- freely admit it. Is that how useful teachers dicted world-wide disasters. (3) Therefore process tests and questions, and forces them to become free to teach students to question? By dicy can all be treated with equal scorn. As look for contradictions and alternative expla­ admitting ignorance? Perhaps SKEPTICAL Nickel and Shelton put it: "Strange bedfel­ nations. This becomes habitual, ideally pro­ INQUIRER questioners could attack their own lows indeed, the millenarians and die envi­ ducing a cultivated mind models with FRSNs as a mind-cleansing ronmentalists." 4. I would argue that The Social Costs task? We can thank Nickel and Shelton for of Private Enterprise signaled the demise of 9. Do conventionally received wisdom thus illustrating me sixth and twelfth logi­ the old model. Did not Carson demonstrate and currently accepted models deserve cal fallacies they listed in their article: false in Silent Spring that unquestioned models "respect"? My goal is to teach students analogy and ad hominem. need testing? Should her generally accepted thoughtful and reflective questioning and Their ad hominem is obvious. In the model be tested now? Was DDT's ban an testing, and to warn them of the dangers our same vein, they go on to lump "Cornell important scientific decision, or was egos, stereotypes, and prejudices pose; includ­ ecologists" in die same category as "Branch Ruckleshouse's courageous and exemplary ing the possibility that accepted authority Davidians." political decision demonstrating that elected and we ourselves could be wrong. I'd argue Their false analogy is a little subtler: government makes important and necessary for courteous and respectful questioning but after all, what's wrong with comparing the decisions more important? Are all returns in not for respect of models. . . . Nobel Prize­ Ehrlichs' warning of catastrophe from on pesticides, chemicals, and pollution, or has winners are admirable and probably right overpopulation with the millenarians' the standard become: "We must burn the most of the time, but are they always speak­ warning of catastrophe from God? For one witches before they destroy the crops and ing within competence, or are they sometimes thing, the millenarians rely on supernat­ hogs"? Are one or two scientifically deviant pronouncing and prescribing outside it? ural revelation as the basis for their predic­ toxicologists and epidemiologists right to Youth should be taught to suspect. Science's tions, while die environmentalists rely on grumble, "In 50 years probably we'll see "bright, blunt, bastards," should question, science. I would have thought that differ­ today as chemophobia"? test, and destroy present knowledge, always ence mattered to SKEPTICAL INQUIRER. . .. hoping to produce the one-experiment-too- 5. Readers' letters were 100 percent critical many that unexpectedly disproves a lifework of my teaching model. Have writers unques¬ by adding the last card that collapses the Barbee B. Lyon tioningly accepted and uncritically halted tests entire structure. Portland, Ore. of the new paradigm? Is this "the end of science process" as we know and love it? Do the letters 10. I will show penitence to SKEPTICAL prove the overwhelming power of current, INQUIRER! letter writers this fall by attach­ Paul Nickel responds: unquestioned models? Thank you for being ing as is my practice, all critical letters to an much gentler than my students as they disprove article to show students how testing really I thank SKEPTICAL INQUIRER readers who my straw people and red herrings. works and how much it smarts if you do it thoroughly questioned my unusual teaching 6. Several readers alerted me to fallacies I right. If you want to test received