ITALY'S VICTORY OVER HOMEOPATHY • SHIPS OF THE DEAD • PERFECT PLANET, CLEVER SPECIES

Volume 28; No. 5 • September / October 2004

COLUMBIA'S PRAYER/FERTILITY STUDY: Flawed and Fraud

Science and Ethics Teach the Controversy1 An Intelligently Alternative Medicine and Designed Ruse

Published by the Committee for the Scientific Investition of Claims ofis the o Paranormalf the Paranorma l THE COMMITTEE FOR THE SCIENTIFIC INVESTIGATION of Claims of the Paranormal

AT THE CENTER FOR INQUIRY- TRANSNATIONAL (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 Joe Nicked, Senior Research Fellow Massimo Polidoro, Research Fellow Richard Wiseman, Research Fellow Lee Nisbet, Special Projects Director FELLOWS

James E. Alcock,* psychologist, York Univ., Toronto Thomas Gilovich, psychologist. Cornell Univ. Bill Nye. science educator and television host Nye Labs Jerry Andrus, magician and inventor, Albany, Henry Gordon, magician, columnist, Toronto James E. Oberg. science writer Oregon Saul Green, Ph.D., biochemist president of ZOL Irmgard Oepen, professor of medicine (retired). Marcia Angell. M.D., former editor-in-chief, New Consultants, New York, NY Marburg, Germany England Journal of Medicine Susan Haack, Cooper Senior Scholar in Arts Loren Pankratz, psychologist Oregon Health Robert A. Baker, psychologist, Univ. of Kentucky and Sciences, prof, of philosophy, University Sciences Univ. Stephen Barrett, M.D.. psychiatrist, author, of Miami John Paulos, mathematician, Temple Univ. consumer advocate, Allentown, Pa. C. E. M. Hansel, psychologist, Univ. of Wales Steven Pinker, cognitive scientist. MIT Willem Betz, professor of medicine, Univ. of David J. Helfand, professor of astronomy, Massimo Polidoro. science writer, author. Brussels Columbia Univ. executive director CICAP, Italy Barry Beyerstein." biopsychologist, Simon Fraser Douglas Hofstadter, professor of human Milton Rosenberg, psychologist, Univ. of Chicago Univ., Vancouver, B.C., Carada understanding and cognitive science, Wallace Sampson, M.D., clinical professor of Irving Biederman, psychologist, Univ. of Southern Indiana Univ. medicine. Stanford Univ.. editor, Scientific California Gerald Holton, Mallinckrodt Professor of Physics Review of Alternative Medicine Susan Blackmore, Visiting Lecturer, Univ. of the and professor of history of science, Harvard Univ. Amardeo Sarma. manger NEC Europe Ltd.. West of England, Bristol Ray Hyman,* psychologist, Univ. of Oregon executive director, GWUP, Germany. Henri Broch, physicist, Univ. of Nice, France Leon Jaroff, sciences editor emeritus, Time Evry Schatzman, former president, French Physics Jan Harold Brunvand, folklorist, professor Sergei Kapitza, former editor, Russian edition. Association emeritus of English, Univ. of Utah Scientific American Eugenie Scott, physical anthropologist, executive Vern Bullough, professor of history, California Philip J. Klass, aerospace writer, engineer director, National Center for Science Education State Univ. at Northridge Lawrence M. Krauss, author and professor of Robert Sheaffer, science writer Mario Bunge, philosopher, McGill University physics and astronomy, Case Western Reserve Elie A. Shneour, biochemist author, John R. Cole, anthropologist, editor. National University director, Biosystems Research Institute. Center for Science Education Edwin C. Krupp, astronomer, director, Griffith La Jolla, Calif. Frederick Crews, literary and cultural critic Observatory Dick Smith, film producer, publisher, Terrey Hills, professor emeritus of English, Univ. of Paul Kurtz,' chairman. Center for Inquiry N.S.W.. Australia California, Berkeley Lawrence Kusche, science writer Robert Steiner, magician, author, El Cerrito. Calif. F, H. C. Crick, biophysicist. Salk Inst, for Biological Leon Lederman, emeritus director, Fermilab; Victor J. Stenger. emeritus professor of physics Studies, La Jolla, Calif; Nobel laureate Nobel laureate in physics and astronomy, Univ. of Hawaii; adjunct Richard Dawkins, zoologist Oxford Univ. Scott Lilienfeld, psychologist, Emory Univ. professor of philosophy, Univ. of Colorado Geoffrey Dean, technical editor. Perth, Australia Lin Zixin, former editor, Science and Technology Jill Cornell Tarter, astronomer, SETI Institute, Daniel C Dennett University Professor and Austin Daily (China) Mountain View, Calif. B. Fletcher Professor of Philosophy, Director of Jere Lipps, Museum of Paleontology, Univ. of Carol Tavris, psychologist and author, Los Angeles, the Center for Cognitive Studies at Tufts Uni­ California, Berkeley Calif. versity Elizabeth Loftus. professor of psychology, Univ. of David Thomas, physicist and mathematician, Ann Druyan, writer and producer, Ithaca, New York California, Irvine Peralta. New Mexico Cornells de Jager. professor of astrophysics. Univ. Paul MacCready, scientist/engineer, Stephen Toulmin, professor of philosophy, Univ of of Utrecht, the Netherlands AeroVironment Inc.. Monrovia, Calif. Southern California Paul Edwards, philosopher, editor, Encyclopedia John Maddox, editor emeritus of Nature Neil deGrasse Tyson, astrophysicist and director, of Philosophy David Marks, psychologist City University, London. Hayden Planetarium, New York City Marilyn vos Savant Parade magazine Kenneth Feder, professor of anthropology, Mario Mendez-Acosta, journalist and contributing editor Central Connecticut State Univ. science writer, Mexico City. Mexico Steven Weinberg, professor of physics and Antony Flew, philosopher, Reading Univ., U.K. Marvin Minsky, professor of media arts and astronomy, Univ. of Texas at Austin; Andrew Fraknoi, astronomer, Foothill College. Los sciences, M.I.T. Nobel laureate Altos Hills, Calif. David Morrison, space scientist. NASA Ames E.O. Wilson, University Professor Emeritus. Kendrick Frazier. science writer, editor, SttimcAi Research Center Harvard University INQUIRER Richard A. Muller, professor of physics. Univ. of Richard Wiseman, psychologist. University of Yves Galifret vice-president. Affiliated Calif.. Berkeley Hertfordshire Organizations: France H. Narasimhaiah, physicist president 8angalore Marvin Zelen. statistician, Harvard Univ. Martin Gardner, author, critic Science Forum, India Murray Gell-Mann. professor of physics, Santa Fe Joe Nickell,* senior research fellow, CSICOP * Member, CSICOP Executive Council Institute; Nobel laureate Lee Nisbet* philosopher, Medaille College (Affiliations given for identification only.)

• • • Visit the CSICOP Web site at http://vzww.csicop.org • • •

The SKEPTICAL INQUIRER (ISSN 0194-6730) is published bimonthly by the Committee forth e and on page 63 of the September/October 2003 issue. Or you may send a rax request to the editor Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal. 1310 Sweet Home Rd.. Amherst, NY Articles, reports, reviews, and letters published in the SKEPTICAL INQUIRER represent the 14228. Printed in U.SA Periodicals postage paid at Buffalo, NY. and at additional mailing of­ views and work of individual authors. Their publication does not necessarily constitute an en­ fices. Subscription prices: one year (six issues). S35: two years, $60; three yean. S84: single is­ dorsement by CSICOP or its members unless so stated. sue. $4-95. Canadian and foreign orders: Payment in U.S. tunds drawn on a U.S. bank must ac­ Copyright ©2004 by the Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Par­ company orders; please add USS10 per year for shipping. Canadian and foreign customers ate anormal. All rights reserved. The SKEPTICAL INQUIRER is available on 16mm microfilm. encouraged to use Visa or MasterCard. 35mm microfilm, and 105mm microfiche from University Microfilms International and is Inquiries from the media and the public about the work of the Committee should be made indexed in the Reader's Guide to Periodical Literature. to Paul Kura, Chairman. CSICOP. Box 703. Amherst, NY 14226-0703. Tel.: 716-636-1425. Subscriptions and changes of address should be addressed to: SKEPTICAL INQUIRER. BOX 703. Am­ -T FAX 716-636-1733. herst. NY 14226-0 03> Or call tou-free I-80O634-1610 (outside US. call -16636-1425). Old ad­ Manuscripts, letters, books for review, and editorial inquiries should be addressed to Kendrick dress as well as new are necessary for change of subscriber's address, with six weeks advance notice. Frazier. Editor. SKEPTICAL INQUIRER. 944 Deer Drive NE, Albuquerque. NM 87122. Fax 505- SKEPTICAL INQUIRER subscribers may not speak on behalf of CSICOP or due SKEPTICAL INQUIRER. 828-2080. Before submitting anv manuscript, please consult our Guide forAuthor s for formaian d Postmaster Send changes of address to SKEPTICAL INQUIRER. Box 703. Amherst, NY references requirements. It is on our Web site at hnp^/ww^.cskop.org/si/guide-rVx-authcH^rrnl 14226-0703. 49 Labyrinths: Mazes and Myths The use of labyrinths began as a New Age fad but has quickly Skeptical Inquirer gone mainstream, with dozens of books, magazine articles, organizations, Web sites, and seminars devoted to the topic. September/October 2004 • VOL. 28, NO. 5 Despite the popularity of labyrinths, literature on the subject is rife with anti-scientific, paranormal beliefs and the movement ARTICLES has escaped any in-depth critical examination. BENJAMIN RADFORD 18 Can the Sciences Help Us to Make Wise Ethical Judgments? COLUMNS Scientific knowledge has a vital, if limited, role to play in shaping our moral values and helping us to frame wiser EDITOR'S NOTE judgments. Ethical values are natural and open to examination Fraud and Fertility, Science and Ethics in the light of evidence and reason. NEWS AND COMMENT PAUL KURTZ Science and Ethics Conference Brings Together Minds from Canada, Europe, and the U.S. / Stem-Cell Debate: Public Still 25 The Columbia University 'Miracle' Undecided; Opinion Could Sway / Cold-Fusion Proponent Eugene Study: Flawed and Fraud Maliove Murdered / SI Jesus Article Draws AP Writer's Ire / Elizabeth Loftus Elected to National Academy of Sciences / Betz, The much-hyped Columbia University prayer study was flawed Druyan, Helfand Elected CSICOP Fellows; 3 Consultants Named / and suspicious from the start but now has been fatally tainted CSICOP Fellow Neil deGrasse Tyson Hosts Nova Ministries / Pinker, with fraud and scandal Tarter Named Among Time's 100 Most Influential People S BRUCE FLAMM

32 'Teach the Controversy" INVESTIGATIVE FILES Ships of the Dead An Intelligently Designed Ruse JOE NICKELL 11 In their quest to have Intelligent Design theory included in educational curricula, proponents have rallied behind a specious strategy, exhorting school boards to "teach the scientific THINKING ABOUT SCIENCE controversy" surrounding the issue of evolution. Did Popper Refute Evolution? ROBERT CAMP MASSIMO PIGLIUCCI 15

36 The Campeche, Mexico NOTES ON A STRANGE WORLD 'Infrared UFO' Video Lady Homeopathy Strikes Back . . . But Science Wins Out Mysterious objects filmed by the Mexican military in March MASSIMO POUDORO 16 2004 created a flurry of excitement and strange claims. A new analysis from a respected expert suggests that the images have a prosaic explanation—despite premature dismissals by skeptics SCIENCE BEST SELLERS 59 and believers alike.

ROBERT SHEAFFER FORUM Obscurantism, Tyranny, and the Fallacy of Either Black or White 41 The Anthropic Principle and the RALPH ESTLING 60 Big Bang: Natural or Supernatural? Tablets and Tabloids: Skeptical Reading A Simple Probabilistic Answer JOHN C. WHITTAKER 63 A vast literature is devoted to discussion of the anthropic principle. This article offers a simple discussion of the anthropic principle in Bayesian probabilistic terms. While it intentionally LETTERS TO THE EDITOR 65 simplifies the problem, it demonstrates thai interpretations of the anthropic principle based on the hypothesis of its supernatural REVIEWS origin can be refuted on simple probabilistic grounds.

MARK PERAKH Perfect Planet, Clever Species: How Unique Are We? By William C Burger 46 Alternative Medicine and the Biology Departments of New WILLIAM HARWOOD 55 York's Community Colleges What the #$'! Do We Know' Directed by Mark Vicente, Betsy Chasse. and William Arntz A Survey Chiropractic is increasingly being integrated into—and ERIC SCERRI 56 legitimized by—community college science departments, an Hiding the Elephant: How Magicians Invented the Impossible association that confuses science-based academic biology with a and Learned to Disappear field rife with pseudoscientific and antiscientific practices. By Jim Steinmeyer

FRANK REISER EDWARD SUMMER 58 Skeptical Inquirer EDITOR'S NOTE THE MAGA2INI FOR SCIINCt AND REASON

EDITOR Kendrick Frazier Fraud and Fertility, Science and Ethics EDITORIAL BOARD James E. Alcock Barry Beyerstein Thomas Casten n October 2001 news reports related the astonishing news that a refereed med­ Martin Gardner ical journal had published a study with extraordinary results: infertile women Ray Hyman I Philip J. Klass who were prayed for anonymously by distant Christian prayer groups became Paul Kurtz Joe Nicked pregnant twice as often as those who were not prayed for. It was seen as a "mir­ Lee Nisbet acle," and Columbia University, with which two of the authors were associated, Amardeo Sarma proclaimed that the study had been carefully designed to eliminate bias. Bela Scheiber CONSULTING EDITORS Among those highly unconvinced by these assertions was a California pro­ Robert A. Baker Susan J. Blackmore fessor of obstetrics and gynecology, an informed critic of alternative medicine John R. Cole claims named Bruce L. Flamm. Flamms suspicions were raised by the on-the- Kenneth L. Feder C. E. M. Hansel face unlikelihood of the claims and by the puzzling study design, which he E. C. Krupp Scott O. Lilienfeld found bewildering and filled with sources of error. He began calling attention David F. Marks to these problems and investigating the matter in depth. His requests of the Eugenie Scott Richard Wiseman authors for further details and answers went ignored. (In science there is an CONTRIBUTING EDITORS obligation to make raw data available for evaluation by ones peers, but the Chris Mooney James E. Oberg authors never once replied to Flamm.) He published two critiques of the study Robert Sheaffer in The Scientific Review of Alternative Medicine, again without response from David E. Thomas MANAGING EDITOR the authors. Benjamin Radford When his attention turned to the authors themselves, Flamm found deeply ART DIRECTOR troubling information about one of them, Daniel Wirth. Wirth had been Lisa A. Hutter PRODUCTION indicted by a federal grand jury in October 2002 on charges of bilking a com­ Christopher Fix pany out of $2.1 million. He and his former research associate were charged Paul Loynes EDITORIAL ASSISTANT with mail fraud, interstate transportation of stolen money, making false state­ David Park Musella ments, and five other counts of fraud. Wirth's trial was delayed six times, but CARTOONIST on May 14, 2004, Wirth and his colleague pleaded guilty to conspiracy to Rob Pudirn WEB PAGE DESIGN commit mail fraud and conspiracy to commit bank fraud. Wirth will be sen­ Patrick Fitzgerald. Designer Amanda Chesworth tenced in September. All this is relevant not only because this study Kevin Christopher has been so highly touted but also because Wirth has published, in non- Rob Beeston mainstream publications, a series of other publicized studies making similar PUBUSHER'S REPRESENTATIVE extraordinary pro-paranormal claims about "therapeutic touch," human Barry Karr energy fields, miraculous cures, and so on. But the Columbia prayer study was CORPORATE COUNSEL Brenton N. VerPloeg the first appearing to have the imprimatur of establishment science. Now all of BUSINESS MANAGER these studies are suspect. Sandra Lesniak FISCAL OFFICER In this issue Flamm describes his more than two-year investigation into the Paul Paulin study, its authors and their stonewalling, and the regrettable role of the jour­ DEVELOPMENT OFFICERS Richard Hull nal in ignoring and not responding to the serious criticisms he presented, James Kimberly essentially trying to cover up what is now a serious and even notorious case of Sherry Rook CHIEF DATA OFFICER highly questionable "science." Michael Gone * « * STAFF The case raises all sorts of questions about ethical procedures in science. In Darlene Banks Julie Beauchamp the second article in this issue, CSICOP and Center for Inquiry (CFI) founder Patricia Beauchamp Matthew Cravatta Paul Kurtz, a philosopher, asks another kind of question involving science and Jennifer Miller ethics: Can science and reason be used to develop wise ethical judgments? Heidi Shively Anthony Santa Lucia With nuance and sensitivity, he argues in rhe affirmative. The article is based John Sullivan on his keynote address at the CFI conference "Science and Ethics" which was Vance Vigrass PUBLIC RELATIONS DIRECTOR held in Toronto in May. Kevin Christopher EDUCATIONAL DIRECTOR Amanda Chesworth INQUIRY MEDIA PRODUCTIONS Thomas Flynn DIRECTOR OF LIBRARIES Timothy S. Binga

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

4 July/August 2004 SKEPTICAL INQUIRER NEWS AND COMMENT

Science and Ethics Conference Brings Together Minds from Canada, Europe, and the U.S.

JOHN GAEDDERT DJ Grothe, who joked, "How many sec­ ular humanists does it take to turn on a The Center for Inquiry- Transnational light-bulb? None, when Catholic Chari­ hosted its conference, "Science and ties is meeting next door." Ethics: How Scientific Inquiry Helps A student delegation from across the Frame Value Judgments," in Toronto, country (brought in by CFI-Ow Canada, from May 13-16, 2004. Con­ Campus) attended the sessions and ference organizers brought together assisted with various duties. twenty-three speakers in the fields of Panelists for the session on "The science, medicine, philosophy, journal­ Role of Science in Ethical Inquiry" ism, and education for four days of pre­ included frequent Free Inquiry contrib­ sentations. utor Vern Bullough, Bill Rottschaefer of Attendees gathered at the Court­ Lewis and Clark College, Chris yard Marriott, where they mingled DiCarlo of the University of Ontario with CFI staff and members of the On­ Institute of Technology, and Jillian tario Skeptics and the Toronto Hu­ Mcintosh of the University of Western manists. When they weren't attending Ontario. Bullough gave a meticulous conference sessions, they explored the presentation on the social ramifications book room or roamed out to sample of sex changes (prompting one of the Toronto's culture. students to quip, "Good thing he's not The conference got under way on doing a slide show"). Rottschaefer dis­ Thursday evening, with CFI Chair Paul cussed attempts to augment philosoph­ Kurtz and Mario Bunge from McGill ical ethics widi the physical sciences. University delivering two keynote ad­ Irving Louis Horowitz. Vern Bullough. and Paul DiCarlo talked about the universal dresses on "The Science of Ethics." A Kurtz confer at the Awards Banquet. human foundations of morality, and crew from TVOntario videotaped their how the search for "absolute trudis" will presentations for use on the cable show always be constrained by the physical Big Ideas. limitations of the day. Mcintosh stirred "Scientific naturalists believe that up the crowd widi a bold presentation, secular societies already have developed taking the role of a "puzzled yet sympa­ responsible ethical norms, and that sci­ thetic interlocutor" to combat what she ence and reason have helped us to solve saw as an attitude of philosophical com­ moral dilemmas," said Kurtz. "How and placency. Stating that the argument of in what sense is morality possible with­ censorship in stem-cell research is a red out religion, is a vital issue that needs to herring, she suggested that diere is no be discussed in contemporary society, single "scientific oudook" but a multi­ Jim Alcock, recipient of CSICOP's In Praise of Reason for this may very well be the hottest tude of outlooks, and urged scientists Award, mingles with Paul Kurtz and friends. issue of the twenty-first century." (For and skeptics alike not to get carried more on the topic, see Kurtz's article on away by their own fervor. page 18 in this issue.) The talk was marred only by minor The Friday luncheon was hosted by technical difficulties, such as when die die Commission for Scientific Medicine lecture hall's lights randomly dimmed, and Mental Health (CSMMH), with increased, and even went out completely presentations by its director Andrew for a moment. It turned out diat die Skolnick and Scon Lilienfeld, editor of Catholic Charities banquet one partition the Scientific Review of Mental Health over was adjusting dieir lights, which Practice. Discussions included the long affected die entire hall. The problem was history of quack medicine and the corrected after a few tense minutes. importance of watchdog organizations James Brown. Richard Hull. Ron Bailey, and Gilbert We all appreciated die irony—especially such as the CSMMH. Hattois attend a plenary session.

SKEPTICAL INQUIRER September/October 2004 5 NEWS AND COMMENT

David Koepsell, Executive Director and James Brown from the University of paranormal never posed a serious threat of the Council for Secular Humanism, Toronto. The Saturday afternoon ses­ to science), there are still very real threats chaired the panel on "Medicine and sion, "Human Behavior and Ethics," to science such as alternative medicine Ethics," which featured medical doctors brought together a panel of professors: and fundamentalist religious viewpoints. including Kimball Atwood, a contribut­ CSICOP fellows Jim Alcock and Barry After the awards ceremony, Underdown ing editor of the Scientific Review of Beyerstein, Miriam Thalos from the treated the crowd to his irreverent take on Alternative Medicine (SRAM), Bernard University of Utah, and John Teehan of the Ten Commandments. Patten of Rice University in Houston, Hofstra University. On Sunday morning, attendees split Robert Buckman of the University of The Saturday evening banquet, up for two concurrent sessions: Toronto, and Donald Calne of the emceed by Jim Underdown of CFl—West, "Naturalism, Science, and Ethics" featur­ University of British Columbia. They was a chance to honor some esteemed ing Paul Kurtz, Oliver Curry of Rutgers discussed the challenges of reconciling members of the CFI community. Kurtz University, and Fred Wilson from the multiple worldviews or ethical systems; presented the CFI's first-ever "Science University of Toronto. Curry's presenta­ the ability of ethics to influence social and the Public Award" to Irving Louis tion, which focused on the evolutionary opinion and thereby shape laws; and the Horowitz, head of Transaction Publish­ basis for many common moral values, essential role of social, moral, and ethi­ ers, who reflected on the value of organi­ was especially well received. "Policy and cal codes in human societies. zations like the CFI and the importance Ethical Judgments" featured Ed Buck- Saturday morning, attendees passed of having "careful critics of power" in ner, Southern Director of the CSH, around the Toronto Star and a full-page every age. Vern Bullough presented CSI­ Irving Louis Horowitz, John Novak, and article, "Message in a test tube," which COP fellow James Alcock with the "In Tom Flynn, editor of Free Inquiry. reported on the role of ethics and reli­ Praise of Reason Award" (the highest This concluded the conference, but gion in public policy and scientific honor CSICOP bestows, previously not the weekend. While many attendees research and featured quotes from Kurtz, given to such notables as Carl Sagan, were packing their bags to return home, Bunge, and CFl-Metro New York Direc­ Steven Jay Gould, and Richard Andrew Skolnick led a group to the tor Susan Jacoby. It was a fitting tie-in to Dawkins). Alcock thanked Bunge and Ontario Science Centre, where they the Saturday morning session, "Scientific Kurtz for their impact on his career, and marveled at the cutting-edge displays Freedom and Responsibility," where shared some anecdotes from his career in and hands-on exhibits. Richard Hull was joined by Ronald the skeptical movement. He commented Bailey of Reason magazine, Gilbert that while many scientists were indiffer­ John Gaeddert is Assistant Public Relations Hottois from the University of Brussels, ent to paranormal claims (because the Director at the Center for Inquiry.

Stem-Cell Debate: to lobby for the controversial research, Parkinson's disease, and spinal-cord which proponents argue could help find injuries. But the most useful stem cells Public Still Undecided; a cure for Alzheimer's and other diseases. come from early human embryos, which Opinion Could Sway "The public is at a point where they are destroyed in the process of retrieving are probably open to the appeals of both the cells. As a result, many religious con­ The volatility of public opinion about advocates and opponents of stem-cell servatives oppose stem-cell research, stem-cell research means that opinion research," Nisbet said. "The batde is on likening it to abortion. could be swayed in either direction, among both sides to define the issue in according to Ohio State University Overall, Nisbet said polls indicate terms that will help their cause. Reagan's researcher Matt Nisbet, who recendy most Americans have strong reservations death could make this a higher profile studied poll results on die issue. about the use of embryos for stem-cell issue again." research. But their support or opposi­ "Polls show that the public doesn't know much about die science or the Nisbet recendy studied more than tion depends quite a bit on how poll policy surrounding stem-cell research, 150 polls of Americans concerning their questions are worded. and that means they really haven't solid­ views on stem-cell research. His findings For example, results differed in polls ified dieir opinions," said Nisbet, an appear in the current issue of Public conducted in 2001 by the Juvenile OSU assistant professor of journalism Opinion Quarterly. Stem cells are primi­ Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF) and communication. Stem-cell research tive cells from which other, more spe­ and the National Council of Catholic may become a major issue again because cialized cells develop. Many scientists Bishops (NCCB). of Ronald Reagan's recent death and believe stem cells may someday be use­ The JDRF poll questions talks about bout widi Alzheimer's disease. Some are ful as therapies for a variety of diseases stem cells coming from extra embryos using Reagan's death as an opportunity and conditions, including Alzheimer's, "donated to research" and discusses how

6 September/Oclober 2004 SKEPTICAL INQUIRER NEWS AND COMMENT

stem cells may provide cures for eight validly measure public opinion. For Hampshire. His body was discovered high-profile diseases or injuries. funding advocates, the results clearly shordy before 11 P.M. at a family-owned On the other hand, the NCCB poll show that if they can make the connec­ home in Norwich, which he was at one talks about "experiments" using stem tions between research and cures over­ time renting to tenants, according to cells from "live" human embryos diat whelmingly salient in media coverage, neighbors. His death was ruled a homi­ would be "destroyed in their first week the public is likely to be swayed. Outside cide by blunt-force trauma to his head of development," all paid for with "fed­ of this hypothetical, however, the polls and neck, accotding to the report by the eral tax dollars." don't provide good evidence that public Office of the Chief State Medical opinion has changed since 2002. "Still, Examiner. Police said the assault Not surprisingly, public support for in contrast, other commissioned polls occurred during a suspected robbery. stem-cell research was 65 percent in the indicate that opponents of funding will JDRF poll, while 70 percent of respon­ Mallove, an MIT graduate, was an do best by linking stem-cell research to dents in the NCCB poll were opposed outspoken proponent of the reality of abortion and make it into a moral and to funding this research. cold fusion. He was associated with the religious issue. In the end. it comes down "The fact that die public can be New Energy Foundation (www.infinir.e- to a batde to frame media coverage and energy.com), publisher of Infinite influenced so much by how the ques­ campaign messages," he said. tions are worded tells me that Americans Energy: The Magazine of New Energy are susceptible to be influenced by Technology, which championed cold fusion (which it called "new hydrogen groups on both sides. It depends on who Cold-Fusion Proponent physics") and other energy schemes crafts a message that appeals most to the (such as vacuum or zero-point energy) it public," Nisbet said. Support also Eugene Mallove considered to be neglected by main­ depends on the type of embryo used in Murdered stream science. research. Public support seems highest for funding of stem-cell research that Cold-fusion proponent Eugene F. In March 2004, the U.S. Depart­ uses either adult cells or extra embryos Mallove was found murdered in ment of Energy acknowledged that it created and unused at fertility clinics. Norwich, Connecticut, on Friday, May was undertaking a new review of cold­ Public support for funding is lowest, by 14, 2004. The Norwich (Connecticut) fusion claims and reports. No timescale far, for research that used cloned Bulletin reported on May 17 that "News was given and no conclusions have yet been announced. embryos as sources, an important find­ of the death of a prominent scientist from New Hampshire in Norwich ing considering that many scientists —Kendrick Frazier consider cloned embryos to be a pre­ Friday has spread across the country, ferred source for stem cells. prompting a flood of condolences— "Events like Ronald Reagan's death along with some conspiracy rheories." SI Jesus Article Draws are very unpredictable, but it could cast Few details were released immedi­ AP Writer's Ire the public's focus back on the issue and ately about circumstances of the death of Mallove, 56, formerly of Norwich. create momentum for one side or the In May, veteran Associated Press reli­ Mallove lived in Pembroke, New other," Nisbet said. "If Nancy Reagan gion writer Richard Ostling wrote a goes on a campaign in support of this scathing story criticizing CSICOP research, it could have a real impact." Senior Research Fellow Joe Nickell and Already, legislators in New York and one of his sources—Robert M. Price, Illinois have introduced bills using author of The Incredible Shrinking Son Reagan's name that would fund stem- of Man (Prometheus, 2004)—for dar­ cell research in their states. ing to pose the possibility that Jesus In California, a S3 billion proposition never actually existed. will be on the November ballot to provide Ostling took offense to Joe Nickell's funding for the controversial research. special report ""Visions' Behind The Reagan's death has also spurred advo­ Passion' in the May/June 2004 issue of cates to again see where the public stands SKEPTICAL INQUIRER, where Nickell on the issue. But Nisbet finds recent sur­ writes: "Of course, historically, apart vey results less than convincing. "These from later Christian sources, there is vir­ polls were commissioned in pan to test tually no evidence for Jesus' crucifix­ communication strategies that could be ion—or even his very existence," citing used by research advocates, not as scien­ Robert Price. Ostling takes Nickell's tific instruments that carefully and Eugene F. Mallove. 1947-2004. statement entirely out of its context in a

SKEPTICAL INQUIRER September/October 2004 7 NEWS AND COMMENT

larger discussion of whether Mel In the present instance, one feels ment), do seem to have been histori­ Gibson's movie The Passion of the Christ that Ostling is similarly playing to the cal figures. Each is mentioned by sev­ crowd. "Experts" in the field are said to eral contemporaries. Not Jesus. "is as it was.^ dismiss the Christ Myth theory with But the basic issue here is that if Ostling suggests that the "SKEPTICAL derision. In fact, for Ostling, that is an issue is important and one is inter­ INQUIRER needs to be more skeptical precisely what makes diem experts. He ested in that issue, it will not suffice about its skepticism." He proceeds to has plainly not read a line of my books, merely to count or to cite "experts." one of which he mentions in order to delve into a laundry list of references to One is stuck with the task of becom­ ridicule it, or he would know die ing one's own expert and learning Jesus and Christianity by ancient histo­ debate is much more complex. He how to weigh the evidence, complex might have noticed that a major part rians, such as Flavius Josephus, Pliny die as it is, for oneself. Younger, Suetonius, and Tacitus, all of of my argument is to show how the critical methods of all New Testament whom wrote about 100 years after Jesus' "experts" have far more radical impli­ Thanks to Robert Price for taking the time death. Ostling also points to the letters cations dian most of dieir practitioners to comment on Richard Ostling's article. of Paul in the New Testament, though seem to realize. But Ostling is inclined —Kevin Christopher Paul never met Jesus and only first to judge a book by its cover and not by its content. "encounters" him in his vision on the road to Damascus. What argument Ostling presents is Elizabeth Loftus Elected At the end of his article, Ostling either circular or not to die point. He takes it as simple common sense that to National Academy of attempts to discredit Joe Nickell's the memory of Jesus could not have "humanist colleague," Robert Price, been distorted so badly within a mete Sciences whom he describes as "a member of the twenty years (given the date of die left-wing Jesus Seminar." Pauline Epistles according to the CSICOP Fellow Elizabeth Loftus has "experts" Ostling accepts). One might been elected to the National Academy of We asked Robert Price for his reac­ offer as counterevidencc the astonish­ tion to Ostling's piece. He provided the ing fact dun, just fifty years after World Sciences, considered one of the highest following response: War II, half of American young adults honors that can be accorded a scientist. do not know whom their country She was one of seventy-two new members Richard Ostling, long-time religion fought in that war! editor for Time magazine, cannot be of the Academy elected at its annual meet­ expected to take kindly to radical But that is not quite the point. We ing in Washington on April 20, 2004. beg die question if we frame it as scholarly speculations about the his­ The National Academy of Sciences torical (or possibly non-historical) Ostling does: Could a famous figure is a congressionally chartered private Jesus. Whether we can know anything be so distorted in a few decades? But about the historical Jesus, we can the Christ Myth contention is that we organization dedicated to the further­ know about the historical Ostling. need not assume any historical figure ance of science and its use for the gen­ as the origin point; rather, ancient Among other things, he is an evangel­ eral welfare. Its 1,949 members are ical Christian believer. On many mat­ myths of a dying and rising man-god among the most distinguished scien­ ters his convictions do not shape his could well have mutated into a dis­ reporting on religion, or such is my tinctly Christian form. And that is still tists in the nation. reading after many years of enjoying pretty much the form of Christ-talk we Loftus is Distinguished Professor, find in the Epistles, which know only his work. With one exception: I am a Department of Psychology and Social Fellow of die Jesus Seminar, and I of a heavenly savior put to death by have been amazed at the blatant twist­ evil archons (angels), raised up to glory, Behavior and Department of Crimin­ ing of the (acts in Times reporting of and given the honorific name "Jesus." ology, Law, and Society, University of our semiannual sessions. I can't imag­ There is nothing in Paul about a California, Irvine. ine Ostling and his personal savior Nazarene teacher or healer. She is particularly noted for her stud­ much care for the results of our And as for early references to Jesus scholarship. ies of memory, emphasizing the ability in Jewish and pagan writings: suppose of the mind to create false memories. But Ostling's recent comments every one of them is genuine. All alike She has written numerous articles in for the Associated Press raise a would merely represent Christian broader question. I realize that pop­ preaching as Tacitus, Pliny, et al. the SKEPTICAL INQUIRER, most recent­ ular media arc committed to rein­ heard it in their day. It is not like ly "I Am Freud's Brain" (with Maryanne Geraldo Rivera covering Jesus on die forcing popular conceptions of reli­ Garry, May/June 2004), "Memory gion, just as they give the benefit of scene. What is very odd is that Philo Recovery Techniques in Psychotherapy" die doubt to popular beliefs in the Judaeus, describing religious life in paranormal. In both cases, they Palestine in the 40s C.E., mentions (with Steven Jay Lynn, Scott O. Lilien¬ know where their bread is buttered. nodiing of Jesus, nor does the early feld, and Timothy Lock, July/ second-century Pharisee historian It is like the game show Family Feud: August 2003), and the two-part .truck- the "right" answer is not die factually Justus of Tiberias. Other wandering "Who Abused Jane Doe?" (wirh Mel- correct one but rather die one that teachers, including Proteus Peregrinus matches the opinion or belief of and Apollonius of Tyana (though vin J. Guyer, May/June and August/ most people surveyed. later objects of legendary embellish­ September 2002).

8 September/October 2004 SKEPTICAL INQUIRER NEWS AND COMMENT

Betz, Druyan, Helfand « • • A book tided Origins: Fourteen Billion Years of Cosmic Evolution, coaudiored by IN ADDITION, three people have Elected CSICOP Fellows; Tyson with science writer Donald been elected CSICOP Scientific or 3 Consultants Named Goldsmith, will be released simultane­ Technical Consultants, in recognition of ously with die premiere of die series. Three new Fellows have been elected to their work in science and skepticism. the Committee for the Scientific The new Scientific or Technical Investigation of Claims of die Para­ Consultants are: Pinker, Tarter Named normal (CSICOP), publisher of the • Taner Edis, Assistant Professor of Among 77me's 100 Most SKEPTICAL INQUIRER. CSICOP Fellows Physics, Truman State University, arc distinguished scholars, scientists, Kirksville, Missouri; author of The Influential People educators, or investigators who have Ghost in the Universe: God in Light CSICOP Fellows Steven Pinker and Jill made significant contributions to sci­ of Modern Science. Tarter were chosen among the 100 most ence and skepticism. Fellows are nomi­ • Bryan Farha. Professor of Behav­ influential people in the world by Time nated and elected by the CSICOP ioral Studies in Education, Okla­ magazine. This special section titled Executive Council. homa City University; member of "The People Who Shape Our World The new Fellows are: die CSICOP astrology subcommit­ Today" and subtided "Our list of those tee; critic of TV psychics' tactics • Willem Betz, Professor of General whose power, influence, or moral exam­ and methods. Practice Medicine at the University ples touches the lives of all of us, right of Brussels (VUB), Chair and • Luis Alfonso Gamez, science jour­ now," was published in the April 26, Director of the Academic Center nalist, El Correo newspaper, Bilbao, 2004, issue. for Training and General Practi­ Spain; one of the founders of ARP- tioners, and co-founder and general Society for die Advancement of Pinker and Tarter were described secretary of the Belgian Skeptics Critical Thinking, the Spanish under the category "scientists and organization SKEPP He is active in skeptic group, and first director of drinkers," which also included genome science and public education about its magazine, El Esciptico Digital. pioneer Eric Lander, Supreme Court distinctions between alternative Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, "Green —Kendrick Frazier medicine and scientific medicine. contrarian" Bjorn Lomborg, superstring theorist Edward Witten, "sage of reason" •Ann Druyan. writer/producer and philosopher-sociologist Jurgen Haber- CEO ot Cosmos Studios, Ithaca, CSICOP Fellow mas, and thirteen others. New York; co-author of the PBS series Neil deGrasse Tyson Pinker, a Harvard psychologist, was Cosmos, co-author (with Carl Sagan) cited for his work describing how our of Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors, Hosts Nova Miniseries minds evolved and his ability, "rare Comet, and other books; co-creator of CSICOP Fellow Neil deGrasse Tyson, among top-tier scholars ... to convey die morion picture Contact, and co- director of the Hayden Planetarium in complex ideas widi clarity, flair, and writer of the full-dome multimedia New York, will host "Origins," a four- planetarium feature "The Search for wit That's one reason his books— part miniseries on die PBS science pro­ Life: Are We Alone?" most recendy The Blank Slate [excerpted gram Nova. The series will be broadcast • David J. Helfand, Chair and in die March/April 2003 SI] make best­ on Tuesday and Wednesday, September Professor, Department of Astron­ seller lists even as diey make waves in 28 and 29, 2004, widi two episodes air­ omy, and Co-director, Columbia academia." ing each night. Astrophysics Laboratory, Columbia Taner, an astronomer and director of University; author of more tiian The program will examine how life research at the SETI [Search for Extra­ 150 scientific papers plus many came to be in a universe that was born terrestrial Intelligence] Institute in popular articles on pulsars and neu­ in chaos. Tyson is quoted in a press Mountain View, California, is at the tron stars, X-ray astronomy, super­ release from WGBH Boston, the PBS forefront of searching the cosmos for any novas, supcrdusters, and the large- affiliate that produces Nova, as saying: signals from extraterrestrial civilizations. scale structure of the universe. He "What makes the series unique is die Widi die help of a $25 million endow­ serves on NASA advisory and odier attempt to bring to the public, really for ment from Microsoft co-founder Paul professional comminecs, is active the very first time, a synthesis of all the Allen, she and her colleagues are devel­ in public outreach and is recipient branches of science that have relevance oping a new radio telescope array—a of the Columbia University to answering the question, 'What is the collection of up to 350 stecrable, elec­ Presidential Great Teacher Award. origin of our place in the cosmos?'" tronically integrated dish antennas. D

SKEPTICAL INQUIRER September/October 2004 9 CENTER FOR INQUIR

Outpacing its origins ©as a dissenting publisher , today's Center for Inquiry (CFI) movement has emerged as an educational resource, think tank, and advocacy organization. We have a bold plan to advance critical thinking, freedom of inquiry, and the scientific outlook through research, publishing, education, advocacy, and social services.

