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SKEPTICAL INnillDER^ Vol. 17, No. 4 1993 / $6.25 THE RIGHT HEMISPHERE An Esoteric Closet? False Memory Syndrome The Eyewitness: Imperfect Interface v The Science Textbook Problem Pathological Science The 'Star Hustler' Published by the Committee ^v—^ J tor the Scientific Investigation \_p4 Claims of the paranormal THE SKEPTICAL INQUIRER is the official journal of the Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal, an international organization. Editor Kendrick Frazier. Editorial Board James E. Alcock, Barry Beyerstein, Susan J. Blackmore, Martin Gardner, Ray Hyman, Philip J. Klass, Paul Kurtz, Joe Nickell, Lee Nisbet. Consulting Editors Robert A. Baker, 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 Business Manager Sandra Lesniak. Chief Data Officer Richard Seymour. Computer Assistant Michael Cione. Production Paul E. Loynes. Art Linda Hays. Audio Technician Vance Vigrass. Librarian Jonathan Jiras. Staff Elizabeth Begley, Ron Nicholson, Alfreda Pidgeon, Ranjit Sandhu, Sharon Sikora, Glen Winford. Cartoonist Rob Pudim. The Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal Paul Kurtz, Chairman; professor emeritus of philosophy. State University of New York at Buffalo. Barry Karr, Executive Director and Public Relations Director. Lee Nisbet, Special Projects Director. Fellows of the Committee James E. Alcock,* psychologist, York Univ., Toronto; Robert A. Baker, psychologist, Univ. of Kentucky; Stephen Barrett, M.D., psychiatrist, author, consumer advocate, Allentown, Pa. Barry Beyerstein,* biopsychologist, Simon Fraser Univ., Vancouver, B.C., Canada; Irving Biederman, psychologist, Univ. of Southern California; Susan Blackmore,* psychologist, Univ. of the West of England, Bristol; Henri Broch, physicist, Univ. of Nice, France; Jan Harold Brunvand, folklorist, professor of English, Univ. of Utah; Vern Bullough, Distinguished Professor, State Univ. of New York; Mario Bunge, philosopher, McGill University; John R. Cole, anthropologist, Inst, for the Study of Human Issues; F. H. C. Crick, biophysicist, Salk Inst, for Biological Studies, La Jolla, Calif.; L. Sprague de Camp, author, engineer; Cornelis de Jager, professor of astrophysics, Univ. of Utrecht, the Netherlands; Bernard Dixon, science writer, London, U.K.: Paul Edwards, philosopher, Editor, Encyclopedia of Philosophy; Antony Flew, philosopher, Reading Univ., U.K.; Andrew Fraknoi, astronomer. Foothill College, Los Altos Hills, Calif.; 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 Inst, of Technology; Henry Gordon, magician, columnist, Toronto; Stephen Jay Gould, Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard Univ.; C. E. M. Hansel, psychologist, Univ. of Wales; Al Hibbs, scientist. Jet Propulsion Laboratory; Douglas Hofstadter, professor of human understanding and cognitive science, Indiana Univ.; Ray Hyman,* psycholo gist, Univ. of Oregon; Leon Jaroff, sciences editor, Time; Lawrence Jerome, science writer, engineer; Sergei Kapitza, editor, Russian edition, Scientific American; Philip J. Klass,* science writer, engineer; Marvin Kohl, professor of philosophy, SUNY at Fredonia; Edwin C. Krupp, astronomer, director, Griffith Observatory; Paul Kurtz,* chairman, CSICOP; 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 Univ. Joe Nickell,* author, technical writing instructor, Univ. of Kentucky; Lee Nisbet,* philosopher, Medaille College; James E. Oberg, science writer; Loren Pankratz, psychologist, Oregon Health Sciences Univ.; John Paulos, mathematician, Temple Univ.; Mark Plummer, lawyer, Australia; W. V. Quine, philosopher. Harvard Univ.; Milton Rosenberg, psychologist, Univ. of Chicago; Carl Sagan, astronomer, Cornell Univ.; Wallace Sampson, M.D., clinical professor of medicine, Stanford Univ.; Evry Schatzman, President, French Physics Association; Eugenie Scott, physical anthropologist, executive director. National Center for Science Education; Thomas A. Sebeok, anthropologist, linguist, Indiana Univ.; Robert Sheaffer, science writer; Dick Smith, film producer, publisher, Terrey Hills, N.S.W., Australia; Robert Steiner, magician, author, El Cerrito, Calif.; Carol Tavris, psychologist and author, Los Angeles, Calif.; Stephen Toulmin, professor of philosophy, Northwestern Univ.; Marvin Zelen, statisti cian. Harvard Univ. Lin Zixin, former editor Science and Technology Daily (China). (Affiliations given for identification only.) 