wisdom model. I am instructed by their contentious probably committed and possible misstate­ that is universally believed, you have to stand models and excellent points that tested my ments of fact. Useful tests of course abound— the gaff. I'll assign students to test, assay and model, and, my oh my how they stung! those of the Institute for Propaganda pronounce if Club of Rome's claims are right My points, adapting SKEPTICAL Analysis, others in Professor Seylor's book, or wrong. . . so far. iNQUIRERi critical thinking tests to use in and in Historical Fallacies. / acquired I learned a lot writing the article and environmental and natural resource studies, Confirmatory Bias at CSICOP's anniver­ from readers' letters: the awesome power of are: sary conference and I plan to commit to it unquestioned models and righteous belief is 1. We see the world in highly simplified wholesale this fall and, as usual, reward overwhelming; we don't even suspect how fashion through "models. "New models (envi­ handsomely students who catch me. much we do not know, myself included; we ronmental) are largely unquestioned, and 7. The difference between "disproving teach students what to think instead of how previous models ("What's good for GM..."), one's model" as a general teaching approach to properly question; we need to teach stu­ long discredited are as good as beating a and specifically proving something false, as dents how to use FRSNs and think in dispas­ dead horse for teaching students the stinging distinguished from falsification, is an impor­ sionate and unprejudiced ways by making questions and tests of science process. tant distinction and tough to teach. My use of science process in the admittedly nar­ row, limited and specific models we can 2. FRSNs are useful, specific questions blowzy generality normally distinguishes null appropriately test. and tests students can use to demonstrate and alternative hypotheses. . . . skepticism and disclaim glib, glittering cyni­ 8. Two writers suggest students are indoc­ cism. "Your skeptical assignments made me trinated by prodding and reluctantly choos­ want to read a lot more than just one arti­ ing to prove their theory wrong instead Chinese Medicine cle, " said one student. Students learn more of right. I'd argue that students come from disproving a beloved model than from into class already indoctrinated Students I was pleased to see die article "Traditional trudge, trudge, trudge teaching methods. already know what to think because we teach Medicine and Pseudoscience in China"

64 November/December 1996 SKEPTICAL INQUIRER LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

(Pare 1, July/August 1996). A scientific laboratory is more than just Bear's Starbow There is one small, self-promotional a place to think. There are devices—tele­ correction 1 would like to make though. scopes, microscopes, clocks, rulers, an Well, Greg Bear has confused matters some The article credits me with having astrolabe, etc.—in a laboratory. A black­ more with his letter on the Starbow authored one piece on Traditional Chinese board and chalk, a pencil and paper are not (Letters, July/August 1996). At the end of Medicine, when in fact the article scientific instruments; they can and are his letter he states: used to produce garbage as well as wisdom. included quotes from both of my articles "Given sufficient velocity, X-ray sources The scientific metaphysicist, while he has on the subject. The uncredited article was will become visible ahead, and infrared and no laboratory of his own, utilizes the out­ "Trying to Understand Traditional radio sources behind." Medicine" in SKEPTICAL INQUIRER, vol. put of many scientific laboratories to pro­ Of course, as