As before, CFI: Branch Centers Across • Supports the Committee for the the United States and the World Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal (CSICOP) and the Amherst. New York (HQ): We increased Council for Secular Humanism. library space 30 percent and are beginning plans for a major new addition. • Operates the world's premier freethought and skeptical libraries. Hollywood, California: Renovation of our • Offers distinguished adult education 9,000-square-foot Center for Inquiry - West is Center for Inquiry- Transnational, Amherst, NY programs through the Center for complete. There, a new National Media Inquiry Institute. Center will reach out to — and critically examine — the entertainment media. The 99- But the Center needs to reach out seat Steve Allen Theater will also serve as a television production facility. in new ways ... tackling new © problems, exerting influence. New York, New York: Our Center for Inquiry That's why the Center for Inquiry's - Metro New York in Rockefeller Center New Future Fund seeks millions reaches out to the nation's financial, intellec­ of new dollars for program needs, tual, and news media centers, while facilitat­ capital expansion, and endowment ing local activities throughout the metro area. Center for Inquiry- West, Los Angeles, CA Your New Future Fund Tampa Bay, Florida: Center for Inquiry - Gift Can Support Florida offers a stimulating menu of Independent Publications. Besides aiding programs and activities while it searches Free Inquiry and Skeptical Inquirer, CFI pub­ for permanent quarters. lishes the independent American Rationalist; two important journals. The International Centers: in a bold program Scientific Review of Alternative Medicine expansion, new Centers for Inquiry now and The Scientific Review of Mental Health operate in Russia, Mexico, Peru, Nigeria, Practice; and skeptical magazines serving Germany, France, and Nepal, doing vital Center for Inquiry-Metro NY, at Rockefeller Center the UK and the Spanish-speaking world. work in defense of the open society. We plan further expansion into countries with little or no exposure to humanism.

Please complete and mail the enclosed card for further information. Or contact Center for Inquiry - Transnational PO Box 741, Amherst NY 14226-0741 (716) 636-4869, ext 311 e-mail: [email protected] http://www.centerforinquiry.net Center for Inquiry-Ftora/a, Tampa Bay

This is just part of our plans. The New Future Fund will make CFI more self-sufficient and lessen dependence on publishing revenues. Please support our efforts. We seek gifts of cash, multiyear pledges, negotiable securities, paid-up insurance policies, and other assets. Our Development Department can assist you in confidence to design a planned giving program that can benefit yourself and your heirs while supporting the Center's growth. REACH OUT TO A NEW FUTURE!

The Center for Inquiry, the Council for Secular Humanism, and the Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal are 501(cH3) tax-exempt charitable organizations. Gifts are fully tax-deductible as provided by law. INVESTIGATIVE FILES JOE NICKELL

Ships of the Dead

hosts and ships seem to go tain to sail die seas forever. Teazer Light—was almost always together in the popular imagi­ A source for the tale—which exists in observed on foggy nights about the time G nation, combining the romance several variants, thus indicating the of a full moon. of die sea with the spine-tingling lure of process of folklore—suggests its origin I conducted a vigil for die specter at hauntings. (See, for example, Horace may lie in die exploits of a seventeenth- such a time in 1999 but it was a no-show. Becks Folklore and the Sea, 1999, and century Dutch mariner, Bernard Fokke. I later came upon the revealing account Richard Winer's mystery-mongering So daring were some of Captain Fokke's of one who had witnessed the fiery ship, Ghost Ships, 2000.) voyages that there were whispers about only to discover diat what he had actually seen was the moon rising behind Phantom Ships a bank of fog. The illusion con­ There are beguiling reports of vinced him that diat was the phantom vessels, most linked to explanation for previous sightings shipwrecks and other disasters. In of die spectral Teazer (Nickell folklore such ghostly craft are 2001a, 188-189). widespread, often as a motif Other explanations for wraith called the Ship of the Dead, ships include actual vessels being which serves to transport spirits seen through foggy, rainy, or to the afterworld (Guiley 2000, snowy atmosphere. According to 283-284, 343). Beck (1999, 390), "... a ship or The most famous of die spec­ even part of her could well be tral ships is the Flying Dutchman, sighted by a lookout and neither seen nor heard by anyone else, an early legend of which appeared Figure 1. The "haunted" aircraft carrier, USS Hornet, is a floating in an English magazine of 1821. museum at Alameda, California. (Photos by Joe Nickell) or her horn could be heard by In diat version, die ship's captain only one person—suggesting having refused to put into harbor during supernatural aid—die rumors intensify­ diat it was a spirit ship diey had en­ a fierce storm—indeed, even challenging ing when his ship vanished during one countered." He adds: "There can be God to sink die vessel—is visited by a voyage (Cohen 1984, 273-276; Beck little doubt diat anxious hours spent glowing form. He attempts to shoot it 1999, 390-395). peering into fog and snow will cause sea­ with his pistol but the gun blows up in I once investigated a historic phan­ men to see and hear almost anything his hand, and the entity dooms the cap- tom-ship case, that of a fiery spectral diey wish. Moreover, thick weather has a vessel reported in Nova Scotia's Mahone tendency to distort objects into out­ Joe Nickell is a former private detective Bay. It supposedly resulted from a priva­ landish shapes." and author of numerous investigative teer's ship, die Young Teazer, having been Mirage effects, outright pranks, and books including Crime Science and Real- set ablaze in 1813 and all hands perish­ many other factors may contribute to Life X-Files. ing. The phenomenon—known as the reports of phantom ships, including the

SKEPTICAL INQUIRER September/October 2004 11 occasional encounter of abandoned ves­ scene—somewhat like a mental version Crewmen had dubbed the warship sels and derelicts (Beck 1999, 390). of a photographic double exposure— the "Gray Ghost"—apparently because thus creating a seemingly apparitional earlier carriers bearing the same name Haunted Queen Mary event (Nickell 2001a, 290-291). had been sunk, and because its gray In addition to spirit ships, there are During my more than three decades color caused it to blend into hazy back­ numerous otherwise ordinary vessels diat of ghostbusting I have noticed that grounds (Merideth 2001, x). The are reputedly haunted. Prominent among some people have more frequent and moniker may have helped inspire them is the Queen Mary, the former more intense ghostly experiences than notions that the carrier is haunted. ocean liner that since 1971 has been per­ others. For instance, such events on the "Paranormal activity" has been manently docked at Long Beach, Queen Mary "happened with greater fre­ reported since mid 1995 (Haunting California. This historic liner is now quency" for a particular female 2004), when members of the public essentially a floating inn, and I have been employee. Reportedly, another frequent began to be invited on board. In time, among its many overnight guests. press releases would begin to pro­ Nocturnal encounters with spirits mote the carrier as a "Ship of are among die reported phenom­ Spirits" (2001), while seeking ena on board. funds to help with restoration One woman recalled: "I efforts. Halloween offered a spe­ awoke from a deep sleep around cial opportunity to capitalize on midnight. I saw a figure walking the popularity of ghosts, with a near my daughter's sleeping bag "Monster Bash aboard the Gray toward the door. I called out. Ghost" (2001) drawing costumed There was no answer. It was then visitors at twenty-five dollars that I noticed my sister was lying each. A flyer advertising over­ next to me. I sat up in bed and night stays for young people watched the person in white promised, among many offerings, walk through the door!" "real ghost stories"—all for a bar­ (Wlodarski et al. 1995,33). Figure 2 The three-masted Star of India is "the oldest active sail- gain rate of fifty dollars per child This is an obvious example of ing ship in the world" and reportedly has stowaway spirits. (Don't n.d.). a "waking dream," actually a type Such promotion efforts have of hallucination that occurs in the twi­ percipient "actually likes the idea of been aided by ghost hunter Loyd light between being fully asleep and fully spending time with the spirits" Auerbach and local spirit "medium" awake. Such experiences typically (Wlodarski 1995, 49, 50). Some data I Aann Golemac. Auerbach, who uses a include bizarre imagery, such as ghosts, have acquired over the years, utilizing a magnetometer in pseudoscientific fash­ angels, aliens, etc. The encounters can questionnaire, show that as the level of ion as a ghost detector (Best 2001), seem quite real, and the person will typ­ haunting experiences rises so does the claims spirits aboard die warship have ically insist that he or she was not dream­ person's "fantasy scale" (a correlation patted him on the back (Knight 2001), ing (Baker and Nickell 1992, 226-227). discussed later on under "Star oflndia"). although this could be merely imagined Of course, not all ghost sightings self congratulation. can be explained by waking dreams, Aircraft Carrier Hornet Golemac has visited die Hornet sev­ many in fact occurring during normal Anchored at Alameda, California, die eral times and insists it is filled with spir­ waking activity. Consider die report of USS Hornet WAS commissioned in 1943 its. She asserts, "When we leave our "J.M.," who was at the Queen Mary's and saw impressive action during World bodies, we can go back and visit the purser desk when, he stated, "I caught a War II in the Pacific Theater. It steamed places that were important to us" brief glimpse out of the corner of my 150,000 miles, survived fifty-nine (Knight 2001). Actually, there is no sci­ eye, of someone or something moving," attacks, and shot down 668 enemy air­ entific proof for that assertion, but or like that of "P.T.," who said, "I saw craft, destroying anodier 742 on die Golemac is undaunted: "If a person is something move out of the corner of my ground. It later served in die Vietnam skeptical, then they [sic] are just in eye ... a brief glimpse of someone or war and became die major recovery ship denial" (Reports 2004). something" (Wlodarski 1995, 32, 36). for die Apollo 11 and 12 Lunar Landing I may be one of the skeptics she has in Actually, the illusion that something is Missions. mind. Investigating on board die aircraft moving in die peripheral vision is quite Decommissioned in 1970, the carrier with colleague Vaughn Rees, I common, and it or a different stimu­ Hornet was modiballed, then sold for found nodiing to suggest diat diere are lus—a noise, subjective feeling, etc.— scrap in 1993. However it was saved any odd entities on die USS Hometoxher might trigger a mental image. In certain four years later by a foundation that than, well, haunted people. especially imaginative individuals, riiis converted it into a museum (Merideth Many reputedly paranormal occur­ might be superimposed upon die visual 2001, 85-99, 232). (See figure 1.) rences on the ship are merely unidentified

12 September/October 2004 SKEPTICAL INQUIRER noises—coundess sources of which exist Towed to San Diego in 1927 to stating: "All ships are haunted, but some on such a rambling, old, metal ship (Hull become a floating museum, she suffered more than others. Star of India has a 2000). A man sleeping aboard one night neglect through the Great Depression, very special atmosphere. I'm not prone who felt somediing tugging at him was World War II, and beyond. Restoration to flights of imagination, but if you probably experiencing a "waking dream"; was finally completed in 1976 and she is stand on the decks you can't help but he admitted being unsure whether or not now "the oldest active sailing ship in the sense the spirits of the seamen and pas­ he was awake (America's 2003). Many world." Sometime along the way— sengers who sailed on her." seemingly real experiences, as I explained apparently in the 1920s after she was As a poet, I understand these feel­ on a television documentary regarding the retired—Star of India allegedly acquired ings, although I would replace the verb Hornet, may actually be illusory. And some ghostly residents (Lamb 1999). sense with imagine. To study the differ­ once the idea of a ghost attaches ent persons' experiences on the itself to a place, tJien anything Star of India, I handed out cop­ unusual that happens there is con­ ies of my "Ghost Encounters sidered evidence of haunting (Best Questionnaire," seven of which I 2001). received back. The experiences A climate of ghost promotion related were similar to others not only intensifies the effects of reported aboard the ship (Lamb suggestion, but it can invite out­ 1999) and indeed at other right pranking, as I have learned "haunted" places. firsthand at many sites over the There were descriptions of years. I suspect ptanks have eerie chills, feelings of ghostly occurred on the USS Hornet. For presences, and die like—all of example, the reported fall of a which are easily attributable to wrench during one overnight ses­ subjective impressions. As I told a sion (Nickell 2001b) may have reporter (LaFee 2001), some been part of ghostly theatrics Figure 3. A "ghost." sporting a bloody bandage, is all dressed up for Halloween aboard Star of India. places—particularly those imbued intended to spook a youth with history and even having a group. I find it ironic when In October 2001—accompanied by reputation as haunted—possess an a volunteer tour guide states, "The spir­ a group of local skeptics (including "ambiance" diat can inspire such feelings. its are real pranksters" (Hull 2001). Keith Taylor), a newspaper reporter, and A few experiencers reported hearing In contrast to some who report a television crew—I boarded the Star for unexplained sounds. For instance, one ohosrlv shenanicrans. there are dis- a private nighttime pre-Halloween man "heard chains down in the orlop" believers who have no paranormal investigative tour. (i.e., the orlop deck, the lowest deck of a experiences, including one man who On board were unmistakable ship). Another, on a calm morning, had served as a docent on the Hornet for "ghosts"—each dressed in a period cos­ heard a "sloshing" in a fresh-water tank; two years. He suggested to us that those tume for the occasion. Three scenes— it stopped when he fetched a shipmate, who experience ghosts do so because each supposedly reflecting a real, but resumed after the latter left, shaking they are believers (Nickell 2001b). recorded tragedy aboard the Star of his head. ("I found something to do India—were dramatized. These "scary elsewhere," the man confessed.) Perhaps Star of India yarns" (as the local newspaper dubbed these incidents had some real but unno­ Moored in San Diego's harbor is the them [LaFee 2001]) told about a lad ticed cause (e.g., the wind rattling some­ three-masted, black-hulled ship. Star of who fell from atop the main mast, a thing in the first instance, or a sea crea­ India (see figure 2). Chinese sailor who was crushed by die ture splashing in the latter). If not, the Christened Euterpe and launched in ship's heavy anchor chain, and (figure 3) sounds may have been merely mental 1863 from the Isle of Man, the ship sailed a drunken immigrant who committed impressions, familiar ship sounds surfac­ for thirty-five years under the British flag. suicide by slashing his throat. ing from memory. She brought Indian jute to England, trans­ But do the ghosts of these tragic fig­ My limited number of respondents ported European emigrants to New ures indeed haunt the Star? Answers did exhibit a good range of experiences Zealand and Australia, and carried sugar depend on which persons one talks to. (extending from one person with no from Hawaii to San Francisco. Before Some crew members were dismissive of ghostly encounters to others having becoming an Alaskan salmon-fishing vessel any ghosts, while others had experiences "low," "medium," and "high" levels). As in 1898—by then rechristened Star of to relate—the same dichotomy reported had my previous studies (Nickell 2001a, India—she experienced many troubling by John J. Lamb, author of San Diego 84-85, 299), the responses demon­ incidents, including collisions, a non­ Specters, in a chapter titled "The Spectral strated a correlation between the individ­ violent mutiny, and several deaths of crew Stowaway: The Haunting of Star of uals' level of ghost experiences and the members and passengers (Lamb 1991). India" (1999). Lamb quoted Ditler as number of traits a respondent possesses

SKEPTICAL INQUIRER September/October 2004 13 that are associated with a propensity to edge. Besides, incidents might be unex­ brochures and flyers I obtained on a visit. fantasize [Wilson and Barber 1983]). plained yet not unexplainahle. For exam­ A docent on die ship told intern Dawn With the Star of India, as with other ple, apparitions could just be tricks of Peterson and me that he had no ghosdy reputedly haunted sites, it appears it is the mind, and other incidents (like one experiences on board, although he had not the places—but rather the people— of a "flying wrench") might be explained worked there for six years (Bart 2003). that are haunted. as misperceptions or outright pranks. To me at least, the most interesting Pranks seem especially worth consid­ phenomenon reported aboard The USS The Sullivans ering when we are told that the spirit Sullivans concerns a room (Area 43) des­ The destroyer USS The Sullivans was antics occur "especially on Friday the ignated "Sullivan Bros. Memorial" with named for five brothers of Waterloo, thirteenth" (Hauck 1996). This source framed photographs of each of the five Iowa—George, Francis, brothers. According to a tele­ Joseph, Madison, and Al­ vision documentary. Haunt­ bert Sullivan—who had ed History: New York, (2000), enlisted in the Navy and whenever one takes a snap­ together served aboard a shot of the row of pictures, light cruiser, USS Juneau. four of them appear normal In late 1942, the cruiser while that of George is indis­ was sunk by a torpedo tinct: rendered as "a big blur from a Japanese subma­ of light." rine, killing most of the Dawn Peterson and I con­ sailors on board. George ducted several experiments Sullivan survived, only to with the photos and were succumb soon afterward able to duplicate die effect (Sullivans n.d.). shown on the documentary. President Franklin D. If one stands squarely in front Roosevelt directed that one of the photos, since George's of the new destroyers picture is in the center its under construction be Figure 4. Mysterious blurring of one of the five Sullivan brothers' pictures— glass reflects die camera's flash named for the five broth­ aboard their namesake ship—is duplicated in this experimental photo. to produce the blurring. That ers—the only Navy die glass is die non-glare type destroyer ever to bear the name of more (which refers to the destroyer erro­ helps soften the reflection, producing a than a single person. USS The Sullivans neously as "The USS Sullivan) fails to more diffuse, more mysterious effect. was launched at San Francisco on April explain why that date would be so sig­ Among other historic ships, USS The 4, 1943, sporting an Irish shamrock on nificant. In fact, the Sullivan brothers' Sullivans appears no more haunted than her forward stack. She fought in the ship was torpedoed on November 13, any other—that is, not at all. Philippines and elsewhere in World War 1942—a Friday. II, and later served during the Korean However, friggatriskaidekaphobes Acknowledgements War and the Cuban Blockade, as well as (superstitious folk who fear Friday the I am grateful to Tim Binga and John assisting with rescue efforts for the thirteenth [Christopher 2004]) should Gaeddert for their research assistance. recall that it was USS Juneau, not USS nuclear submarine USS Thresher. References Decommissioned in 1965, The Sullivans The Sullvans, that was the brorJiers' death ship. They were never aboard the America's Most Haunted. 2003. Travel Channel, arrived for display in Buffalo, New York, January 5. in 1977 and, in 1986, was designated a destroyer. Moreover, there is no credible Baker, Robert A., and Joe Nickell. 1992. Missing National Historic Landmark. (Her evidence diat Fridays falling on the thir­ Pieces: How to Investigate Ghosts, UFOs. teenth of a month represented jinxed Psychics & Other Mysteries. Buffalo, N.Y.: famous name has been passed on to Prometheus Books. dates for the United States Navy. another destroyer.) (USS n.d.) Ban, John. 2003. Interview by Joe Nickell, June Therefore, if those days saw more Following a familiar pattern, ghost 24. "ghost" incidents aboard USS The Beck, Horace. 1999. Folklore and the Sea. Edison, claims became attached to The Sullivans Sullivans than other days, that might N.J. : Castle Books. only after it was mothbailed. Workers, Best Kept Secrets of the Paranormal 2001. The only suggest that pranking was a possi­ guards, and guides—often unnamed Learning Channel. September 23. ble explanation. Spooky dates, like Christopher, Kevin. 2004. Horrified by Friday the and cited at second hand—began to Halloween, can invite certain people to 13th? Press release of the Committee for die Scientific Investigation of Claims of die report strange incidents that were sup­ engage in "Boo!" type behavior. posedly "unexplained" and therefore Paranormal, February 10. Cohen, Daniel. 1984. The Encyclopedia of Ghosts. indicated a ghosdy cause. But such rea­ In any case, die Friday-the-thirteenth New York: Dorset Press. soning represents a logical fallacy called link seems no longer to exist. The "haunt­ arguing from ignorance; one cannot ing" of the ship appears also in decline; SHIPS OF THE DEAD draw a conclusion from a lack of knowl­ ghosts were not mentioned in the Continued on page 64

14 September/October 2004 SKEPTICAL INQUIRER THINKING ABOUT SCIENCE MASSIMO PIGLIUCCI

Did Popper Refute Evolution?

he neo-Darwinian theory of glad to have an opportunity to make a problem: good science is done when evolution is the currently recantation" (Dialectica 32:344-346). hypotheses can be shown to be false (if Taccepted paradigm to explain Besides being an impressive example they indeed are). That's where the the history and diversity of life on Earth. of a famous scholar admitting in public philosopher's criticism of evolutionary Yet ever since the publication of that he was wrong (when was the last theory originated from. Popper under­ Darwin's Origin of Species in 1859, the time a creationist has done that?), the stood evolutionary biologists to say that theory has been under attack on a vari­ episode is important for two reasons. their theory predicts that natural selec­ ety of grounds. Readers of SI are famil­ First, it is interesting to understand tion allows only the fittest organisms to iar with standard creationist nonsense, where Popper's original criticism came survive; but, he countered, the "fittest" as well as with the slightly more sophis­ from; second, it is crucial to realize organisms are defined as those who sur­ ticated sophistry of "intelligent design" exacdy why he recanted. One of Popper's vive, which makes the statement tauto­ proponents. Some of die criticisms of chief interests in philosophy of science logical. Now, in philosophy being a tau­ minlliliAninr il • li n .. K..,.n Tiiil f/\rrn was the so-called demarcation problem, tology isn't necessarily a bad thing: after in the professional philosophical arena, something very dear to skeptics. The all, tautologies are the bread and butter where serious scholars have often problem consists of identifying die crite­ of logic and mathematics—in the sense accused it of being incoherent or logi­ ria that separate science from pseudo- that one logically deduces consequences cally fallacious. science. Popper took, not surprisingly, from premises that are taken as given, Perhaps the best-known philosophical physics and astronomy to be quintes­ like definitions—and consider how criticism of evolution was put forth by sential examples of good science. On the many interesting things have come out Karl Popper, who once claimed that other hand, he considered Marxist his­ of both logic and mathematics. That is "Darwinism is not a testable scientific tory, Freudian psychoanalysis, and why Popper initially concluded that, theory, but a metaphysical research pro­ astrology as examples of pseudoscience. though tautological, evolutionary the­ gram" (Unended Quest, 1976). Popper The task, then, could be rephrased in ory was a useful "metaphysical" (in the famously retracted his comments once it terms of pinning down what distin­ philosophical, not religious, sense) pro­ was explained to him diat there was quite guishes these two groups of theories. As gram, i.e., an overarching idea that a bit more to the theory than he had it turns out, Popper's approach was viti­ could provide a powerful framework to understood from a cursory examination ated by his failure to appreciate the het­ interpret the biological world. But, as in of die subject: "I have changed my mind erogeneity intrinsic in both the cate­ the case of Freudian psychoanalysis or about the testability and logical status of gories of "science" and "pseudoscience," Marxist history, it wasn't good science. the theory of natural selection; and I am i.e., in the fact that not all science (or Why, then, did the Austrian philoso­ pseudoscience) is created equal, operates pher change his mind? Because it turns Massimo Pigliucci is a profirssor of evolu­ by the same criteria, and can therefore be out that while it is true that evolution­ tionary biology at SUNY-Stony Brook on defined in similar manner. But I will ary biologists predict (i.e., deduce) the Long Island and author of Denying return to that topic in a future column. Evolution: Creationism, Scientism and As far as we are concerned here. the Nature of Science. His essays can be Popper proposed his famous criterion of DID POPPER REFUTE EVOLUTION.' found at www.rationallyspeaking.org falsification to solve the demarcation Continued on page 40

SKEPTICAL INQUIRER Seplember/Octobet 2004 1$ NOTES ON A STRANGE WORLD MASSIMO POLIDORO

Lady Homeopathy Strikes Back ... But Science Wins Out

n July 11, 2000, Superquark a Since then, Superquark has presented ing homeopathy than criticizing it. My popular Italian prime-time sci­ the scientific point of view on many para­ program only sought to redress the Oence program, presented a short normal and pseudoscientific subjects. imbalance. I don't think that my job is segment highly critical of homeopathy. This time, however, there was not only to tell viewers what they want to hear. Leading scientists and medical experts science at stake but also money. Millions Science is not like philosophy, where explained that homeopathy has no scien­ of Italians use homeopathic products, viewers can listen to both sides and tific basis, that risks from treatment with and the homeopathists claimed that the decide for themselves. Science cannot be such unconventional medicines are sig­ broadcast was unfair and could threaten decided on by the vote of viewers." nificant for patients who are suffering their businesses. The Catania-based The July 19, 2001, issue of Nature from serious illnesses, and that the bene­ Italian Association of Medical Homeo­ reported that one of fits of homeopathy are due to the placebo pathy and the Rome-based Italian effect. These arguments are well known Federation of Associations of Medical to SKEPTICAL INQUIRER readers. Homeopathy complained that Angela selected only interviewees who were Piero Angela, die programs host (as critical of homeopathy. So they well as its creator and producer), is die brought two lawsuits, one civil and leading scientific journalist in Italy. He one criminal, against Angela and his was also the first journalist in Italy, in co-author Giangi Poli. 1977, to present a series of TV shows highly critical of parapsychology, on "We are dealing with Lady which James Randi and various members Homeopathy here," said Giulia v>§* of the Committee for the Scientific Bongiorno, Angela's lawyer, "since LAW Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal it has never happened in Italy that SQfl** (CSICOP) received a lot of attention. a criminal suit was brought against someone accused of defaming not a per­ The series became so popular tfiat it son but a remedy, an abstract concept." even inspired famous Italian comedian Alberto Sordi to create a Piero Angela- Angela immediately received strong like character for his movie Sono un backing from the scientific community, fenomeno paranormale {I'm a Paranormal including letters and statements from Phenomenon). individual researchers including Nobel It also inspired Angela to start an Prize winners Renato Dulbecco, who Italian version of CSICOP, an organiza­ has called all homeopathic products tion which came to be called CICAP, the "worthless concoctions," and Rita Levi- Italian Committee for the Investigation of Montalcini, who said that "the , Claims of the Paranormal. greatest damage of this so-called * therapy is that it deludes patients." Massimo Polidoro is an investigator of the "You have to understand," says paranormal, author, lecturer, mid co founder Angela, "that Italian public-television and head of CICAP, the Italian skeptics archives show that fourteen times more group. His Web site is www.massimo programs had been broadcast advocat­ polidoro.com.

16 September/October 2004 SKEPTICAL INQUIRER the guests on Angela's show was Antonio scientific community and the supporters fact diat homeopathy does not have sci­ Cassone, head of the department of bac­ of homeopathy. entific validity. In that respect, one could teriology at Italy's national health insti­ Judge Cinzia Sgro wrote that say that Piero Angela was acquitted, while tute—and who is also a member of the "Science, in fact, is not a matter of mere homeopathy was found guilty. ministry of health's ad hoc committee on categories of opinion. In the scientific "The fundamental problem of home­ homeopathy. field, either something is, or it is not. opathy," says Stefano Cagliano, the sci­ On the show, Cassone merely offered Eidier a treatment works, or it doesn't. entific adviser to Angela during the the opinion that safety information And if it works, it is necessary to demon­ process, "is in its efficacy. The possible should be provided on all homeopathic strate that fact with clear scientific find­ risk is not in an incidental toxicity but in products and that efficacy information ings backed up by a solid statistical base. the fact that some may prefer a homeo­ should be provided on anything that is to Although the international scientific pathic remedy instead of a proved cure." be ingested. "1 would have had no objec­ community has always requested such This kind of attention is an attitude tion to a homeopathist sharing the scientific evidence from homeopathic that Superquark has constantly presented show," he says in Nature, "because it medicine, it has never received attestation toward all kinds of useless medicines and would have been even more convincing of its validity. It is completely devoid of not only toward alternative remedies. to the viewers that arguments of home- any such foundation, remaining substan­ "The first rule of science," comments opadiists against providing information tially an 'emotional medicine.'" Angela, "is that you have to prove what are untenable." But he fully supports the Piero Angela was, of course, the you claim, and in court, we said that had way Angela produced his program. defendant, but the real accused appeared we acted differently, it would have de- The case went to court in the to be homeopathy itself. legitimized us in die view of die scien­ autumn of 2001, and it took over three Although the judgment affirms that it tific community. I think we did a public years to be settled. Finally, on May 20, is not the task of the court to enter into service and our program on homeopathy 2004, the court presented a fifty-nine the question of the validity of homeo­ falls within the many shows on preven­ page, highly detailed judgment con­ pathic medicine, given that Angela was tion that we have done so far." firming that homeopathy has no scien­ charged with criminal defamation, the This judgment arrives at a time when tific validity. What was said on the judge had to conduct an investigation homeopathy and other so-called uncon­ show, the judgment states, "falls within into homeopathy in order to ascertain ventional therapies are at the center of a the right to fair comment and criticism whether this therapy could be equated projea of law being discussed in the and cannot in any way be considered with traditional medicine. Health Commission of Italy's Chamber of offensive or defamatory, as it merely Based on the court's investigation, it Deputies. The plan would be to give full gives an account of a situation which is was determined that Piero Angela bore no equality to these therapies, with the insti­ perfectly rme." obligation to give a voice on his program tution of chairs covering the subject in It is the first time that a court has to the homeopaths insofar as Superquark public universities. Many academic and handed down a judgment on this topic, is a scientific program. The criticisms for­ scientific groups have taken up positions which for years has been at the center of mulated in the course of the broadcast against such a projea, including die heated debate between the international were considered justified, highlighting the Italian National Bioethics Committee, d

THE SCIENTIFIC REVIEW OF MENTAL HEALTH PRACTICE

The Scientific Review of Mental Health Practice is an interdisciplinary journal that examines the evidence (or lack thereof) for a host of untested and disproved therapies and assessment techniques being popularized by sensational stories in the lay media, radio talk shows, and in countless self- help books. Subscribe today! Get a one-year subscription (2 issues) for $60 for individuals in the U.S. and Canada. S70 for individuals overseas, or $100 for institutions in the U.S. and abroad.

Here are three easy ways to subscribe to SRMHP: 1. Call (800) 818-7071 to place a credit card order 2. E-mail your order with your American Express. Visa, or MasterCard number to [email protected] 3. Send your check made out to Center for Inquiry to: SRMHP, Center for Inquiry, P.O. Box 741. Amherst, NY 14226-0741

SKEPTICAL INQUIRER September/October 2004 17 Can the Sciences Help Us to Make Wise Ethical Judgments?

Scientific knowledge has a vital, if limited, role to play in shaping our moral values and helping us to frame wiser judgments. Ethical values are natural and open to examination in the light of evidence and reason. PAUL KURTZ

I.

an science and reason be used to develop ethical judgments? Many theists claim that without reli­ Cgious foundations, "anything goes," and social chaos will ensue. Scientific naturalists believe that secular societies already have developed responsible ethical norms and that science and reason have helped us to solve moral dilemmas. How and in what sense this occurs are vital issues that need to be discussed in contemporary society, for this may very well be the hottest issue of the twenty-first century. Dramatic breakthroughs on the frontiers of science pro­ vide new powers to humans, but they also pose perplexing

18 September/October 2001 SKEPTICAL INQUIRER Many adhere today to the view that ethical choices are merely relativistic and subjective, expressing tastes; and you cannot disputes tastes (de gustibus non disputandum est). If they are emo­ tive at root, no set of values is better than any other. If mere is a conflict, then the best option is to persuade others to accept our moral attitudes, to convert them to our moral feelings, or, if this fails, to resort to force. Classical skeptics denied the validity of all knowledge, including ethical knowledge. The logical positivists ear­ lier in the twentieth century made a distinction between fact, the appropri­ ate realm of science, and value, the realm of expressive discourse and imperatives, claiming that though we can resolve descriptive and theoretical questions by using die methods of sci­ ence, we cannot use science to adjudi­ cate moral disputes. Most recently, postmodernists, following the German philosopher Heidegger and his French followers, have gone further in their skepticism, denying that there is any moral quandaries. Should we use or limit these scientific dis­ special validity to humanistic ethics or indeed to science itself. coveries, such as the cloning of humans? Much of this research They say that science is merely one mythological construct is banned in the United States and restricted in Canada. Should among others. They insist that there are no objective epistemo- scientists be permitted to reproduce humans by cloning (as we logical standards; that gender, race, class, or cultural biases like­ now do with animals), or is this too dangerous? Should we be wise infect our ethical programs and any narratives of social allowed to make "designer babies?" Many theologians and emancipation that we may propose. Who is to say that one nor­ politicians are horrified by this; many scientists and philoso­ mative viewpoint is any better than any other, they demand. phers believe that it is not only inevitable but justifiable under Thus have many disciples of multicultural relativism and sub­ certain conditions. There were loud cries against in vitro fertil­ jectivism often given up in despair, becoming nihilists or cyn­ ization, or artificial insemination, only two generations ago, ics. Interestingly, most of these well-intentioned folk hold pas­ but the procedure proved to be a great boon to childless cou­ sionate moral and political convictions, but when pushed to ples. Many religious conservatives are opposed to therapeutic the wall, will the)' concede that their own epistemological and stem-cell research on fetal tissues, because they think that moral recommendations likewise express only their own per­ "ensoulment" occurs with the first division of cells. Scientists sonal preferences? are appalled by this censorship of scientific research, since the The problem with this position is apparent, for it is research has the potential to cure many illnesses; they believe impaled on one horn of a dilemma, and the consequence of those who oppose it have ignored the welfare of countless num­ this option is difficult to accept. If it is the case that there are bers of human beings. There are other equally controversial no ethical standards, then who can say that the Nazi Holocaust issues on the frontiers of science: Organ transplants—who and the Rwandan, Cambodian, or Armenian genocides should get them and why? Is the use of animal organs to sup­ are evil? Is it only a question of taste that divides sadists ply parts for human bodies wrong? Is transhumanism reform­ and masochists on one side from all the rest on the other? Are ing what it means to be human? How shall we control AIDS—- slavery, the repression of women, the degradation of the is it wicked to use condoms, as some religious conservatives think, or should this be a high priority in Africa and elsewhere? Paul Kurtz is a professor emeritus at the State University of New Does global warming mean we need a radical transformation of York at Buffalo, and chairman of the Center for Inquiry- industry in affluent countries? Is homosexuality genetic and if Transnational. This article is a portion of the keynote address so, is the denial of same-sex marriage morally wrong? How can delivered at the conference on "Science and Ethics" sponsored by we decide such questions? What criteria may we draw upon? the Center for Inquiry in Toronto. Ontario, on May 13, 2004.

SKEPTICAL INQUIRER September/October 2004 1* environment by profit-hungry corporations, or the killing of that we ought to allow nature to take its course and not help the handicapped people morally impermissible, if there are no reli­ handicapped or the poorer classes? (b) Eugenicists concluded able normative standards? If we accept cultural relativity as our earlier in the century rhat some people are brighter and more e, then we have no grounds to object to Muslim law talented than others. Does this justify an elitist hierarchical soci­ (sharia), which condones the stoning to death of adulteresses. ety in which only the best rule or eugenic methods of reproduc­ tion be followed? This was widely held by many liberals until the III. fascists began applying it in Germany with dire consequences. What is the position of those who wish to draw upon science There have been abundant illustrations of pseudoscientific and reason to formulate ethical judgment? Is it possible to theories—monocausal theories of human behavior that were bridge the gap and recognize that values are relative to human hailed as "scientific"—that have been applied with disastrous interests yet allow that they are open to some objective criti­ results. Examples: (a) The racial theories of Chamberlain and cisms? I submit that it is, and that upon reflection, most edu­ Gobineau alleging Aryan superiority led to genocide by the cated people would accept them. I choose to call this third posi­ Nazis, (b) Many racists today point to IQ to justify a menial role tion "objective relativism" or "objective contextualism"; namely, for blacks in society and their opposition to affirmative action. values are related to human interests, needs, desires, and pas­ (c) The dialectical interpretation of history was taken as "scien­ sions—whether individual or socio-cultural—but they are tific" by Marxists and used to justify class warfare, (d) Environ­ nonetheless open to scientific evaluation. By this, I mean a form mentalists decried genetics as "racist" and thought that changes of reflective intelligence that applies to questions of principles in species should only be induced by modifications of the envi­ and values and that is open to modification of them in the light ronment. Thus, one has to be cautious about applying the latest of criticism. In other words, there is a Tree of Knowledge of scientific fad to social policy. Good and Evil, which bears fruit, and which, if eaten and We ought not to consider scientific specialists to be especially digested, can impart to us moral knowledge and wisdom. gifted or possessed with ethical knowledge nor empower them In what sense can scientific inquiry help us to make moral to apply this knowledge to society—as B.F. Skinner in Walden choices? My answer to that is it does so all the time. This is //and other utopianists have attempted to do. Neither scientist- especially the case with the applied sciences: medicine, den­ kings nor philosopher-kings should be entrusted to design a bet­ tistry, nursing, pharmacology, psychiatry, and social psychol­ ter world. We have learned the risks and dangers of abandoning ogy; and also in the policy sciences: economics, education, democracy to those wishing to create a Brave New World. Alas, political science; and such interdisciplinary fields as criminol­ all humans—including scientists—are fallible, and excessive ogy, gerontology, etc. Modern society could not function with­ power may corrupt human judgment. Given these caveats, I out the advice drawn from these fields of knowledge, which nevertheless hold that scientific knowledge has a vital, if limited make evaluative judgments and recommend prescriptions. role to play in shaping our moral values and helping us to frame They advise what we ought to do on a contextual basis. wiser judgments of practice—surely more, I would add, than our Nonetheless, there are the skeptical critics of this position, current reliance on theologians, politicians, military pundits, who deny that science per se can help us or that naturalistic corporate CEOs, and celebrities! ethics is possible. I think that those critics are likewise mis­ taken and that naturalism is directly relevant to ethics. My the­ IV. sis is that an increase in knowledge can help us to make wiser How and in what sense can scientific inquiry help us? decisions. By knowledge, I do not refer simply to philosophi­ I wish to present a modified form of naturalistic ethics. By cal analysis but scientific evidence. It would answer both the this, I mean that ethical values are natural, they grow out of religionist, who insists that you cannot be moral unless you are and fulfill human purposes, interests, desires, and needs. They religious, and the subjectivist, who denies there is any such are forms of preferential behavior evinced in human life. thing as ethical knowledge or wisdom. "Good," "bad," "right," and "wrong" relate to sentient beings, Before I outline this position, let me concede that the skep­ whether human or otherwise. These values do not reside in a tical philosophical objections to deriving ethics from science far-ofF heaven, nor are they deeply embedded in the hidden have some merit. Basically, what are they? The critics assert that recesses of reality; they arc empirical phenomena. we cannot deduce ethics from science, i.e., what ought to be the The principle of naturalism is based on a key methodolog­ case from what is the case. A whole series of philosophers from ical criterion: We ought to consider our moral principles and David Hume to the emotivists have pointed out this fallacy. values, like other beliefs, open to examination in the light of evi­ G.E. Moore, at the beginning of the twentieth century, charac­ dence and reason and hence amenable to modification. terized this as "the naturalistic fallacy"1 (mistakenly, I think). We are all born into a sociocultural context; and we imbibe But they are essentially correct. The fact that science discov­ the values passed on to us, inculcated by our peers, parents, ers that something is the case factually does not make it ipso facto teachers, leaders, and colleagues in the community. good or right. To illustrate: (a) Charles Darwin noted the role of I submit that ethical values should be amenable to inquiry. natural selection and the struggle for survival as key ingredients We need to ask, are they reliable? How do they stack up com­ in the evolution of species. Should we conclude, therefore, as paratively? Have they been tested in practice? Are they consis­ Herbert Spencer did, that laissez-faire doctrines ought to apply, tent? Many people seek to protect them as inviolable truths,

