Statin Denialism Harriet Hall Vaccines, Autism, and Pseudoscience

Gun Violence | Climate Conversation | Missiles and Saucers | Searching for Yowie

Woo Never Stops | Queensland Mysteries | Mindfulness | Empathy | EMF and Ghosts

Vol. 41 No. 3 | May/June 2017 the Magazine for Science and Reason

Statin Denialism Harriet Hall

Vaccines, Autism, and Pseudoscience

Helping Teachers T each Evolution

Everything You Know about Rh-Negative I s Wrong

Randi Interview, Part 2

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Published by the Center for Inquiry in association with the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry a program of the Robyn E. Blumner, President and CEO Benjamin Radford, Research Fellow Barry Karr, Executive Director Richard Wiseman, Research Fellow Joe Nickell, Senior Research Fellow Massimo Polidoro, Research Fellow www.csicop.org

Fellows James E. Alcock*, psychologist, York Univ., Toronto Murray Gell-Mann, professor of physics, Santa Fe Institute; Harvard Univ., Cambridge, MA Marcia Angell, MD, former editor-in-chief, Nobel laureate Loren Pankratz, psychologist, Oregon Health New England Journal of Medicine Thomas Gilovich, psychologist, Cornell Univ. Sciences Univ. Kimball Atwood IV, MD, physician; author; Newton, MA David H. Gorski, cancer surgeon and researcher at Barbara Robert L. Park, professor of physics, Univ. of Maryland Stephen Barrett, MD, psychiatrist; author; consumer advocate, Ann Karmanos Cancer Institute and chief of breast surgery Jay M. Pasachoff, Field Memorial Professor of Allentown, PA section, Wayne State University School of Medicine. Astronomy and director of the Hopkins Willem Betz, MD, professor of medicine, Univ. of Brussels Wendy M. Grossman, writer; founder and first editor, Observatory, Williams College Irving Biederman, psychol ogist, Univ. of Southern CA The Skeptic magazine (UK) John Paulos, mathematician, Temple Univ. Susan Blackmore, visit ing lecturer, Univ. of the West of Susan Haack, Cooper Senior Scholar in Arts and Clifford A. Pickover, scientist, author, editor, IBM T.J. Watson England, Bristol Sciences, professor of philosophy and professor Research Center. Sandra Blakeslee, science writer; author; New York Times of Law, Univ. of Miami Massimo Pigliucci, professor of philosophy, science correspondent Harriet Hall*, MD, physician; investigator, Puyallup, WA City Univ. of New York–Lehman College Mark Boslough, physicist, Sandia National Laboratories, David J. Helfand, professor of astronomy, Steven Pinker, cognitive scientist, Harvard Univ. Albuquerque, NM Columbia Univ. Massimo Polidoro, science writer; author; executive Henri Broch, physicist, Univ. of Nice, France Terence M. Hines, prof. of psychology, Pace Univ., director of CICAP, Italy Pleasantville, NY Jan Harold Brunvand, folklorist; professor emeritus James L. Powell, geochemist, author, professor; executive direc- of English, Univ. of Utah Douglas R. Hofstadter, professor of human tor, National Physical Science Consortium; retired college and understanding and cognitive science, Indiana Univ. Mario Bunge, philos o pher, McGill Univ., Montreal museum president, Buellton, CA Gerald Holton, Mallinckrodt Professor of Physics and professor Anthony R. Pratkanis, professor of psychology, Univ. of CA, Robert T. Carroll, emeritus professor of philosophy, of histo ry of science, Harvard Univ. Sacramento City College; writer Santa Cruz Sean B. Carroll, molecular geneticist; vice president for science Ray Hyman*, psychologist, Univ. of Oregon Donald R. Prothero, paleontologist/geologist, Natural History education, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Madison, WI Stuart D. Jordan, NASA astrophysicist emeritus; Museum of Los Angeles County, Los Angeles, CA Thomas R. Casten, energy expert; founder, Recycled Energy science advisor to Center for Inquiry Office of Public Benjamin Radford, investigator; research fellow, Committee Development, Westmont, IL Policy, Washington, DC for Skeptical Inquiry John R. Cole, anthropologist; editor, National Barry Karr, executive director, Committee for James “The Amazing” Randi, magician; CSICOP founding Center for Science Education Skeptical Inquiry, Amherst, NY member; founder, James Randi Educational Foundation K.C. Cole, science writer; author; professor, Univ. of Southern Lawrence M. Krauss, foundation professor, School Milton Rosenberg, psychologist, Univ. of Chicago California’s Annenberg School of Journalism of Earth and Space Exploration and Physics Dept.; Amardeo Sarma*, chairman, GWUP, Germany John Cook, research assistant professor, Center for Climate director, Origins Initiative, Arizona State Univ. Richard Saunders, president, Australian Skeptics; educator; Change Communication, George Mason University, Edwin C. Krupp, astronomer; director, investigator; podcaster; Sydney, Australia Virginia. Griffith Observatory, Los Angeles, CA Joe Schwarcz, director, McGill Office for Science and Society Frederick Crews, literary and cultural critic; professor emeritus Lawrence Kusche, science writer Eugenie C. Scott*, physical anthropologist; chair, advisory of English, Univ. of CA, Berkeley Leon Lederman, emeritus director, Fermilab; council , National Center for Science Education Richard Dawkins, zoologist, Oxford Univ. Nobel laureate in physics Robert Sheaffer, science writer Geoffrey Dean, technical editor, Perth, Australia Stephan Lewandowsky, psychologist, School of Experimental Seth Shostak, senior astronomer, SETI Institute, Mountain View, CA Cornelis de Jager, profes sor of astro phys ics, Univ. of Utrecht, Psychology and Cabot Institute, Univ. of Bristol, UK the Netherlands Scott O. Lilienfeld*, psychol ogist, Emory Univ., Atlanta, GA Simon Singh, science writer; broadcaster; UK Daniel C. Dennett, Austin B. Fletcher Professor of Philosophy Lin Zixin, former editor, Science and Technology Daily (China) Dick Smith, entrepreneur, publisher, aviator, adventurer, Terrey Hills, N.S.W., Australia and director of Center for Cognitive Studies, Tufts Univ. Jere Lipps, Museum of Paleontology, Univ. of CA, Berkeley Keith E. Stanovich, cognitive psychologist; professor of Ann Druyan, writer and producer; CEO, Cosmos Studios, Elizabeth Loftus*, profes sor of psychol ogy, Univ. of CA, Irvine human development and applied psychology, Univ . of Ithaca, NY Daniel Loxton, author, editor of Junior Skeptic at Skeptic maga- Toronto Sanal Edamaruku, president, Indian Rationalist zine (US), artist, Vancouver, B.C., Canada Karen Stollznow*, linguist; skeptical investigator; writer; Association and Rationalist International David Marks, psychologist, City Univ., London podcaster Edzard Ernst, professor, Complementary Medicine, Peninsula Mario Mendez-Acosta, journal ist and science writer, Mexico City Jill Cornell Tarter, astronomer, SETI Institute, Mountain View, CA Medical School, Universities of Exeter and Plymouth, Carol Tavris, psycholo gist and author, Los Angeles, CA Exeter, UK Kenneth R. Miller, professor of biology, Brown Univ. David Morrison, space scientist, NASA Ames Research Center David E. Thomas*, physicist and mathematician, Socorro, NM Kenneth Feder, professor of anthropology, Central Connecticut State Univ. Richard A. Muller, profes sor of physics, Univ. of CA, Berkeley Neil deGrasse Tyson, astrophysicist and director, Hayden Planetarium, New York City Krista Federspiel, science journalist, expert on complementary Joe Nickell, senior research fellow, CSI and alternative medicine, Vienna, Austria. Jan Willem Nienhuys, mathematician, Waalre, Indre Viskontas, cognitive neuroscientist, TV and podcast host, Barbara Forrest, professor of philosophy, SE Louisiana Univ. The Netherlands and opera singer, San Francisco, CA Andrew Fraknoi, astronomer, Foothill College, Los Altos Hills, CA Lee Nisbet, philosopher, Medaille College Stuart Vyse, psychologist, former Joanne Toor Cummings Steven Novella*, MD, assistant professor ’50 professor of psychology, Connecticut College; author Kendrick Frazier*, science writer; editor, Skeptical Inquirer of neurology, Yale Univ. School of Medicine of Believing in Magic: The Psychology of Superstition Christopher C. French, professor, Department Bill Nye, science educator and television host, Nye Labs Marilyn vos Savant, Parade magazine contributing editor of Psychology, and head of the Anomalistic Psychology Research Unit, Goldsmiths College, Univ. of London James E. Oberg, science writer Steven Weinberg, profes sor of physics and astronomy, Univ. of Julia Galef, host of the Rationally Speaking podcast; Irmgard Oepen, professor of medicine (retired), Texas at Austin; Nobel laureate cofounder, Center for Applied Rationality, Berkeley, CA Marburg, Germany E.O. Wilson, Univ. profes sor emeritus, organismic and evolu- Luigi Garlaschelli, chemist, Università di Pavia (Italy); Paul Offit, professor of pediatrics, director of the Vaccine Educa- tionary biology, Harvard Univ. research fellow of CICAP, the Italian skeptics group tion Center, the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia Richard Wiseman, psychologist, Univ. of Hertfordshire, England Maryanne Garry, professor, School of Psychology, Victoria Naomi Oreskes, geologist and professor, departments of the Benjamin Wolozin, professor, Department of Pharmacology, Univ. of Wellington, New Zealand History of Science and Earth and Planetary Sciences, Boston Univ. School of Medicine

* Member, CSI Executive Council (Affiliations given for identification only.)

The Skeptical Inquirer (ISSN 0194-6730) is published Director, CSI, P.O. Box 703, Amherst, NY 14226-0703. Tel.: authors. Their publication does not necessarily constitute an bimonthly by the Center for Inquiry in association with 716-636-1425. Fax: 716-636-1733. Email: bkarr@center- endorsement by CSI or its members unless so stated. the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry, P.O. Box 703, Am- forinquiry.net. Copyright ©2017 by the Center for Inquiry and the herst, NY 14226. Printed in U.S.A. Periodicals post Manuscripts, letters, books for review, and editorial in Committee for Skeptical Inquiry. All rights reserved. age paid at Buffalo, NY, and at additional mailing of quiries should be sent to Kendrick Frazier, Editor, Skeptical Subscriptions and changes of address should be ad fices. Subscription prices: one year (six issues), $35; Inquirer, EMAIL: [email protected]. Mail: 944 dressed to: Skeptical Inquirer, P.O. Box 703, Amherst, NY two years, $60; three years, $84; single issue, $5.99. Deer Drive NE, Albuquerque, NM 87122. Before submitting 14226-0703. Or call toll-free 1-800-634-1610 (outside Cana dian and foreign orders: Payment in U.S. funds drawn any manuscript, please consult our Guide for Authors for the U.S. call 716-636-1425). Old address as well as new on a U.S. bank must accompany orders; please add US$10 style and reference requirements and submittal instruc- are necessary for change of subscriber’s address, with six per year for shipping. Cana dian and foreign customers are tions. It is on our website at www.csicop.org/publications/ weeks advance notice. Skeptical Inquirer subscribers may encouraged to use Visa or MasterCard. guide. not speak on behalf of CSI or the Skeptical Inquirer. Inquiries from the media and the public about the work Articles, reports, reviews, and letters published in the Postmaster: Send changes of address to Skeptical of the Committee should be made to Barry Karr, Executive Skeptical Inquirer erepr sent the views and work of ind ividual Inquirer, P.O. Box 703, Amherst, NY 14226-0703. Skepti cal Inquirer May/June 2017 | Vol. 41, No. 3

FEATURES COLUMNS FROM THE EDITOR 34 Fake News and Fake Science in the ...... 4 Surviving the Age of Misinformation Misinformation Age NEWS AND COMMENT For ourselves and our society, survival Over 150 Scientific Organizations, Sixty- in the current era will require building Two Nobel Laureates Urge Repeal of our foundation on facts. Controversial Immigration Ban / Chicken David J. Helfand Acceleration? APA Puts Imprimatur on Credulous Psi Book / Kazoo Magazine Aims to Encourage Girls in Science / 40 Library Catalogs Deny Science Denial / Information Bias in Library Catalogs...... 5 Statin Denialism The benefits of statins far outweigh their risks, but public perception has been skewed INVESTIGATIVE FILES by alarmist misinformation from statin denialists. Some Queensland Mysteries JOE NICKELL...... 14 HARRIET HALL A MAGICIAN IN THE LAB It Just Never Stops … 44 JAMES RANDI...... 18 NOTES ON A STRANGE WORLD Vaccines, Autism, and the The Return of the Fairies Promotion of Irrelevant Research: MASSIMO POLIDORO...... 21 A Science-Pseudoscience Analysis The Science of Craig A. Foster and Science Communication Sarenna M. Ortiz The Mindfulness Movement MATTHEW NISBET...... 24

49 BEHAVIOR & BELIEF Your Unlearning Report Helping Teachers Teach STUART VYSE...... 27 Evolution in the United States Skeptical Inquiree Bertha Vazquez Can Electromagnetic Fields Create Ghosts? 53 Benjamin Radford...... 30 NEW AND NOTABLE...... 60 Everything You Know about Being Rh-Negative Is Wrong LETTERS TO THE EDITOR...... 63 D. Ellen K. Tarr THE LAST LAUGH...... 66

INTERVIEW 11 REVIEWs Still ‘Amazing’: Research into Astrology A Conversation Made Accessible IVAN W. KELLY ...... 58 with James Randi, Part 2 KENDRICK FRAZIER Tests of Astrology: A Critical Review of Hundreds of Studies by Geoffrey Dean, Arthur Mather, FORUM David Nias, and Rudolf Smit 32 Understanding Manufactroversies Science and History Glenn Branch ...... 60 Get Personal Creating Scientific Controversies: MICHAEL BOOTH Uncertainty and Bias in Science and Society by David Harke Committee for Skeptical Inquiry ™ “... promotes scientific inquiry, critical investigation, and the use Skeptical Inquirer of reason in examining controversial and extraordinary claims.” the magazine for science and reason Editor Kendrick Frazier DEPUTY Editor Benjamin Radford MANAGING Editor Julia Lavarnway [ FROM THE EDITOR ASSISTANT EDITOR Nicole Scott ART DIRECTOR Christopher Fix Production Paul E. Loynes WEBMASTER Matthew Licata Fake News and Fake Science in the Age of publisher’s representative Barry Karr Editorial board James E. Alcock, Harriet Hall, Misinformation Ray Hyman, Scott O. Lilienfeld, Elizabeth Loftus, Joe Nickell, Steven Novella, Amardeo Sarma, Eugenie C. Scott, David E. Thomas, Leonard Tramiel e could say that the whole reason the Skeptical Inquirer exists is consulting editors Susan J. Blackmore, to counter misinformation. And in this era of ubiquitous social media Kenneth L. Feder, Barry Karr, E.C. Krupp, Wand electronic outlets, that is an increasingly tall order. Everybody now Jay M. Pasachoff, Richard Wiseman contributing editors Harriet Hall, Kenneth W. has the equivalent of their own printing press, and nearly everyone seems to Krause, David Morrison, Massimo Pigliucci, think they are an expert. One result is a plethora of misinformation. This may David E. Thomas indeed be the Age of Misinformation, a term we first used as the theme of our Published in association with CSICOP conference in 1996, just when widespread public Internet access and CHAIR Edward Tabash email was getting underway. Two decades later, the problem has only intensified. PRESIDENT AND CEO Robyn E. Blumner In this issue, Columbia University professor David J. Helfand surveys the CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER Barry Karr current situation and gives us his guide to “Surviving the Misinformation Age.” Corporate counsel Nicholas J. Little, There is nothing new about misinformation in public life (Helfand gives an Brenton N. VerPloeg Business Manager Patricia Beauchamp example from 2,400 years ago), but modern technologies to send it instanta- Fiscal Officer Paul Paulin neously to millions have given it a life of its own. Yet, as he says, facts about SUBSCRIPTION Data MANAGER Jacalyn Mohr the physical world still exist, and for those of us still convinced that rational COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR Paul Fidalgo analysis of those facts has value in understanding that world (what a thought!), Director of libraries Timothy S. Binga a counterattack may be in order. Helfand gives positive advice and guidelines, VICE PRESIDENT FOR PHILANTHROPY Martina Fern Director, COUNCIL FOR SECULAR HUMANISM and they all depend on our using the methods, habits, and values of science (“the Tom Flynn most powerful intellectual tool humankind has yet invented”) to lead us out of DIRECTOR, DIGITAL PRODUCT AND STRATEGIES the morass of misinformation. Matt Licata Director, CAMPUS AND COMMUNITY PROGRAMS Helfand has been on the faculty of Columbia’s Department of Astronomy Debbie Goddard for four decades and is a former department chair. A fellow of our Committee Director OF PUBLIC ENGAGEMENT for Skeptical Inquiry and a recent president of the American Astronomical Stephanie Guttormson DATABASE ADMINISTRATOR Society, Helfand spoke at our 2016 CSICon conference and last year published Dave Churvis a seminal book on these topics, A Survival Guide to the Misinformation Age. I Director, Teaching Institute for evolutionary science highly recommend it. Bertha Vazquez One particular type of misinformation, denialism—and a new form of it at BOARD OF DIRECTORS, Edward Tabash (chair), David Cowan, Richard Dawkins, Brian Engler, that—is the topic of Harriet Hall’s article “Statin Denialism.” If you haven’t heard Kendrick Frazier, Barry A. Kosmin, Y. Sherry Sheng, of that term before, it’s because Hall coined it here to refer to the intentional use Andy Thomson, Leonard Tramiel. Honorary: Rebecca Newberger Goldstein, of “alternative facts; in other words: lies” and other misinformation to attempt to Susan Jacoby, Lawrence Krauss. discredit statins, medications that are helping millions. She gives the evidence. It is a delight to welcome back physician Hall, the “SkepDoc,” to our pages for the first time since her recovery from injuries in a fall at Ayers Rock following the Austra- lian Skeptics convention in October. U.S. Air Force Academy psychology professor Craig A. Foster returns to our pages with “Vaccines, Autism, and the Promotion of Irrelevant Research” (with colleague Sarenna M. Ortiz). They identify “the promotion of irrelevant research”— presenting lists of “questionable or peripherally related research studies”—as a fundamental new tactic being used to make pseudoscience look like science. As these articles indicate, fake news and fake claims are not new with this latest political cycle. We welcome all those in public life newly aware of such maladies to our world in which examining, investigating, and exposing questionable claims and fake science—pseudoscience—has been our very reason for being for a very long time. —Kendrick Frazier [ NEWS and comment Over 150 Scientific Organizations, Sixty-Two Nobel Laureates Urge Repeal of Controversial Immigration Ban

Kendrick Frazier

The American Association for the U.S. visas would be exempt from the Scientific progress depends on Advancement of Science (AAAS) and ban. It also allowed for a waiver-seeking openness, transparency, and the free 150 other leading scientific organiza- process. Critics charged that the essence flow of ideas and people, and these principles have helped the United tions and universities sent a letter to of the ban remained, and two federal States attract and richly benefit from President Trump urging him to rescind judges put the scaled-back ban on hold. international scientific talent. From his controversial executive order pre- The letter crafted by AAAS and the Apollo Program and exploring venting immigration from seven coun- sent to the president January 31 em- the far reaches of the universe, to tries. They said it would harm America’s phasized the executive order’s negative advancing biomedical research for curing diseases and harnessing sci- science and technology capabilities by impa cts on science and technology. ence to build a thriving high-tech discouraging bright students, scholars, Organizations signing it included the sector, the United States is consid- scientists, and innovators from coming to American Anthropological Associa- ered a leader in science, education the United States to study, attend confer- tion, American Astronomical Society, and innovation. In order to remain ences, work, and build businesses. Nearly American Chemical Society, American the world leader in advancing scientific knowledge and innovations, the a hundred leading high-tech compa- Geophysical Union, American Institute U.S. science and technology enterprise nies also opposed the order on similar of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Amer- must continue to capitalize on the grounds. ican Institute of Physics, and American international and multi-cultural envi- In addition, an open letter signed by Psychological Association. ronment within which it operates. tens of thousands of academics, includ- Here is the full text of the letter: The Executive Order will dis- courage many of the best and bright- ing sixty-two Nobel laureates, warned Dear President Trump: est international students, scholars, that the order “significantly damages engineers and scientists from study- The January 27, 2017, White House American leadership in education and ing and working, attending academic Executive Order on visas and immi- and scientific conferences, or seeking research” (https://notoimmigration gration has profound implications for ban.com). In a separate statement, the to build new businesses in the United diplomatic, humanitarian, and national States. Implementation of this policy International Council for Science, a security interests, in part because of the will compromise the United States’ group representing scientific bodies in negative impact on U.S. science and ability to attract international sci- engineering capacity. 142 countries, also denounced the ban. entific talent and maintain scientific The 151 undersigned organiza- and economic leadership. The Center for Inquiry, which pub- tions—representing a broad spectrum lishes the Skeptical Inquirer with Today, we urge the Administration of professional scientific, engineering to rescind the Executive Order and the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry, and education societies, national asso- we stand ready to assist you in craft- also condemned the executive order ciations, and universities—are deeply ing an immigration and visa policy concerned that this Executive Order on humanitarian grounds, calling it “an that advances U.S. prosperity and will have a negative impact on the ensures strong borders while staying outrageous act of cruelty” and saying it ability of scientists and engineers in “has no basis in facts, reason, or human true to foundational American prin- industry and academia to enter, or ciples as a nation of immigrants. decency” (http://www.centerforinquiry. leave from and return to, the United net/newsroom/trumps_muslim_ban/). States. This will reduce U.S. science and engineering output to the det- Kendrick Frazier is the editor of the The executive order was quickly riment of America and Americans. stopped by a temporary restraining Skeptical Inquirer. order from U.S. District Judge James Robart in Seattle, a ruling upheld 3-0 February 9 by the 9th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals in San Francisco, and immigrants with U.S. visas from the seven countries have been allowed in. In response to the court objections, on March 6 the White House announced a revised travel ban order to take effect in ten days. The new order removed Iraq from the list of affected countries, de- leted language that gave advantages to religious minorities (non-Muslims), and said people with green cards and valid

Skeptical Inquirer | May/June 2017 5 Chicken Acceleration? APA Puts Imprimatur on Credulous Psi Book

Douglas M. Stokes

The 2017 publication of Transcendent belong to the rival Association for Psy- This is very disappointing, as this re- Mind: Rethinking the Science of Con- chological Science. search held out the promise of solving sciousness by Imants Barušs and Julia Publication by the APA will give the world hunger crisis. A similar trick Mossbridge (B&M) by the American Transcendent Mind a high visibility in the might have been used in the first exper- Psychological Association (APA) rep- academic community, which is unfortu- iment. resents something of a landmark in para- nate because the authors adopt an ex- B&M also cite Stephen Braude’s psychology. For one thing, it carries the tremely credulous approach to their anal- work on the “Gold Leaf Lady,” whose imprimatur of publication by the APA. ysis of the parapsychological literature. primary gimmick was to “materialize” In fact, it is one of only three books For instance, they enthusiastically golden leaf paper on her body, clothes, listed in the APA’s Fall 2016 publica- cite Lee Polus’s seminal paper “From and surrounding objects. Laboratory tions catalog for Basic and Experimental Egg to Chick in 14 Minutes” on the testing showed that the paper so materi- Psychology (the other two books are paranormal acceleration of the growth alized appeared to be ordinary, commer- guides for succeeding in academe). This of unfertilized chicken eggs. Here is cially available brass foil. It should also be is an impressive honor for parapsychol- the relevant excerpt from page 142 of noted that brass foil or aluminum foil can ogy, which has been increasingly success- B&M’s book: be rolled up in a tiny ball, making it very ful in placing its publications in “main- Tomaz [a psychic] asked for 15 easy to hide (as well as an excellent prison stream” academic journals, due in large [unfertilized] eggs to be purchased for dog ticks, by the way). The Gold part to Daryl Bem’s success in publishing at the local market and brought to Leaf Lady’s materializations sometimes him. Once these had been placed on the table in front of him, he occurred under poor observational con- appeared to enter an altered state of ditions, such as when she was shopping consciousness, in which his eyes were and dining out. For some strange reason, The pièce de résistance “open but unfocused.” One by one, he attempts to film the moment of material- slowly held each of the eggs against ization failed. Stephen Braude, it should is an interrogation of the his forehead, before cracking them deceased physicist and spilling their contents into a flat be noted, is the editor of the Journal of bowl. He then hyperventilated with Scientific Exploration, one of the major Richard Feynman—as “puffed” chest and “taut and crimson” journals in the field of parapsychology, channeled through the face” and stretched his arms with and is a past president of the Parapsy- “palms down over the eggs.” Within chological Association. 5 minutes, the yolks solidified and medium Angie Aristone. darkened until the “fetal forms of B&M attribute partial success in a baby chicks could be identified”. . . laboratory psychokinesis experiment to At 7 minutes, “the internal organs of the intervention of “discarnate entities,” the embryos could be seen through and they propose that human beings his paper on “feeling the future” in the thin membranes.” And at 9 minutes the cheeping of baby chicks could be harbor astral bodies and that those astral APA’s Journal of Personality and Social heard. Nine of the 15 eggs hatched, bodies in turn harbor higher level astral Psychology in 2010. (See James Alcock, four survived longer than 3 days, and bodies and so on ad infinitum. B&M “Back from the Future: Parapsychology a couple of them lived in the backyard compare this structure to a nested set of and the Bem Affair,” and editor’s col- until they were eaten for dinner. Russian dolls. umn “Why the Bem Experiments Are B&M state that “a reader could react The pièce de résistance is B&M’s Not Parapschology’s Next Big Thing,” by thinking that these [events] sound interrogation of the deceased physi- Skeptical Inquirer, March/April like magic tricks.” (You think?) Need- cist Richard Feynman—as channeled 2011.) less to say, these events were witnessed through the medium Angie Aristone. One might think that this increasing by multiple observers. B&M state that the medium provided openness to parapsychological articles Of course, no parapsychological ex- some accurate details of Feynman’s life. reflects parapsychology’s maturation as periment would be complete without a B&M do not provide these details or a science. However, it could instead be failure to replicate. One attempt, filmed any description of the conditions under due to a lowering of the APA’s scientific by an Australian film crew, resulted in which they were provided. This line of standards. The APA is an organization only well-defined internal organs. Note investigation was prompted by Barušs’s of clinically oriented psychologists, that precisely this result could be ob- reading of Feynman’s books on phys- whereas experimentally and scientif- tained by cracking incubated fertilized ics. Mossbridge asked Barušs to ask the ically oriented psychologists tend to eggs and pouring them into a bowl. “Feynman” personality some technical

6 Volume 41 Issue 3 | Skeptical Inquirer [ NEWS and comment questions about physics. So Barušs set up Kazoo Magazine Aims to Encourage Girls in Science another appointment with the medium (who by that time of course had a “heads up” that investigators would ask Feyn- Benjamin Radford man-related questions). Barušs asked A crowdfunding project has helped launch a new magazine, Kazoo, to “Feynman” for the fine structure constant, empower girls and (in part) help steer them toward science, technology, which most physicists know as 1/137, or engineering, and mathematics (STEM) careers. Kazoo focuses on girls and .0073 in decimal form. The medium said, women, and, according to its website: “Zero. Eight.” At that point, Barušs cut All of our stories are either developed or inspired by top female artists, explor- her off by saying “something like ‘No. No. ers, scientists, chefs, athletes, activists, writers and others. Regular features That’s wrong. That’s not the right num- include: science experiments; comics; art projects; recipes; interviews with ber.”’’ Undeterred, the medium stated that inspiring women from Olympic athletes to astronauts; and fun activities, like “there is a capital M piece of something; secret codes, jokes, mazes, search-and-finds and more. . . . It will feature attached to something.” Barušs replied some of the most powerful and inspirational women in their fields, thus giving girls a more well-rounded sense of the world and the possibilities within it. that there was no capital M anywhere. Later it dawned on him that Mossbridge’s Touted as “a magazine name begins with a capital M. for girls who aren’t afraid At some point in their conversation, to make some noise,” the Mossbridge’s phone died, leaving the website notes, Kazoo isn’t number 0.08 displayed on her phone just for girls: boys would calculator. (She had been playing around “probably love it, too. After with her calculator in a desperate search all, there’s no such thing for numbers related to the fine structure as, say, girls’ science and constant.) At this point, “a light bulb boys’ science, or girls’ art went on” in Barušs’s head. He recog- and boys’ art. Science is nized .08 approximating the square root science and art is art, of of .0073, the fine structure constant. But course. But most media .08 is not in fact the fine structure con- that cover similar topics stant, which is .0073. An Internet search use boys as the default revealed that Feynman sometimes called target audience, while girls the square root of .0073 (.085) the fine are left with the burden of structure constant, although few physi- just ‘putting themselves in cists followed him in this practice. B&M the story.’” claim that the probability of guessing the Founder Erin Bried ex- first two digits of the (erroneous) fine plains that she and her structure constant (i.e., zero and eight) five-year-old daughter were looking for a magazine they could enjoy together correctly by chance is 0.01. However, but were dissatisfied with what was available. Bried drew upon nearly twenty the initial zero is only a placeholder and years of experience in high-profile magazines, including Self and Glamour, would not be considered a significant and in April 2016 launched a Kickstarter campaign “with hopes that other figure in scientific notation. The second people would also be as interested in a magazine that doesn’t tell girls how digit (eight) is simply wrong. If we are to look or act, but instead inspires them to be strong, smart, fierce and, above going to consider initial zeros, then the all, true to themselves. Within 30 days, Kazoo became the most successful initial digits are both zero in the fine journalism campaign in crowdfunding history.” (Full disclosure: I contributed structure constant, and B&M are wrong to Kazoo’s campaign.) again. The theme of Kazoo’s most recent issue (Winter 2016/2017) is ar- In conclusion, the publication of chitecture, and it features blueprints for making a snow fort and a bridge B&M’s book by the APA may not reflect made of candy, a comic about the Brooklyn Bridge, a city scavenger hunt, parapsychology’s scientific maturation as ice science experiments, a banana bread recipe, and more. Kazoo, which a science but rather the erosion of the carries no advertising, is available only in screen-free print form (since APA’s scientific standards. its pages contain art projects and puzzles) and costs $50 per year for four issues. Subscriptions are available at https://www.ezsubscription. Douglas M. Stokes holds a PhD in exper com/kaz/subscribe. imental psychology and is a frequent con tributor to the literature on parapsychology. Benjamin Radford is deputy editor of Skeptical Inquirer and author or coau- His latest book is Reimagining the Soul pub thor of ten books. lished by McFarland.

