LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

test of my claims. All that is needed is to fol- must be toxic, and suggested that she would low the simple step-by-step directions I pro- need to remove her clothing for tapping to be vide. It only takes a matter of minutes to do effective. There is currently no solid evidence to and the therapy results are usually immediate. view such concepts as anything more than post My algorithms arc quite simple. Using hoc attempts to explain away null effects. my algorithms, grandmothers cure young Callahan states that he has been developing grandchildren, children cure other children, this therapy for over twenty years now, but has lay people are curing themselves, their rela- only in the past few years stopped using affir- tives, and friends. Some psychologists, how- mations in his therapy. However, many TFT¬ ever, are curiously reluctant to try my easy trained therapists, as well as other "energy" step-by-step procedures. therapists, continue to use the affirmations I was recently invited to discuss my work with tapping. For example, we recently with an e-mail list called "Scientific Clinical reviewed a training video from a CT-TFT Psychologists." Surprisingly, not one scientist trained therapist who used affirmations in a treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder. on the list was willing to test my easily "Energy" therapists frequently combine TFT testable therapy. Professor Herbert indicated with techniques borrowed from established on the list that his only interest in trying it therapies. This highlights the importance of would be to "disprove" my claims, but nev- testing a TFT protocol in controlled conditions ertheless, he was opposed to anyone even in order to determine what, if any, "active trying my procedures. ingredients" the treatment contains. In Professor Bunge's article "Absolute- A Critical Analysis of Skepticism Equals Dogmatism," Bunge Callahan's characterization of the second Thought Field Therapy observes "Once a fact has been reported, authors comments in an academic Internet dis- someone must examine it critically and cussion group is simply inaccurate: we will be My therapy. TFT, has been previously criti- attempt to replicate it independently." happy to forward a copy of Herberts comments cized in the Skeptic. I have responded to that Although this has been done many thou- to any interested reader upon request. In these critique and it will be seen that some of the sands of times throughout the world, the discussions, Callahan was repeatedly asked to mistakes of Herbert and Gaudiano (SI, establishment appears curi- provide controlled data to support his bold July/August 2000) are covered in my ously reluctant. assertions regarding the extraordinary effects of response to that earlier article. Please see I have provided the means for true scien- TFT, which he failed to produce. He seemed puzzled as to why these scientifically minded especially, e.g., the gross error of interpreta- tists to independently replicate my facts. tion of all three critics (writing in Skeptic and psychologists were not impressed solely by anec- Many highly select psychologists choose not SKEPTICAL INQUIRER) of my concept of psy- dotes. to do my very simple experiments. Docs this chological reversal (PR) who wrongly believe sound somewhat like the scientists of We agree totally with Bunge's position that PR is an excuse for failure. Briefly, PR is not Galileo's day who reportedly refused to look skepticism is appropriate when claims are not an excuse for failure but rather a very power- supported by empirical evidence or are incom- ful means to significantly increase success through his scope? patible with known theory TFT clearly meets rate. This simple and crucial fact can easily Roger J. Callahan, Ph.D. both of these conditions because it lacks support be replicated by anyone. Founder, Thought Field from controlled research, and the proposed the- Therapists who follow my procedures Therapy ory including concepts such as "thought fields" (Callahan Techniques®) arc aware that we [email protected] and "perturbations," is at odds with our scien- have not used affirmations (referred to as tific understanding of the human body Brandon Gaudiano and James Herbert cognitive) for a number of years. I have TFT cannot hedge the usual methods of respond: found such cognitive devices to be com- clinical science, and until it is tested under con- pletely unnecessary and misleading; they trolled conditions, no amount of testimonials were an unfortunate hangover from my for- We stand by our assertion that such TFT con- will suffice as evidence of the treatment's effi- mer cognitive therapy days. cepts as "psychological reversal" (PR) and cacy Callahan has not produced a single con- I would recommend that Professor "energy toxins" are convenient attempts to trolled study to support his claims, and it is no Herbert and his student Brandon A. explain away treatment failures. We believe wonder that independent researchers have been Gaudiano carefully read the SI article that that these concepts are used in an effort to reluctant to spend time and resources investi- follows theirs by Professor Mario Bunge, reduce self-reported distress ratings by providing gating these claims. A treatment that is so vastly "Absolute Skepticism Equals Dogmatism." 1 opportunities to retry tapping procedures, superior to any other existing method should be quite easy to verify. In the end, Galileo con- will explain why. thereby increasing the demand characteristics vinced the "skeptics" by providing scientific An unusual feature of my of the therapy. For example, in a recent televi- proof of his assertions, not simply his testimony that is unprecedented is that an honest skep- sion appearance on a BBOTLC show entitled tic can easily replicate my experiments (ther- "Phobias: Prisoners of Panic" (aired August I, apy) by following a few simple directions 2000), Callahan used a PR tapping treatment which describe my therapy algorithms or after the initial phobia "algorithm" was inef- I just read the article "Can We Really Tap "recipes." It is correct uSat training in my pro- fective. When that too failed to resolve the Our Problems Away?" and thought I'd cedures will increase success rate, but it is not woman's phobia and she discontinued the share my personal experience with this necessary to take my training to give a general treatment, Callahan proposed that her T-shirt form of therapy.

