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Section III

Liberal and

Breadth Course Proposal

This is a model for the submission of new breadth course proposals. It is not intended to be the final outline for the course but rather, in combination with the course approval request form, addresses the course outline components required by the Postsecondary Education Quality Assessment Board (PEQAB). Final outlines will include other information specific to each program/school offering the course.

Course Title: and

Course Type: Lower Level

Upper Level

Course Category: Society, Culture and Commerce (SCC)

Science and Technology (ST)

Arts and Humanities (AH)

Prerequisite(s):

Credit Value: 3.0

Hours of Instruction Per Week: 3 hours (Lecture: 3; Lab: X; Tutorial: X) = 42 hours

Course Restrictions: Not available to students in the following programs:

n/a

Date of Approval: November 2012

Date of Expiry: November 2016

1.0 Course Description

Science permeates our lives with indispensable technologies, cures and discoveries – both subtle and profound. Our understanding of the natural world has never been greater, yet, paradoxically, distrust of science has grown and the ideas of science have been intermingled with myths or distorted into bad science. Strangely, one of scientific technology’s most conspicuous successes, the internet, has become the greatest source of misinformation. Pseudoscientific claims are all around us, and old myths still persist in our information age.

In this course we will study many of the amazing claims made in the name of science and analyze them using the guiding principles of science and scientific methodology. From and cards to ESP and UFOs, we distinguish between science and pseudoscience and gain a better understanding of the that has been at the heart of many of science’s truly great discoveries and innovations. This method allows us to test paradigms, challenge and myths, and discover if there really is anything to all those claims about phenomena, telekinesis, , aliens, and other topics on the fringes of science. Without a doubt, weird things are out there. This course helps us to find out which ones are real.

Science and Pseudoscience is designed for students without any or science background.

2.0 Course Learning Outcomes At the conclusion of the course the student will have demonstrated the ability to:

1. Describe the Scientific Method and its relationship to Ockham's Razor and ;

2. Explain the and relate it to Confirmation (and how can lead to bad science);

3. Outline the general attributes of a science, pseudoscience, and protoscience, giving examples for each;

4. Describe the historical importance of ;

5. Define and highlight examples such as the Canals of , N-Rays, and ;

6. Discuss current paradigms in science, such as the Big Bang, Continental Drift and Global Warming, and the evidence in their favour;

7. List and describe several misconceptions or myths in science, such as Lunar effects and Lunacy, the 10% brain, and ;

8. Explain the "success" of significant scientific hoaxes such as Piltdown Man and Machines, and how they were ultimately debunked;

9. Recognize and explain the importance of Astrology in the of early science and its eventual divergence with ;

10. Define the and explain its significance in numerology, "strange" and paranormal phenomena;

11. Identify common attributes of pseudo-scientific claims and employ this knowledge in formative reading and writing activities (quizzes, Assignment 1 and mid-term);

12. Contrast creation myths and evolutionary theory, and, in particular, summarize the Argument from Design and its contradiction to Descent with Modification;

13. Apply critical thinking abilities and an understanding of scientific principles in preparing for summative evaluations (Assignment 2 and Final Exam).

3.0 Methods of Instruction/Delivery Format

• Interactive lecture and discussion • Audio-visual presentations • Online learning activities and materials • Individual and/or group presentations

4.0 Required Texts and Supplies All articles listed in Section 6.0, Course Schedule are copyright approved and available from the Humber Libraries; other materials are available from public domain sources.

Each Unit provides multiple readings and for in-class teaching purposes instructors will select from among them.