one approaches "science 18, no. 2, Winter 1994, pp. 207-208. duce theories by which the results of the fiction velocities" (close to light speed) red The quote on page 20 of the article comes experimental scientist may be extrapolated shift will bring X-ray sources into visibility from that. to other values of significant parameters. behind the traveler, and blue shift will make When that scientific metaphysicist, a theo­ Thanks. Perhaps those interested in the visible infrared and radio sources ahead. rist, speculates about parameters not under subject can consult it as well for further control in the laboratory, he or she enters Never give amateurs too long a rope. reading. Someday, I hope to write a book the realm of philosophical metaphysics. on such things, but am still seeking an Greg Bear interested publisher. McGath claims that science would col­ Lynnwood, Wash. lapse in the absence of a theory of reality. If Peter Huston I correctly comprehend what is meant by a Schenectady, N.Y. "theory of reality," there have been, and arc More on 'Sightings' as Journalism today, many and varied theories. As there has been no' lack of these theories through Bryan Farha's Forum article "Ten 'Sightings Science and Metaphysics the ages, and most likely never will be, it is of Poor Journalism" (May/June 1996) not possible to know if in their absence, elicited a response from Greg Freeman ("It's Gary McGath (Letters, July/August 1996) science would collapse. Not Journalism, "Letters, September/October sees the statement "The metaphysicist has Finally, it seems that McGath has not 1996). Farha responds here to Freeman's let­ no laboratory" as implying a conflict read Sagan's earlier SKEPTICAL INQUIRER ter: between science and metaphysics. I see no article (January/February 1995) in which such conflict, but I'll let Carl Sagan address he discusses the problem of too great an Regardless whether Sightings is classified as that problem. McGath states that this openness to all metaphysical theories. news or entertainment, the producers still opposition of metaphysics to science is bear a responsibility for accurate communi­ fueled by some of the "bizarre metaphysi­ Donald F. Weitzel cation of information unless they inform cal theories philosophers have proposed." Winnetka, Calif. viewers of the nature of the program. Even after reading and trying to digest all Sightings does not. Often television programs of McGath's letter, I can't decide whether will communicate the program's nature with he means to lump together quantum cos­ In your July/August issue (Letters) Gary either a disclaimer statement, or we may see mology, certainly a bizarre metaphysical McGath attempted a defense of the meta­ "Paid Advertisement" in small print at the theory even to its proponents, though physicist (in response to Carl Sagan's arti­ bottom of the screen. Viewers will not see acceptably bizarre to many people, with cle) and asked in his letter, "Do we have Sightings identify its nature before the pro­ say Madam Blavatsky's Theosophical reason to regard the scientific method as gram, during the program, or while showing metaphysics. Einstein's general theory of valid?" The obvious reason for regarding the credits at the end. The show I wrote relativity, the progenitor of the big the scientific method as valid is: It works! about aired during prime-time hours. How bang cosmology, certainly has bizarre Can the same be said of the "method" of does a sometimes unsuspecting viewer know (counter-intuitive) implications. No, the metaphysicist? to distinguish this show from one of the "news bizarreness is not a criterion of rejection by magazines" such as Day One (ABC) or McGath also asked, "Is there any cause