DOCSLIB.ORG

Steven Novella Honored with CSI's Robert P. Balles Prize in Critical

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text

Load more

SI July August 11_SI new design masters 5/25/11 12:15 PM Page 5 [ NEWS AND COMMENT Steven Novella Honored with CSI’s Robert P. Balles Prize in Critical Thinking The Committee for Skeptical Inquiry Know May Be Hurting Us,” available (CSI) has awarded its 2010 Robert P. for purchase as audio CD, video DVD, Balles Annual Prize in Critical Think- or download. ing to Steven Novella. In a letter to Novella informing him Steven Novella, MD, is a clinical of his selection as the Balles Prize win- neurologist, assistant professor, and di- ner, CSI Executive Director Barry Karr rector of general neurology at Yale Uni - wrote: versity School of Medicine, specializing I am pleased to inform you that you in the treatment of ALS/myasthenia have been selected as the winner of the gravis and neuromuscular disorders. 2010 Robert P. Balles Annual Prize in One could easily assume that the de- Critical Thinking, presented by the mands of his professional life alone Committee for Skeptical Inquiry and KEPTICAL NQUIRER would keep him completely occupied, the S I magazine. You are being honored not for a but not Novella. He seems to be one of particular article or publication. In- those intensely driven and motivated stead, you are being honored for your people who manage to create more tremendous body of work including hours in a day. His biography and list of the Skeptics Guide to the Universe, Sci- activities has only just begun: ence-Based Medicine, Neurologica, your SKEPTICAL IN QUIRER column “The He is the president and cofounder of Science of Medicine,” as well as your Steven Novella, MD the New England Skeptical Society. He tireless travel and lecture schedule on is the host and producer of that group’s behalf of skepticism. You may well be evening banquet during the CSI and popular weekly science podcast, The the hardest worker in all of skepti- SKEPTICAL INQUIRER CSIcon confer- Skeptics’ Guide to the Universe. He is also cism today. And to me, the truly amazing thing is you do all of this on ence in New Orleans, October 28, 2011. a fellow of CSI and a founding fellow of a volunteer basis. We are honored to Previous winners of the Balles Prize: the Institute for Science in Medicine. He present you with this award. is a medical advisor to Quackwatch and 2009: Michael Specter, staff writer at an associate editor of the Scientific Re- The Robert P. Balles Annual Prize in the New Yorker and former New York view of Alternative Medicine. Critical Thinking is a $1,500 award Times foreign correspondent, for his Novella is the author of the Neuro - given to the author of the published book Denialism: How Irrational Think - Logica blog, which covers news and is- work or body of work that best exem- ing Hinders Scientific Progress, Harms the sues not only in neuroscience but also in plifies healthy skepticism, logical analy- Planet, and Threatens Our Lives general science, scientific skepticism, sis, or empirical science. Each year, the 2008: Leonard Mlodinow, physicist, au- philosophy of science, critical thinking, Committee for Skeptical Inquiry selects thor, and professor at Caltech for his and the intersection of science with the the paper, article, book, or other publi- book The Drunkard’s Walk: How Ran - media and society. cation that, in its judgment, has the dom ness Rules our Lives Novella also contributes every Sun - greatest potential to create positive day to The Rogues Gallery, the official reader awareness of currently important 2007: Natalie Angier, New York Times blog of The Skeptics’ Guide to the Uni - scientific concerns. science writer and author of the book verse; every Monday to Skepticblog; and This prize has been established The Canon: A Whirligig Tour of the Beau- every Wednesday to Science-Based Med- through the generosity of Robert P. tiful Basics of Science icine, a blog dedicated to issues of sci- Balles, an associate member of CSI, and 2006: Ben Goldacre for his weekly col- ence and medicine. He also writes the the Robert P. Balles Endowed Memo- umn, “Bad Science,” published in The new “The Science of Medicine” column rial Fund, a permanent endowment Guardian newspaper (United King dom) in SKEPTICAL INQUIRER. fund for the benefit of CSI. Novella has completed a twenty- The prize will be presented to 2005: Shared by Ray Hyman, Joe Nick- four-lecture course with The Teaching Novella by Kendrick Frazier, editor of ell, and Andrew Skolnick for their series Company, “Medical Myths, Lies, and the SKEPTICAL INQUIRER and a member of articles in the SKEPTICAL INQUIRER, Half-Truths: What We Think We of CSI’s executive council, at the Friday “Testing ‘The Girl with X-Ray Eyes’” Skeptical Inquirer | July / August 2 01 1 5 SI July August 11_SI new design masters 5/25/11 12:16 PM Page 6 A Pantheon of Skeptics THE PANTHEON OF SKEPTICS—a roster honoring late distin- ated in 1976 and became