6 2 November/December 2000 SKEPTICAL INQUIRER LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

1 was seeing a therapist for a period dur- such topics, but, I will confess, I'm looking As a nonacademic I found the article ing and following a fairly painful divorce. for faults while I'm studying it. "Absolute Skepticism Equals Dogmatism" At one point during my treatment, my Is i( right that I should decide at the out- puzzling and mildly annoying. Professor therapist engaged in Thought Field set that a story is false? I believe when you Bunge rails against what he calls "radical Therapy, although she never mentioned it deal with such extreme beliefs it is just. How skepticism" without ever telling us who by name, nor did she explain anything many times must, say, astrology be proven these radical skeptics are, or even giving us a about what lay behind the exercises she had wrong before one gets sick of explaining single concrete example of their radically me do. She simply asked me to tap my away the whole subject? It's hard to be objec- skeptical assertions. The reader could, in forehead, arms, and chest, roll my eyes and tive when the people you are talking to will fact, be excused for doubting whether radi- hum, in a specific sequence. not listen to reason. cal skepticism exists other than as a con- The exercises failed to have any effect on Truthfully I don't believe many people struct in the mind of Bunge. He docs men- me, so I repeated them several times, with no are complete skeptics in that they disbelieve tion "Thomas S. Kuhn, Paul K. Feyerabend, success. After my session I tried it on my everything. I think most are like me, who, and their followers" as having logically own, thinking maybe the tapping helped to for various reasons, decide that a topic has invalid and historically false notions, but ease muscle tension. I also surmised that the been studied and proven false long enough seems to assume the reader's familiarity with eye-rolling exercise and the humming had that it just isn't worth the time anymore to those notions, to the degree thai no further something to do with interrupting my men- study it further. It's a shame that people exposition of them seems to be required. Are tal focus—by doing something innocuous don't demand more evidence for wild claims. they radical skeptics? and unusual, I was momentarily forced to It's even more of a shame when people place Nor does he justify the use of the terms stop thinking about more serious, anxiety- the burden of proving something false on the "moderate" and "radical" as applied to skep- filled elements in my life. skeptics. And when such studies are under- ticism. This terminology suggests that there While the therapy never had a profound taken and come up negative, is anyone is somehow a spectrum or continuum of effect on me, I assumed il was at least tied to beyond the skeptic community listening? skepticism linking the two philosophical some reasonable theory. I was thus dismayed h is in this light that I can sympathize positions, that they are somehow two differ- to see in your article that it is tied to the with people who have decided that, after ent branches of the same philosophy, with primitive "energy field" myth. It amazes me years of research that have come up negative, the radicals presumably being "more skepti- how easily people can be misled, even my constructive inquiry is a luxury they can no cal" than the moderates. But it is by no Harvard-educated therapist, who should longer afford. means clear from the article that the two have known better. schools of thought described by Bunge rep- Joseph Olszewski Jr. Keep up the good work! resent different degrees of skepticism or Philadelphia, Pennsylvania indeed have anything in common at all. Mark Rogers [email protected] Jeff White I am afraid Professor Mario Bunge misses Toronto, Ontario, Canada the forest for the word-trees, when he pos- If a therapist feels ineffective in the therapy tulates degrees of skepticism, from 1) Mario Bunge responds: session, that's the time to use "moderate" skepticism, supported by "evi- dence" or "well-tried theory" and 2) charts, tarot cards, astrology charts, ouija My piece on absolute skepticism has been criti- "absolute" skepticism, that is "to deny any- boards, or talk about past lives, alien abduc- cized on two counts. Whereas some of my crit- thing without reasons" which he says "is tion, or satanic ritual abuse, or the latest fad ics hold that skepticism does not come in just a form of dogmatism." that hits the marketplace like Thought Field degrees, others doubt that there have ever been Therapy. That will fill up the hour. Just the opposite. Just like in the "Big any absolute skeptics. Let me respond briefly Bang," the nature of all inquiry is established Skepticism, like any other philosophical Newton Joseph in the first second: who is making a claim of school, can be moderate or radical. The moder- Porter Ranch, California truth; and who has the burden of proof? ate skeptic does not doubt everything at once There is only one skepticism, and it can- but examines hypotheses, methods, or data one not possibly be dogmatic because it has no by one, and does so on the strength of items of Absolute vs. Moderate initial dogma, and no initial burden of proof. knowledge that he does not doubt. For example, Skepticism If a truth is asserted widi convincing evi- Einstein doubted classical mechanics but not dence or reasons to believe it, skepticism classical electrodynamics. So much so that his says: "You're right." After reading "Absolute Skepticism Equals special relativity alters the former but is based However, for centuries "authority" spoke Dogmatism," (July/August 2000), I upon the latter. And when he criticized quan- thought about my own