scientists. Dateline (NBC)? In the absence of proper beyond convention to believe that there is communication or disclaimer, I believe As for the universe being tiie laboratory a 'real world'?" The answer is "yes" for real­ Sightings is bound to sound journalistic of the metaphysicist, McGath wants to ists such as scientists, who work with the standards. Their absence is what makes the redefine the meaning of "laboratory." If we real world, but might be "no" for meta¬ program distasteful, not the subject matter grant such a redefinition then the ancient physicists, who, unlike scientists, spend itself. Greeks had the same laboratory. Does that most of their time conjuring up and then mean we must accept Aristotle's theory of massaging the unreal. They have urgent four elements as equally valid as Newton's need for the unreal because reality provides The linen column is a forum for views on the mat- theory of motion, or Franklins, Gilbert's, them with no justification for doing what im raised in previous issues. Letters should be no more or Maxwell's theories of electricity and they do. than 250 words. Due to the volume of letters, not ill magnetism, or the heliocentric theory of can be published. They should be typed double-spaced Jim Bullion Copernicus? Address: Letters to the Editor, Skeptical Inquirer. Marysville, Wash. 944 Deer Dr. NE Albuquerque. NM 87122.

SKEPTICAL INQUIRER November/December 1996 65 International Network of Skeptical Organizations

ARGENTINA. CAIRP, Director, Ladislao Enrique 611976, E-mail: charismaOnetvision.net.il). FLORIDA. Tampa Bay Skeptics. Gary Posner. 1113 Marquez. Casilla de Correo 26, sue 25, 1425, Buenos ITALY. aCAP (Comitato Kaliano per II Controllo Normandy Trace Rd., Tampa. FL 33602 (813-221-3533), Aires. delle Affermazioni sul Paranormale), P.O. Box E-mail: garyposOaol.com. AUSTRALIA. National: Australian Skeptics, P.O. Box 1117, 35100 Padova. Scienia & Paranormale. Massimo GEORGIA. Georgia Skeptics. Becky Long, President A2324, Sydney South. NSW 2000, (E-mail: Polidoro, Editor, P.O. Box 60,27058 Voghera (PV). {Tel. 2277 Winding Woods Dr.. Tucker, GA 30084. skepticsOspotttsw.au.oz). Regional: Australian Fax: 39-426-22013.) ILLINOIS. Midwest Committee for Rational Inquiry, Capital Territory, P.O. Box 555, Civic Square, 2608. JAPAN. Japan Skeptics, Jun Jugaku, Chairperson. Danielle Kafka. President P.O. Box 2792, Des Plaines, IL Newcastle Skeptics, Chairperson. Colin Keay, Physics Business Center for Academic Societies Japan, 16-9 60017-2792. Rational Examination Assoc of Dept, Newcastle University. NSW 2308. Queensland. Honkomagome 5-chome. Bunkyo-Ku. Tokyo 113. Lincoln Land (REALL), David Bloomberg. Chairman. P.O. Box 2180. Brisbane, 4001. South Australia. P.O. MEXICO. Mexican Association for Skeptical P.O. Box 20302. Springfield IL 62708 (217-522-7554). Box 91, Magill, 5072. Victoria. P.O. Box 1555P. Research (SOMIE), Mario Mendez Acosta'. Chairman, INDIANA. Indiana Skeptics, Robert Craig. Chairperson, Melbourne. 3001. Western Australia. P.O. Box 899, Apartado Postal 19-546. Mexico 03900. D.F. 5401 Hedgerow Drive. Indianapolis, IN 46226. MorIcy WA 6062. NETHERLANDS. Stichting Skepsis, Rob Nanninga, KENTUCKY. Kentucky Assn. of Science Educators BELGIUM. Committee Para. J. Dommanget Chairman, Secretary, Westerkade 20, 9718 AS Groningen. and Skeptics (KASES), Chairman, Prof. Robert A. Baker, Observatoire Royal de Belgique, Avenue Circuaire 3. 3495 Castleton Way North. Lexington, KY 40502. B-1180 Brussels. SKEPP, W. Bet*. Secretary, NEW ZEALAND. New Zealand Skeptics, Bernard LOUISIANA. Baton Rouge Proponents of Rational Laarbeeklaan 103. 