Skeptical Inquirer | May/June 2017 7 Library Catalogs Deny Science Denial

Sanford Berman

Many libraries stock works such as Donald Prothero’s Reality Library of Congress has done so first, the practical effect is Check: How Science Deniers Threaten Our Future (2013), that the subject searches in nearly all catalogs will not reveal Stephen Epstein’s Impure Science: AIDS, Activism, and the items on AIDS, science, and climate change denial, as well as Politics of Knowledge (1996), Chris Mooney’s The Republican the antivaccine movement, despite their having resources on War on Science (2005), Nicoli Nattrass’s Mortal Combat: these themes. AIDS Denialism and the Struggle for Antiretrovirals in South In order to improve access for interested citizens and Africa (2007), Seth Kalichman’s Denying AIDS: Conspiracy scholars to such “denialism” books, films, and documents, the Theories, Pseudoscience, and Human Tragedy (2009), Pieter Library of Congress must create and then currently and ret- Fouri and Melissa Meyer’s Politics of AIDS Denialism: South rospectively assign appropriate descriptors to cataloged ma- Africa’s Failure to Respond (2010), Nicoli Nattrass’s The terials. I (and perhaps others) have formally asked them to do AIDS Conspiracy: Science Fights Back (2012), John Cook’s so. Thus far, they haven’t. Climate Change Denial (2011), Naomi Oreskes and Erik M. What might help in persuading the Library of Congress Conway’s Merchants of Doubt (2011), Robert Kenner’s 2015 to establish and use these needed rubrics is a statement from documentary film Merchants of Doubt, Michael Specter’s the Center for Inquiry urging such action. Support letters Denialism: How Irrational Thinking Hinders Scientific from individual CSI members, plus Skeptical Inquirer and Progress, Harms the Planet, and Threatens Our Lives (2009), Free Inquiry readers, would also be helpful. Correspondence Hannah Allen’s Don’t Get Stuck! The Case Against Vaccinations should be directed to: and Injections (1985), Paul A. Offit’s Deadly Choices: How the Anti-Vaccine Movement Threatens Us All (2010), Mark A. Cataloging Policy & Support Office Largent’s Vaccine: The Debate in Modern America (2012), Paul Library of Congress A. Offit’s Autism’s False Prophets: Bad Science, Risky Medicine, Washington, DC 20540-4305 and the Search for a Cure (2008), PBS’s Frontline documentary Vaccine War (2010), Viera Scheibner’s Vaccination: 100 For background on the “currency” and other problems in Years of Orthodox Research Shows That Vaccines Represent an Library of Congress subject and descriptive cataloging, see Assault on the Immune System (1993), and Eleanor McBeans’s my Joy of Cataloging (1981); “Jackdaws Strut in Peacock’s Poisoned Needle (1957). Feathers: The Shame of ‘Standard’ Cataloging,” Librarians at But if you don’t already know the author or title and so Liberty, June 1998, p. 1, 4–21; and quarterly “Berman’s Bag” make a subject search in the online catalog under “Science columns in the Unabashed Librarian. Also, Prejudices and An- Denialism,” “AIDS Denialism,” “Climate Change Deni- tipathies: A Tract on the LC Subject Heads Concerning People alism,” or “Antivaccine Movement,” you will likely find . . . (1993 edition). nothing. It will seem that the library doesn’t really have such materials, although they do. Sanford Berman, former Head Cataloger at Hennepin County Li- Why? Because the Library of Congress has not recognized brary in Minnesota, is an advisor for the Journal of Information these topics as subject headings. Since most American libraries (and many others) will not assign headings (i.e., access Ethics. His latest book is Not in My Library: ‘Bermans Bag’ Columns points) to relevant resources in their collections unless the from the Unabashed Librarian, 2000–2013 (2013).

8 Volume 41 Issue 3 | Skeptical Inquirer [ NEWS and comment

Information Bias in Library Catalogs

Timothy Binga

Sanford Berman (see preceding News trons. These systems do not necessarily placed incorrectly in the subjects “Athe- and Comment piece) has been work- have formal subject headings from the ism” or “Christianity—Controversial ing tirelessly for years to improve the Library of Congress; however, the sys- literature” versus the correct heading of Library of Congress Subject Headings tem is trying to overcome some of these “Jesus Christ—Historicity.” Many rea- (LCSH) and keep the subject headings issues, current relevance being one im- sons could be to blame for this, but Lee and classification system up to date. portant one. This is done with a social points out that this type of book usually As mentioned in his article, Berman tagging element as both patrons and is cataloged by a subject expert, which points out a subtle bias that is created librarians are using keywords (such as would likely be in religion or philoso- because library catalogs do not truly denialism, AIDS denialism, etc.). This phy, and there could be a bias there. represent the subject heading and clas- is not formalized, which in itself is a Also, many book creators and pub- sification that is indicated. His example problem. Since anybody can tag, there lishers today are cataloging their own of climate change denialism is but one is no control, and there is no guarantee materials, and this becomes a library classification that should be added, and that the tag is relevant to everyone. This cataloging issue too. They are using it is not correctly represented with the also creates another bias. subject headings that are not always term climate change skepticism. Knowing there is a bias in the infor- correct but ones that would sell books As Berman mentions, the Library of mation helps us to think critically about better. We see some of those effects in Congress is slow to make changes. This the information that is represented in skeptical book sales; Joe Nickell’s Uni- is not only because they are a conser- the library catalogs. As a part of their versity Press of Kentucky books were vative institution but because they are profession, librarians and information promoted as paranormal books, placed undergoing a “modernization” of cata- specialists try to remove these biases. in the New Age section of Barnes and loging rules. The Library of Congress is But even our profession can sometimes Noble, and had only secondary subject moving toward a new system that will create these problems, both unwittingly headings of skepticism. Good librarians provide many other access points to in- and on purpose. might change the subject headings a bit formation than were found in older li- Earl Lee, in his book Libraries in for their own library, but many don’t brary catalogs. It still takes considerable the Age of Mediocrity ( Jefferson, NC: have the time or the ability to do this. effort to make even the simplest of sub- McFarland and Co., 2001) points out I support the improvement of the ject heading changes to become more that there have been many issues with LCSH with those suggestions Berman modern, or remove an archaic item, and cataloging library materials, particularly has written about here. Hopefully we it seems as though the Library of Con- with those of a controversial nature. will still see information professionals gress might not be working as fast as The example I use in my article “Li- continue to help patrons make informed they could to modernize the classifica- brary Collections on Unbelief ” in the decisions on what they are looking to tion schemes. New Encyclopedia of Unbelief (Amherst, read. Library Information Systems are NY: Prometheus Books, 2007) shows heading toward more social interaction how books dealing with evidence for Timothy Binga is Director of Libraries at that allow for tagging materials by pa- and against the existence of Jesus are the Center for Inquiry.

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Still ‘Amazing’: A Conversation with James Randi

Part 2

Part 2: The famous conjuror, investigator, and author—and founding fellow of CSICOP—sat down with errors were. They were not very Skeptical Inquirer Editor Kendrick Frazier at CSICon Las Vegas 2016 for a live, ninety-minute onstage happy about it. conversation. Here are excerpts. Particularly in Russia. They were not happy about it at all, Which of all of your books Tell us about your book that is and I came in for all kinds of is your favorite and which is completed, I understand, but scolding. I was told by two of most successful? not yet published, A Magician the scientists who were pres- in the Laboratory. What is ent, young fellows, months af- Flim-Flam! was probably the that about? terward I got letters from them most successful. Yes, with an It’s going to deal with my visits saying that the man in charge exclamation point, please, and to laboratories all over the of the whole thing said they a hyphen. It’s very important. world in almost every country would never let a magician in Yes, Flim-Flam! really is the in the world over these many the laboratory again. most general book on my in- years that I’ve had traveling. I showed them where they vestigations of the paranormal Where these scientists thought were so wrong. A magician and the supernatural claims they had something discovered, showing scientists where that are still infesting our soci- something paranormal, some- they’re wrong? Come on, that’s ety today. It sold very, very well. thing supernatural, whatever, I not very logical at all. But I And The Faith Healers was a would go into the laboratories knew enough about science great success for me too. and show them where their and about the way it works and

Skeptical Inquirer | May/June 2017 11 doesn’t work. That’s the second particularly at so-called faith bunker. He prefers to describe delusion. He likes to think of it thing you’ve got to know, is how healers and people who are himself as a scientific inves- that way, that I made him, but he it doesn’t work. supposed to be bringing relief to tigator. I don’t set out to de- was well famous as a so-called the people. bunk.” I think that’s fair, right? psychic long before I was called When Carl Sagan wrote the I am a debunker, yes, by defini- by Time magazine to go in and introduction to Faith Healers, In November 2014, the New tion, but I think scientific inves- investigate him. That investiga- he said many kind things about York Times Magazine published tigator covers it better because tion, that was fun . . . you have you, but he also had some crit- a lengthy article about you, I try to be scientific. I don’t have no idea. Geller, with his great icisms. He referred to you as “The Unbelievable Skepticism the credentials for that at all, but psychic powers, didn’t know that “crotchety.” of the Amazing Randi.” It was I have met the approval of many I was a magician and that I knew quite a wonderful, very de- I certainly am, yes. He couldn’t leading scientists, including Carl how he was doing it. How would tailed, revealing article. How quite understand that I actually Sagan, and many, many other he not have known that? did you see it and how has it did sometimes get very angry, people around the world in that At one point Geller bent a affected you?

“I am a debunker, yes, by definition, but I think scientific investigator covers it better because I try to be scientific. I don’t have the credentials for that at all, but I have met the approval of many leading scientists, including Carl Sagan, and many, many other people around the world in that respect. I accept it. I do try to be as scientific as I possibly can, and I’m not afraid to phone people up and ask them for advice on how I should state something to make sure that I have it as accurately as I can.” —James Randi

It was a good article. I liked respect. I accept it. I do try to be spoon and showed it to me. it very much. At the New York as scientific as I possibly can, He said, “Did you see that?” I Times, after all, you would ex- and I’m not afraid to phone peo- looked at him, I said, “Yes, Mr. pect high standards, and we got ple up and ask them for advice Geller, I did see that.” He just them. on how I should state something looked, hesitating. Then he put My partner, Deyvi, and I, we to make sure that I have it as the spoon down and went on were very, very happy with the accurately as I can. with something else. I think it results of it. It was done kindly tipped to him at that moment. and decently. I was satisfied with Frazier: Then the writer talked That was a revelation to him be- it in most ways, and certainly the about this person we have kept cause I said it that pleasantly: “I illustrations were very good. We in the background here. “Ran- did see that.” were very flattered by it. di’s campaign against [Uri] Geller helped make them both A biography of you is being Frazier: Let me mention a few more famous than ever. Even written by Massimo Polidoro. things that were said: “For today Geller credits Randi with How is that going? many of his most zealous fol- helping him become a psychic I’m a very close friend of Mas- lowers the opportunity to meet phenomenon. ‘My most influen- simo’s. I’ve known him since he Randi at TAM”—your confer- tial and important publicist,’ as was about so big and he’s actu- ence—“may be as close as they Geller described him to me.’” ally lived at my home for some will ever come to a religious What do I think of that? period of time and brushed up experience.” on his English while doing that. That’s true. Bless you, bless you. Yes. He’s now a famous writer in Italy, I think this is, what do they call his homeland. He writes in both [Continuing] “He, Randi, said it, a delusion on the part of English and in Italian. he disliked being called a de- Mr. Geller. Yes, a very dramatic I’m pleased to have it in

12 Volume 41 Issue 3 | Skeptical Inquirer Massimo’s hands. Massimo has I can’t have it that way. That often very difficult to do. think that’s what it was—or agreed to suspend activity on sequence has got to get back in At showings of An Honest whether he maybe thought the book because he has so again, any way you want. Just put Liar, we can often drive to them you were a paranormal person many other projects going all at it back in again because it’s got if they’re in Florida and show up yourself. the same time. He’s done very to be the true story of my life.” for Q&A following the film, to I recall your going over and well for himself in that respect. It turned out to be that, and some delight. Those are always taking him aside and talking He has agreed to suspend ac- the reaction we are getting to rather exciting and very good to him privately about that to tion on that until my next book it, well, it’s now dubbed in eight sessions. comfort him. I don’t know what comes out because it’s going to different languages, subtitles, all When we do these Q&A was said, but you did do that, be very much autobiographical over the world. It just showed in things afterwards and the au- and I don’t know if you remem- as well. Russia I think for the first time, dience leaves, there’s always ber that experience at all. a couple of months ago. It’s on six or eight people left behind, I’ve had to do that occasionally Magician in the Laboratory? Netflix. Ken, that come to the foot of the to explain to people there are It’ll be autobiographical about stage. They look up at us and ways of doing this and then just your life as well as about your How has it changed your life? they’ll come up with the same do it right in front of their eyes. work in scientific laboratories? In odd ways that you might not statement as if it were written “How did you do that?” they’ll Yes. I got a chance to express realize. Deyvi and I, if we go out there for them to read. They say. “I gestured with the spoon that, but Massimo will come out to a department store or say, “You made a big change in like this and I said to you, ‘Come out with his version of course something, not in our immediate my life,” often with tears coming over here.’ As I turned away and from a different point of view. neighborhood, there’s always down their faces. you didn’t notice that then I con- That’s quite understandable. He somebody way across the store, Folks, you cannot buy that. cealed the bend.” I explained to already has written a very, very “Mr. Randi,” and they come run- That’s the greatest compliment them how I did the thing. good book on the history of ning at me. “I saw your movie. we can possibly have. They will in Then it suddenly dawned on Harry Houdini, among so many I loved it,” the whole thing. They many cases successfully explain them, “Yes, it’s very easy actu- other books. recognize both of us of course. how what we said in that film ally.” It has made a great deal of dif- actually changed their minds in In 2015, out came a docu- ference. I feel good because the some way or another. As I say, None of us are as young as we mentary movie about you, An true story is out there and it’s that’s very, very flattering, and used to be. You’ve had health Honest Liar. Ruth and I were available to everybody. The pro- we know we made it. The film challenges, a heart attack I be- very privileged to be among ducers of the film did a very, very worked and it worked well. We lieve, colon cancer, something the audience in Sydney, Aus- good job. All with my approval, I get letters from all over the world you and I have shared. tralia, when you were on your assure you. now from people who say exactly I had cardiac bypass surgery. Australian tour for the movie the same thing. That’s very flat- after the Australian Skeptics That event in Sydney, Australia, tering. Cardiac bypass, aneurisms convention there two years that I mentioned. Toward the in your leg, cataracts, I don’t ago. I found it a powerful and end you were asked a ques- I want to ask you about an- know what else. Yet you have emotionally moving movie. I tion from the audience that other experience I recall. It persevered. I think we all want assume you agree? I thought was very revealing, was after a CSICOP Executive to know how are you doing Yes, I do. I must explain, for something about you. I wrote Council meeting in London. We health wise? about it later in my editor’s col- were at a restaurant. You were those who’ve seen it and for I’ve recently had a couple of umn in the Skeptical Inquirer. bending the cutlery, surpris- those who haven’t, that there TIAs; those are transient isch- You were asked how to treat ingly. was a sequence in there, you’ll emic attacks. That really stands a friend who ardently believes all remember this, there is a Me? Would I do a thing like for a minor stroke. I lost the use in the paranormal. You said, point in the movie when I told that? of my right arm temporarily, for a “Be kind. Be kind. They believe the producers about something matter of a few minutes, but it’s because they need to believe. A waiter was watching very in- that happened in my family that back again, yes. As a matter of Be compassionate.” Is that a tently, and it became very clear I didn’t wish to be in the movie. fact, my hands are exceedingly new Randi or is that the Randi he was quite emotional about I told them that this must not flexible if you noticed. No, I’m of old? it. He eventually came over, be used. It was less than twen- doing very well, doing very well. and it was clear something was ty-four hours later that I came It’s not a new Randi at all, but For eighty-eight I only feel like very strongly affecting him. I to my senses, the next day after since I began these investiga- eighty-six. True. I had a chance to think about tions I found that these people, don’t recall whether it was that it. I phoned them up and I said, they believed in it so much and he had seen you debunking Thank you, dear Randi. We all “Wait a minute. I’m supposed to they needed it so much that to the idea that spoon bending is thank you. be honest about these things. disabuse them of the notion was a paranormal phenomenon—I

Skeptical Inquirer | May/June 2017 13 [ INVESTIGATIVE FILES JOE NICKELL Joe Nickell, PhD, is a former stage magician, private investigator, and scholar. He has investigated in over two dozen countries and is author, coauthor, or editor of some forty books.

Some Queensland Mysteries

trange mysteries may be found almost anywhere, but they seem Sespecially plentiful and interesting in Australia. I investigated several during my first (2000) and second (2016) trips Down Under (including New Zealand on the latter). And I only scratched the surface. In addition to the several articles that have resulted—some old and some more recent (e.g., Nickell 2001; 2016)—I offer three diverse mysteries I chanced upon in Queensland: a dramatic event that sparked thoughts of UFOs, a “haunted” historic inn, and an alleged miracle-working saint. Here is my take on each. Figure 1. Aerial view of the great “sinkhole” at Inskip Point, Queensland, Australia, 2015. adapted the story. For instance, UFO fellow skeptic, to come to her home at Mystery Hole Down Under News asked, “What caused the earth to Rainbow Beach not far from the mys- It happened on a Saturday night, open and take a huge bite out of Inskip tery site. She had arranged for local fire September 26, 2015, when something Point?” (Stokes 2015). A psychic even captain Greg Haring to meet with us took a monstrous bite out of a beach suggested it might be a sign of the Bib- and take us to Inskip Point. at Inskip Point north of Brisbane, lical “end times” (Walker 2015). This Putting us in his all-terrain vehicle, Queensland, Australia. There was was enough for Queensland parliament Haring first gave us a quick tour of a thunder-like noise, and an entire member Tony Perrett to warn against Rainbow Beach (which gets its name campsite began to quickly disappear. wild speculation, as an investigation from its colorful variety of mineral-sand People escaped with their lives, but into the cause continued (“Call to Stay deposits). As the tide was coming in, some vehicles, including one with Calm” 2015). he would periodically pause to let the an attached “caravan” (camper), were A couple of weeks later, on October water retreat, then—deftly swerving lost to “Davy Jones’s Locker” (Gorrie 12, Ross Balch (president of Brisbane around boulders—make a dash for the 2015). Alarm spread to nearby camp- Skeptic Society), Myles Power, and I next stretch of beach. After this mem- sites, and officials evacuated an initial happened to be in the area hunting orable ride, he took us to nearby Inskip 140 people, though the number later the fabled Yowie (Australia’s Bigfoot). Point and the very edge of the great grew to an estimated 300 (Tran and We had been to Yowie Park at Kilcoy “sinkhole.” Thackray 2015). (where a wood statue of the elusive It was a stunning scene. A semicir- The incident, as a local newspaper man-beast stands [Nickell 2016]) when cular area of former beach—spanning noted, “attracted interest around the we received an invitation from Dr. Cas- an estimated 200 by 100 meters and re- world” (Gorrie 2015). Internet sources sandra Perryman, a psychologist and portedly extending more than 10 meters

14 Volume 41 Issue 3 | Skeptical Inquirer deep—held trees that were now standing of Haunted Places, Dennis William Hauck publican husband (Horswill and Stead in the ocean. Aerial photos (see Figure 1) (2000, 221) refers to the “apparition” of a 2009)—unless the latter instead threw her provided an even more impressive view of female there but then states that it “has to her death from the exterior balcony as the phenomenon. (See “Skydivers” 2015; never been spotted.” Still, he says “her dis- other sources state (e.g., Farrell 2015). Stokes 2015.) tinctive voice has been heard,” most fre- Sources that give a time frame for the As it happens, the area has a history of quently “near Room 7.” But wait: another female’s death agree that it was “in the such collapses occurring rather regularly, source clarifies that she actually “lives . . . 1920s.” We learn that since then “many although they are rarely so large. A size- where Guest Room 7 used to be before the claim to have heard her” (“Ghosts” 2005) able one occurred in 2011 (Stokes 2015). renovations” (“Ghosts” 2005; emphasis as she “haunts Room 7” (Horswill and However, these are not the usual type of added). Anyway, she was “a young girl” Stead 2009) or at least “wanders the sinkhole that occurs, for example, when a or “young woman” who was definitely hallways and the balcony where she met segment of limestone cavern collapses. (I strangled, either by her “boyfriend” or her her end”—although that source calls the am familiar with this from my cave ex- claim only a “story” (Moore 2014). ploration days in Kentucky.) In fact, the As we see, the story elements (or “mo- Inskip beach collapse isn’t really a sink- tifs,” as folklorists call them) are quite hole at all. variable. Variants are a “defining charac- A deposit of sand that becomes overly teristic of folklore” according to distin- steep through underwater erosion may guished folklorist (and CSI fellow and become unstable, prone to what is called Facts about the ghost friend) Jan H. Brunvand (1978), since oral a submarine landslide. In this event, the of Plough Inn are as transmission naturally produces differing slope unravels with segments progres- versions of the same story. But many of sively slumping to fill the space left by elusive as the alleged the variants in published ghost tales are the slumping of the segment below. Ac- explained by writers copying others while cording to an expert source, “This mech- spirit itself. In The adding details and making other changes anism fits well with the situation at Inskip for literary purposes (Brunvand 2000, beach, both in terms of the geomorpho- International Directory 132). I suggest we call such written prod- logical conditions and the reported char- of Haunted Places, ucts hacklore. In any case, Brunvand (1981, acteristics of the beach collapse” (“Inskip” 21) sagely observes that when there is no 2015). Dennis William Hauck certain original, the multiple versions of While the 2015 occurrence is indeed a tale do provide “good evidence against memorable—especially to those who refers to the “apparition” credibility.” almost lost their lives to it!—it yet fails At the Plough Inn, alleged earwit- to provide evidence of some great “unex- of a female there but nesses invariably go unidentified, but I plained mystery.” then states that it “has did learn from one of the service staff, who had a room upstairs, that he recently The Haunting of Plough Inn never been spotted.” heard a knock at his door when no one Located at Brisbane’s South Bank, the was there. Alas, such rapping noises are Plough Inn is a hotel and tavern with a common, often caused by temperature long history—and reportedly a resident changes and settlings of an old structure ghost. (Nickell 2012, 61). Pranks are also known The original building of 1864 was replaced with a more substantial one in 1885. Its picturesque, balconied front is a relic of a streetscape; it once graced Stan- ley Street (a principal nineteenth-century thoroughfare), but its surroundings have evolved. It was protected when South Brisbane’s old wharves were transformed into the scenic, multi-faceted South Bank Parklands. After additions in 1922 and internal transformations to become a tavern during Expo ’88, it earned a listing on the Queensland Heritage Register in 1992 (Moore 2014; “Plough Inn” 2015) (see Figure 2). However, facts about the ghost of Plough Inn are as elusive as the alleged spirit itself. In The International Directory Figure 2. Historic Plough Inn in Brisbane, Australia: Note author at bottom left, sign at top center. Skeptical Inquirer | May/June 2017 15 spirits Ross and I encountered at the and her conflict with clergy (including pub were those in bottles and glasses. helping to expose a pedophile priest)— led to her brief excommunication and Miracle Worker? the expulsion of nearly half her followers. This injustice was soon rescinded, During my stay in Brisbane, I was and though other troubles befell her, she delighted to visit the little chapel of went on to leave an indelible mark on St. Stephen’s, which—dwarfed by the the Catholic Church in Australia (Steer adjacent cathedral of the same name— 2010; McCreanor 2001). is the oldest church in Queensland, As a strong woman and charismatic opening in 1850. After it was replaced leader, she did not affect the visions, by the new edifice in 1874, the chapel the pretended stigmata, or the like of functioned as a school, survived threats so many sainthood seekers. She worked of demolition, and today is a shrine to tirelessly, traveling on horseback, by Australia’s first and only saint, Mary horse and cart, and by train to estab- MacKillop (1842–1909), canonized by lish schools and foundations far and Pope Benedict in 2010 (“St. Stephen’s” wide (McCreanor 2001, 119). When N.d.) (Figure 3). she suffered a stroke in 1902, which Briefly, Mary was the child of Scot- paralyzed her right side, she adapted tish immigrants to Australia. Her to a wheelchair and learned to write mother, during her pregnancy, wore an left-handed. At her death on August 8, alleged relic of the True Cross (pieces 1909, Cardinal Moran, the Archbishop of which so proliferated in the Middle Figure 3. The oldest church in Queensland—St. of Sydney, said, “I consider this day to Stephens Chapel in Brisbane—is now a shrine to Ages as to promote extreme skepti- have assisted at the deathbed of a Saint” Australia’s first saint (Author’s photos). cism). As a teenager, Mary worked as (“Mary MacKillop” 2015). a stationery shop assistant and later as Almost immediately there grew a (e.g., Christopher 1970, 170), among a teacher and governess, becoming her movement to have her canonized. In other explanations. family’s main breadwinner. She soon North Sydney, a Mary MacKillop Me- Ross Balch and I spent much time opened a school for young ladies in morial Chapel was built, and her body at the inn—during dinners, a skeptics- western Victoria. In 1866, when she was reinterred there. In 1926, she re- at-the-pub event, and a pleasant lunch was twenty-four, Mary began operat- ceived the official title Servant of God, with assistant hotel manager Mark ing in a former stable a congregation and a detailed investigation of her life Farrell. Farrell (2015) had no personal of religious sisters—teachers and care began. This produced little that was experiences to relate and said he was providers—called the Sisters of St. Jo- negative (except for rumors that she himself not really much of a believer in seph of the Sacred Heart. Her intensity overused brandy, which was said to ghosts. I drank to that; indeed, the only in supporting working-class families have been prescribed for medicinal purposes). By 1951, a Cause for Canoniza- tion was issued. Other developments followed, and when Pope John Paul II visited Australia in 1986, he prayed at her tomb, a sign of things to come. He Mary’s intensity in supporting working-class beatified MacKillop in 1995, and she families and her conflict with clergy (including was canonized by Pope Benedict XVI in 2010 (McCreanor 2001, 124–129; helping to expose a pedophile priest)—led to Steer 2010, 64). her brief excommunication and the expulsion of Beatification and canonization had each required evidence that MacKillop nearly half her followers. This injustice was soon helped bring about a miracle and, following her death, claims began to rescinded, and though other troubles befell her, appear. In time, the reported 1961 she went on to leave an indelible mark on the disappearance of leukemia from a woman—Veronica Hopson, twenty- Catholic Church in Australia. three, who had prayed to the future saint—was used for beatification in 1993. A medical professor who treated Mrs. Hopson, however, stated that while “From her point of view this was a