4.1. Recommended Reading (optional)

4.2. Course Supplies

5.0 Evaluation Number and type of student evaluation components plus the weighting for each component.

• Weekly Quizzes 10% • In-class group work 10% • Assignment 1 10% • Mid-term Test 20% • Assignment 2 20% • Final Exam 30% • Total 100%

6.0 Course Schedule Depending on topic preference, instructors will select between 2 – 3 readings per unit.

Unit Topics Readings/Assignments The of Science and the Scientific • Shermer, M. (2003). Why Smart People Believe Weird Things. Skeptic,

Method 10(2), 62. • Pseudoscience and the Demarcation Problem • Schick Jr., Theodore (1997). The End of Science? • Limitations of Science • Pattern Recognition and Natural Laws (21.2) . Retrieved • Ockham's Razor, Popper's Falsifiability, from http://www.csicop.org/si/show/end_of_science/

and Replicability 1 • The Confirmation Bias • Sagan, Carl (1996). Does Truth Matter? Science, Pseudoscience, and Civilization. Skeptical Inquirer (20.2). Retrieved from http://www.csicop.org/si/show/does_truth_matter_science_pse udoscience_and_civilization

• The Richard Dawkins Foundation for Reason and Science (Producer). (2009). : Baloney Detection Kit. RDF. Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eUB4j0n2UDU Science in Transition: Displaced Paradigms • Henry, J. (1999). and the origins of modern science. Lancet,

2 and Falsification 354SIV23. • "Common " Observations and (Geocentrism) • Szydlo, Z., & Brzezinski, R. (1997). A new light on alchemy. (Cover

• Anomalies, Paradigms and Paradigm story). History Today, 47(1), 17. Shifts • Alchemy • Simpson, D. (2005). AND THE NEUROSCIENCES: • Phrenology CONTRIBUTIONS OF F. J. GALL AND J. G. SPURZHEIM. ANZ Journal Of • Nemesis Theory and Dinosaur Extinction Surgery, 75(6), 475-482. doi:10.1111/j.1445-2197.2005.03426.x

• Atkinson, Nancy (2011, August 1). New Impact Rate Count Lays Nemesis Theory to Rest. In Universe Today. Retrieved from http://www.universetoday.com/87874/new-impact-rate-count-lays- nemesis-theory-to-rest/

Pathological Science • Langmuir, I., & Hall, R. N. (1989). PATHOLOGICAL SCIENCE. • Belief, Evidence and Self-Deception Today, 42(10), 36-48. • Illusory Patterns and the Canals of Mars

• N-Rays and Mitogenic Rays • Feynman, Richard P. (1974) . In Engineering and • Cold Fusion and Science, 37 (7). pp. 10-13. ISSN 0013-7812. Retrieved from http://calteches.library.caltech.edu/3043/1/CargoCult.pdf

• Lane, K. D. (2006). Mapping the Mars Canal Mania: Cartographic 3 Projection and the Creation of a Popular Icon. Imago Mundi, 58(2), 198-211. doi:10.1080/03085690600687255

• Collins, P. (2001). THE MAN WITH N-RAY EYES. Lingua Franca: The Review Of Academic Life, 11(1), 42.

• Klotz, I. M., & Katz, J. J. (1991). Two extraordinary electrical . American Scholar, 60(2), 247. Science in Transition: Current Paradigms • Classen, N. (2012). A Brief History of Meteoritics. In planetary

• Evidence and Acceptance meteorites. Retrieved from • Meteorites http://www.meteoris.de/basics/history1.html • Continental Drift (read all four sections)

• Global Warming • Conniff, Richard (2012, ). When Continental Drift Was Considered Pseudoscience. Smithsonian Magazine. Retrieved from

http://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/When-Continental- Drift-Was-Considered-Pseudoscience.html?c=y&page=1 4

• Chivers, Danny. Debunking the myths. (2011). New Internationalist, (442), 15-21.

