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Skeptical Inquirer SKEPTICAL INQUIRER Neural Organization Technique Treatment or Torture? Motion! * The Spooks of Quantum Mechanics Crookes: His Science and His Foibles The 'N' Machine / Biological Cycles 1990 CSICOP Conference i fori THE SKEPTICAL INQUIRER is the official journal of the Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal. Editor Kendrick Frazier. Editorial Board James E. Alcock, Martin Gardner, Ray Hyman, Philip J. Klass, Paul Kurtz, James Randi. Consulting Editors Isaac Asimov, William Sims Bainbridge, John R. Cole, Kenneth L. Feder, C. E. M. Hansel, E. C. Krupp, David F. Marks, Andrew Neher, James E. Oberg, Robert Sheaffer, Steven N. Shore. Managing Editor Doris Hawley Doyle. Contributing Editor Lys Ann Shore. Business Manager Mary Rose Hays. Assistant Editor Andrea Szalanski. Art Valerie Ferenti-Cognetto. Chief Data Officer Richard Seymour. Computer Assistant Michael Cione. Typesetting Paul E. Loynes. Audio Technician Vance Vigrass. Librarian, Ranjit Sandhu. Staff Lynda Harwood (Asst. Public Relations Director), Kimberly Gallo, Leland Harrington, Sandra Lesniak, Alfreda Pidgeon, Kathy Reeves. Cartoonist Rob Pudim. The Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal Paul Kurtz, Chairman; philosopher, State University of New York at Buffalo. Barry Karr, Executive Director and Public Relations Director. Lee Nisbet, Special Projects Director. Fellows of the Committee (partial list) James E. Alcock, psychologist, York Univ., Toronto; Eduardo Amaldi, physicist, University of Rome, Italy; Isaac Asimov, biochemist, author; Irving Biederman, psychologist, University of Minnesota; Susan Blackmore, psychologist, Brain Perception Laboratory, University of Bristol, England; Henri Broch, physicist, University of Nice, France; Mario Bunge, philosopher, McGill University; John R. Cole, anthropologist. Institute for the Study of Human Issues; F. H. C. Crick, biophysicist, Salk Institute for Biological Studies, La Jolla, Calif.; L. Sprague de Camp, author, engineer; Bernard Dixon, science writer, London, U.K.: Paul Edwards, philosopher. Editor, Encyclopedia of Philosophy; Antony Flew, philosopher, Reading Univ., U.K.; Andrew Fraknoi, astronomer, executive officer, Astronomical Society of the Pacific; editor of Mercury; Kendrick Frazier, science writer, Editor, THE SKEPTICAL INQUIRER; Yves Galifret, Exec. Secretary, l'Union Rationaliste; Martin Gardner, author, critic; Murray Gell-Mann, professor of physics, California Institute of Technology; Henry Gordon, magician, columnist, broadcaster, Toronto; Stephen Jay Gould, Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard Univ.; C. E. M. Hansel, psychologist, Univ. of Wales; AI Hibbs, scientist, Jet Propulsion Laboratory; Douglas Hofstadter, professor of human understanding and cognitive science, Indiana University; Ray Hyman, psychologist, Univ. of Oregon; Leon Jaroff, sciences editor, Time; Lawrence Jerome, science writer, engineer; Philip J. Klass, science writer, engineer; Edwin C. Krupp, astronomer, director, Griffith Observatory; Paul Kurtz, chairman, CSICOP, Buffalo, N.Y.; Lawrence Kusche, science writer; Paul MacCready, scientist/engineer, AeroVironment, Inc., Monrovia, Calif.; David Marks, psychologist, Middlesex Polytech, England; David Morrison, space scientist, NASA Ames Research Center; Richard A. Muller, professor of physics, Univ. of Calif., Berkeley; H. Narasimhaiah, physicist, president, Bangalore Science Forum, India; Dorothy Nelkin, sociologist, Cornell University. Joe Nickell, author, technical writing instructor. University of Kentucky; Lee Nisbet, philosopher, Medaille College; James E. Oberg, science writer; John Paulos, mathematician. Temple University; Mark Plummer, lawyer, Australia; W. V. Quine, philosopher, Harvard Univ.; James Randi, magician, author; Milton Rosenberg, psychologist. University of Chicago; Carl Sagan, astronomer, Cornell Univ.; Evry Schatzman, President, French Physics Association; Eugenie Scott, physical anthropologist, executive director, National Center for Science Education, Inc.; Thomas A. Sebeok, anthropologist, linguist, Indiana University; Robert Sheaffer, science writer; B. F. Skinner, psychologist. Harvard Univ.; Dick Smith, film producer, publisher, Terrey Hills, N.S.W., Australia; Robert Steiner, magician, author, El Cerrito, California; Carol Tavris, psychologist, UCLA; Stephen Toulmin, professor of philosophy, Northwestern Univ.; Marvin Zelen, statistician, Harvard Univ. (Affiliations given for identification only.) Manuscripts, letters, books for review, and editorial inquiries should be addressed to Kendrick Frazier, Editor, THE SKEPTICAL INQUIRER, 3025 Palo Alto Dr., N.E., Albuquerque, NM 87111. Subscriptions, change of address, and advertising should be addressed to: THE