16 Volume 41 Issue 3 | Skeptical Inquirer JOE NICKELL INVESTIGATIVE FILES] miracle,” he did not himself define it as “We don’t know why the symptoms cle. The Sydney Morning Herald. Available a supernatural event, saying: “A miracle went away; therefore, it was a miracle.” online at http://www.smh.com.au/national/ marys-first-miracle-20101015-16nmd.html; is a very unusual event, a happy event, In fact, there are numerous other pos- accessed January 19, 2016. that is very difficult to explain. She’s sibilities: misdiagnosis, spontaneous Inskip beach collapse: just don’t call it a “sink- certainly the only [such] patient in that remission (which can occur with some hole.” 2015. Available online at http://the- period that I have seen survive” (Biggs illnesses), prior medical treatment, and conversation.com/inskip-beach-collapse- 2010). others, including the body’s own heal- just-don’t-call-it-a-sinkhole-48241; accessed February 8, 2017. The search for a second miracle ing power. Often, investigation reveals Mary MacKillop. 2015. Available online at turned up numerous claims. One came there is more to the “miracle” than first https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_ from a man who prayed that his grand- thought (Nickell 2015). MacKillop; accessed December 15, 2015. daughter not be born with serious dis- Behind the claims of saints’ miracles McCreanor, Sheila J. 2001. Sainthood in Australia: Mary MacKillop and the Print Media. North abilities as doctors had predicted; he are attempts to trump science—both Sydney, NSW Australia: Sisters of St. Joseph felt his prayers were answered when the by downplaying its role in cures and by of the Sacred Heart. baby’s handicap was only Down Syn- selecting “medically inexplicable” cases. The Miracles. . . . 2015. Available online at drome. A boy was said to have recov- One priest best characterized the heal- http://www.heraldsun.com/au/archive/news/ ered from a brain tumor after prayers ing of Veronica Hopson by remarking, the-miracles-that-put-mary-mackillop- on-the-path-to-sainthood/story-e6frf716- at MacKillop’s chapel, but medical sci- “The whole thing was medically sur- 1225812199236; accessed December 15, ence seemed to have earned most of the prising” (“The Miracles” 2015). If the 2015. credit. Vatican wanted, understandably, to Moore, Tony. 2014. Once-in-99 year chance And then there was the supposedly honor Mary MacKillop as a heroine to buy a ghostly pub in Brisbane. Available miraculous “vision” of the Virgin Mary of the church, they should simply have online at http://www.brisbanetimes.com.an/ queensland/oncein99-year-chance-to-buy- on a church wall at Yankalilla, a small done so, and not played the superstition a-ghostly-pub-inbrisbane-20140321-2594b. town in South Australia. Alas, the card in a miracles game. The Sydney html; accessed December 11, 2015. church was Anglican, the image only a Morning Herald observed that “the re- Nickell, Joe. 2001. Mysterious Australia. simulacrum (a semblance of something quirement for miracles . . . has begun to Skeptical Inquirer. 25(2) (March/April): perceived in a random pattern—in this 15–18. be questioned by many Catholics,” and ———. 2012. The Science of Ghosts. Amherst, case a water stain), and the priest had Northern Territory News aptly noted, NY: Prometheus Books. the unfortunate name Nutter. (He later “You don’t have to believe in miracles to ———. 2015. The new pope saints. Skeptical changed it to Notere, but not before appreciate the works of Mary MacKil- Inquirer 39(2) (March/April): 26–29. ■ selling holy water he obtained by tap- lop” (McCreanor 2001, 179). ———. 2016. Searching for the yowie, the Down Under Bigfoot. Skeptical Inquirer ping an underground stream behind the References 40(2) (March/April): 16–18. wall that bore the “apparition” [McCre- Plough Inn. 2015. Available online at http:// anor 2001, 253–254].) Biggs, James. 2010. Quoted in Howden. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plough_Inn; accessed Brunvand, Jan Harold. 1978. The Study of December 11, 2015. At length a New South Wales American Folklore. New York: W.W. Norton. Second Miracle—Kathleen Evans. 2015. woman, Kathleen Evans, was rewarded ———. 1981. The Vanishing Hitchhiker: American Available online at http://www.marymack- with acceptance of her “miracle”—her Urban Legends and Their Meanings. New York: W.W. Norton. illop.org.au/marys-story/dsp-default.cfm?- 1993 recovery from lung cancer and a ———. 2000. The Truth Never Stands in the loadref=194; accessed December 15, 2015. secondary cancer on her brain. As she Way of a Good Story. Chicago: University of Skydivers on a high over the sinkhole. 2015. recalled some seventeen years later, her Illinois Press. Cooloola Advitiser (October 6). doctors said chemotherapy and other Call to stay calm. 2015. Cooloola Advertiser St. Stephen’s Chapel. N.d. Brochure. Brisbane, (October 6). QL: Cathedral of St. Stephen. treatments were useless, so she turned Christopher, Milbourne. 1970. ESP, Seers & Steer, Judith. 2010. Mary MacKillop: Touching to praying and wearing a relic of Mary Psychics. New York: Thomas Y. Crowell. Our Lives. Strathfield, NSW, Australia: St. Farrell, Mark. 2015. Interview by author, October Paul Publications. MacKillop: a swatch of fabric from 15. Stokes, Christopher. 2015. Available online at clothing of the future saint. (That is Ghosts of Queensland, Brisbane and the what is termed “a second-class relic”: Brisbane Region. 2005. Available online http://ufOnews.blogspot.com/2015/09/ at http://www.chapelhill.homeip.net/ beach-disappears-down-mysterious-hole. not an actual part of a saint, such as a FamilyHistory/other/QueenslandHistory/ html; accessed December 9, 2015. piece of bone or lock of hair, but some- TheGhostsofQueensland.htm; accessed Tran, Cindy, and Lucy Thackray. 2015. “There’s thing that had touched the person.) December 11, 2015. a real chance it could expand. . . .” Available She wore the relic on her own clothing Gorrie, Arthur. 2015. Voyage to the bottom of online at http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/ the sea. Cooloola Advertiser (October 6). articles-3251093/There-a-real-chance- (“Second Miracle” 2015). Hauck, Dennis William. 2000. The International expand-terrifying-sinkhole-swallowed- The problem is that being judged Directory of Haunted Places. New York: cars-caravans-Queensland-beach-grow- Penguin Books. miraculous on the basis of being “med- ing-experts-no-idea-stop-it.html; accessed Horswill, Amanda, and Laura Stead. 2009. December 9, 2015. ically inexplicable,” such claims merely The Sunday Mail. Available online constitute negative evidence and invoke at http://www.couriermail.com.au/ Walker, Carlie. 2015. Is the sinkhole at Inskip Point a sign of the end of times? Available the logical fallacy called “an argument news/ghost-stories-from-brisbane/story-e6frep26-1225784427216; accessed online at www.frasercoastchronicle.com/AU/ from ignorance.” One cannot draw a December 11, 2015. news/sign-of-the-end-of-times/2789524; conclusion from a lack of knowledge: Howden, Saffron. 2010. Mary’s first mira- accessed January 19, 2016.

Skeptical Inquirer | May/June 2017 17 [ A MAGICIAN IN THE LAB JAMES RANDI James Randi began his career as a stage magician and escape artist but achieved fame as a professional skeptic, disproving the claims of self-described psychics, mind readers, and faith healers. He is a founder of the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry (formerly CSICOP).

It Just Never Stops …

o introduce you to the kind of (like that of other bodies), and con- history of the object. Apparently, not really silly material that I regularly sequently homeopathy, explains itself one of these authorities experienced an Treceive for consideration and can by the fact that water, the molecule epiphany that would’ve told them it was of water (as that of other bodies) deal with only briefly, I ask you to con- has this property to “espouse” the a fake only a few years old. Instead, we’re sider this item: From Paris, France, I frequency of pulsation (of vibration) told, they all produced colorful sto- received a 102-page book—in French. of other molecules put into con- ries—using their own preferred brands Its title translates as: Released from tact with it, molecules which then of supernaturalism—in attempting to can thus leave it while having left divine the less-than-divine truth about Mathematics, to Finally Know What the in it their frequency of pulsation (of Universe Really Is, Concretely, and How vibration)—beneficial frequency in Skully. This means—if all holidays are It Works. the case of homeopathy. It is all and suspended, no weekends off—Skully For clarification, I’ve made very it is all that makes the universe, the was examined about twice a day, every minor changes to the two paragraphs inter-reactions between the frequencies day, for 2,192 days, which is six years! of pulsation (of vibration) of the atoms I find this difficult to believe, but—as from the letter that accompanied the and the molecules, continuously in pul- book so that you’ll have some idea of sation (vibrations). always—I’ll try. what really advanced nut-stuff can do Richard T. Cole, the author of the to the human brain. Selected from that And it went on and on in the same book—who I cannot find among the letter, written to me in English for my vein. Mercifully, I’ll allow the author to plethora of Richard T. Coles on the convenience: remain anonymous. Internet—notifies the reader that he’s In 2012, I received by mail an “eval- disguised the names of all participants Here is the explanation of what the uation/promotion” copy of a 217-page “memory” of water is, and conse- mentioned in the publication, often quently homeopathy, and finally the book, Crystal Clear—subtitled, “The at the demands of lawyers. While the complete and definitive explanation end of the world is not nigh. It is now!” contents of the book provide some of what is really, concretely the uni- No index of the contents, of course. . . . entertainment, they also evoke a cer- verse, which, among other factors, at It deals with a hoax involving “Skully,” a tain sadness about the fact that grown last goes to make the “paranormal” beautiful life-sized human skull said to people will involve themselves in such normal. have been fashioned out of a solid piece useless activity. There were many obvi- That “explanation” continued, with of quartz. Advance Bummer: Skully was ous clues that required no paranormal portions shown here exactly as empha- made of clear acrylic plastic. powers to provide suspicion about the sized in the original document. Prepare This object, we’re told, had been pre- qualifications of Skully as an ancient yourself: sented to “3,912 professional psychics” artifact. For example, no one seems to over a period of six years and was given have tried scratching the artifact, which The universe being only inter-reactions between frequencies of pulsa- 1,735 “channeling” sessions by these would have revealed that it’s made of tion (of vibration) of atoms and of “experts,” who were asked to determine relatively soft acrylic plastic that was molecules, the “memory” of water the age, the source, and the general easily scratched—while quartz is very,

18 Volume 41 Issue 3 | Skeptical Inquirer very, hard. Also, it weighed just 44 per- Live in tune. Philip Stein. far greater spectrum of attributes— cent as much as a similar quartz object to the Philip Stein Wine Wand. At It goes without saying that a sub- would; think of the weight of a solid $49.95, Harry’s product works just as stantial reward should of course be stone skull, and I’m sure that you would well as Phil’s—which goes for $525— available to the Philip Stein people, but probably have been sufficiently alerted. and Harry’s seems far more versatile. I believe that they might have a certain The literary skills of Mr. Cole seem Now, I’m much less enthused about reluctance to have their vapid claim ex- to be compromised by basic misunder- the sort of science that I encounter in amined. In any case, the “frequencies” standings of how the real world works. the press and on television, and the mentioned are not defined as audible, He wrote, “The flapping of a butterfly’s Information Age has become a possi- vibrational, electromagnetic, or of some wings in Scotland can trigger a hurri- ble enemy rather than a friend, as we other cosmic origin, but the naïfs who cane in Sicily.” This naive concept of once thought it would—and certainly are drawn in by such an ad wouldn’t a poetic idea, enhanced by his incom- could—be. Any nonsense that powerful know the difference anyway. They only plete grasp of optics, basic physics, and people such as Oprah Winfrey choose have money from which they obviously science, may have rather limited Cole’s to promote is featured as fact, quack- can be parted, and I’m sure that the analysis of Skully. Nevertheless, the ery is extolled, and pseudoscience is Stein company doesn’t much care. book is still fascinating due to the ex- flaunted in news media rather than on Consider: the official Philip Stein amples of human frailty it relates. pulp magazine racks. page states, re their “iconic brand”: We’re now bombarded by quack claims from every direction, even in . . . 2002 . . . marked the first time in advertisements for well-recognized history that frequency-based tech- quality items that have chosen to join nology had been incorporated in a luxury watch brand. . . the noisy ducks. The Philip Stein line The Natural Frequency Tech of high-quality wristwatches got my at- nology in Philip Stein watches are [sic] tention when I saw their product name key frequencies beneficial to life and We’re now bombarded health. The frequencies embedded in subtitled, “Natural Frequencies Inside.” Philip Stein watches provide infor by quack claims from What “unnatural frequencies” might mation to the biofield that makes the be, I could not imagine. Reading on, I person wearing a Philip Stein watch every direction, even found: more resilient and adaptable to stress. Within a year of the official launch in advertisements for Relax. Wear a Philip Stein. Our of Philip Stein watches, the company Natural Frequency Technology has was overwhelmed by testimonials— well-recognized quality key frequencies to life and health. better sleep, less tension, improved Customers report benefits of better concentration and improved over items that have chosen sleep, less stress, increased focus and all wellbeing. But perhaps the most improved overall well-being—we important endorsement came in 2003 to join the noisy ducks. simply call it the Feel Good Watch. when media giant Oprah Winfrey This blurb was accompanied by an featured the watch on her “Oprah’s Favorite Things” show. illustration with a mirror-image of the Better sleep, less stress, improved back of the watch that revealed two gold performance, overall wellbeing… buttons labeled “Natural Frequency Technology,” both of which are counter- Well, if Oprah supports this claim, sunk into the watch-casing and therefore we can’t disbelieve! But moving along The woo-woo field being so bizarre, cannot make contact with the wearer’s to an even greater and startling scientific it’s sometimes difficult to spot the sim- wrist! Though I’m not about to buy discovery made by Phil: ple pranks. For example, there was a one of these wonders of technology to Today, Philip Stein watches are sold 2001 study published in a year-end issue find out, I doubt that there’s any wiring in 25 countries around the world. of the British Medical Journal (now titled inside that transmits those beneficial The product line has expanded to BMJ) that used the records of 3,393 pa- “vibes” to the owner. Perhaps an inter- include a wide range of styles. And, tients who were being treated for blood ested reader might pursue that inquiry. the company has taken its technology one step further, to include life- infections at the Rabin Medical Center, A confident, purring, female in a style accessories, including the Philip the second-largest such facility in Israel, beautifully presented vocal ad explains Stein Wine Wand. The wand uses a to study retroactive intercessory prayer as much as Phil is ever going to provide mix of natural frequencies to accel- (RIP). Yes, you read that correctly: ret- for us (my punctuation inserted): erate the “breathing” process of wine, roactive intercessory prayer. Just try to making it ready to drink in minutes. Philip Stein’s “well-being tech- think what that means, folks. Unfortu- nology” was engineered to help us I obviously need a Stein Wand. Don’t nately, it’s the sort of thing that para- re-connect with Nature. Our natural we all? How I’ve muddled along with- psychologists can easily take in stride. frequency technology acts like an antenna which is fine-tuned to pick out one for so long, I can’t imagine. I To compound the alleged miraculous up those natural frequencies that are was driven to compare the price of a power of prayer itself, those experimental most beneficial to human well-being. genuine Harry Potter Wand—with its prayers were performed several years after Skeptical Inquirer | May/June 2017 19 the patients had either already left the might actually be worthwhile doing There was more, but this point is hospital alive or had died from their a large-scale retroactive prayer study clearly made: there are scientific “papers” bloodstream infections! Nonetheless, of the kind discussed here, just for the sake of testing what we regard published regularly all over the world three primary outcomes—mortality, as an extremely improbable real- that are comparable to this one—with- length of stay in the hospital, and du- ity, i.e., a “God signal” that would out any discussion/disclaimer. They’re ration of fever—were all found to have manifest itself in the manner exem- meant to be taken seriously, and they been significantly improved in the in- plified here—for certain combina- often are. The utter foolishness, the tervention group, implying that prayer tions of prayer and prayee. Some have suggested that the notion of juvenile approach, the presumption of can even change events in the past. The retroactive prayer is so preposterous these “papers” makes them tissue-thin author concluded that “Remote, retro- that researchers need not waste their and patently transparent (multiple puns active intercessory prayer was associ- time investigating it. Others have intended) to anyone with a trace of crit- pointed to instances in physics in ated with a shorter stay in hospital and ical thinking operating for them. Seri- a shorter duration of fever in patients which nonlocal interactions in quan- ous journals continue to publish these with a bloodstream infection.” tum theory or alleged connections between consciousness and quantum useless items; the media grab them up Then, to the profound relief of those theory make this possibility worth and exploit them; and woo-woo is given real scientists—and to myself—who, I an empirical look. Although these another boost so that the quacks and admit with some embarrassment, had latter connections are entirely specu- frauds can continue to perpetuate their not readily detected the joke, the author lations, and frowned on by nearly all ended his paper with this huge para- physicists as being without substance chosen opulent lifestyles. graph, though I must say that he’d as- (most would use stronger words), I In that issue of the BMJ, the author do not believe one needs to invoke eventually—officially—admitted that sumed more perception by readers than such metaphysics to justify an empir- his paper had been a joke, an under- I might have assumed: ical test. For example, if it were true that a personal God exists who stood and expected seasonal feature of sometimes grants prayers, retroactive this otherwise very sober publication, Discussion prayers are just as easy for Him to and in the next year they ran similar By now it should be abundantly clear grant as proactive ones, and they discussions on RIP and the possibility to most readers that the reported do not require backwards in time study and its results are entirely signals from the prayee, since God of quantum physics being involved. fictitious. However, despite this knew who was going to be prayed And I trust that the subtle “RIP” ac- n irreverent satire, we believe that it for all along… ronym was not lost on my readers.

There’s much more available on our website! Skepti cal Inq uirer

Here’s just a sample of what you’ll find:

Pratkanis on Altercasting and CSICon Susan Gerbic interviews Anthony Pratkanis—a professor of psychology at the University of California Santa Cruz and an expert on social influence—on “altercasting,” a type of social influence tactic that con artists use to scam the unwary. TIES Weekly Update Bertha Vazquez updates Center for Inquiry supporters on the latest developments in CFI’s Teacher Institute for Evolutionary Science (TIES) program, whose goal is to provide middle school science teachers with current information about evolution, common ancestry, and diversity so that they may better cover the topics in their classrooms.

20 Volume 41 Issue 3 | Skeptical Inquirer [Notes on a strange world massimo polidoro Massimo Polidoro is an investigator of the paranormal, lecturer, and cofounder and head of CICAP, the Italian skeptics group. His website is at www.massimopolidoro.com.

The Return of the Fairies

ne winter evening a few years doesn’t seem to think so, since an Italian ago, G.F., a banker in Cesena, news agency, Adnkronos, found a green OItaly, was traveling with his wife folder of the Ministry of Agriculture in the Apennines Mountains. Their and Forestry created about fifteen years destination was the hut that the two ago titled “Gnomes and Fairies of the owned within the Lama Forest. Since Woods.” it had snowed and the road was getting It contains information, reports, and icy as they climbed, the banker decided photographic material relating to al- to stop the car to apply tire chains. As leged sightings of mysterious creatures he was about to begin, the man real- in the woods. All of them concentrated, ized he was not alone. A few meters curiously, in a particular area: the Apen- away from him in the fresh snow there nines between Tuscany and Romagna, was something unusual. in particular around the area of several Instinctively, the banker took out his municipalities such as San Piero in cell phone and took a picture with the Bagno and Bagno di Romagna. flash on. In the grainy image, there is “We receive all kinds of reports,” a creature with human features on its says Stefano Cazora, chief press officer hands and knees, perhaps busy eating of the State Forestry Corps. “In this snow, looking at the viewer. There’s only case, the gnome is seen as a guardian of one problem: the creature looks smaller nature, just like our Corp is recognized than normal and resembles in every way as the environmental protector.” an elf, including its elongated ears. On August 2, 2001, Mr. Pierluigi Origins of the Fairies Ricci went to the Command Station Sightings of fairies and gnomes are far Bagno di Romagna of Forestry to from a contemporary discovery. The make a very peculiar complaint. As he origin of fairies can be traced back was about to drink from a well within to the figure of the Parcae of classical the Armina Park, Mr. Ricci said there mythology, otherwise known in Latin came upon him “a being high around as Fatum, and it was in the Middle 25 centimeters that I consider to be a Ages that their appearance became ‘gnome’ of the woods.” that of young girls with pointy hats; He then gave a fairly detailed de- the addition of wings came only in the scription of it: human appearance and Victorian era. clothing consisting of a blue jacket, It was slightly later that the first and brown pants, beige fur boots, red and most famous “sighting” photo in his- white beard; in other words, a textbook tory came, made famous in the 1920s gnome. by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, the creator Are these perhaps jokes or the rav- of Sherlock Holmes. Doyle came into ings of mad men? The State Forestry possession of photographs taken at the

Skeptical Inquirer | May/June 2017 21 English village of Cottingley by two magicians, Dan Baines, who had pub- find some unknown “little people” actu- girls and was amazed when he saw that lished the photos on his website, receiv- ally hiding in our gardens. they portrayed some fairies in flight and ing more than 20,000 visits in one day. even a gnome handing a flower to one Baines revealed the joke on April 1 of The Rossdale Fairies of the girls. He dedicated articles and that year. That was exactly what seemed to hap- a book, The Return of the Fairies, to the The Cottingley fairy photographs pen when, in 2014, newspapers reported episode. taken by the girls also began as a joke that a professor in Manchester, John In more recent times, fairies have ap- that got out of hand. They had drawn peared in photographs and even home and carved in some cardboard the silhou- Hyatt, had photographed a group of videos, always very grainy and shot in ettes of fairies and a gnome, photograph- small creatures, oddly looking like fair- poor lighting conditions. In 2008 in ing them using their father’s camera. It ies, in flight. The picture indeed showed Argentina, for example, a video sur- was intended to be just an innocent joke small winged creatures whose bodies faced that kids shot one night where a for the family, but the photos ended up resemble that of tiny human beings. gnome, with his typical pointy hat, can in the hands of Doyle, who took them His images were “genuine and have be seen jumping to the side. The film for genuine. Embarrassed, the girls kept not been altered in any way,” he told the was taken seriously, especially by some the secret for fifty years and only when newspapers. “The message to people is British newspapers, but it turned out to everyone involved had already died did to approach them with an open mind. be a hoax. they decide to reveal the hoax. There are stranger things in life than fairies, and life grows everywhere” (Slater The Fruit-Like Creatures Figments of Imagination 2014). However, after examining the pho- When the fairy report or image is not If fairies and gnomes really existed, tographs, Erica McAlister, an expert on based on deception—however innocent however, we should occasionally find insects at the Natural History Museum and playful—how can we explain the their remains because, as living crea- in London, recognized them. “My first sightings? Sometimes, especially in the tures, it is assumed that sooner or later impression was they can’t be fairies as dark or in a forest, we can catch the they too must die. In reality, strolling in there is no wand. But that is like saying the woods or during a picnic, one can sight of some animal or form, and the mosquitoes aren’t flies because they don’t find carcasses of other, far more familiar, power of suggestion turns it into a crea- look like your typical house fly, so I had woodland creatures, such as squirrels, ture of the imagination. At other times, to approach this more taxonomically” rabbits, or sparrows—yet never the dead it’s the photos themselves that unleash (Freeborn 2014). body of a fairy or an elf. Yet, according the imagination: the more the picture is She finally identified the insects as to some, the bodies of some fairies were grainy and blurred, the more easily our “small swarming midges such as chi- actually found. In a Buddhist temple brains find a meaning. It is the classical ronomids” that resemble mosquitoes but on the outskirts of Bangkok, Thailand, mechanism known as pareidolia, the have longer limbs. They possess a more there is a glass case in which are stored cause of many UFOs, ghosts, Marian, slender body and long slender legs that, the tiny bodies of what seem to be two and fairies sightings. in flight, hang down, in fact, resembling little deformed fetuses. There they are As for the Ranger files, the provincial the limbs of a human being. “There are known as “Naree Pon,” which, according command of Forlì-Cesena made it clear to local legends, are hybrids of plants that there are no recent sightings and many undescribed species on the planet,” and animals. They are born like fruit that it is not exactly an open case file, says McAlister, “and who knows what from a tree and then transform into since there are no elements for an offi- lies out there—we are still determining beautiful female creatures that live only cial crime or offense. It’s just an outdated new species all the time, including large a few days. Aside from these two spec- dossier collecting stories that, at the time, mammals. But as far as I know, no mag- encouraged local newspapers’ attention ical beings have turned up yet. Personally, imens, however, it does not appear that n any have ever been found. but ended up forgotten after a while. I’m holding out for a unicorn.” However, these stories had at least References one result: stimulating a brand new April Fool’s Tricks form of tourism. In Bagno di Romagna, Freeborn, Amy. 2014. The Rossendale Fairies—a In March 2007, a man taking his dog scientific tale of small proportions. Nature Plus, a “path of the gnomes” theme walk has Natural History Museum, April 2. Available for a walk in Derbyshire, England, become popular, and another hiking area online at http://www.nhm.ac.uk/natureplus/ stumbled upon the tiny body of a mum- where nature hikes mix with fairy tales blogs/behind-the-scenes/2014/04/04/the-ros- mified humanoid creature, about twenty has been named after Mentino, a popu- sendale-fairies--a-scientific-tale-of-small-proportions?fromGateway=true. centimeters long and with a pair of lar gnome. Fairies and gnomes are only Slater, Chris. 2014. Pictured: Professor says wings. The uproar caused by the news figments of the imagination, but if they he has photographic proof fairies are died down only when it was learned can encourage people to rediscover and real. Manchester Evening News (April 2). Available online at http://www.manchester- that it was an April Fool’s joke. The preserve the authentic wonders of na- eveningnews.co.uk/news/greater-manches- dehydrated fairy was in fact the work ture, they are welcome. And then—who ter-news/fairies-john-hyatt-rossendale-val- of a creator of tricks and illusions for knows—maybe one day we could even ley-6909619.

22 Volume 41 Issue 3 | Skeptical Inquirer Skeptical Inquirer May/June 2017 23 [ The Science of Science Communication MATTHEW NISBET Matthew Nisbet is associate professor of communication at Northeastern University and a Committee for Skeptical Inquiry scientific consultant. From 1997 and 1999, he was public relations director for CSI.