founding fellows; others were elected guished fellows of the Committee for Skep tical Inquiry (for- as fellows later. merly CSICOP)—has been established, and twenty-seven out- The desire is to continue honoring these skeptics’ contri- standing scientists, scholars, writers, and investigators have been butions and to provide a sense of history about the modern named to it. skeptical movement. The CSI(COP) executive council has long discussed how The Pantheon of Skeptics was created and the names cho- to keep before the public the names of the great, now-deceased sen for it selected at a meeting of the CSI executive council skeptics who made extraordinary contributions to the causes in Denver, April 1–2, 2011. They will be listed permanently at of science and skepticism in the modern era. Some were al- CSI’s headquarters in Amherst, New York, and on its website ready well established when CSICOP (the Com mittee for the at www.csicop.org. (Cur rent fellows are also listed on the web- Sci en tific Investi gation of Claims of the Para normal) was cre- site and on the inside front cover of every issue of SI.) Here are those chosen for the Pantheon of Skeptics: GEORGE O. ABELL FRANCIS H. CRICK WILLIAM V. MAYER astronomer Nobel laureate biophysicist biologist STEVE ALLEN L. SPRAGUE DECAMP WALTER MCCRONE entertainer/author/critic author and engineer microscopist JERRY ANDRUS MARTIN GARDNER ERNEST NAGEL magician and inventor author and critic philosopher ISAAC ASIMOV STEPHEN JAY GOULD H. NARASIMHAIAH biochemist and biologist and writer physicist science writer D.O. HEBB W.V. QUINE ROBERT BAKER psychologist philosopher psychologist SIDNEY HOOK CARL SAGAN T.X. BARBER philosopher astronomer and writer psychologist PHILIP J. KLASS GLENN T. SEABORG BARRY BEYERSTEIN aerospace writer and engineer Nobel laureate chemist biopsychologist PAUL MACCREADY B.F. SKINNER BART J. BOK scientist/engineer/inventor psychologist astronomer MILBOURNE CHRISTOPHER JOHN MADDOX STEPHEN TOULMIN magician and writer science editor philosopher 6 Volume 3 5 Issue 4 | Skeptical Inquirer SI July August 11_SI new design masters 5/25/11 12:16 PM Page 7 [ NEWS AND COMMENT Journal That Published Bem’s Paper Do Tomatoes Love Music? Rejects Attempt to Replicate It Genodics and Proteodies Kendrick Frazier NICOLAS GAUVRIT An unsuccessful attempt by three serious problem for science in dealing One often finds astonishing claims about psychologists to replicate the results with research on contentious claims. music helping plants grow in both journal of Daryl Bem’s recent study that no- The so-called “publication effect” is a articles (e.g., Katherine Creathe and Gary toriously claimed experimental evi- result of journals favoring research E. Schwartz’s “Measur ing Effects of Music, dence for precognition has been papers that report positive results over Noise, and Healing Energy Using a Seed rejected by the same journal that pub- research with negative results. Repli - Germination Bio assay,” Journal of Alternative lished Bem’s paper. cation is often held to be an essential and Comple mentary Medi cine, February Bem’s study was the subject of a part of the scientific method, but if in 2004) and in best sellers (such as Peter detailed critique in the March/April fact journals systematically decline to Tompkins and Christopher Bird’s 1989 2011 SKEPTICAL INQUIRER by psy- publish replication studies that come book The Secret Life of Plants). But one au- chologist James E. Alcock, who found to negative conclusions, the truth falls thor, Joël Stern heimer, has tried to make serious flaws negating its conclusions. behind. these claims look scientific by referring to Bem’s paper has sparked similar crit- them as part of what he calls “genodics.” icism elsewhere in the psychological Sternheimer not only claims that music aids and skeptical communities. The SKEPTICAL INQUIRER in plant growth but that he has found a the- British science journalist Ben independently oretical basis for the phenomenon. What’s Goldacre now reports in his “Bad Sci- more, he claims he has unlocked specific ence” column in The Guardian that confirmed the facts of melodies—which he calls “proteodies”— researchers Stuart J. Ritchie, Chris the case and obtained that will help tomatoes grow, keep them French, and Richard Wiseman re-ran the key correspon- healthy in spite of diseases, and give them three of Bem’s backwards-causation the ability to safely weather periods of experiments—and found no evidence dence involved. drought. of precognition. They submitted their Born in 1943, Sternheimer studied negative results to the Journal of Per- physics in France and then at Prince ton sonality and Social Psychology, the jour- “Replication is of critical impor- University. Once he returned to Europe, he nal that published Bem’s positive re- tance in science, especially with highly had a short career singing pop music under sults.
Recommended publications
  • Xzz^ Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal

    Xzz^ Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal

    EDITOR'S NOTE Skeptical Inquirer THE MAGAZINE I O «t SCIENCE AND REASON EDITOR Voodoo Science, and Giving Astrologers Kendrick Frazier EDITORIAL BOARD A Final Chance James E. Alcock Barry Beyerstein Thomas Casten hysicist Robert Park had already had a good career as a physics professor when Martin Gardner Phe gained some national following in the past decade among scientists and sci­ Ray Hyman ence writers with his weekly "What's New" electronic newsletter distributed Lawrence Jones Fridays from the Washington office of the American Physical Society. From there Philip J. Klass Paul Kurtz he has a fine vantage point for watching the foibles of those who seek to warp sci­ Joe Nickell ence for their own political agendas or attract public policy support for all manner Lee Nisbet of semiscientific or pseudoscientific schemes, from alternative medical fads to free- Amardeo Sarma energy machines. Now his new book Voodoo Science has thrust him into the Bela Scheiber Eugenie Scott public eye. It draws upon his knowledge of physics, understanding of Washington CONSULTING EDITORS politics, and wry outlook to explore the four aspects of what he calk voodoo Robert A. Baker science: pathological science, in which scientists fool themselves; junk science, in Susan I. Blackmore which people try to befuddle jurists or lawmakers with tortured theories of what John R. Cole Kenneth L. Feder am Id he so rather than what is so; pseudoscience, where there is no evidence but the C. E. M. Hansel language and symbols of science arc used; and fraudulent science, where honest E. C. Krupp error has evolved from self-delusion to fraud.
  • In the Supreme Court of the United States

    In the Supreme Court of the United States

    NO. 17-_____ In the Supreme Court of the United States EDWARD LEWIS TOBINICK, MD, a Medical Corporation d/b/a INSTITUTE OF NEUROLOGICAL RECOVERY, INR PLLC, d/b/a INSTITUTE OF NEUROLOGICAL RECOVERY, EDWARD TOBINICK, M.D., Petitioners, –v– STEVEN NOVELLA, M.D., Respondent. On Petition for Writ of Certiorari to the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit PETITION FOR WRIT OF CERTIORARI CULLIN A. O’BRIEN, ESQ. COUNSEL FOR PETITIONERS CULLIN O’BRIEN LAW, P.A. 6541 NE 21ST WAY FT. LAUDERDALE, FL 33308 (561) 676-6370 [email protected] SEPTEMBER 1, 2017 SUPREME COURT PRESS ♦ (888) 958-5705 ♦ BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS i QUESTIONS PRESENTED In our age of the Internet, false disparagement against individuals and businesses can be lucrative. An Internet entrepreneur can funnel web-traffic for profit, through sophisticated uses of disparaging “click baiting,” “Internet trolling,” hyperlinks, hypertext, clickable banner ads, podcasts, Facebook, Instagram, email listservs and other systems. Individuals seeking legal redress from false Internet defamation can confront state court anti-SLAPP procedures that accelerate adjudication of the defendant’s “actual malice.” In contrast, businesses seeking federal court protection from false Internet disparagement under the Lanham Act, 15 U.S.C. § 1125(1)(B), are entitled to the summary adjudication safeguards of Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 56. The questions presented to this Court are: 1. When a defendant is sued for both common law defamation and business disparagement under the Lanham Act, 15 U.S.C. § 1125(a)(1)(B), does the application of state civil court anti-SLAPP procedure irreconcilably conflict with Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 56? 2.
  • Book Reviews Gullible's Travels in Psi-Land