81090 Brussels (Fax: 32-2- 4774301). Howard. Secretary, 150 Dyer's Pass Rd., Christchurch 2. N.Z. Vickie Hyde, Chairperson. South Pacific Infor­ Inquiry and Scientific Methods (BR-PRISM), Dick BRAZIL Opcao Rational, Luis Gutman, Rua Santa mation Services, Box 19-760, Christchurch 5, N.Z. Fax: Schroth, Director, 425 Carriage Way, Baton Rouge, LA Clara, 431, Bloco 5, Apt. 803, Copacabana - Rio de +64 (03) 38S-S138. E-mail: nzsmOspis.co.nz. Web: 70808-4828 (504-766-4747). Janeiro 22041-010 (55-021-237-2088). http://www.spis.co.nzAkeplio.ritm. MASSACHUSETTS. Skeptical Inquirers of New CANADA. Alberta Skeptics. Heidi Lloyd-Price. NORWAY. Skepsis. St Olavsgt 27, N-0166, Oslo. England. Contact: Laurence Moss, Ho & Moss, 68 Secretary. P.O. Box 5571. Station A, Calgary, Alberta Harrison Ave., 5th. Floor, Boston 02111. T2H 1X9. British Columbia Skeptics, Contact: Lee RUSSIA. Contact: Dr. Valery A. Kuvakin, Zdravyi Smysl MICHIGAN. Great Lakes Skeptics. Contact: Carol Lynn, Moller, 1188 Beaufort Road. Vancouver V7G 1R7. (Common Sense), 117421 Russia, Moscow, Novatorov 1264 Bedford Rd., Grosse Pointe Park, Ml 48230-1116. Manitoba Skeptics. John Toews. President Box 92. 18-2-2. St. Vital. Winnipeg, Man. R2M 4A5. Ontario Skeptics. SLOVAK REPUBLIC. Society for Advocacy of Critical MINNESOTA. Minnesota Skeptics. Robert W. McCoy, Henry Gordon, Chairman, 343 Clark Ave West, Suite Thinking (SACT). Igor Kapisinsky, Secretary, 549 Turnpike Rd.. Golden Valley. MN 55416. St Kloud 1009, Thornhill Ontario L4J 7KS (E-mail: hgordonO Dostojevskeho rad 13. 811 09 Bratislava. Slovak Republic. ESP Teaching Investigation Committee (SKEPTIC), Jerry Mertens, Coordinator, Psychology Dept, St idirect.com). Sceptkjues du Quebec: Donald Gilbert. SOUTH AFRICA. Assn. for the Rational Investigation Cloud State Univ., St. Cloud. MN 56301. CP. 202. Succ Beaubien. Montreal H2G 3C9 (E-mail: of the Paranormal (ARIP), Marian Laserson, sceptiqOibm.net. Web: libertel.montreal.qc.ca/info/ Secretary, 4 Wales St, Sandringham 2192. SOCRATES, MISSOURI. Kansas City Committee for Skeptical sceptiques). Contact L.W Retief. P.O. Box 10240, Welgedact, Inquiry, Verie Muhrer, Chairman, 2658 East 7th. Kansas CHINA. China Association for Science and Bellvilie 7530, South Africa, E-mail: leonrOiafrica.com. City, MO 64124. Gateway Skeptics, Chairperson, Steve Best 6943 Amherst Ave.. University City, MO 63130. Technology. Contact: Shen Zhenyu, Research Center. SPAIN. Alternativa Radonal a las Pseudosciencias CAST, PO Box 8113. Beijing. China. Chinese Skeptics (ARP). Carlos Telleria, Executive Director. Apdto. 1516. NEW MEXICO. New Mexicans for Science ft Reason. Circle, Contact Wu Xianghong, Box 4-doctor, Renmin 50080 Zaragoza. El Investigador Esceptico. Contact: John Geohegan. Chairman, 450 Montclaire SE, Albuq., Univ. of China. Beijing 100872. Felix Ares De Bias, Gamez/Ares/Martinez, P.O. Box 904, NM 87108; Dave Thomas, Vice President PO Box 1017. CZECH REPUBLIC Czech Club of Skeptics. Dr. Ivan 20080 Donostia-San Sebastian. Peralta NM. 87042. NEW YORK. Inquiring Skeptics of Upper New York David, Vozova 5, Prague 3, 73000. The Czech Republic SWEDEN. Vetenskap dc Folkbildning (Science and (ISUNY), Contact Michael Sofka. 8 Providence St. ESTONIA. Contact Indrek Rohtmets, Horisont EE 0102 People's Education), Sven Ove Hansson, Secretary, Box Albany. NY 12203. (518-437-1750). New York Area Tallinn, Narva mnt. 5. 185. 101 23 Stockholm. Skeptics (NYASk). Contact Alan Weiss. 44 Parkview EUROPEAN COUNCIL OF SKEPTICAL ORGANIZA­ TAIWAN. Tim Holmes, P.O. Box 195. Tanzu, Taiwan. Drive, Millburn, NJ 07041, E-mail: nyaskOliii.com. TIONS. Amardeo Sarma. Secretary, Postfach 1222, UNITED KINGDOM. SKBTIOU INQUMH Representative, Western New York Skeptics, Tim Madigan, D 64374 Rossdorf (Fax: +49 6154 81912). Michael J. Hutchinson, 10 Descent View, Loughton, Chairman. 