The Mindfulness Movement How a Buddhist Practice Evolved into a Scientific Approach to Life

few years ago, I took up the regu- I learned, as psychologists describe, that improved. I felt happier, more content, lar practice of meditation. Sitting the contents of my conscientiousness and more at ease. Ain a quiet room, outside at a park, could be observed, and that the accom- Inspired by my own experience, I or on the train to work, I would assume panying emotional reactions to them began to read widely on the history, an upright relaxed position and focus were seldom grounded in reality (Brown philosophy, and science of mindfulness. on my breath. The practice was not et al. 2007). The story of the movement’s origins, about making my mind empty or blank After several months of daily med- the process by which it has gained sci- but simply letting my mind be at rest. itation, I noticed significant benefits. entific legitimacy, and its rise to pop- As thoughts or feelings inevitably Meditation seemed to slow time down, ularity among well-educated, affluent arose, I would observe them without enabling me to live and work in the Americans is fascinating and revealing. judging them. For example, if a thought present rather than worry about the about the need to finish a column for future. I was quicker and more adept Gaining Popularity and Legitimacy this magazine popped into my head, I at recognizing how unrealistic expecta- With its roots in Buddhism, medi- would silently label the thought “worry,” tions or unfounded worries were causing tation is used widely by health pro- before returning to focus on my breath. unnecessary stress. My sleep and mood fessionals to treat depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder, pain, insomnia, eating disorders, relationship problems, and other conditions. Professional athletes use meditation to improve their performance, as do CEOs and Silicon Valley program- mers. Meditation is similarly taught in schools and colleges as a way to help students (and teachers) better regulate their emotions, to improve concentration, and to manage stress and anxiety (Harrington and Dunne 2015). The concept of “mindfulness” traces to the Pali words sati, which in the In- dian Buddhist tradition implies awareness, attention, or alertness, and vipas- sana, which means insight cultivated by meditation. But as the University of British Columbia’s Jeff Wilson (2014) detailed in his book-length study of America’s mindfulness movement, similar breath-attention techniques are

24 Volume 41 Issue 3 | Skeptical Inquirer found in Tibetan Buddhism and in the Thich Nhat Hanh. Exiled from Viet- cordings to use at home for forty-five Japanese Zen meditation practice of nam, he gained prominence as a speaker minutes each day for the duration of zazen. All three strands of Buddhism and activist against the war during the the course. They were also instructed influence approaches to mindfulness 1960s. By the mid-1970s, he shifted to on how to be mindful of their breath today. focus on the promotion of mindfulness during their daily activities, expanding Historically, in Asian Buddhist cul- and meditation, publishing the Miracle the “thread of meditative awareness” tures, monks and nuns practiced med- of Mindfulness and more than 100 sub- into every aspect of their lives (Kabat- itation, not the broader population. sequent books. Today, some 350 official Zinn 2013). For the ordained seeking the path to meditation practice groups are affili- Just as important, the course was able enlightenment, meditation was an in- ated with Hanh’s teachings. Along with to be offered across clinical and institu- strument to facilitate asceticism, detach- the Dalai Lama, he is the world’s best tional settings. Instructors, many with ment, and renunciation, wrote Wilson known Buddhist, noted Wilson (2014), advanced degrees in the mental health (2014). During the mid-nineteenth having appeared on Oprah Winfrey’s professions, were required to complete century, as trade with Asia increased, talk show numerous times and annually an intensive certification process and to Westerners began to take an interest in touring the United States. keep their training up to date. With the Buddhist teaching by way of pamphlets, practice of meditation transformed into books, and journals. Yet despite this in- a clinical intervention, the effects on a terest, meditation did not emerge as a By promoting range of mental, physical, and behav- focus in the United States and Europe ioral outcomes could be evaluated and until the 1960s. mindfulness, published in the peer-reviewed litera- During this decade, reforms in im- meditation could ture. migration policy enabled hundreds of According to historians Ann Har- thousands of Asians to emigrate to the help patients rington and John Dunne (2015), Kabat- United States, including several prom- manage the Zinn recognized that in a secular soci- inent Tibetan and Zen missionaries ety, the health sector was where he could who founded Buddhist centers and suffering associated have the greatest impact as a Buddhist toured college campuses. Courses on with illness. teacher. “Hospitals and medical centers Buddhism at the university level soon in this society are Dukkha magnets,” he followed, offerings that were popu- told a Buddhist magazine in 1991, using lar among students seeking counter- the Pali word for suffering. “People are culture alternatives to Western para- Yet the most influential figure in drawn to hospitals primarily when digms. Some of these students traveled the acceptance of mindfulness as a they’re suffering, so it’s very natural to to South Asia to study Buddhism or secular and scientific practice has been introduce programs to help them deal discovered meditation as part of the Jon Kabat-Zinn. As a student at MIT, with the enormity of their suffering in Peace Corp. By the 1970s, three main Kabat-Zinn was introduced to medita- a systematic way—as a complement to sources of meditation-focused teaching tion by a Zen missionary. He went on medical efforts" (Graham 1991). appeared “that would become the most to study at the Providence Zen Center, Yet to gain legitimacy within the important wellsprings of the American at the Insight Meditation Center, and medical community, Kabat-Zinn un- mindfulness movement,” wrote Wilson with Thich Nhat Hanh, drawing on derstood that he needed to strip his (2014, 31). these and other traditions to inform his approach of any overt religious connec- In 1976, Joseph Goldstein, Jack own approach to teaching mindfulness. tions, framing mindfulness as a mental Kornfield, and Sharon Salzburg After earning a doctorate in molecular skill acquired through meditation that founded the Insight Meditation Center biology, Kabat-Zinn in 1979 started a involves “paying attention in a partic- in Barre, Massachusetts. Having studied stress reduction center at the Univer- ular way; on purpose, in the present Buddhism in South Asia, their goal was sity of Massachusetts Medical School, moment, and nonjudgmentally” (Ka- to create a retreat center that could em- developing an eight-week Mindful- bat-Zinn 2005). By promoting mind- ulate in an American context what they ness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) fulness, meditation could help patients had experienced. In their teachings, ar- course. manage the suffering associated with ticles, and books, Kornfield, Goldstein, Kabat-Zinn’s key innovation, noted illness, reasoned Kabat-Zinn, by en- and Salzburg deliberately downplayed Wilson (2014) was to take the tradi- abling them to be more accepting of elements of chanting, ceremony, and tional week-long meditation retreat, their experience, which in turn would cosmology, noted Wilson (2014). In- inaccessible to those with busy lives, lessen pain, anxiety, and depression. stead, they focused on meditation and and to offer participants classes that Most would still need traditional medi- mindfulness, integrating elements of took place once a week for two months. cal treatment, but meditation could help Western psychology and psychotherapy. Participants, who usually numbered be- speed the recovery process and prepare The second main force in the rise of tween thirty-five and forty per course, them to successfully navigate future mindfulness was the Buddhist monk were assigned guided meditation re- experiences and decisions (Harrington Skeptical Inquirer | May/June 2017 25 [ The Science of Science Communication MATTHEW NISBET and Dunne 2015). Kabat-Zinn, and many other authors. tinue to resolve uncertainties about Kabat-Zinn had transformed med- The Chinese occupation of Tibet, the effects of meditation on the brain itation from a practice rooted in Bud- noted Wilson (2014) brought world- and health, outside the community of dhism to that of a scientifically based wide media attention to the Dalai Lama practicing Buddhists, the mindfulness form of health promotion. Meditation along with acclaimed Hollywood mov- movement remains multidimensional was now the “property of psychologists, ies about Tibet such as Seven Years in and varied, noted historians Harrington doctors, scientists, and diet counselors Tibet, Little Buddha, and Kundun. The and Dunne (2015). Many health pro- and to be engaged in by clients rather 1993 Bill Moyers PBS special Healing fessionals view mindfulness as a power- than believers, who are not expected to and the Mind featured Kabat-Zinn and ful medical intervention best taught by take refuge, read scriptures, believe in his MBSR approach, turning his books trained and credentialed clinicians. Still, karma or rebirth, or to become Bud- into best sellers. For sports fans and ath- many other Americans have come to see dhist,” wrote Wilson (2014). letes, Phil Jackson, coach of the cham- it as a form of mental fitness training, pion Chicago Bulls, related in inter- applicable in varied ways to boost per- Today, more than 600 views how he had encouraged Michael formance in school, business, or ath- Jordan and other players to practice letics or advance their careers. Other studies are published meditation. Americans have come to embrace med- annually on medi- During the 2000s, with books, talks, itation as a practice similar to yoga that and documentaries about mindfulness is related to overall health or emotional tation and mindful- instantly available via Amazon, Net- resilience. A few notable others, includ- ness. Observational flix, and YouTube and guided medita- ing Kabat-Zinn, have even started to tions downloadable to smart phones, promote mindfulness as an antidote to studies evaluate the public interest in mindfulness was set our polarized, fractured politics, pro- to explode. By 2012, an estimated two efficacy of medita- viding a common basis for recognizing million American adults reported hav- shared values and goals. From this per- tion on health-related ing practiced some form of meditation spective, a sense of interconnectedness within the past twelve months (Monroe outcomes and school begins with mastering the art of con- et al. 2017). n scious living. performance. Other Today, more than 600 studies are studies investigate how published annually on meditation and References mindfulness. Observational studies Brown, K.W., R.M. Ryan, and J.D. Creswell. meditation might influ- evaluate the efficacy of meditation on 2007. Mindfulness: Theoretical founda- health-related outcomes and school tions and evidence for its salutary effects. ence parts of the brain Psychological Inquiry 18(4): 211–237. performance. Other studies investigate Graham, B. 1991. In the Dukkha magnet zone: linked to positive emo- how meditation might influence parts An interview with Jon Kabat-Zinn. Tricycle. tions… Yet as wide- of the brain linked to positive emotions, Available online at http://www.tricycle.com/ cause some parts of the brain to grow, interview/dukkha-magnet-zone. Harrington, A., and J.D. Dunne. 2015. When spread as meditation and be related to changes in brain wave mindfulness is therapy: Ethical qualms, his- has become. . . many activity among experienced practitioners torical perspectives. The American Psychologist (Ricard et al. 2014). 70(7): 621–631. of the scientific find- Kabat-Zinn, J. 2005. Coming to Our Senses: Yet as widespread as meditation has Healing Ourselves and the World through ings have not yet been become in clinical settings, schools, and Mindfulness. United Kingdom: Hachette. the business sector, many of the scien- ———. 2013. Full Catastrophe Living, Revised sufficiently replicated. Edition: How to Cope with Stress, Pain and tific findings have not yet been suffi- Illness Using Mindfulness Meditation. United ciently replicated. Most researchers in Kingdom: Hachette. the field are enthusiastic meditators Monroe, N.E., C.G. Moore, and C.M. Greco. themselves, enabling them to apply 2017. Characteristics of adults who used Technology, the Market, and Mindfulness mindfulness meditation: United States, 2012. important insights but also potentially The Journal of Alternative and Complementary Popular interest in meditation and biasing their conclusions. Like in psy- Medicine. doi:10.1089/acm.2016.0099. mindfulness blossomed during the chology more generally, there is a strong Ricard, M., A. Lutz, and R.J. Davidson. 2014. Mind of the meditator. Scientific American 1990s. At Barnes & Noble and Bor- bias toward publication of positive or 311(5): 38–45. ders, Americans could purchase previ- significant results. The methodological Tang, Y.Y., B.K. Hölzel, and M.I. Posner. 2015. ously difficult to find magazines such rigor of many studies also remains low The neuroscience of mindfulness meditation. with few longitudinal control studies Nature Reviews Neuroscience 16(4): 213–225. as Tricycle: The Buddhist Review and Wilson, J. 2014. Mindful America: Meditation and the Shambala Sun along with books by conducted (Tang et al. 2015). the Mutual Transformation of Buddhism and Goldstein, Kornfield, Salzburg, Hanh, As scientists and researchers con- American Culture. Oxford University Press.

26 Volume 41 Issue 3 | Skeptical Inquirer [ BEHAVIOR & BELIEF STUART VYSE Stuart Vyse is a psychologist and author of Believing in Magic: The Psychology of Superstition, which won the William James Book Award of the American Psychological Association. He is a fellow of the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry.

Your Unlearning Report Empathy Is Bad, You’re Not as Racist as You Thought, and Believing in Luck Won’t Help Your Golf Game

PQ or a skeptic, there is nothing more 2005), participants in two separate satisfying than discovering that groups were asked to give money for a Fsome previously cherished truth drug that would save one child or a drug has been overturned by new evidence. that would save eight children. They It is in that spirit that I offer the fol- tended to give equal amounts, but when lowing Unlearning Report. a name and a picture where associated with the child, donations were larger for Empathy Is Bad the one child than the eight. Similarly, Everybody loves empathy. Former psychologist Paul Slovic (2007) points President Barack Obama often spoke to the case of eighteen-year-old U.S. about our “empathy deficit” and the high school student Natalee Holloway, need to “see the world through the eyes who went missing while on vacation in of those who are different from us” Aruba. Coverage of this case dominated (Obama 2006). Amazon.com lists over the cable news for weeks despite an on- 1,500 books with “empathy” in their going genocide in Darfur. titles or subtitles, and the Internet In addition, caregivers who are empathetic may also be less effective than is replete with blogs and YouTube line, and when simply asked what to do, those who are more detached. As a videos on the subject. Yes, everybody most said that the girl must wait be- recent article in Aeon ( Jongsma 2016) loves empathy—everybody except Yale cause there were others ahead of her in suggested, doctors who attempt to feel University psychologist Paul Bloom. line. However, when they were asked to their patients’ pain will be ill suited to It seems wrong to be against some- imagine what she felt, they were more concentrate on their work. Similarly, thing so kind and well meaning as em- likely to choose to move her up the line. when seeking the help of therapists, we pathy, but in his new book, Against Em- In this case, empathy made participants pathy: The Case for Rational Compassion, don’t really want them to experience bend the rules unfairly. Bloom builds a strong argument for what we are experiencing—instead we Bloom spends considerable time empathy as a destructive emotion. He are looking for a compassionate lis- discussing the innumeracy of empa- suggests that empathy is innumerate tener who can provide suggestions and thy. This passage sums up the problem: and myopic and that more good can be support. Finally, there is evidence that done by adopting “rational compassion,” “Stalin has been quoted as saying, ‘One in contrast with a more reserved sense a more detached form of caring. death is a tragedy; one million is a sta- of compassion, sustained empathy can For example, Bloom cites the re- tistic.’ And Mother Teresa once said, ‘If lead to burnout and negative emotions search of C. Daniel Batson and col- I look at the mass, I will never act. If (Bloom 2016, 137–139). leagues (1995) who told study partic- I look at the one, I will.’ To the extent As an alternative to empathy, Bloom ipants about a ten-year-old girl who that we can recognize that the numbers advocates rational compassion, an ap- had a fatal disease and was waiting in are significant when it comes to moral proach consistent with the utilitarian- line for a treatment that would relieve decisions, it’s because of reason, not sen- ism of philosopher Peter Singer. For her pain. The participants were told timents” (Bloom 2016, 89). Bloom, being a good person involves that they could move her ahead in the In one study (Kogut and Ritov caring for others combined with an

Skeptical Inquirer | May/June 2017 27 appreciation of how best to distribute tures of African American or European quires a right-hand response when it is that care. This is a view embodied by a American men. The words in the upper arranged as shown in Figure 1, panel 4. growing Effective Altruism movement left-hand and upper right-hand corners The most common theory behind this (see www.effectivealtruism.org), which of the panels in Figure 1 indicate the left effect is that certain mental operations Singer also supports. Effective altruists and right choices that participants are to are automatic and others require delib- donate money and time to others, but use in sorting. eration. When the categories are incon- they do so after calculating where they The IAT gets more difficult when sistent with our implicit biases, slower can do the most good. When it comes trials combine two kinds of stimuli—pic- deliberative processing is required to sort the stimuli. to financial contributions, this approach tures and words—to be sorted. As shown By now, implicit bias is a well- often leads people to direct their funds in panels 3 and 4 of Figure 1, participants established concept, so much so that Carl to Africa and other parts of the develop- are told that either a word or a face might ing world, where economic differences Bialik (2017) of the FiveThirtyEight. appear in the center of the screen, and allow their dollars to go further. Effec- com blog cited unconscious bias against they should sort the stimulus accordingly. tive altruists also consult rigorous eval- women as a possible explanation for These combined sorting trials provide the uators of charities, such as GiveWell. the results of the 2016 U.S. presidential crucial test for the presence of bias. org. It’s less about making the giver feel election. Over two million people have good and more about doing the most The Implicit Associa- taken the IAT by visiting the Harvard good you can. University Project Implicit website tions Test is often (Holden 2014), and in 2013, Mahzarin Banaji and Anthony Greenwald (2013), You’re Not as Racist as You Thought used in industry, edu- the researchers most closely associated Since the 1990s, social psychologists have cation, and nonprofit with the IAT, published a bestselling book been studying unconscious biases—par- organizations to spur called Blind Spot: Hidden Biases of Good ticularly those surrounding race, gender, People. The IAT is often used in industry, and other socially relevant variables— an appreciation for the education, and nonprofit organizations using the Implicit Association Test kinds of biases most of to spur an appreciation for the kinds of (IAT). The test uses reaction times as an biases most of us harbor. indirect measure of cognitive processes. us harbor. But how important is implicit bias? In a typical arrangement, participants are A recent article in the Chronicle of Higher asked to sort images or words by pressing Education (Bartlett 2017) outlines a grow- either the “E” key of a keyboard with Typically, when the left and right re- ing number of questions that dog the IAT. their left hand or the “I” key with their sponses combine categories that are in- Two decades after the test was first in- right hand. At first the task is simple. consistent with the participant’s biases, troduced, hundreds of research studies You might be asked to sort words that responses slow down. For example, if have used it, and several meta-analyses are either negative sounding (“bad”) or the participant has an unconscious bias have been conducted summarizing the positive (“good”). In a similarly easy against African Americans, it will take combined results of many investigations. task, you might be asked to sort pic- longer to decide the word “Happy” re- Most notably Patrick Forscher (2016) of the University of Wisconsin and colleagues recently conducted a meta-analysis looking at 426 studies incorporating a total of 72,063 research participants. Fur- thermore, the Forscher study employed a number of improvements over previous meta-analyses. Earlier investigations had already raised questions about whether the IAT is reliable enough to produce consistent scores when users are retested, and even Banaji and Greenwald admitted that the correlation between implicit bias and actual prejudicial behavior was weak (Bart- lett 2017). Unfortunately, the Forscher Figure 1. Panels patterned after four possible trials of an Implicit Associations Task. In panel 1, participants study found even weaker associations press a left-hand key if the word is positive and a right-hand key if it is negative. In panel 2, participants press between unconscious bias and prejudi- left if it is a picture of an African American and right if it is a European American. In panels 3 and 4, either a word cial behavior. Furthermore, implicit bias or a picture might appear, and the correct left or right response is indicated by the words in the upper left-hand researchers have long assumed that in- and upper right-hand corners. (This figure was created by the author and only approximates the versions used in research.) terventions aimed at reducing these unconscious biases would result in changes 28 Volume 41 Issue 3 | Skeptical Inquirer STUART VYSE BEHAVIOR & BELIEF ] in actual behavior, but the authors of the told “This is the ball everyone has used some kind of cultural difference could new meta-analysis concluded, “Our find- so far.” Remarkably, in this and differ- be at play, but superstition and luck are ings stand in stark contrast to these pre- ent versions of the study, participants popular concepts in both countries. So dictions” (Forscher et al. 2016). Forscher who had the “lucky ball” actually sunk it looks as though the famous golf ball and colleagues suggest there is still value significantly more putts on average study has become just another victim of in studying implicit bias as an indicator than those who did not get a lucky the reproducibility crisis. We will have of the culture’s effects on us, but they also instruction. to wait for further research to determine state that any “efforts to change behavior I found these results quite inter- if there is any psychological benefit to by directly changing implicit bias would esting, and given that the German re- believing in superstitions. be misguided” (Forscher et al. 2016). searchers had published their work in a The Forscher study is still under re- prestigious journal and had conducted Final Thoughts several related experiments, all of which view at the prestigious journal Psycho- 1. I highly recommend Paul Bloom’s showed the luck effect, I incorporated logical Bulletin and has not yet been book Against Empathy: The Case for the study into the 2013 revision of my accepted for publication. Nonetheless, Rational Compassion. It is well rea- book on superstition (Vyse 2013) and there are two reasons to believe the re- soned, clear, and entertaining. began to mention it in public comments sults are worthy of attention. First, in 2. If you have not already done so, you about belief in superstition. It seemed an approach advocated by the Center might enjoy visiting the Implicit plausible that, in the case of a skilled ac- for Open Science (COS, www.cos.io), Project website (www.implicit. the authors used a publicly stated meth- tivity such as golf, there could be a psy- harvard.edu/implicit/takeatest. odology and posted the raw data of their chological benefit to believing in luck. html) and taking one of the sev- study so that others could examine and There was no reason to credit anything eral implicit bias tests offered there. reanalyze it if they wish. As I men- supernatural in the findings, but just as They are free, and although—as we tioned in my December 2016 online placebos can produce real health bene- now know—unconscious bias does Skeptical Inquirer column (Vyse fits, it has long been speculated that su- not necessarily translate into biased 2016), COS is a direct response to re- perstitions might have a psychological actions, you might find the test cent revelations about the unreliability effect that could translate into better interesting and thought-provoking. of research in social psychology, medi- performance on skilled activities. Un- Do you think it really measures cine, and other areas. The hope is that fortunately, in this case, I was too quick what it purports to measure? opening up research and inviting peer to jump at an exciting new finding. 3. It appears the best advice about luck comment throughout the entire process In 2014, two researchers from Do- and golf comes from a quote so will result in more trustworthy out- minican University in Illinois published good that it has been attributed var- comes. The recommendations of COS a replication of the German golf ball iously to Ben Hogan, Gary Player, are quickly gaining acceptance among study in Social Psychology (Calin-Jage- or Arnold Palmer: “The more I n many scientific journals and profes- man and Caldwell 2014). This was a practice, the luckier I get.” registered replication, which means that, sional associations. References Finally, one of the coauthors of the similar to the Forscher meta-analysis, Forscher meta-analysis is Brian Nosek, the researchers publicly stated exactly Banaji, Mahzarin, and Anthony Greenwald. what they intended to do before they 2013. Blind Spot: Hidden Biases of Good People. who is both a cofounder of COS and, New York: Delacorte. along with Banaji and Greenwald, the started collecting data and, in addition, Bartlett, Tom. 2017. Can we really measure person most closely associated with they made the raw data publicly avail- implicit bias? Maybe not. The Chronicle of able once the experiment was complete Higher Education ( January 5). Available early use of the IAT. online at http://www.chronicle.com/article/ so that anyone who wished to could Can-We-Really-Measure-Implicit/238807; independently reanalyze the results. accessed January 25, 2017. Believing in Luck Will Not Finally, the sample of participants for Batson, C.D., T.R. Klein, L. Highberger, et Help Your Golf Game al. 1995. Immorality from empathy-induced the Dominican study was roughly three altruism: When compassion and justice This particular unlearning lesson hits times that of the German study, making conflict. Journal of Personality and Social close to home for me. In 2010, a it a much more powerful test. Psychology 68: 1042–1054. Bialik, Carl. 2017. How unconscious sexism group of researchers at the University As by now you may have guessed, the could explain Trump’s win. FiveThirtyEight. of Cologne conducted the first study results of the replication were negative. com ( January 21). Available online at https:// to show that believing in luck could Telling people “this ball has been lucky fivethirtyeight.com/features/how-unconscious-sexism-could-help-explain-trumps- improve performance of a skilled activ- today” did not improve their ability to win/; accessed January 25, 2017. ity (Damisch et al. 2010). Research putt into a cup. It is true that the origi- Bloom, P. 2016. Against Empathy: The Case for participants were invited to putt a nal study used German participants and Rational Compassion New York: Ecco. Calin-Jageman, Robert J., and Tracy L. Caldwell. golf ball into a cup on the carpet of a the replication used U.S. participants, 2014. Replication of the superstition and laboratory. As they were handed a golf but the Dominion researchers measured performance study by Damisch, Stoberock, ball, half the participants were told, the level of superstition in their people and Mussweiler (2010). Social Psychology 45(3): 239–245. “So far it has turned out to be a lucky and found it was comparable to that of Damisch, Lysann, Barbara Stoberock, and ball,” and the other half were simply the German participants. Of course, Thomas Mussweiler. 2010. Keep your fingers

Skeptical Inquirer | May/June 2017 29 crossed! How superstition improves per- cant-control/; accessed January 25, 2017. speeches.com/087-Xavier-University-Com- formance. Psychological Science 21(7): 1014– Jongsma, Karin. 2016. Empathy is an over- mencement-Address-Obama-Speech.htm; 1020. rated skill when dispensing medical care. accessed January 25, 2017. Forscher, Patrick S., Calvin K. Lai, Jordan R. Aeon (December 14). Available online at Slovic, Paul. 2007. If I look at the mass I will Axt, et al. 2016. A meta-analysis of change https://aeon.co/ideas/empathy-is-an-over- never act: Numbing and genocide. Judgment in implicit bias (review). Available online rated-skill-when-dispensing-medical-care; and Decision Making 2: 79–95. at https://www.researchgate.net/publica- accessed January 25, 2017. Vyse, Stuart. 2013. Believing in Magic: The tion/308926636_A_Meta-Analysis_of_ Kogut, Tehila, and Ilana Ritov. 2005. The sin- Psychology of Superstition. New York: Oxford Change_in_Implicit_Bias; accessed January gularity effect of identified victims in sep- University Press. 25, 2017. arate and joint evaluations. Organizational ———. 2016. The parable of the power pose Holden, Will C. 2014. Test: Are you as racially Behavior and Human Decision Processes 97(2): and how to reverse it. Csicop.org (December biased as these 2 million Americans? kdvr. 106–116. 15). Available online at http://www.csicop. com (December 11). Available online at Obama, Barack. 2006. Xavier University org/specialarticles/show/the_parable_of_ http://kdvr.com/2014/12/11/study-if-youre- Commencement Address—New Orleans the_power_pose_and_how_to_reverse_it; white-you-likely-have-racial-biases-you- (August 11). Available online at http://obama- accessed on January 25, 2017.

[ SKEPTICAL INQUIREE BENJAMIN RADFORD Benjamin Radford is a research fellow at the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry and author or coauthor of ten books, including Bad Clowns.

Can Electromagnetic Fields Create Ghosts?