'Member, CSICOP Executive Council 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 703, Buffalo, NY 14226-0703. 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 703, Buffalo, NY 14226-0703. Tel.: (716) 636-1425. FAX: (716)-636-1733. 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. THE SKEPTICAL INQUIRER is indexed in the Readers' Guide to Periodical Literature. Copyright ©1993 by the Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal, 3965 Rensch Road, Buffalo, NY 14228. All rights reserved. THE SKEPTICAL INQUIRER is available on 16mm microfilm, 35mm microfilm, and 105mm microfiche from University Microfilms International. Subscription Rates: Individuals, libraries, and institutions, $25.00 a year; back issues, $6.25 each. THE SKEPTICAL INQUIRER (ISSN 0194-6730) is published quarterly, Winter, Spring, Summer, and Fall. Printed in Canada. Second-class postage paid at Buffalo, New York, and additional mailing offices. Send changes of address to THE SKEPTICAL INQUIRER, Box 703, Buffalo, NY 14226-0703. {} SKEPTICAL INQUIRER Vol. 17.No.4,Summer 1993 i- ••'•-•• •:••• ^-: - -^:. ' - - - ^ "••*•••-•••• 1 Journal of the Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal ARTICLES The Right Hemisphere: An Esoteric Closet? Fernando D. Saravi 380 Improving Science Teaching: The Textbook Problem Kevin Padian 388 The Eyewitness: Imperfect Interface Between Stimuli and Story James R. Reich. Jr. 394 Pathological Science: An Update Alan Cromer 400 Jack Horkheimer, "Star Hustler" An Interview by Gabriel Seabrook 408 FROM THE EDITOR Our Wide and Fertile Field Kendrick Frazier 347 FROM THE CHAIRMAN Exploring the Television Wasteland Paul Kurtz 350 NEWS AND COMMENT 355 Court Awards CSICOP Sanctions / CSICOP Challenges 'Fire in the Sky' / Defects in John's Experiments / Geoarchaeologist Says Atlantis Was Troy / Hungarian Teenagers Win Randi Prize / AAAS Meeting / Stamps Celebrate Science and Pseudoscience / Werewolf Escapes in Mobile / Where's the Rapture? NOTES OF A FRINGE-WATCHER The False Memory Syndrome Martin Gardner 370 PSYCHIC VIBRATIONS Quatrain X. Satanic Cults, and STS-48's Crystals Robert Sheaffer 376 BOOK REVIEWS Daniel Seligman, A Question of Intelligence: The IQ Debate In America Lee Loevinger 416 James Harvey Young, American Health Quackery Terence Hines 418 Jeffrey Burton Russell. Inventing the Hat Earth Monty Vierra 420 Ivan L Zabilka, Scientific Malpractice: The Creation/ Evolution Debate Robert A Baker 422 NEW BOOKS 427 ARTICLES OF NOTE 429 FOLLOW-UP Samoan Hoax. Margaret Mead, and Cultural Relatvity John R. Cole. Theodore Schwartz Frank Lee Earley, and Martin Gardner 435 FORUM The Well-Run Universe—Fact or Fancy? Ralph Estling 441 LETTERS TO THE EDITOR 444 ON THE COVER: Illustration by Bruce Adams. HELP US DEFEND SKEPTICISM AGAINST HARASSING SUITS CSICOP LEGAL DEFENSE FOUNDATION n recent issues of the SKEPTICAL INQUIRER we have outlined the I difficulties that the Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal is experiencing because of harassing lawsuits filed against skeptics. We feel confident that these suits will eventually be dismissed. Still, we suspect that the lawsuits were brought for reasons other than the redress of alleged grievances. For what do these suits mean? They mean that the pro- paranormalists think they have finally found a way to strike below the belt of scientists and skeptics. For years they have been unable to prove their claims of miraculous abilities. They've grown tired of hearing our challenges. Now they have turned to intimidation by lawsuit in an effort to silence their only persistent critics. It doesn't necessarily matter if the plaintiff wins or loses the suit. Their purpose is to waste