beliefs. While I (often of "mysteries") and ignored counter- tum mechanics, Einstein did not doubt that don't believe they belong in the "radical" vailing evidence and disdained proof, this theory (which he had contributed to build) column I do find myself on the defense through intimidation or worse. So "skeptics" made correct predictions: he only believed that when topics such as astrology, alien abduc- had to "prove" negatives; and this relic/trap, the theory is incomplete, and he rejected its tions, homeopathy, or belief in a supreme where the burden of proof is placed on the interpretation in terms of observers and mea- being are brought up. 1 don't believe in any skeptic not on the claimant, survives to this surements. So, Einstein, like nearly everyone of it and never will because of a complete very day. else, was a moderate skeptic. Or, if preferred lack of evidence. That doesn't mean I won't his skepticism was of the methodological, not John Tomasin listen to a story or read an article about systematic kind. West New York, New Jersey

6 4 November/December 2000 SKEPTICAL INQUIRER LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

As for the real existence of absolute skeptics, Science Education and he advocates is diametrically opposed to let us start by recalling such influential ancient the agenda of STS as it is now instituted in thinkers as Pyrrho and Sextus Empiricus, and Scientific Rationality many universities. the late Renaissance Portuguese philosopher In recent years, there has been intense dis- Norman Levitt Francisco Sanches, whose book That Nothing cussion, and occasional controversy, about Mathematics is Known, published in 1581, became a best- how to convey an appreciation of science Rutgers University seller throughout Western Europe. and its methods to the general population Camden, New Jersey Nowadays there are two schools of absolute of nonscientists. Certainly, no clear for- (or radical) skeptics: rationalist and irrational¬ mula has emerged. The relative roles of ist. Among the former are some followers of "textbook" versus "hands-on" learning, Professor Ede really touched a nerve. As Karl R. Popper, such as his former research "historical" versus "finished product" point someone whose work has something to do assistant Professor David Miller. See Millers of view, and "technology" versus "pure sci- with science, I frankly resent having a history paper "Being an Absolute Skeptic," Science ence," are still up for debate. Professor professor whose contact with science is the 284: 1625-6 (1999). They claim that we can Andrew Ede's perspective, which empha- teaching of a course on the history of science never know the truth about anything- that only sizes social, political, and economic factors, advising (he scientific community on the falsity can be known. Do not ask them how as well as intellectual history (SI, proper content of science curricula. I suspect they know this. Popper had stated that the July/August 2000), is a serious one and has that Professor Ede would be no less exercised question of the sources of knowledge is irrele- to be taken into account. His piece, how- if I, a chemist, set about devising curricula vant. And don't ask them why scientists and ever, leaves me with some misgivings, hav- for his history department. C est nop fort. ing largely to do with ancillary but impor- technologists endeavor to find new truths or Without taking the space to rebut tant issues that he avoids mentioning. improve on the accuracy of old approximate Professor Ede line by line, allow me to com- truths. For more on this kind skepticism see To call his approach the "STS model" ment briefly on his three major points. He David Stove's Scientific Irrationalism: Origin would seem legitimate enough but for the observes that a major purpose of laboratory of a Postmodern Cult (Transaction Pub- fact that in the context of contemporary work is to provide technical training and. lishers, 2000). academic life, STS (Science, Technology, eventually, competent scientists. I would The second school of absolute skeptics is and Society or sometimes Science and note that any university course is designed to constituted by followers of Paul K. Feyerabend, Technology Studies) often connotes a way provide maximum benefit to majors in that of "Anything goes" fame. They are mostly soci- of "studying" science that most scientists, field. A course in German at the freshman ologists of science, such as B. Barnes, H.M. as well as scientifically knowledgeable level is certainly not designed for art majors Collins, K. Knorr-Cetina, B. Latour, M. philosophers and historians, consider or, for that matter, chemistry majors who Mulkay, T.J. Pinch, S. Woolgar, and other con- wrongheaded and frankly hostile to science were required to take it when I was an undcr- tributors to the quarterly Social Studies of and to the very idea of scientific rationality. grad. Next, Professor Ede criticizes science Science. They claim that scientific facts arc not The reigning mood, which one could call leaching as being barren of social context. But science is only a method for acquiring discovered but constructed and moreover by "relativist," "postmodern," or even "politi- information about the physical world; it is scientific communities rather than individuals: cally correct," is one in which scientific the application of the information provided they are constructivist-relativists. Some of them truth and rational inquiry are scorned as by science that has positive or negative add that scientists are in the business of power, naive chimeras. Our deepest and most fruitful scientific ideas are held to have impact on society. Finally, Professor Ede not truth. In short, they too deny that we can emerged not from observation, experi- maintains