I recently read your book Scientific Paranormal Investigation: How to Solve Unexplained Mys- teries about the mistakes that ghost hunters make using EMF detectors during investigations and how they are not productive. However, I always understood that EMF meters/readers were : used to measure EMF levels because high levels of EMF could cause hallucinations that result in paranormal-like experiences. Any thoughts on this? Q —M. Chapman

Many ghost hunters, by stimulating specific areas of the ity that such transcerebral magnetic including the T.A.P.S. brain with fixed wavelength patterns of stimulation may lie behind many team on the television high-level electromagnetic fields. reports of ghosts and hauntings. : (French and Stone 2014, 99) show Ghost Hunters, He suggested that EMFs might A use EMF detectors to therefore be responsible for everything It’s an interesting theory. Unfortu- search for electromag- from UFO sightings to religious appa- nately for the ghost hunters, it’s just a netic fields because they believe that ritions to ghosts. As researcher Chris theory—not a proven effect. In fact, intense magnetic fields can create hal- French notes: there’s little or no evidence to sup- lucinations, which in turn might create The proposal is that fluctuations port the idea that EMFs create ghosts. the illusion of ghosts. The basis for this in the earth’s background magnetic Ghosts are not being seen in Persinger’s theory comes primarily from research field can interact with the temporal experimental laboratory in Ontario; they done by a Canadian cognitive neuro- lobe, especially in individuals with a are being seen in abandoned hospitals particularly sensitive temporal lobe, scientist, Michael Persinger. He found to produce a sense of a presence and and suburban basements. There is sim- that hallucinations (such as out-of- visual hallucinations. . . . This expla- ply no evidence that common household body experiences) could be triggered nation offers the intriguing possibil- appliances can generate EMFs of the

30 Volume 41 Issue 3 | Skeptical Inquirer BENJAMIN RADFORD SKEPTI CAL INQUIREE ]

The author uses an EMF detector to demonstrate for a television crew how electrical outlets can create false “ghost” readings at the historic KiMo theater in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Photo by Larry Barker. frequency and power that induce hallu- but ensured that the [magnetic] coils create the psychological perception of cinations in a clinical setting. were only turned on for half the ghostly phenomena, there is no inves- participants. Neither the partici- Indeed, Yale neuroscientist Steven pants nor the experimenters knew tigative value in detecting such fields. If Novella says that the theory of EMFs as when the magnetic fields were on ghost investigators are certain that com- an origin for ghosts is “speculative at this and when they were off. The results mon household EMFs can create ghost point.” The electromagnetic stimulation were remarkable. Granqvist discov- hallucinations, there are simple ways to used by Persinger ered that the magnetic fields had test that theory. If Persinger is correct absolutely no effect. . . . Worse was has to be focused, and at a certain to come for Persinger. In 2009, psy- and EMFs are in fact related to ghostly frequency in order to have this effect. chologist Chris French and his col- experience, it’s because the EMFs are It seems unlikely that environmen- leagues from Goldsmiths College in causing the illusion of ghosts. If ghosts tal electromagnetic fields would be London carried out their own inves- exist, they may or may not be related fine-tuned just enough to cause this tigation into Persinger’s ideas by hid- to EMFs (there’s no evidence showing effect. . . . It’s an interesting idea; I ing coils behind the walls of a fea- just don’t think it’s terribly plausible. tureless white room, and then asking they are), but ghost hunters who cite At present, while we can certainly people to wander around the room Persinger’s research in support of their duplicate it in a lab, I’m not aware and report any strange sensations. methods are unwittingly undermining of any evidence to suggest it actu- Seventy-nine people visited this their own arguments: If you are sure most scientific of haunted houses for ally happens out there in the world. that ghosts are real (and not the product (Novella 2010) about 50 minutes each. Following in the footsteps of Granqvist, French of EMF-induced hallucinations), there Richard Wiseman, in his book Para- and his team ensured that the coils is no logic or point in using a device to n normality: Why We See What Isn’t There, were only switched on for half of detect those EMFs. notes that several researchers tried to rep- the visits, and that neither the participants nor experimenters knew licate Persinger’s results. A team of Swed- whether the coils were on or off. ish psychologists led by Pehr Granqvist The magnetic fields had absolutely no effect on whether or not peo- became worried that some of ple reported a strange experience. References Persinger’s participants may have (Wiseman 2011, 219–220) known what was expected of them French, Christopher, and Anna Stone. 2014. and their experiences could therefore Anomalistic Psychology: Exploring Paranormal In their rush to accept this “scien- Belief and Experience. London: Palgrave have been due to suggestion rather tific” explanation for ghost sightings, MacMillan. than the subtle magnetic fields. To investigators extrapolate far beyond the Novella, Steven. 2010. Getting into the spirit of rule out this possibility in his work, things. MonsterTalk podcast (March 2). Granqvist had all of his participants evidence. Until it can be demonstrated Wiseman, Richard. 2011. Paranormality: Why We wear Persinger’s borrowed helmet, that generalized, nonclinical EMFs can See What Isn’t There. London: Pan Macmillan.

Skeptical Inquirer | May/June 2017 31 [FORUM

Science and History Get Personal MICHAEL BOOTH

ne of the oldest scientific soci- duction of tumor necrosis factor and are cially. In my range of friends, family, and eties in existence, The Royal common treatments for rheumatoid ar- acquaintances, I am unfortunate enough OSociety, has been awarding dis- thritis (often in combination with other to have a plethora of self-appointed ex- tinguished individuals with the Copley disease modifying drugs). Advanced perts on treating my illness (or denying Medal since 1731, one hundred and forms of X-ray crystallography, called that it exists entirely). Yet most of these seventy years before the first Nobel macromolecular crystallography, are individuals don’t know the difference Prize. The list of Copley Medal recipi- currently used in various pharmaceuti- between aches and pains due to wear ents includes such recognizable names cal developments (Scalip 2006). and tear and systemic inflammation. as Benjamin Franklin, Joseph Priestly, Here are a few implausible things I Charles Darwin, Thomas Huxley, have heard while telling others about Albert Einstein, Max Planck, Niels rheumatoid arthritis: Bohr, Francis Crick, James Watson, “Have you tried cherries?” Stephen Hawking, and Peter Higgs The most immediate “All diseases are an illusion of (The Royal Society 2016). sign of a likely Western medicine.” Dorothy Hodgkin, also a Nobel lau- “Doctors are keeping you sick with reate in Chemistry, received the Copley pseudoscientific those drugs.” Medal in 1976. Among her tremendous intervention is when “My massage therapist recommends scientific contributions, Dr. Hodgkin turmeric and crystals for inflamed pioneered the use of X-ray crystallogra- the same treatment joints.” phy with complex biological molecules, is claimed to have “Just imagine the outcome you spawning the field of protein crystal- want, and it will come.” lography (Ferry 2014). In her lifetime, broad effects for “Have you tried essential oils? My she deciphered the atomic structure of a vast array of bruises heal way faster and my wife just insulin, vitamin B12, and penicillin. became a vendor.” Dr. Hodgkin also suffered from an conditions. And so on . . . autoimmune disease, rheumatoid arthritis. Diagnosed in her early twenties, Raise Your Red Flags! Hodgkin spent most of her scientific The most immediate sign of a likely Science and History Get Personal career with episodic pain and inflam- pseudoscientific intervention is when mation and eventually an agonizing Similar to Dr. Hodgkin, I also have the same treatment is claimed to have onset of deformities. The disease would rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Living with broad effects for a vast array of condi- be crippling, though she would continue it is no easy task. Physically it can tions that share no common biological to travel the globe promoting science be excruciating, defeating, and end- pathway or relationship. My immune and international human rights until lessly frustrating, as the most mundane system is attacking the synovial lin- her death in 1994. tasks can become massive obstacles. ing of my joints. If treatment X, for Coincidentally, X-ray crystallogra- Psychologically it is also brutal. Though example, also cures/helps schizophre- phy would eventually be used to de- difficult to quantify, RA patients suffer nia, depression, back pain, dental pain, cipher the structure of tumor necrosis from bouts of depression and diagnos- nausea, irritable bowls, constipation, factor alpha, a cytokine that plays a role able major depressive disorder at a rate headaches, allergies, dysentery, sciat- in systemic inflammation (Eck and greater than the general population ica, sprains, tennis elbow, hay fever, Sprang 1989). Current biologic drugs (Matcham et al. 2013). morning sickness, hypertension, hypo- such as entanercept and adalimumab Most surprising to me is how diffi- tension, facial pain, stroke, and rheu- (Enbrel and Humira) inhibit the pro- cult the disease can be to live with so- matoid arthritis, it must be truly mirac-

32 Volume 41 Issue 3 | Skeptical Inquirer So Why Is This Important? ulous (Evidence Based Acupuncture org/I-Am-A/Patient-Caregiver/Treatments/ What I see playing out is a professional Anti-TNF. 2016). If it really can do all of these Eck, M.J., and S.R. Sprang. 1989. The structure things, what are the mechanisms of turf war, where tropes of ethnocen- of tumor necrosis factor-alpha at 2.6 A action? What is the biological pathway trism, closed-mindedness, and dog- resolution. Implications for receptor bind- that ties all of these together? matism are ways of taking knocks at ing. Journal of Biological Chemistry 264(29): scientific knowledge if it excludes one’s 17595–605. Available online at http://www. Contrast this with the very mod- ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/2551905. deeply held view. The risk of making est—and very precise—claim that Evidence Based Acupuncture. 2016. Available on testable claims is having one’s claims tumor necrosis factor plays a role in sys- line at http://www.evidencebasedacupuncture. tested and found wanting. If publicly org/who-official-position/. temic inflammation. When inhibited, it funded research is really about poten- Ferry, Georgina. 2014. Dorothy Hodgkin, A Life. can slow disease progression in a tested tially benefiting patients like me, then Bloomsbury Reader, London. percentage of individuals with rheuma- Matcham, F., L. Rayner, S. Steer, et al. 2013. The scientific research based on plausibil- prevalence of depression in rheumatoid arthri- toid arthritis, Chrohn’s disease, psoriatic ity—not continued testing of alterna- tis: A systematic review and meta-analysis. arthritis, juvenile arthritis, inflammatory tive interventions that are implausible Rheumatology 52(12): 2136–2148. bowel disease, ankylosing spondylitis, and perform no better than placebo or The Royal Society. 2016. Available online at https://royalsociety.org/grants-schemes- and psoriasis because they are all rheu- sham controls—should be the way for- awards/awards/copley-medal/. matic inflammatory diseases (American ward. Not all ideas are equally valid and Scalip, G. 2006. Structural biology and drug dis- College of Rheumatology 2016). Even deserving of continued inquiry. Special covery. Available online at https://www.ncbi. without the research on efficacy rates in pleading for more research dollars nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16796557. random clinical trials, juxtaposing the when systematic reviews have shown Michael Booth spent two decades in elite extremely broad and miraculous claim no efficacy greater than expectation levels of cycling, acrobatics, and stunt work having no known mechanism of ac- effects in the most stringently designed prior to being diagnosed with rheumatoid ar- experiments is not about the potential thritis at the age of thirty-three. Since then, tion with the modest claim that has an n objectively known biological pathway benefit to those who suffer. he has received a master of science degree should elucidate the general concept of References in applied psychology and is planning future graduate training in public health, health pol- plausibility for those who push alterna- The American College of Rheumatology. 2016. tive medicine. Available online at http://www.rheumatology. icy, and health psychology.

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Skeptical Inquirer | May/June 2017 33 For ourselves and our society, survival in the current era will require building our foundation on facts.

DAVID J. HELFAND

34 Volume 41 Issue 3 | Skeptical Inquirer INFORMATION INFORMATION

For ourselves and our society, survival in the current era will require building our foundation on facts. many in the mainstream media portent- ously declared we had entered the age of In 2016“post-truth politics” (Drezner 2016) and now live in a “post-factual democracy” (Barret 2016). With monetized “fake news” sites proliferating, tweets inconsistent with reality dominating political debate, and most citizens busily constructing echo chambers of their personal beliefs through their social media accounts, the hysteria may seem warranted. But as Alexios Mantzarlis of the Poynter Institute reminds us (Mantzarlis 2016), politicians, media commentators, and your next-door neighbor have been playing fast and loose with the “truth” for a long time.

Indeed, the classical scholar Edward M. Harris “other,” whether they were hostile or not. But with noted in his paper dissecting “Demosthenes Speech simple survival as the foremost concern, the “knowl- For ourselves and our society, survival Against Medias” (Harris 1989) that 2,400 years ago edge of the audience” in general comported well with in Athens, “although a witness who perjured himself reality. in the current era will require could be prosecuted…an orator who spoke in court The average citizen today lives in a very differ- could indulge in as much fabrication as he wished ent world. As Arthur C. Clarke’s celebrated third building our foundation on facts. without fear of punishment.” Harris went on to state: law has it, “Any sufficiently advanced technology is “In short, nothing aside from the knowledge of the indistinguishable from magic,” and such magic per- audience and the limits of plausibility restrained the meates and defines the world of the typical Ameri- DAVID J. HELFAND orator from inventing falsehoods and distorting the can adult. From self-parking cars and GPS to iPads, truth.” airplanes, and LASIK surgery, most people have no Public prevarication, then, is nothing new. What clue how the technology that envelops them works is novel is the technology-saturated environment in or what physical principles underlie its operation—it which it is now embedded. It is the “knowledge of is, truly, “indistinguishable from magic.” And, living the audience” and the “limits of plausibility”—not in this magical world, the “limits of plausibility” are the falsehoods and distortions—that have changed. easily expanded. If the talking box on your dash- How has the “knowledge of the audience” evolved over the tenure of Homo sapiens on this Earth? For more than 95 percent of our history, knowledge was Public prevarication, then, is limited but was tested daily against reality. nothing new. What is novel is The hunter-gatherer who picked a basket the technology-saturated of poisonous berries was soon eliminated from the gene pool, as was the youth who environment in which it is led his kin toward the hungry lions in- now embedded. It is the stead of the grazing gazelles. Those few who parsed the patterns of the stars and “knowledge of the audience” so could predict the wildebeests’ migration and the “limits of plausibility” were accorded special veneration (we used —not the falsehoods and to call them “experts”). There was also, no doubt, much misinformation abroad in distortions—that have changed. those halcyon days—lightning evinced the anger of the gods, and neighboring kin groups were largely shunned as the hostile

Skeptical Inquirer | May/June 2017 35 INFORMATION INFORMATION

For ourselves and our society, survival in the current era will require building our foundation on facts. board knows exactly where you are and can tell you guess. The problem is that everyone feels equally well- how to get where you are going, why should talking qualified to make such a guess and then post it on to dead relatives not be plausible? If shining a light their blog where it becomes their personal version of in your eye can eliminate your need for glasses, why the truth that can be easily shared and propagated. shouldn’t wearing magnets cure your arthritis? And that’s how misinformation begins. If a scientific “expert” tells you that magnet therapy There was a time when most people writing on a is nonsense, he’s just exemplifying Clarke’s first law: particular topic did so because they had acquired some “When a distinguished elderly scientist . . . states that degree of specialized knowledge. They had read what something is impossible, he is very probably wrong.” was already known about the subject, had conducted And since the magnets worked wonders for your some observations or even experiments of their own, sister-in-law’s best friend, they will probably work and had concluded they might have something to con- for you. If most of one’s world is indistinguishable tribute to the advancement of our understanding of from magic, it is both reasonable and practical to the topic at hand. They might even be said to be an adopt magic as an operating principle. And since “expert” on the subject. The Internet has exploded this model. While the democratization of both access to knowledge and the ability to contribute to it provided by the Internet has obvious benefits, it also has a very While the democratization of both serious downside. Tom Nichols, writing in access to knowledge and the ability the Federalist (Nichols 2014), to contribute to it provided by the describes this downside as “The Death of Expertise,” which Internet has obvious benefits, it also he characterizes as “a Google- has a very serious downside. fueled, Wikipedia-based, blog- sodden collapse of any division between professionals and laymen, students and teachers, knowers and wonderers—in other words, between those with only wizards understand magic, consulting them (the any achievement in an area and those with none at all.” homeopaths, the astrologers, the mediums, and the This, he says, creates a culture in which “everyone’s mystics) makes perfect sense. opinion about anything is as good as anyone else’s.” Thus, the “limits of plausibility” have vanished, and Thus, Jenny McCarthy can state that her “mommy in- the “knowledge of the audience” is constructed from stinct” is far superior to scientific medical evidence on Facebook feeds, personal experience, and anecdote. vaccination safety, and millions of Google-fed zom- The average American is largely insulated from the bies nod in agreement and back up their foundation- physical reality his ancestors were forced to confront less opinions from a treasure trove of misinformation daily and, as such, resides in a world of self-reinforcing and related nonsense on the Internet. magical thinking. This cornucopia of misinformation feeds another What we have entered, then, is not the “post- great American pastime: conspiracy theories. A recent factual” or “post-truth” era but the Misinformation survey (Poppy 2017) of 1,511 American adults found Age. Facts still exist. Good approximations of the truth that 54 percent believe the 9/11 attacks involved a can still be found. And information has never been U.S. government conspiracy, while 42 percent believe more plentiful: IBM calculated a few years ago that global warming is a conspiracy or a hoax—the same we generate 2.5 quintillion bytes of information per percentage who believe in alien encounters. Thirty day, enough to fill a bookcase half a kilometer tall and percent believe President Obama was born in Kenya. stretching around the Earth at the equator—every day. I was a little surprised to see that only 24 percent be- How much of that information is nonsense is anyone’s lieve the Moon landings were a hoax, but perhaps the

36 Volume 41 Issue 3 | Skeptical Inquirer Apollo program has faded so far from the collective memory that no one cares anymore. Most interest- Step 1 ing was the result that 32 percent believe the North I describe how we can count atoms and mol- Dakota crash was a government cover up—despite ecules, one by one, and show a table that lists the fact that the researchers completely fabricated an the numbers of each kind in a sample of a mil- incident they called the “North Dakota crash” and lion particles of air. This counting process is, of inserted it into the survey to see how many respon- course, quite remarkable (bordering on magic?), dents view everything as a conspiracy. but since most audiences have no concept of the For those of us still convinced that facts about size of an atom (and thus how remarkable it is the physical world can be discovered and that a ra- that we can count them one by one), they can tional analysis of those facts can be useful in creating accept the atmospheric concentrations as facts, predictive models of that world, a counterinsurgency since counting is a straightforward process ev- seems in order. Where should we begin? eryone understands. Science is the most powerful intellectual tool humankind has yet invented. Unlike the comforting certainty other worldviews provide, science recog- nizes its facts as contingent and its models as lim- Step 2 ited in their application. It is important to realize, I show the first two years of the Keeling curve however, that science is, at once, both a system for of CO2 concentration from 1958 and 1959. fact discovery and a set of values—skepticism, a re- This plot shows the number of CO2 molecules liance on evidence, interpretation using deductive rising steadily from October to May, and then and inductive reasoning, etc. Scientists hold that falling symmetrically from May through Sep- both the fact-discovery system and these values are tember. A discussion of how plants breathe in crucially important. But, since values are a touchy CO2 and breathe out oxygen during the grow- subject with most people and are at best indirectly ing season, and then how bacteria break down testable against reality, it is likely wisest to defer to the plant tissue and release CO2 in winter, is Jonathan Swift’s dictum that “Reasoning will never also a plausible story that is readily accepted. make a man correct an ill opinion, which by reason- When a keenly thoughtful person objects being he never acquired” (Swift 1721), and leave the cause the southern hemisphere has opposite values part aside for now. My recommendation for seasons, I reward the thoughtfulness and then an opening gambit in a counterattack on the Misin- show a map of the world pointing out how formation Age is to stick to the facts. much more plant-covered land area there is in

For these purposes, my definition of a simple fact the temperateSkeptical Inquirer zone May/June of the 2017 northern 37 hemisphere is a measurement of some physical quantity, per- versus that same zone in the southern hemi- formed with the best available instruments accord- sphere. ing to a precisely defined procedure, quoted with an associated uncertainty, and passed through a skeptical review, preferably one that repeats and verifies Step 3 the measurement. A compound fact can be deduced I show the entire fifty-eight years of the Keel- from a number of simple facts. ing curve in which the monotonic trend upward A good example of a compound fact is the state- dwarfs the seasonal fluctuations. I then pose the ment that the dominant component of the CO 2 question: How can we know where this addi- currently being added to the atmosphere arises from tional CO2 is coming from? the burning of fossil fuel. I have given many classes and public talks on the subject of climate change, and while my audiences have not all agreed with my conclusions about the gravity of the situation or my Step 4 proposals for mitigation, I have yet to encounter ob- I show the O2 concentration in the atmosphere jection to this fact once I take the time to carefully as a function of time. The decline in O2 is a lay out the evidence. I proceed as follows:

Skeptical Inquirer | May/June 2017 37 Step 6 surprise to almost everyone but is unmistakable in the data, as are the seasonal fluctuations that The penultimate data points are the ratios of are perfectly out of phase with the CO2 annual C-13 and C-14 to C-12, both from direct mea- pattern. Here I reiterate the plants’ CO2 to O2 surements of the atmosphere over the past forty respiration so everyone is comfortable with it— years and from tree rings going back many cen- it is always good to tell people something they turies. These data show a gradual decline in the know, even if they just learned it five minutes C-13/C-12 ratio beginning round 1800 at the ago, as it keeps them engaged with the line of start of the industrial revolution that accelerates argument. The interesting point to make here rapidly over the past few decades, just as the is that the amount of O2 that has disappeared total CO2 skyrockets. The C-14/C-12 ratio is just equal to the amount needed to explain has also been declining rapidly over the past the CO2 increase if the CO2 comes from the thirty years. By providing pictures of the various combustion (combining with oxygen) of car- sources of carbon (CO2 from volcanoes and bon-containing material: C plus O2 equals ocean-air exchange, as well as C from living CO2. It is important to note that this is just plants, nuclear bomb tests in the atmosphere, a correlation and cannot be interpreted as and that long-dead plants equal fossil fuels), I causation—emphasizing the care with which am ready for the inescapable conclusion. we are accumulating facts and not jumping to conclusions. Step 7 The declining ratios rule out volcanoes and Step 5 ocean-atmosphere exchange, since both have A digression into isotopes is now required— higher C-13/C-12 ratios. The falling C-13 in particular, that carbon has three common values means plants must be involved. The isotopes (C-12, C-13, and C-14). I emphasize plunging C-14 values mean we must be add- how these isotopes are chemically identical but ing CO2 to the air that is highly deficient in that the heavier ones move more slowly and C-14 and that can’t come from modern plants are thus discriminated against in chemical reac- whose C-14 was enriched by the bomb tests in tions. This explains why plants have less C-13 the 1950s. It must come from long-dead plants and C-14 than does the air they breathe. I also in which the C-14 has all decayed away. Thus, provide a brief introduction to radioactive decay the dominant fraction of the new CO2 in the to explain how C-14 gradually converts to plain atmosphere must come from burning fossil old nitrogen, the dominant constituent of the fuels. QED. atmosphere, on a timescale of 5,730 years.

The Misinformation Age provides poor support for individual decision making and poses a potential disaster for the formation of rational public policy. A counterinsurgency is definitely called for.

38 Volume 41 Issue 3 | Skeptical Inquirer In my experience, this approach has two vir- wp/2016/06/16/why-the-post-truth-political-era-might- be-around-for-a-while/?utm_term=.a0da80e33c16. tues. First, for all but the most committed sci- Foster, Craig A. 2017. Skepticism, at heart, is not partisan. ence deniers, it establishes the unequivocal role Skeptical Inquirer 41(1) ( January/February): 14–15. of humans in changing the composition of the Harris, Edward M. 1989. Demosthenes speech against medias. Harvard Studies in Classical Philology 92: 117–136. atmosphere. Second, it illustrates the process of Mantzarlis, Alexios. 2016. No, we’re not in a “post-fact” era. uncovering facts about the world. I do not tout dire Available online at http:/www.poynter.org/2016/no-were- predictions about the future of the planet, nor do I not-in-a-post-fact-era/421582/. Nichols, Thomas. 2014. The death of expertise. Available online suggest policy prescriptions to solve this problem. at http://thefederalist.com/2014/01/17/the-death-of-exper- The former are far too uncertain to constitute tise. “facts,” and the latter involves values about which Nousek, Brian, and the Open Science Collaboration. 2015. Estimating the reproducibility of psychological science. reasonable people may differ. But starting with a Science 349 doi: 10.1126/science.aac471. fact on which we can agree establishes both a point Poppy, Carrie. 2017. Survey shows Americans fear ghosts, of connection and a reality-based platform for fur- the government, and each other. Skeptical Inquirer 41(1) ( January/February): 6–18, quoting The Chap- ther discussion. man University Survey of American Fears 2016 The Misinformation Age provides poor support found online at https://blogs.chapman.eduwilkinson/2016/ for individual decision making and poses a potential 10/11/americas-top-fears-2016/. Swift, Jonathan. 1721. A letter to a young gentleman lately disaster for the formation of rational public policy. entered into holy orders. In The Works of Jonathan Swift. A counterinsurgency is definitely called for. But our London: H.G. Bohn, 1856. actions will be ineffective if they are politicized (Fos- ter 2017) and unpersuasive unless we scrupulously abide by the principles of a scientific mind. The reproducibility problems in biomedical research (Beg- ley and Ellis 2012) and, more recently, in psychology (Nousek et al. 2015) undermine our credibility. Par- ticipation in—even cultivation of—media hype over scientific findings is likewise extremely unhelpful. Assertions of authority will (and perhaps should) be ignored. The power of science lies in its skeptical, rational, evidence-based approach to understanding the world. This power begins with facts, and, in my experience, these facts are the best tools with which n to start the revolution. References Barret, Nicholas. 2016. Brexit has locked us millennials out of the union we voted for. Financial Times ( June 26). Available online at https://www.ft.com/content/82a1a548-3b93- David J. Helfand is a professor of astronomy at 11e6-8716-a4a71e8140b0. Columbia University and a CSI fellow, as well as Begley, G.C., and L.M. Ellis. 2012. Drug development: Raise past-president of the American Astronomical Society. standards for preclinical cancer research. Nature 483: 531– 533. doi:10.1038/483531a. His recent book, A Survival Guide to the Misinformation Drezner, Daniel W. 2016. Why the post-truth political era might Age, enumerates the scientific habits of mind needed be around for a while. Washington Post ( June 16). Available for the counter-revolution. online at https://www.washingtonpost.com/posteverything/

Skeptical Inquirer | May/June 2017 39 Statin Denialism The benefits of statins far outweigh their risks, but public perception has been skewed by alarmist misinformation from statin denialists.

HARRIET HALL

hen Richard Dawkins was asked to justify his belief in the scientific method, he answered, “It works, bitches!”1 When the scientific evidence is compelling, one Wwould have to be willfully perverse to reject it. But some people do; they reject findings that don’t fit with their ideology. We call them denialists. We have climate change denialists, HIV/AIDS denialists, vaccine denialists, evolution denialists, even germ theory denialists. And we have statin denialists. Statins work, bitches! But the public perception has been skewed by alarmist misinformation from statin denialists.