    Book Reviews Gullible's Travels in Psi-Land

    Book Reviews Gullible's Travels in Psi-Land Mindwars: The True Story of Secret Government Research into the Military Potential of Psychic Weapons. By Ronald M. McRae. St. Martin's Press, New York, 1984. 192 pp. $12.95 Philip J. Klass HE BOOK JACKET reads: "Did you know the government is spending tax Tdollars on projects like 'Madame Zodiac' and the 'First Earth Battalion'? What is the 'psychic howitzer' and can it really blast missiles out of the sky? In this controversial book, Ron McRae documents the incredible story of official research into the military uses of parapsychology. Using interviews with confi­ dential inside sources along with recently declassified documents, he reveals the suppressed results of long-term top-secret research into telepathy, clairvoyance, and psychokinesis carried out by the Navy, the CIA, and the nation's most prestigious research institutes. Whether or not you believe in the powers of parapsychology, you'll be convinced that Mindwars holds profound implications for the future of warfare, science and mankind." This book convinced me that, if the government opted to sue the publisher under the truth-in-labeling laws, it would win its case handily, even allowing for the customary "hype" of book jackets. The well-known columnist Jack Anderson, who wrote the book's introduc­ tion, offers useful background on the author: "Ron McRae knows investigative journalism from inside and out. For several years, he was one of those 'unauthor­ ized sources' within the government I have always depended on. In 1979, he came in from the cold and joined my staff as an intern.
  • FDA, FTC, and the Regulation of Pseudoscience

    FDA, FTC, and the Regulation of Pseudoscience

    In Pursuit of Science-based Regulation: FDA, FTC, and the Regulation of Pseudoscience What does “natural” mean? The Food and Drug Administration (“FDA”) has posed this seemingly innocuous question to the public in a recent request for information.1 Aside from it being a truly interesting, if overly philosophical question to ask the public, the move is emblematic of a recent trend, both from the (“FDA”) and the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”), to regulate based on some articulable scientific premise, rather than allowing various actors to make wide-ranging claims about their products without repercussion. 2 In particular, the agencies have begun targeting dietary supplement manufacturers, homeopathic remedies, and most recently, Lumosity. Lumosity and the FTC Lumosity advertises copiously on networks and websites that include “CNN, Fox News, the History Channel, National Public Radio, Pandora, Sirius XM, and Spotify.” 3 Created by “Lumos Labs,” Lumosity is a web-based product consisting of 40 games, which Lumosity claimed that, when played “10 to 15 minutes three or four times a week could help users achieve their ‘full potential in every aspect of life.’”4 The FTC got involved because Lumos Labs claimed playing Lumosity’s games would 1) improve performance on everyday tasks, in school, at work, and in athletics; 2) delay age- related cognitive decline and protect against mild cognitive impairment, dementia, and Alzheimer’s disease; and 3) reduce cognitive impairment associated with health conditions, including stroke, traumatic brain
  • Neurologica Blog » Why Are We Conscious?

    Neurologica Blog » Why Are We Conscious?