• Petersen, T. C., Connoley, W. M., & Fleck, J. (2008). THE MYTH OF THE 1970s GLOBAL COOLING SCIENTIFIC CONSENSUS. Bulletin Of The American Meteorological Society, 89(9), 1325-1337. doi:10.1175/2008BAMS2370.1

Misconceptions, Myths and Conspiracies • Fagan, G. G., & Hale, C. (2001). The New and the Dangers of

• The 10% Brain . Skeptic, 9(1), 78. • Lunacy and Lunar Effects; Eggs and the • Radford, Ben (1999). The Ten-Percent Myth. Skeptical Inquirer (23.2). ; Dowsing • Cataclysmic Planetary Alignments Retrieved from http://www.csicop.org/si/show/the_ten-percent_myth • Fake Moon Landing • Talcott, R. (2010). Astronomy mythbusters. Astronomy, 38(11), 56-57. 5 • Britt, Roy (2009, September 25). Moon Myths: The Truth About Lunar Effects on You. Retrieved from http://www.livescience.com/7899-moon-myths-truth-lunar- effects.html

• Morrison, D. (2009). 2012 and Counting A NASA Answers the Top 20 Questions About 2012. Skeptic, 15(2), 47-53. "Scientific" Hoaxes • Tobias, P. V. (1994). Piltdown unmasked. Sciences, 34(1), 38.

• Piltdown Man and Alien Autopsy • Perpetual Motion Machines and The • Park, R. L. (2008). Fraud in Science. Social Research, 75(4), 1135-1150.

Turk • Welle's War of the Worlds "Newscast" • Sokal, Alan D. (1996). A Physicist Experiments With Cultural Studies. In • Dihydrogen Monoxide New York University (Department of Physics, Alan Sokal). Retrieved from http://www.physics.nyu.edu/faculty/sokal/lingua_franca_v4/ling • The Sokal Affair ua_franca_v4.html

6 • Nickell, Joe (2005, July 22). Voice of Reason: 'War of the Worlds' Truths and Myths. Retrieved from http://www.livescience.com/331-voice- reason-war-worlds-truths-myths.html

• The Dihydrogen Monoxide Research Division (2012). Retrieved from http://www.dhmo.org/ (peruse this website and think about why you should be concerned that "Dihydrogen Monoxide has been found in our rivers, lakes, oceans and streams." (http://www.dhmo.org/dihydrogen- monoxide/)

Astrology, Velikovskianism and Astronomy • Bakich, M. E. (2004). Astrology: FACT or FICTION?. Astronomy, 32(12), • Astrology's Place in Ancient Science 50-56.

• Astronomy v. Astrology • : Are You an ? • Fraknoi, Andrew (2010). An Looks at Astrology. In • Astronomy v. Velikovsky's Worlds in Astronomical Society of the Pacific (Educational Resources). Retrieved from http://www.astrosociety.org/astrology.pdf Collision 7 • Narlikar, J. V., Kunte, S., Dabholkar, N., & Ghatpande, P. (2009). A statistical test of astrology. Current Science (00113891), 96(5), 641- 643.

• Hasenauer, D. (1998). What's your ? & Telescope, 95(6), 10.

• Morrison, D. (2001). VELIKOVSKY AT FIFTY. Skeptic, 9(1), 62.

Numerology, Fortune Telling and other • Stickland, Andrew (2004, September 1). , correlation and

Instruments of chance. Plus Magazine. Retrieved • The Conjunction Fallacy from http://plus.maths.org/content/coincidence-correlation-and- chance • Chance and Probabilities • , and Patternicity • Martin, Bruce (1998). Coincidences: Remarkable or Random? Skeptical Inquirer (22.5). Retrieved • A ? • Good ? from http://www.csicop.org/si/show/coincidences_remarkable_or_ra ndom

8 • Thomas, Dave (1997). Hidden Messages and The Bible Code. Skeptical Inquirer (21.6). Retrieved from http://www.csicop.org/si/show/hidden_messages_and_the_bibl e_code

• Wiseman, Richard (2003). The Luck Factor. In Quirky Mind Stuff- Richard Wiseman. Retrieved from http://richardwiseman.files.wordpress.com/2011/09/the_luck_f actor.pdf

• Klotz, I. M. (1995). Number in scientific thinking. Mathematical Intelligencer, 17(1), 43. Creationism, Evolution, and Intelligent • McMaster, Joe (2007) In Defense of Evolution. In PBS (Evolution).