A Hilarious Example of Statin For your entertainment, I will provide the complete tran- Denialist Propaganda script of Coldwell’s deliciously absurd video2 along with my Statin denialists rely on “alternative facts”; in other words: reality checks that are italicized and noted in brackets. To lies. The worst example of anti-statin misinformation I begin with, the interviewer says a number of statins have been have ever seen is a YouTube interview with Dr. Leonard pulled off the market. Coldwell. Not a word of what he says is true, and much of it [A little rudimentary fact-checking reveals that the number is hilariously funny. Some of his statements are so obviously of statin-containing products removed from the market is three, ridiculous that it’s hard to believe they wouldn’t leave even and two of those were mixtures of statins with other drugs. The the most scientifically naive viewer rolling on the floor. Who statins in those mixtures remain on the market, so the true number is Leonard Coldwell? He has no medical or scientific cre- is one: Baycol, or cerivastatin, was voluntarily withdrawn from dentials, yet he claims to be the world’s leading authority on the market when post-marketing surveillance showed that it was cancer and to have treated over 35,000 cancer patients with five to ten times more likely than other statins to cause a serious a 92.3 percent cure rate. I think even Alice’s White Queen, complication, rhabdomyolysis.] having practiced believing as many as six impossible things When the interviewer asks his opinion of statins, Coldwell before breakfast, would find that hard to swallow. says: “It’s mass murder. [Murder is premeditated killing. Does he really think doctors are deliberately trying to kill patients?] It always leads to hardening of the liver, [No, statins actually reduce the risk of cirrhosis of the liver.3] it cuts off at least twenty years of your life span. [Nonsense! It does just the opposite, particularly for patients at high risk of cardiovascular events.] Your brain is made from cholesterol. [Maybe if you’re a fathead! For the rest of us, our brain is made of a lot of other things in addition to cholesterol.] Statin is a cholesterol-lowering drug. So, if you want to have a brain that’s the size of a marble, keep on taking them. [Whaaat? No one has ever had a brain that’s the size of a marble for any reason; and the brains of patients on statins are the same size as the brains of patients not on statins.] You do not die of too much cholesterol, you die of not enough. [You don’t die of either; you die of heart attacks and strokes, and reducing high

40 Volume 41 Issue 3 | Skeptical Inquirer cholesterol levels reduces your risk of those events.] There is no feces. There is no way they could be absorbed into the blood stream such thing as too much cholesterol. [Yes, there most certainly and find their way to the coronary arteries. is. People with familial hypercholesterolemia die prematurely.] In This whole idea is a ridiculous urban myth that not even a burn unit, we use twenty to twenty-eight hard-boiled eggs Mythbusters would take seriously enough to test; but anyone could a day, in a burn victim, [He just made that up. No burn unit easily test it in their own kitchen. Sand and glass are not soluble does that, and if they tried it, the patients would surely rebel.] in water. If table salt were one-third sand and one-third glass, because we know only cholesterol builds healthy cells. [Only dissolving it in water would leave an insoluble residue comprising cholesterol? How silly! A lot of other components are required to two-thirds of the original amount. The RationalWiki article on build healthy cells.] Every cell in your system, 87 percent of Leonard Coldwell says, “He has precious little understanding of the new cell, is built from cholesterol. [No, it isn’t! Lipids ac- medicine or human biology, and his understanding of basic science count for half the mass of cell membranes, and cholesterol makes up is virtually non-existent: any man who genuinely fails to under- 20 percent of those lipids.4] Where does this cholesterol come stand the fact that glass and sand are not actually soluble in water 5 from? They just made up the number of 250; they just made is probably not best placed to offer health advice.” ] it up. [No, they didn’t! They measured cholesterol levels in large populations and found that people with higher levels of cholesterol Coldwell Continues Blathering were more likely to have heart attacks.] There’s no science, no “So, the statin drugs are the most dangerous, useless drugs ever nothing. They tested a couple of people living in a trailer park, invented, [Doesn’t he know anything about the history of medicine? from trash that they eat, [That’s insulting to people who live in It would be trivially easy to identify drugs that were far more trailer parks, and it’s demonstrably not true. Much of the orig- dangerous and totally useless.] and please remember your brain is inal information about cholesterol and cardiovascular risk came built from cholesterol. 92–99 percent of the brain is built from from a large study that recruited a cross-section of people living cholesterol. [No, it isn’t! Our brain is 60 percent fat, with around in Framingham, Massachusetts, a prosperous town with no excess 25 percent of that being cholesterol, mostly in the myelin that sheathes of trailer parks.] and they came up with the average is kind of the neurons’ axons.6] Every statin drug starts shrinking the brain. like 250 of combined cholesterol. And that’s what everyone [No statin drug shrinks the brain. In fact, statins may have a pro- should have. [No one is recommending that everyone have 250 of tective role in the development of dementia. A recent meta-analysis combined cholesterol. Risk is determined not just by total cholesterol of observational studies showed they were associated with a signifi- but by levels of “good” HDL cholesterol and “bad” LDL cholesterol, cantly lower risk of Alzheimer’s disease.7] and of other lipid subfractions, as well as other risk factors such as And this is what people need to understand. Just have a smoking and diabetes.] It’s completely artificially made up. [No, couple of bananas on an empty stomach in the morning and it’s based on solid science.] I have patients who have a cholesterol you will see your liver get so much better really, really fast. It of 600; they’re the healthiest people, never been sick.” [Never works so much better. Just help your body. [A non sequitur. been sick yet. Patients with a cholesterol of 600 are at high risk of There is no evidence that eating bananas can reverse liver disease, cardiovascular events and death, and it is irresponsible for a doctor and how on Earth did he manage to segue from heart disease to not to treat such high levels.] liver disease?] You don’t need to cure it; you don’t need to fix it; just help it. It cures itself. Because my statement, there’s no Incredible Silliness about Salt healing force outside the human body, always comes true at “And you know where the myth comes from? People take the end of the day. There’s absolutely no healing force outside table salt. Table salt is one-third glass, one-third sand, one- the human body. [No one claims statins “heal” or “cure” anything. third salt. So now, the glass in the table salt is cutting the They simply reduce the risk of cardiovascular events.] So, every arteries. Now you’re bleeding to death internally. Now the time they tell you there’s a magic pill, [No one is suggesting cholesterol goes there and stops the bleeding. Keeps you statins are magic pills; they are drugs with risks and benefits, alive, saves your life. The cholesterol is the bad guy because and the benefits have been determined to outweigh the risks.] and it narrows, of course, it clogs an open wound, that’s bleeding; do you know why they always take the drugs off the market? of course it narrows for a short amount of time, the blood When they become free or generic and they don’t need the big way. And then they say, oh yeah, because it’s now narrowed, bucks.” [Several statins are now off-patent and available as generic it’s raising your blood pressure, and what’s raising your drugs. Not one of those has ever been taken off the market.] blood pressure is causing the narrowing. It’s the cholesterol, No one with a modicum of education in science and criti- therefore, cholesterol is causing high blood pressure. Oh, cal thinking would believe Coldwell’s claims. Even uneducated very interesting.” people with the tiniest bit of common sense ought to at least [This is by far the funniest part of the whole interview. Think question the claim about salt being two-thirds sand and glass. And yet people do believe him and repeat his falsehoods. about it. In the first place, the FDA tests salt and requires that all U.S. table salt be at least 97.5 percent pure sodium chloride. If table salt were one-third glass shards, wouldn’t you notice sharp Other Sources of Misinformation particles in your salt? Wouldn’t it cut your tongue and mouth? Leonard Coldwell is far from the only one spreading “alter- Sprinkle some into your hand and see if anything feels sharp. If native facts” about statins. Joseph Mercola8 says “Cholesterol you swallow glass and sand, they might irritate the lining of the is NOT the cause of heart disease.” And “if you take statins, gastrointestinal tract; but then they would be eliminated in the you MUST take CoQ10.” He claims that statins impair

Skeptical Inquirer | May/June 2017 41 month’s treatment) reduce LDL cholesterol by more than 50 percent. Large-scale evidence from randomized trials shows that for every 1 mmol/L reduction in LDL cholesterol with statin therapy, there is a proportional reduction of about 25 percent in the rate of major vascular events (coronary deaths, heart attacks, strokes, etc.) during each year that statins are used. Lowering LDL cholesterol by 2 mmol/L reduces risk by about 45 percent. Lowering LDL cholesterol by 2 mmol/L with statins for five years in 10,000 patients would prevent major vascular events in 1,000 patients Figure 1. Illustration of the Mayo Clinic visual decision aid available online. at high risk and 500 patients at lower risk. Statins may not work only by lowering numerous biological functions, including all your sex hor- cholesterol. Statins also have anti-inflam- mones. He says ninety-nine out of 100 people do not need matory effects that probably contribute to the reduction in statins. He says that statins are teratogenic, that they cause cardiovascular events. But the authors of the Lancet article felt birth defects if taken during pregnancy. The evidence says there was sufficient evidence from various sources to establish otherwise.9 a causal relationship between cholesterol and atherosclero- Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, cherry-picks the liter- sis. They noted that lower concentrations of cholesterol have ature and writes alarmist headlines about statin studies on been associated with higher death rates, particularly in the the Natural News website. Typical examples: “Drug’s benefits elderly (something the statin denialists love to point out), but were 100% fabricated,” “Statins are totally worthless,” “Statins they say those associations can be shown not to be causal. cause debilitating muscle pain in up to 40%,” “Lowering cho- The problem is that we only have population statistics. lesterol has NO EFFECT on risk of heart disease or death,” We can’t predict which individuals will benefit from statins, “Flu vaccines are useless to people taking statin drugs—and so we have to treat everyone at risk. That means that a lot both cause brain damage.” When you consult the actual stud- of individuals who take statins will not benefit. One way to ies he refers to, you will find that his headlines misrepresent look at the data is to calculate the NNT, the number of pa- their findings. He even repeats the nonsense about sand and tients needed to be treated for one patient to benefit. By one glass in table salt.10 estimate, the NNT to prevent one heart attack in patients And then there is the International Network of Choles- who already have heart disease is sixteen to twenty-three, to terol Skeptics (THINCS), a group that disputes the role of prevent a death, forty-eight. For patients who have risk factors cholesterol in cardiovascular disease. They are led by Uffe but don’t yet have heart disease, the NNT is between seventy Ravnskov, author of The Cholesterol Myths, and Malcolm Ken- 13 drick, author of The Great Cholesterol Con. They cherry-pick and 250. These are overall estimates for populations; the actual NNT will vary according to the individual’s personal the scientific literature to find studies that support their the- 14 ses, ignore the flaws in those studies, and ignore the vast body risk factors. Visual decision aids are available online where of literature that contradicts them. In The Skeptic’s Dictionary, you can input an individual’s cholesterol, blood pressure, and Bob Carroll explains how they use distortions and deceptive other risk numbers and get an easy-to-interpret diagram like techniques in their arguments.11 the example from the Mayo Clinic in Figure 1. Expert panels have repeatedly evaluated all the available What Is the Evidence for Statins? evidence. In 2013, the American College of Cardiology and the American Heart Association jointly issued extensive Statins have been extensively studied; a PubMed clinical treatment guidelines based on that evidence.15 The magnitude query brings up over 30,000 published articles. I couldn’t possibly read them all, but expert panels and review articles of the benefit is small, but it is greater for patients at higher have done the heavy lifting and have identified the studies risk. And if you are one of the patients who are saved from a worth reading. The panels not only read all the pertinent heart attack, the benefit is pretty important. The guidelines studies, both pro and con, but they critically evaluated the are not prescriptions; they are intended to be used as general methodology and the credibility of their findings. A 2016 guidelines to facilitate interpretation of the evidence for the review in the Lancet was particularly thorough. It found individual patient. Science can provide evidence about ben- that the benefits of statins have been underestimated. The efits and risks, but ultimately patients must choose whether evidence couldn’t be clearer: they reduce the rate of heart to take the drugs and whether the benefits outweigh the risks attacks and strokes in at-risk patients by as much as 50 for them, personally. People’s willingness to take risks varies, percent in some cases.12 Low-cost statins (about £2 for a as does their attitude about insurance. 42 Volume 41 Issue 3 | Skeptical Inquirer What about the Side Effects? mainstream medicine, and sometimes even invents conspir- Any drug that has effects is likely to have side effects, and acy theories. Another part is that so many people want to clinicians always weigh the benefits against the risks. What’s believe that if you just eat right, you won’t ever get sick, and more, drug manufacturers have to demonstrate that the that there must be natural lifestyle solutions to every health benefits outweigh the risks before the FDA ever approves a problem. There aren’t. drug for marketing. That same review article in Lancet found 16 Other factors that can motivate denialism are religious that the adverse effects of statins have been overestimated. ideology, self-interest (financial, political, economic), and the Devastating side effects have been reported, including can- desire to protect oneself from unpleasant truths by denying cer, dizziness, depression, anemia, acidosis, pancreatitis, cat- reality. And of course, people who don’t understand how sci- aracts, heart failure, hunger, nausea, sleep problems, memory ence works are more likely to reject it; they won’t accept the loss, ringing in the ears, “a sense of detachment,”. . . the list consensus of experts because they see it as nothing more than goes on. But these are from anecdotal reports and uncon- “opinion.” trolled observations. When symptoms such as these have been evaluated in Denialists are welcome to their poorly informed opinions, controlled studies, they have not been shown to occur more but they are not welcome to their “alternative facts.” Global often with the drug than with placebo. The Lancet article con- warming is real, germs cause disease, HIV causes AIDS, evo- cluded, “The only excesses of adverse events that have been lution is an established fact, vaccines save lives. And statins, reliably demonstrated to be caused by statin therapy are my- while they are not a panacea for everyone, have been clearly opathy and diabetes mellitus, along with a probable excess shown to do more good than harm for patients at risk. n of haemorrhagic stroke. These excesses are larger in certain Statins: They work, bitches! circumstances, but the absolute risks remain small by com- parison with the absolute benefits.” Treating 10,000 patients Notes for five years might cause five cases of myopathy, fifty to 100 1. The full Dawkins quotation is “[Science] works! Planes fly. Cars drive. new cases of diabetes, and five to ten hemorrhagic strokes. Computers compute. If you base medicine on science, you cure people. If you base the design of planes on science, they fly. If you base the design of The increase in hemorrhagic strokes is outweighed by the rockets on science, they reach the moon. It works . . . bitches.” The saying much greater decrease in ischemic strokes, and the clinical “Science: It works, bitches” originally appeared in an xkcd cartoon and on relevance of new diabetes diagnoses is minimal when weighed a T-shirt, illustrated by a graph showing a perfect correlation between data against the benefits of statin therapy. And a meta-analysis of from the COBE mission and Planck’s predictions for black body radiation. 2. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9trx6opxmBI subsequent studies found that the risk of diabetes was lower 3. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27166128 17 than in the study that first reported it. 4. http://www.nature.com/scitable/topicpage/cell-mem- There are a lot of reports of muscle pain and weakness, but branes-14052567 there is good evidence that most of them are not related to 5. http://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Leonard_Coldwell 6. https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/iage/201402/cholester- statin therapy. Out of 10,000 patients treated, only about ten ol-and-our-aging-brain to twenty will develop muscle pain and weakness, and only 7. http://atvb.ahajournals.org/content/24/5/806 one of those will be diagnosed with myopathy requiring statin 8. http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2010/07/20/the- discontinuation. Only two to three cases of the serious com- truth-about-statin-drugs-revealed.aspx 9. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22390808 plication rhabdomyolysis will be diagnosed for every 100,000 10. http://blogs.naturalnews.com/the-truth-about-salt/ patients treated. The harmful effects of statins can usually be 11. http://skepdic.com/refuge/bunk28.html reversed by stopping the drug. If you don’t take statins and 12. http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140- have a heart attack or stroke, those are not reversible. 6736(16)31357-5/fulltext 13. http://pharmamkting.blogspot.com/2008/01/statin-lottery-number-needed-to-treat.html Statin Denialism Harms Patients 14. https://statindecisionaid.mayoclinic.org 15. http://circ.ahajournals.org/content/circulationaha/ Irresponsible media reports of statin side effects have fright- early/2013/11/11/01.cir.0000437738.63853.7a.full.pdf ened a lot of patients into discontinuing their treatment. 16. http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140- Recently in the United Kingdom, following publication 6736(16)31357-5/fulltext 17. http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140- of exaggerated claims about statin side effects, more than 6736(09)61965-6/fulltext 200,000 patients stopped their statins. By one estimate, this 18. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27353418?dopt=Abstract is likely to result in 2,000 to 6,000 cardiovascular events in the following decade that could have been prevented.18 Harriet Hall, MD, also known as “The SkepDoc,” Why Denialism? is a retired U.S. Air Force family physician who writes primarily about pseudoscience and ques- Why do statin denialists rely on “alternative facts”? What tionable medical practices. She is a Skeptical In- motivates them to reject evidence that the majority of the quirer contributing editor and a fellow and mem- medical and scientific community have reached a consensus ber of the Executive Council of the Committee on? I don’t think there’s a simple answer, but I suspect part for Skeptical Inquiry. She is also an editor of the of the problem is an anti-establishment ideology that automatically rejects anything that comes from Big Pharma or Science-Based Medicine website. Skeptical Inquirer | May/June 2017 43 Vaccines, Autism, and the Promotion of Irrelevant Research: A Science-Pseudoscience Analysis Proponents of the vaccination-autism link have created a bogus scientific debate by providing lists of studies that supposedly support their claims. In actuality, these studies are typically questionable or irrelevant. We identify this as its own developing pseudoscientific tactic: the promotion of irrelevant research.

Craig A. Foster and Sarenna M. Ortiz

arry Kusche’s review of the Bermuda Triangle mystery (1986; 2015) provided one of the clearest victories for reason over rumor. His method remains convincing because Lit was so straightforward. Kusche demonstrated that many disappearances had been wrongly attributed to the Bermuda Triangle; the actual events either did not happen as reported or likely occurred outside of the infamous area. Kusche also demonstrated that the rate of actual disappearances within the triangle did not seem to differ meaningfully from the rate of disappearances in other parts of the ocean. In so doing, Kusche high- lighted two issues that occur frequently in pseudoscience. The first involves reporting events inaccurately, and the second involves relying on handpicked observations rather than a representative set of observations (Hansson 2013).

Vaccinations and Autism: Inaccuracies and Anecdotes Even if the Wakefield et al. results had been legitimate, the Much of the debate surrounding vaccines and autism has small sample size and selective nature of the sample should been similarly based on straightforward considerations about have encouraged a cautious interpretation. Nevertheless, the whether the reported evidence is accurate and whether a rep- evidence was at least broadly interpretable: a small group of resentative set of evidence supports the vaccines-cause-autism children received the MMR vaccine and subsequently expe- claim. This debate was triggered by Andrew Wakefield and rienced developmental problems. Of course, this evidence was others’ (1998—Retracted) research involving twelve children not accurate. Wakefield created fraudulent results presum- who were referred to a pediatric gastroenterology unit. Wake- ably for financial reasons (Deer 2011). Subsequent research field et al. reported that all twelve children had experienced revealed no evidence that childhood vaccine administration developmental problems at varying intervals after exposure elevated the rate of developing autism (Taylor et al. 2014). In to the measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccine; nine of the absence of any scientific connection between vaccinations these developmental disorders were identified as autism with and autism, promoters of the vaccines-autism link could still a tenth being questionably identified as autism. Wakefield et handpick observations. Anti-vaccination proponents pointed al. used these results to suggest that the MMR vaccine could to the many vaccinated children who later developed autism contribute to a syndrome involving gastrointestinal problems (noted by The Logic of Science 2016). The best-known ex- and regressive autism. This research fueled the well-known ample has probably been actress Jenny McCarthy’s son. In a concern about childhood vaccination and its alleged contri- strange twist, some have raised the possibility that McCar- bution to autism—a genie that shows no sign of returning thy’s son did not actually develop autism (Rubin 2008). to its bottle. We view the handpicking of confirmatory observations 44 Volume 41 Issue 3 | Skeptical Inquirer with understanding. It is natural for humans to seek explana- list has since expanded to well over 100 studies. Taylor’s tions for difficult events, and the temporal proximity between work is paralleled by other lists to include Walia’s (2013) a vaccination and the diagnosis of autism could certainly feel list of twenty-two studies, Adl-Tabatabai’s (2015) list of causal. Nevertheless, this aggregation of anecdotes, no matter thirty studies, and Anti-Vaccine Scientific Support Arsenal’s how broad, is not science. Most objective observers can under- (2015) list of twenty-six studies, the latter containing mostly stand that if millions of children are vaccinated and a fraction perspectives and reviews. To illustrate the dissemination of children develop autism, then many children who have been of this argument, the Activist Post’s Facebook page, where vaccinated will subsequently develop autism, even in the com- Walia’s list was posted on August 24, 2015, appears to have plete absence of any cause-effect link. Obviously, many people more than 500,000 followers presently. We do not need to still believe that vaccinations cause autism, but at least the address these studies specifically, as the collective implication science and pseudoscience surrounding this debate remains of these studies has been debunked sufficiently by scientific relatively clear. The scientifically minded can point to the ab- research (e.g., see Taylor et al. 2014) and by scholars who sence of any correlation between childhood vaccination and have reviewed the concerns associated with many of these the development of autism. Proponents of the vaccines-autism studies (e.g., Ditz 2013; The Logic of Science 2016). link can point to the number of children who were vaccinated Instead, our purpose is to highlight the promotion of and later developed autism. irrelevant research as its own developing characteristic of pseudoscience. This tactic shares a connection with the old pseudoscientific tactic of using scientific-sounding language Vaccines and Autism: The Promotion of Irrelevant Research (Shermer 2002) because both tactics might make a commu- This context is important for understanding an interesting nity appear more scientific. Nevertheless, the promotion of tactic that subsequently developed regarding vaccinations irrelevant research goes much further by pointing to purport- and autism. The supposed science behind the vaccine-autism edly important scientific findings. link came back. The vaccines-cause-autism community Radner and Radner (1982, 36) gave a nod toward the began offering several non-Wakefield studies as evidence promotion of irrelevant research when they described the of supportive science. As far as we can tell, this tactic was “grab-bag approach to evidence.” According to Radner and popularized by blogger Ginger Taylor in 2007 when she Radner, pseudoscience will use quantity of evidence (the grab published a list of “just over a dozen studies” supporting the bag) over quality of evidence in an attempt to wear down op- link between vaccines and autism (see Taylor 2013). This ponents. Radner and Radner’s grab bag focused mostly on the

Skeptical Inquirer May/June 2017 45 continued offering of confirming observations (e.g., Bermuda stead developed and promoted a scientific debate that does Triangle disappearances) or questionable pieces of evidence not actually exist in science. Instead, this bogus scientific de- (e.g., an old jet-shaped figurine as evidence of ancient aliens). bate takes place in an electronic world between people who Radner and Radner also included the misuse of research find- are usually consumers of science rather than being scientists ings in their grab bag after explaining that pseudoscientists are themselves. Among actual scientists, this does not seem to be reluctant to “weed out” bad evidence from a scientific debate. an issue. Taylor et al. (2014), in their statistical integration of To illustrate, they noted that parapsychologists continued to several studies that examined vaccination and autism devel- use the results of a flawed research design as evidence for psi. opment, referred to almost none of the studies provided in the At the same time, Radner and Radner did not really lists of research supposedly supporting the vaccination-autism describe the promotion of irrelevant research as a specific link. Other scientists who have conducted research involving method for making pseudoscience look like science. This tac- vaccination and autism have demonstrated similar levels of tic, as it has been used in the vaccines-autism domain, involves disregard (e.g., Uno et al. 2012). much more than the inclusion of a dubious study or two that We can illustrate the promotion of irrelevant research by lie at or near the center of a science-pseudoscience debate. The considering this development relative to other questionable promotion of irrelevant research is an active aggregation of several health-related claims. A Google search for “studies that show questionable or peripherally related research studies in an attempt that vaccines cause autism” revealed the four aforementioned to justify the science underlying a questionable claim (see also lists within the first thirty-two non-advertisement results. Barrett [2008], who mentioned this tactic briefly). It includes, A Google search for “studies that show that new age among other things, (a) results that have dubious legitimacy, crystals” did not immediately reveal similar lists within the (b) results that possibly occurred due to chance, (c) results first thirty results. A Google search for “studies that show based on inappropriate statistical procedures that create a false that chiropractic” did reveal lists of research supporting chiropractic medicine that appear similar to the lists used to promote the vaccines-autism link. Hall (2014) reviewed the top chiropractic studies of 2013 (Luck 2013) and offered several methodological concerns. There is, however, a critically The promotion of irrelevant important distinction between this debate and the bogus research potentially changes scientific debate in the vaccine-autism domain. Hall reviewed the top chiropractic studies as reported by a chiropractic the landscape of the overall website. This stands in obvious contrast to proponents of the vaccines-autism link pointing to a set of research findings that discussion surrounding vaccines appear to be generally irrelevant to the actual scientific debate. Why has the promotion of irrelevant research occurred so and their relation to autism. prominently in the vaccines-autism domain? The anti-vaccination movement boomed after the publication of what appeared to be legitimate scientific research (Wakefield et al. 1998—Retracted). This caused many individuals to become firmly entrenched in the vaccines-cause-autism view. This initial entrenchment was surely reinforced by not vaccinating perception of a relationship, (d) results coming from poorly children, encouraging others to avoid vaccinating children, controlled research, (e) results where the supposedly harmful or both. It is difficult to admit wrongdoing in this regard be- aspects of vaccines were manipulated at much stronger levels cause the consequences involve the well-being of children. than is actually present in a vaccine, (f) results where the de- The debate is also interdependent because this issue involves pendent variable was tangentially related to autism but was the well-being of unvaccinated and vaccinated children. This not autism (e.g., gastrointestinal problems), and (g) results interdependence likely gave vaccination supporters additional containing multiple explanations due to confounding vari- initiative to press the anti-vaccination community for scien- ables (see Ditz 2013; The Logic of Science 2016). tific justifications. The promotion of irrelevant research potentially changes The vaccines-autism link has also been more neatly de- the landscape of the overall discussion surrounding vaccines bunked than other forms of health-based pseudoscience. and their relation to autism. It can shift the argument away The vaccines-autism link is more easily examined because from the misuse of handpicked examples or a manageable the results are not complicated by psychological rather than number of fallible research designs (all the while ignoring the physical explanations. For instance, chiropractic medicine is broader absence of any systematic link between vaccinations difficult to investigate because it is seemingly impossible to and autism). It can move the argument to an assortment of create a proper control condition where participants believe scientific findings with questionable relevance and legitimacy they received chiropractic treatment when they did not. The (all the while ignoring the broader absence of any systematic vaccines-autism debate is not complicated by a placebo effect link between vaccinations and autism). By doing so, the vac- in this way. In fact, the vaccines-cause-autism theory could cines-cause-autism community no longer ignores the entirety subtly encourage autism spectrum disorder diagnoses in vac- of the science regarding vaccines and autism. They have in- cinated children; of course, this pattern of results has not been 46 Volume 41 Issue 3 | Skeptical Inquirer revealed in extensive scientific examinations (e.g., Taylor et on authority to confirm belief is another tactic commonly al. 2014). associated with pseudoscience (e.g., Hansson 2013). We also believe that the development of the Internet and It might be wise for those who wish to promote science social media has enabled this pseudoscientific tactic (see, e.g., and reason to steer clear of the specifics associated with Kata 2012). This promotion of irrelevant research has occurred handpicked irrelevant research. Getting into the weeds overwhelmingly—possibly exclusively—in this context. The of this debate might encourage people to believe that all Internet provides quick access to a wealth of scientific and scientific research endeavors are equally compelling and that pseudoscientific information that allows groups on both sides the group with the greater number of supposedly supportive of this debate to disseminate information swiftly and widely. studies is the winner. It is probably more effective to keep This seems to have enhanced the ability of the scientifically the focus on the basic scientific principles that are more minded to press supporters of the vaccine-autism link for the science behind their claims. Similarly, the Internet surely enhanced the ability for supporters of the vaccine-autism link to find and list several research studies that look, at first glance, as if they provide a noteworthy scientific argument. Taylor’s (2013) original list was clearly intended to address concerns The Internet provides quick that there is no scientific evidence for the vaccine-autism link. access to a wealth of scientific If the Internet and social media hastened the promotion of irrelevant research, it explains why the Radner and Radner and pseudoscientific information (1982) grab bag focused primarily on confirmatory observations and poor examples of evidence. It would have been dif- that allows groups on both sides ficult for nonscientists in 1982 to quickly piece together and share lists of any research that has some remote possibility of of this debate to disseminate supporting a pseudoscientific claim. The continued ability for individuals to do so suggests that the promotion of irrelevant information swiftly and widely. research is likely to continue as a pseudoscientific tactic.