    NeuroLogica Blog » Why Are We Conscious? http://theness.com/neurologicablog/index.php/why-are-we-conscious/ Home About The Author – Steven Novella, MD Topic Suggestions Feb 06 2017 Why Are We Conscious? Published by Steven Novella under Neuroscience Comments: 26 In Daniel Dennett’s latest book,From Bacteria to Bach and Back: The Evolution of Minds, Dennett explores a number of issues surrounding consciousness. I have not yet completed the book and so may come back to it again, but wanted to discuss one topic that Dennett covers – why are we conscious in the first place? Dennett makes a distinction between competence and comprehension. Competence is the ability to perform some task, while comprehension is understanding the task and the process. The former is unconscious, while the latter is conscious. This touches on Chalmers’ “P-zombie” problem – if we can imagine an organism that can do everything a human does without experiencing its own existence (a philosophical zombie), then why did consciousness evolve at all? There are several possible solutions to this problem. The first is that humans were “designed” to be conscious by whatever agent made us. This introduces unnecessary elements and contradicts established science, so I think we can set that aside. The second solution is that consciousness is an epiphenomenon. We don’t need to be conscious, but we evolved consciousness as an evolutionary accident. This may be true, but is unsatisfying as it just side-steps the question of what use is consciousness. The third solution, which I find compatible with the evidence and compelling, is that consciousness is inherent to the functioning of our brains and brings with it specific advantages.
  • Clever Hans's Successors Testing Indian Astrology Believers' Cognitive Dissonance Csicon Nashville Highlights

    Clever Hans's Successors Testing Indian Astrology Believers' Cognitive Dissonance Csicon Nashville Highlights

    SI March April 13 cover_SI JF 10 V1 1/31/13 10:54 AM Page 2 Scotland Mysteries | Herbs Are Drugs | The Pseudoscience Wars | Psi Replication Failure | Morality Innate? the Magazine for Science and Reason Vol. 37 No. 2 | March/April 2013 ON INVISIBLE BEINGS Clever Hans’s Successors Testing Indian Astrology Believers’ Cognitive Dissonance CSICon Nashville Highlights Published by the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry March April 13 *_SI new design masters 1/31/13 9:52 AM Page 2 AT THE CEN TERFOR IN QUIRY –TRANSNATIONAL Ronald A. Lindsay, President and CEO Massimo Polidoro, Research Fellow Bar ry Karr, Ex ec u tive Di rect or Benjamin Radford, Research Fellow Joe Nickell, Senior Research Fellow Richard Wiseman, Research Fellow www.csicop.org James E. Al cock*, psy chol o gist, York Univ., Tor on to Thom as Gi lov ich, psy chol o gist, Cor nell Univ. Robert L. Park,professor of physics, Univ. of Maryland Mar cia An gell, MD, former ed i tor-in-chief, David H. Gorski, cancer surgeon and re searcher at Jay M. Pasachoff, Field Memorial Professor of New Eng land Jour nal of Med i cine Barbara Ann Kar manos Cancer Institute and chief Astronomy and director of the Hopkins Kimball Atwood IV, MD, physician; author; of breast surgery section, Wayne State University Observatory, Williams College Newton, MA School of Medicine. John Pau los, math e ma ti cian, Tem ple Univ. Steph en Bar rett, MD, psy chi a trist; au thor; con sum er Wendy M. Grossman, writer; founder and first editor, Clifford A.
  • Jennifer Forester, Faculty Mentor

    Jennifer Forester, Faculty Mentor

    Pics or It Didn’t Happen: Sexist Hyperskepticism in the Modern Skeptical Movement Author: Jennifer Forester, Faculty Mentor: Clark Pomerleau, Ph.D., Department of English, College of Arts and Sciences Department and College Affiliation: Department of English, College of Arts and Sciences Pics or It Didn’t Happen 2 Bio: Jennifer Forester graduated summa cum laude from the University of North Texas with a bachelor’s degree in English with a specialization in writing and rhetoric. Jennifer was a member of the Honors College. She presented her research at University Scholars Day in April 19, 2013. She is proud of her service in the United States Marine Corps where she was a Corporal (Bandsman, Armorer) in Cherry Point, North Carolina. She is a mother of two brilliant, if often unruly, children. Her current plan is to find gainful employment, but promises that she will eventually return to college and obtain her doctorate in rhetoric with a particular focus on the ways that rhetorical studies can be applied to social justice. Pics or It Didn’t Happen 3 Abstract: In the skeptical community, there is an ongoing conflict over what—if any—actions are necessary to make the movement more welcoming to the growing numbers of women in its ranks. This conflict has brought a great deal of antifeminist sentiment to the surface, to include rape and death threats against prominent women who speak affirmatively on feminist issues within organized skepticism. The origins of this problem can be found in the grounding of skeptical dialogue on the superiority of a traditionally masculinized ideal of science and reason, which excludes the feminized personal narratives that serve as evidence for mistreatment of women within the community.
  • Psychic Vibrations