20 Stptember/October 2004 SKEPTICAL INQUIRER immune to inquiry. This is particularly true of transcendentacndental tual issue. There are other principles of justice that are immedi- values based on religious faith and supported by custotom and ately thrown into consideration. Those opposed to the death tradition. In this sense, ethical inquiry is similar to otheer formformss penalty say that society "should set a humane tone and not itself of scientific inquiry. We should not presuppose that what wwe resort to killing." Or again, the purpose of justice should be to have inherited is true and beyond question. But wherree do wwe protect the community from future crimes, and alternative begin our inquiry? My response is, in the midst of lifife itself, forms of punishment, perhaps lifetime imprisonment without focused on the practical problems, the concrete dilemmasnas, and the right of parole, might suffice to deter crime. Still another contextual quandaries that we confront. principle of justice is relevant: Should we attempt, where possi- Let me illustrate by refer to three dilemmas. I do so not iin ble, to rehabilitate the offender? All of the above principles are order to solve them but to point out a method of inquiry in ethics. First, should we exact the death penalty for people convicted of murder? The United States is die only major democracy that still demands capital We should not block inquiry; punishment. What is the argument for the we should not say that some death penalty? It rests on two basic premises: (a) A factual question is at issue: capital pun­ moral principles are beyond any kind ishment is effective in deterring crime, espe­ of re-evaluation or modification. cially murder; and (b) the principle of justice that applies is retributive. As the Old Testament adage reads, "Whatever hurt is done, you shall give life for life, eye for eye, tooth for >oth for open to debate. The point is, we should not block inquiry; we tooth. ..."' should not say that some moral principles arc beyond any kind The first factual premise can be resolved by sociologicaiological of re-evaluation or modification. Here, a process of deliberation studies, by comparing the incidence of murder in thosse statess enters in, and a kind of moral knowledge emerges about what is and nations that have the death penalty in force and thoslose thathatt comparatively the best policy to adopt. do not and by states and nations before and after the enact-­ Another example of the methods of resolving moral dis- ment or abrogation of the death penalty. We ask, haas therdieree putes is the argument for assisted suicide in terminal cases, in been an increase or a decrease in murder? If, as a matterr of factfact,, which people are suffering intolerable pain. This has become a the death penalty does not restrain or inhibit murder, would aa central issue in the field of medical ethics, where medical sci- person still hold his view that the death penalty oughht to be ence is able to keep people alive who might normally die. I first retained? The evidence suggests that the death penaltIty does saw the emergence of this field thirty years ago, when I spon- not to any significant extent reduce the murder rate, especiallspecially sored a conference in biomedical ethics at my university and since most acts of murder are not deliberate but due to passion passion could find very few, if any, scholars or scientists who had or are an unexpected result of another crime, such as robbery. robbery. thought about the questions or were qualified experts. Today, Thus, if one bases his or her belief in capital punishment pri­ lent pri- it is an essential area in medicine. The doctor is no longer marily on the deterrence factor, and it does not deter, would r, would taken as a patriarchal figure. His or her judgments need to be one change one's belief? The same consideration should apply Id apply critically examined, and others within the community, espe- to those who are opposed to the death penalty: Would they change their belief if they thought it would deter excessivuld theye daily patients, need to be consulted. There are here, of course, murder rates? These are empirical questions at issue. Anrecessivd the many factual questions at issue: Is the illness genuinely termi- test of a policy are its consequences in the real world. AnDoed sth iet nal? Is there great suffering? Is the patient competent in achieve what it sets out to do? Does it expressing his or her long-standing convictions regarding his or her right to die with dignity? Are there medical and legal There are, of course, other factual considerations, such asas:: safeguards to protect this system against abuse? Are many innocent people convicted of crimes they did not Our decision depends on several further ethical principles: commit (as was recendy concluded in the State of Illinois)nois)? Is (a) the informed consent of patients in deciding whether they capital punishment unfairly applied primarily to minoritiesnorities? wish treatment to continue; (b) the right of privacy, including This points to the fact that belief in capital punishmen:ntt is, to the right of individuals to have control of their own bodies and some extent, a function of scientific knowledge concerningning the health; and (c) the criterion of the quality of life. facts of the case. This often means that such measure>s should One problem we encounter in this area is the role, again, of not be left to politicians or jurors alone to decide; the scientificientificc transcendental principles. Some people insist, "God alone facts of the case are directly relevant. should decide life-and-dcath questions, not humans." This The second moral principle of retributive justice is fafar more principle, when invoked, is beyond examination, and for difficult to deal with, for this may be rooted in religious; convicconvic­- many people it is final. Passive euthanasia means that we will tion or in a deep-seated tribal sense of retaliation. If yoiun injurinjuree not use extraordinary methods to keep a person alive, where my kin, it is said, I can injure yours; and this is not purel:ly a facfac- there is a longstanding intent expressed in a living will not to

SKEPTICAL INQUIRER September/October 2004 21 do so. Active euthanasia will, under certain conditions, allow such as Parkinsons disease, Alzheimer's, or juvenile diabetes. the patient, in consultation witii his physician, to hasten the Adult stem cells are now being used, but embryonic stem cells dying process (as practiced in Oregon and the Netherlands). may provide important new materials. The criterion here is The point is, there is an interweaving of factual considerations consequential: that positive outcomes may result. Opponents widi ethical principles, and these may be modified in the light maintain that this type of research is "immoral" because it is of inquiry, by comparing alternatives and examining conse­ tampering with human persons possessed of souls. Under this quences in each concrete case. interpretation, "ensoulment" occurs at the moment of con­ ception. This is said to apply to embryos, many of which, however, are products of miscarriages or abortions. Does it also At issue are the questions of whether apply once the division of stem cells occurs? Surely a small collection of cells, ensoulment makes any sense in biology and which is called a blastocyst, is not a person, whether personhood can be said to have a sentient being, or a moral agent prior to implantation. Leon Kass, chair of President begun at such an early stage, basically a Bush's Council on Bioethics, believes that transcendental claim that naturalists human life cannot be treated as a com­ object to on empirical grounds. modity and it is evil to manufacture life. He maintains that all human life, includ­ ing a cloned embryo, has the same moral status and dignity as a person from the I wish to illustrate this process again by referring to another moment of conception. issue that is hotly debated today: Should all cloning research This controversy pits two opposing moral claims: (a) die be banned? The Canadian legislature, in March 2004, passed view diat stem-cell research may be beneficent because of its legislation that will put severe restrictions on such scientific possible contributions to human health (i.e., it might eliminate research. The bill is called "An Act Respecting Assisted Human debilitating diseases) versus (b) an ediic of revulsion against Reproduction" (known as C-56), and it makes it a criminal tampering with natural reproductive processes. At issue here are offense to engage in therapeutic cloning, to maintain an die questions of whedier ensoulment makes any sense in biol­ embryo outside a woman's body for more than fourteen days, ogy and whether personhood can be said to have begun at such to genetically manipulate embryos, to choose the gender of an early stage, basically a transcendental claim diat naturalists offspring, to sell human eggs and sperm, or to engage in com­ object to on empirical grounds. These arguments are familiar in mercial surrogacy. It also requires that in vitro embryos be cre­ the abortion debate; it would be unfortunate if they could be ated only for the purpose of creating human beings or for used to censor scientific stem-cell research. improving assisted human-reproductive procedures. Similar This issue is especially relevant today, for transhumanists say legislation was passed by the U.S. House of Representatives that we are discovering new powers every day diat modify human and is before the Senate. It is still being heatedly debated. It nature, enhance human capacities, and extend life spans. We may includes die prohibition of reproductive cloning as well as be able to extend memory and increase human perception and therapeutic stem-cell research. Two arguments against repro­ intelligence dramatically by silicon implants. Traditionalists ductive cloning are as follows: (a) It may be unsafe (at die pre­ recoil in horror, saying diat post-humanists would have us trans­ sent stage of medical technology) and infants born may be gress human nature. We would become cyborgs. defective. This factual objection has some merit, (b) There is But we alteady are, to some extent: we wear false teeth, eye­ also a moral objection saying that we should not seek to design glasses, and hearing aids; we have hair grafts, pacemakers, children. Yet we do so all the time, with artificial insemination, organ transplants, artificial limbs, and sex-change/sexual reas­ in vitro fertilization, and surrogate motherhood. We already signment operations and injections; we use Viagra to enhance are involved in "designer-baby" technology, with amniocente­ sexual potency or mega-vitamins and hormone therapy. Why sis, pre-implantation, genetic testing, and chorionic villus sam­ not go further? Each advance raises ethical issues: Do we have pling (die avoiding of unwanted genes by aborting fetuses and the reproductive freedom and responsibility to design our chil­ implanting desirable embryos). dren by knowing possible genetic disorders and correcting If it were to become safe, would reproductive cloning them before reproduction or birth? become permissible? I can think of situations where we might find it acceptable—for example, if couples are unable to con­ V. ceive by normal methods. This leads to an important distinction between two kinds of values It is die second area I mentioned above diat is especially widiin human experience. Let me suggest two possible sources: (a) telling—die opposition to any forms of embryonic stem-cell values rooted in unexamined feelings, faith, custom, or authority. research. Proponents maintain that diis line of research may held as deep-seated convictions beyond question, and (b) values lead to enormous benefits by curing a wide range of diseases diat are influenced by cognition and informed by rational inquiry.

22 September/October 2004 SKEPTICAL INQUIRER Naturalists say that scientific inquiry enables us to revise Some may even be sociopaths. The salient point is that there arc our values, if need be, and to develop, where appropriate, new genetic potentialities for good and evil; but how they work out ones. We already possess a body of prescriptive judgments and whether beneficent behavior prevails is dependent on cul­ that have been tested in practice in the applied sciences of tural conditions. Both our genes (genetics) and memes (social medicine, psychiatry, engineering, educational counseling, patterns of enculturation) are factors that determine how and and other fields. Similarly, I submit that there is a body why we behave the way we do. We cannot simply deduce from of prescriptive ethical judgments that has been tested in the evolutionary process what we ought to do. What we do practice and that constitutes normative knowledge; and new depends in pan upon the choices we make. Thus, we still have normative prescriptions are introduced all the time as the sci­ some capacity for free choice. Though we are conditioned by ences progress. environmental and biogenetic determinants, we are still capa­ ble of cognitive processes of selection, and rationality and The question is thus raised, what criteria should we use to intentionality play a causative role. (Note: There is a consider­ make etbical choices? This issue is especially pertinent today able scientific literature that supports this evolutionary view. for those living in pluralistic societies such as ours, where there See Daniel Dennett, Freedom Evolves [New York: Viking, 2003] is diversity of values and principles. and Darwin's Dangerous Idea [New York: Simon and Schuster, In formulating ethical judgments, we need to refer to what I 1995]; Brian Skyrm, Evolution of the Social Contract have called a "valuational base."' Packed into this referent are the [Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1996], Robert pre-existing de facto values and principles that we are committed Wright, The Moral Animal [New York: Pantheon Books, 1994] to; but we aiso need to consider empirical data, means-ends rela­ and Nonzero [New York: Vintage Books, 2001], Matt Ridley, tionships, causal knowledge, and the consequences of various The Origins of Virtue [New York: Viking, 1996], and Elliott courses of action. It is inquiry that is the instrument by which Sober and David Sloan Wilson, Unto Others [Cambridge, we decide what we ought to do and that we should develop in Massachusetts: Harvard University Press, 1998].) the young. We need to focus on moral education for children; we wish to structure positive traits of character and also the Ethical precepts need not be based upon transcendental capacity for making reflective decisions. There are no easy grounds or dependent upon religious faith. Undoubtedly, the recipes or simple formulae that we can appeal to, telling us what belief that they are sacred may strengthen moral duties for we ought to do in every case. There are, however, what WD. many persons, but it is not necessary for everyone. Ross called prima facie general principles of right conduct, the I submit that it is time for scientists to recognize that they common moral decencies, a list of virtues, precepts, and pre­ have an opportunity to contribute to naturalistic ethics. We scriptions, ethical excellences, obligations, and responsibilities, stand at an interesting time in human history. We have great which are intrinsic to our social roles. But how they work out in power to ameliorate the human condition. Biogenetic engi­ practice depends on the context at hand, and the most reliable neering, nanotechnology, and space research open new oppor­ guide for mature persons is cognitive inquiry atid deliberation. tunities for humankind to create a better world. Conservative theists have often objected to this approach to Yet there are those today who wish to abandon human rea­ morality as dangerous, given to "debauchery" and "immoral­ son and freedom and return to mythological legends of our ity." Here, there is a contrast between two different senses of premodern existence, including their impulses of aggres­ morality: (a) the obedience/authoritarian model, in which sion and self-righteous vengeance. I submit that the Enlight­ humans are expected to follow moral absolutes derived from enment is a beacon whose promise has not been fulfilled ancient creeds, and (b) the encouragement of moral growth, and that humankind needs to accept the responsibility for its implying that there are within the human species potential own future. moral tendencies and cognitive capacities that can help us to frame judgments. Conclusion For a naturalistic approach, in the last analysis, ethics is a A caveat is in order. In the last analysis, some degree of skep­ product of a long evolutionary process. Evolutionary psychology ticism is a necessary antidote to all forms of moral dogma­ has pointed out that moral rules have enabled human commu­ tism. We are continually surrounded by self-righteous moral­ nities to adapt to threats to their survival. This Darwinian inter­ ists who claim that they have the Absolute Truth, Moral pretation implies a biological basis for reciprocal behavior— Virtue, or Piety or know the secret path to salvation and wish epigenetic rules—according to E.O. Wilson (1998).* The social to impose their convictions on all others. They are puffed up groups that possessed these rules transmitted them to their off­ with an inflated sense of their own rectitude as they rail spring. Such moral behavior provides a selective advantage. against unbenighted immoral sinners who lack their moral There is accordingly an inward propensity for moral behavior, faith. These moral zealots are willing to repress or even moral sentiments, empathy, and altruism within the species. sacrifice anyone who stands in their way. They have in the This does not deny that there are at the same time impulses past unleashed conquering armies in the name of Cod, for selfish and aggressive tendencies. It is a mistake, however, to the Dialectic, Racial Superiority, Posterity, or Imperial read in a doctrine of "original sin" and to say that human beings Design. Skepticism needs to be applied not only to religious are by nature sinful and corrupt. I grant that there are individ­ and paranormal fantasies but to other forms of moral and uals who lack moral empathy: they are morally handicapped. political illusions. These dogmas become especially dangerous

SKEPTICAL INQUIRER September/October 2004 23 when they are appealed to in order to legislate morality different conceptions of the good life, we are able to expand and are used by powerful social institutions, such as a state our own dimensions of moral awareness; and this is more apt or church or corporation, to enforce a particular brand of to lead to a peaceful world. moral virtue. Hell hath no fury like die self-righteous moral By this, I surely do not mean to imply that anything and fanatic scorned. everything can or should be tolerated or that one thing is as The best antidote for this is some skepticism and a willing­ good as the next. We should be prepared to criticize moral ness to engage in ethical inquiry, not only about others' moral nonsense parading as virtue. We should not tolerate the intol­ zeal, but about our own, especially if we are tempted to trans­ erable. We have a right to strongly object, if need be, to those late the results of our own ethical inquiries into command­ values or practices that we think are based on miscalculation, ments. The epistemological theory that 1 propose is based misconception, or that are patently false or harmful. upon methodological principles of skeptical scientific inquiry, Nonetheless, we might live in a better world if inquiry were to and it has important moral implications. For in recognizing replace faith; deliberation, passionate commitment; and educa­ our own fallibility, we thereby can learn to tolerate other tion and persuasion, force and war. We should be aware of the human beings and to appreciate their diversity and the plural­ powers of intelligent behavior, but also of the limitations of the ity of lifestyles. If we are prepared to engage in cooperative eth­ human animal and of the need to mitigate the cold, indiffer­ ical inquiry, then perhaps we are better prepared to allow other ent intellect with the compassionate and empathic heart. individuals and groups some measure of liberty to pursue their Thus, I conclude that within the ethical life, we are capable of own preferred lifestyles. If we are able to live and let live, then developing a body of melioristic principles and values and a this can best be achieved in a free and open democratic soci­ method of coping with problems intelligently. When our eth­ ety. Where we differ, we should try to negotiate our divergent ical judgments are based on rational and scientific inquiry, views and perhaps reach common ground; and if this is they are more apt to express the highest reaches of excellence impractical, we should at least attempt to compromise for the and nobility and of civilized human conduct. We are in sore sake of our common interests. The method of ethical inquiry need of that today. requires some intelligent and informed examination of our Notes own values as well as the values of others. Here we can attempt 1. G.E. Moore. Principle Ethica (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, to modify attitudes by an appeal to cognitive beliefs and to 1903). reconstruct them by an examination of the relevant scientific 2. See Exodus 21. evidence. Such a give-and-take of constructive criticism is 3. Kurtz. Paul (ed.). The New Skepticism: Inquiry and Reliable Knowledge (Amherst, New York: Prometheus, 1992), chapter 9. essential for a harmonious society. In learning to appreciate 4. Wilson, E.O. Consilience (New York: Alfred Knopf. 1998). D

A Once-in-a-Lifetime Experience— Cruise the Caribbean with Secular Humanists and Skeptics!

Special Guest: December 11-18, 2004 Richard Dawkins biologist, best-selling author, and CSICOPFello w Onboard Holland America's Zaandam out of Pt. Canaveral, Florida, visiting the British Virgin Islands, U.S. Virgin Islands, and the Bahamas. There'll be guest lecturers and surprises galore. Enjoy a grand vacation in grand company, while you support the Center for Inquiry. For itinerary, pricing, and reservations contact Center for Inquiry-Florida at 800-398-^571 __ or e-mail [email protected]. CENTER FOB INQUIRY Transnational ^

24 September/October 2004 SKEPTICAL INQUIRER The Columbia University 'Miracle' Study: Flawed and Fraud

The much-hyped Columbia University prayer study was flawed and suspicious from the start but now has been fatally tainted with fraud. The first-named author doesn't respond to inquiries. The "lead" author said he didn't learn of the study until months after it was completed. And now the mysterious third author, indicted by a federal grand jury, has pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit fraud. All his previous studies must now be questioned.

BRUCE FLAMM

n September 11, 2001, the United States of America was rocked by perhaps the most horrific Oevent in its history. In the horrible and uncertain days following the destruction of the World Trade Center (and other attacks) by Islamic zealots many Americans turned to prayer. Millions prayed in their homes and churches as their senators and congressmen prayed on the steps of the Capitol building and their president prayed in the White House. Bumper stickers, signs, and banners flooded the nation proclaiming, "God Bless America" and "Pray for America." Millions of faithful Americans prayed for a mira­ cle or perhaps a sign from God. Three weeks later such a mir­ acle occurred. The timing could not have been better.

SKEPTICAL INQUIRER September/October 2004 25 On October 2, 2001, the New York Times reported that tility treatment currendy available and represents the last hope researchers at prestigious Columbia University Medical Center for women with severe infertility. Therefore, any technique that in New York had discovered something quite extraordinary (1). could increase the efficacy of IVF by even a few percent would Using virtually foolproof scientific methods die researchers had be a medical breakthrough. Yet the Columbia University study demonstrated that infertile women who were prayed for by claimed to have demonstrated, in a carefully designed random­ Christian prayer groups became pregnant twice as often as ized controlled trial, that distant prayer by anonymous prayer those who did not have people praying for them. The study was groups increased the success rate of IVF by an astounding 100 published in the Journal of Reproductive Medicine (2). Even the percent (2). The Cha/Wirth/Lobo study involved 219 infertil­ researchers were shocked. The study's results could only be ity patients in Seoul, South Korea, who required in vitro fertil­ described as miraculous. This was welcome and wonderful ization. Twenty patients were excluded due to incomplete data, news for a shaken nation. leaving 199 study subjects. After randomization, 100 patients were assigned to the study group to receive IVF plus prayer from Christian prayer groups in the United States, Canada, and In December 2001, the Department of Health Australia. The control group of ninety-nine and Human Services, after being alerted by patients received IVF but did not receive any prayers from these prayer groups. In media coverage, launched an investigation vitro fertilization was performed in the into the lack of informed consent usual fashion in both groups. The 100 patients in the study group were not in the Columbia study. informed that the groups were praying for them. Furthermore, none of the patients were even informed that they were being Columbia University issued a news release claiming that the used as study subjects. The prayer groups, which were thou­ remarkable study had several safeguards in place to eliminate sands of miles away from the study subjects, prayed over pho­ bias and that the study itself was carefully designed to eliminate tographs that had been faxed to them from Korea. Remarkably, bias (3). This was no hoax. Media attention immediately the pregnancy rate in the prayed-for group (50 percent) was focused on the miraculous study, and articles touting its spec­ almost twice as high as the pregnancy rate in the nonprayed-for tacular results quickly appeared in newspapers around the group (26 percent, p= .0013). The highly significant results world. Rogerio Lobo, chairman of the Department of seem to indicate that something spectacular had occurred. Obstetrics and Gynecology at Columbia and die study's lead However, even a cursory review of the report reveals many author, told Reuters Health that, "Essentially, there was a dou- potential flaws. For one thing, the study protocol was convo­ blingofthe pregnancy rate in the group that was prayed for" (4). luted and confusing, involving at least three levels of overlap­ Dr. Timothy Johnson, ABC News medical editor and Good ping and intertwining prayer groups. Tiers 1 and 2 each con­ Morning America commentator, stated, "A new study on the sisted of four blocks of prayer participants. Prayer participants power of prayer over pregnancy reports surprising results; but in tier 1, block A, received a single sheet of paper with five IVF many physicians remain skeptical" (5). patient's pictures (a treatment "unit") and prayed in a directed The facts I will relate here about the Columbia University manner with a specific intent to "increase the pregnancy rate" "miracle" study confirm that those physicians who doubted for these patients about whom they apparently had no infor­ the study's astounding results had extremely good reasons to mation whatsoever. Prayer participants in tier 2, block A, be skeptical. It remains to be seen whether ABC's Dr. Johnson, apparently performed two different types of prayer. First, they a medical doctor who also serves as a minister at the evangel­ prayed for their fellow prayer participants in tier 1, block A, ical Community Covenant Church in West Peabody, Massa­ with the intent to "increase the efficacy of prayer interven­ chusetts, will report or ignore the following shocking informa­ tion." In other words, they were apparently praying to increase tion that has since been revealed about the alleged study and the effectiveness of their colleagues' prayers, whatever those its authors. prayers might be. Next they prayed in a nondirected manner for the study patients with the "intent that God's will or desire The "Miracle" Study be fulfilled in the life of the patient." Similar prayers appar- In vitro fertilization (IVF) is the most advanced form of infer- endy took place in all of the other blocks. Finally, in addition to all of the above groups, tiers, blocks, and units, a separate Bruce L Flamm is a clinical professor of obstetrics and gynecology group of three individuals prayed in a general nonspecific at the University of California, Irvine. E-mail: Bruce manner with the intent that "God's will or desire be fulfilled [email protected]. Dr. Flamm is the author of several medical for the prayer participants in tiers 1 and 2." In other words, hooks, book chapters, and research articles. In addition to his these final direc prayer participants were praying to increase work in the medical field he is an expert in the history of calcu­ the efficacy of the second tier of prayer participants who were lating devices and has co-authored a book on the subject. in turn praying to increase the efficacy of the first tier of prayer

26 September/October 2004 SKEPTICAL INQUIRER participants who were in turn praying for increased pregnancy rates in the study patients. As can be seen from this brief description, the study protocol was so con­ voluted and confusing that it cannot be taken seriously. Of course, a simple protocol could have been used to deter­ mine if prayer was efficacious in increasing die success rate of IVF. One might simply instruct a few believers to pray for successful IVF in die study group while no one prayed for patients in the con­ trol group. With distant prayer the patients would not know if they were being prayed for, or not, so there would be no intention-to-heal or placebo bias. Contrast this with die study design described above and draw your own conclusions. This article is too brief to describe all of die study's Bruce Flamm sent a series of letters to the study's authors and the jour­ flaws but readers who want more information are referred to nal's editors as early as October 2001 raising serious questions about the Cha/Lobo/Wirth prayer study and requesting details about the study's pro­ two critiques I have published in The Scientific Review of cedures. He never received an answer. Alternative Medicine (6,7). gynecology at Columbia University. When the study results Briefly, here are a few problems I pointed out. Choosing a were announced, Dr. Lobo told the New York Times that the complex study design rather than a simple one requires expla­ idea for the study came from Dr. Cha; however, the Columbia nation, however the authors give no reason for selecting a news release claimed that Dr. Lobo led the study. For two years bewildering study design. Including prayers asking that "God's both Dr. Cha and Dr. Lobo have refused to return my phone will or desire be fulfilled" introduced a vague and obfuscating calls and e-mails asking questions about die study. The study's concept that cannot be measured as an endpoint: no one third author, Daniel Wirth, who will be described below, has knows what God's will is, hence any outcome could be viewed no known connection with Columbia University odier than as a success. The aurJiors made no attempt to discover how his participation in the study. much prayer was being conducted outside the study protocol, In December 2001, the Department of Health and Human perhaps to other gods, since only one-third of Koreans are Services (DHHS), after being alerted by media coverage, Christians. Occam's razor (die principle that a simple explana­ launched an investigation into die lack of informed consent in tion rather than a convoluted one is more often correct) demands that highly unlikely results be viewed with suspicion. the Columbia study. Is it more likely that this study is flawed or fraudulent or that Columbia University subsequendy acknowledged noncom­ the authors have demonstrated the existence of a supernatural pliance with its Multiple Project Assurance (MPA) and its own phenomena and thus have made perhaps the most important policies and procedures (8). Specifically, Dr. Lobo never pre­ discovery in history? sented the above research to the Institutional Review Board (IRB) of Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center (CCPM). In response to the DHHS investigation Columbia University The Columbia University Connection agreed to have its IRB perform an educational in-service for The study's three authors were Kwang Cha, Rogerio Lobo, and Lobo's department. Daniel Wirth. Kwang Yul Cha, M.D., was die director of the In addition, in December 2001, Columbia University Vice Cha Columbia Infertility Medical Center at the time of the President Thomas Q. Morris, a physician, informed the "miracle" study but apparently severed his relationship with DHHS that Dr. Lobo first learned of the study from Dr. Cha six Columbia soon after the study was published. A page on to twelve months after the study was completed and diat Lobo Columbia's Web site, which has since been removed, described primarily provided editorial review and assistance with publi­ Cha as an "internationally renowned clinician and researcher." cation (8). This seems inconsistent with Lobo being listed as Cha is a graduate of the Yonsei Medical School in Seoul, South one of the study's authors. This also conflicts with the fact that Korea. Professor Rogerio A. Lobo, M.D., recendy stepped Lobo was identified by bodi The New York Times and ABC down as chairman of the department of obstetrics and News as die report's lead author. Lobo was also identified as

SKEPTICAL INQUIRER September/October 2004 27 the report's lead author in a news release posted for two years gone to prison in a 1990 embezzlement and false identity case on the Columbia University Web site. Interestingly, die press in California. Interestingly, the investigation also revealed that release has recently been removed from the Columbia site. If he had also once been arrested for posing as a doctor in the report's lead author did not conduct the international California. It appears dial the "doctor" who performed biopsies prayer study, who did? on human research subjects in Wirth's famous healing studies may have actually been Horvath imperson­ ating a doctor. Horvath was a co-audior on another of Wirth's studies in which salaman­ der limbs were amputated and found to grow back more quickly when "healers" In the entire history of modern science, waved their hands over the wounds. Both Wirth and Horvath initially pled no claim of any type of supernatural not guilty to die felony charges, and over the phenomena has ever been replicated under next eighteen months their trial was delayed six times. However, on May 18, 2004, just strictly controlled conditions. One would think as the criminal trial of the United States v. that all medical journal editors would be keenly Wirth & Horvath was finally about to begin, both men pled guilty to conspiracy to com­ aware of this fact and therefore be highly mit mail fraud and conspiracy to commit skeptical of paranormal or supernatural claims. bank fraud (11). Each man faced a maxi­ mum of five years in federal prison and agreed to forfeit assets of more than $1 mil­ lion obtained through fraudulent schemes. Horvath, however, was found dead in his jail cell on July 13, 2004, an apparent suicide. The Mysterious Daniel Wirth The remaining author is a mysterious individual known as Daniel Wirth's Prior Research Daniel P. Wirth. In October 2002, one year after the Wirth, identified as Doctor Daniel Wirth on several of his Cha/Wirth/Lobo study was published, Mr. Wirth, along with publications, has no medical degree. He holds a master's his former research associate Joseph Horvath, also known as degree in parapsychology and a law degree. Wirth has a long Joseph Hessler, was indicted by a federal grand jury (9). Both history of publishing studies on mysterious supernatural or men were charged with bilking the troubled cable television paranormal phenomena, mainly dealing with alternative and provider Adelphia Communications Corporation out of $2.1 spiritual healing. Most of these studies originated from an million by infiltrating the company, then having it pay for entity called "Healing Sciences Research International," an unauthorized consulting work. Police investigators discovered organization that Mr. Wirth supposedly headed. This entity, that Wirth is also known as John Wayne Truelove. FBI inves­ which sounds like a medical center or impressive research facil­ tigators revealed that Winh first used the name of Truelove, a ity, could only be contacted through a post office box in New York child who died at age five in 1959, to obtain a pass­ Orinda, California. Between 1992 and 1997 approximately port in the mid-1980s. Wirth and his accomplice were eighteen research papers authored by D.P. Wirth were pub­ charged with thirteen counts of mail fraud, twelve counts of lished, mostly in obscure paranormal journals (12-29). interstate transportation of stolen money, making false state­ Wirth has stated that his experiments "represent a seminal ments on loan applications, and five other counts of fraud. A research effort within the field of complementary healing," and federal grand jury concluded that the relationship between many faith healing advocates fully agree with his statement. Due Wirth and Horvath extended back more than twenty years to the apparently meticulous design and conduct of Wirth's ran­ and involved more than $3.4 million in income and property domized, double-blind controlled studies he has become the vir­ obtained by using false identities. In addition to the Adelphia tual poster boy of alternative healing methods, particularly scheme, Wirth apparently found a way to defraud the federal Noncontact Therapeutic Touch (NCTT). In NCTT the government by collecting Social Security benefits totaling "healer" does not actually touch die patient but supposedly approximately $103,178 from 1994 to 2003 in the name of alters undetectable "human energy fields" surrounding die Julius Wirth. This man, possibly Daniel Wirth's fadier, died in patient. According to Wirth, NCTT apparendy achieves its 1994 but his benefits continued to be paid after his death via healing effect by an interaction of "energy fields" between die electronic funds transferred to die Republic National Bank. practitioner and the subject. The method requires the healer to Incredibly, at die time of the indictment, Horvadi, Wirth's 1) "center" his/herself both physically and psychologically, 2) partner, was already in jail, charged with arson for burning "attune" to die "energy field" of the subject by "scanning" widi down his Pennsylvania house to collect insurance money (10). the hands two to six inches from the body in order to detect The FBI investigation revealed that Horvath had previously imbalances within or blocks within die energy field, and 3)

28 September/October 2004 SKEPTICAL INQUIRER consciously redirect and "rebalance" the energy in those areas of blockage (24). The existence of these imagined human energy fields has never been proven. Even if such fields did exist, it is not clear how a healer could possibly detect or modify them. In fact, in a recent study twenty-one experienced NCTT practi­ tioners were unable to detect any "human energy fields" under blinded conditions. The study concluded that failure to substantiate 11 s most funda­ mental claim is unrefined evidence that the claims of NCTT are completely groundless (30).

In addition to his extensive work on NCTT, Wirth has previously conducted several studies involving Christian faith healing. For example, he evaluated and reported on forty-eight patients treated by Greg Schelkun, a spiritual healer trained in the Philippines in the "Espiritista System" of faith healing (17). This system includes "psychic surgery," laying on of hands, and distant prayer healing. It has a Christian foundation in which the practitioner supposedly culti­ vates divine healing by entering a trace­ like state and opening themselves to the healing power of the Holy Spirit. Schelkun asserts that he acts only as a channel for the "universal energies" of God and that any "miraculous cures" that occur are due solely to the Grace of God. Wirth evaluated patients treated by Schelkun for conditions ranging from ovarian cysts to AIDS and even cancer. Wirth found that 90 percent of patients believed that their condition was improved by the treatment. respond to letters about this study. The fact that study co­ author Lobo serves on the Editorial Advisory Board of the In October 2001 narcotics officers raided the Santa JRM may or may not be relevant. It is known that Columbia Monica, California, office of Dr. William Eidelman, co-author University Vice President Thomas Q. Morris informed of many of Daniel Wirth's papers. Eidelman is a believer in DHHS investigators that Dr. Lobo first learned of the study paranormal healing and an outspoken proponent of the med­ from Dr. Cha six to twelve months after the study was completed ical use of marijuana. Officers presented a search warrant and that Dr. Lobo primarily provided editorial review and charging that Eidelman provided undercover narcotic agents assistance with publication (8). with medical marijuana recommendations without valid med­ On May 30, 2004, the London Observer made many of ical grounds. On May 28, 2002, Eidelman's license to ptactice these events public for die first time in an article titled medicine was suspended. "Exposed: Conman's Role in Prayer-power IVF 'Mirade'"(31). The Observer article noted that the study was still posted on Journal of Reproductive Medicine the JRM Web site and that phone calls from the Observer to Perhaps the most fascinating aspect of this entire sordid saga the JRM were not returned. Three days after the scandal had can be summed up in one question: How did a bizarre study been made public and linked to the journal, perhaps in claiming extraordinarily unlikely and apparendy supernatural response to an avalanche of inquiries, JRM co-editor-in-chief results end up in a peer-reviewed medical journal? We may Dr. Lawrence Devoc finally stated that the Journal of never know. For two years the editors of the Journal of Reproductive Medicine would remove the flawed Columbia Reproductive Medicine (JRM) refused to answer my calls or study from its Web site and publish an editorial clarifying their

SKEPTICAL INQUIRER September/October 2004 29 author requirements. Both the Observer article and a June 7, rather than Christians praying, would the reviewers and editors 2004, article in The New York Sun stated that the authors did have taken this study seriously? In any case, the damage has not respond to their requests for comment. been done. The fact diat a "miracle cure" study was deemed to It must be emphasized that, in the entire history of modern be suitable for publication in a scientific journal automatically science, no claim of any type of supernatural phenomena has enhanced the study's credibility. Not surprisingly, the news ever been replicated under strictly controlled conditions. The media quickly disseminated the "miraculous" results. importance of this fact cannot be overstated. One would think that all medical journal editors would be keenly aware of this Damage Control fact and therefore be highly skeptical of paranormal or super­ Clearly, JRMs belated decision to remove the Columbia study natural claims. One must therefore wonder if the Columbia from its Web site will not correct the errors it made in pub­ researchers and the JRM editors were blinded by religious lishing an absurd article and then persistently ignoring warn­ beliefs. Everything else being equal, if the claimed supernatural ings about the mistake in doing so. Serious damage has been intervention had been Ms. Cleo manipulating Tarot cards done. The editors were informed of several of the study's flaws within weeks of its publication and yet allowed the entire study to remain on their Web site for two years. During that Lessons from the 'Miracle' time the public was never given any reason to doubt the study's validity or its miraculous claims. As a result of JRMs inaction Study Scandal the Cha/Wirth/Lobo study has been cited in many other "healing" publications and on other Web sites as strong scien­ • The real scandal here lies not in Wirth's actions but in tific evidence for the validity of faith healing. A Google search those of Columbia University and the Journal of performed on June 4, 2004, for the terms, "Wirth, Columbia, Reproductive Medicine. The scientific method is prayer" found 686 sites; many of these links led to articles designed to detect and correct errors and misconduct. touting the miraculous results of the Cha/Wirth/Lobo study. In diis case the system failed in many places. In fact, if Worse yet, the Columbia study is now being cited by faith Wirth had not been arrested, the Cha/Wirth/Lobo healers as a shining example of "healing" research of the high­ study might have never been retracted. est scientific quality. For example, I recently wrote a letter to • Faith healing advocates like Drs. Dossey and Lark will the editor of Southern California Physician critical of its article no doubt try to put a positive spin on this scandal by "Prescription for Prayer" and the appalling claim by noted claiming that it has successfully weeded out a few bad faith healer Dr. Larry Dossey that some 1,600 studies have apples from an otherwise pristine bunch. Nothing revealed "something positive" about intercessory prayer. I could be further from the truth. commented that if there were, in fact, something positive it • Extraordinary claims demand extraordinary evidence. certainly wouldn't take 1,600 studies to find it! Dr. Dossey's Unless replicated under strictly controlled conditions, published response to my letter included the following con­ studies claiming to have demonstrated "miracle" cures vincing argument, "Controlled clinical trials and the peer- belong in religious and paranormal magazines, not in review process continue to serve us well. The most recent scientific journals. This is true regardless of whether example of this process in action in the area of intercessory the claimed "miracle" involves supposed actions of prayer is from Columbia Medical School—a positive, con­ deities, ghosts, psychic powers, or other "mysterious" trolled clinical trial published in the respected, peer-reviewed phenomena. Journal of Reproductive Medicine" (32). Yes, Dossey had used • It is often claimed that faith healing may not work but the hopelessly flawed Columbia "miracle" study to demon­ at least does no harm. In fact, reliance on faith healing strate the scientific validity of faith healing. can cause serious harm and even death (35). In the February 2004 edition of her nationally distributed I • In the entire history of modern science, no claim of newsletter, faith healing advocate Dr. Susan Lark cites the any type of supernatural phenomena has ever been Cha/Wirth/Lobo study as strong evidence for the power of replicated under strictly controlled conditions. All sci­ prayer (33). She notes that critics of faith healing have argued I entists and editors of scientific and medical journals that most prayer studies have not been credible due to weak should be fully aware of this obvious fact. methodologies. However, she points out that "those • The "faith" in faith healing refers to an irrational researchers who believe in prayer are answering this critique belief, unsupported by evidence, that mysterious quickly—and effectively. The fact is, the medical journals are supernatural powers can eradicate disease. Science rapidly filling with studies that are proving the power of deals with evidence, not faith. prayer." She then presents the proof by describing the • Publication of absurd studies and pseudoscience in Columbia "miracle" study. medical and scientific journals does serious damage to In a published critique of phony healing methods, noted the public's perception of medical science and science physician and chairman of the Dutch Union Against Quackery in general. Dr. Cees Renckens has this to say about the Cha/Wirth/Lobo study: "Very recendy a seemingly impeccable paper proving

30 September/October 2004 SKEPTICAL INQUIRER absurd claims was published in a serious and (hitherto?) 7. Flamm, BL. Faith healing confronts modern medicine. Set Review Alt respected journal in the field of reproductive medicine" (34). AW 2004; 8(1):9-14. 8. Carmone. MA. Letter to Thomas Q. Morris. MD. Vice President for Dr. Renckens also states, "Fraud is difficult to extract from an Health Sciences Division, regarding possible noncompliance with DHHS reg­ apparently impeccable paper, but everyone is invited to draw ulations for protection of human subjects in the conduct of the Cha et. al. Study. Available at: http://ohrp.osophs.dhhs.gov/detrm_lctrs/decOlf.pdf. one's owns conclusions about the trustworthiness of the 9. Pair charged with scheming Adelphia out of $2.1 million. Associated authors. We do not believe anything of the story and are very Press. October 16. 2002. much opposed to publishing this kind of absurdity in serious 10. Dale, M. Arson added to charges pending against cx-Adclphia man­ journals." ager. Associated Press. Contra Costa Times. February 5, 2003. 11. McDermott, J. Mystery man admits to conspiracy. The Morning Call For bodi Columbia University and the JRM, the only hon­ Newspaper. May 18. 2004. 'litis article can be viewed in the news archives at orable solution to this scandal is to fully and publicly disclose www.mcall.com. 12. Wirth DP, Cram JR. Chang RJ. Multisite surface electromyography their mistakes and apologize for the attempted cover-up. and complementary healing intervention: A comparative analysis. / Altern Columbia erroneously submitted a profoundly flawed and Complement Med 1997 Winter, 3(4):355-64. absurd article and JRM erroneously published it. Simply 13. Wirth DP, Cram JR. Multisite electromyographic analysis of Thera­ peutic Touch and qigong therapy. J Altern Complement Med 1997 Summer; claiming that they were duped by Wirth and attempting to 3(2): 109-18. blame him for their own mistakes would be unethical—and 14. Wirth DP, Richardson JT, Eidelman WS. Wound healing and com­ almost certainly false. It would also be a setback for science. plementary therapies: A review. J Altern Complement Med 1996 Winter; 2(4):493-502. Conclusion 15. Wirth DP. Chang RJ. Eidelman WS. Paxton IB. Hematological indi­ cators of complementary healing intervention. Complementary Therapies in In summary, one of the authors of the Columbia Medicine 1996 January: 14-20. Cha/Wirth/Lobo study has left the University and refuses to 16. Wirth DP, Richardson JT. Martinez RD, Eidelman WS, Lopez ME. Non-contact Therapeutic Touch intervention and full-thickness cutaneous comment, another now claims he did not even know about the wounds: A replication Complementary Therapies in Medicine 1996 October: study until six monrlis to a year after its completion and also 237-240. refuses to comment. The remaining author is on his way to 17. Wirth. DP. The significance of belief and expectancy within the spiri­ tual healing encounter. So<-5WAWl995;41(2):249-260. federal prison for fraud and conspiracy. Fraud ts the operative 18. Wirth, DP. Complementary healing intervention and dermal wound II T •• I •"« I I'll' .J as»_;d_>!_sess: »_~ ™..r.;r.. /-. t /wt».»».»»;~ i oo,";._">._i!_s». WUIU 1IC1C ill ICailLV, UH. V 'Mini v lllvliaiLj |'KIH .WIVI , was based on a bewildering study design and included many 19. Wirth DP, Cram JR. The psychophysiology of nontraditional prayer. Int] Psychosom 1994;41 (l-4):68-75. sources of error. But worse than flaws, in light of all of the 20. Wirth DP, Barrett MJ. Complementary healing therapies. Int J shocking information presented above, one must consider the Psychosom 1994;41(l^t):61-7. 21. Wirth DP, Mitchell BJ. Complementary healing therapy for patients sad possibility that the Columbia prayer study may never have with Type I diabetes mellitus. Journal of Scientific Exploration 1994;8(3): been conducted at all. 367-377. Finally, Daniel Wirth's history of criminal fraudulent activ­ 22. Wirth DP, Barrett MJ, Eidelman WS. Non-contact therapeutic touch and wound recpithelialization: an extension of previous research. ity casts a dark shadow over many of die supposedly seminal Complementary Therapies in Medicine 1994 (2) October: 187-192. publications in the field of alternative and faith healing. In 23. Wirth DP. Brenlan DR. Levine RJ, Rodriguez CM. The effect of com­ light of these facts, all of his frequendy-cited publications plementary healing therapy on postoperative pain after surgical removal of impacted third molar teeth. Complementary Therapies in Medicine 1993 July must now be viewed with suspicion. While faith healers have 133-138. performed rituals and cast out demons for millennia, they are 24. Wirth DP, Cram JR. Multi-site electromyographic analysis of non- now attempting to validate their claims with scientific meth­ contact Therapeutic Touch. Int J Psychosom 1993;40(l-4):47-55. 25. Wirth DP. Richardson JT, Martinez R. Eidelman WS. O'Malley AC. ods and publish their results in peer-reviewed medical jour­ Full thickness dermal wounds treated with non-contact Therapeutic Touch; a nals. It is one thing to tell an audience at a tent revival that replication and extension. Complementary Therapies in Medicine 1993 July: prayers yield miracle cures but quite another tiling to make the 127-132. 26. Wirth, DP Implementing spiritual healing in modern medical prac­ same claim in a scientific journal. By doing so, faith healers tice: Advances. / Mind-Body Health 1993;(9):69-81. cross the line into the domain of science, a domain where 27. Wirth DP, Johnson CA. Horvath JS. MacGregor JD. The effect of superstitious and supernatural claims are not taken seriously. alternative healing therapy on the regeneration rate of salamander foreiimbs. Journal of Scientific Exploration 1992; (6):375-391. 28. Wirth, DP. The effect of non-contact Therapeutic Touch on the heal­ References ing rate of full thickness dermal wounds. Nurse Healers Professional Associates 1. Nagourney, E. Study links prayer and pregnancy. New York Times. 2001; 1992;13(3):4-8 October. 29. Wirth, DP. The effect of non-contact Therapeutic Touch on the heal­ 2. Cha KY. Wirth. DP, Lobo. RA. Does prayer influence the success of in ing rate of full thickness dermal wounds. Subtle Energies 1990; 1:1-20. vitro fenilization-embryo transfer?//JrpW AW 2001;46:781-787. 30. Rosa L. Rosa E, Sarner L, Barrett S. A close look at Therapeutic Touch. 3. Eisner, R. Prayer may influence in vitro fertilization success. Columbia JAMA 1998 Apr 1:279(13):1005-10. News. This document remained on die Public Affairs News page of Columbia 31. Harris. D. Exposed: Conman's role in prayer-power 1VF 'miracle'. The University Internet site for more than two years after the publication of the Observer May 30. 2004. Cha/Wirth/Lobo studv (www.columbia.edu/cu/news). 32. Dossey, 1_ Response to letter to the editor. Southern California 4. Schorr, M. Prayer may boost in-vitro success, study suggests. Reuters Physician December 2001:46. News Service: 2001: October. 33. Lark. S. The power of prayer. The Lark Letter A women's guide to 5. Johnson. T. Praying for pregnancy: Study says prayer helps women get optimal health and balance. February 2004:1-3. pregnant. ABC television Good Morning America 2001: October 4. 34. Renckens, CNM. Alternative treatments in reproductive medicine: 6. Flamm. BL Faith healing by prayer Review of Cha, KY, Wirth, DP. much ado about nothing. Human Reproduction 2002;17(3):528-533. Lobo. RA. Does prayer influence the success of in vitro fertilization-embryo 35. Flamm, BL The inherent dangers of faith healing. Sci Review Alt Sled. transfer? Sci Review Alt Med'2002; 6(l):47-50. In Press. •

SKEPTICAL INQUIRER September/October 2004 31 Teach the Controversy' An Intelligently Designed Ruse

In their quest to have Intelligent Design theory included in educational curricula, proponents have rallied behind a specious strategy, exhorting school boards to "teach the scientific controversy" surrounding the issue of evolution.