SKEPTICAL INQUIRER, Box 229, Buffalo, NY 14215-0229. Old address as well as new are necessary for change of subscriber's address, with six weeks advance notice. Subscribers to THE SKEPTICAL INQUIRER may not speak on behalf of CSICOP or THE SKEPTICAL INQUIRER. Inquiries from the media and the public about the work of the Committee should be made to Paul Kurtz, Chairman, CSICOP, Box 229, Buffalo, NY 14215-0229. Tel.: (716) 834-3222. FAX: (716)-834-0841. Articles, reports, reviews, and letters published in THE SKEPTICAL INQUIRER represent the views and work of individual authors. Their publication does not necessarily constitute an endorsement by CSICOP or its members unless so stated. Copyright ©1989 by the Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal, 3159 Bailey Ave., Buffalo, NY 14215-0229. All rights reserved. Subscription Rates: Individuals, libraries, and institutions, $25.00 a year; back issues, $6.25 each. Postmaster: THE SKEPTICAL INQUIRER is published quarterly. Winter, Spring, Summer, and Fall. Printed in the U.S.A. Second-class postage paid at Buffalo, New York, and additional mailing offices. Send changes of address to THE SKEPTICAL INQUIRER, Box 229, Buffalo, NY 14215-0229. SKEPTICAL INQUIRER Vol. 15, No. 1, Fall 1990 I I ISSN 0194-6730 Journal of the Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal I I 1990 CSICOP CONFERENCE 3 Skepticism in the Light of Scientific Literacy / Animal Rights /Public Policy and the Paranormal / John's Anomalies Research I I ARTICLES Neural Organization Technique: Treatment or Torture? Russell S. Worrall 40 The Spooks of Quantum Mechanics Victor J. Stenger 51 Science and Sir William Crookes Steven Hoffmaster 62 The 'N' Machine Duncan G. Cummlng 71 Biological Cycles and Rhythms Vs. Biorhythms Anthony Wheeler 75 I I NEWS AND COMMENT 19 Teachers in science courses / Horoscopes in newspapers / Nicholas Sanduleak / Channeler in Rhode Island / The paranormal in the USSR / Physics in Karate / Fortune­ tellers in Connecticut / Anti-health-fraud group in UK. / CSICOP lectures in colleges / Firewalk in New Zealand I I NOTES OF A FRINGE-WATCHER 30 The Mysterious Finger-Lift Levitation Martin Gardner I I PSYCHIC VIBRATIONS 36 l~ I BOOK REVIEWS Stephen Jay Gould. Wonderful Life (Paul T. Riddell) 83 James E. Alcock, Science and Supemature (Robert A Baker) 85 Kenneth L Feder, Frauds, Myths and Mysteries (Gordon Stein) 88 Fred Fedler, Media Hoaxes (Roger Klare) 89 SOME RECENT BOOKS 92 ARTICLES OF NOTE 93 ] LETTERS TO THE EDITOR 99 On the cover: Illustration by Bruce Adams. The Skeptical Inquirer... The perfect gift for relatives and friends. $25.00 for first one year gift subscription I. NAME please print ADDRESS CITY STATE ZIP only $18.75 for second one-year gift subscription (25% savings) 2. NAME please print ADDRESS "CITY STATE ZIP -only $17.50 for each additional gift hereafter (30% savings) 3. NAME please print ADDRESS CITY STATE ZIP A gift card will be sent in your name. YOUR NAME please print ADDRESS ^ CITY STATE ZIP Include my own subscription for: Order toll-free 1 year ($25.00) • 2 years ($43.00) • 3 years ($59.00) • 800-634-1610 Charge my • Visa • MasterCard In N.Y. State call * Exp 716-834-3222 Signature. SKEPTICAL INQUIRER Q Check enclosed D Bill me Total $. Box 229 (Outside the U.S., please pay in U.S. funds drawn on a U.S. bank. If you live Buffalo, N.Y. 14215 0229 outside North America and would like airmail, add $16.00 a year. Mail to: Skeptical Inquirer • Box 229 Buffalo, New York 14215-0229 1990 CSICOP CONFERENCE IN WASHINGTON Skepticism in the Light of Scientific Literacy LYS ANN SHORE hen it comes to challenging extraordi­ nary claims, incredulity isn't enough. WWhat's required is a sufficient back­ ground and knowledge to grasp the nature and extent of the claim, and to examine its elements critically. Today, when pseudoscience and fringe-science borrow the concepts and vocab­ ^ ulary of science, it takes a measure of scientific literacy to analyze and evaluate their claims The 1990 CSICOP properly. That was the chief message of this conference year's CSICOP conference, held in Washington, D.C., March 30-April 1, 1990, and devoted to examined scientific the theme of "Critical Thinking and Scientific literacy, science Literacy"—arguably the most important issue education, and CSICOP could address. Two conference sessions illuminated the critical thinking. theme: "Scientific Literacy" and "Critical Thinking in Public Education." Several other sessions focused on traditional areas of skeptics' concerns: astronomy and pseudoscience, psychic phenomena and the laws of physics, and UFOs. This article will be devoted to the theme sessions, and to the controversial session on animal rights (see p. 12), which opened a new direction for CSICOP. CSICOP
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