3965 Rensch Road.. Buffalo. NY 14228. FINLAND. Skepsis. Ilpo V. Salmi. President Secretary Essex IG10 4PZ The Skeptic magazine. Editors, Toby OHIO. South Shore Skeptks. Page Stephens, PO Box and contact person: Anneli Aurejdrvi, Sireenilie 10b Howard and Steve Donnelly, P.O. Box 475, Manchester 5083. Cleveland, OH 44101 (216-631-5987). A2. FIN-01390 Vanlaa. Finland. E-mail contact Sami M60 2TH. (E-mail: tobyOcs.man.ac.uk). Wessex Association for Rational Thinking (Cincinnati area), Hiltunen. sjWltunOcc.helsinki.fi. Skeptks. Robin Allen, Dept. of Physics, Southampton Joseph F. Gastright Contact. Ill Wallace Ave.. FRANCE. Cercle Zetetique. Contact: Paul-Eric Blanrue. Univ.. Highfield. Southampton S09 5NH. Covington, KY 41014 (606-581-7315). 12 Rue David Dertz. 57000 MeU. Comite Francais OREGON. Oregonians for Rationality, John Reese, pour I'Etude des Phenomencs Paranormaux, Secretary, 7555 Spring Valley Rd Nw. Salem. OR 97304 Claude Benski, Secretary-General, Merlin Gerin, United States (503) 364-6676, E-mail: joshrOncn.com. RGE/A2 38050 Grenoble Cedex. Union Rationalist ALABAMA. Alabama Skeptics. Emory Kimbrough. Contact: Jean-Paul Krivine. 14, Rue de I'Ecole 3550 Watermelon Road. Apt. 28A. Northport. AL PENNSYLVANIA. Paranormal Investigating Pofytechnique. 75005 Rue Paris. 35476 (205-759-2624). Committee of Pittsburgh (PICP), Richard Busch, Chairman, 8209 Thompson Run Rd., Pittsburgh, PA GERMANY. Society for the Scientific Investigation ARIZONA. Tucson Skeptics Inc James McGaha. 15237 (412-3664663). Philadelphia Association for of Para-Science (GWUP). Amardeo Sarma", Convenor, Chairman. 5100 N. Sabino Foothills Dr.. Tucson. AZ Critical Thinking (PhACT). Bob Glickman, President Postfach 1222. D-64374 Rossdorf (Phone: +49 6154 85715, E-mail: JMCGAHAOPimaCC.Pima.EDU. PO Box 21970 Philadelphia. PA 19124 (215-533-4677), 695022. Fax: +49 6154 695021). Phoenix Skeptics, Michael Stackpole. Chairman, P.O. Web: http://www.voicenetcom/-eric/phact HONG KONG. Hong Kong Skeptks. Contact: Rebecca Box 60333, Phoenix. AZ 85082. TENNESSEE. Reality Fellowship, Contact Carl Bradley. P.O. Box 1010, Shatin Central Post Office, CALIFORNIA. Bay Area Skeptics, Wilma Russell. Ledendecker, 2123 Stonybrook Rd.. Louisville. TN Secretary.17722 Buti Park Court. Castro Valley. CA Shatin, NT. 37777. HUNGARY. Hungarian Skeptics, Gyula Bencze, 94546. East Bay Skeptks Society. Daniel Sabsay. TEXAS. Houston Association for Scientific Thinking Termeaet Vilaga. P.O. Box 25. Budapest 8.1444. (Fax President P.O. Box 20989, Oakland. CA 94620 (HAST). Darrell Kachilla, P.O. Box 541314. Houston. TX 011-36-1-118-7506). (510-420-0702). Sacramento Skeptks Society. Terry Sandbek. 3550 Watt Ave., Suite 3, Sacramento. CA 77254. North Texas Skeptics. Virginia Vaughn, INDIA. Indian Skeptks. 8. Premanand, Chairman. 10 95821 (916-488-3772). E-mail: tsandbek.mother.com. President P.O. Box 111794, Carrolrton. TX 75011-1794. Chettipalayam Rd., Podanur 641-023 Coimbatore Tamil WASHINGTON. The Society for Sensible Nadu. Indian Rationalist Association, Contact San Diego Association for Rational Inquiry, Explanations. P.O. Box 7121. Seattle. WA 98133-2121. Sanal Edamaruku. 779, Pocket 5, Mayur Vihar I, New Contact: Bruce R. Wallace, 945 Fourth Avenue. San Tad Cook. Secretary. (E-mail: tadOsic.com). Delhi 110 091. Maharashtra Superstition Eradi­ Diego, CA 92101 (619-233-1888. Fax. 619 696-9476). cation Committee. Dada Chandane. Secretary. D/6. COLORADO. Rocky Mountain Skeptics. Bela Scheiber. WISCONSIN. Contact Roxine McQuitty. MATC-West First Floor. Super Market SoUpur 413001. Dravidar President P.O. Box 7277. Boulder, CO 80306 (Tel.: 1200 S. 71st St, West Allrj. Wl S32I4 (414-456-5402. Kaxhegam. K. Veeramnani, General Secretary, Periyar 303-444-5368. Web: ben boulder co.us/comrnunity/rms). Fax: 414-873-4446). Thidal. 