Design Retrieved from http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/evolution/defense- • Descent with Modification evolution.html

• Irreducible Complexity • The Scopes Trial • BOUDRY, M., BLANCKE, S., & BRAECKMAN, J. (2010). IRREDUCIBLE • Kitzmiller v. Dover INCOHERENCE AND : A LOOK INTO THE CONCEPTUAL TOOLBOX OF A PSEUDOSCIENCE. Quarterly Review Of

Biology, 85(4), 473-482.

9 • Sullivan, Charles & Mcpherson, Cameron (2005). Getting the off Darwin’s Back: Four Common Myths About Evolution. Skeptical Inquirer (29.3). Retrieved from http://www.csicop.org/si/show/getting_the_monkey_off_darwin s_back

• Shermer, Michael. 25 CREATIONISTS' ARGUMENTS & 25 EVOLUTIONISTS' ANSWERS. In The Geological Society of America (Critical Issues). Retrieved from http://www.geosociety.org/criticalissues/ev_shermer.htm

Paranormal Phenomena • McCrone, J. (2004). The power of belief. New Scientist, 181 (2438), 34- • ESP 37. • Telekinesis

• Survival After Death • Schlitz, M., Wiseman, R., Watt, C., & Radin, D. (2006). Of two minds: • Mysticism Sceptic--proponent collaboration within . British Journal Of , 97(3), 313-322. doi:10.1348/000712605X80704

10 • Stollznow, Karen (2012, January 30). Tricks of the Trade: How talk (and manipulate). In Psychology Today (Speaking in Tongues). Retrieved from http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/speaking-in- tongues/201201/tricks-the-psychic-trade

• Wiseman, Richard (2010). 'Heads I Win, Tails You Lose': How

Parapsychologists Nullify Null Results. Skeptical Inquirer (34.1). Retrieved from http://www.csicop.org/si/show/heads_i_win_tails_you_loser_how_pa rapsychologists_nullify_null_results

• Woerlee, G.M. (2004). Darkness, Tunnels, and Light. Skeptical Inquirer (28.3). Retrieved from http://www.csicop.org/si/show/darkness_tunnels_and_light Aliens and UFOs • Sheaffer, Robert (2009). 2009: A Six-Decade Skeptical

• (believing is seeing) Inquirer (33.1). Retrieved • Flying Saucers & UFOs: Historical from http://www.csicop.org/si/show/ufology_2009_a_six- decade_perspective Perspective • and "Ooparts" • Crop Circles • Nickell, Joe (2002). Circular Reasoning: The 'Mystery' of Crop Circles

and Their 'Orbs' of Light. Skeptical Inquirer (26.5). Retrieved from http://www.csicop.org/si/show/circular_reasoning_the_mystery 11 _of_crop_circles_and_their_orbs_of_light

• Aveni, A. F., & Silverman, H. (1991). BETWEEN THE LINES. Sciences, 31(4), 36.

• Omohundro, John T. (1976). Von Däniken's Chariots: A Primer in the of Cooked Science. Skeptical Inquirer (1.1). Retrieved from http://www.csicop.org/si/show/von_daumlnikenrsquos_chariots _a_primer_in_the_art_of_cooked_science

Fuzzy Science, or • Hansen, Suzy (2001, August 27) “Science, Semi-Science and Nonsense:

Protoscience? A Professional Skeptic Talks About What’s Real Science (evolution, the • The Demarcation Problem Revisited Big Bang), What’s Balderdash (ESP, creationism), and What Lies Between (hypnotism, superstring theory). In Salon. Retrieved • The Neuroscience of • Artificial Intelligence from http://www.salon.com/2001/08/27/shermer/

12 • The Search for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence (SETI) • HORGAN, J. (2011). Who's an Expert, Who's a ? Chronicle Of Higher Education, 58(15), B4-B5.

• Johnson, K. A., Wiersema, J. R., & Kuntsi, J. (2009). What would say? Are current psychological theories of ADHD falsifiable?. Behavioral & Brain Functions, 51-11. doi:10.1186/1744-9081-5-15

7.0 Classroom and Equipment Requirements n/a