ROBERT CAMP

When two groups of experts disagree about a controversial sub­ ject that intersects the public school curriculum, students should learn about both perspectives (Meyer 2001).

his is the first line of Stephen Meyer's "Teach the Controversy," an article in the Cincinnati Enquirer Ton March 20, 2001. On its face, this appears to be a reasonable, even desirable, approach to pedagogical practice. Meyer, director of the Discovery Institute's Center for Science and Culture, spoke at a meeting of the Ohio State Board of Education and wrote this piece in support of the inclusion of "Intelligent Design Theory" in the state's biol­ ogy curriculum. Meyer expands upon his opening sentence with the following: "In such cases teachers should not teach

32 September/October 2004 SKEPTICAL INQUIRER as true only one competing view, just the Republican or A look at Meyer's metaphor is useful. Likely all will agree Democratic view of the New Deal in a history class, for exam­ that competing political views of the New Deal not only ple. Instead, teachers should describe competing views to stu­ deserve to be taught but in fact must be taught to properly dents and explain the arguments for and against these views as cover the scope of the subject. And it is not surprising to find made by their chief proponents. Educators call this 'teaching that there are differing, perhaps even diametrically opposed, the controversy.'" perspectives regarding a particular aspect of a sub-discipline Meyer is but one of many individuals employing this par­ (modern American history) of the overarching rubric of his­ ticular rhetoric in support of teaching Intelligent Design (ID) tory itself. It is through exploration of diese opposing perspec­ in public schools. Another, Berkeley law professor Phillip tives that teaching takes place. Meyer's example could perhaps Johnson had this to say regarding a school board vote in Ohio: reasonably be referred to as a historical controversy by virtue of "This vote is a significant breakthrough in a major state the fact that there is a source of dispute marked by expression towards official recognition that there is a scientific as well as of opposing views among historians discussing history. The a public controversy over the theory of evolution, and that the point here is that there is a broad gulf of difference between a contested issues ought to be taught rather than suppressed" controversy and a historical controversy. Addition of the modifier (Johnson 2003). And there is this from one of the leading lights of ID, William Dembski: "The clarion call of the Intelligent Design movement is to 'teach There is a concerted effort being made to the controversy.' There is a very real contro­ versy centering on how properly to account work the "controversy" angle, and at for biological complexity (cf. the ongoing first glance these arguments appear to be events in Kansas), and it is a scientific con­ troversy" (Dembski 2001). an appeal to rationality and compromise.

The ID movement even goes so far as to eniist the heip of a man whose name is ient to the body of work they challenge. To buttress their argu­ implies a dispute as to detail or process between those who ment, several have quoted this line from Charles Darwin's share a common epistemological and empirical foundation. Origin of Species: "A fair result can be obtained only by fully This debate can proceed using common references, terminol­ stating and balancing the facts and arguments on both sides of ogy, and accepted evidence. Within this context, viewed at this each question" (Darwin 1859). scale, what may seem an overblown dispute over arcane minu­ It is obvious that there is a concerted effort being made— tiae to those outside the discipline could properly be deemed Dembski says as much above—within the Intelligent Design a controversy. movement to work die "controversy" angle, and again, at first By contrast, however, consider an outsider, perhaps a mathe­ glance, these arguments appear to be an appeal to rationality matician, who insists that he has discovered that the foundational and compromise. To be sure, it's possible that Meyer, Dembski, precepts of historical sciences themselves are flawed. If he makes and Johnson believe they are being rational when diey apply his case to historians, and they, by an overwhelming percentage, these arguments to the broad spectrum of biological origins. affirm that his argument has no applicability within their disci­ However, the assertion that there is a "scientific" controversy to pline, how could we legitimately call diis a historical controversy? be taught is at best misguided and at worst disingenuous. Our mathematician may wish to engage historians on die issue and in doing so might drive the dispute to a controversial pitch. Exploiting Fair-mindedness But while his argument may indeed be about history, it is not the Individuals who push the "it's only fair to teach both sides" tac­ kind of "historical controversy" that one would suggest requires tic count on those estimable intellectual qualities one finds in inclusion in the history curriculum. In short, in the context of critical thinkers to tip the balance of opinion in their favor. history (die discipline), the fact that historians regard our math­ These qualities, including fair-mindedness, intellectual curios­ ematician's case as immaterial certainly leaves it short of contro­ ity, and openness not only allow for but indeed urge that all versial. And in the larger context, any resulting controversy could sides of an issue be aired. But I submit that ID proponents hope not reasonably be qualified as historical. that those who employ these attributes will not scrutinize the "scientific controversy" assertion too deeply. A closer examina­ Disdain for Science tion of these arguments in general, and Meyer's fortuitous anal­ The obvious implication here is that the assertion of "scientific ogy in particular, shows that die metaphor breaks down, and the controversy" regarding ID and biological origins is little more so-called scientific controversy is litde more than a political ploy. than an attempt to define the parameters of the issue for What Dembski et al. are offering, looked at from the perspec­ tive of science, is not controversial. And examined in the Robert Camp lives in San Juan Capistrano, California. He has a broader political context, this dispute, while perhaps rising to B.S. in biology and keen interests in issues of biological origins the level of controversy, is demonstrably not scientific. andpseudoscience. E-mail: [email protected].

SKEPTICAL INQUIRER Septttnbet/October 2004 33 political gain. The interests of Intelligent Design advocates are thoroughly tested, and broadly applicable concepts" (Joint served by the perception that a scientific controversy exists. Letter 2001). The joint letter also recognized the underlying But this is not a genuine scientific dispute between evolution­ motivations in the ID movement: "As written, the apparendy ary biologists regarding details of legitimate controversies such innocuous statements in this resolution [the Santorum as the pace of speciation or phylogenetic classification. It is a amendment] mask an anti-evolution agenda diat repeatedly political movement, begun and led by those outside the disci­ has been rejected by the courts." Furthermore, "If the point of pline, which advances the proposal diat biology—and science die resolution is to encourage teaching about political contro­ itself—are flawed at the core. Science is drawn to unanswered versy surrounding scientific topics, then evolution is just one questions. Science attempts to shine light into dark, unex­ of a legion of issues diat are the subject of political debate. It plained places and advance our understanding of the should not be singled out. Confusing political with scientific unknown, if only incrementally. But the operative result of ID controversy on the topic of biological evolution will weaken theory is to take the opposite course, to draw from an science education." unknown the conclusion that it is unknowable and is therefore A resolution dealing direcdy with ID released by the ontologically supernatural (intelligently designed). The chill­ American Association for the Advancement of Science (2002) ing effect this methodology would have upon proper scientific declared: "Recognizing that the 'intelligent design theory' rep­ inquiry is obvious. resents a challenge to the quality of science education," (it is important to emphasize here that this is not recognition of a challenge to science but to The interests of Intelligent Design advocates are science education) "die Board of Directors of served by the idea that a scientific controversy the AAAS unanimously adopts the follow­ ing resolution:

exists. But this is not a genuine scientific dispute Whereas, ID proponents claim that contem­ between evolutionary biologists regarding details porary evolutionary theory is incapable of explaining die origin of the diversity of living of legitimate controversies such as the pace of organisms; Whereas, to date, me ID movement has speciation or phylogenetic classification. failed to offer credible scientific evidence to sup­ port dieir claim diat ID undermines die current scientifically accepted theory of evolution; Clearly this perspective does not spring from an under­ Whereas, the ID movement has not proposed a scientific means of testing its claims; standing of, or respect for, science. Though current political Therefore Be It Resolved, that the lack of scientific warrant strategy cues ID proponents to aver that their concepts make for so-called "intelligent design dieory" makes it improper to no statements regarding the nature or identity of the designer, include as a part of science education; the movement is unquestionably driven by dieological imper­ Therefore Be Further It Resolved that AAAS urges citizens atives. Most scientists recognize this and regard ID accord­ across the nation to oppose the establishment of policies diat ingly. (In one poll of Ohio scientists, 91 percent of respon­ would permit the teaching of "intelligent design theory" as a pan of the science curricula of the public schools... . dents answered "Yes" when asked the question: "Do you think the concept of 'Intelligent Design' is primarily a religious Plainly, it is not credible to suggest there is a scientific con­ view?"[NCSE 2002].) In spite of this, ID proponents present troversy regarding Intelligent Design. To be sure, there is a their dieory as a combatant in a scientific controversy. This political controversy, and some evidence suggests diat diere is a public relations maneuver allows ID to look respectable, to public controversy as well. Some polls indicate significant pub­ appear to be a concept of substance and science. But from die lic support for the inclusion of ID in public science-education point of view of science and scientists, specifically biologists, it curricula. If true, diis should prompt us to examine some of the is neither. Brown University cell biologist Ken Miller charac­ underlying causes, even as we recognize diat public opinion terizes ID as: "essentially a movement against reason. It's an does not bear upon scientific consensus. A poll conducted by argument diat embraces ignorance" (Miller 2001). die Cleveland Plain Dealer (2002) may offer some insight. One Miller's view is shared by the vast majority of scientists, of die poll questions confirms what most opposed to ID would some of whom have mobilized in an attempt to protect science expect, diat the level of science education is at least partly education. In support of removing the Santorum amendment responsible for die public's reaction. The questions asks: (which expressly advanced this notion of "teaching the con­ "Would you say diat you are very familiar, somewhat familiar, troversy") from die House version of die No Child Left or not diat familiar widi die concept of evolution?" to which Behind Act, a "Joint Letter from Scientific and Educational diose polled responded, "Very Familiar": 42 percent; Leaders on Evolution in H.R.1" was signed by representatives "Somewhat Familiar": 43 percent; "Not Familiar": 15 percent. of eighty scientific and educational organizations. The letter While we may reasonably ask what exactly qualifies as "very was unflinching in its support for evolutionary science: familiar," even witii skepticism aside, we can propose diat at "Evolutionary dieory ranks with Einstein's dieory of relativity least 58 percent of respondents to this poll likely did not know as one of modern science's most robust, generally accepted. enough about evolution to be able to critically judge questions

34 September/October 2004 SKEPTICAL INQUIRER of intelligent design and biological origins. This affords plenty campaign. Despite suffering defeats (notably in Kansas, of polemical opportunities wherein the well-known Wedge California, New Mexico, and Texas) in their attempted end strategy (a process by which ID proponents infiltrate science runs around die scientific process, they will almost certainly by political means) might seek incursion (Forrest and Gross continue this strategy. 2004; Center for the Renewal of Science and Culture 2001), In his testimony before the Texas State Board of Education, and die strategy on die part of ID proponents in this effort can Dembski said: "Don't believe for one moment that all mean­ often be subtle (perhaps surreptitious?). They seek to appeal to ingful scientific debate about biological evolution has ceased or die honest, egalitarian natures of critical thinkers. In addition, diat it is only about loose ends and trivial details. If that were they attempt to demonstrate that esteemed individuals and the case, none of us would be here today" (Dembski 2003). scientists support their point of view (as with the quote of Most biologists will happily confirm that "all meaningful Darwin mentioned earlier). scientific debate about biological evolution" has certainly not Most important, however, they try to soft-pedal their goals, ceased. It is the lifeblood of science, as well as many other dis­ appearing to desire only to have evidence both for and against ciplines, that ideas are squeezed and prodded and debated vig­ biological evolution covered in science classes. But this is orously. This is how scientific consensus is eventually reached. already the case. Perhaps in high schools, where there is barely But Dembski's suggestion that he would not have been speak­ enough time to communicate the empirical and theoretical ing at a school board meeting had all meaningful debate foundations of biology, there is little opportunity for fine-scale ceased, while probably literally true, is. as a metaphor for his analysis. But certainly in higher educational environments, this motivation, misleading. To extend the metaphor, certainly the is, as with die example of historical contention earlier, integral assorted scientists would not have been there, likely the board to the advancement of biology itself. To propose that one would not have needed to bother, and most of the spectators would have been elsewhere. But Dembski would have been desires only that "evidence for and against" evolution be taught there, regardless of the state of biological consensus, precisely while simultaneously trying to appear scientific and unfairly because his difficulty with evolution is not scientific, and his scorned is, from the perspective of science, utterly banal. political controversy can only be sustained by feeding the In comments regarding the Plain Dealer poll previously rhetorical flame. The image of Dembski arguing from an cited, ID proponents from a group called Science Excellence empty dais to a nearly empty room is indeed an apt metaphor. for All Ohioans exulted: "The results are quite gratifying to For evolution enjoys a remarkably broad scientific consensus, those of us who favor an objective 'teach the controversy' and scientists, as well as the media, take notice of ID only approach to biological origins. Science Excellence for All when it tweaks a sensitive spot such as science education. It is Ohioans believes that schools should (a) teach the evidence for for this reason that ID proponents extol the virtues of teach­ and against biological evolution; (b) permit, but not require, ing a "scientific controversy" that clearly has little to do with teachers to discuss alternative theories such as Intelligent responsible public education, and even less to do with science. Design; and (c) adopt a definition of science that allows for consideration of all logical explanations for phenomena in References nature." Of course, no reasonable scientist, or layman for that American Association for the Advancement of Science. 2002. AAAS Board matter, would argue against eidier the first or last option. Both Resolution. Intelligent Design Theory. Available online at www.aaas.org/ are wholly noncontroversial and are matters of scientific pro­ news/rclcases/2002/1106id2.shiml. cedure. But here again, a patina of conciliation and reason is Center for the Renewal of Science and Culture. 2001. The Wedge Strategy. Available online at www.antievolurion.org/teaiures/wcdge.himl. employed to obscure an attempt "(b)" to smuggle religion in Cleveland Plain Dealer. 2002. Ohio Issue Poll. June. Available online at www.nmid- the form of Intelligent Design into die science curriculum. nttorg/CLEVELAND%20PLAINS%20DEALER%20POLLdoc. Darwin. Charles R. 1859. The Origin of Species. New York. Penguin Group. In die light of limited science education and political tactics Dembski. William A. 2001. Teaching Intelligent Design—What happened it is not hard to understand that many parents might initially when? A response to Eugenie Scott. Available online at www.thcism. support teaching ID in schools. One is left to wonder, diough, net/article/16. Dembski, William A. 2003. Testimony of William Dembski before Texas State what die public's reaction would be if, widi die door opened, a Board of Education. Design Inference Web site. Available online at bewildering variety of dieologically motivated "scientific" ori­ www.designinference.com/documcnts/2003.09TSBoE_Tcstimony.pdf. gins dieories demand equal time. (For that matter, where would Forrest, Barbara, and Paul R. Gross. 2004. Creationism's Trojan Hone: The Wedge of Intelligent Design. Oxford: Oxford University Press. diis leave diose who complain diat we must teach both sides?) Johnson. Phillip E. 2003. A step forward in Ohio. Touchstone 16(1). Available Reflecting on this scenario, it's not hard to imagine biologists online at www.inuchstoncmag.com/docs/issucs;'16.1 docs/16-1 pgl I .html. sarcastically observing at some point, "All diese problems widi Joint Letter from Scientific and Educational Leaders on Evolution in H.R.I, 2001. Available online at www.agiweb.org/gap/lcgisI07/cvolution evolutionary biology and no one bothered to tell us about it." lcttcr.html. It is a sad, foregone conclusion diat we have not heard the Meyer, Stephen J. 2001. Teach rhe controversy. Cincinnati Enquirer, March last requests to "teach die controversy." As long as people like 30. 2002. Miller. Kenneth. 2001. Evolution and Intelligent Design. Religion and Ethics Phillip Johnson and William Dembski feel they can profitably Newsweekly. Available online at www.pbs.org/wnct/rdigionandcthics/ bring the battle to school boards—as diey have done in Kansas, wcck504/feature.html. Minnesota, California, Ohio, Texas, and recently in Ohio Scientists' Intelligent Design Poll. 2002. National Center for Science Education. Available online at //www.ncseweb.org/resources/anicles/733_ Missouri—they will continue to promulgate their political ohio_scientists39_intellige_ 10_ 15_2002.asp. •

SKEPTICAL INQUIRER September/October 2004 35 The Campeche, Mexico 'Infrared UFO' Video

Mysterious objects filmed by the Mexican military in March 2004 created a flurry of excitement and strange claims. A new analysis from a respected expert suggests that the images have a prosaic explanation—despite premature dismissals by skeptics and believers alike.

ROBERT SHEAFFER

now-classic UFO video was taken on the afternoon of March 5, 2004, in southern Mexico, over the states of AChiapas and Campeche. A Merlin C26/A aircraft of SEDNA, the Mexican Secretariat of Defense, was on routine patrol looking for drug smuggling or other illegal activity. It was using the Star SAFIRE II infrared sensing device manu­ factured by FLIR Systems of Portland, Oregon. From an ele­ vation of 3,500 meters (approximately 11,500 feet), the in­ frared sensor system recorded a sequence of unidentified objects, at one point numbering as many as eleven. These UFOs (like most UFOs photographed) appeared only as bright points of light, showing no detail or structure. But they were different from the run-of-the mill UFO sightings

36 September/October 2004 SKEPTICAL INQUIRER because the objects could not be seen visually but did appear These images were viewed though one of the worst atmos­ only in the infrared images. Infrared systems such as the Star pheric conditions possible. Hot, humid, and partly cloudy at a land and sea interface, during the thermal instability of sunset SAFIRE II detect electro-magnetic radiation in the 3 to 5 or sunrise. This represents one of the most difficult atmos­ micron bandpass, widi a resolution of 640 by 480 pixels. Images pheric conditions for accurate imaging. These conditions seri­ are formed by die differences in the scene's apparent infrared ously impair the quality of the images in the visible and even radiant intensity caused by tempera­ reduce the quality in the infrared. In ture differences and emissivity differ­ these stressing atmospherics, it is no surprise that there was nothing visible ences, and to a lesser extent reflected to the eye and the images are blurred energy. Thus, objects hotter rJian and altered in the infrared. The their background appear to be self- smaller images below the main images luminous. The images can be could be reflections from water or recorded digitally or on conventional ground (common in the infrared) or even mirages. All of these phenomena video recording equipment (with arc typically observed in such condi­ lower resolution) as was die case here. tions. The bending of the light in the Infrared systems are useful for day­ atmosphere going though multiple time operations, especially in humid dynamic layers of varying indexes of climates where visibility tends to be refractions also call into question the angular indicadons. poor, because infrared radiation pen­ Figure 1. Infrared view showing two reported "UFOs": Oil etrates die atmosphere better than well platforms with intensely hot flares, seen with medium zoom setting. Any representation of a three- visible light. These objects were dimensional scene on a two- recorded as brilliant objects in the dimensional surface (be it a paindng, infrared, suggesting that they were photograph, television, or infrared scene on a display) lacks absolute emitting enormous amounts of heat. range information. It is impossible to However, due to the nature of the infer the range from the image of an video recording and lack of knowl­ cb:ect b^ed or. brightness =r size, edge of the sensitivity parameters, unless the brightness and size are well actual temperatures are impossible to known, the atmospheric conditions are well known, and the sensor settings ascertain from the available data. arc known. There arc simply too many unknowns to solve the equations. To get a better understanding of Painters and photographers have long die operation of the infrared record­ exploited the human predisposition to read range into a two-dimensional ing system, and die situation in Figure 2. The same reported "IR UFOs" at maximum zoom: individual flares from each oil well are now visible. scene for both optical illusions and which it was being employed, I con­ stunning artistic effects. Infrared sen­ tacted John Lester Miller, author of sors frcquendy employ a laser "**.-• more than forty scientific papers and rangefinder option for this very rea­ four textbooks on infrared and elec­ son, which was not present on the sen­ sor that acquired these images. The tro-optical technology. He is also an only way to accurately determine active member of Oregonians for range is by radar. Rationality.1 He explained:

The UFOlogists' concerns about not At some points two unidentified being able to acquire the objects visu­ objects were reported to have turned ally is meaningless. These systems are up on radar. However the position specifically designed to detect objects and number of the radar objects did that cannot be seen by the human eye. Frankly, it would be a waste of Figure 3. The flight path of the Merlin C-26/A aircraft. The not even come close to matching that taxpayers' money to equip a plane look-back angle of -134 degrees points toward the off­ of the infrared ones, so whatever the with a system that could not detect shore oil platforms in the Bay of Campeche. The supposed "radar UFOs" were in the opposite direction, ahead of radar targets were, diey were not die objects invisible to the eye. If the eye the aircraft. Some of them were probably trucks on the same as those recorded on video. This could see everything that die IR sen­ Yucatan Highway. sor can, then it would be far cheaper is generally the case when visual sightings of UFOs (or in diis instance, infrared sightings) are and more effective to put a few privates in the aircraft with binoculars. But this isn't the case. By exploiting infrared elec­ "confirmed" by radar. Unfortunately, no radar data from die tromagnetic radiation caused by thermal and emissivity differ­ aircraft was recorded, so we must rely on die crews' recollection ences in a scene, a different landscape is revealed. For example, of what it showed. The military radar operator in the city of infrared imagers can easily detect humans and animals at a dis­ tance of several miles at night where the eye or CCD sees nothing but darkness. Moreover, being longer in wavelength, Robert Sheaffer is a CSICOP Fellow and long-lime skeptical typically infrared radiation transmits better though the atmos­ UFO investigator. He is the author of UFO Sightings phere than visible and is exactly why it is now being deployed (Prometheus Books, 1998). His Web page for UFOs and other on commercial aircraft for enhanced vision for pilots. skeptical subjects is at www.debunker.com.

SKEPTICAL INQUIRER September/October 2004 37 Carmen was contacted, and it was not showing any unknown Navarro of that same university told a press conference on objects.- UFO researcher Brad Sparks, plotting the direction May 14 that the UFOs were luminous sparks of plasma and distance of the aircraft's radar returns on a map, found that energy. Mexican astronomer Jose de la Herri n stated that the some of them appear to match the position of the Yucatan stationary objects could be meteor fragments. UFOIogists Highway 186. He suggests that the measured velocity of the were soon gleefully mocking these absurd explanations, mak­ radar objects (fifty-two knots, or sixty miles per hour) is quite ing it look as if skeptics were ignorant fools who couldn't rec­ consistent with the velocity of trucks, and so concludes that ognize alien spacecraft when they saw one. There is nothing some, although not all, ot the moving objects spotted on radar wrong with saying, "I don't yet have enough information to are due to trucks on the highway.1 There are many kinds of know what the objects are, but I am confident that when more objects, both flying and on the ground, that can turn up as tar­ facts come in, we'll find a prosaic explanation." gets on aircraft radars and infrared sensors. By May 20 some skeptical analysts had identified the probable source of the objects: burning oil well flares from offshore oil platforms in the Bay of Campeche. This region is the Skeptical analysts had identified the center of Mexico's petroleum industry, containing more than 200 wells on nine probable source of the objects: burning platforms, many of them close to the city oil well flares from offshore oil platforms of Carmen. (One of the voices on the video can be heard saying that the objects in the Bay of Campeche. are "at Carmen.") At that point it was thought that there had been some tempo­ rary burn-off of excess natural gas within The tapes were released to Jaime Maussan, a well-known the well—but it turns out that the oil well flares burn more Mexican broadcaster and UFOIogist who has made a career or less continuously in this region. The area also has large out of the sensationalist promotion of supposedly "unex­ steam generating plants that pump incredible amounts of hot plained mysteries." Maussan's pronouncements range from the steam deep into the ground to increase the pressure and ease sensational to the absurd. For example, in 2000 he told a UFO the flow of oil. conference about "glowing extraterrestrials" being widely seen One anonymous "concerned outdoorsman" who works on in Mexico, and claimed to have sighted one ot them himself. offshore oil platforms wrote on the environmentalist Web site He also showed a photo of a supposed alien "life form" report­ www.myoutdoorjournal.com: edly encountered by Apollo 11 astronauts on the Moon, Each day while I work, 1 see flares burning at such a rate that labeled "El Hombre de la Luna."'' If one wanted an objective it is almost unbelievable to the human eye. I'm told that all gas evaluation of the objects in the video, Maussan would be last sources are being burnt off through the flares just to keep the person to turn to. Indeed, a May 17, 2004, editorial in the crude oil flowing from each well. Each production platform influential Mexican newspaper La Cronica de Hoy by Raul consists of at least twelve penetrations drilled into the sea floor reaching to different depths. Each platform has a flare some Trejo Delarbre suggested exactly that. have two, in which are roaring twenty-four hours a day, three On May 11, Maussan held a press conference promoting the hundred and sixty-five days a year. ... At night when looking videos as a sensational mystery. Maussan's story ran widely in the across the bay of Campeche, it looks like a spotted forest fire out of control in the distant far yonder, in any direction you news media worldwide, including the Associated Press, CNN, choose to look. The black smoke rolls and it never stops! Reuters, MSNBC, USA Today, and Fox News. He soon had the videos on his TV show, as well as on a Web site.'' The Web site On May 26, Capt. Alejandro Franz of the private Mexican is filled with a mixture of information and misinformation con­ UFO research organization Alcione, who is far more skeptical cerning the objects. It claims that the "halos" seen surrounding than Maussan and his colleagues, independently came to the the objects is evidence of a powerful magnetic field. It goes on same conclusion. A former pilot who has flown extensively in to wax knowingly about the objects' "frequency" and "vortex," that region, Franz wrote on the widely-read UFO Updates as well as their supposed violation of "entropy," all of which is online forum: "Cantarell Field or Cantarell Complex is the complete pseudoscientific balderdash. largest oil field in Mexico, located 80 kilometers offshore in Unfortunately, many would-be skeptics made hasty pro­ the Bay of Campeche. . . . The objects (lights) are in a fixed nouncements about the objects, thereby giving all UFO skep­ position with a dark background (the sea) while the camera on tics a bad name. The Urania Astronomical Society of the state board is following the lights that are showing in the screen as of Morelos told the newspaper El Universal on May 13 that the a very brilliant source of light . . . the lights are coming from UFOs filmed might be a group of weather balloons. Dr. Julio steady oil platform flames (passive fire) located in the Gulf of Herrera of Mexico's National Autonomous University told the Mexico between 50 and 90 Km from Ciudad del Carmen City Associated Press that the UFOs were electrical flashes in the where the objects, at least one light as the FLIR or RADAR atmosphere, a theory that makes very little sense. A few days operator tells is exactly over Ciudad del Carmen"'' later, he was attributing them to "ball lightning." Rafael On the Alcione Web site, Franz provides a great deal of

38 September/October 2004 SKEPTICAL INQUIRER information and many photos concerning the Cantarel off­ The objects appear to be moving with respect to the clouds shore oil wells and their continuous flares. No reasonable per­ that pass in front of them, giving the objects the illusion of son could see his photos comparing the flaming offshore plat­ motion. However, the motion of the aircraft with respect to the forms with the infrared UFOs from the video and reject the clouds, as well as the motion of the clouds themselves, causes the probability that the two are the same. highly magnified lights to appear to shift position with respect Franz is mistaken in suggesting that the aircraft was headed to the clouds. Since the azimuth of the objects does not change north at the time that the videos were taken. The aircraft was significandy during the time they are being filmed, it is evident headed eastward, at an azimuth of approximately 80 degrees. that the apparent motion of the objects with respect to the This is confirmed by an event occurring near the end of the clouds is caused primarily by the motion of rhe aircraft with half-hour video, twenty-six minutes in. The crew members are respect to clouds, and not by motion of the objects themselves. briefly surprised by the image on the Star SAFIRE II of a large, This situation is analogous to zooming in using a telephoto lens round object. They zoom in, and realize that it's the moon coming up. "The moon, its the moon," they laugh. The moon rose From the video, the objects can be seen at approximately 17:20 from their location, at a geo-azimuth of 75 degrees. Because the to be over water, but one cannot judge the azimuth of the Star SAFIRE II relative to its altitude of the objects above the water, aircraft mount is reading approximately -5 degrees (just left of straight ahead), that or their relative motion with confirms that the aircraft was on a heading respect to the water. of about 80 degrees. It may or may not be significant that the Sun was at this time at an azimuth of 260 degrees, directly behind the aircraft. The Star SAFIRE II records the altitude and azimuth of the on a video camera, and pointing to a far away mountain. Then, object it is imaging at all times relative to its aircraft mount. while keeping the camera pointed to the mountain, walk along The altitude of the UFOs is within a degree or two of the hori­ a treed path. The trees will have apparent angular motion (or zon with respect to the aircraft. The crew said that the objects optical flow) due to the camera's movement, while rhe mountain were at the same elevation, i.e., on the horizon. The pitch of stays approximately still. When overworked, stressed, disori­ an aircraft in "level flight" depends on a number of factors, ented, and confined to looking at a three-dimensional scene on including its airspeed, trim, bank angle, the configuration of a two-dimensional display, it is easy for the crew to become con­ its flaps, gear, spoilers, etc. If the aircraft had a one to three fused regarding what is moving. All of die UFOs recorded by degree pitch upward from its centerline (typical of normal the Star SAFIRE II are on the left side of the aircraft, toward the flight), this needs to be figured into the altitude reading from Gulf of Mexico, with the great majority of rhem around -134 the infrared sensor. It would mean that a "zero elevation" read­ degrees. ing indicates that the sensor is pointed below the horizon, Discussing the image quality that we see in the UFO video. when looking backward. Miller explained: During the main part of the UFO encounter, the object's Unlike CCDs [charge-coupled devices, commonly-used photo azimuth is reading around -134 degrees, approximately the detector systems], all infrared focal planes suffer from sensitiv­ ity drifts from pixel to pixel, and periodically require all scene 7:00 position behind the aircraft. When plotted on a map pixels to be normalized. This is generally done by the user showing the aircraft's position and heading, this points in the commanding it, men a "paddle," coated with a uniform black direction of the largest oil well platform complex in the Gulf coating, is inserted into the field of view. Without this being of Campeche. From the video, the objects can be seen to be done, images will possess "Fixed Pattern Noise" and these images all do. The vertical lines and dark splotches are classic over water, but one cannot judge the altitude of the objects infrared fixed pattern noise and limit operator effectiveness. above the water, or their relative motion with respect to the They are not indicative of typical images from this system. water. When two brilliant UFOs are seen behind fluffy clouds Moreover, though these are infrared images, they suffer from (figure 1), the infrared camera is set to the medium zoom field the same poor quality that most "UFO" photographs suffer from—blurry, out of focus with incorrect exposures. of view, giving a field of 3.4 by 2.6 degrees. We are seeing the two main oil well platforms. Soon afterwards, the operator In the 1990s a wonderful new technique to grind and shape infrared optics went into production. This is diffractivc selects the narrowest field of view using the E-zoom feature. optics via diamond turning. A fixed fresnel-lens-like circular The field of view is only .04 by .03 degrees, which makes the pattern is cut onto the lens surface (typically the back of the objects appear about nine times larger. We see the result in fig­ lens). This results in color-corrected optical systems with far ure 2, when individual flames are resolved on each oil plat­ fewcr lens elements, thus saving significant cost and weight and size. The drawback is that this "ring" partem scatters a form, revealing nine or more "UFOs." If you compare this small amount of light. The amount of this scatter is minimal frame to the photo found on the Alcione Web site showing a and can be seen only with a bright overexposed image. This daytime view of flames on the oil platforms, you will see that scatter from the diffractive optic pattern accounts for the halo they match up quite well. effects of these overexposed images.

SKEPTICAL INQUIRER September/October 2004 39 Unfortunately, the infrared sensor's rccoded output is in a ing lighthouses and gassy pelicans." Others raised die specter of standard commercial video format (e.g., NTSC or PAL). elves, angels, flaming seagulls, etc. Jaime Maussan argued that These were the accepted video standards when the equipment the flaming oil wells would not have been visible, because they was designed. The infrared focal planes have dynamic ranges of thirteen or fourteen bits, but the image-forming electronics were 125 to 200 km or more distant. He neglected to calculate compresses this wide range in a nonlinear fashion to make cos­ that from an altitude of 3,500 meters, the horizon is nominally metically appealing images on a six or eight bit capable display, 211 km distant, and that atmospheric refraction typically a low-dynamic range for video recording. In other words, a lot extends this distance somewhat, depending on meteorological of information gets lost. Unfortunately, just like your cam­ conditions, as also does die height above the water of the flames corder, the compression is adaptive based on scene statistics and details, and the settings arc not recorded. This, along with themselves/ other factors such as atmospherics, eliminates such airborne By their reaction, the "leaders" of UFOlogy have shown infrared system from recording any precise data, unlike com­ themselves incapable of distinguishing logical from illogical mon handheld thermographic and scientific cameras. From a thought, and science from pseudoscience. The lesson of the videotape, one cannot glean any radiometric data, as it is all Mexican Infrared UFO video illustrates once again the inabil­ processed in an unknown manner with nonlinear and adaptive algorithms to make a clearly displayed image on conventional ity of the UFO movement to perform critical thinking. television. Also every copy degrades the tape, and every format (DVC, SVHS, VHS, etc.) imposes its own proprietary scaling Notes and changes on the data, making reliable scientific measure­ 1. Miller is the author of ihe textbook Principles of Infrared Technology: A ment impossible. Practical Guide to the State of the Art (Kluwer Academic Publishers, 1994) and Photonics Rules of Thumb (McGraw-Hill. 2004), as well as two ancillary ver­ The UFO believers who participate in the online UFO sions of Photonics Rules of Thumb (McGraw-Hill 1994 and 2003). Updates forum, which includes many "leaders" of die UFO 2. Information provided by Jaime Maussan. See www.virtuallystrangc. net/ufo/updates/2004/may/m26-003.shtml. movement, laughed off the valid explanation of oil well fires as 3. See www.virtuallystrangc.net/ufo/updates/2004/jun/m01-002.shtml. flippantly as they did the absurd ones. UFO author Ray 4. At the Bay Area UFO Expo, San Jose, California, September, 2000. See Stanford scoffed at "oil rig flares tracked on radar at near the air­ "Reptoids and Martians Invade Silicon Valley" by Robert Sheaffer, SKEPTICAL craft's altitude," of which neither statement was true: the radar INQUIRER, January 2001. 5. See Maussan's Web site about the videos at www.ovnistv.tv/noti_ targets were in a different direction entirely, and distant objects mayo/n_l lmayo_rcportc.htm. near the horizon may well be on the ground. Roswell champion 6. See Franz's original posting at www.virtuallystrange.net/ufo/updates/ David Rudiak scoffed at "invisible, flying oil wells," while Alfred 2004/may/m2701 l.shtml. Alcione's Web site is at www.alcione.org. 7. See www.isip.gsfc.nasa.gov/stargaze/Shorizon.him for an explanation Lehmberg suggested that skeptics might as well propose "soar­ of how to calculate the distance to die horizon as a function of elevation. D

DID POPPER REFUTE EVOLUTION? tions on where natural selection should Popperian criterion of falsification. Continued from page 15 push the population next. Finally, biolo­ Much more than a useful metaphysical gists wait until the next generation of research program, the modern theory of organisms comes out and measure their evolution is as scientific as Newtonian survival of the fittest (and the much characteristics again. mechanics, though by all means not as more important fact that s/he is going to If the theory were correct (and given precise as, say, quantum mechanics. The have the most offspring) by means of some odier verifiable conditions, such as distressing part of this story is how natural selection, they have independent the presence of adequate genetic varia­ many creationists, and occasionally even ways to assess which members of a pop­ tion for the traits in question), the pop­ professional philosophers, keep bringing ulation of organisms actually are the ulation's mean for the characters under up Popper's alleged refutation of evolu­ "fittest." For example, biologists employ selection should have shifted in the pre­ tion as if it were the last word on the optimization analyses to predict which dicted direction. This is an eminently subject. They often imply that evolu­ combinations of morphological, behav­ falsifiable hypothesis, in the same sense tionary biologists are either dupes or, ioral, or physiological traits are more in which predictions made by astron­ worse, consciously misleading the pub­ likely to be advantageous (i.e., to omers or physicists are falsifiable, and lic into thinking that they are doing increase "fitness") in the range of envi­ very much unlike the explanations of good science at the expense of that same ronments actually encountered by a human behavior put forth by psychoan­ public's generosity. For this, however, we given living form. They then sample alysts, which are notoriously so flexible cannot blame Popper, who demon­ natural populations of organisms, deter­ that they can fit (a posteriori) virtually strated in his retraction a much higher mine in which environments they actu­ any observed pattern. intellectual standard than the people ally live, measure those traits they The tautological circle thus broken, who attempt to exploit one of his mis­ hypothesize are more likely to make a evolutionary biology can be fully admit­ takes in order to serve their parochial difference, and obtain statistical predic­ ted among the sciences even by the ideological agendas. LJ

40 September/October 2004 SKEPTICAL INQUIRER The Anthropic Principle and the Big Bang: Natural or Supernatural? A Simple Probabilistic Answer

A vast literature is devoted to discussion of the anthropic principle. This article offers a simple discussion of the anthropic principle in Bayesian probabilistic terms, 'while it intentionally simplifies the problem, it demonstrates that interpretations of the anthropic principle based on the hypothesis of its supernatural origin can be refuted on simple probabilistic grounds.