    Psychic Vibrations

    Psychic Vibrations : Barbie's Essence, Creationist Tactics, and Hyperspatial Hoax ROBERT SHEAFFER e've all heard about people the 60s and 70s," writes the editor, who channel the spirits of Barbara, who withholds her last name. WCro-Magnon warriors and "Since childhood I have been gifted Indian princesses, but a recent New with an intensely personal, growth- Age breakthrough apparently makes oriented relationship with Barbie, the it possible to receive messages from polyethylene essence who is 700 entities that never had spirits in the million teaching essences. Her influ- first place. From San Anselmo, Cali- ence has transformed and guided fornia, not far from San Francisco, the many of my peers through pre- Barbie Channeling Newsletter celebrates puberty to fully realized maturity. Her this feat. "I channel Barbie, archetyp- truths are too important to be pre- ical feminine plastic essence who packaged. My sincere hope is to let embodies that stereotypical wisdom of the voice of Barbie, my Inner name- twin, come through. Barbie's mes- sages are offered in love." No word yet on whether anything has been heard from Barbie's plastic boyfriend, Ken. Creationists everywhere will soon be flocking to the new Museum of Creation and Earth History, located on the top floor of the Headquarters Building of the Institute for Creation Research (ICR) near San Diego. This new 4,000-square-foot museum has a separate exhibit representing each day of Creation Week. Other exhibits center around "The Fall and the Curse." Visitors to the museum start off with a walking tour "through the newly created universe, then the Garden of Eden, followed by entrance *3£" into the regime of sin and death." Next they enter Noah's Ark, followed by 138 SKEPTICAL INQUIRER, Vol.
  • 'Alternative' Medicines 20 August 2014

    'Alternative' Medicines 20 August 2014

    Experts denounce clinical trials of unscientific, 'alternative' medicines 20 August 2014 Experts writing in the Cell Press journal Trends in science-based medicine rather than evidence-based Molecular Medicine on August 20th call for an end medicine. Biologically plausible treatments should to clinical trials of "highly implausible treatments" advance to randomized clinical trials only when such as homeopathy and reiki. Over the last two there is sufficient preclinical evidence to justify the decades, such complementary and alternative effort, time, and expense, as well as the use of medicine (CAM) treatments have been embraced human subjects. in medical academia despite budget constraints and the fact that they rest on dubious science, they "Somehow this idea has sprung up that to be a say. 'holistic' doctor you have to embrace pseudoscience like homeopathy, reiki, traditional The writers, David Gorski of Wayne State Chinese medicine, and the like, but that's a false University School of Medicine and Steven Novella dichotomy," Gorski said. "If the medical system is of Yale University, argue that, in these cases, the currently too impersonal and patients are rushed medical establishment is essentially testing through office visits because a doctor has to see whether magic works. Gorski and Novella are both more and more patients to cover his salary and editors for Science-Based Medicine, an expenses, then the answer is to find a way to fix organization and blog dedicated to exploring the those problems, not to embrace quackery. complicated relationship between science and 'Integrating' pseudoscience with science-based medicine. medicine isn't going to make science-based medicine better.
  • Court Closes Tobinick Suit Against Dr. Steven Novella