50. E.V.K. Sampath Road. Madras - 600 007. CONNECTICUT. Connecticut Skeptical Society. • Associate Members of CSICOP Executive Council Tamil Nadu. Contact Steven Novella. MD. P.O. Box 456. Cheshire, The organizations listed above have aims similar to those IRELAND. Irish Skeptics, Contact Peter O'Hara. St a 06410-0456. of CSICOP but are independent and autonomous. Joseph's Hospital. Limerick- D.C Capital Area. National Capital Area Skeptks. Representatives of these organizations cannot speak on ISRAEL Israel Skeptics Society. Philip Marmaros. c/o D.W. "Chip" Denman, 8006 Valley Street Silver behalf of CSICOP. Please send updates to Barry Karr. P.O. Chairman. P.O. Box 8481. Jerusalem. (Fax: 972-2- Spring. MD 20910. Box 703. Amherst NY 14226-0703. THE COMMITTEE FOR THE SCIENTIFIC INVESTIGATION OF CLAIMS OF THE PARANORMAL

AJ THE CENTES FO« INQUWY |ADJACEN1 lO THE STATE UNIVERSITY 0> NEW VC*K AI BUfFAlO] • AN INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATION Paul Kurtz. Chairman Barry Karr, Executive Director SCIENTIFIC AND TECHNICAL CONSULTANTS

George Agogino, Dept. of Clyde F. Herreid, professor of biology, Steven D. Schafersman, geologist, Anthropology, Eastern New Mexico SUNY, Buffalo Houston University Terence M. Hines, professor of psy­ Bela Scheiber,* system analyst, Bill G. Aldridge, executive director, chology. Pace University, Boulder, Colo. National Science Teachers Assoc. Pleasantville, N.Y. Chris Scott, statistician, London, Gary Bauslaugh, dean of technical Philip A. lanna, assoc. professor of England and academic education and profes­ astronomy, Univ. of Virginia Stuart D. Scott, Jr., associate profes­ sor of chemistry, Malaspina College, William Jarvis, professor of health sor of anthropology, SUNY, Buffalo Nanaimo, British Columbia, Canada promotion and public health, Loma Erwin M. Segal, professor of psychol­ Richard E. Berendzen, astronomer, Linda University, School of Public ogy, SUNY. Buffalo Washington, D.C. Health Steven N. Shore, associate professor Martin Bridgstock, lecturer, School of I. W. Kelly, professor of psychology, and chair, Dept. of Physics and Science, Griffith University, Brisbane, Astronomy, Indiana Univ. South Bend Australia University of Saskatchewan Richard H. Lange, M.D., Mohawk Barry Singer, psychologist, Eugene, Richard Busch, magician, Pittsburgh, Oregon Pa. Valley Physician Health Plan, Schenectady, N.Y. Mark Slovak, astronomer, University Shawn Carlson, physicist, San Diego, Calif. Gerald A. Larue, professor of biblical of Wisconsin-Madison Charles J. Cazeau, geologist, Deary, history and archaeology, University Gordon Stein, physiologist, author; Idaho of So. California. editor of the American Rationalist Ronald J. Crowley, professor of Bernard J. Leikind, staff scientist, GA Waclaw Szybalski, professor, McArdle physics, California State University, Technologies Inc., San Diego Laboratory, University of Wisconsin- Madison Fullerton William M. London, Director of Roger B. Culver, professor of astron­ Public Health at the American Ernest H. Taves, psychoanalyst, Cambridge, Massachusetts omy. Colorado State Univ. Council of Science and Health Sarah G. Thomason, professor of lin­ Felix Ares de Bias, professor of com­ Thomas R. McDonough, lecturer in guistics, University of Pittsburgh puter science. University of Basque, engineering, Caltech, and SETI San Sebastian, Spain Coordinator of the Planetary Society Neil deGrasse Tyson, astrophysicist, Princeton University and the Hayden Michael R. Dennett, writer, investiga­ James E. McGaha, Major, USAF; pilot tor. Federal Way, Washington Planetarium Joel