MARK PERAKH

he term anthropic principle started gaining popular­ ity after 1973, when an English physicist, Brandon TCarter, introduced it at a gathering of scientists on the occasion of the five hundredth anniversary of Copernicus's birth (Carter 1974). Carter noted that the val­ ues of physical constants must be within a very narrow range in order to enable the existence of life. Were any of the phys­ ical constants slightly different, life would be impossible. In other words, the universe appears to be "fine-tuned" for the existence of life. Since then, the anthropic principle, as Carter's observation was labeled, has become a favorite subject of discussion by creationists of all varieties, who view it as a proof that the

SKEPTICAL INQUIRER September/October 2004 41 universe—and more specifically intelligent life—could not creator of the world. I suggest that if the universe is indeed emerge naturally but must have been created for a purpose and fine-tuned for life, this does not logically point to the super­ according to a detailed design by a supernatural agent (i.e., God). natural creation of the world and of life; such an interpretation Discussions in this vein are found in publications by Hugh Ross is just one of many possible, equally arbitrary assumptions. (1998), Nathan Aviezer (1999), Fred Heeren (2000), Patrick First, let us note that since Carter's introduction of the con­ Glynn (1999), Walter L. Bradley (2001), and many others. cept, a number of versions of the anthropic principle have been Of course, those adherents of such a view, who approach it offered. One version is referred to as the Weak Anthropic from a Christian perspective, interpret it differently from those Principle (WAP). For example, here is how the famous physicist who are believing Jews. For the former, the anthropic princi­ Stephen Hawking defines the WAP in his popular book A Brief ple points to Jesus Christ as the creator of the universe, History of Time (Hawking 1988): "The weak anthropic princi­ whereas for the latter, Jesus has nothing to do with the creation ple states that in a universe that is large or infinite in space of the world by Yahweh (Jehovah). Even if we agreed that the and/or in time, the conditions necessary for the development of anthropic principle proves the creation of the universe by a intelligent life will be met only in certain regions that are lim­ supernatural agent, it still would leave many variations of that ited in space and time. The intelligent beings in these regions explanation equally possible. Without contradicting the gen­ should therefore not be surprised if they observe that their local­ eral supernatural interpretation of the anthropic principle, one ity in the universe satisfies the conditions that are necessary for can just as well guess that the creator of the world was the bib­ their existence." From that definition, we see that the WAP does lical Yahweh or Quetzalcoatl ... or Krishna or Jupiter or a not require the assumption of a supernatural agent being band of smaller gods all working in cahoots. responsible for the creation of the universe and of life. However, in this article, I will try to show that the above Another version of the anthropic principle is referred to as interpretation is unsubstantiated in general, regardless of the the Strong Anthropic Principle (SAP). If we look at Hawking's particular choice of a candidate for the role of supernatural definition of the SAP (Hawking 1988), we likewise see that it does not imply the SAP's supernatural origin. Mark Perakh is an emeritus professor of physics. He got his two doc­ One more version of the anthropic principle was offered toral degrees (in technical/engineering physics and electrochemistry) under the name of the Participatory Anthropic Principle in the former U.S.S.R. He has taught physics and related disci­ (Barrow and Tipler 1986). It (mis)used the concepts presented plines for more than half a century in four countries, and has lived in the "Copenhagen interpretation" of quantum mechanics. in the U.S. since 1978. He has authored about 300 scientific- This version implies that the very existence of the universe can papers and has written several articles on intelligent design. His only be understood within the framework of an intelligent new book, Unintelligent Design, was reviewed in our July/August mind observing the universe. 2004 issue. He lives in Escondido, California. E-mail: Barrow and Tipler also suggested the so-called Final marperak@cox. net. Anthropic Principle (FAP) which goes even further, positing

42 September/October 2004 SKEPTICAL INQUIRER that the very existence of the universe is due to the human which, comparing (2) and (3), yields: mind observing it. Reviewing all described versions of the anthropic principle, Martin Gardner (1986) suggested an all- p(A)xP(BIA)=p(B)Xp(AIB) (5) embracing, derogatory term: "CRAP, the Completely Ridiculous Anthropic Principle." From (5) we get a universal relation: While one can be skeptical regarding the esoteric interpreta­ tions of observed values of physical constants, the very fact of the p(AIB)/p(A)=p(BIA)/p(B) (6) constants being seemingly "fine-tuned" for the existence of life Our equation (6) could have simply been presented as a con­ has been rather commonly accepted (although certain arguments sequence of Bayes's theorem, well known in the study of prob­ may be offered that cast doubts on the real "fine-tuning" of phys­ ability (see, for example, Howson and Urbach 1993). ical constants—see, for example, Klee 2002). The question is, Alternatively, Bayes's theorem can be derived from equation though, what is the meaning of the apparent hospitality of the (6). For this discussion, we will limit ourselves to the particu­ universe for the existence of life, if such hospitality is indeed a lar, simplified form of Bayes's theorem presented as equation fact. Depending on the preferred answer to that question, we can see two opposite inter­ pretations of the mentioned "fine-tuning." One interpretation perceives in the fine- luiiing of the physical constants an indication The question is, what is the of the creation of the universe by a supernat­ ural agent (God or gods) for a purpose and meaning of the apparent hospitality according to a plan. The opposite interpreta­ of the universe for the existence of life, tion looks for a natural explanation of the fact that the universe seems to be fine-tuned if such hospitality is indeed a fact. for life.

I denoff all vprsinnc nf rUf inrhrtyn'tr principle that imply only a natural origin of life in our universe as the Natural Anthropic Principle (NAP), and all those versions that imply a supernatural creator or cre­ Bayes's theorem (published posthumously in 1764) ators as the Supernatural Anthropic Principle (SNAP). shows how the probability of certain events being the My analysis will be probabilistic and will be deliberately causes of other events changes if those events actually simplified, omitting subde details. I will estimate what the take place. It considers a set of random, mutually exclu­ probability is that the fine tuning of the universe for life (if sive events Ai, At... A», which are unobservable, while such fine tuning is a fact) indicates a supernatural creation of one of them must necessarily take place (they are the universe versus the probability that the universe had no referred to as "causes"). Each of the "causes," if it supernatural creator. occurs, leads to a consequent event E which can be Before turning to the probabilistic presentation of the observed. Probability P(A) of event A being the cause anthropic principle, let's make a brief excursion into some of E (before E has been actually observed) is referred to seminal concepts of probability theory. as "a priori probability." If event E has been actually Let p(A&B) be the probability that two events A and B observed, the probability of A being the cause of the both take place. The probability theory tells us that if A and B observed event changes to P(AIE), referred to as "a pos­ are independent events, then: teriori probability." The third concept in Bayes's theo­ rem is probability P(EIA) of event E occurring pro­ p(A&B)=p(A)xp(B) (1) vided A takes place (referred to as "likelihood"). Bayes's However, if A and B are not independent, i.e., if the occur­ theorem shows the relationship among the three prob­ rence of A changes the probability of B, then we have instead abilities—a priori probability, a posteriori probability, of(l): and likelihood. It shows how the probability of a cer­ p(A&B)=p(A)Xp(BIA) (2) tain antecedent ("cause") changes if different conse­ quents actually occur. where p(A) is the probability of event A, and p(BIA) is the con­ Bayesian reasoning quantifies the intuitive evalua­ ditional probability of event B provided event A takes place. tion of the plausibility of a hypothesis in the light of its Likewise, we can write: expected consequences being actually observed. p(B&A)=p(B)Xp(AIB) (3) My equation (6) is a particular case of Bayes's theo­ rem which limits the situation in question to a choice Since A and B are arbitrary notations, which may be swapped, between only two possibilities, while the full form of we can write: the theorem also embraces cases with multiple choices. p(A&B)=p(B&A) (4)

SKEPTICAL INQUIRER September/October 2004 43 (6). It is easy now to succinctly represent any version of the p(SIL)/p(S) »1 (10b) anthropic principle in probabilistic terms. For example, for where p(S) is the unconditional probability that a universe was NAP and SNAP, it can be done as follows: created supernaturally, and p(SIL) is the conditional probabil­ NAP (Natural Anthropic Principle): Let p(FT) be the ity that a universe was supernaturally created provided life unconditional probability that a certain universe is fine-tuned exists in that universe. for life. Let p(FTIL) be the conditional probability that a uni­ The relation (6) is for this case as follows: verse is fine-tuned for life provided life exists in that universe. Let p(L) be the unconditional probability that life exists in a p(SIL)/p(S)=p(LIS)/p(L) (11) universe, and p(LIFT) the conditional probability that life where p(LIS) is the conditional probability of life existing in a exists in a universe provided that that universe is fine-tuned for universe provided that the universe was created supernaturally. life. The equation (6) becomes: To satisfy (10) and (11) we must assume that:

p(FTIL)/p(FT)=p(LIFT)/p(L) (7) P(LIS)»p(L) (12)

The NAP then boils down to the statement that: The meaning of (12) is that if we know that the universe was created supernaturally, this knowledge increases the p(FTIL)»p(FT) (8) probability p(LIS) of life's existence in such a universe com­ The meaning of (8)—the probabilistic representation of the pared to the probability p(L) of life's existence in the absence Natural Anthropic Principle—is the assertion that the exis­ of knowledge of supernatural creation. This implies that the tence of life in a universe makes it much more probable that supernatural creator of a universe must also have necessarily the universe in question must be fine-tuned for life (as com­ wished to have created life in it. This is an arbitrary assump­ pared with a universe where there is no life). From (6), it then tion, since we have no knowledge of what a supernatural cre­ ator of a universe may have wished or not wished to do. The follows that: SNAP, therefore, (expressions (10a) and (10b)] are also arbi­ p(LIFT)»p(L) (9) trary assumptions. Hence, the Supernatural Anthropic Principle is logically unsubstantiated and is an arbitrary The meaning of (9) is that if a universe is fine-tuned for life, assumption. this considerably enhances the probability that life will exist in that universe (as compared with a universe which is not fine- The conclusion that a universe fine-tuned for life implies a tuned for life). This is a reasonable assumption (some readers supernatural creator is an example of circular reasoning. In may even view it as self-evident). If (9) holds, (8) holds as well. order to conclude that p(SIL)»p(S), which is a succinct repre­ Hence, the NAP seems to be a reasonable and logically fault­ sentation of the SNAP, we must first assume that p(LIS)»p(L), less assumption. i.e., assume a priori the existence of a supernatural agent who wished and planned to create life. But the latter assertion is SNAP (Supernatural Anthropic Principle): This interpreta­ exacdy what was to be proven by the entire discourse. tion of the anthropic principle is based on the assertion that Of course, establishing the arbitrariness of an assumption the existence of life in our universe is best explained by assum­ does not mean that such an assumption is necessarily wrong. ing that the universe was intentionally "fine-tuned" by a super­ It does mean, though, that one may not assert that such an natural intelligent agent. In probabilistic terms, this position assumption is correct. At best, the question about the correct­ can be expressed by the following inequality: ness of such an assumption remains open until some convinc­ ing proofs of its being eidier correct or not are found. As the p(SIFT)»p(S) (10a) matter stands now, no such proofs have been suggested, so the where p(S) is the unconditional probability of a supernatural assertion that the values of physical constants point to the creation of the universe and p(SIFT) is the conditional proba­ supernatural origin of the universe and life remains an unsub­ bility of a supernatural creation provided the universe in stantiated assumption, reflecting religious preferences rather question is fine-tuned for life. Expression (10a) states diat die than factual evidence. fine-tuning of our universe makes much more probable its The preceding probabilistic discourse has shown that the supernatural origin as compared widi a universe which is not supernatural interpretation of the anthropic principle, so pop­ "fine-tuned" for life. ular among proponents of creationism, bodi of explicit and According to die proponents of the SNAP, life would be implicit kinds, is logically unsubstantiated. An investigation of impossible without the "fine-tuning." Therefore, the condi­ die logic of that proposition on a more sophisticated level, tional probability p(SIFT) in the expression (10a) may be such, for example, as that by Michael Ikeda and Bill Jefferys replaced by p(SIL), which is the conditional probability tliat (2001), has provided an even stronger refutation of the our "fine-tuned" universe was created by a supernatural agent, odiesis of a supernatural creation of life. Their discourse provided life exists in that universe (as compared with a uni­ seems to show diat the more "fine-tuned" for life a universe is, verse where there is no life). the less likely is its supernatural origin. Then, in probabilistic terms, the SNAP can be rendered by The discussion above can be applied, with a slight modifi- the following expression: cadon, to the discussion of a logical procedure known as

44 Septembtr/Ociobet 2004 SKEPTICAL INQUIRER abduction. William A. Dembski and Stephen C. Meyer (2000) p(SIBB)»P(S) (14) provide an explanation of the abduction procedure which dif­ Note that (14) renders the conclusion of Dembski and fers in some respects from its conventional interpretation. Meyer's abduction argument in probabilistic terms. Since this discussion is about Dembski and Meyer's use of In accordance with (13), if (14) holds, then also: abduction in tlieir attempt to prove the divine source of the Big Bang, I will discuss their paper adopting their definition of p(BBIS)»p(BB) (15) abduction. They compare deduction witJi abduction. In plain words, relation (15) asserts that the existence of a Deduction is a process wherein, first, a certain event A is supernatural creator substantially enhances the probability of believed to have actually happened. If some other event B is an the occurrence of the Big Bang. This relation renders the inevitable consequence of A (we say in that case that A entails "logic" step of Dembski and Meyer's abduction inference in B), we infer from the occurrence of A that B necessarily must probabilistic form. (The "data" step of their abduction argu­ occur as well. Dembski and Meyer present the deduction pro­ ment is the assumption that the Big Bang had actually cedure in the following form: occurred.) Hence, according to Dembski and Meyer's abduc­ Data: A is given and plainly true. tion inference, if we assume that the Big Bang had actually occurred, there is a good reason to assume that a supernatural Logic: But if A is true, then B is a matter of course. agent does exist, which is expressed by inequality (14). Conclusion: Hence, B must be true as well. The fallacy of that inference is in the inequality (15): And here is how Dembski and Meyer present the abduction p(BBIS)»p(BB). This assumption asserts that the probability of procedure: the actual occurrence of the Big Bang is substantially enhanced Data: The surprising fact A is observed. if there is a supernatural creator of the universe. In non-prob­ Logic: But if B were true, then A would be a matter of abilistic terms of the abduction inference, it means that if a supernatural agent responsible for the creation of the universe course. does exist, the Big Bang is a matter of course. This is an arbi­ Conclusion: Hence, diere is a reason to suspect that B is trary assumption, because we have no knowledge about how a true. supernatural agent might act. If the assumption in (15) is arbi­ It seems obvious that the inference in the case of deduction is trary, so is the conclusion—inequality (14). very strong and the conclusion is as certain as it possibly can be. However, in the case of abduction, die inference is only tenta­ Again, the arbitrariness of the above assumption does not tive—it only indicates the possibility of B being true. Indeed, prove that it is wrong. However, it shows the lack of substan­ while if B were true, A would be a matter of course, it does not tiation for Dembski and Meyer's hypothesis of a supernatural mean that diere are no other antecedents—C, D, E, etc.—which origin of the Big Bang, which is only one of many possible explanations. It has no advantage over any other explanation, would entail A as well, and dierefore the occurrence of A (the including those denying supernatural creation. consequent) does not define the antecedent as being necessarily B, but only indicates that B is one of the possible antecedents. References The inference to the supernatural origin of the Big Bang Aviezer. Nathan. 1999. The anthropic principle. Jewish Action 19:9-15. offered by Dembski and Meyer (2000) is an example of an Barrow. John D., and Frank J. Tipler. 1986. The Anthropic Cosmological improper application of the abduction procedure. Principle. New York: Oxford University Press. Indeed, let p(S) be die unconditional probability that diere is Bradley, Waller L 2001. The 'just so' universe: The fine-cuning of constants and conditions in the cosmos. In Signs of Intelligence. W. Dembski and M. a supernatural agent responsible for the creation of the universe. Kushiner, eds. Grand Rapids. Michigan: Brazos Press. Let p(SIBB) be the conditional probability of the existence of that Carter, Brandon. 1974. Large number coincidences and die anthropic princi­ ple in cosmology. In Confrontation of Cosmological Theory with supernatural agent provided the Big Bang has indeed occurred. Astronomical Data. M.S. Longair. ed. Dordrecht, Holland: Reidel. Let, further, p(BB) be the unconditional probability of the Big 291-298. Bang's occurrence, and p(BBIS) be the conditional probability of Dembski. William A., and Stephen C Meyer. 2000. Fruitful interchange or the Big Bang's occurrence provided diere is a supernatural agent political chitchat? In Science and Evidence for Design in the Universe. M.J. Behe, W.A. Dembski, and S.C. Meyer, eds. San Francisco: Ignatius Press. responsible for the creation of the universe. Then, our particular Gardner, Martin. 1986. WAP, SAP, PAP and FAR The New York Review of version of Bayes's theorem—equation (6)—takes die form: Books, May 8. Glynn. Patrick. 1999. God: The Evidence. Rocklin. California: Forum p(SIBB)/p(S)=p(BBIS)/p(BB) (13) Publishers. Hawking, Stephen. 1988. A Brief History of Time. New York: Bantam Books. The abduction inference, according to Dembski and Heeren. Fred. 2000. Show Me God Wheeling, Illinois: Day Star Publications. Howson. C. and P. Urbach. 1993. Scientific Reasoning: The Bayesian Approach. Meyer's schema, if presented using the above version of Bayes's LaSalle. Illinois: Open Court. theorem, can be as follows: Since, as they maintain, there exists Ikeda. Michael, and William Jcfferys. 2001. The anthropic principle does not no good explanation entailing any natural cause of the Big support supernaturalism. Available online at www.talkreason.org/ anides/super.cfm. Bang, then, in their view, the hypothesis of a supernatural Klee, Robert. 2002. The revenge of Pythagoras: How a matlicmatical sharp agent being the source of the Big Bang is a better explanation. practice undermines die contemporary design argument. British Journal Hence, if the Big Bang occurred, this enhances the probability for the Philosophy of Science 53:331-354. Ross. Hugh. 1998. Big Bang model redefined by fire. In Mere Oration. W. of a supernatural agent being its source: Dembski. ed. Downers Grove. Illinois: InterVarsity Press. 363-384. D

SKEPTICAL INQUIRER September/October 2004 45 Alternative Medicine and the Biology Departments of New York's Community Colleges A Survey

Chiropractic is increasingly being integrated into—and legitimized by—community college science departments, an association that confuses science-based academic biology with afield rife with pseudoscientific and antiscientific practices.

FRANK REISER

he catalogs of six community colleges within the State University of New York (SUNY) and City T University of New York (CUNY) systems list chiro­ practors as holding either full or part-time biology teaching positions (Bronx 2002, Corning 2002, Hudson Valley 2002, Monroe 2002, Nassau 2003, Orange 2003). This runs counter to the National Science Foundation's recommenda­ tion that it is the responsibility of the professional scientific community to help the public discern between pseudo- science and genuine scientific discourse. In particular, the NSF uses credence in alternative medicine as a factor when assessing scientific literacy in Americans (National Science Foundation 2002). In addition, many community colleges

46 September/October 2004 SKEPTICAL INQUIRER Community College

1

I RjTDnPRACTir

have formed transfer alliances with chiropractic schools, and ting" (Nicchi 2000). The number of chiropractors applying some catalogs list these transfer programs as associated with for teaching positions at New York's community colleges the school's science department (Columbia-Greene 2002, increases every year. Herkimer 2001, Nassau 2003, Rockland 2002). In several New York State's community college catalogs indicate that instances, community college catalog descriptions imply that ten faculty members who hold chiropractic degrees currently transferring to a chiropractic school is an option for students teach biology within the system (Bronx 2002, 158; Corning wishing to continue llieir education in the sciences 2002, 191; Hudson Valley 2002, 257; Monroe 2002, (Columbia-Green 2002, Herkimer 2001, Rockland 2002). 234-235, 240; Nassau 2003, 156, 164, 166, 169; Orange One college erroneously lists New York Chiropractic College 2003, 230). In addition, at least one of these schools also as part of the SUNY system (Alfred 2002, 53). Finger Lakes awards salary equivalency to the Ph.D. for the doctorate of Community College has embarked on a program of sharing chiropractic. In contrast, a similar review of New York State's science faculty and using the facilities at New York four-year college catalogs reveals a total absence of chiroprac­ Chiropractic College to provide an "accelerated science" edu­ tors among biology faculty. Community colleges are primarily cation program (New York Chiropractic College Fall 2001, teaching institutions; as such, the review process for tenure Summer 2001). and promotion presents a different constellation of issues from Schools of chiropractic study are actively seeking to associ­ those of four-year colleges, including the balance between ate with college science departments, as well as with estab­ research, publication, teaching, and scholarship (Gehhardt lished medical organizations. These affiliations, no matter how 1997). Examination of community college promotion and weak, are publicized in an attempt to validate chiropractic tenure applications shows heavy emphasis on teaching and on- practice as having a scientific basis. Chiropractic institutions campus committee service. Scholarly work in one's field, graduate approximately 4,000 "chiro-doctorates" a year in an demonstrated by publication and conference participation already crowded market (Chotkowski 2002). Administrators beyond attendance, contributes only ten percent toward an of these schools tell their students that a chiropractic education applicant's score (Nassau 2003; Suffolk 2003). The promotion prepares them for careers in research and education. To quote and tenure process has both reinforced the community college the president of New York Chiropractic College, "We inform our students that upon completion of our program, in addi­ Frank Reiser is a biology professor and past-president of the Empire tion to private practice, they may also be interested in con­ State Association of Two-Year College Biologists. E-maiL ducting research or serving as educators in an academic set­ reiserfl&ncc.edu.

SKEPTICAL INQUIRER Sepiembsr/October 2004 47 commitment to teaching as well as insulated its faculty from Note off-campus peer review. This remoteness has led to what has 1. "The Posiiion of ihe Empire State Association of Two-Year College been described as the "academic invisibility" of communiry Biologists on Alternative Medicine" states: "The Empire State Association of college faculty in higher education (Seidman 1998, 36). A Two-Year College Biologists strongly disapproves of the association of acade­ mic biology departments at two-year colleges with unscientific and anti-scien­ Carnegie Foundation survey discovered diat 75 percent of tific philosophies and practices. These are common among Chiropractic. community college faculty members attended one or no Naturopathy, Homeopathy and many other practices known as 'complemen­ tary and alternative medicine.' Such affiliations arc likely to undercut scientific national professional meetings. In addition, 75 percent were and critical thinking in the curriculum and hinder colleges trying to maintain not engaged in any scholarly work that might lead to publica­ high standards in science education. Additionally, such associations serve to tion, 82 percent had not published (nor had any professional timize unscientific and anti-scientific philosophies and practices and weaken the public's understanding of science at a time when a full apprecia­ writings accepted for publication) in the last two years, and 65 tion of the scientific method is sorely needed. Position adopted by majority percent had never published in an academic or professional vote on November 10, 2003." journal (Lyons 1989, 1). According to University of Con­ necticut professor Lynn Z. Bloom, in her study on the need for References external review of faculty accomplishments, the decisions of Alfred State College of Technology. 2002. 2002-2003 Catalog and faculty hiring committees will "reflect the prevailing norms of Announcements. Alfred, New York. their intramural culture" (Gehhardt 1997, 63, 70). Stated Bergen County Community College. 2002. Catalog 2002-2003. Paramus, New Jersey. bluntly, community colleges are a soft target for the chiroprac­ Bronx Community College. 2002. Catalog 2002-2004. New York, New York. tic profession to gain acceptability in science academia. Chotkowski, Ludmit A. 2002. Chiropractic: The Greatest Hoax of the Century? Kensington, Connecticut: New England Books. In New York State, half the students in public colleges and Columbia-Green Community College. 2002. Catalog 2002-2003. Hudson, universities (SUNY) are enrolled in community colleges New York. (McCall 1999, 1). A large percentage of graduates will pursue Corning Community College. 2002. Catalog 2002-2003. Corning, New York. advanced degrees. Many non-science master and doctorate Empire State Association of Two-Year College Biologists. 2002. Annual degree programs do not require additional science credits Conference. Roundtable Discussion. Williams Lake, New York. beyond what has been taken at the community college level. Gehhardt, Richard C. 1997. Academic Advancement in Composition Studies. Scholarship, Publication. Promotion, Tenure. Hillsdale, New Jersey: This leads to an important question: Should such critical expo­ Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. sure to the sciences be under the direction of a practitioner Herkimer County Community College. 2001-2003. Catalog. Herkimer, whose highest degree represents an epitome of skill in the anti- New York. Hudson Valley Community College. 2002. Catalog 2002-2003. Troy, New scientific philosophies upon which chiropractic is based? York. The statement recently passed by the Empire State Lyons, Linda. 1989. Faculty Perceptions of the Institutional Environment: The Association of Two-Year College Biologists (ESATYCB) dis­ Design and Implementation of a Faculty Survey. Baltimore. Maryland: Association for Institutional Research. couraging any association between alternative medicine and McCall. Carl H. 1999. Cost Effective Engines of Educational Access and academic departments of biology (see News & Comment, Economic Development. New York Comptroller's Community College SKEPTICAL INQUIRER, May/June 2004) may be futile in the face Report. Albany, New York. Monroe Community College. 2002. Catalog 2002-2003. Rochester, New of the precedents already established by many New York State York. 1 community colleges. Other states are hiring chiropractors as Nassau Community College. 2002. Catalog 2003-2003. Garden City, New science educators in community colleges, but the practice, at York. . 2003. Application for Promotion and Tenure. Garden City, New this time, is not universal (Bergen County 2002, Volunteer York. State 2003). Direct inquiries and a review of former catalogs National Science Foundation. Division of Science Resource Statistics. 2002. indicate that the acceptability of alternative medicine practi­ Indicators 2002. Science and Technology: Public Understanding and Public Knowledge. Arlington, Virginia. tioners is a recent and accelerating trend. Many of New York's New York Chiropractic College. Public Affairs Office. August 2003. community college faculty members arc expected to retire Transitions. Seneca Falls, New York. within the next few years, adding urgency to this critical issue. . Summer-Fall 2003. Transitions. Seneca Falls, New York. . Summer-Fall 2002. Transitions. Seneca Falls. New York. Hopefully the stand taken by the ESATYCB will prompt . Fall-Winter 2001-2002. Transitions. Seneca Falls, New York. investigations into the pitfalls of assimilating alternative medi­ . Summer-Fall 2001. Transitions. Seneca Falls. New York. cine degrees and philosophies into academic biology depart­ . Fall-Winter 2001. Transitions. Seneca Falls. New York. . Spring 2001. Transitions. Seneca Falls, New York. ments. The fusion will adulterate scientific standards in under­ Nicchi, Frank J. 2000. Letter of correspondence between the President of New graduate biology education by confusing science-based infor­ York Chiropractic College and Scan Fanelli. President of Nassau Com­ mation with the pseudoscience and anti-science endemic in munity College. September 20. Garden City, New York. Orange County Community College. 2002. Catalog 2003. Middletown, New alternative medicine. The educational effects will be lasting and York. will extend beyond the walls of each institution. Community Rockland County Community College. 2002. Catalog 2002-2005. Suffern. college biology departments must not become the weak link in New York. Seidman. Earl. 1986. In the Words of the Faculty: Perspective on Improving the chain of science education. A dialogue is essential to main­ Teaching and Educational Quality in Community Colleges. San Francisco: tain a continuity of scientific standards between community col Josscy-Bass Educational Scries. lege educators, members of the scientific community, and the Suffolk Community College. 2003. Promotion Application. Riverhead, New York. science faculty at the four-year colleges and universities to which Volunteer Sate Community College. 2002. Catalog 2002-2003- Gallatin. community college students transfer. Tennessee. D

48 September/October 2004 SKEPTICAL INQUIRER Labyrinths: Mazes and Myths

The use of labyrinths began as a New Age fad but has quickly gone mainstream, with dozens of books, magazine articles, organizations, Web sites, and seminars devoted to the topic. The patterns have spread from back yards to churches, public parks, and even medical centers. Despite the popularity of labyrinths, literature on the subject is rife with anti-scientific, paranormal beliefs and the movement has escaped any in-depth critical examination.

BENJAMIN RADFORD

cross America—and indeed across the world—curious designs are appearing on die landscape. The patterns Ahave spread from back yards to churches, public parks, and even medical centers. Thousands, perhaps tens of thou­ sands, of people have created and used the designs as medita­ tive, spiritual, and even therapeutic tools. The labyrinth, though present in many places and eras, has never been so dis­ cussed, used, and revered as at the turn of the twenty-first cen­ tury. What began as a New Age fad has quickly gone main­ stream, with dozens of books, magazine articles, organizations, Web sites, and seminars devoted to labyrinths. On a physical level, a labyrinth is a single-path, maze-like pattern. Yet while a maze is confusing, one cannot get lost in

SKEPTICAL INQUIRER September/October 2004 49 Origins The labyrinth is an ancient symbol, and though its exact ori­ gins are murky, early versions have been found in Crete and Italy. Many sources cite Egypt as the source of the labyrinth (e.g., Grimble 1970, James 1992), where it "was the scene of religious dramas involving the god-king in the shape of a bull." The bull motif carried over into later incarnations; the most famous legend involving a maze or labyrinth is that of Theseus, who slew the bull-headed Minotaur inside a maze and found his way out with a line of thread. The labyrinth design is clearly laden with symbolic meanings, many of them involving universal themes of death and rebirth. In their book Iatbyrinths from the Outside In, Donna Schaper and Carole Ann Camp tell of fishermen in Sweden, Finland, and Estonia building labyrinths as good-luck tools. They "walked them before going out to sea to ensure a good Figure I. A classical seven-circuit labyrinth design. wind and a good catch. The fishermen would walk into the labyrinth slowly, presumably with trolls, who represented ill- fated intentions, following them. Then they would run out of the labyrinths quickly and jump in their boats, leaving the slow-thinking trolls behind stuck in the labyrinth." Labyrinths have been found in the Americas too: The Hopi Indians of North America used the classical seven-circuit labyrinths. Though many writers (e.g., Middendorf 2000, Schaper and Camp 2000) have claimed that the giant earthen Nazca Lines in Peru are labyrinths, this is inaccurate. Like labyrinths, the designs—some clearly of animals such as mon­ keys, spiders, and birds—are unicursal (made with one con­ tinuous, uncrossed line), but lack the distinctive labyrinthine pattern entirely. The recent surge of interest in labyrinths is largely due to Rev. Lauren Artress, author of Walking a Sacred Path, which is widely regarded as the bible of the labyrinth "revival." Her 1995 book crystallized much of the interest in labyrinths, and Figure 2. The widely copied labyrinth design inlaid in the floor of France's she remains a popular speaker and activist. Chartres Cathedral. There are several types of labyrinths; one of the most com­ a labyrinth; there is only one path in and out. You begin at an mon is the seven-circuit form (see figure 1). The most influ­ opening at the outside, make your way to die center (the ential labyrinth design is inlaid on the floor of Frances "rosette") and back out. The labyrinths simplicity is both Chartres Cathedral (figure 2); that pattern has been duplicated attractive and symbolic. on hundreds of floors, walls, and canvases. Labyrinths can be On a metaphysical level, the labyrinth is variously described as made of chalk, cloth, stones, or well-placed shrubbery; others, "a single path spiritual tool that is a right brain enhancer" like one in downtown Toronto (figure 3) are cultivated in (Labyrinth Society brochure 1999); "a lens that brings our collec­ grass. Still others, like the Labytine Waalkade in Nijmegen, tive unconscious into focus on a personal level while at the same Holland (figure 4), are created from stone and water. time aligning us with the larger forces at work in die galaxy"; and Walkers enter the labyrinth and make their way around the a "sacred space, a place where you can take chaos and bring it to turns toward the center. The center is the destination, but it is, order" (Explorations 2000). A labyrinth is a bridge "between the of course, still only the halfway point. While there, some peo­ ancient and the modern," and walking one is a "simultaneous ple leave offerings on the rosette (figure 5). At a labyrinth in spiritual-aesthetic-political act" (Schaper and Camp 2000. 151). Lily Dale, New York, for example, I found fifty-seven cents in It is, in essence, anything the user wishes it to be. change, a small black feather, a few leaves, and a half-finished cigarette. (Whether the smoker resolved to give up smoking Benjamin Radford is author of numerous articles on the para­ then and there has always been a mystery to me, but I like to normal, fringe science, and media literacy. His latest book is Media think so.) On the way back out, walkers arc encouraged to Mythmakers: How Journalists, Activists, and Advertisers focus on any revelations, healings, experiences, or answers that Mislead Us (Prometheus 2003). His Web site is wunv.radford may have come to them. Though labyrinths are often used for reviews.com. meditation and relaxation, they are also employed for various

50 September/October 2004 SKEPTICAL INQUIRER ceremonies such as graduations, coming-of-age rituals, and so on. (In fact, my mother recendy got married in a labyrinth she created on her property.) Sometimes the walks are accompanied by chanting, drums, or other music. The journey can take a surprisingly long time to complete, especially in large patterns.

Labyrinths, the New Age, and Imagination At first glance, labyrinth walking seems like little more than a harmless, if curious, pastime. To some degree it is, but the movement also has surprising—and disturbing—anti-science and paranormal roots. New Age feminism also plays a promi­ nent role in labyrinth literature. For example, the book Walking a Sacred Path frequently portrays our modern world as too rational, unimaginative, and out of touch with wisdom, and the twelfth and thirteenth cen­ turies as the good old days of unreason when our connection to the earth was strong. Author Artress sees the labyrinth as a tool for reconnecting both with imagination and femininity. "The labyrinth stands with a tradition that recaptures the fem­ inine sense of the Source. It utilizes the imagination and the pattern-discerning part of our nature. . . . Due to the loss of the feminine, many of us are out of touch with the depths of our beings, our Source. The feminine must be enlivened and welcomed back into our male-dominated world so integration can begin to occur—between feminine and masculine, recep­ tive and assertive, imagination and reason" (14). Though this paradigm is appealing to many, it is also sim­ plistic and somewhat contradictory. Artress provides no evi­ dence that Medieval spirituality was all that great to begin with, and just assumes that our forefathers were happier, more imag­ inative, and more spiritually connected than ourselves. This son of false nostalgia is common in today's New Age circles, Figure 3. The Trinity Square Park Labyrinth in downtown Toronto was with their emphasis on "ancient wisdom," "lost knowledge," installed in 2000, one of the first in a Canadian public park. All photos by etc. Barbara G. Walker, writing in the SKEPTICAL INQUIRER, Benjamin Radford. cautions against taking the male/female dichotomy too far: "We [feminists] are in danger of going too far into our own ning to realize that Western civilization—held together by brand of dualism, when we label patriarchal and bad everything rationalism, empirical research, and man's control of nature— that is modern/scientific, while declaring matriarchal (or nat­ is coming apart. ... As we in the West learned to use our ratio­ ural) and good everything that is primitive/magical. At the nal minds, we developed a sense of superiority that denied our same time, we accept with off-handed ingratitude the gifts of intuition and imagination their rightful place among the technology that are made available to us every day: electric human faculties we need to survive" (Artress 1995, 106). light, radio, television, telephones, trains, airplanes, cars, [and] (Non-Western cultures might find Artress's implication that computers. . .. Only science, with its objective, 'linear' ap­ they never learned to be rational rather insulting.) proach, could have discovered bacteria, viruses, [and] antibi­ Other writers see labyrinths not so much as fulfilling a otics. ... Almost everything that we can claim to know with void of imagination as serving as a kind of user-friendly spir­ any certainty about our world has been learned through science ituality. Donna Schaper, coauthor of Labyrinths from the and not by subjectivity, instinct, or insight" (Walker 1993). Outside In, believes that many people are shunning the tradi­ Artress discusses the value of imagination at length in her tional, rigid rituals of religion and "widening their claim to book (it is one of the longest sections), and it's clear why: worship in nature—hiking a mountain, for example, rather Imagination is very important to experiencing the powers of than sitting in a designated worship space." In this way, the labyrinth. "The labyrinth is an evocative tool. It works labyrinths are a more accessible path to God or enlighten­ through the imagination and the senses" (Artress 1995, 97). In ment. With some caveats, labyrinth walkers can take a spiri­ other words, the more imagination you have, the better the tual journey on their own terms, when they wish, how they labyrinth will work for you. wish, and (using portable canvas labyrinths), more or less Artress believes that the spiritual crisis she sees in our soci­ where they wish. Many churches have embraced labyrinths ety is partly the result of a lack of imagination. "We are begin- and built them on their grounds.