Pyrrhic Victories and Practical Implications Unfortunately, the promotion of irrelevant research is intentionally or unintentionally clever because it can obscure easily understood. If vaccines cause autism, then vaccinated the distinction between science and pseudoscience. Science children should be developing autism at an elevated rate advocates can explain fairly easily why handpicked observa- compared to non-vaccinated children. There is no evidence tions or particular research designs might be misleading. It of this pattern (see Taylor et al. 2014 for an introduction). is more difficult for science advocates to address an extensive The tangential findings provided by several questionable and list of research findings that have dubious relevance and legitimate studies consequently lack any substantial relevance. legitimacy. Yet if these lists are not addressed, newcomers Only those who are really interested in the details of these might initially see science that purportedly promotes both generally irrelevant studies should bother with them. They points of view, which can create a sense of false equivalence can be directed to thoughtful reviews (e.g., Ditz 2013; The (Skeptical Raptor 2015). Logic of Science 2016). At the same time, entering this debate could create a se- Perhaps more important, the promotion of irrelevant ries of Pyrrhic victories. Scientifically savvy individuals who research is, oddly enough, an acknowledgement that science critique the promotion of irrelevant research might win sev- matters. If science did not matter, there would be no reason eral battles while experiencing a setback in their overall cam- to offer lists of supposedly supportive scientific studies. This paign—a campaign that is waged with arguments rather than creates two contradictory stances that the vaccines-cause- soldiers in an effort to promote reason rather than empires. autism community can be asked to clarify. First, should Those who truly love science will be tempted to enter this decisions about vaccines and autism be based on the scientific debate knowing that they ultimately have a winning hand, evidence? It seems that some in this community believe that but the vaccines-cause-autism community can offer a long science matters (e.g., Taylor 2013) whereas others question list of weak counterarguments in the form of fraudulent re- the utility of science (e.g., Jameson 2015). Second, is there search, poor research, tangentially related research, and alleged a conspiracy that stifles research supportive of a vaccine- pro-vaccination conspiracies. Sadly, by the time the arguments autism link (e.g., Olmsted 2014)? If so, why are there so many about the science underlying vaccinations and autism are published studies that supposedly support that link? hashed out, newcomers to this issue might be understandably The answers to these questions need to be established fatigued and confused about what they should believe (Rad- before, not after, a debate ensues about whether science ner and Radner 1982; Skeptical Raptor 2015). This can force supports the vaccines-autism link. Clarifying the ground science to rely on authority rather than a digestible explana- rules is clearly necessary because the vaccines-cause-autism tion of the existing scientific evidence. Ironically, the reliance community can claim that their science is legitimate but that Skeptical Inquirer | May/June 2017 47 any science discrediting the vaccine-autism link is biased ChiroNexus (December 30). Available online at http://www.chironexus. by some type of nefarious pro-vaccination agenda (see, e.g., net/2013/12/top-10-chiropractic-studies-2013/. Mikkelson, David. 2015. Rumor: Data suppressed by the CDC proved that Jameson 2015). This community can also argue that there the MMR vaccine produces a 340% risk of autism in African-American would be additional research supportive of the vaccine- boys. Snopes.com (February 3). Available online at http://www.snopes.com/ autism link if it had not been suppressed by a nefarious medical/disease/cdcwhistleblower.asp. Olmsted, Dan. 2014. Midweek mashup: Autism research suppres- pro-vaccination agenda (see, e.g., Olmsted 2014; Mikkelson sion (Web log post). Age of Autism (November 4). Available online 2015). If the vaccines-cause-autism community wants to have at http://www.ageofautism.com/2014/11/midweek-mashup-autism a legitimate scientific debate, we are confident that members -research-suppression.html. of the scientific community would be happy to entertain it. It Radner, Daisie, and Michael Radner. 1982. Science & Unreason. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth. just needs to come with a commitment that scientific findings Rubin, Daniel B. 2008. Fanning the vaccine-autism link. Neurology Today 8(15): cannot be omitted for undocumented impropriety and that 3. suppositious research findings that have been suppressed by Shermer, Michael. 2002. Why People Believe Weird Things: Pseudoscience, some unsubstantiated pro-vaccination agenda would not be Superstition, and Other Confusions of Our Time (Revised and Expanded). New York, NY: St. Martin’s Griffin. considered. Skeptical Raptor. 2015. Science deniers use false equivalence to create fake debates (blog entry). Skeptical Raptor (December 29). Available online at Conclusion http://www.skepticalraptor.com/skepticalraptorblog.php/science- deniers-false-equivalency-pretend-debate/. The promotion of irrelevant research reveals a fundamental Taylor, Ginger. 2013. No evidence of any link (blog entry). Adventures in contradiction. It acknowledges the importance of science but Autism ( July 24). Available onine at http://adventuresinautism.blogspot. com/2007/06/no-evidence-of-any-link.html. To be clear, this appears to be disregards the most informative scientific studies and the a post from June 14, 2007, that was updated on July 24, 2013. general consensus of the scientific community. Our science Taylor, Luke E., Amy L. Swerdfeger, and Guy D. Eslick. 2014. Vaccines versus pseudoscience analysis of this development serves are not associated with autism: An evidence-based meta-analysis of two purposes. First, we hope that it encourages an effective case-control and cohort studies. Vaccine 32(29): 3623–3629. The Logic of Science. 2016. Vaccines and autism: A thorough review of the response to the promotion of irrelevant research in the evidence (blog entry). The Logic of Science (April 28). Available online vaccines-autism domain. Second, we want to highlight the at https://thelogicofscience.com/2016/04/28/vaccines-and-autism-a- promotion of irrelevant research as an important pseudosci- thorough-review-of-the-evidence/. entific tactic in its own right. We believe that the promotion Uno, Yota, Tokio Uchiyama, Michiko Kurosawa, et al. 2012. The combined measles, mumps, and rubella vaccines and the total number of vaccines of irrelevant research will expand as a pseudoscientific tactic, are not associated with development of autism spectrum disorder: The and promoters of science and reason should therefore be first case–control study in Asia. Vaccine 30(28): 4292–4298. n prepared to identify and address it. Wakefield, Andrew J., Simon H. Murch, Andrew Anthony, et al. 1998. RETRACTED: Ileal-lymphoid-nodular hyperplasia, non-specific References colitis, and pervasive developmental disorder in children. The Lancet 351(9103): 637–641. Adl-Tabatabai, Sean. 2015. 30 solid scientific studies that prove that vaccines Walia, Arjun. 2013. 22 medical studies that show vaccines can cause cause autism. YourNewsWire.com (December 9). Available online at http:// autism (blog entry). Activist Post (September 12). Available online at yournewswire.com/30-solid-scientific-studies-that-prove-vaccines-cause- http://www.activistpost.com/2013/09/22-medical-studies-that-show- autism/. vaccines.html. Anti-Vaccine Scientific Support Arsenal. 2015. Vaccines do cause autism— undeniable scientific proof (blog entry). Anti-Vaccine Scientific Support Arsenal (April 29). Available online at https://avscientificsupportarsenal. wordpress.com/. Craig A. Foster is a professor in the Department Barrett, Stephen. 2008. “Research” associated with the promotion of question- of Behavioral Sciences and Leadership at the able theories, products, and services. Quackwatch (November 26). Available online at https://www.quackwatch.org/06ResearchProjects/ploys.html. United States Air Force Academy. He received Deer, Brian. 2011. How the vaccine crisis was meant to make money. British his doctoral degree in social psychology from Medical Journal 342: c5258. Ditz, Liz. 2013. Those lists of papers claiming that vaccines cause autism: the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. They don’t show what they claim (Part 1) (blog entry). I Speak of Dreams He currently serves as the course director for (August 23). Available online at http://lizditz.typepad.com/i_speak_of_ a year-long statistics and research methods dreams/2013/08/-those-lists-of-papers-that-claim-vaccines-cause-autism- part-1.html. sequence. He also conducts research in the areas of scientific rea- Hall, Harriet. 2014. The top 10 chiropractic studies of 2013 (blog entry). Science- soning and pseudoscience. Based Medicine ( January 21). Available online at https://www.sciencebased- medicine.org/top-10-chiropractic-studies-of-2013/. Hansson, Sven O. 2013. Defining pseudoscience and science. In M. Pigliucci & M. Boudry (Eds.), Philosophy of Pseudoscience: Reconsidering the Demarcation Second Lieutenant Sarenna M. Ortiz is an ad- Problem (pp. 61-77). University of Chicago Press. Jameson, Cathy. 2015. Vaccines: The science has spoken (blog missions advisor at the U.S. Air Force Academy. entry). Age of Autism ( June 7). Available online at http://www.ageof She is a graduate of the U.S. Air Force Academy, autism.com/2015/06/vaccines-the-science-has-spoken.html. where she majored in Legal Studies and Behav- Kata, Anna. 2012. Anti-vaccine activists, web 2.0, and the postmodern para- digm—an overview of tactics and tropes used online by the anti-vaccination ioral Sciences and Leadership. movement. Vaccine 30(25): 3778–3789. Kusche, Larry. 1986. The Bermuda Triangle Mystery Solved. New York, NY: Galahad Books. Reprinted 1995. (The views expressed in this article are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the ———. 2015. The Bermuda Triangle delusion: Looking back after forty years. Skeptical Inquirer 39(6) (November/December): 28–37. official policy or position of the United States Air Force Academy, the Air Force, the Department Luck, Marissa. 2013. The top 10 chiropractic studies of 2013 (blog entry). of Defense, or the U.S. Government.)

48 Volume 41 Issue 3 | Skeptical Inquirer Helping Teachers Teach Evolution in the United States The Teacher Institute for Evolutionary Science provides middle school science teachers with valuable science content and resources to improve evolution understanding in the United States.

Bertha Vazquez

eing a science teacher is the greatest job on Earth. Science can be a truly wondrous gift to share with young people. Although the day-to-day interaction can often feel Blike I am being pecked to death by ducks, I do not regret my decision twenty-six years ago to become a science teacher. I love working with young people and introducing them to humanity’s best way of finding answers.

One of the most important things a teacher can do is build rapport with his or her students. Because I have my students for at least two years in a row, we develop a relationship built on trust and mutual respect over time. In my classroom, learning takes place in a welcoming environment, and this firm but friendly atmosphere is compromised only during one unit of study: evolution. Richard Dawkins (2009) said it best in his book The Great- est Show on Earth. Imagine being a professor of Roman history who has to constantly, year after year, defend the very existence of the Roman Empire. Despite the overwhelming evidence coming from various sources—architecture, art, literature, etc.—your students are not only skeptical, they can be TIES downright disrespectful. This is what teaching evolution feels Teacher Institute for like for many science teachers. Evolutionary Science Like most teachers, I have at least a handful of students every year who are anxious about learning evolution. For example, many students raised in faiths that totally accept evolution ask whether or not they are “allowed” to learn it in my Last year I was confronted by a parent during my school’s class. I’ve had students refuse to do any assignments related to annual Open House event. She asked if I believed in God. evolution or who will sit with their backs to me for the entire She told me that I was causing tremendous anxiety in her evolution unit. This creates anxiety, not only in the students son because I began the school year with a series of lessons on who are told at home that evolution is false but also in the the biology of skin color (see http://www.hhmi.org/biointer- other children in the room who do not understand what all active/biology-skin-color). Luckily for her son, she claimed, of the fuss is about. Some students who completely accept their pastor set him straight on evolution. She also stated that and understand what I’m teaching are told by their families evolution was a religion and that there was no evidence for or pastors that they should not believe a word I say. Last year, it. The other parents sat motionless, disbelieving what was an eighth grader came to me in tears after she defended evo- happening. I remained calm throughout the exchange and lution to her pastor who proceeded to call me a “disgusting responded that evolution was not a religion and that there are human being.” mountains of evidence for it. I politely asked her if we could

Skeptical Inquirer | May/June 2017 49 continue the conversation at a more appropriate time. Wel- I know this sounds unbelievable to somebody outside of come to the world of the American science teacher. education, but I understand what this school district is try- The figures nationwide are disconcerting. When asked if ing to achieve. This ice-breaker will most certainly help their they felt pressure to teach creationism in their classrooms, 31 science teachers avoid confrontation with anyone who does percent of high school biology teachers reported that they not “believe” in evolution. It’s trying to help teachers avoid did—and that this pressure comes primarily from students phone calls and visits from angry parents. Nonetheless, this and parents. These pressures can be very stressful for teachers, school district is dispensing unacceptable advice to its science who often teach evolution at the end of the year as a discrete teachers. Both the Center for Inquiry and the National Cen- topic instead of as the unifying theme of biology it actually is. ter for Science Education attempted to contact this school Many teachers will begin their unit on evolution by saying to district about this message to students, but neither received students, “You do not have to believe what I’m about to teach a response. you. You just have to understand it and try your best on the Teachers are by nature nonconfrontational. We prefer test.” One school district in Georgia even went so far as to to avoid issues that will anger parents and students. This create an opening activity with this message: avoidance is even worse in middle school where it’s possible a teacher may not have majored in the subject they are This unit typically comes with some backlash from students teaching. Middle school science teachers have to teach it all, and parents. It may help at the beginning of the unit to give from meteorology and space science to physical science. This students an analogy. . . . Ask students to turn to a partner means it’s possible to have an excellent teacher with no life and come up with a definition of a zombie. . . . Ask how science background, for example, who has to teach evolution. many students believe zombies are real. . . . Next, do the same for aliens. Explain to the students that the class is Without a firm grasp of the subject matter, teachers are even going to be learning about evolution. We are not telling you less likely to take on a controversial subject head-on. that you have to believe in evolution. However, we are asking While improved science education is only one variable that you know enough about evolution to be able to explain involved in increasing evolution acceptance in the United the argument or definition to someone else similar to what States, it is arguably a very important piece of the puzzle. you did for aliens and zombies. You can learn information about a topic or concept to have a conversation and answer After looking into the most effective ways to improve evolu- questions without having to believe it. (Troup County tion education in America, the National Center for Science Schools 2015) Education concluded that “requiring all teachers to complete

Figure 2: A TIES workshop in progress.

50 Volume 41 Issue 3 | Skeptical Inquirer a course in evolutionary biology would have a substantial im- efforts. To my great surprise and excitement, he offered to pact on the emphasis on evolution and its centrality in high come to my school and help me present evolutionary biology school biology courses. In the long run, the impact of such a to my colleagues. I’m pleased to say that my school district change could have a more far reaching effect than the victories recognized the value of his tremendous offer and opened the in courts and in state governments” (Berkman et al. 2008). event up to science teachers from across the school district. Biologist Sean Carrol points to the fact that acceptance of Over one hundred teachers came. evolution is up to 68 percent among adult Americans under Shortly after the event, the executive director of the Rich- age thirty (it’s 60 percent overall). He attributes the increased ard Dawkins Foundation for Reason & Science, Robyn acceptance level among young people to the fact that “over Blumner (she is now president and CEO of CFI), contacted the past decade, the concerted efforts of various academic me about recreating my local workshops into a nationwide and scientific organizations have led to greater emphasis in project. The Teacher Institute for Evolutionary Science was textbooks and curricula on the central place of evolution in born. understanding life” (Carrol 2014). As a science teacher myself, I have seen firsthand how a good teacher can improve a student’s understanding of a science topic. As a matter of fact, many school principals will The purpose of TIES is to tell you that they prefer hiring a good teacher with no science background rather than a scientist with no teaching expe- familiarize interested rience. A good teacher can deliver the education once the content knowledge and resources are provided to them. The middle school science key is giving them the necessary content knowledge. This excerpt from Dr. Caitlin Schrein’s interview with Stephanie teachers with the concepts of Keep of the National Center for Science Education sums up natural selection, common this opinion. Teachers need to feel confident teaching the subject, as well. ancestry, and diversity so This confidence can come from education and training, but also from access to experts and high quality teaching that they may confidently resources. In my opinion, teachers who are really at the top of their game can teach just about anything as long as they cover the topics in their have the resources to do so. There are many enthusiastic and knowledgeable science teachers who don’t know specific areas of science, like evolutionary theory, through and classrooms and fulfill their through, but who are perfectly capable of teaching those subjects effectively when properly supported. (Keep 2016) curriculum requirements. The above excerpt is at the heart of the Teacher Institute for Evolutionary Science (TIES), a project of the Richard Dawkins Foundation for Reason & Science. The purpose of TIES is to familiarize interested middle school science teach- Over the course of just two years, TIES has grown from ers with the concepts of natural selection, common ancestry, one workshop in Miami, Florida, with one presenter to over and diversity so that they may confidently cover the topics forty-five workshops and seventeen different presenters. More in their classrooms and fulfill their curriculum requirements. than thirty more presenters have signed up for future presen- TIES introduces middle school teachers to the most import- tations. TIES workshops have taken place across the United ant points of evolution and natural selection with a focus on States, from Omaha, Nebraska, to Baton Rouge, Louisiana. the amazing advances of genetics. The success of TIES de- In addition to addressing the middle school evolution stan- pends upon providing resources that teachers can begin to use dards in each presentation, TIES provides valuable sources immediately. Participating teachers or student teachers leave of professional support. For example, the National Science our workshops with presentation slides, labs, guided reading Teachers Association (NSTA) has issued an excellent position assignments, an exam, and a valuable resource list for their statement on evolution education. Other sources, such as the lesson plans. Our webpage is a one-stop shop for evolution National Science Foundation and the comprehensive Under- education, and we constantly add new resources on our Face- standing Evolution website of the University of California book page as well. at Berkeley can become essential when a science teacher is Our teacher institute has modest beginnings. From 2012– confronted with unhappy parents. The teacher can demon- 2014, I decided to offer some professional development on strate that he or she is not the one responsible for setting evolution to my fellow science teachers at my own school. the curriculum for the class and the parents will have to go We often share new lessons and resources with each other. elsewhere to complain. Having access to these resources takes Through a series of sessions, the teachers developed a deeper the teacher “off the hook,” so to speak. understanding of modern evolutionary biology and received TIES has other goals as well. First, it promotes teacher effective resources to use in their lessons. In November 2015, leadership at all levels of the education system. TIES enlists I had the opportunity to tell Richard Dawkins about my small teachers to present to other teachers in local school districts, Skeptical Inquirer | May/June 2017 51 at state science teacher conferences, and at NSTA conferences ready-to-go resources, and support for science teachers. This nationwide. In a profession where decisions are often made by participating teacher in central Florida sums it up very well noneducators, we believe that putting teachers in leadership in her evaluation: positions is essential. Only a teacher knows the day-to-day As a teacher without formal science background, I really struggles of classroom teaching. Second, TIES emphasizes appreciated your presentation during the FAST conference. modern-day examples of evolution. Sadly, many students are I currently am in my first year as a seventh grade science automatically turned off by Darwin’s name, and anti-evolu- teacher in St. Lucie County and was a bit nervous for the tionists have deliberately and falsely tried to discredit iconic unit on evolution. I am very happy to say that your knowledge and enthusiasm for the subject have made me feel more examples of evolution (Gishlick 2003). A powerful example prepared and excited to teach this subject to my students. of the influence TIES can have in a classroom with this goal (Sonia Veiga, workshop participant) in mind occurred in April 2016. I teamed up with a local biologist, Dr. Eric von Wettberg of Florida International Uni- In September 2016, we at the Teacher Institute for Evo- versity. One of the participating teachers introduced herself lutionary Science decided to expand its scope in an effort to by telling us that she doesn’t really believe in evolution. She reach even more teachers and students. Our new TIES pro- explained that she tells her students that they must study and gram is titled TIES Partnerships. We are enlisting interested get a good grade on the test so she can move on. I presented evolutionary biologists who are willing to volunteer to visit the standard TIES content in the morning. Dr. von Wettberg schools in their local areas and present the basic concepts of evolutionary biology to middle or high school students. We discussed his research in the afternoon. He explained that 20 encourage these evolutionary biologists to share their own research with the students, highlighting the idea that evolutionary science is a dynamic, vibrant field. The interested biologists are matched up with local science teachers in their area and the biologist/teacher pair set up the best dates and times We encourage these for the classroom visits. Our TIES associates work closely with the biologists, ensuring that they understand the science evolutionary biologists standards of their state. The Teacher Institute for Evolutio nary Science has grown to share their own research exponentially since its inception. Our mission now is to continue to reach out to science teachers across the United States with the students, highlighting and expand even further. As our motto says, “TIES is un- locking the wonders of life for teachers and their students.” the idea that evolutionary For more information, please visit our webpage at https:// n science is a dynamic, richarddawkins.net/ties/. References vibrant field. Berkman, M.B., J.S. Pacheco, and E. Plutzer. 2008. Evolution and creationism in America’s classrooms: A national portrait. PLoS Biology 6(5): e124. doi:10.1371/journal.pbio.0060124. Carrol, Sean. 2014. Is America evolving on evolution? Scientific American. Available online at https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/ is-america-evolving-on-evolution/. Dawkins, R. 2009. The Greatest Show on Earth: The Evidence for Evolution. Free Press (United States), Transworld (United Kingdom and Commonwealth). percent of the world’s population relies on the chick pea for its Gishlick, Alan D. 2003. Icons of evolution? Available online at https://ncse. primary source of protein and that the yield of the chick pea com/creationism/analysis/icons-evolution. crop around the world is declining due to climate change. His Keep, Stephanie. 2016. America’s unwillingness to accept evolution en masse is . . . complicated, part 1. NCSE Blog. Available online lab is attempting to cross the agricultural strains of the chick at https://ncse.com/blog/2016/05/america-s-unwillingness-to-ac- pea with the much more robust wild strain still found today in cept-evolution-masse-0017041. Southern Turkey and Northern Iraq. By introducing genetic Troup County Schools. 2015. 7th Grade Science Evolution Unit Information. Available online at http://www.troup.k12.ga.us/user- variation into the agricultural strain, he is making it a hardier, files/929/my%20files/science/ms%20science/7th%20science/evolution/ more resilient crop. In other words, he is using the principles evolution_resources_schoolpointe.pdf?id=21261. of natural selection to ensure that millions of people continue to have access to an important food source. Our disbelieving Bertha Vazquez is a full-time teacher with twen- teacher left the workshop with a totally different perspective. ty-seven years of classroom experience. She is also We can be optimistic that her students will be receiving a very the director of the Teacher Institute for Evolutionary different view of evolution in her classes. Science, a program of the Richard Dawkins Founda- At the end of every TIES workshop, we ask the partic- tion for Reason & Science (now a part of CFI). For more ipating teachers for feedback. The teacher evaluations of information about becoming a TIES presenter or bring- TIES workshops have illustrated that TIES workshops are ing a TIES workshop to your school district, please very well-received. TIES workshops provide content matter, email Ms. Vazquez at [email protected]. 52 Volume 41 Issue 3 | Skeptical Inquirer Everything You Know about Being Rh-Negative Is Wrong There are numerous claims regarding the Rh-negative blood type’s origin, association with physical and personality traits, and potential disease resistance. Science does not support these claims.

D. Ellen K. Tarr

he “+” or “-” following the ABO blood type indicates the presence or absence of a protein on the surface of human red blood cells (RBCs) that is referred to as the “Rh factor” (Rh for Rhesus); however, this protein is not found on the surface of RhesusT monkey RBCs. The human protein was renamed to “D antigen” over fifty years ago, but the original term and its connotations of a factor specifically shared between Rhesus monkeys and some humans have remained in use, despite the inaccuracy. The function of this protein was not immediately apparent, and there is a great deal of speculation on the implications of being Rh-negative versus Rh-positive. These include: nonhuman/extraterrestrial ancestors, associations with phys- Associations between Rh-Negative ical traits, high IQ,sensitivity to psychic/paranormal phe- Blood Type and Physical Traits nomena, and disease resistance. The sense that Rh-negative Websites discussing the Rh-negative blood type have a gen- individuals are special persists despite the lack of scientific eral list of “known” associations: blue, green, or hazel eyes; data. My goal in this article is to address various claims red or reddish hair; low body temperature; low pulse; low regarding being Rh-negative. (or high) blood pressure; extra rib or vertebrae; vestigial tail;

Skeptical Inquirer | May/June 2017 53 larger than average head/forehead; unexplained body scars; (manifesting another person’s symptoms); tendency toward unclonable blood; heightened senses; sensitivity to heat/ healing professions; a sense of having a “mission” in life; a sunlight; and the ability to disrupt electrical appliances. I sense of not belonging/otherworldly feeling; tendency to have not found any scientific articles that corroborate these have paranormal experiences; tendency to be easily shocked/ “known” associations. As I’ll demonstrate, a founder effect scared; and an interest in space or science. As with the phys- likely played a role in the greater proportion of Rh-negative ical traits, I found very little information in the literature individuals in European populations, and it is possible this to support these claims. Two early studies showed no asso- also influenced the prevalence of other traits. ciation between Rh and personality factors (Mai and Pike Red hair in humans is associated with changes in the me- 1970) or between any blood type and IQ (Owen 1972). A lanocortin 1 receptor (MC1R) gene. MC1R plays a role in more recent study of over 3,000 Czech draftees (males about the relative expression of the pigments eumelanin (brown/ twenty years old) showed that Rh-negative individuals black) and pheomelanin (red/yellow), and thus far it is the scored lower for novelty seeking and higher for persistence; only gene that explains the normal variation in human pig- the study also showed a greater effect of age and smoking mentation (Valverde et al. 1995; Rees 2000). Low eumelanin on some personality and health factors in Rh-negative compared to pheomelanin is also responsible for fair skin that individuals (Flegr et al. 2012). Although addiction is not tans poorly, which reflects a decreased need for protection mentioned on websites, a study showed that the AB and from ultraviolet radiation in climates with less sunlight and Rh-negative blood types were independently more frequent an increased need to absorb sunlight for Vitamin D produc- in opioid addicts vs. controls (Aflatoonian et al. 2011). IQ tion. The genetics of MC1R in hair and skin color have been and personality traits require professional evaluation—there reviewed (Rees 2003), and the variants conferring red hair are multiple metrics available, and interpretation is not occurred up to 80,000 years ago (Harding et al. 2000). Some straightforward. Self-reporting of these traits is problematic Neanderthals had MC1R alleles that would have resulted in because standards are not well defined, and individuals may fair skin and red hair; one is likely Neanderthal specific (Lal- interpret these traits differently. ueza-Fox et al. 2007), while another is shared with modern Electromagnetic hypersensitivity (EHS) refers to the de- humans and may have originated in Neanderthals (Ding et velopment of symptoms when exposed to low/background al. 2014). levels of electromagnetic fields (EMFs); EM sensibility is The major gene involved in blue vs. brown eye color is sometimes used to describe the ability to perceive low EMF OCA2, which encodes a protein important for normal pig- levels, with or without symptom development. EHS is sug- mentation. There are many variations affecting eye color, but gested as one explanation for some “paranormal” events as well a specific single nucleotide change in the upstream HERC2 as being a wider health concern. A meta-analysis concluded gene inhibits OCA2 expression in the iris, leading to blue eyes. that most self-identified EHS individuals cannot perceive Nearly all blue-eyed individuals have this mutation, which low-level EMFs under laboratory conditions, and there is no may go back to a single individual in the Black Sea region evidence that short-term exposure causes non-specific symp- living 6,000 to 10,000 years ago (Eiberg et al. 2008). Several toms (Röösli 2008). Individuals who can perceive low-level other genes contribute to variation in eye color (none as in- EMFs may exist, but they haven’t been identified or investi- fluential as HERC2-OCA2), and a recent study shows positive gated for blood type. selection for lighter skin, hair, and eyes in Europeans over the past 5,000 years (Wilde et al. 2014). Associations between Rh-Negative The perceived association between Rh-negative blood type Blood Type and Disease Resistance and red hair, light eyes, and sensitivity to sunlight is proba- While interesting, most of the “known” associations have bly due to shared European ancestry. An association between limited implications. In contrast, “known” associations with traits does not imply that one causes the other. A recent study disease resistance can be dangerous, especially when there is of blood type, hair color, and eye color in relation to sexual no scientific evidence to support them. The most common orientation found that both male and female homosexuals are claim is that Rh-negative individuals are immune to HIV more likely to be Rh-negative, although the statistical test fell infection, based on the presence of either HLA-B27 or the just short of significance (p=0.06). The conclusion is not that CCR5delta32 allele. these two traits have a direct connection but that some genes Human leukocyte antigen (HLA) genes encode surface influencing sexual orientation may be on the same chromo- proteins involved in presenting peptide antigens to T cells. some as the D antigen (Ellis et al. 2008). These molecules are also called major histocompatibility complex (MHC) proteins. HLA-A, B, and C alleles encode Associations between Rh-Negative Blood Type class I MHC proteins that are found on all nucleated cells and Cognitive or Personality Traits (this means they are not present on RBCs). Each individual There are also “known” cognitive and personality trait asso- has two HLA-A, HLA-B, and HLA-C alleles that are des- ciations: high IQ; a truth-seeking nature; a compassionate/ ignated by group numbers (e.g., HLA-B*27). This group may empathetic nature; tendency toward empathetic illnesses contain proteins with amino acid changes that don’t impact