that science education emphasizes get to know anything. Do not ask them why, if ment, and sound reasoning, but as encoded elite behavior at the expense of die common facts are made up rather than discovered, about versions of a dominant and oppressive ide- good. In my view, it is not the science stu- a million scientists are daily engaged in franti- ology. The idea that good science can be dents but rather the students in other disci- cally checking data and hypotheses. And wiry distinguished from bad science or pseudo- plines who view physics and chemistry scientists seldom have a share in the sources of science or even rank superstition majors as intellectuals, and the conclusion real power, namely big business and govern- is routinely pooh-poohed. On many that science students must be brilliant in ment. By the way, some of these same people campuses, STS provides a platform for order to succeed is without foundation. Even have defended astrology and parapsychology, the most outlandish forms of academic medical schools have their C students. and indicted CSICOP for denouncing these feminism and multiculturalism. Sympathy pseudosciences: see. e.g.. T.J. Pinch and H.M. for New Age culture also abounds. Professor Ede seems to be upset by the Collins, "Private science and public knowledge: fact that science curricula are intended to The Committee for the Scientific Investigation This is not to say that no sound work is produce scientists capable of employment of the Claims of the Paranormal and its use of done under the catch-all rubric of STS. upon graduation. His "remedy" is to provide the literature, " Social Studies of Science 14: Ede himself provides a counterexample. a degree in STS, wherein a student would be 521-546 (1984). For more on this brand of But the ideal of STS diat he presents has more socially aware, I suppose. That may be skepticism see my book The Sociology- often been shoved aside by the quasi-polit- all well and good, but I suspect that if his life Philosophy Connection (Transaction ical and deeply anti-rational dogmatism I were on the line, he would prefer to have his Publishers.' 1999). have alluded to. Ede would better have medical tests conducted by a clinical chemist more solidly versed in the nuts-and-bolts In short, skepticism can be graded, and served readers of SKEPTICAL INQUIRER by frankly acknowledging the ambiguities aspects of clinical chemistry, however mun- there are radical skeptics among us. And they with which the term "STS" is laden and bv dane and traditional this may be. As one are seriously eroding higher education, though making it clear that the very worthy project who is responsible for training scientists in so far only in the faculties of arts.

SKEPTICAL INQUIRER November/December 2000 65 LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

the profession, I consider university curricula who study the social issues of science may do any authority (including his own). He urges in science to be already so diluted with more harm than good, if only because such them to become aware of the filter of con- courses in social awareness that (raining challenges force self-awareness of the complexity ditioning through which we see the world. today's graduates consists mostly of provid- of the place of science in society. This task is not easy. There are no methods ing the basics which they somehow missed. because any method itself is a form of con- Please, no STS grads in my laboratory. ditioning! A free mind sees directly and Bohm and Krishnamurti stands completely alone without the sec- Jerry F. O'Donnell ond-hand "truths" foisted on it by culture, Forensic Chemist A comment on Martin Gardner's article religion, and the latest fad. One must try to Las Cruces, New Mexico "David Bohm and Jiddo Krishnamurti" become aware of the too easy security that (July/August 2000). As I understand it, the imprisons the conditioned mind. Scientists Andrew Ede responds: present problem with David Bohm's quan- too have often fallen into the trap of relying tum potential is that a relativistic version of on the old paradigms and too quickly Levitt's defense of rationality is well known and it has yet to be found. In fact, it may not be rejecting the new. Martin Gardner is guilty I share a number of his concerns. The problem possible to find a relativistic version of of this. I have encountered is that students entering the Bohm's quantum potential. (Sec the May university have as their major source of scien- 1994 Scientific American, "Bohm's Alterna- Fred Ackerman tific knowledge the science courses they have tive to Quantum Mechanics," by David Z. Washington, D.C. taken in elementary and secondary school. For Albert, page 58.) For this reason David a significant portion of students the skills-ori- Bohm's ideas on quantum mechanics are ented nature of their education leaves them ill- probably incorrect. Traditional quantum Neither a professed "guru" nor "mystic," prepared to make sound judgments about the field theory does not have this problem, but Krishnamurti was a profound skeptic of the conceptual issues they will face in science or other I agree with Gardner that the last word on mind and influenced many thousands of academic areas. The STS model I proposed quantum theory has yet to be stated. Also, in thoughtful people throughout the world. would shift the emphasis away from laboratory the interest of historical accuracy, Jiddu How disappointing to finally see mention of skills toward a study of science as a concept. Krishnamurti (not Jiddo) never claimed this remarkable thinker in SI and find it O'Donnell expresses concern that this celibacy or to possess the truth about every- within the context of a superficial tabloid- would put untrained people in his laboratory, thing and