SKEPTICAL INQUIRER September/October 2004 51 without question or choice, are embraced. A central belief is that the turns in the labyrinth symbolize the turns in our lives. The Unitarian Universalist Assoc­ iation of Boston, Massachusetts, states that "The winding path leading to the center serves as a mirror to reflect the movement of the Spirit in our lives." Yet hopefully our spirits are not des­ tined to follow just one prede­ termined path, but are instead free to make choices. Much of the labyrinth literature hints at—but rarely acknowledges— this strongly deterministic aspect of labyrinths. On the one hand, labyrinths are supposed to sym­ bolize and reflect our lives, but Figure 4. A stone and water labyrinth near the Waal river in Nijmegen, Holland. because labyrinths have only one path, the walker is given no Anti-Science options, forced to take only one path—the path everyone else is Ac times the anti-science and anti-rationality rhetoric sur- taking. In the labyrinth, unlike in life, there are not many doors, rounding labyrinths is alarming, A blurb in Walking a Sacred many possibilities, but only one. Path from an organization called Mind Body Spirit states, Labyrinth claims extend beyond the spiritual to the super­ "One strong lesson of the labyrinth is the physical realization natural. Many labyrinth promoters insist that there is some­ of the continuum of life. . . . (l]t is clear that linear, logical thing mystical about the shape or path of the labyrinth. This thinking is no longer a roadmap we can trust." I hope this is sort of claim gets into the realm of what New Agers call sacred most decidedly not the message that most labyrinth walkers space, along with ley lines, "earth magic," etc. Other paranor­ get. To dismiss logic and rationality as fundamentally untrust­ mal areas intersect with labyrinths, including numerology (the worthy is deeply wrongheaded and dangerous. number of circuits relates to its powers) and dowsing (often Artress (echoing the statements made by many promoters labyrinths will be sited according to dowsing principles). of pseudoscicnces) admits that "We do not really know how or why the labyrinth works" (Artress 1995, 177). Yet, depending Walking the Ink Blot on what exacdy the claim is, we do in fact know why Walkers' reactions to a labyrinth can be quite dramatic. Some labyrinths "work." If you believe that walking a labyrinth (or weep, others have seen visions of God or dead loved ones. The listening to trickling water or meditating in front of a candle) labyrinth is, in many ways, a giant ink blot onto which its will calm you, then it probably will. There is nothing mysti­ users project their hopes, fears, and dreams. You get out of it cal about it; it's simple psychology. what you put into it. It can mean anything to anybody: those One woman went so far as to put her faith in the labyrinth hoping to connect with a hidden, inner world might just do because she doesn't understand it: "It is precisely because I do so; those hoping to hear the voice of God or dead loved ones not understand 'how it works' that I trust and honor it" may as well. But because an integral pan of the labyrinth expe­ (Artress 1995, 11). In this view, the less you know about some­ rience is suspending judgment, and because of the subjective thing the more faith you should put into it. One wonders if she nature of this experience, what's gained in a labyrinth must not uses the same strategy in selecting investments, making pur­ be taken too seriously. chases, and trusting friends. This also brings up a contradiction, particularly when the Labyrinth literature presents a dichotomy in which mazes labyrinth is used to evaluate one's life to make decisions. represent the undesirable logical, rational side and labyrinths Artress tells us that "Experiencing our feelings and inner represent the intuitive, safe side. As Artress writes, "Mazes thoughts without judgment is part of developing spiritual challenge the choice-making pan of ourselves. . . . Our logic is maturity" (98). On one hand, we are told not to be judgmen­ challenged." The labyrinth, on the other hand, "does not tal about ourselves or others while walking a labyrinth, yet we engage our thinking minds" (Artress 1995, 52). Thus mazes, are also supposed to judge whether the messages we receive which force people to think logically and rationally, are while walking are to be followed or not. There is clearly some rejected, and labyrinths, which are to be followed one way and danger in suspending judgment and reason while at the same

52 September/October 2004 SKEPTICAL INQUIRER lime using your imagination and look­ ing for answers. What if a spouse leaves his or her faithful marriage because something in the labyrinth hinted that his or her partner was cheating? One woman walking a labyrinth received a spiritual message to sell everything she owned. Labyrinths have also induced visions and hallucinations. One man saw Jesus while walking a labyrinth; another saw angels (Artress 1995; 94-95). Artress also mentions one woman who saw "beings of light-blue in hue, faceless but human in form." Some claim to hear God's voice as they walk; others hear angelic voices, or feel the presence of die dead. One woman, Marylin Arrigan of Maryland, was walking a labyrinth on the bank of St. Mary's River in 1999 the center of a seven-circuit shrubbery labyrinth at Lily Dale, New York. when suddenly, she says, "I was in a very Figure 5. Offerings left at bright light. I had a vision of an Indian face with long straight or spiritual fervor is hard to determine. Artress admits that the hair, blowing in tiie wind. He had uplifted arms. He kept telling evidence that labyrinths can heal physical diseases is shaky, me to look up. I kept looking up. I was engulfed in light. He though, "There are people that [suggest] the labyrinth heals asked if I was committed to walking the labyrinth. I said yes. He Parkinson's and it does this and it does that." said 'If you are, you must leave a footprint.' When I got to the Some labyrinth advocates, including educator Judy O'Brien center, I left two deep footprints. As I was walking out he said, (director of the children's program at Maryland's Sotterley 'Now you are walking out, you must go out in the world and Plantation), believe that the seven-circuit shape of the labyrinth leave a footprint'" (Quinn 1999). may help to enhance children's learning capacities, including No one else saw the figure. The area around that labyrinth those with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. O'Brien is well known as ground that is sacred to American Indians planned to design experiments in which elementary-school chil­ (that's one reason the labyrinth was sited there), and it is not dren walk labyrinths and have their reading and comprehension surprising that such a vision might appear to someone expect­ skills tested before and after. Though her tests were to have begun ing a spiritual experience. It is also noteworthy that the Indian in 2000, so far O'Brien has not released her results, if any. Arrigan saw closely matches a popular stereotype. The image O'Brien did not respond 'c repeated requests for an interview. of the noble Indian with windblown hair and uplifted arms Another person investigating labyrinth therapy is Dr. could be taken from any number of classic images, from Wayne London, working with Judith M. Joyce, former vice- wooden carvings to television commercials. What would be president of the Labyrinth Society (and a dowser and Reiki remarkable would be to have a spiritual vision of a modern practitioner). Their collaboration explores not only neurologi­ (yet equally full-blooded) Indian, working on telephone lines cal disorders, but also "the healing effects of the labyrinth on as a repairman or teaching at a university. Yet those images do the land" (Joyce 2001). How exactly the soil, rocks, and trees not carry the romantic notions of Indian nobility and thus are surrounding the labyrinth are "healed" is not explained. unlikely to appear in visions. Though churches were among the first institutions to Walkers' sometimes dramatic reactions are not surprising, embrace the labyrinth, some medical programs have also incor­ since many who use labyrinths as spiritual tools are, by their porated them. The first medical facility to install a labyrinth on presence in the labyrinth, seeking answers or "higher knowl­ its grounds was San Francisco's Pacific Medical Center. Mark edge" or are emotionally troubled. For the most pan, those who Scott, CEO of Mid-Columbia Medical Center in Oregon, aren't expecting (or at least hoping for) some son of mystical explained why his hospital installed a labyrinth at their facility. experience are less likely to walk the labyrinth. Walkers therefore "People who are in pain, people who are suffering, people who become a self-selecting group, and it's not unlikely that those are have experienced emotional losses or losses of loved ones use exacdy the people who will have strong emotional responses. the labyrinth... . Our cancer patients can center themselves before treatment by walking the labyrinth, or even use it as a Labyrinths as Therapy tool to relax after they've had chemotherapy or after they've had Labyrinths have been claimed to possess healing powers. radiation treatment" (Attkisson 2000). The Carbondale Several people say they were cured by walks in labyrinths, Labyrinth Project 2000, in southern Illinois, recommends their though to what degree that is attributable to the placebo effect labyrinth for "persons with head injuries or learning disabilities

SKEPTICAL INQUIRER September/October 2004 53 [who] might use it to facilitate sensory integration." References A few psychotherapists advocate the use of labyrinths in Abbott, Robert. 2000. Amazing mazes column. Mensa Bulletin, June. their therapy. According to some, the patient does not even Alexander, Kristin. 1999. Labyrinths send believers down spiritual paths. Tri- need to actually walk the labyrinth to get benefits; he or she City Herald, April 17. Artress, Lauren. 1995. Walking a Sacred Path. New York: Riverhead Books. can simply trace a labyrinth pattern with a finger on a piece of Aitkisson, Sharyl. 2000. Labyrinths. Healthweek (Public Broadcasting wood. (For more on labyrinth therapy, see my article in The Company). Airdate April 14, Program No. 351. Available online at www. Scientific Review of Alternative Medicine.) pbs.org/healthwcck/featurep6_351 .htm. Explorations: Visions of die past, memories of the future. 2000. Catalogue, Despite roots in—and close ties to—various New Age Fall. hokum, the labyrinth itself is relatively harmless. Those seeking Grimble. June. 1970. Maze, in Man, Myth, and Magic. Vol. 13, ed. by Richard Cavendish. greater inner knowledge will likely be disappointed, but walking James, Peter. 1992. A visit to Troytown. In The Unexplained: Mysteries of the path is an undeniably interesting experience. The suggestion Mind. Space, and Time. Vol. 14, ed. by Peter Brookesmith. H.S. Stuttman. that labyrinths have a long tradition of spirituality and are Inc.: Westport, Connecticut. Joyce, Judith. 2001. Spirit Matters Consulting Services. Available at www. "ancient wisdom" rediscovered is a distinctly modern spin. spirit-matters.com/labresume.hcm. Though common to many places and cultures, they were used Labyrinth Resource Group brochure. 2000. Labyrinth Resource Group. Santa as everything from attractive designs to good luck charms to Fe, New Mexico. Labyrinth Society brochure. 1999. The Labyrinth Society Inc., New Canaan, areas of sport. They hardly have the deep, mystical, and spiritual Connecticut. traditions often claimed for them. While recognizing that the McCutcheon, Lynn. 1998. Beethoven's babies: Much ado about nothing? renewed interest in labyrinths is largely a passing fad, one author Skeptical Briefs 8(4), December. Middendorf. Bobbye. 2000. Labyrinths renew ancient spiritual connections. suggests that walkers take the realization in stride: "Rather than Conscious Choice, September. Available at www.consciouschoicc. being embarrassed at how much humanity loves a fad, we might com/culture/labyrinths 1309.html. enjoy being part or one" (Schaper and Camp 2000, 20). Quinn, Sally. 1999. The Light and the Labyrinth. The Washington Post, December 22, p. CI. I encourage those interested in labyrinths to ignore the Radford, Benjamin. Labyrinths and alternative medicine. T//e Scientific mystical bells and whistles and enjoy the experience for what Review of Alternative Medicine. In press. Schaper, Donna, and Carole Ann Camp. 2000. Labyrinths from the Outside In. it is. Go to a local labyrinth, give it a shot. Wait your turn, Woodstock, Vermont: Skylight Paths Publishing. walk the path. Do it on your own, without expectations. If you Vermont vibrations. 2001. Information from Web site: http://vermontvibra- tions.com/runicencrgylabyrinth.htm. see angelic visions or your arthritis clears up, good for you. If Walker. Barbara G. 1993. Science: The feminists' scapegoat? SKEPTICAL not, well, at least you're getting some exercise. INQUIRER 18(1): Fall. •

You can make a lasting impact on the future of skepticism...

when you provide for the Skeptical Inquirer in your will.

CSICOP and the Skeptical Inquirer changed the terms of discussion in fields ranging from pseudoscience and the paranormal to science and educational policy. You can take an enduring step to preserve their vitality when you pro­ vide for the Skeptical Inquirer in your will. Your bequest to CSICOP, Inc., will help to provide for the future of skepticism as it helps to keep the Skeptical Inquirer financially secure. Depending on your tax situation, a charitable bequest to CSICOP may have little impact on the net size of your estate—or may even result in a greater amount being available to your beneficiaries. We would be happy to work with you and your attorney in the development of a will or estate plan that meets your wishes. A variety of arrangements are possible, including: gifts of a fixed amount or a percentage of your estate; living trusts or gift annuities, which provide you with a lifetime income; or a contingent bequest that provides for the Skeptical Inquirer only if your primary beneficiaries do not survive you. For more information, contact Barry Karr, Executive Director of CSICOP, at 716-636-1425. All inquiries are held in the strictest confidence. Skeptical Inquirer CSICOP

54 September/October 2004 SKEPTICAL INQUIRER REVIEWS

Are We on a Goldilocks Planet? WILLIAM HARWOOD

Perfect Planet, Clever Species: How Unique Are We? By William C. Burger, Prometheus Books, Amherst, New York, 2002. ISBN 1-59102-016-6. 345 pp. Hardcover, $29

n 1978, Isaac Asimov [in what astronomers have dubbed the zones, and it must contain more heavy Extraterrestrial Civilizations] "Goldilocks orbit." "To sustain complex elements than eighty percent of other­ "I.generousl y estimated that there lifeforms anywhere in the universe, it wise sun-like mainstream stars. ought to be 530,000 technological civi­ seems likely that a planet has to be at a A further uniqueness that makes lizations in our galaxy, separated by an distance from its parent star that pro­ Earth life-supporting, found nowhere average of around 630 light-years" vides a temperature range in which eise in the solar system and therefore (273). Not so, says William Burger water is maintained in its liquid conceivably rare in the galaxy, is its (Curator emeritus, Field Museum of active crust: "If the Earth's surface were National History, Chicago). smooth, the overall depth of water cov­ And in Eight Little Piggies, Stephen ering our planet would be about 8,800 feet (2,700 m). Simply stated: without Jay Gould argued for die certainty of HOW QU life on every Earth-like planet in the f^ plate tectonics we'd all be fish" (50). And universe when he wrote, "The oldest fish, as inhabitants of an environment rocks that could contain preserved with no dry land, could not develop die organic remains are 3.5 to 3.6 billion technology that makes intelligence a years old . . . and ... do feature fossils survival factor. of single-celled creatures similar to Add to all of that the stabilizing effect modern bacteria." He saw that as evi­ of an enormous moon, created by statis­ dence that "life, arising as soon as it tically improbable circumstances, that at could, was chemically destined to be, the time of its formation increased and not the chancy result of accumu­ Earth's spin rate, diereby blowing away a lated improbabilities." But it was only suffocating atmosphere such as still exists life at the lowest level that Gould on Venus, as well as increasing Earth's deemed inevitable, since the evolution Magnetosphere to a level where it pre­ of multicellular animals did not occur vents the solar wind from stripping away for a further three billion years. WILLIAM BURGER. die ozone layer. Later, by tidal effects, die Cmeniul ol the Field fiuieum presence of die moon reduced die spin So life will almost certainly evolve on of Njturjl Hntorr an Earthlike planet. And there, accord­ rate to a level that reduces temperature ing to Burger, lies the problem. To qual­ variations to life-supporting limits, while ify as "Earthlike," a planet must not state. . . . Planet Earth sits comfortably simultaneously minimizing axial tilt. only fall widiin a reasonable approxima­ within this Goldilocks zone" (32). Also, Those combined circumstances are suffi­ tion of Earth's composition, mass, grav­ for a star to have a life-supporting ciently rare that Burger suggests there ity, and spin. It must also be located in planet, it must not be part of a binary may be no other star system that meets system, it must be located inside die all necessary specifications anywhere in William Harwood is the author of The comparatively radiation-free area diis galaxy. He writes tiiat "although the Disinformation Cycle and Dictionary of between the galaxy center and its halo string of new data confirms that planets Contemporary Mythology. and sufficiently far from galactic dust are common, at this stage it seems that

SKEPTICAL INQUIRER September/October 2004 55 REVIEWS planetary systems configured like our While taking no position on the ques­ erate and energize life-supporting plan­ own are rare indeed" (29). tion of whether H. erectus was an ancestor ets than was thought, and even fewer Many of the other factors Burger cites of modem humans, I see a self-contradic­ that lack companion stars or too-close as necessary accidents in Earth's evolu­ tion in Burger's hypothesis that inter-group giant planets. But even if there are only tion as a life-bearing planet, such as con­ warfare was an ongoing spur to human­ a few thousand solo G-type stars, it now stant bombardment from water-laden kind's continuing increase in brain size, and seems certain that the majority of them comets at precisely the right historical his simultaneous rejection of the hypothesis have planets. An Earth-like planet at moment, cannot be rare in galactic that erectus communities woridwide were the right orbit cannot be as rare as terms. But for all such beneficial acci­ systematically slaughtered by the invading Burger imagines. There may be no dents to happen to die same planet was sapiens. I see another self-contradiction in intelligent life sufficiently close to our indeed a low-probability coincidence. his acknowledgement that, "contemporary solar system for SET1 to find it even in He writes, "Because of biological activity people around the world share the same a century of searching. But that the based on the photosynthetic splitting of general skeletal features characterizing search should be abandoned (as Burger's water. Earth's atmosphere became gracile humans oftens of thousands of years book seems to imply) because there uniquely rich in oxygen. Thus, a combi­ ago," and his implication diat "die eastern could not be a life-supporting environ­ nation of lucky breaks and unusual tra­ Asian facial and cranial features" were iden­ ment anywhere but on Earth goes way jectories confronts us with the very real tifiable as such on Java man and Peking beyond the evidence. Only dogmatists possibility that our blue and white planet man. Is he claiming that, while skeletons interpret low-probability events as may be unique, not only in its own solar cannot be identified as European, Asian, or indicative of Intelligent Design, and I system, but among the many thousands African, skulls can? That is an allegation I suggest that uniqueness is an equally of other star systems as well, . . . We're have not heard before. unnecessary conclusion. not just talking Goldilocks's orbit here; I do, however, find Burger's argu­ But disagreeing with Burger's ulti­ we've got the Goldilocks planet. Our ment, that life on Earth is a consequence mate hypothesis does not blind me to gravity, spin, crust, atmosphere, and of so many fortuitous random accidents the logic of his arguments and the skill water are all 'just right'" (55-56). that it is not reasonable to postulate sim­ with which he presents his case. This And precisely because conditions are ilar coincidences occurring on millions, may be the most complete, accurate, and "just right," certain mammals were able to or even thousands, of other planets in comprehensible account of humankind evolve into apes, apes into die species our galaxy, entirely convincing. But his and his world, from the formation of the Homo, and Homo into Homo sapiens. extrapolation that, in a galaxy of a quar­ Sun to the evolution of Homo sapiens, However, I was surprised to find Burger ter-trillion stars, that which observably ever compiled. It should be mandatory equating Homo heidelbergensis with an did happen once is unlikely to have hap­ reading for every paleoanthropology stu­ early form of Homo sapiens, direcdy de­ pened twice, I do not buy. There may be dent on this planet, and recommended scended from Homo erectus, which he far fewer stars with Sol's capacity to gen- reading for everybody else. identifies as a human ancestor. According to Klein and Edgar (The Dawn of Human Culture), the hominid line split into Homo What the #$*! Do erectus and Homo heidelbergensis, with the They Know? latter leading to Homo sapiens and the extinct coexisting species. Homo nean- ERIC SCERRI aerthalensis, and the former to extinction. What the #$".'Do We Know.? Directed by Mark Vicente, Their conclusion that all modern humans Betsy Chasse, and William Arntz. Lord of the Wind are descended from ancestors who lived Films, 2004. exclusively in Africa until 50,000 years ago, far later than H. erectus, is supported by strong evidence. Burger's rebuttal: "Those who insist on the 'African Eve' sce­ nario must postulate that the eastern Asian eople who espouse New Age embrace it wholeheartedly. Given half a facial and cranial features arose twice: once philosophies are not generally chance, many of them have something in the distant past and a second time after Pknown for their knowledge of to say on the subject. But what New the original features were swept away by modern science or their respect for criti­ Agers really seem to like about quantum modem sapiens genes. The chance of a cal thinking. Ironically enough, though, mechanics is all those alleged bizarre double origin for such regionally unique when it comes to quantum mechanics, effects that diey mistakenly believe can features seems utterly unlikely." everything seems to change, and they be appropriated to support their views

56 September/October 2004 SKEPTICAL INQUIRER REVIEWS on the nature of reality and the cosmos. Knight, who's been channeling her say nothing of even larger leaps such as the It therefore comes as no surprise that prehistoric alter ego since the 1970s, is question of whedier human behavior is the makers of a recent New Age movie paid as much as $1,500 by those who dictated by the laws of physics. making its way across the country attend retreats held at her school. Reductionism works in principle but decided to inject a massive dose of quan­ I want to focus a little on the science, not in practice, even though all the tum mechanics into the film's storyline. because this is where I believe the film is branches of science are interrelated. If What the #$'! Do We Know!? is packing at its most disingenuous. Each of the you want to perform a certain chemical them in. Many people who have seen die physicists interviewed trots out a sound reaction, you ask a chemist. You do not movie are already claiming that it has bite or two about how quantum mechan­ ask a quantum physicist, although, in changed their lives. I tried to go to one of ics supposedly shows that objects can be many instances, the quantum physicists the first screenings in Los Angeles and in two places at once, that matter is may have some very helpful things to say was turned away because it was sold out. mostly empty space, or that all parts of on the matter. If you want to study bio­ So what is this movie that uses quantum the universe are deeply interconnected. logical organisms, you do experiments on mechanics to change people's lives? The existence of a reality that's indepen­ the biological scale instead of renting Filmed largely in Portland, the movie dent from the human mind as usually time at the local particle accelerator. The is a hodgepodge of all kinds of crackpot understood by scientists, or indeed by breakdown of stria reductionism has nonsense dressed up as modern science. any rational person, is repeatedly become common knowledge among sci­ The film oscillates between interviews assaulted to the point of being mocked. entists, and yet Amit Goswami, John widi a number of so-called experts (espe­ In addidon, we are assured that when Hagelin, and Fred Alan Wolf, to mention cially in physics) and a rather flimsy sto­ Columbus arrived on the shores of the just three from the film, have not caught ryline involving a deaf woman, played by Americas, the natives could not actually up with this way of thinking about sci­ K4~-l— x/i„»l:„ ..a._ :-L.: i ace !ii3 Miipa Im.iuM ii was beyond their ence. Tney prefer to remain within the - • . ~* I'wiuii] ...... fe> uwttii: vii^uuialivu to wake up and see life's full potential. A paradigm of what could exist. old-fashioned paradigm that supposes young basketball player who has taken it The fact that the science is being dis­ that everything is indeed nothing but upon himself to enlighten her repeatedly torted and sensationalized here is not at all physics. This is not entirely surprising, asks her how far down the rabbit hole she surprising. What puzzles me the most is given that each of them earns money wants to go. that by making quantum mechanics the writing books about popular physics An examination of the film's pedigree heart of the movie, the filmmakers have laced with allusions to Eastern mysticism helps explain its peculiar approach. The fallen prey to a crude form of reduction- and the "really big questions in life." But three directors are students of Ramthas ism which is usually regarded as the enemy now their knowledge of quantum School of Enlightenment in Yelm, of New Age ways of thinking. By focusing mechanics is even allowing them to Washington, which is run by New Age so much on basic physics, die filmmakers become movie stars and, better still, in a channeller J.Z. Knight. Knight claims to do not seem to realize that they are shoot­ movie that is changing people's lives! channel a 35,000-year-old warrior from ing themselves in the foot. One moment After dazzling the audience with ancient Lemuria named Ramtha (aka they talk about all kinds of emergent phe­ dubious pronouncements from quan­ "The Enlightened One"), who dispenses nomena, such as global consciousness, tum physics, the storyline returns to wisdom through her. Ramthas followers that go far beyond die reductionist world- Marlee Matlin's character, who is having are said to include many people from view. The next moment they seem to sug­ an ever-increasing number of mind- the entertainment industry, such as gest that the physics of fundamental parti­ expanding experiences, culminating in actors Linda Evans, Don Johnson, cles explains human behavior! Even if we her realization that she no longer needs Shirley MacLaine, and Richard grant that quantum mechanics tells us that her prescription pills and that she can Chamberlain. Knight herself appears in particles can be at two places at once— toss them into a lake. What a pity that the film as one of die talking heads, and which, of course, it does not—how can the appreciation of modern science even holds forth on the subject of quan­ one dien assume diat such bizarre effects shown by New Agers is restricted to the tum mechanics. work their way right up to macroscopic more esoteric parts which are seen as dimensions with no attenuation in order supporting their worldviews. Mean­ Eric Scerri is a lecturer in the Department to determine human behavior? As many while, something as beneficial (and of Chemistry at UCLA, where he also scientists and philosophers now realize, mundane) as modern pharmacology is teaches philosophy of science. His Web page even if matter is fundamentally governed viewed with utter contempt to the point is www. chem. ucla. eduldeptlFacultylscerril. by die laws of quantum mechanics, this that people are effectively being told to He is the editor of the journal Foundations does not entide us to suppose that chemi­ throw away their prescription drugs and of Chemistry; for more information see cal and biological phenomena will follow to cure themselves by waking up to the www. klu weronline. comJissnl'1386-4238. those same forms of behavior. This is to real meaning of life.

SKEPTICAL INQUIRER September/October 2004 57 REVIEWS

Copperfields who astound us (especially Hiding the Elephant those of us who know or think we know EDWARD SUMMER exactly what they're doing). Jim Steinmeyer was faced with an Hiding the Elephant: How Magicians Invented the Impossible interesting problem. In a decade where and Learned to Disappear. By Jim Steinmeyer, magicians' the wrath of every professional and ama­ portraits by William Stout. Carroll & Graf Publishers, teur magician in the world is focused New York, 2003. ISBN: 0-7867-1226-0. 362 pp. upon television's magic-spoiling $14 paperback, $26 hardcover. "Masked Magician" (or the Outagamie Museum in Wisconsin that revealed in June 2004—after furious and vocal objections from the magic commu­ The conjurer demonstrates that fooled. Not only that, but one is con­ nity—the secret of Houdinis Substi­ things are not always what they fronted with the true genius of the real tution Trunk), how can a professional seem. Therein lies his philoso­ people who pulled this off in the past magician, illusion designer, and histo­ phy."—Colonel Stodare and continue to baffle us today. rian explain just what magic is all about There are, believe it or not, histori­ in a way that both reveals the "method" "It's not the trick. It's the magi­ cal magic secrets that even the wisest and preserves the mystery? cian." —Harry Houdini and most savvy living magicians don't With an eye toward not being run know. Even if they did, it's not enough, out of town covered in tar and feathers agicians, at least of the stage really, to know for a fact that "it's done by magical pros, Steinmeyer has spun a illusionist persuasion, are with mirrors" or that "the card is up his detective story. Born in 1958, Stein­ among the world's greatest sleeve." There is so much more to it M meyer has crammed lifetimes of aston­ keepers of secrets. Yet it's also a well- than knowing the trick. Hiding the ishment into a few short years: He has known secret that even if you know how Elephant helps the reader understand designed illusions for Harry Blackstone, their tricks are done, you don't know that concept, among others. Jr., Lance Burton, David Copperfield, much at all. Viewed as history as well as enter­ Ricky Jay, Siegfried and Roy, Orson Any curious ten-year-old with only a tainment, stage illusions and card tricks Welles, Disney theme parks, and more. litde perseverance and a library card can are an intricate evolution of science, find out about the "gimmick" to any technology, theater, showmanship, psy­ great magical illusion or sleight of hand chology, mythology, audience expecta­ and, in principle, go on to become rhe tion, and audience participation. No next Blackstone or David Copperfield. one element can account for the wonder But it's not really that easy to become experienced by the paying audience and a great magician or to baffle and awe the knowledgeable magician alike. masses. Any of us who have tried to bring off Houdini, after all, made an elephant pulling a red silk handkerchief out of Aunt disappear in full view of a huge audi­ Emma's nose are intimately familiar with ence, and, according to Jim Steinmeyer, everything that goes into what seems like a was an abject failure. Why this is so simple feat of, say, palming and misdirec­ forms the backbone of Hiding the tion. It involves—or should involve— Elephant, one of the most stupendous, snappy patter, bewitching facial expres­ utterly awesome, timely, provocative, sions, graceful and balletic movements, totally indispensible, perceptive, and and an inexplicably mysterious aura of insightful books on the nature and mystification and the unknown, not to mechanics of how and why we are mention an obscene number of hours in practice. And all of this must be evoked Edward Summer recently baffled Natasha and displayed effortlessly in a living room Demkina, the Russian Girl with (pur­ swarming with noisy relatives. The ported) X-Ray Eyes and has begun produc­ geniuses in magic are the ones who can tion on The Magic of Magic, a documen­ pull it off not only in a kitchen full of dirty tary He has contributed in the past to dishes, but also on the grandiose theatrical SKEPTICAL INQUIRER and is not ashamed stages inhabited by the Houdinis and to say so. Thurstons and Lance Burtons and David

58 September/October 2004 SKEPTICAL INQUIRER REVIEWS

In this book, he's turned all of his practi­ that provoked audiences to literal Steinmeyer has, at last, pulled it off. cal investigations about me presentation screaming hysteria night after night as It's worth mentioning, in passing, mat of magical effects on die theatrical stage Houdini apparendy drowned in a tank the woodcut-like, cameo illustrations into a riveting trail of clues leading up to full of water? How was that different that dot the book are by William Stout, the Houdini's disappearance of Jenny the from Thurston's floating a hypnotized himself a designer of movie and theme Elephant from die stage of New York's woman up into the air with the full park miracles and also a leading expert on Hippodrome Theatre in 1918. secret completely visible to audience dinosaurs, especially those of Antarctica. A parade of near-mythic but histori­ members invited up on stage by the Those concerned with belief in the cally accurate portrayals of performing magician? How did it take decades and supernatural and other debilitating non­ magicians drop hints and tidbits of what many brilliant minds to evolve both of sense and also with the inevitable ques­ went into fooling millions of spectators these apparently "simple" effects? tion of "how did they do that?" have the for the decades leading out of the nine­ In 1911, David Devant, a world- perfect book to recommend or give as a teenth and into the twentieth centuries. renowned, innovative magician who is a present. More than that, it's a model for Steinmeyer tells us, as exactly as he can, main character in mis drama co-wrote how almost any arcane topic might be just what they did, how die mechanics Our Magic with Nevil Maskelyne, also a explained in way that's clear, historically worked, and, perhaps most important, great magician of his day. In two sections accurate, and as compelling as any pro­ how they fooled us and why the very ("The Art of Magic" and "The Theory of cedural mystery novel. The payoff here same tricks—folded and pressed and Magic") they attempted to "explain" stage is not only the solution of the mystery of turned around to a slightly different magic to their pre-WWI audiences in a the 1918 vanishing elephant, but also a angle—fool us today. such a way as to make die audiences deep appreciation of the methods of the perpetrators and die tools for investigat­ Agatha Christie's nail biters have understand and appreciate the art which ing utusi imtiiiiig conundrums—rang­ nothing on Hiding The Elephant nnf r»nlv f«x>!ed theiT!, but 1'JTcd the*** tG ing from diseases to politics to friends Where Christie invents conundrums pan with their hard-earned money in who won't breathe without asking their and clues, Steinmeyer reports upon his­ those pre-television days. The book, astrologers for permission—that plague tory. What, for example, was the genius apparently, failed miserably in its effort to us all. • behind Houdini's Water Torture Cell enlighten and inspire the public.

Top Ten Best Sellers

Foundations and Why We Love: Fundamental Concepts The Nature and Chemistry of Mathematics of Romantic Love Howard Eves Helen Fisher

The Golden Ratio: Journey through Genius: The The Story of Phi, the World's Great Theorems of Mathematics Most Astonishing Number William Dunham Mario Livio The Book Nobody Read: For Love of 8 Chasing the Revolutions of 3 Insects Nicolaus Copernicus Thomas Eisner Owen Gingerich

The Fabric of the Cosmos: Concepts of Modern 4 Space, Time, and the 9 Mathematics Texture of Reality Ian Stewart Brian Greene How to Grow Fresh Air. Consciousness: 10 SO Houseplants That Purify Your An Introduction Home or Office Susan Blackmore B.C. Wolverton

By arrangement with Scientific American (www.sciam.com), July 2004.

SKEPTICAL INQUIRER September/October 2004 59 FORUM

Obscurantism, Tyranny, and the Fallacy of Either Black or White

RALPH ESTLING

t is no coincidence that the world's external appearance and first great popularizer of totalitarian­ Inner Truth, The Good Iism was also the first great Essence and its bad shadow, spokesman in the West of Philosophical the Divine Inexpressible and Idealism, the doctrine which preaches the sublunary meat and pota­ that the everyday horrors with which toes. As Bergen Evans reminds us men beset mankind are of no real conse­ in The Natural History of Nonsense, quence or significance, are indeed "Obscurantism and tyranny go nonexistent, illusions, figments of our together. . . . The mist of mysticism own perverted outlook created by our has always provided good cover for blinded, crippled senses. It was Plato those who do not want their actions who advocated the "Noble Lie," the lie too closely looked into." the ruler, the Philosopher King, would This danger inherent in obscuran­ broadcast to the ruled, always of course tism is not merely of theoretical inter­ for the ruled's own good. est. Martin Heidegger, Carl Jung, Rulers of church and state, the sem­ Konrad Lorenz, Alexis Carrel, Ezra piternal Establishment of this world, Pound, Louis Ferdinand Celine, D.H. have always seen things in this congenial Lawrence, and T.S. Eliot were all highly light, the light that Plato ignited for intelligent and, at least two of them, them 2,400 years ago. No doubt they humane, kind, and thoroughly decent still would have if Plato had never lived, men. Yet all experienced no trouble what­ on- XMODtKBK but with Plato as their Authority, the soever in embracing a strong element of argument that pain and injustice are fascism to his heart, this after a lifetime nor the State, nor this Faction nor that unreal, mere images and imaginings, spent in the contemplation and evocation Party, nor God, nor the Holy Mother gains repute, upstanding, righteousness, of obscurantism. Once one has developed Church, nor the Prophet of God, nor and, above all, philosophical status. the habit of abjuring the rational in favor Right, Freedom, Equality, Justice, and All dictatorships that have emerged of the willfully obscure and mystical, the the Brotherhood of Man—but for in the West since 350 B.C. are a mete descent to the bottom of the night is an myself, for my own good, because it pleases me to do so. exegesis on Plato, the man who wrote easy ride. that laughter is undignified, who chose Obscurantism is ten parts humbug, Only in the name of humbug shall Sparta rather than Athens; and on and humbug is Tyranny's first name, the Tyranny declare itself, at least in its more Philosophical Idealism, which is noth­ one it has chosen for itself and by which public utterances. Privately, in its own ing more than an attempt to divide it is known to all its closer acquain­ house. Tyranny may unbutton its vest, Existence itself into two unequal parts, tances. Was there one honest tyrant ever, put on its slippers, and call itself hon- was there one, who said, I have taken esdy enough, though even of this we Ralph Estling writes from Ilminster, charge and mean to keep it for the good cannot be sure. But whenever it broad­ Somerset, England. of myself. Not for the sake of the People, casts its message it uses only its first