    Court Closes Tobinick Suit Against Dr. Steven Novella

    Case 9:14-cv-80781-RLR Document 288 Entered on FLSD Docket 10/02/2015 Page 1 of 10 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF FLORIDA CASE NO. 9:14-CV-80781 ROSENBERG/BRANNON EDWARD LEWIS TOBINICK, M.D., et al, Plaintiffs, v. STEVEN NOVELLA, M.D., Defendant. / ORDER GRANTING DEFENDANT DR. STEVEN NOVELLA M.D.’S MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT THIS CAUSE comes before the Court on Defendant Dr. Steven Novella M.D.’s Renewed Motion for Summary Judgment [DE 251]. The Court has reviewed the motion, the response [DE 272], the reply [DE 277], and the attached exhibits. The Court has also reviewed the record and is otherwise fully advised in the premises. For the reasons set forth below, the Motion [DE 251] is GRANTED. The speech at issue is not actionable under the Lanham Act because it is not commercial speech, and Plaintiffs’ unfair competition claims fail as well because they rely on a similar theory of liability. I. BACKGROUND Plaintiffs’ Amended Complaint, filed on August 1, 2014, brought five counts against four defendants. See DE 55. Many claims and defendants have been disposed of earlier in this litigation. The only remaining claims are: Count I for violation of the Lanham Act, 15 U.S.C. § 1 Case 9:14-cv-80781-RLR Document 288 Entered on FLSD Docket 10/02/2015 Page 2 of 10 1125(a), and Count II for unfair competition.1 The only remaining Defendant is Dr. Steven Novella, M.D.2 Counts I and II of the Amended Complaint are based on two articles written by Defendant Novella and published online at sciencebasedmedicine.org.
  • Exuberant Champion of the New Enlightenment

    Exuberant Champion of the New Enlightenment

    Jan Feb 13 2_SI new design masters 11/29/12 11:26 AM Page 14 Exuberant Champion of the New Enlightenment KENDRICK FRAZIER countries around the globe. From the beginning he was deeply knowledgeable about, and directly in- volved in, scientific-based skeptical in- quiry. This energized our committee and SI as well. He had more energy and enthusiasm than three people. His output of writing was prodigious. He was overwhelmingly positive and optimistic. And courageous. And something else—exuberant. It was such a pleasure to be his colleague. Paul was my mentor and my friend. He brought me into CSICOP (now CSI). He strongly supported me and SI. A young CSICOP chairman Paul Kurtz, lower right, watches a younger Ken Frazier, then still editor ofScience He granted us editorial autonomy, pub- News but about to become editor of SI, speak at first CSICOP meeting in August 1977 in New York City. licly. When controversy came, as it often did, he always encouraged me. He felt Paul Kurtz had a broad and clear vision aggressive. He always emphasized the that if you are not creating some contro- for a return to Enlightenment values— positive. versy, you are not doing things right. And reason, scientific thinking, and reliance on By his own example of thoughtful he practiced his own humanist values. human thought, not authority or super- philosophical discourse and open- He was kind to me and my family in naturalism, for our ethical values and re- minded critical inquiry and by the caliber ways no one will ever know. sponsibilities to each other.
  • Why Skepticism? STEVEN NOVELLA

    Why Skepticism? STEVEN NOVELLA

    ISSUES IN SCIENCE & SKEPTICISM: 40th Anniversary Celebration Why Skepticism? STEVEN NOVELLA wenty years ago, I became actively involved in the hand-in-hand with logic and skeptical movement when I and several others founded philosophy, and therefore skep- T tics also promote understanding a humble local skeptical group. We were inspired by of these fields and the promotion CSICOP (now CSI) and SKEPTICAL INQUIRER to add of critical thinking skills. what we could to efforts to make the world a more skep- Science vs. Pseudoscience: Skep- tical place. tics seek to identify and elucidate Over the past two decades, as possible in our beliefs and the borders between legitimate the skeptical landscape has opinions. This means subjecting science and pseudoscience, to changed quite a bit, but one all claims to a valid process of expose pseudoscience for what it constant has been the endless evaluation. is, and to promote knowledge of question: What is skepticism? Methodological Naturalism: how to tell the difference. What exactly do we do and why? Skeptics believe that the world Ideological Freedom/Free In- As the movement has grown and is knowable because it follows quiry: Science and reason can diversified, the question has be- certain rules or laws of nature. flourish only in a secular society come only more complex. The only legitimate methods in which no ideology (religious for knowing anything empirical or otherwise) is imposed upon individuals or the process of sci- What Is the Mission of the about the universe follows this ence or free inquiry. Skeptical Movement? naturalistic assumption. In other words, within the realm of the Neuropsychological Humility: I have come to understand that empirical you don’t get to invoke Being a functional skeptic re- scientific skepticism is a weird magic or the supernatural.