A. Moskowitz, director of med­ Sid Deutsch, Visiting Professor of ical psychiatry, Calabasas Mental Richard Wiseman, Senior Research electrical engineering, University of Health Services, Los Angeles. Fellow in psychology, University of South Florida, Tampa Robert B. Painter, professor of micro­ Hertfordshire J. Dommanget, astronomer, Rcyale biology. School of Medicine, Observatory, Brussels, Belgium University of California •Member of CSICOP Executive Council Nahum J. Duker, assistant professor John W. Patterson, professor of materials science and engineering, of pathology. Temple University Iowa State University Barbara Eisenstadt, psychologist, Steven Pinker, professor and director CSICOP educator, clinician, East Greenbush, of the Center for Cognitive N.Y. Neuroscience, MIT Subcommittees John F. Fischer, forensic analyst, James Pomerantz, Provost, and pro­ Astrology Subcommittee: Chairman, fessor of cognitive and linguistic sci­ Orlando, Fla. I. W. Kelly, Dept. of Educational ences. Brown Univ. Psychology, 28 Campus Drive, Frederic A. Friedel, philosopher, Gary P. Posner, M.D., Tampa, Fla Saskatoon, Sask., Canada. 57N-OX1 Hamburg, West Germany Daisie Radner, professor of philoso­ Health Claims Subcommittee: Co- Robert E. Funk, anthropologist New phy, SUNY, Buffalo York State Museum & Science Service chairmen, William Jarvis, Professor of Eileen Gambrill, professor of social Michael Radner, professor of philoso­ Health Promotion and Education, welfare. University of California at phy, McMaster University, Hamilton, School of Public Health. Loma Linda Ontario, Canada Berkeley University, Loma Linda, CA 93350, Robert H. Romer, professor of and Stephen Barrett. M.D., P.O. Box Sylvio Garattini, director, Mario physics, Amherst College 1747, AI lent own, PA 18105. Negri Pharmacology Institute, Milan, Italy Milton A. Rothman, physicist, Parapsychology Subcommittee: Laurie Godfrey, anthropologist, Philadelphia, Pa. Chairman, Ray Hyman, Psychology University of Massachusetts Karl Sabbagh, journalist. Richmond. Dept. Univ. of Oregon, Eugene, OR Gerald Goldin, mathematician, Surrey, England 97402. Rutgers University, New Jersey Robert J. Samp, assistant professor of UFO Subcommittee: Chairman, Philip Donald Goldsmith, astronomer; pres­ education and medicine. University J. Klass, 404 "N" Street S.W., ident. Interstellar Media of Wisconsin-Madison Washington, D.C 20024. CENTER FOR INQUIRY The Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal P.O. Box 703, Amherst, NY 14226 • (716) 636-1425

The Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal encourages the critical investigation of paranormal and fringe-science claims from a responsible, scientific point of view and disseminates factual information about the results of such inquiries to the scientific community and the public. It also promotes science and scientific inquiry, critical thinking, science education, and the use of reason in examining important issues. To carry out these objectives the Committee:

• Maintains a network of people interested in critically examining paranormal, fringe-science, and other claims, and in contributing to consumer education • Prepares bibliographies of published materials that carefully examine such claims • Encourages research by objective and impartial inquiry in areas where it is needed • Convenes conferences and meetings • Publishes articles that examine claims of the paranormal • Does not reject claims on a priori grounds, antecedent to inquiry, but examines them objectively and carefully

The Committee is a nonprofit scientific and educational organization. The SKEPTICAL INQUIRER is its official journal. Skeptical Inquirer

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