60 September/October 2004 SKEPTICAL INQUIRER and religion. Pandian I Design yes. intelligent no. Pigliucci I A way of life for agnostics?. Lovelock I FILL IN THE GAPS IN YOUR Science, religion, and the Galileo affair. Moyl The god of falling bodies, Stenger / The relationship between paranormal beliefs and religious beliefs. Sparks I Science and religion in an impersonal universe. Voung Skeptical Inquirer COLLECTION I Arthur C. Clarke's 'Credo.' Clarke I A designer uni­ verse?. Weinberg I An evolutionary-genetic wager, • 15% discount on orders of $100 or more • Avise I Shroud of Turin scandals. Metre// / Muftiverses • $6.25 a copy. Vols. 1-18 ($5.00 Vols. 19-25). To order, use reply card insert • and blackberries. Gardner. JULY/AUGUST 2001 (vol. 25. no. 4): Confronting vet­ erinary medical nonsense, /mr/e/Junk science and the JULY/AUGUST 2004 (vol. 28. no. 4): Capital punishment magic, and make-believe. Ulettl Walt Whitman, Sloan law. Dodes I Chevreul's report on the mysterious oscil­ and homicide, Goertzel I Defending science—within I The James Ossuary. Nickel! lations of the hand-held pendulum. Spitz and reason, Haack I Exposing Roger Patterson's 1967 Marcuard I CSICOP 25th Anniversary section: A quar­ Bigfoot film hoax, Korff and Kocis I Pranks, frauds, and JANUARY/FE8RUARY 2003 (vol. 27. no. 1): How not ter-century of skeptical inquiry. Paul Kurtz I Thoughts hoaxes from around the world, Carroll I Seeing the to test mediums, Hyman I Beliefs on trial, and the on science and skepticism in the twenty-first century, world through rose-colored glasses. legality of reasonableness, Fisher I Kendrick Frazier I Proper criticism. Ray Hyman I The Bowd and O'Sullivan I Special report: PBS Placebos, nocebos. and chiropractic lighter side of skepticism. Pudim IA skeptical look at 'Secrets of the Dead' buries the truth adjustments, Homola I Pliny the Elder: Karl Popper, Gardner. about the Shroud of Turin, Nickell I Credulist. skeptic, or both?. Parejko / Mythical Mexico. Nickell Unfazed: Mark Twain debunks the mes- MAY/JUNE 2001 (vol. 25. no. 3!: The shrinking file- merizer. Bnglebretsen I Amityville drawer. Stokes / The Pokemon Panic of 1997. Radford MAY/JUNE 2004 (vol. 28. no. 3): Horror. Nickell / The Antinous Prophecies. Pickover I Common myths Darkness, tunnels and light. Woerlee I of children's behavior. Fiorello I Bertrand Russell and Nurturing suspicion, Mole I The Cold NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2002 (vol. 26. critical receptiveness. Hare I CSICOP 25th Anniversary War's classified Skyhook program, no. 6): Politicizing the Virgin Mary, Eve / section: From the editor's seat: 25 years of science and Gildenberg I The strange Odyssey of Hypothesis testing and the nature of skepticism, Kendrick Frazier I Science vs. pseudo- Brenda Dunne, Stokes / Bridging the skeptical Investigations. Pigliucci I science, nonscience. and nonsense. James Alcock I CSI­ chasm between two cultures. McLaren I Intelligent design: Dembski's presenta­ I am Freud's brain, Garry and Loftus I COP timeline / Primal scieain. A pelsislenl New Age tion without arguments. Perakh I Hugo therapy. Gardner. •Visions' behind The Passion. Nickell I Gernsback. skeptical crusader. Miller I Belgium skeptics commit mass suicide, Alternative medicine and pseudo- MARCH/APRIL 2001 (vol. 25. no. 2): Darwin in mind. Edis Bonneux I Psychic sleuth without a clue. IA bit confused. Roche I What can the paranormal teach science, Mornstein I Are skeptics cyni­ Nickell. us about consciousness?. Blackmore I Spontaneous cal?. Mole / Psychic pets and pet psychics. Nickell. human confabulation, Nienhuys I 'taly's version of Harry SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2002 (vol. 26. no. 5): Special Houdini, Nisbet I A psychological case of 'demon' and MARCH/APRIL 2004 (vol. 28. no. 2): Special Issue: 'alien' visitation. Reisnerl Distant healing and Elizabeth Science and Religion 2004: Turmoil and Tensions. Why is Report: Circular Reasoning: The 'mystery' of crop cir­ - Targ. Gardner. religion natural? Boyer / Skeptical inquiry and religion. cles and their 'orbs of light. Nickell. Fourth World Kurtz / Exorcising all the ghosts, Edit / The roles of reli­ Skeptics Conference Report / A skeptical look at JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2001 (vol 25. no. 1): Special gion, spirituality, and genetics in paranormal beliefs, September 11th. Chapman and Harris I Sheldrake's Section: Issues in Alternative Medicine: Medicine Kennedy I Development of beliefs in paranormal and Crystals, van Genderen. Koene and Nienhuys I wars. Seidman I Herbal medicines and dietary SUD- supernatural phenomena. Whittle I Religious beliefs and leacning sxepucism via tne uti I it acronym, uartz I plements. Allen I Psychoactive herbal medications. their consequences, laying / Secularization: Europe yes. Skepticism under the big sky. Schwinden. Engbrecht, Spinella I Chiropractic Homola I Damaged goods? United States no, Zuckerman I Not too 'bright.' Mooney Mercer and Patterson / Why was The X-Files so appeal­ Science and child sexual abuie. Hagen / Special I Point of honor: On science and religion, Haack / ing?, Goode / Winchester mystery house. Nickell. Report: Science indicators 2000 / Facilitated commu­ nication. Gardner. Benjamin Franklin's Enlightenment deism, baacson I In JULY/AUGUST 2002 (vol. 26. no. 4): Special Report: Al­ praise of Ray Hyman, Alcock I Hoaxes, myths, and man­ ternative medicine and the White House commission. NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2000 (vol. 24. no. 6): The face ias (report on the Albuquerque conference). Frazier I Gorski. London I Special Section: Science and pseudo- behind the Face on Mars. Posner / The new paranat- The stigmata of Lilian Bernas. Nickell. science in Russia. Kurtz, Efremov. Kruglyakov I Who ural paradigm, Kurtz I Francis Bacon and the true ends JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2004 (vol. 28., no. 1): Anti-vacci­ abused Jane Doe? Part 2. Loftus and Guyer I The high of skepticism. Friedberg I Worlos in collision: Where nation fever. Hoyt I Skepticism of caricatures, Gaynor I cost of skepticism, Tavris / Graham Hancock's shifting cat­ reality meets the paranormal. Radford I Why bad Fallacies and frustrations. Mole / Judging authority. aclysm. Brass / The Mad Gasser of Mattoon. Ladenoori beliefs don't die. Lester I Supernatural power and cul­ Lipps IA geologist's adventures with Bimini beachrock and Bartholomew I Moscow mysteries. Nickell tural evolution. Layng I The brutality of Dr. and Atlantis true believers. Shinn / The real method of Bettelheim, Gardner. scientific discovery. Gunman / Oxygen is good—even MAY/JUNE 2002 (vol 26. no. 3): Who abused Jane when it's not there. Hall I Contemporary challenges to Doe? Part 1. Loftus and Guyer / Is the Mars Effect a SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2000 (vol. 24. no. 5): Voodoo sci­ William James's white crow. Spitz / UFOs over Buffalo!. social effect?. Dean / Gray Barker's book of bunk. ence and the belief gene. Part I Rogerian Nursing Nickell. Sherwood I The king of quacks: Albert Abrams. M.D., Theory. Raskin I Sun sign columns. Dean and Mather I Haines I Benny Hinn: Healer or hypnotist?. Nickell. The psychic staring effect, Marks and Cotwell I Management of positive and negative responses in a NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2003 (vol. 27. no. 6): Ann MARCH/APRIL 2002 (vol. 26. no. 2): Special Reports: spiritualist medium consultation, Druyan talks about science, religion, wonder, awe. and Bioterrorism and alternative medicine. Greasley I The laws of nature: A skeptic's Carl Sagan. Druyan I Less about appearances: Art and Atwood / 'Mothman' solved! Nickell I guide, Pazameta I Special Report: On ear science. Nowlin I King of the paranormal, Mooney I Bigfoot at fifty. Radford I Cripplefoot cones and candles. Kaushall and Kaushall Sylvia Browne. Farha I Neither intelligent nor designed. hobbled. Daegling I Pseudohistory in I Little Red Riding Hood. Gardner. Martin I Fellowship of the rings: UFO rings vs. fairy rings. ancient coins. Carrier I Are science and JULY/AUGUST 2000 (vol. 24. no. 4): Nieves-Rivera / The curse of Bodie. Nickel! religion compatible?, Kurtz I The empti­ ness of holism. RuKto / Undercover Thought Field Therapy: Can we really tap SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2003 (vol. 27. no. 5): The ongo­ among the spirits, Nickell. our problems away?. Gaudiano and ing problem with the National Center for Herbert I Absolute skepticism equals Complementary and Alternative Medicine, Atwood I JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2002 (vol. 26. no. dogmatism, Bunge I Did a close What does education really do?. tosh, Tavani, Njoroge. 1): Myths of murder and multiple encounter of the third kind occur on a Wilke, and McAuley I Nostradamus's clever 'clairvoy­ regression, Goertzel I Education, scien­ Japanese beach in 1803?. Tanaka I ance'. Yafeh and Heath I They see dead people—Or do tific knowledge, and belief in the para­ Rethinking the dancing mania, Barth­ they?. Underdown / Energy, homeopathy, and hypnosis normal. Goode I A university's struggle olomew I Has science education become in Santa Fe. Seavey I Faking UFO photos for the twenty- with chiropractic DeRobertis I Snaring an enemy of scientific rationality?, Ede I first century. Callen / Haunted plantation. Nickell the Fowler: Mark Twain debunks Krakatene: Explosive pseudoscience from phrenology. Lopez I Three skeptics' the Czech Academy of science. Slanina I JULY/AUGUST 2003 (vol. 27. no. 4): Special Report; debate tools examined, Caso / Mickey Mouse discovers David Bohm and Krishnamurti. Gardner. Chasing Champ: Legend of the Lake Champlain mon­ the 'real- Atlantis. Hardersen I Atlantis behind the ster. Nickell I The measure of a monster. Radford I The myth. Christopher / 10th European Skeptics Congress MAY/JUNE 2000 (vol. 24, no. 3): Special Report: The Rorschach inkblot tesL fortune tellers, and cold reading. report. Manner I Voodoo in New Orleans, Nickell I new bogus MJ-12 documents, Mass / Mass delusions Wood. Nemorski. Ulienfeld, and Garb I Can minds leave Some thoughts on induction. Gardner and hysterias of the past millennium, Bartholomew and Goode I Doomsday fears at RHIC. Guiterrez I Save bodies?. Bensley I Memory recovery techniques in psy­ NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2001 (vol. 25. no. 6): A cri­ our science: The struggle for rationality at a French chotherapy. Lynn. Loftus. Lilienfeld. and Lock tique of Schwartz et al.'s after-death communication university. Broch / Paraneuroscience?. Kirkland I MAY/JUNE 2003 (vol. 27. no. 3): The luck Factor. Wise­ studies. Wiseman and O'Keeffe I Magical thinking in Bohm's guided wave theory. Gardner. man / More hazards: Hypnosis, airplanes, and strongly complementary and alternative medicine. Stevens / held beliefs. Pankratz I 'Premenstrual dysphoric disor­ Educational malpractice. Moore I Philosophers and MARCH/APRIL 2000 (vol. 24. no. 2): Risky business: der* and 'premenstrual syndrome' myths, flora and psychics: The Vandy episode. Oldfield I CSICOP 25th Vividness, availability, and the media paradox, ftuscio / Sellers I A patently false patent myth—stilll. Sass I Anniversary section: The origins and evolution of CSI­ Physics and the paranormal, t Hooft I Efficacy of Wired to the kitchen sink. Hall I Mediumship claim COP. Nisbet I Never a dull moment Kan I John prayer. Tessman and Tessman I Can we tell if someone responses, Schwartz and Hyman / Dowsing mysterious Edward: Hustling the bereaved. Nickell I Ernest is staring at us?. Baker I Assessing the quality of med­ ical Web sites, Levi / The demon-haunted sentence. sites. Nickell. Hemingway and Jane. Gardner. Byrne and Normand I Mad messiahs, Gardner. MARCH/APRIL 2003 (vol. 27. no. 2): The Blank Slate, SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2001 (vol. 25. no. 5): Special Pinker I Omission neglect: The importance of missing Issue: Science and Religion 2001. Holy wars. Tyson / For > complete listing of our back issues, call 800-634- information. Kardes and Sanbonmatsu I Acupuncture, The dangerous quest for cooperation between science 1610. or see http^/www.cskop.org/si/back-issues.html. FORUM

name, humbug, just as any king or only wish this binary reasoning, this exploited and the exploiter, the gifted emperor, as if it had no parents, no plus-or-minus-and-no-nonsense-please and die dull-witted, inductive analysis ancestry, but had sprung, full- approach to things applied in social sit­ and hypothetico-deductivism, die jusdy panoplied, out from the skull of God. uations, would end somewhere between rich and the deservedly poor, the black But it is not only obscurantism that our twelfth and sixteenth birthdays. and white. Us and Them. Pluralism forms a smokescreen behind which The ability to see the world, its mean­ remains a luxury that only a few minds tyranny can hide. There is also the little ing, and its humanity, in strict dualistic can afford, or even window-shop for. matter of dividing all existence into two, terms, as two, and only two, distinct and Susan Stebbing in her Thinking to and just two, totally opposed, totally mutually exclusive entities, forms die Some Purpose has named this Manichaean style of dichotomizing the fallacy of either black or white. It is the logical absurdity that assumes we cannot The ability to see the world, its meaning and be logical unless we deal with precisely definable characteristics, thus ignoring its humanity, in strict dualistic terms, as two, the fact that a clear distinction is not nec­ and only two, distinct and mutually exclusive essarily a sharp distinction. The fallacy states, in effect, that in order to be nice entities, forms the backdrop and backbone and logical we are forced, by the dictates of virtually every human enterprise that of logic themselves, to draw a definite line somewhere in an infinite series— has led to disintegration or petrification ranging from absolute black, through all of society or the individual. possible gradations of gray, down to absolute white—at the precise point where black changes to white, and that to refuse to do so labels us as illogical and opposite categories. People from whom backdrop and backbone of almost all unclear thinkers, or worse, cowards and we might expect better reasoning religion, philosophy, politics, economics, equivocators, who insist on not drawing processes to be in evidence surprise us law, sociology, psychology—indeed vir­ distinctions between Black and White. by their unexpected lack in perspicuity. tually every human enterprise that has This line of reasoning confuses Sociologists and psychologists tell us led to disintegration or petrification of thinking clearly with drawing sharp dis­ about "dominant" or "leader" types, society or the individual. Plato or tinctions. It should not be necessary to "dominated" or "follower" types, implic- Aristotle, St. Augustine or Descartes, point out that the one does not perforce idy or very often explicitly inquiring of Calvin or Torquemada, Freud or Jung, imply the other, that thinking can be us which we would rather be, implying Nietzsche or Baudelaire, Eysenck or very clear indeed even when sharp divi­ through it all that of course our choice, Skinner, Stalin or Hitler, no matter in sions cannot be made and, often assuming nature allows us to have one— what specifics they may have differed enough, it is only clear thinking that which is another kettle of red herring— one from the other, agree that everything tells us so in these cases. To divide an should be to lead, to command, to dom­ is to be divided into Two, which, what­ infinite, or at least very long and com­ inate, to impose our wills and our con­ ever they choose to call diem, can be plex, series into two distinct parts which cepts on others, for their own good of reduced to a common denominator: the are then to be placed in total opposition course, to win friends and influence saved and die unsaved, those on God's to each other is not a sign of good logic. people. This "either/or" insistence by side and those on Satan's, the abstrac­ No one over the age of sixteen has the supposedly intelligent and mentally tions of the pure reasoner and the con- right to be that naive. skilled professionals is deeply worrying. creusms of die pure observer, the totally The purposefully obscure, the delib­ It never seems to occur to these highly sensory and the completely analytic, the erately oversimplified either-or act of trained experts on human behavior that blessed and the damned, the holy and illogic, each has its apotheosis in the only sensible answer to the query, die infidel, the material and the spiritual, tyranny, either mental or physical, Do you wish to be a leader or follower, a the mind and die heart, wave and parti­ always spiritual. And it is the only form master or a slave, is: What sane person cle, holism and reductionism, nature and of tyranny in which we are likely to would want to be either! nurture, the Hellenic and the Hebraic, forge our own chains, to wrap ourselves Dividing everything into two is all the superman and the herd, the in them, and then throw away the key, right in die monkey house, the sandbox, Romanticist and the Classicist, die repre­ proclaiming all the while our total and and the digital computer, but one can sentational and the symbolic, the ineluctable devotion to freedom.

62 September/October 2004 SKEPTICAL INQUIRER FORUM

Tablets and Tabloids: Skeptical Reading

JOHN C. WHITTAKER

'read it in the paper" no longer much explanation. The authority of Carbon dating only works on organic cuts it as a statement of author­ "black and white" in a serious news objects, not rocks. In any case, the age of ity. The National Enquirer and source probably gives a spurious find the stone is irrelevant to the age of the "I inscription, and geologists are unlikely similar rags do not have to be wrapped more public recognition than it around herring to smell funny, tven UC3C1VC3, MIKC W1IC11 1 ClllUUldgCU Mll- iu Know mum aoout arcnacoiogy ot reputable papers reporting real news are dents to be critical, even beginners could epigraphy. However, they make conve­ owned by corporations with economic find the wormholes. nient experts to quote, or just as likely, motives, led by editors with political In a fairly good regional newspaper, to misquote. biases, and staffed by reporters who may under the byline of Laurie Copans of the Why would you ask geologists? Well, it be no more educated or savvy than the Associated Press, the headline read: seems that "the collector" asked the Israel ordinary reader, and who get their sto­ "Geologists Examine Inscribed Stone Museum first, and "was told they could ries from the liars, politicians, and igno­ Tablet," and a nice color photo not rule out a forgery." Furthermore, ramuses who make up a large part of showed the artifact. Immediate red "The Israel Museum declined to humanity. A degree of healthy skepti­ flag: geologists are not the right comment" for the article. It cism should be applied to all media. experts to consult. Although becomes a bit clearer: rhe collector Shimon Hani, who is implied Reports of scientific discoveries are did not like the first answer he got, to be an "expert" at "Israel's sometimes difficult to evaluate without so he looked elsewhere. I don't Geological Institute" some knowledge of the field, but often know how many times people declared "Our findings all you really need is a bit of back­ have brought things for me to show that it is authen­ ground, a smattering of common sense, examine and left irritated and tic," it is not clear how and a questioning attitude. Sometimes refusing to accept the expert he came to that con­ a bald and unscnsational article turns opinion they thought they clusion. The next out to be as riddled with problems as wanted, but only if it agreed sentence really tears last month's forgotten leftover is veined it if you know any­ with their pre-formed belief. with mold when you open the thing about archaeol­ Tupperware. Here's a gem that appeared ogy: "'Carbon dating con­ in the Des Moines Register (January 14, firms the writing goes 2003) just in time for my archaeology back to the ninth class. The reporter appears to have century B.C.,* he reported fairly, but without consulting said." Impossible! dissenting authorities or providing

John Whittaker is in the Department of Anthropology, Grinnell College, Grinnell, Iowa 50112. E-mail whittake@Grinnell. edu.

SKEPTICAL INQUIRER September/October 2004 63 FORUM

Mention of "the collector," who is not inscription itself, in which the king is allow a 1 percent chance diat the thing is named, leads us to another problem. As instructing priests to "take holy money genuine, but maybe Elvis is still alive and the article puts it, "The origin of the ... to buy quarry stones and timber and living in Zanzibar too. And as one of my stone tablet is unclear, making it difficult copper and labor to carry out the duty students said, "All that and we didn't have to establish authenticity." It may have with faith." This parallels a Bible passage to know a word of ancient Hebrew!" been "uncovered in recent years ... on in which a Jewish temple is being the Haram as-Sharif ... or Temple repaired. Most important, it appears to Postscript: As I wrote this, the limestone Mount," but that information is from an provide evidence that a Jewish temple ossuary with the inscription "James, son of Joseph, brother of Jesus" was still being dis­ unidentified source in an Israeli paper, stood in this location some 2,800 years puted. The ossuary is apparently old, and the and probably really originated with the ago, and "could strengthen Jewish inscription would obviously be of great collector himself, who "has declined to claims to a disputed holy site . . . that is interest if it could be linked to the Biblical come forward." All of this means to the now home to two mosques." Now the Jesus, but again, it was an artifact of dubious origins, presented by a collector who buys archaeologist that there is no context. We intelligent reader should be really wor­ and sells looted artifacts, supported by schol­ don't know if the circumstances of the ried. There are evidently strong political ars and politicians with political, religious, find support the authenticity of the arti­ motivations for fraud. In fact, the and career axes to grind. . . . fact, or add information that would help silence of the archaeologists at the By the time SKEPTICAL INQUIRER was us understand the purpose of the inscrip­ Museum may mean that they were told preparing my piece for publication in February 2004, the ossuary inscription had been conclu­ tion. If there had been associated arti­ to shut up. sively dismissed as a fraudulent addition to an facts, it might have been possible to car­ Conclusion: None of this is conclu­ old ossuary. Moreover, the inscribed tablet and bon date them, and thus date the context sive one way or the other, and further die ossuary had both been revealed as produc­ of the inscription. The howler about dat­ judgments must be based on the evidence tions of the same "collector" (see Nickell 2003a, 2003b for initial suspicions and later report, ing by the geologist might then have been of the tablet itself and its inscription. and Silberman and Goren 2003 for the detailed a simple misquote, but here, there is Meanwhile, based on what the reporter story). Oded Golan is under investigation by nothing else to date. published, we should be dubious. In fact, Israeli authorities for a number of frauds and In fact, it soon becomes clear that the if I were a betting man, I would unhesi­ antiquities violations. Too bad I didn't have any money on my bet! "unclear origins" of the tablet are per­ tatingly give you 100 to 1 odds that the haps not accidental. First we have a col­ "find" is a fraud, and even guess at the lector too shady to reveal himself, who reason. I would say there is about a 50 References would certainly like to have acquired a percent chance that the inscription is Nickell, Joe. 2003a Bone (box) of contention: really important artifact, which will motivated by an Israeli right-wing agenda The James Ossuary. SKEPTICAL INQUIRER 27(2): 19-22. bring him fame, or fortune, or both. of dispossessing the non-Jewish part of . 2003b James Ossuary verdict: Ossuary Worse, it is claimed to have come from die population, witii a 49 percent chance genuine, inscription fake. SKEPTICAL IN­ one of the most sensitive holy sites in that it is just a crook trying to make a few QUIRER 27(5):5. Silberman, Neil Asher, and Yuval Goren 2003 Jerusalem, revered by both Jews and bucks, and playing on the political cli­ Faking biblical history. Archaeology 56(5): Muslims. And finally we get to the mate of the moment. To be fair, we'll 20-29. •

SHIPS OF THE DEAD Lafee, Scott. 2001. Haunting pro goes on ghostly cvents/prcss_releases/press_relcascs_2001 .htm Continued from page 14 iron ship, October 31. Available at I; accessed April 20, 2004. wwTv.signonsandicgo.com/ncws/uniontrib/ Don't Miss the Boat. N.d. Flyer of the USS The Sullivans. N.d. Display sign aboaid USS The wed/currents/news_ 1 c31 paranormal.html. Sullivans, Buffalo and Erie County Naval & Hornet Museum (obtained October 25, 2001). Military Park. Buffalo. N.Y. Visited June 24,2003. Guiley, Rosemary Ellen. 2000. The Encyclopedia of Lamb, John J. 1999. San Diego Specters: Ghosts. Ghosts and Spirits. New York: Checkmark Books. Poltergeists, and Phantasmic Tales. San Diego, USS The Sullivans History. N.d. In informational Hauck, William Dennis. 1996. Haunted Places: Calif.: Sunbelt Publications, 153-158. brochure, Welcome to the Buffalo and Erie The National Directory. New York Penguin Merideth, Lee William. 2001. Gray Ghost Sunny­ County Naval & Military Park, Buffalo, N.Y.; Boob, 290-291. vale, Calif: Historical Indexes publishing Co. obtained June 24, 2003. Haunted History: New York. 2000. Documentary Monster Bash aboard the Gray Ghost. (2001.] Winer, Richard. 2000. Ghost Ships: True Stories of aired on History Channel, September 22. Flyer of USS Hornet Museum. Nautical Nightmares, Hauntings, and Disasters. The Haunting of the USS Hornet 2004. Available Nickell. Joe. 2001 a. Real-Life X-Files: Investigating New York: Berkley Books. at www.dr-assoc.com/hornet-9-30-02.htm; the Paranormal Lexington, Ky.,: University Wilson. Sheryl C. and Theodore X. Barber. 1983. accessed April 20. Press of Kentucky. The fantasy-prone personality. In Imagery: Hull. Dana. 2000. USS Hornet—Staff and visitors . 2001b. Interviews with staff of USS Current Theory, Research, and Application, report seeing and hearing strange things. San Hornet October 25. edited by Anees A- Sheikh. New York: John Jose Mercury News, August 11. Reports of Zombie-Like Figures.. . . 2004. Wiley and Sons. Knight, Heather. 2001. Backyard haunts. San Available at www. 1 OOmegsfree. Wlodarski. Robert, et al. 1995. A Guide to the Francisco Chronicle (Contra Costa &Tri-Valiey Ship of Spirits.... 2001. Media release, March Haunted Queen Mary. Calabasas. Calif.: G- ed.), October 26. 28. Available at www.uss-hornet.org/ncws_ Host. •

64 September/October 2004 SKEPTICAL INQUIRER LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Let us assist her in diis noble effort. you can't openly attack anyone or their charac­ ter, and you can't use truly focused skepticism," John J. Brooks she zeroes in perceptively on an important rea­ Skeptical Inquirer Weed, California son for the persistence of magical thinking and its seeming immunity to refutation. As McLaren instinctively imposes patterns This is a most extraordinary article! Karla, Darkness, of New Age thinking on her explanation, sec Crealln9 thank you for writing it. Tunnels. ^_^ how there is a complete, tacit conflation of the You have made many very important concept of "me" with that of "my ideas." The Explaining points, but the most important is that when New Age thrives on an intellectually dishonest the Near Death JW'.-m »..•-..„.. tc we are viewed from the perspectives of oth­ Experience T^. "' * °" subjective view of the worid, as if cold, unyield­ "^•^t of • Farmer ers, we may not recognize ourselves. I think NewAqer ing reality were at the mercy of our little human that we are remiss in communicaring our wills to spice it up; and to compound this, values, and I also think that we are remiss in 'Anti-Science thanks to McLaren's insights, 1 see that same HI CBUMC CMKM our arrogance of insisting that facts arc the subjectivity insulating New Age beliefs from important thing, not communication. I wish effective refutation. Attack my ideas, no matter Pathological you well in your studies, and hope iu read how palpably unsound they may be, and you PaiaDiyirioIogv more from you about the journey. *' .. attack nK—and that's when, as a polite person, I turn away from you to avoid a fight. Gil Reeser [email protected] Penn Jillette once argued that you have to be fifty decibels louder than the fools; but maybe McLaren is right that a Trojan horse Bridging the Chasm A great piece of work by Karla McLaren and is a better approach. (McLaren's own case, a proper dressing down of us skeptics. I do however, docs show that standard skeptical Karl/1 MdJltm't rtrtirle "Rri/lirin/r tU* f^hifet*! uwi II»_\.W>AIIIJ dgicc WIUI uci mai tnc name debunking techniques can be effective.) between Two Cultures"(May/June2004) stim­ calling was just out of concern for these peo­ ulated more letters, most of them positive and ple who needed our enlightenment. I think Gregory S. Bucher sympathetic, than any other article this year. it is mostly self-righteous arrogance. Department of Classical and Near Eastern Studies Here is a representative sampling.— EDITOR One of the popes said it best: "Give me Creighton University your children and by the age of five they will Omaha, Nebraska My thanks to Karla McLaren for her coura­ be mine." When children are raised in a vac­ geous article, "Bridging the Chasm between uum by people tJiey trust and love, our heart Two Cultures." It takes considerable courage goes out to them, in part because we can do to discard one's canonical structure and adopt or say little that will change that. Karla McLaren's article was overdue and is an important start in winning over the world at a new one, particularly when the new one is When they become adults, we berate large to skeptical ways of thinking. To Ms. that of the "enemy." them for not being able to think for them­ McLaren, what can we do to help? She raises a point that has disturbed me selves. I believe it takes a lot of strength to since Si's inception, namely, the contempt and believe in something that isn't there. Bill Weitze disdain with which we skeptics and nonbeliev- I agree with Ms. McLaren that we must [email protected] ers refer to New Agers and religionists. What is step up to a change of attitude and respond it that we skeptics arc trying to do, bask in our to the cultural differences as mature, caring perceived superiority or actually communicate adults and teach in the same manner. We Three cheers for Karla McLaren! Her brave with the othet side? If it is the latter, we won't would never call our children stupid because venture from New Ager to compassionate do it by being contemptuous of them. they have an idea that may not be fully skeptic is much appreciated. Are we trying to change minds? If so, per­ thought out. But let us remember who the real nasties haps we should ask ourselves why we want to It is a pretty rough world out there and are. In my opinion, except for charlatan lead­ do dm. Would it be for dieir benefit or our we skeptics who respond without compas­ ers, most New Agers arc more or less harm­ satisfaction? sion do not see the big picture. How many less kooks. And nobody is about to go to war My suggestion is that we try to commu­ more wars will it take to start understanding for crystal power, or feng hooey! But when nicate information along with a way of people who may not have our information or the Christian soldiers get to marching, thinking that incorporates healdiy skepti­ share our beliefs? things like the Vietnam war tend co happen. cism and to skip the contempt and anger. It is my experience, however, with the Terry Duchesne Tony Finch New Agers diat there is more involved than Bremerton, Washington Madison, Wisconsin a cultural difference and lack of communica­ tion. Most of my interactions with them have been similar to those with fundamen­ I found McLaren's article very interesting. One Former New Age leader Karla McLaren sees talist Christians or political partisans: Real can study the pathologies of magical (or para­ the divide between believers and skeptics as a discussion is not possible because they have normal, if you prefer) thinking ail day long, but conflict of cultures. Both sides, she says, arc die "trudi." Ms. McLaren has my admiration a sympathetic insiders report is worth a journal caring and well-intentioned, but believers for trying to break through tiiesc barriers. full of them. When she says, "In my culture. reject any need to be critical or informed. If

SKEPTICAL INQUIRER September/October 2004 65 LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

only skeptics were less demeaning, she says, I admire Ms. McLaren's ability to recognize that I've just finished reading the thought pro­ and less fond of words like scam and fraud, she was falling short of her goals as a caring voking article by Karla McLaren. She the divide might be bridged. Even though human being, trusted by others. I suspea that describes a (sub)culrure where intellectual her own culturally sensitive attempts to her obvious concern for others benefited many rigor, critical thought, and criticism of any­ make New Agers more skeptical have failed who came into contact with her or with her one or any idea are disapproved. If I were a ("some avid readers still don't know what I ideas, scientifically flawed as they were. I would charlatan, I know where I would want to set was saying"), it might still bridge the divide. encourage her to read Healing and the Mind by up shop. I'll bet I wouldn't be the first. I I wish I could believe her. Bill Moyers, which discusses scientific research wonder if these people understand the For twenty years, the skeptics group in on the role emotions play on human physiology. meaning of the expression "asking for it." Western Australia has adopted precisely the Her distinction between well-meaning indi­ Norman P. Carlson nonthreatcning approach that she advocates. viduals who are trying to be helpful and those Jamestown, New York It provides information but does not evange­ who are purposefully taking advantage of people lize. New Agers who have interacted with us, in vulnerable positions who will grasp at any hope either as speakers or as contenders for the is a good point. Perhaps the skeptical dissector of Karla McLaren's comments on what New Agers national $100,000 (Australian) prize for bad science could learn to criticize the message dislike about skeptics describes better than I proof of paranormal ability, find us to be while accepting the idea that the intent of the ever could my sole criticism of the SKEPTICAL pleasant and respectful. But unless they are messenger may be as sincere as it is misinformed. INQUIRER. Not the content but the overuse of naturally curious, which is rarely the case, Many of us try to improve the lives of others by "insulting text and demeaning attitudes." the divide remains spectacularly unbridged. whatever imperfect means we have at our dis­ The "Skyhook Program" article by B.D. The case with print is similar—neutral but posal, and most of us can think of someone who Gildenberg was written well and with a tone informed articles on dowsing are simultane­ made a profound difference in our lives without I believe McLaren would say was better ously praised by geologists and furiously die use of what we commonly refer to as science. suited to actual communication. attacked by dowsers. Margo Markowski Excellent issue. No doubt our nonthreatening approach [email protected] might persuade the occasional teetering Phil Noel heretic. No doubt a fun-filled approach (as [email protected] per Paul Giles in the same issue) might per­ I couldn't agree more with Ms. McLarens suade a few more. But after twenty years of Karla McLaren replies: point. I can even clarify it. trying, it seems that the best we can hope for When people communicate, two channels is tfiat the next generation, better equipped I've been very heartened by the responses I've received are involved: data and emotion. We skeptical with information than their parents, will from thoughtful skeptics—and yes, I am moving types tend to focus on the data and downplay achieve a more skeptical salvation. Of course, fortvard. In the months that have passed since the the emotion. I believe that New Age people do nobody who derives comfort from a given writing of the article, I've completed the first semes­ the opposite. Without a solid emotional con­ belief is going to seek evidence against it. ter of my sociology degree, and I've learned to speak nection, data and logic are unconvincing to The trick, it seems, is to reach them before more skillfully with members of my own culture. them. With a solid emotional connection, data die belief gets a stranglehold and hope that (Hint: protecting the relationship and speaking gen­ and logic arc unnecessary. So when Uri Geller information will prevail over ignorance. tly about tlie human costs of the New Age works says, "I'm a nice guy, and I can do this interest­ beautifully Talking down to or making a laugly Geoffrey Dean ing thing," they respond positively to his pleas­ ingstock of believers, or acting like a frustrated Western Australian Skeptics ant and upbeat manner.... When James Randi know-it-all guarantees failure.) I've also started Perth, Western Australia says, "He cheats," they read the emotional cowritinga book on the chasm between the two cul­ channel and conclude, "Randi's got an anger- tures widi SI managing editor Benjamin Radford management problem." Randi's "facts" can now (working tide: Truce between Truth Seekers,). SI I commend Ms. McLaren for her courage safely be discarded as coming from an obviously readers, your letters, your support, and your empa­ and bravery to completely change the course flawed source, leaving Geller with a clear win. thy are very important. You've made me feel less iso­ of her life following critical thinking and Unfortunately, understanding where we lated and you've made a huge difference. 1 said you skepticism. Similar critical thinking and go wrong does not tell us how to do it right. non-specific and non-binding blessings. skepticism over the past ten years signifi­ To reach New Age people, the argument cantly changed my belief in religion, cre- must have the correct emotional content. ationism, and evolution. It has and will con­ Paul Giles in the same issue suggests humor, Darkness, Tunnels, and tinue to affect my life and the lives of my a good idea but not enough. Consider "If the family very significantly. As a nonbeliever in glove doesn't fit you must acquit" from the Light of the NDE religion, I am an outcast. I salute Ms. O.J. trial. This statement is factually incor­ McLaren and wish her well in her new jour­ rect. But try to come up with a counter that I enjoyed G.M. Woerlee's article about near- ney which will not be easy but will accurately would be effective with a New Age type. To death experiences ("Darkness, Tunnels, and Light," May/June 2004) and wanted to represent the facts. I enjoy reading your pub­ get through to them we must reach them. report my own, such as it was. lication and look forward to further issues. But how? Not with "just the facts, ma'am." Thank you. I'm stumped for a solution too. About four years ago, I fell off my bicycle and suffered a concussion. I remember cross­ Dennis Chamberlain Patrick J. Russell ing a street, and the next thing I was aware of North Salt Lake, Utah Seattle, Washington was seeing a bright light. I had the sensation

66 September/October 2004 SKEPTICAL INQUIRER LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

of being pulled backwards, away from the I'm surprised that Dr. Woerlee's article didn't wind. Intuition brings us new ideas to test. light, down a dark tunnel. mention a collection of phenomena that Logic is necessary, but it's seldom sufficient: Sounds like I'm ready to write a New Age pilots have known about since the early days When many logical explanations are com­ bestseller, doesn't it? Unfortunately, I know- of aviation: greying out, tunnel vision, black­ patible with a single phenomenon, only exactly what happened. I had been strapped ing out, and, ultimately, passing out. experimentation can decide among them. to a gurney and was being pushed backwards (Although many people use "blacking out" But few experiments yield black-and-white into an ambulance. The tunnel was the rela­ to mean a loss of consciousness, in aviation, results, so we resort to statistics. tively dark inside of die ambulance and the the term is used to describe an effect ili.it is I think Mole would agree—science edu­ bright light was the daylight outside. Having stricdy visual: The pilot is conscious and cation should focus on helping students lost my glasses no doubt improved the effect, alert but sees a totally black visual field understand how difficult it is to produce since my bad vision made everything a hazy because receptors in the retina have shut "good science," even if they never try to do it blur. down. The aviation term for passing out is themselves. If I had blacked out again after that "g-induced loss of consciousness.") These Karl Sutterfield moment (I was in an out for a few minutes) symptoms, which are apparendy quite simi­ Eastlake, Colorado and woken up in the hospital, I might have lar to those described by Dr. Woerlee, arise as really thought I'd had a near-death experi­ load factor ("g-load") increases and normal ence. Alas, I met no angels, just an ambu­ blood pressure can no longer force blood to I agree with Phil Mole's observation that lance attendant, but he looked pretty good the retinas and the brain. most science-studies offerings seem to have to me. Karl Sutterfield an agenda in trying to undercut the epis- Rob Lopresti Eastlake, Colorado temic status of science. Additionally, those Bellingham, Washington who take such classes usually don't have the philosophy, methodology, or the history-of- sciencc background needed to counter the I agree with the article about the near-death various relativist, feminist, or tnrinlnoircl I've taken great interest in near-death experi­ experience, but would like to add rhar I critiques presented in these classes. ences (NDEs) ever since I had one at the age think it is an evolved mechanism to wake of ten. After being hit by a car, I vividly people up when they have stopped breathing I couldn't agree more with his observa­ remember floating in the air above my body during sleep. I have experienced NDEs tion that skeptics should acknowledge that on the ground, being drawn upward through twice. Both times, I woke up but was unable there is a deep problem with this critique of a tunnel of light and meeting God, who told to move. I struggled and woke up gasping for science. me it was not yet my time to die, so he was breath. Apparently I had stopped breathing As Susan Haack points out: "If science sending me back. due to sleep apnea. The NDE may have were to be transmuted into a tool for pro­ saved my life. Now, I avoid sleeping on my moting a political agenda, or into negotia­ What did not occur to me until years back, which causes the apnea. tion among competing interest groups, it later was that I had, in fact, been nowhere really would have come to an end. Aryan or near death. The car struck me a glancing P.C. Donohue proletarian or feminist 'science' is not blow that knocked me down and fractured Wilmington, Delaware inquiry but advocacy, and 'strong objectivity' my leg. I was otherwise uninjured. As an is only politics in disguise. The demotion of adult, I've read much on the phenomenon science to politics really would constitute its and believe NDE is simply something the annihilation; and so the perception, on the brain "does" when under duress, probably pan of those scientists who take it seriously, via endorphin release or other biochemical that the New Cynicism is not merely mis­ mechanisms. I find the oxygen deprivation Anti-Science taken, but dangerously so, is correct. For hypothesis unconvincing in my case: I had Postmodernism these mistaken ideas really could hinder, or plenty of air, and the entire NDE took less even halt, the scientific enterprise" (p. 341, time than the few moments between breaths. Phil Mole's essay ("Nurturing Suspicion," Defending Science—Within Reason, 2003). Perhaps lack of oxygen is just one of many May/June 2004) is perhaps the best discussion stimuli that can stress a brain sufficiently to of the antiscience Cultural Revolution that Keith Soehn cause the experience. I've read to date. I would add only one thing Regina, Saskatchewan to his analysis of the challenges of maintaining I think it behooves researchers and others Canada a balance between "science and society"—lazi­ to respect how powerful an NDE can be for ness. Science is hard work, opining is not. those who have one. I believed I had had a (Consider the comfort in which I repose while As someone who was subjected to the post­ real, lucid, profoundly moving interaction writing this commentary.) with the supernatural. Even now, more than modernist attack on science this year in grad thirty years later, it leaves me amazed at what Making assertions is easier than proving school, 1 was extremely grateful for the the human brain is capable of. I also wonder them, even in stricdy logical disciplines like SKEPTICAL INQUIRER article by Phil Mole, mathematics. In business, politics, and how many "false-NDE" people there are like especially for its conclusion that lower-level law—unfortunately—forceful rhetoric often me, and what a study of our experiences science courses need to be teaching the his­ prevails even when it's wrong. But in the nat­ might conclude. tory of science. I was subjected to the post­ ural world, we need the collection of tools modernist critique of science in only one Brian Fies we call science: intuition, logic, experimenta­ portion of one lecture in a course on the his­ Fulton, California tion, statistics. Rhetoric is just so much tory of the Unitarian and Universalist

SKEPTICAL INQUIRER September/October 2004 67 LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

churches, a subject on which the teacher was war veterans truly forgetting their experi­ Benedictine monk Benito Feijoo, writing at quite knowledgeable. However, here I felt ences? In any interview I've seen, these veter­ the end of the 1720s: she ventured out of her field of expertise. ans seem to remember their experiences as if "Sometimes it happens with subjects in While I wholeheartedly endorse Phil they had happened recently. Just look at the whom a lively imagination is combined Mole's recommendation that we teach more veterans interviewed in "The Band of with a timid heart; when they get fright­ history of science, a bit of history of post­ Brothers" series. These guys suffered some ened and think about some serious modernism would be in order. Post­ truly traumatizing experiences and yet still crime...especially when the public gets per­ modernism began life as a style of art, archi­ remember them vividly over fifty years later. turbed by it, and justice pays it close atten­ tecture, and literature, and as a school of crit­ Surely if people could repress memories as tion ... it strangely distorts the mind, icism and interpretation of those works of easily as Anderson claims, then men such as opening it to fantasies and chimerical art. It has its antecedents in abstract expres­ WWII and Vietnam veterans would repress images. The horror of the crime and the sionism, as exemplified by the paintings of their experiences. . . . severity of the punishment throw the ani­ Jackson Pollock or the music of John Cage. mal spirits into such disarray that, for fear It originated as a rebellion against what was Matthew Davis of committing the act, imagination takes it perceived to be the mind-numbing, soul- Decatur, Illinois as having been committed. One sees a clear destroying effects of a society ruled by tech­ nocracy gone amuck, such as that portrayed example of this in ultra-scrupulous people who sometimes believe they have commit­ in Aldous Huxley's Brave New World. One of As a Freudian, I agree with the conclusion of ted the very sins that horrify them most." the most perceptive analyses of the science- Garry and Loftus that the research in ques­ How contemporary. fiction film classic Blade Runner is written by tion does not establish any validity for a postmodernist, Scott Bukatmen. Freud's theory of repression. But why arc- Quoted from Goya, by Robert Hughes, researchers debating Freud's original formu­ p. 203. Sadly, the postmodernist rebellion against lation rather than the expanded psychoana­ Alan Dean Foster the dehumanizing abuses of technology lytic theory of ego psychologists such as Prescott, Arizona mutated into an attack on die objectivity of Anna Freud and Heinz Hartmann? science altogether, which is an entirely differ­ Repression is not the only defense against ent matter. Here postmodernists overstepped anxiety, but one of a dozen or so; and the the bounds of their competence and confused interesting question is how an individual Homeopathic Suicide? the boundaries between ethical questions comes to favor one defense over another. about technical power and the technical Other variables may also play a pan in I agree to a large extent with Luc Bonneux knowledge of those who wield that power. It repression involving abuse, such as the inten­ ("Belgium Skeptics Commit Mass seems self-evident that moral objections to sity of abuse, whether it was chronic, acute, Suicide," May/June 2004) and recognize nuclear weapons should not generate attacks and/or repeated, and the stage of psycholog­ that the reported explanations of Belgian on die truthfulness of atomic physics. For that ical development of die victim at the time(s) health-insurance companies for their deci­ matter, the havoc wreaked by the Frankenstein of the abuse. sion to cover part of the costs for home­ monster should not generate attacks on the opathy are less than satisfactory. However, truthfulness of biology. Yet effectively, the The issue is further clouded by the claims there is a plausible explanation: A patient mutation of postmodernist rebellion against of some zealous "therapists" (not, I think, merely in need of seeing a doctor and technocracy into an attack on the sciences of Freudians) who seem to "recover" memories receiving a (any!) prescription is obviously biology, chemistry, and physics is just such a of abuse in ways that Freud would never better served by homeopathy. And cheaper step. In doing so, postmodernists not only have endorsed. I have met several women served. Whether these positive effects out­ undermine the democracy and egalitarianism who "suspected" they had "repressed CSA weigh the negative effect of "offering a they claim to treasure (as Phil Mole points memories"; why they "suspect" this in the quality label to quackery" (and everything out), they also undermine die ability of society first place would consume more space than is that entails) is up to debate. While we can to address the legitimate elements of the post­ available here. expect insurance companies to know a lit­ modernist agenda by effectively coping with Further, all victims of abuse should not tle bit about economy, it is very optimistic the real abuses of technology. be assumed to be better than non-victims at to assume they'd always explain the precise "ejecting" unpleasant memories or to have reasoning behind their decisions to the public. Jonathan Harvey any special skill in banishing general trau­ Palo Alto, California matic "words"—as distinguished from asso­ ciations which are traumatic in their own Lennart Meier specific, individual cases. Individual ego Zurich, Switzerland strength determines why one person may be Recovered Memories troubled by a stress which may seem unim­ portant to us, while another may be able to Forgive me if I'm not the first to suggest the Jumping on the "repressed memory" band­ live satisfactorily with a much stronger stress. following: Homeopathy doesn't need a mol­ wagon seems to be popular nowadays, and I ecule of evidence in its favor because, to be think Garry and Loftus have done a wonder­ Nancy Rader consistent, homeopathy should claim that ful job of exposing some of the weaker Acton, Massachusetts the complete lack of evidence for it is some­ aspects of Anderson's studies ("I Am Freud's how effective and sufficient anyway. Brain," May/June 2004). I'm surptiscd that no mention was given to veterans of wars, In the arguments over recovered memories, I Paul Rinzler however! Arc there any documented cases of was struck by this quote from the Spanish San Luis Obispo, California