he never tried, nor took an type sketch. but I am not suggesting the abolition of profes- entrance exam, to enter Oxford. Sloss does The article is so misleading that one sional training. Rather I would introduce STS not claim there was an affair between must question Gardner's motives and pre- Krishnamurti and Nandini, and Gardner's into elementary and secondary curricula and conceived notions. Of the thousands of remarks on the claimed lies, pregnancies, postpone laboratory training until the college clever ways Krishnamurti rephrased some and abortions are also dubious; see level where material and intellectual resources intriguing insights, why did Gardner choose Krishnamurti and the Rajagopals by Mary are significantly better than at the secondary only to include some obscure, befuddled I.utyens. Martin Gardner's writing is usually level. Given the incredible rate of technical quotes in his article? development in science, the lag time for intro- very good and I thank him for the informa- Krishnamurti admired science and tech- ducing useful skills at the secondary level makes tion on David Bohm. It is sad that people nology, but his interest was psychology. To much of it a waste of time. STS at the college can be so gullible as to accept theosophy, Krishnamurti, religion was the skeptical level would also relieve the draining on teach- likewise for David Bohm's uncritical accep- ing resources that science for non-majors has tance of Uri Geller's claims. It is also sad that inquiry into consciousness. His key message absorbed and which has been in many cases David Bohm's depressions eventually broke was not that everything is interconnected counterproductive. his spirit and this might have been what and one must live in any certain way, but killed him. perhaps the more practical message that If supporters of science inside and outside through serious self-observation one will the faculties of science fail to develop alterna- discover (among other things) that there is tives to "Rocks for jocks" it will leave the field Randy Gerl no one home. open to the people Levitt is concerned about. Redmond, Washington It may have surprised Mr. Gardner to Scholarship tends to follow power and science discover that the king has no clothes, but has been one of the greatest forces in human his- for those who arc more familiar with tory Now is the time to consider supplementing Readers of the SKEPTICAL INQUIRER arc done Krishnamurti, his humaneness has never skills-oriented training with broader investiga- a great disservice by Martin Gardner's super- tions of the concepts of science. I disagree with been in question. He stayed on message for ficial and wrongheaded analysis of Levitt's analysis that STS is a breeding ground sixty years, lived simply, had friends at Krishnamurti. for irrationality. While nature imposes limits many levels, and never tried to garner fame A careful reading of Krishnamurti will on interpretive possibilities, you do not have to or fortune. And like Bohm and the other show him to be quite unique and one of the look too hard to find the practitioners of science physicists mentioned, his all-too-human great skeptics in the search for true knowl- demonstrating the fidl range of human foibles. and sometimes inscrutable side never inter- edge. He is not just another phony, self- For example, a chemist of my acquaintance has fered with his consistent themes and chal- serving guru who mystifies followers by for decades railed against feminists at the uni- lenging questions about life during his long repeating vague platitudes. Granted, he is not versity because they have encouraged so many teaching career. easy to understand at first glance (but neither women to go into science, for which he believes is Newton, Einstein, Heisenberg, etc). they are biologically unsuited Dismissing those Larry Boyce He warns his listeners against following Durango, Colorado

6 6 November/December 2000 SKEPTICAL INQUIRER LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Your article on the Indian mystical philoso- Eat Those Carrots! sumption, particularly of carrots, may signif- pher Jiddu Krishnamurti was very disturb- icantly reduce the risk of lung cancer. This confirms other population studies that show ing. I was looking forward to that article Denise Grady's article, "Conference that smokers who do not consume carrots because I had just read his First and Last Examines Efficacy, Safety of Medicinal show a many-fold risk of developing lung Freedom and I thought it would be a posi- Herbs" (July/August 2000), cites studies cancer (Pisani P., Berrio F ct al., Im J tive view of him since he seemed humble that have been misinterpreted by Grady Epidemiol 1986 Dec. 15(4): 463-8). A and not into the paranormal or theism. But and her quoted source. Dr. Leonore Arab human intervention study with vegetable instead you attacked his personal life, and at University of North Carolina. Dr. Arab products reported carrot juice, as well as didn't present his ideas fairly. I had just fin- mentions studies that appear to link beta tomato juice and spinach juices (other ished reading his book, which has an intro- carotene supplementation to an increased carotene sources) resulted in significant duction by Aldous Huxley, one my favorite incidence of lung cancer in men who decreases in endogenous levels of strand authors. Admittedly Huxley does have smoke. She then relates a story of a male breaks in lymphocyte DNA. Oxidative lung cancer patient who consumes carrot some far-out ideas, but I thought base damage was significantly reduced juice, warning him it may not be safe. Krishnamurti was very humble, and origi- during carrot juice administration (Pool- Carrot is a whole-food source of a wide nal in his presentation of "mystical" type