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News and Comment News and Comment Gallup Poll of Beliefs: Astrology Up, ESP Down ard data on belief in supernatural TABLE 1. Trends in Beliefs Hphenomena are difficult to come by, at least at the national level. The 1988 1984 1978 Gallup Organization, Inc., has provided % % % some of the best data with its Gallup Youth Survey, which asked about super- Angels 74 69 64 natural beliefs in both 1978 and 1984 (SI, Astrology 58 55 40 Winter 1984-85). In 1988 the Gallup poll- ESP 50 59 67 sters put the same questions to teenagers Witchcraft 29 22 25 again, and the result is a decade-long Bigfoot 22 24 40 glimpse of trends in supernatural beliefs. Ghosts 22 20 20 21 The latest poll is based on telephone Clairvoyance 28 25 Loch Ness interviews with a representative national Monster 16 18 31 cross-section of 506 teenagers, age 13 through 17, conducted between June 23 Source: The Gallup Organization, Inc., and July 10, 1988. Gallup reported the Princeton, N.J. results in late October. This is how the question was asked: percent, compared with 59 percent in "Which of the following do you believe 1984 and 67 percent in 1978. in? Ghosts, the Loch Ness monster, Sas- Fourth on the list is how witchcraft, quatch (Bigfoot), witchcraft, ESP, clair- at 29 percent. It was sixth in 1984, at 22 voyance, angels, astrology." percent. As the Gallup summary says, At least 95 percent said they believed "Such beliefs can be of concern to parents in at least one of the phenomena men- and youth workers, who associate them tioned in the survey. with satanic cults and other 'dark Angels, as might be expected for what forces.' " Gallup said no correlation was is essentially a religious concept, once found among teens between witchcraft again topped the list, at 74 percent. But belief and religious practices. astrology, at 58 percent, is now second Little more than a fifth of the teen- on the list, moving up from third in 1984. agers said they believed in Bigfoot (22 In fact the three polls show a clear up- percent), ghosts (22 percent), and clair- ward trend of belief in astrology since voyance (21 percent). Since the term the 40 percent of 1978. (See Table 1.) clairvoyance seems to be going out of Conversely, belief in ESP has gone fashion, it would be interesting to have a down in each poll. It now stands at 50 question asking about "psychic powers." 244 THE SKEPTICAL INQUIRER, Vol. 13 TABLE 2. Teens' Supernatural Beliefs—1988 Ages Ages National Male 'male 13-15 16-17 % % % % % Angels 74 73 74 74 73 Astrology 58 53 64 60 56 ESP 50 54 46 - 47 54 Witchcraft 29 30 28 26 34 Bigfoot 22 33 11 22 24 Ghosts 22 28 16 19 25 Clairvoyance 21 24 19 15 30 Loch Ness Monster 16 22 10 16 16 Source: The Gallup Organization, Inc., Princeton, N.J. The Loch Ness monster has a steadily As for the strong overall belief shown declining following, now at only 16 in astrology, Gallup—noting that "the percent. scientific community has branded astrol- Females tend to believe in astrology ogy a worthless study"—says the poll more than do males (64 percent to 53 showed above-average students less likely percent), but males are greater believers to believe in it (54 percent) than those in ESP (54 percent to 46 percent) and in who do average or below average work virtually everything else. Females showed in school (63 percent). more skepticism than males toward six of the eight phenomena. (See Table 2.) —K.F. Broch's ZET Database Zaps the Paranormal Esprit critique, es-tu la? modem, and it is supplied free of charge O Spirit [of skepticism], are you there? by the French government. To find out, call The stated purpose of the service is Minitel 36.15, and type "ZET." "to provide comprehensive and rigorous information to anyone who is interested N FRANCE, it's now possible to in any unexplained phenomenon, so that I obtain a variety of skeptical informa- the individual can form an informed tion about the paranormal over the opinion on the subject." To gain access government-sponsored "Minitel" sys- to the database, you first dial Minitel tem—thanks to the efforts of University 36.15. This telephone number gives access of Nice physicist Henri Broch. Over the to about 4,000 services, including Broch's past several years, Broch has built up a skeptical database. By typing "ZET," you database of some 3,500 electronic "pages" gain entry to the computer node at the of information on the paranormal and University of Nice, where the database is occult. Access to the database and related stored. services is open to anyone in France who Once you've entered "ZET," you have possesses a computer terminal and a several choices: a message center, where Spring 1989 245 If you dial up Henri Broch's "ZET" service, this is what you'll see on your computer screen: "If your table turns .. .: ZET, scientific