68 September/October 2004 SKEPTICAL INQ RER LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Dan Brown's Service? NCCAM functions at my own expense. So I don't see Bayes' Theorem as helping here. As NCCAM policy is controlled by Senators for the rest of Prof. Vitulli's letter, I have room Poor Dan Brown. First the churchmen dis­ Harkin (D-Iowa), Hatch (R-Utah), and only to remind readers that my main theses were, simply that the scientific and the religious world- parage his book, and now the skeptical com­ Burton (R-Indiana) whose magical beliefs form resentment of modern medicine similar pictures are incompatible, and that the scientific munity has done the same. However, the to Ms. Jones's. NCCAM supports integra­ is by far the better-warranted—even though no criticism overlooks the obvious: The Da tion of quackery, not inquiry. scientific claim is in principle beyond revision Vinci Code is a novel, and novels have no should new evidence demand it. requirement to reflect the truths of the livcd- Jones suggested that we be skeptical of in world. Though many novelists do work to scientific medicine as we are of "alternative" (2) Instead of addressing my arguments medicine. Absurd. Then she generalized the against Steven Jay Gould's attempt w reconcile get their backgrounds right, they are merely pharmaceutical industry's commercial science and religion. Prof. Stover suggests that choosing a particular writing strategy. behavior to medical science and practice. Gould's motivation may have been to make sci­ But what of the "these are facts" assertion She stated diat modern scientific medi­ ence "more inclusive, " and so more attractive to at the beginning of the book? It is a variation cine is "a medical industry," 1) is "a set of the religious-minded "If we first demonstrate on a common literary device. Dracula, for social institutions .. . definitely not objec­ that science and religion are not 'at odds," he example, starts with a note that includes this tive;" 2) has "a systemic conflict of interest continues, "we may alienate fewer people." If sentence: "All needless matters have been that works against patients;" 3) its "agenda however, as I argued, science and religion are at eliminated, so that a history almost at vari­ has nothing to do with keeping people odds, this can't be demonstrated; and to suggest ance with the possibilities of latter-day belief healthy . .. treating symptoms after disease otherwise in hopes of advancing the cause of sci­ may stand forth as simple fact." The Name of has appeared;" 4) "spends billions on adver­ ence would be dishonest. the Rose opens with a long note about find­ tising," "researchers . . . cook research (3) When discussing Richard Swinburne's ing a manuscript, which the novel proper results," and "drug reactions kill an enor­ attempted reconciliation of science and religion— then reproduces. Yes, novelists like to write mous number of people each year," and on. very different from Gould's—/ noted that the con­ notes. These are biased, scurrilous misinterpre- nection between Swinburne's natural theology Yet the churchmen may be tight to ririrm* Ui> r-rMrUnr 2nd c-!r:Cw libelous if UiU* HM *'- '•' < ' " tenuous, una among OWCT worry. Some like to say the Gospels must be stated about an individual. thing that his arguments would be umffectcd literally true, because otherwise no one Dr. Arwood addressed "alternative medi­ were the universe more orderly than it is, or less. would ever have believed them. Skeptics, I cine's" and NCCAM's biases, unreason, and This passing allusion to quantum mechanics was think, are best served by understanding The commercial, ideological conflicts of interest. only one example among many, so M. Potvin's Ut­ Da Vinci Code as evidence for how easy it is The correspondents criticized Atwood, ter is quite tangential to anything I said to attract people to made-up religious con­ ignoring the problem. (4) Ms. Eckler is correct: the prohibition cepts with no more authority than an asser­ against allowing persons with defective eyesight tion made in a work of fiction. Seen that Wallace Sampson to approach the altar does indeed come from way. Brown, intentionally or not, has per­ Editor, The Scientific Review of Leviticus 21:20, not, as H. Irwin Smith had formed a useful service. Alternative Medicine said, Leviticus 20:20—and so, sadly is not Los Altos, California "exquisitely numbered" after all Gary Harris Falls Church, Virginia Point of Honor A Response Criticizing the Messenger to Letters on Science/Religion The letters column is a forum about NCCAM's Biases The following reply by Susan Haack is to letters for views on matters raised in that appeared in our July/August 2004 issue previous issues. Letters should Dr. Kimball Atwood's original article on the about her article, "Point of Honor: Science and be no more than 225 words. National Center for Complementary and Religion" (March/April 2004).—EDrTOR Due to the volume of letters Alternative Medicine (NCCAM) and his not all can be published. answer to the Myra Jones letter in Susan Haack replies: January/February 2004 SI need no defense. I Address letters to Letters to comment on the Jones letter and the two (I) Prof Vitulli is apparently unaware that in the Editor, SKEPTICAL INQUIRER. May/June 2004 letters. chapters 3 and 4 of Defending Science— Send by mail to 944 Deer Dr. Arvey Olsen complained mat Atwood's Within Reason: Between Scientism and NE, Albuquerque, NM 87122; answer came across as bullying. Bill Aird Cynicism (the book from chapter II of which by fax to 505-828-2080; or by called Atwood's response "hostile, provoca­ "Point of Honor' was excerpted), I discuss ques­ e-mail to letters©csicop.org tive ... arrogance." Bodi should reread die tions of evidence, warrant, and methodology at (include name and address). exchange. They ignored die content. length; and argue among other things that a Jones suggested skeptics "work together" Bayesian analysis of the warrant of scientific or with NCCAM. We have volunteered for var­ other empirical claims is inadequate, and that "Bayesianism" cannot provide a satisfactory ious NCCAM committees and commis­ account of scientific methodology Where the exis­ sions. None has been named, consulted, or tence of God is concerned, moreover, I have no acknowledged. Requests for information idea how prior probabilities might be assigned have been stonewalled. 1 had to attend

SKEPTICAL INQUIRER September/October 2004 69 THE COMMITTEE FOR THE SCIENTIFIC INVESTIGATION OF CLAIMS OF THE PARANORMAL AT THE CENTER FOR INQUIRY-TRANSNATIONAL (ADJACENT TO THE STATE UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK AT BUFFALO) AN INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATION Network of Affiliated Organizations International

AUSTRALIA. Canberra Skeptics, Canberra Australia. A.P. 1513-1002 Paseo de los Estudiantes San Jose. Scientific Expertise of Claims of the Paranormal Peter Barrett. President. PO Box 5S5. Civic Square Costa Rica, http://webs.demasiado.com/vicr. (CSECOP). ACT 2608 Australia. Australian Skeptics Inc.. CZECHOSLOVAKIA. Sisyfos-Czech Skeptics Club Czech KOREA. Korea PseudoScience Awareness (KOPSA) Australia. Barry Williams. Executive Officer. Tel. 61- Republic Ms. Ing. Olga Kracikova. Secretary Tel.: 420- Korea. Dr. Gun-ll Kang. Director. Tel.: 82-2-393- 2-9417-2071; e-mail: skepticsekasm.com.au. PO 2-24826691; e-mail: olgakracikovaeemail.cz. Hastalska 2734; e-mail: KOPSAechollian.net. 187-11 Buk- Box 268. Roseville NSW 2069 Australia, www.skep- 27 Praha 1 110 00 Czech Republic www.fi.muni.cz/sisy- ahyun-dong, Sudaemun-ku. Seoul 120-190 Korea tks.com.au. Australian Skeptics—Hunter Region fos/(in Czech). www.kopsa.or.kr. Newcastle/Hunter Valley. Dr. Colin Keay. President. DENMARK. Skeptica: Association of Independent MALTA. Society for Investigating the Credibility of Tel.: 61-2-49689666; e-mail: bolideehunterlink.net Danish Skeptics. Denmark. Willy Wegner. Tel.: 45- au. PO Box 166. Waratah NSW 2298. Australia 75-64-84-02; e-mail: skepticaeskeptica.dk. Vibevej Extraordinary Claims (SICEC) Malta. Vanni Pule. Darwin Skeptics, Northern Territory. Australia. 7 A DK 8700 Horsens. Denmark, www.skeptica.dk. Chairman. Tel.: 356-381994; e-mail: pulevan Simon Potter, Secretary. Tel.: 61-8-8932-7552; e- ECUADOR. Pablo Cevallos Estarellas. Apartado 09-01 Ovol.net.mt. P.O. Box 31, Hamrun, Malta. mail: dwnskepticaais.net.au. PO Box 809. Sand­ 5603 Guayaquil, Ecuador. MEXICO. Mexican Association for Skeptical Research erson NT 0812 Australia. Gold Coast Skeptics. ESTONIA Horisont. Indrek Rohtmets. EE 0102 Tallinn. (SOM1E) Mexico. Mario Mendez-Acosta. Apartado Queensland. Australia. Lilian Derrick. Secretary. Narva mnt 5 Postal 19-546 D F 03900 Mexico Tel.: 61-7 55931882. e-mail: Imdemcketelstra. FINLAND. SKEPSIS. Finland. Jukka Hakkinen. PO 8ox NETHERLANDS. Stichting Skepsis. Netherlands. Jan easymail.com.au. PO Box 8348. GCMC Bundall QLD 483, Helsinki 00101 Finland. Willem Nienhuys. Secretary, e-mail: jnienhuy 4217 Australia. Queensland Skeptics Assoc Inc FRANCE. AFIS. AFIS (Association Francaise pour ewin.tue.nl. Dommelseweg 1A. 5581 VA Waalre. (Qskeptics) Queensland Bob Bruce. President. Tel.: I'lnformation Scientifique) France. Jean Bricmont, Netherlands. 61-7-3255-0499; e-mail: qskepticeuq.net.au. PO President. 14 rue de I'Ecole Polytechnique F-75005 NEW ZEALAND. New Zealand Skeptics. New Zealand. Box 6454, Fairview Gardens QLD 4103 Australia. Paris. France. Cercle Zetetique. France. Paul-Eric Vicki Hyde, Chair. Tel.: 64-3-384-5136; e-mail: South Australia Skeptics (SAS) South Australia. Mr. Blanrue. 12 rue; David Deitz. F 57000 Metz. France. Vickiespis.co.nz. PO Box 29-492, Christchurch. New Laurie Eddie. Secretary. Tel.: 61-8-8272-5881; e- Laboratoire de Zetetique (laboratory). Professeur mail: allangetxc.net.au. PO Box 377, Rundle Mall Henri Broch. Tel.: 33-0492076312; e-mail:broch Zealand, www.skeptics.org.nz. SA 5000 Australia. Australian Skeptics in Tasmania eunice.fr. Universile de Nice-Sophia Antipolis Facutte NIGERIA. Nigerian Skeptics Society. Nigeria. Leo Igwe, Inc, Tasmania, Australia. Fred Thornett. Secretary. des Sciences F-06108 Nice Cedex 2 France. Convenor. E-mail: dpceskannet.com.ng. PO Box Tel.: 61-3-6234-1458; e-mail: fredthornettOhot- www.unice.fr/zetetique/. 25269. Mapo Ibadan Oyo State. Nigeria. mail.com. PO Box 582, North Hobart, TAS 7000 GERMANY. Gesellschaft zur wissenschaftlich- NORWAY. SKEPSIS. Norway St. Olavsgt. 27 N-0166 Oslo. Australia. Australian Skeptics—Victorian Branch en Unterrsuchung von Parawissenschaften (GWUP) Norway. Victoria. Christopher Short. President. Tel.: 613- Germany. Amardeo Sarma, Chairman. Tel.: 49-6154- PERU. Comite de Investigaciones de lo Paranormal lo 1800-666-996; e-mail: contacteskeptics.com.au. 695023. E-mail: infoegwup.org. Arheilger Weg 11 Seudocientifico y lo Irracional C1PSI-PERU, Lima. GPO Box 5166AA. Melbourne VIC 3001 Australia. D 64380 Rossdorf, Germany, www.gwup.org. Peru. Manuel Abraham Paz-y-Mino. Tel.: +51-1- www.skeptics.com.au. WA Skeptics. Western European Council of Skeptical Organizations 99215741; e-mail: cipsiperueyahoo.com. El Australia. Dr. John Happs, President. Tel.: 61-8- (ECSO) Europe. Dr. Martin Mahner. Tel.: 49-6154- Corregidor 318 Rimac Lima 25 Peru, www.geoci- 9448-8458; e-mail: wa.skepticseaustraliamail.com. 695023; e-mail: infoeecso.org. Arheilger Weg 11 ties.com/cipsiperu. PO Box 899, Morley, WA 6062 Australia. 64380 Rossdorf. Germany, www.ecso.org/. POLAND. Polish Skeptics, Poland. Adam Pietrasiewicz BELGIUM. Comite Beige Pour L'lnvestigation Scien- HUNGARY. Tenyeket Tisztelk Tarsasaga TTT Hungary. tifique des Phenomenes Reputes Pananormaux Prof. Gyula Bencze. Tel.: 36-1-392-2728; e-mail: E-mail: redaktoreiname.com. www.biuletynscepty- Comite Para, Belgium. J. Dommanget, President of gbenczeOrmki.kfki.hu. c/o Termeszet Vilaga. PO Box cznyz.pl. the Committee. E-mail: omer.nyseoma.be. Obser- 246 H 1444 Budapest 8 Hungary. PORTUGAL Associacao Cepticos de Portugal (CEPO) vatoire Royal Belgique 3, ave. Crculaire B 1180. INDIA. Atheist Centre. Dr. Vijayam. Executive Director. Portugal. Ludwig Krippahl. E-mail: cepoOinter- Brussels, Belgium, www.comitepara.be. Studiekring Benz Circle, Vijayawada 520 010. Andhra Pradesh. acesso.pt. Apartado 334 2676-901 Odivelas, voor Kritische Evaluatie van Pseudowetenschap en India. Tel.: 91 866472330; Fax: 91 866473433. E-mail: Portugal, http://cepo.interacesso.pt. Paranormale beweringen (SKEPP) Belgium. Prof. Dr. atheistevsnl.com. MaharashtraAndhashraddha Nir RUSSIA. Dr. Valerii A. Kuvakin. Tel.: 95-718-2178; W. Betz. Tel.: 32-2-477-43-11; e-mail: skeppeskepp moolan Samiti (MANS) states of Maharashtra & Goa. e-mail: V.KUVAKINeMTU-NET.RU. Vorob'evy Gory, be Laarbeeklaan 103 B 1090 Brussels. Belgium. Dr. Narendra Dabholkar, Executive President. Tel.: Moscow State University. Phil. Dept. Moscow 119899 www.skepp.be. 91-2162-32333; e-mail: ndabholkarehotmail.com. Russia, http://log.philos.rmu.ru/rhs/index/htm. 155. Sadashiv Peth Satara 415001 India, www.antisu- BRAZIL. OPtAO RACIONAL. Brazil Luis Fernando SINGAPORE. Singapore Skeptics. Contact: Ronald Ng. E- Gutman. Tel.: 55-21-548-2476; e-mail: fernandogut- perstition.com. Indian Rationalist Association. India. mail; ronaldngeiname.com.www.skepticiwarp.com. manehotmail.com. Rua Santa Clara. 431 Bloco 5. Sanal Edamaruku. E-mail: edamarukuevsnl.com or SLOVAK REPUBLIC (SACT). Slovak Republic. Igor Apt. 803. Copacabana-Rio de Janeiro 22041-010 IRAerationalist international.net. 779. Pocket 5. Brazil www.opcaoracional.com.br. Mayur Vihar 1. New Delhi 110 091 India. Dravidar Kapisinsky Pavla Horova. 10 Bratislava 841 07 BULGARIA. Bulgarian Skeptics. Bulgaria. Dr. Vladimir Kazhagam. southern India. K. Veeramani. Secretary Slovak Republic Daskalov. E-mail: egosheveeinet.bg. Krakra 22 BG- General. Tel.: 9144-5386555; e-mail: periyarttvsnl. SOUTH AFRICA. Marian Laserson. P.O. Box 46212. 1504 Sofia. Bulgaria. com. Periyar Thidal. 50, E.F.K. Sampath Road Vepery, Orange Grove 2119 South Africa. SOCRATES. South CANADA. Alberta Skeptics. Alberta. Greg Hart. Chennai Tamil Nadu 600 007 India. www.Periyar.org. Africa. Cape Skeptics. Cape Town. Dr. Leon Retief. Chairman. Tel.: 403-215-1440; e-mail: hartgehuman- Indian CSICOP, India, 8. Premanand. Convenor. Tel.: Tel.: 27-21-9131434; e-mail: leonreiafrica.com. 5N effort.com. PO Box 5571. Station 'A'. Calgary. Alberta 091-0422-872423; e-mail: dayaminiOmd4.vsnl.netin. Agapanthus Avenue. Welgedacht Bellville 7530 T2H 1X9 Canada, http://abskeptics.homestead.com. 11/7 Chettipalayam Road Podanur Tamilnadu 641 South Africa. Alberta Skeptics. British Columbia Skeptics. BC and 023 India. SPAIN. El Investigador Esceptico. Spain. Felix Ares de Alberta. Lee Moller Tel. 604-929-6299; e-mail, lee ITALY. Comitate Italiano per il Controllo delle Bias Gamez/Ares/Martinez. P.O. Box 904. Donostia- mollereshaw.ca. 1188 Beaufort Road. N. Vancouver. Affermazioni sul Paranormale (CICAP) Italy. San Sebastian 20080 Spain. ARP-Sociedad para el BC V7G 1R7 Canada. Ontario Skeptics Society for Massimo Polidoro, Executive Director. Tel.: 39-049- Avance del Pensamiento Critko ARP-SAPC Spam. Critical Inquiry (OSSC1), Ontario, Canada. Eric 686870; e-mail: polidoroecicap.org. P.O. Box 1117 Felix Ares de Bias Tel.: 34-933-010220; e-mail: McMillan. Chair. Tel.: 416-425-2451. e-mail: enceedr 35100 Padova. Italy, www.cicap.org. - arpearp-sapc org Apartado de Correos. 310 E- toreric com P.O. Box 554 Station "P Toronto. ON IRELAND. The Irish Skeptics Society c/o Paul M5S 2T1 Canada, www.skeptics.ca. Toronto Skep­ O'Donoghue. 11 Woodleigh Elm. Highfield Rd.. 08860 Castelldefels. Spain, www.arp-sapc.org. tical Inquirers (TSO Toronto. Henry Gordon. Rathgar. Dublin 6. Ireland; www.irishskeptics.net SWEDEN. Swedish Skeptics, Sweden. Dan Larhammar, President. Tel.: 905-771-1615; e-mail: heniy_gor- E-mail:contacteirishskept ics.net. professor chairperson. Tel.: 46-18-4714173; e-mail: donehotmail.com. 343 Clark Ave.. W, Suite 1009. JAPAN. Japan Anti-Pseodoscience Activities Network vetfolkephysto.se. Medical Pharmacology BMC Thornhill. ON L4J 7K5 Canada. Sceptiques du (JAPAN) Japan. Ryutarou Minakami. chairperson. E- Box 593, Uppsala 751 24 Sweden, www.physto. Quebec Quebec. Alan Bonnier. Tel.: 514-99O8099. mail: skepticee-mail.ne.jp. c/o Ohta Publishing se/-vetfolk/i ndex.html. CP. 202. Succ Beaubien Montreal. Quebec H2G 3C9 Company. Epcot Bid. IF. 22. Arakicho. Shinjuku-ku TAIWAN. Taiwan Skeptics. Taiwan. Tim Holmes. PO Box Canada, www.sceptiques.qc.ca. Skeptics Quinte. Bill Tokyo 160-8571 Japan. Japan Skeptics, Japan. Dr. Jun 195. Tanzu, Taiwan Perspective. Broderick. 2262 Shannon Rd R.R. 1. Shannomnlle, Jugaku. E-mail: jugakujnecc.nao.ac.jp. Japan UNITED KINGDOM. The Skeptic Magazine. United ON KOK 3A0; e-mail: brodericekos.net. Skeptics. Business Center for Academic Societies. Kingdom. Mike Hutchinson. E-mail: subsOskeptic CHINA. China Association for Science and Technology, Japan 5-16-9 Honkomagome. Bunkyo-ku Tokyo 113- org.uk. P.O. Box 475 Manchester M60 2TH United China. Shen Zhenyu Research Center. P.O. Box 8113, 8622 Japan. Beijing China. Hong Kong Skeptics. Hong Kong. Brad KAZAKHSTAN. Kazakhstan Commission for the Kingdom. Collins. P.O. Box 1010. Shatm Central Post Office, Investigation of the Anomalous Phenomena VENEZUELA. La Asociacion Rational y Esceptica de Shatin NT China. (KCIAP) Kazakhstan. Dr. Sergey Efimov. Scientific Venezuela (A.R.E.V.). Guido David Nunez Mujica. COSTA RICA. Iniciativa para la Promotion del Secretary. E-mail: efimeafi.south-capital.kz. Astro- 10th Street. 13th av. comer. Mini centro comercial Pensamiento Critko (IPPEO San Jose. Victor Quiros physical Institute Kamenskoye Plato Alma-Ata. Oasis. Valera. Trujillo state. Venezuela. Web site: V. Tel.: 506 275 43 52; e-mail: vktorcreracsa.co.cr. 480020 Republic of Kazakhstan. Committee for the www.geocities.com/escepticosvenezuela mail.com. 5602 SW 2nd St. Des Moines. IA 50315 Forest University. Winston-Salem. NC 27109 US. United States US. www.skepticweb.com www.carolinaskeptics.org. ILLINOIS. Rational Examination Association of Lincoln OHIO. Central Ohioans for Rational Inquiry (CORD ALABAMA. Alabama Skeptks, Alabama. Emory Land (REALL) Illinois. Bob Ladendorf. Chairman. Central Ohio. Charlie Hazlett. President Tel.: 614- Kimbrough. Tel.: 205-759-2624. 3550 Watermelon Tel.: 217-546-3475; e-mail: chairmanOreall.org. PO 878-2742; e-mail: charlieOhazlett.net. PO Box Road. Apt 28A. Northport, AL 35476 US. Skeptks- Box 20302. Springfield. IL 62708 US. www.reall.org 282069. Columbus OH 43228 US. South Shore Freethought Forum of Alabama. Skeptics Freethought KENTUCKY. Kentucky Assn. of Science Educators and Skeptks (SSS) Cleveland and counties. Jim Kutz. Forum, Richard Rich, 1801 Beech St. St Decatur. AL Skeptics (KASES) Kentucky. Prof. Robert Baker. 3495 Tel.: 440 942-5543; e-mail: jimkutzOearthlinb.net. 35601-3511 US. E-mail: rrtjama660hcitrnail.com. Castleton Way. North Lexington, KY 40502 US. PO 8ox 5083. Cleveland. OH 44101 US. www.south ARIZONA. Tucson Skeptics Inc. Tucson. AZ. lames Contact Fred Bach at e-mail: fredwbachOyahoo.com. shoreskeptics.org/. McGaha. E-mail: JMCGAHAOPcmaCC.Pima.EDU. 5100 LOUISIANA. Baton Rouge Proponents of Rational Inquiry N. Sabino Foothills Dr.. Tucson. AZ 85715 US. Phoenix and Scientific Methods (BR-PRISM) Louisiana Marge Association for Rational Thought (ART) Cincinnati Skeptics. Phoenix, AZ. Michael Stackpole, P.O. Box Schroth. Tel. 225-766-4747. 425 Caniage Way. Baton Roy Auerbach, president. Tel: 513-731-2774. e-mail: 60333. Phoenix. AZ 85082-US Rouge. LA 70808 US. raaOcinci.rr.com. PO Box 12896. Cincinnati. OH CALIFORNIA. Sacramento Organization for Rational MICHIGAN. Great Lakes Skeptks (GLS) SE Michigan 45212 US. www.cincinnati skeptics.org. Thinking (SORT) Sacramento, CA. Ray Spangen- Lorna J. Simmons, Contact person. Tel.: 734-525- OREGON. Oregonians for Rationality (04R) Oregon. Dave burg, co-founder. Tel.: 916-978-0321; e-mail: 5731. e-mail: Skeptic310aol.com. 31710 Cowan Chapman. President. Tel.: 503 292-2146; e-mail: kitrayOquiknet.com. PO Box 2215. Carmichael. CA Road. Apt. 103, Westland. Ml 48185-2366 US. Trt- dchapmanOiccom.com. 7555 Spring Valley Rd. NW. 95609-2215 US. www.quiknet.com/-kitray/index1 Gties Skeptics. Michigan. Gary Barker Tel.: 517-799- Salem. OR 97304 US www.o4r.org. html. Bay Area Skeptics (BAS) San Francisco—Bay 4502; e-mail: barkergOsvol.org. 3596 Butternut St, Saginaw. Ml 48604 US. PENNSYLVANIA. Paranormal Investigating Committee Area. Tully McCarroll, Chair. Tel.: 415 927-1548; e- of Pittsburgh (PICP) Pittsburgh PA. Richard Busch. mail: tullyannOpacbell.net. PO Box 2443 Castro MINNESOTA. St. Kloud Extraordinary Claim Psychic Chairman. Tel.: 412 366-1000; e-mail. mindfulOtel- Valley. CA 94546-0443 US www.BASkeptK.sorg, Teaching Investigating Community (SKEPTIC) St Sacramento Skeptics Society. Sacramento. Terry erama.com. 8209 Thompson Run Rd, Prttsbjrgh. Cloud. Minnesota Jerry Mertens. Tel.: 320-255- PA 15237 US. Philadelphia Association for Critical Sandbek. President. 4300 Auburn Blvd. Suite 206. 2138; e-mail: gmertensOstcloudstate.edu. Jerry Sacramento CA 95841 Tel.: 916 489-1774. E-mail: Mertens. Psychology Department 720 4th Ave. S. Thinking (PhACT). much of Pennsylvania. Eric terryOsandbek.com. San Diego Association for St Cloud State University, St. Cloud, MN S6301 US Krieg. President. Tel.: 215-885-2089; e-mail: Rational Inquiry (SDARI) President: Todd Roccbold ericOphact.org. PO Box 1131. North Wales. PA Tel.: (Todd's personal phone) 760 943-8977 Web MISSOURI. Gateway skeptks. Missouri. Steve Best. 19454 US. www.phact.org/phact site: www.sdari.org. E-mail: infoOsdari.org. PO Box 6943 Amherst Ave, University City. MO 63130 US. 623. La Jolla, CA 92038-0623 Kansas City Committee for Skeptical Inquiry. TENNESEE. Rationalists of East Tennessee, East Missouri. Verle Muhrer. United Labor Bldg, 6301 Tennessee. Carl Ledenbecker. Tel.: 865-982-8687; e- COLORADO. Rocky Mountain Skeptics (RMS) Colo.. Wyo.. Rockhill Road. Suite412 Kansas City. MO 64131 US mail: AletallOaol.com. 2123 Stonybrook Rd.. Utah. Mont. Bela Scheiber, President. Tel: 303-444- NEBRASKA. REASON (Rationalists. Empiracists and Louisville. TN 37777 US. 7537; e-mail: rmscentralOrnindspring.com. PO Bex Skeptics of Nebraska), Chris Peters. PO Box 24358, TEXAS. North Texas Skeptics NTS Dallas/Ft Worth area. 7277. Boulder. CO 80306 US. httpy/bcn.boulder. Omaha. NE 68134; e-mail: reason01Ohotmail.com; John Blanton. Secretary. Tel.: 972-306-3187; email: co. us/community/rms. Web page: www.reason.ws. skepticOntskeptics.org. PO Box 111794, Carrrollton. CONNECTICUT. New England Skeptical Society INESS) NEVADA. Skeptics of Las Vegas. (SOLV) PO Box 531323. TX 75011-1794 US www.ntskeptics.org. New England. Steven Novella MD. President. Tel.: Henderson, NV 89053-1323. E-mail: rbanderson VIRGINIA, Science & Reason. Hampton Rds, Virginia. 203-281-6277; e-mail: boardOtheness.com 64 Oskepticslv.org. Web site: www.skepticslv.org7. Lawrence Weinstein. Old Dominion Univ.-Physics Cobblestone Dr., Hamden, CT 06518 US. NEW MEXICO. New Mexicans for Science and Reason Dept, Norfolk. VA 23529 US. www.theness.com. (NMSR) New Mexico. David E. Thomas. President. Tel: 505-869-9250; e-mail: nmsrdaveOswcp.com. PO WASHINGTON. Society for Sensible Explanations. Western DC./MARYLAND. National Capital Area Skeptics NCAS. Washington. Tad Cook. Secretary. E-mail: Maryland. DC. Virginia. D.W. "Chip- Denman. Box 1017. Peralta, NM 87042 US. www.nmsr.org. K7RAOarrl.net. PO Box 45792. Seattle. WA 98145- Tel.: 301-587-3827. e-mail: ncasOncas.org. PO Box NEW YORK. New York Area Skeptks (NYASk) metropoli­ 8428. Silver Spring, MD 20907-8428 US. tan NY area. Jeff Corey. President. 18 Woodland 0792 US http://seattleskeptics.org, httpy/www ncas org Street. Huntington, NY 11743. Tel- (631) 427-7262 e- PUERTO RICO. Sociedad De Esceptkos de Puerto Rko. Luis FLORIDA. Tamoa Bav Skeotks (TBS) Tamoa Bav Florida mail: icorevOliu.edu. Web site: www.nvask.com R. Ramos. President. 2505 Parque Terra Linda. T-uiillo Gary Posner. Executive Director. Tel.: 813-584-0603; Inquiring Skeptks of Upper New York (ISUNY) Upper Alto. Puerto Rko 00976. Tel: 787-396-2395; email: e-mail: tbskepOaol.com. 5319 Archstone Dr. (102. New York Michael Sofka. 8 Providence St, Albany, NY LramosOescepticospr.com; Web site www.escepti- Tampa. FL 33634 US. http://members.aol.com/ 12203 US Central New York Skeptks (CNY Skeptics) cor.com. tbskep. Syracuse. Lisa Goodlin, President. Tel: 315 446-3068; e- mail: infoOcnyskeptics.org Web site: cnyskeptics.org The organizations listed above have aims similar to GEORGIA. Georgia Skeptics (GS) Georgia. Rebecca Long. 201 Milnor Ave, Syracuse, NY 13224 US. those of CSICOP but are independent and President. Tel.: 770-493-6857. e-mail: ariongOhCTC.org. autonomous. Representatives of these organiza­ 2277 Winding Woods Or, Tucker. GA 30084 US. NORTH CAROLINA. Carolina Skeptics North Carolina. tions cannot speak on behalf of the CSICOP. Please IOWA. Central Iowa Skeptics (CIS) Central Iowa. Rob Eric Carlson. President. Tel.: 336-758-4994; e-mail: send updates to Barry Karr. P.O. Box 703 Amherst Beeston. Tel.; 515-285-0622; e-mail. ciskepticsOhot- ecarlsonOwfu.edu. Physics Department, Wake NY 14226-0703.

SCIENTIFIC AND TECHNICAL CONSULTANTS George Agogino. Dept. of Anthropology, Eastern New Luis Alfonso Gamez, science journalist Bilbao. Spain John W. Patterson, professor of materials science and engi­ Mexko University Sylvio Garattini, director, Mario Negri Pharmacology neering, Iowa State University Gary Bauslaugh, educational consultant. Center tor Institute. Milan, Italy Massimo Pigliucci. professor of evolutionary biology, Curriculum, Transfer and Technology. Victoria, B.C. Canada Laurie Godfrey, anthropologist University of Massachusetts University of Tennessee. Knoxville Rkhard E. Berendzen. astronomer, Washington, D.C Gerald Golden, n^athernatkian, Rutgers University, New Jersey James Pomerantz. Provost and professor of cognitive and Martin Bridgstock. Senior Lecturer, School of Science. Donald Goldsmith, astronomer; president Interstellar Media linguistic sciences. Brown Univ. Griffith University, Brisbane, Australia Alan Hale, astronomer. Southwest Institute for Space Gary P. Posner, M.D.. Tampa, Fla. Richard Busch. magkian/mentalist Pittsburgh, Perm Research. Alamogordo, New Mexico Daisie Radner, professor of philosophy. SUNY, Buffalo Shawn Carlson, Society for Amateur Scientists. East Clyde F. Herreid, professor of biology, SUNY. Buffalo Greenwich. Rl Terence M. Hines, professor of psychology. Pace University, Robert H. Romer, professor of physics, Amherst College Roger B. Curve* professor of astronomy, Colorado State Univ. Pleasantville. N.Y. Karl Sabbagh. journalist Richmond. Surrey. England Felix Ares de Bias, professor of computer science. Michael Hutchinson, author; SurpncAi lwou*tt representa­ Robert J. Samp, assistant professor of education and University of Basque, San Sebastian. Spain tive. Europe medicine. University of Wisconsin-Madison Michael R. Dennett writer, investigator. Federal Way, Philip A. Lanna. assoc professor of astronomy, Univ. of Virginia Steven D. Schafersman, asst professor of geology, Miami Washington William Jarvis, professor of health promotion and public Univ.. Ohio Sid Deutsch, consultant. Sarasota, Fla. health. Lorna Linda University, School of Public Hearth Beta Scheiber.* systems analyst Boulder. Colo J. Dommanget. astronomer, Royale Observatory. Brussels, L W. Kety, professor of psychology. University of Saskatchewan Chris Scott statistician. London, England Belgium Richard H. Lange. M D„ Mohawk Valley Physkian Health Stuart D. Scott Jr, associate professor of anthropology. Nahum J, Duker, assistant professor of pathology. Temple Plan, Schenectady, N.Y. SUNY, Buffalo University Gerald A. Larue, professor of biblical history and archaeol­ Erwin M. Segal professor of psychology. SUNY, Buffalo Taner Ed'rs. assistant professor of physics, Truman State ogy, Unrversny of %o. California. Carta Selby, anthropologist /archaeologist Univ WKarn M. London. Touro urwersity. International Rebecca Long, nuclear engineer, president of Georgia Steven N. Shore, professor and chair. Dept. of Physks Barbara Eisenstadt psychologist, educator, clinician. East and Astronomy, Indiana Univ South Bend Greenbush. N.Y Council Against Hearth Fraud. Atlanta, Ga. William Evans, professor of communkation. Center for Thomas R_ McDonough. lecturer in engineering, Cattech, and Waclaw Szybalsfc., professor. McArdle Laboratory, Creative Media SET! Coordinator of the Planetary Society University of Wisconsin-Madison Bryan Farha, professor of behavioral studies in education. James E. Mc6aha. Major. USAf; pilot Oklahoma City Univ Joel A. Moskowitz. director of medical psychiatry, Tim Trachet journalist and science writer, honorary iohn F. Fischer, forensk analyst Orlando. Fla Calabasas Mental Health Services. Los Angeles chairman of SKEPP. Belgium. Eileen GambriM. professor of social welfare. University of Jan Wiltem Nienhuys, mathematician. Univ of Eindhoven, David Willey, physks instructor. University of Pittsburgh California at Berkeley the Netherlands •Member, CSICOP Executive Council

CENTERS FOR INQUIRY FLORIDA PERU P.O. Box 8099. St. Petersburg. FL 33738-8099 D. Casanova 430. Lima 14. Peru www.centerforinquiry.net Tel.: (727) 209-2902 EUROPE TRANSNATIONAL EGYPT Dr. Martin Mahner P.O. Box 703. Amherst. NY 14226 44 Gol Gamal Street. Agouza. Giza. Egypt Arheilger Weg 11. D-64380 Rossdorf. Germany Tel: (716) 636-1425 FRANCE Tel:+49 6154 695023 Prof. Henri Broch. WEST Universite of Nice, Faculte des Sciences. MOSCOW 4773 Hollywood Blvd.. Los Angeles, CA 90027 Pare Valrose. 06108, Nice cedex 2. France Professor Valerii A. Kuvakin Tel.: (323) 666-9797 www.unice.fr/zetetics/ 119899 Russia. Moscow. Vorobevy Gory, NEPAL Moscow State University, Philosophy Dept. METRO NEW YORK Humanist Association of Nepal 30 Rockefeller Haza, #2829. New York, NY 10112 P.O. Box 5284, Kathmandu. Nepal NIGERIA Tel: (212) 265-2877 tel: 011977 125 7610 PO Box 25269, Mapo, Ibadan. Oyo State. Nigeria "... to promote and defend reason, science, and freedom of inquiry in all areas of human endeavor." THE COMMITTEE FOR THE SCIENTIFIC INVESTIGATION OF CLAIMS OF THE PARANORMAL

An Abrasive Collision Gives One Galaxy a "Black Eye"

A collision of two galaxies has left a merged star system with an unusual appearance as well as bizarre internal motions. Messier 64.(M64) has a spectacular dark band of absorbing dust in front of the galaxy's bright nucleus, giving rise to its nicknames of the "Black Eye" or "Evil Eye' galaxy. Fine details of the dark band are revealed in this image of the central portion of M64«» obtained with the Hubble Space Telescopy. 'M64 is well known among amateur astronomers because of its appearance in small telescopesjJ It was first cataloged in the 18th century by the. French astronomer Messier. Located in the northern constellation Coma Ben resides roughly 17 million light-year

Image Credit: NASA and The Hubble^erjt3c|Tearfi(AURA/STScll

* • • • • . : *. Skeptical Inquirer THE MAGAZINE (OR SCIENCE AND REASON The Committee is a nonprofit.scientific and educational organization. The SKEPTICAL INQUIRER is its official journal.

The Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the such inquiries to the scientific community, the media, and the Paranormal encouragesJt\e critical investigation of paranormal public. It also promotes science and scientific inquiry, critical and fringe-science clainjs from a responsible, scientist point of thiaking, science education, and the use of reason in examining view and disseminates factual information about the results of important issues.

Metro New York Manhattan, New York West Los Angeles, California Florida Tampa Bay, Florida Europe Rossdorf, Germany | Peru Lima. Peru Moscow Moscow State University Nepal Kathmandu, Nepal Nigeria Oyo State. Nigeria Egypt Giza. Egypt France Universite of Nice, France