Zobel, BL et al.. Carcinogenesis 1997 spectrum of naturally occurring carotenes, ideas. . . . Far from being "vague" I thought Sept.; 18(9) 1847-50). he was the most direct philosopher I've ever including alpha-carotene. Carrots also read! But it was a shock to hear about his contain as much vitamin C as two Dr. Arab is well known as a fanatical par- personal life, so I guess I'm thankful for t h e bananas, monoterpenes, polyacetylenes, tisan of the anti-supplement movement. Her dietary fibers, enzymes and countless article. It made me feel better about not liv- vitriolic hatred of nutraceutical research other beneficial nutrients and phytocom¬ ing up to his standards. must be tempered by balance and reason. puunds. Carrot, or its expressed juice, is Foods, or whole-food concentrates and Jason Wimpey simply not the same as the synthesized extracts, are quite different from artificially [email protected] and isolated beta carotene found in some produced, individually isolated compounds. dietary supplements. To suggest smokers should not consume carrot is irresponsible John Mulcahy and may jeopardize the health of Cambridge, Massachusetts SKEPTICAL INQUIRER readers who smoke I was saddened by the harsh treatment and who may be dissuaded from eating Krishnamurti received.... certain fresh fruits or vegetables. Does Dr. David Oates, Reverse Many Eastern disciplines ... are rife Arab also believe smokers should avoid with metaphysical constructs, just as mangoes, papayas, melons, and other beta Speech, and Backward Western disciplines arc. I have no issue with carotene-containing produce? I challenge Masking Mr. Gardner tackling these claims in fact, anyone to identify a single scientific arti- I would expect no less from the SKEPTICAL cle in a peer-reviewed scientific journal A letter from Melanie Nickel (July/August INQUIRER—but a little fairness and compas- that indicates the consumption of carrot 2000, p. 6 5 ) asked whether there might be a sion might be in order. Yes, much of products or other carotene-rich foods pro- connection between David Oates's "Reverse Krishnamurti's work is vague, and the adu- mote tumor formation. Speech" and the phenomenon referred to as lation and mysticism that surrounded him "." The answer is that Oates are radier useless. However, the man had an has over-generalized from a few hidden agile and inquiring mind, and he seemed to Anthony Bragalia, master herbalist backward messages purposefully placed in be for the most pan gentle in his approach. President, Protective Factors, Inc. rock music to his assertion that all speech I have read indications of his personal weak- Boston, Massachusetts can be played backward and true messages nesses. Regardless, how much does his per- can be heard. sonal life bear on his professional life? While As a consulting plant chemist with a strong I first saw Oates making his wild com- it is hypocrisy for a philosopher or religious interest in cell protection research, 1 felt ments on the Larry King Show years ago individual to speak of one thing and do compelled to refute Denise Grady's outra- when Jack Anderson was guest host. I recall another, it is also human nature. Let's take geous contention that carrot juice somehow that I was as amazed at Anderson's apparent what's useful and work from there, discard- puts those who smoke at greater health risk. gullibility as I was at the ridiculous com- ing anything irrational along the way. Dr. Leonore Arab, the "expert" interviewed ments made by Oates. His assertion that all Neil Barnes by Grady, is apparently unable to distinguish our utterances also have backward meanings [email protected] between a pill and a vegetable. The research is pure lolly. she alludes to does in fact suggest smokers Oates has no professional training in psy- Martin Gardner replies: should not take beta-carotene supplements, chology, , phonetics, acoustics, or but never states that smokers should avoid any other academic field that could be used 1 apologize only for misspelling consuming high-carotene foods. In a popu- legitimately to investigate die phenomenon Krishnamurti's first name. What surprised me lation study recently completed by Harvard that he call "reverse speech." most about the letters was that admirers of Medical School and Brigham and Women's I have shown in two publications and Krishnamurti read the SKEPTICAL INQUIRER. Hospital (Speizcr, Colditz et ai.. Cancer in a paper written with speech scientist Evidently our magazine is doing more than Causes Control 1999 Oct.; 10(5): 475-S2) Ray Daniloff that there arc, indeed, some just preaching to the choir! it was concluded that higher vegetable con- purposefully placed words and phrases in

SKEPTICAL INQUIRER November/December 2000 67 LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

a very small number of rock music Walker, M.W.. and R.G. Daniloff. 1983. On the physical theory, and that it forms the the- recordings which, when played in reverse, controversy surrounding backward messages oretical bedrock underlying all our current sound like something else. The most in rock music. American Speech-Hearing- electronic technology, someone needs to Language Assoc, convention, Cincinnati. famous recording containing these back- set him straight! ward messages is Led Zeppelin's 1971 stu- Yes, of course quantum mechanics is dio recording of "Stairway to Heaven." We are linguists at Monash University in weird, but that's just the way the world is! There is no doubt in my mind that Melbourne, Australia, and we believe we are Our common sense is generalized from Jimmy Page and Robert Plant developed the only academic linguists to have carefully experience with classical objects, and such this song so that it would have many rec- examined Oates's theories. We have corre- objects