information on the paranormal and occult." you can ask questions or exchange opin- Broch notes that the service is heavily ions about paranormal topics; an elec- used by journalists and also receives tronic bulletin board, where you can find about 1,500 calls each year from young out about recently published articles and people. One of the most popular areas of upcoming meetings of skeptics' groups; inquiry is archaeological mysteries; to an electronic mailbox, to send and receive explain this, Broch points out that Eric personal messages; and a reference data- von Daniken's books have enjoyed con- base, called "Dossiers," which includes siderable success in French translation. full references on about a dozen para- Occultism and astrology are also popular normal subjects. among the French public, Broch reports; For example, under the heading on the other hand, in France as in other "Astrology" you'll find not only a com- European countries, creationism is not prehensive bibliography, but also a pro- an issue. gram that allows you to calculate your In addition to compiling and main- "true" zodiacal sign (including proper taining ZET, Broch also has written a precession) and gives a detailed but sim- major survey, Le Paranormal: Ses docu- ple explanation of the reasons your "true" ments, ses hommes, ses methodes (The zodiacal sign may not be what you always Paranormal: Cases, Personalities, and thought it was. Other subjects covered in Techniques), published in 1985 by Edi- the database are archaeological mysteries, tions Seuil. He reports that his work on such as the Nazca lines and the pyramids; the paranormal receives little sympathy parapsychology, from ESP to Kirlian or support from colleagues, but he be- photography; the supernatural, including lieves it is important because "most pro- the shroud of Turin, the curse of King grams on the paranormal are 'soft,' to Tut, the Cottingley fairies, and so forth; satisfy the public, and skeptical books magic medicine, including acupuncture, are not stocked in most bookstores." ZET biorhythms, psychic surgery, and homeo- helps counteract this by making skeptical pathy; flying saucers; and a discussion of information available to anyone with skepticism. curiosity and access to a computer. Broch 246 THE SKEPTICAL INQUIRER, Vol. 13 engages in an active program of public 'into thinking' . but specifically away education, participating in debates and from thought. ." discussions. He also carries his efforts What is new is the degree to which over into his professional life: When he television programs accommodate this attends a scientific meeting, he displays a general strategy. Whereas the goals of poster on the paranormal to increase advertising used to be contrasted with physicists' awareness of the issue. much of what we viewed, says Miller, Also available through ZET are the "the marketing imperative does not now details of a Randi-like challenge jointly originate within the midst of some pur- offered by Broch, Majax (a magician) poseful (advertising) elite, but resides in and Jacques Theodor of the Free Uni- the very consciousness and day-to-day versity of Brussels. The challenge offers behavior of the media's general work a half-million francs to anyone who can force.. The TV newsman, for example, definitively demonstrate any paranormal usually needs no guiding phone call from powers. So far, Broch says, the challenge his higher-ups in order to decide the bias has drawn 30 responses, 2 of which were of his story, but will guide himself, as if serious. Unfortunately—or fortunately— on automatic, toward whatever formula no one has yet succeeded in winning. might 'play,' i.e., fit TV's format, goose up the ratings, maintain (or boost) his —Lys Ann Shore salary." and Steven N. Shore The bottom-line mentality Miller al- ludes to has undoubtedly contributed to the growing statistics of belief in the Skepticism and Television paranormal. Why aren't there more Do Not Mix knowledgeable skeptics or scientists on television to challenge bogus science? AVE YOU ever wondered why Skepticism, if Miller's thesis is correct, Htelevision news, documentaries, does not fit the goals of advertisers. It is and talk shows often disregard skepticism precisely an atmosphere of critical think- in favor of belief? In a new book of ing that advertisers wish to eliminate. essays, Boxed In: The Culture of TV Talk shows, for example, are now being (Northwestern University Press, 1988), referred to as "tabloid television" with Mark Crispin Miller points directly at subject matter indistinguishable from the the cause, and in doing so hits enough National Enquirer and The Star. Tele- nails on the head to seal the coffin on vision is playing to the lowest common commercial television objectivity.
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