as electrons simply don't behave in ognizable words and phrases in reverse, sponded with Byrne and Normand accordance with classical laws. The theories about extra universes and extra dimensions some of them referring to Satan, This. I (March/April, 2000) and intend to produce arc not remotely religious or mystical, feel, was done in the tradition of Aleister our own paper for SKEPTICAL INQUIRER in they're inevitable consequences of the Crowley who advocated training the due course. mathematics involved in many of the mind by doing things in reverse. Page has In the meantime, we refer readers to our attempts to bring gravitation under the shown an extreme interest in Crowley, article in the Journal of Forensic Linguistics rubric of quantum mechanics, and while having the largest collection of Crowley (Volume 5, No. 2, 1998). It is our belief that many physicists find them very interesting, memorabilia and having once owned Oates's theory of Reverse Speech is totally they're not about to believe them until Crowley's mansion and his occult book- implausible and is not supported by the evi- they've confirmed their predictions experi- shop (the Equinox). dence. We repeated Oates's own experiment, mentally. (Our ability to do this was, of Other recording artists including the and our results suggest strongly that percep- course, catastrophically set back by the dis- Beatles and ELO have obvious backward- tions of Reverse Speech are generated by astrous cancellation of the supercollider recorded segments on songs. I have never prompting. project seven years ago, which I for one still felt, however, that any of these recording As we state in our article, the concept of bitterly resent. The physicists are not nec- artists are "satanic" or that they believe that "backward masking" was instrumental in essarily the ones to blame for the lack of the backward recordings would have any Oates's development of the notion ol Reverse certain essential experimental data!) behavioral effects on their listeners. Speech, The main difference is that "back- Certainly any sort of "subliminal" influence ward masking," where it is real, is deliber- Robert Davis would be impossible. "Stairway to Heaven" ately contrived, whereas Oates claims that Department of Mathematics in my opinion was carefully worded by Page Reverse Speech is automatically generated by Southern Methodist University and then phrased by singer Plant as a lark. forwards speech and thought. Dallas, Texas It was an attempt, a very good one in fact, We arc always interested in further dis- to develop a song that conveys one meaning cussion of Reverse Speech. in the forward mode and an opposite mean- Mark Newbrook Zdenek Slanina's "demolition" of ing in the reverse, just as one can climb Krakatene (SI July/August 2000) leads me either up or down the proverbial "stairway and Jane Curtain Department of Linguistics to wonder if the name and the claim derive to heaven." Monash University from the Czech writer Karel Capek's novel The late recording engineer Barry Mraz Melbourne, Australia Krakatis (1925), a science fantasy about a told me years ago that occasionally he would super-explosive. hear what sounded like a word or phrase In the same issue. Ralph Estling does when running a tape backward, but that it wrong to equate "various quantum theo- was all coincidental in the case of the many QM Successful, Verified ries" and "the latest musing about an infi- recordings he engineered and produced, nite number of universes" with mysticism. including those by Styx. We think we recog- I was aghast at certain statements by Ralph Counterintuitive though it be, quantum nize words in the backward playback because Estling in the July/August 2000 issue. On mechanics has been thoroughly verified our minds try to make meaning from page 60, he seems to be saying that much and by now has countless practical appli- acoustic patterns that are "speechlike." of the physics of the past seventy years, cations. True, these days there are many including quantum theory, is "more mysti- However this is a far cry from Oates's asser- speculative ideas on the frontiers of cal and bereft of supporting evidence than tion that all forward speech means some- physics. However, their authors clearly anything to be found in religion" and thing in reverse. label them as such; they arc mathemati- resembles the productions of "people cally consistent with well-established prin- Michael W Walker afflicted with Wernicke's aphasia, creating ciples; and, while they cannot yet be Hearing Associates perfectly grammatical sentences with no empirically tested, this should become fea- Sylvania, Ohio meaning whatever." sible in the reasonably near future. If Estling really means what he seems Meanwhile, they suggest answers to some to be saying. I'm surprised that you real conundrums. For example, a multi- Walker. M.W. 1985. Backward messages in com- printed this passage with no rebuttal what- plicity of universes would do away with mercially available recordings. Journal of ever! I thought you were supposed to be the anthropic principle, which in my opin- Popular Music and Society, 10(I):2—13. defending science from its detractors. If ion is pretty mystical. . 1987. How to produce forward/back- ward recordings (without supernatural guid- he's not aware that quantum mechanics ance). Journal of Popular Music and Society, has passed far more experimental tests, and Poul Anderson U(2):9l-93. to far greater precision, than any preceding Orinda, California

6 8 November/December 2000 SKEPTICAL INQUIRER L TTERS TO THE EDIT R

I strongly disagree with Ralph Estling's para- verse or spatial dimensions. When evidence cedures in their attempts to "prepare the graph referring to the "past seventy years" of for these infinites is forthcoming I shall be way for the Lord." science in his article "Templeton and the happy to review my stand. A multiplicity of AAAS" in the July/August 2000 issue. universes to do away with the anthropic prin- Brant Abrahamson The Teachers' Press Quantum mechanics, thought to be the ciple is employing decapitation as a cure for Brookfield, Illinois most successful theory in modern physics chapped lips. Yes, not all hypotheses in science (accurate to at least ten decimal places), has are "musings." But I was writing about those bewildered many a physicist with its that are, and not those that aren't. wave/particle duality. The ideas of quantum In "Newsweek Publishes Poll on Miracles," mechanics are essential to today's computers, Kevin Christopher complains that making much possible. While quantum Newsweek's polling is flawed. Rather than mechanics is difficult (thought by many Mushing Murky Boundaries quibble over a few percentage points—we physicists to be impossible) to understand, it all know that much of the American public has been extremely useful. Should we throw I'm surprised that Kevin Christopher did is gullible—the real issue is that Newsweek away our computers because the quantum not note that Kenneth Woodward's miracle publishes nonsense like this fairly often. mechanics on which they are based is diffi- article in Newsweek—"What Miracles Ethan Winer cult to comprehend? Mean," May 1, 2000—represents more than a hastily thrown-together piece based New Milford, Connecticut "Theories" in science are not "musings." upon phone calls to 752 people ("News Theories explain the discovered laws of and Comment," July/August, page 9). nature and, always subject to peer review, are Woodward is the author of The Book of Professor's Lack of Logic at the foundation of modern science. Miracles: The Meaning of the Miracle Stories Perhaps Mr. Estling was referring to in Christianity. Judaism. Buddhism. Hin- Mr. Mainfort (Conference Report on the "hypotheses" which have yet to be validated duism, Islam (Simon and Schuster 2000). New Paranatural Paradigm July/August through many necessary observations and Before and after his recitation of miracle 2000, p. 13) identifies Phillip Johnson as a through peer review. Many hypotheses even- stories associated with the world's major "lawyer." While perhaps technically true, he tually become theories. religions, Woodward has disclaimers and has not earned his living as a lawyer for many I believe, contrary to Mr. Estling's state- then qualifies his disclaimers. years. We lawyers already labor under ments, that most of the great ideas of science On page 22 he says that "This is not enough negative publicity. He is a professor have been discovered during the past seventy the place, nor is it my intention, to argue of law, and the taxpayers of California arc years. Today, we know more about the uni- the existence of God, or of gods, or of entitled to wonder just how good he is at his verse than ever before. May the twenty-first miracles." However, he then continues in job, considering the lack of logic demon- century (beginning on December 31, 2000, the next sentence to say "... it is the strated in his books. at midnight) have the brilliance of this twen- place to remind leaders that the great tieth century which is soon to end. face-off between science and religion is a M L Howard, M.D. relic of the nineteenth century Western Attorney at law Lorna J. Simmons culture. Today, many scientists are also Matthew. [email protected] Westland, Michigan people of religious faith, and some the- ologians arc also scientists. No science, of Ralph Estling responds: course, can proceed in any calculation or experiment with God as a factor and still Thank you. If one reads what I actually claim to be a science. Saints, on the other The letters column is a forum for wrote it should be clear that I was not attack- hand, may and often do, 'experiment views on matters raised in previ- ing quantum mechanics, which would be a with God' as Gandhi experimented with ous issues. Letters should be no very silly thing to do, but various quantum 'truth.' This presupposes a God who is theories (strictly speaking, hypotheses), such as neither withdrawn from His creation nor more than 225 words. Due to the the Copenhagen Interpretation and Many uninterested in how it turns out. Indeed, volume of letters not all can be Worlds, which purport to explain quantum in an evolutionary world where every- published. Address letters to mechanics. Better men than I have pointed thing is related to everything else, it is not Letters to the Editor, SKEPTICAL out that "no one understands quantum hard to imagine a God who, in Himself, mechanics" (Richard Feynman), while is relationship." INQUIRER. Send by mail to 944 Einstein. Schroedinger, Bohm, Bell, and others Deer Dr. NE, Albuquerque, NM have dismissed many speculations on quan- In short. Woodward—like some 87122: by fax to 505-828-2080; tum mechanics, not, I repeat, because they Christian scientists with an Evangelical or by e-mail to [email protected] wish to dismiss quantum mechanics but bent—seems to be trying to "mush up" because they have no use for the speculations. already murky boundaries between science (include name and address). Similarly, recent pronouncements regarding and non-science. William Demski and an infinite number of universes inhabiting Michael Behe arc names that come to mind infinite numbers of spatial dimensions have in this regard. Such mathematicians and nothing in the way of evidence to support scientists—along, apparently, with people ihem. But this should not be taken to mean like Woodward—use their academic cre- that I don't believe in the existence of the uni- dentials and various isolated scientific pro-

SKEPT L INQUIRER November/December 2000 69