54 Volume 41 Issue 3 | Skeptical Inquirer serological reactions, designated with another set of numbers Flegr et al. 2010). A recent questionnaire study by the same (e.g., HLA-B*27:05). Alleles with a different nucleotide se- group showed a higher prevalence of self-reported digestive quence, but no amino acid changes, get a third set of num- disorders, cardiovascular diseases, immunity disorders, and bers (e.g., B*27:05:01). B*27 allele variants have been associ- fatigue, as well as more prescribed medications among Rh- ated with protection against some viral infections (including negative respondents (Flegr et al. 2015). These results may HIV), susceptibility to malaria and tuberculosis, and a predis- form a basis for studies investigating significant associations position for ankylosing spondylitis (an autoimmune chronic with disease outcomes other than those due to toxoplasmosis. inflammatory disease). HLA-B27 associations are reviewed elsewhere (Sheehan 2010), and potential mechanisms have How the Rh Factor Was Named been described (Neumann-Haefelin 2013). While there is ev- Two major findings led to the name of the Rh factor: (1) idence for the association of the HLA-B27 allele with HIV A blood group O woman who received type O blood from protection, this protection is not absolute. Further, there is no her husband had a severe transfusion reaction. The trans- evidence of association between HLA-B27 and Rh-negative fusion was required following delivery of a stillborn fetus blood type. Websites I examined that make this claim have with hemolytic disease of the newborn. Her serum was a single source: “According to Randall Johnson at the Baylor subsequently shown to agglutinate (a reaction visualized College of Medicine in Houston, ‘Only 7% of the US popu- by clumping of RBCs) 80 percent of O samples tested, lation tests positive for the HLA-B27 gene; this gene, found independent of other known blood factors (Levine and only in persons with Rh-Negative blood, can trigger the im- Stetson 1939). (2) Some rabbit sera produced following mune system to operate overtime at WARP SPEED in times immunization with blood from Rhesus monkeys aggluti- of medical emergency.’” nated 87 percent of human blood samples. Since this agglu- This statement has not been verified, and I was unable to tination was also independent of other known factors, the locate the Randall Johnson named; Randy L. Johnson, PhD, property detected was called Rh to reflect the response to at the University of Texas is not the source for this quote Rhesus monkey antigens (Landsteiner and Wiener 1940). (personal communication). These genes are not on the same The component responsible for the transfusion reactions chromosome (HLA genes are on chromosome 6, RHD and seemed to be the same as the Rh factor detected by the RHCE are on chromosome 1), and to reiterate, there is no rabbit (and guinea pig) sera; however, differences in degree association between being Rh-negative and having HLA- of agglutination were noted between sera from transfusion B27, and no resistance to viral infection conferred by being recipients, rabbits, and guinea pigs (Landsteiner and Wiener Rh-negative. 1941). The observation that human anti-Rh serum did not C-C chemokine receptor 5 (CCR5) encodes a protein agglutinate RBCs from Rhesus monkeys also suggested the expressed on the surface of some white blood cells that al- antigens were different (Fisk and Foord 1942). Research lows them to respond to certain signals. It is also used as a over the next two decades refined human blood groups co-receptor by some strains of HIV (R5 strains). The delta32 and their detection. Eventually, it became clear that human mutation results in a nonfunctional receptor, so R5 strains anti-Rh sera and rabbit/guinea pig anti-Rh sera were not are not able to infect the cells; however, HIV strains that use recognizing the same antigen. Human anti-Rh sera recog- the CXCR4 receptor are not impacted by this mutation. The nized the D antigen (Rh-negative implies absence of the CCR5delta32 mutation may also reduce risk of cardiovascular D antigen) while the antigen recognized by rabbit/guinea disease. These associations have been discussed ( Jones et al. pig sera was renamed “LW” in honor of Landsteiner and 2011). As with HLA-B27, the genes encoding the D antigen Wiener (Levine et al. 1963). The LW antigen is expressed and CCR5 are on separate chromosomes, and there is no as- by both humans and Rhesus monkeys and is not part of the sociation between the two. Rh blood system. (I discuss the basis for this initial confu- A disease that gets much less attention on the Rh-negative sion further below.) Rhesus monkeys do not express the D websites is toxoplasmosis, an infection caused by the parasite antigen and are therefore “Rh-negative.” Toxoplasma gondii. The prevalence varies geographically, with approximately one third of people in developed countries having the infection. In most cases, the infection is latent and Rh-Negative Individuals Do Not Have clinically asymptomatic; individuals with latent infections a Separate Evolutionary History will generally have antibodies to the parasite and may have The D antigen expressed by Rh-positive individuals is dormant cysts in neural and/or muscle tissues. Although encoded by the RHD gene. This gene is the result of a asymptomatic, Toxoplasma-infected individuals may show duplication of the RHCE gene (Wagner and Flegel 2002) some gender and age-related changes in personality traits that occurred approximately 8.5 (± 3.4) million years ago, as well as poorer performance on reaction time tests and prior to the divergence of humans, gorillas, and chimpanzees a greater incidence of traffic accidents. Rh status seems to (Matassi et al. 1999). Duplication events are fairly common modulate many of these changes in a complex way, with a evolutionarily; sometimes an entire genome is duplicated. heterozygote advantage observed for some traits (Flegr 2013; A duplicated gene is often free from the selective pressures

Skeptical Inquirer | May/June 2017 55 acting on the original. Over time, the protein encoded by gle antigen). Rh-negative individuals do not express the D the duplicate gene may become nonfunctional or change antigen (sometimes written as “d”). I suspect the notion of its function. If the original gene product had more than “unclonable blood” is due to a misunderstanding—molecular one function, duplication may result in division of these cloning involves expression of genes, and there is no “Rh-neg- functions. ative” gene. There is currently not a practical alternative to The proteins encoded by the RHCE and RHD genes are blood donation, but Rh-negative blood does not likely pose a very similar but can be differentiated serologically using an- greater technological challenge than Rh-positive blood. tibodies. The RHCE gene encodes the RhCE protein that Most Rh-negative individuals have a complete deletion includes two antigens with two forms of each: C/c and E/e. of the RHD gene. Some of the mystique surrounding the The RHD gene encodes the RhD protein that includes the Rh-negative blood type derives from claims that science can’t D antigen recognized by anti-D antibodies, such as those explain how the “Rh factor” was “lost” in some people. The found in the serum of the transfusion patient reported in mechanism for RHD deletion involves unequal crossing over 1939. These proteins have a structural role in the Rh com- between two highly homologous sequences called “Rhesus plex found in the RBC membrane, and at least one of these boxes” that bracket the RHD gene (Wagner and Flegel 2000). is required for maintaining proper RBC shape—individuals The deletion of the RHD gene probably occurred prior to lacking D (Rh-negative) or CE antigens have no RBC ab- migration out of Africa but was not present in a large number of people. Anatomically modern humans have lived in Eu- Most Rh-negative individuals rope since about 45,000 years ago, overlapping with the Ne- anderthals for about 15,000 years. Genes from Neanderthals have a complete deletion of the represent approximately 2 percent of the genome of modern Eurasians and seem to result from multiple encounters with RHD gene. Some of the mystique different non-African populations: (1) with modern humans shortly after they left Africa, which contributed Neander- surrounding the Rh-negative thal genes to modern Europeans, Asians, and Melanesians; blood type derives from claims (2) with the ancestors of Eurasians—the ancestors of the Melanesians split from the ancestors of Eurasians, and mod- that science can’t explain how ern Melanesians show a contribution from Denisovans (an extinct species of human different from the Neanderthals) the “Rh factor” was “lost” in rather than additional Neanderthal DNA; and (3) with the ancestors of East Asians after divergence from Europeans some people. (Gibbons 2016; Vernot et al. 2016). Although non-Africans have some Neanderthal and possible Denisovan DNA, evi- normalities, but individuals lacking both D and CE (Rhnull) dence available in the Ancient Genome Browser shows these have abnormal RBC morphology (Sturgeon 1970). Since the populations were Rh-positive (Max Planck Institute for Evo- D antigen is found in the RBC membrane and there are some lutionary Anthropology 2016). differences in interactions with the Rh complex containing The last glacial maximum in Europe lasted from 25,000 the D polypeptide vs. the CcEe polypeptide (Beckmann et al. to 19,000 years ago and resulted in the population of Europe 2001), there may be a basis for differences in blood pressure or compressing into a few refuge areas (modern-day north- other blood properties based on membrane differences. Thus ern Spain/southern France, the Balkan peninsula, and the far, this has not been addressed. Ukraine). This led to a founder effect when the region was re- The Rh complex includes two other proteins of impor- colonized following deglaciation, increasing the Rh-negative tance to this discussion: Rh-associated glycoprotein (RhAG) phenotype as humans migrated out of the refuges and then and intercellular adhesion molecule-4 (ICAM-4). RhAG is mixed with Neolithic populations migrating from the Near a CO2 channel in the RBC membrane that is required for East. The area of northern Spain/southern France that was expression of RhCE/RhD and proper assembly of the Rh a refuge during the last glacial maximum (sometimes called complex (Burton and Anstee 2008); defects in expression of the Franco-Cantabrian refuge or the Iberian refuge) is also RhAG result in one type of the Rhnull phenotype (Huang home to the Basques, who have an unusually high percentage 1998). ICAM-4 includes the LW antigen recognized by the of Rh-negative individuals (Mourant 1947). antibodies produced in rabbit and guinea pig in response to Complete deletion of the RHD gene is the most common Rhesus monkey RBCs. Rh-positive cells show higher expres- reason for testing Rh-negative; however, there are other gene sion of LW, which caused the initial confusion between the variations that can result in a negative serological reaction as LW and D antigens (Bailly et al. 1995). well as more than 200 alleles that are broadly classified into Rh-positive individuals express the RhD protein encoded three groups based on serological reactivity patterns: weak by the duplicated gene, RHD. In most cases, they are also D, partial D, and DEL. Some alleles are more common in expressing the RhCE protein and can be serologically typed specific ethnic populations, and although certain subtypes for the C/c and E/e antigens. Unlike the D antigen, C and c have clinical implications (e.g., transfusions), genotyping of (and E and e) are variants of the expressed antigens (upper patients is rarely performed (Sandler et al. 2015). A complete and lower case do not indicate presence vs. absence of a sin- discussion of D antigen variants and the Rh blood system is 56 Volume 41 Issue 3 | Skeptical Inquirer outside the scope of this article, but it should now be clear Gibbons, Ann. 2016. Five matings for moderns, Neandertals. Science 351 (6279): 1250–51. that science can explain why some people are Rh-negative, Harding, Rosalind M., et al. 2000. Evidence for variable selective pressures and further that this explanation is more plausible than at MC1R. American Journal of Human Genetics 66: 1351–61. Rh-negative individuals being descended from an ancient Huang, Cheng-Han. 1998. The human Rh50 glycoprotein gene. The reptilian race, extra-terrestrials, the Nephilim, etc. Also, for Journal of Biological Chemistry 273(4): 2207–13. Jones, K. L., et al. 2011. Chemokine receptor CCR5: From AIDS to ath- clarification, Rh-negative individuals are not more closely re- erosclerosis. British Journal of Pharmacology 162: 1453–69. lated to Rhesus macaques because they are both Rh-negative. Lalueza-Fox, Carles, et al. 2007. A melanocortin 1 receptor allele sug- Monkeys are Rh-negative because they never had the RHD gests varying pigmentation among Neanderthals. Science 318(5855): 1453–55. gene; humans are Rh-negative because their evolutionary his- Landsteiner, Karl, and Alexander S. Wiener. 1940. An agglutinable fac- tory includes the duplication event leading to expression of tor in human blood recognized by immune sera for rhesus blood. the antigen followed by a much later deletion or mutation of Proceedings of the Society for Experimental Biology and Medicine 43: 223. that gene in an ancestor. ———. 1941. Studies on an agglutinogen (Rh) in human blood react- ing with anti-Rhesus sera and with human isoantibodies. Journal of Experimental Medicine 74: 309–20. Conclusion Levine, Philip, M.J. Celano, et al. 1963. A human “D-like” antibody. Nature 198: 596–97. There is a great deal of misunderstanding regarding the Levine, Philip, and Rufus E. Stetson. 1939. An unusual case of intra-group Rh-negative blood type, including the relationship of the Rh agglutination. Journal of the American Medical Associations 113:126–27. Mai, F.M.M., and Anne Pike. 1970. Correlation of rhesus (Rh) and per- factor to Rhesus macaque proteins. Most claims of “known” sonality factors. The British Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology 9: associations with the Rh-negative blood type have no sup- 83–84. porting evidence. Associations that have been shown do not Matassi, Giorgio, et al. 1999. The members of the RH gene family (RH50 necessarily reflect a role for the D antigen in the correlated and RH30) followed different evolutionary pathways. Journal of Molecular Evolution 48: 151–59. trait but may reflect involvement of genes on the same Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthr opolog y. 2016. “Ancient chromosome that are co-inherited. Rh-positive individuals Genome Browser, RHD region on Chromosome 1.” Available online express the D antigen as a result of a gene duplication event at https://bioinf.eva.mpg.de/jbrowse/?loc=1%3A25526458..25634183 &tracks=Altai%2CDenisova%2Chg19_1000g%2 that occurred prior to divergence from gorillas and chim- CENSEMBL67&highlight=. panzees. Rh-negative individuals do not express this antigen Mourant, A.E. 1947. The blood groups of the Basques. Nature 160(4067): primarily as a result of a later gene deletion event in modern 505–06. n Neumann-Haefelin, Christoph. 2013. HLA-B27-mediated protection in HIV humans. and hepatitis C infection and pathogenesis in spondyloarthritis: Two sides References of the same coin? Curent Opinion in Rheumatology 25(4): 426–33. Owen, David R. 1972. Blood type gene frequency and mental ability: Aflatoonian, Mohammad Reza, et al. 2011. Possible association between Premature conclusions? Psychological Reports 31: 835–39. human blood types and opioid addiction. The American Journal on Rees, Jonathan L. 2000. The melanocortin 1 receptor (MC1R): More than just Addictions 20: 581–84. red hair. Pigment Cell Research 13: 135–40. Bailly, Pascal, et al. 1995. The red cell LW blood group protein is an ———. 2003. Genetics of hair and skin color. Annual Reviews in Genetics 37: intercellular adhesion molecule which binds to CD11/CD18 leikocyte 67–90. antigens. European Journal of Immunology 25: 3316–20. Röösli, Martin. 2008. Radiofrequency electromagnetic field exposure and Beckmann, Roland, et al. 2001. Coexpression of band 3 mutants and Rh non-specific symptoms of ill health: A systematic review. Environmental polypeptides: Differential effects of band 3 on the expression of the Rh Research 107: 277–87. complex containing D polypeptide and the Rh complex containing the Sandler, S. Gerald, et al. 2015. It’s time to phase in RHD genotyping for CcEe polypeptide. Blood 97(8): 2496–505. patients with a serologic weak D phenotype. Transfusion 55: 680–89. Burton, Nicholas M., and David J. Anstee. 2008. Structure, function and Sheehan, Nicholas J. 2010. HLA-B27: What’s new? Rheumatology 49: 621–31. significance of Rh proteins in red cells. Current Opinion in Hematology Sturgeon, Phillip. 1970. Hematological observations on the anemia associated 15: 625–30. with blood type Rhnull. Blood 36(3): 310–20. Ding, Qiliang, et al. 2014. Neanderthal origin of the haplotypes carrying Valverde, Paloma, et al. 1995. Variants of the melanocyte-stimulating hormone the functional variant Val92Met in the MC1R in modern humans. receptor gene are associated with red hair and fair skin in humans. Nature Molecular Biology and Evolution 31(9): 1994–2003. Genetics 11: 328–30. Eiberg, Hans, et al. 2008. Blue eye color in humans may be caused by a Vernot, Benjamin, et al. 2016. Excavating Neandertal and Denisovan DNA perfectly associated founder mutation in a regulatory element located from the genomes of Melanesian individuals. Science 352(6282): 235–39. with the HERC2 gene inhibiting OCA2 expression. Human Genetics Wagner, Franz F., and Willy A. Flegel. 2000. RHD gene deletion occurred in 123: 177–87. the Rhesus box. Blood 95(12): 3662–68. Ellis, Lee, et al. 2008. Eye color, hair color, blood type, and the Rhesus ———. 2002. RHCE represents the ancestral RH position, while RHD is the factor: Exploring possible genetic links to sexual orientation. Archives of Sexual Behavior 37: 145–49. duplicated gene. Blood 99(6): 2272–73. Fisk, Roy T., and Alvin G. Foord. 1942. Observations on the Rh agglutino- Wilde, Sandra, et al. 2014. Direct evidence for positive selection of skin, hair, gen of human blood. American Journal of Clinical Pathology 12: 545–52. and eye pigmentation in Europeans during the last 5,000 y. PNAS 111(13): Flegr, Jaroslav. 2013. Influence of latent Toxoplasma infection on human per- 4832–37. sonality, physiology and morphology: Pros and cons of the Toxoplasma- human model in studying the manipulation hypothesis. The Journal of D. Ellen K. Tarr, PhD, is an associate professor of Experimental Biology 216: 127–33. microbiology and immunology at Midwestern Flegr, Jaroslav, Jan Geryk, et al. 2012. Rhesus factor modulation of effects of smoking and age on psychomotor performance, intelligence, personality University in Glendale, Arizona. She has previ- profile, and health in Czech soldiers. PLoS ONE 7 (11): e49478. ously written about Sasquatch DNA (https://cen- Flegr, Jaroslav, Rudolf Hoffman, et al. 2015. Worse health status and higher terforbadideas.wordpress.com/2013/10/03/ incidence of health disorders in Rhesus negative subjects. PLoS ONE 10 (10): e0141362. catching-up-with-dr-ketchums-bigfoot-re- Flegr, Jaroslav, M. Novotná, et al. 2010. The influence of RhD phenotype search/) and participated in the Project Core on toxoplasmosis and age-associated changes in personality profile of blood donors. Folia Parasitologica 57(2): 143–50. report. She summarized this report at CSICon Las Vegas 2016. Skeptical Inquirer | May/June 2017 57 [REVIEWS

Research into Astrology Made Accessible IVAN W. KELLY

Tests of Astrology: A Critical Review of Hundreds of strology can be a frustrating topic. Studies. By Geoffrey Dean, Arthur Mather, David Nias, Roughly half of the world’s pop- and Rudolf Smit. Ain Publications, Amsterdam, 2016. Aulation believes in it; scientists ISBN 978-90-824929-0-3. Softcover, 484 pages, 44 and skeptics reject it; and astrologers euros (about $47) posted airmail to any country disagree on fundamentals. direct from the publisher (wout.heukelom@hetnet. Perhaps the biggest challenge for nl). Not available in bookshops. Pay by direct ebank investigators of astrology is actually transfer or PayPal. finding empirical studies, only some of which (perhaps a third) can be accessed via academic databases. The rest are hard to find, which is where this important book, Tests of Astrology, comes in. It describes and evaluates hundreds of studies from books, journals, and critics are ignorant of astrology does not could take a day or more for a compre- PhD theses since the 1920s, which is apply because both Dean and Smit have hensive birth chart. Serious research was when empirical testing was getting been professional astrologers. the undertaking of a lifetime. under way. Most are in English; the The book begins with a short in- The next section (twenty-four pages) rest are in Dutch, French, German, or troduction (four pages) followed by looks at the evolution of tests since the Spanish. It includes studies conducted preliminaries (fifty-four pages) that 1850s, at which time tests were essen- in 2015, so the period spans nearly a set the context. Five personal stories tially arguments rather than empirical century. (twelve pages) from former astrologers tests. Even in the 1950s, debate was The compilers have impressive cre- describe how the results of tests made frustrated by a lack of empirical infor- dentials for the critical evaluation of as- them change their minds about astrol- mation. But scientific methodology and trology. Geoffrey Dean (a CSI fellow) ogy. Contrary to what we might expect, technology have made great advances and Arthur Mather have organized some had reached top ranks within the since then, culminating in personal many debates and prize competitions astrological community. computers that permanently removed for research into astrology and were Many astrologers claim astrology is the calculation barrier and helped open the senior compilers of Recent Ad- based on ancient observations that be- the floodgates to empirical testing. The vances in Natal Astrology, perhaps the came progressively refined over time. results were not convincing, and by the most referrenced critical work on as- But a closer look (ten pages) reveals no 1990s the flood had started to decline. trology. David Nias was coauthor with support for this claim and uncovers a Today only one of the four research-ori- Hans Eysenck of Astrology: Science or complexity that would have been im- ented journals that began in the 1980s Superstition?, a standard reference in possible to observe and unravel. Even has survived. academic studies. And in the Nether- two centuries ago there was no feasi- The final section (eight pages) of the lands, Rudolf Smit runs www.astrology- ble way of testing astrological claims. preliminary section documents views of and-science.com, recognized as the Suitable experimental designs were un- astrology from various people—roughly leading website for the scientific study known, and chart calculations (which thirty astrologers, twenty scientists, and of astrology. The default accusation that required an ephemeris and logarithms) fifteen philosophers. Scientists agree 58 Volume 41 Issue 3 | Skeptical Inquirer with philosophers that astrology fails nel plots of effect sizes and a meta-anal- effect, illusory correlation, cognitive tests of truth. And astrologers gener- ysis. It is here that ancient ideas meet dissonance, and confirmation bias. For ally disagree among themselves about the best empirical scrutiny. The topics skeptics, this section will be especially mostly everything (there is a long doc- include sun signs (the most discon- interesting. umented list). So controlled testing is firmed topic in astrology), the validity Next there is a ten-page review of long overdue. That said, the compilers and reliability of astrologers’ judgments possible futures for astrology. Its use are careful to note that “Astrological (both negligible), time twins and look- might be acceptable if seen as an ap- symbolism has been popular for a very alikes (no detectable effects; look-alikes pealing ice-breaker for conversation but long time. Might a focus on factual truth are not alike in birth charts or person- not if accompanied by claims of knowl- be missing the real appeal of astrology?” ality), horary astrology, financial astrol- edge. It’s a question they address later. ogy, geophysical and lunar effects, and a The book ends with one-page sum- After this section come the tests telling section on what happens when maries of the case for astrology (a great proper, starting with an extended ac- astrologers inadvertently use the wrong source of personal meaning) and of the count of the research by Michel and chart (nobody notices any difference). case against (an equally great source of Françoise Gauquelin (forty-eight This section ends with twelve pages untruths), with a guide to forming a pages), best known outside astrology personal view (do you want meaning for what has become known as the Mars or truth?). As throughout the book, the effect, a weak but independently repli- compilers take no sides, leaving readers cated tendency for eminent profession- Tests of Astrology is a to make up their own minds. The out- als to be born with a surplus or deficit milestone in bringing comes “may or may not please astrolo- of the relevant planet just past rising or gers, nor is it for us to say whether you just past culmination. The effect created together in one should prefer meaning or truth, but the tantalizing puzzles not only for science place details of tests chips fall where they may” (p. 3). (no cheating, no obvious physical mech- The amount of information packed anism, no procedural flaws) but ironi- that were previously between two covers is impressive. It is cally also for astrology (only five plan- said to have taken the four specialist ets seem to work, the favored positions impossibly scattered. compilers eight years to prepare, and are weak not strong). However, recent It is essential reading. that is without including the time spent work described in depth shows that retrieving from astrology collections socio-psychological factors are able to around the world information that is explain the puzzles, but this awaits con- not online and probably never will be. firmation. If planetary effects do disap- To aid retrieval, there is a glossary and pear when these factors are controlled, manually compiled name, subject, and so will the puzzles. The Mars effect will book indexes (4,000 entries). The book no longer exist. that bring together tests of mind-re- has a sewn binding that allows it to lie Then come the “hundreds of studies” lated factors such as intuition and spirit flat, an important feature for readers noted in the book’s subtitle (314 pages). guides “claimed by some (but denied by who expect to give it heavy use. Against More than 300 studies are individually others) to be relevant to chart reading.” this, I noticed that the book’s white described, not as brief abstracts as one The skeptics seem to be right. cover tends to collect passing dirt. Also might expect but as English summaries Astrology books understandably unfortunate is the lack of article titles with graphs and numerical results, plus never mention non-astrological factors in most of the in-text references even critical comments where appropriate. that give astrology-like outcomes. The though online retrieval hardly needs For anyone unaware of the sheer ex- compilers call them hidden persuaders them. Another drawback is the absence tent of empirical studies, this section (aka cognitive biases) because people of a comprehensive list of references to will be an eye-opener as well as a huge are generally unaware of them yet they augment the in-text citations. The pub- labor-saver. The studies are grouped by can make the most invalid techniques lisher notes that a work of this size is date and category, such as events or per- seem amazingly true. For example, they unlikely to be totally free of error and sonality, but are generally too diverse for explain why phrenological correspon- invites readers to send in corrections this to be fully effective, so “be ready to dences now known to be completely (page 2). I noticed a few typos. use the indexes.” false were seen by generations of phre- Some parts of the book require a Later the results are combined with nologists as completely valid. A detailed good knowledge of astrology; otherwise, dozens of collective studies to form account (twenty-four pages) describes it should be an easy read. The writing overviews of almost every conceivable more than fifty artifacts, with extended style is clear and concise. There are said astrology-related topic, often with fun- examples that illustrate the Barnum to be nearly 200 tables and nearly 600 Skeptical Inquirer | May/June 2017 59 [NEW AND NOTABLE Listing does not preclude future review.

visuals including over 200 graphs, but a clear typeface, frequent AMAZING STORIES OF THE SPACE AGE. Rod Pyle. One might think this headings, and judicious use of typesize keeps the text interesting book’s self-description “True tales of and easy on the eyes. On page 4, the compilers tell us, “Our focus Nazis in orbit, soldiers on the moon, is not opinions or flapdoodle but tests where proper scientific orphaned Martian robots, and other standards can be maintained. The pursuit of nonsense stops right fascinating accounts from the an- here.” nals of spaceflight” means it is a Tests of Astrology is a milestone in bringing together in one book of exaggerated, sensational- ist claims. Instead, it is a sober re- place details of tests that were previously impossibly scattered. telling from historical documents, It is essential reading for readers of Skeptical Inquirer in- some only recently released, of space projects that were terested in the results of empirical research into astrology (and envisioned or even seriously pursued for some years but, not just the results chosen to prove a case) and for those who for all sorts of reasons, never completed. Some were early are debating astrologers or writing critiques of astrology. It also projects by the Air Force to take manned military opera- seems essential for professional astrologers who are questioning tions into space, some involve nuclear propulsion, and what they are doing for their paying clients. The truth is that some are bizarre; all are fascinating. Prometheus Books, 2016, 325 pp., $18. many critiques of astrology are weak and uninformed. For that, this book is a timely corrective. The expression “belongs on every HOW TO BE A STOIC: Using Ancient skeptics bookshelf ” is overused but applies in this case. Buy a ■ Philosophy to Live a Modern Life. copy for your library as well as for yourself. Massimo Pigliucci. Biologist and philosopher (and former SI colum- nist) Pigliucci advocates for the Ivan W. Kelly is professor emeritus of Educational Psychology and Spe- philosophy he recently adopted, cial Education at the University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, Canada. Stoicism. “In Stoicism, I have found For many years, he was chairman of the astrology subcommittee for a rational, science-friendly philosophy that includes metaphysics CSICOP/CSI. with a spiritual dimension, is ex- plicitly open to revision, and, most importantly, is eminently practical.” He notes that the Sto- ics accepted the scientific principle of universal causality based on natural processes. “There is no room for spooky Understanding Transcendental stuff.” Basic Books, 2017, 288 pp., $27. Manufactroversies LEGITIMACY OF UNBELIEF: The Collected Papers of Piet Hein Glenn Branch Hoebens. Gerd H. Hövelmann and Hans Michels (Eds.). From late 1972 through the mid-1980s, Creating Scientific Controversies: Uncer- Dutch journalist Piet Hein Hoebens held a unique position in the con- tainty and Bias in Science and Society. troversies between proponents By David Harker. Cambridge University and skeptics of parapsychology. Press, Cambridge, 2015. ISBN 978-1-107- Although he was a committed 69236-7. 260 pp. Softcover, $28.99. skeptic, parapsychologists deeply appreciated his in-depth knowledge of their field and his penetrating but always fair and open-minded criticisms. His constructively skeptical influence on the culture of responsible scientific interchange is still felt to this day. For this book the editors have collected (and in many cases translated) more than forty of Hoebens’s most significant writings (several from SI), many never published in English before. Combined with the editors’ introductions and comments, they provide valuable insight into the history of parapsychology and its skeptical reflections and o you remember the term manufactroversy? A portman- repercussions. Vienna and Zurich: LIT-Verlag, 2017, 466 teau of manufactured and controversy, it appeared in 2008 pp., £49.90. Das the intentional product of a marketing and advertising agency to characterize the supposed controversy over evolution that Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed—the execrable creationist propaganda film fronted by Ben Stein—sought to promote.

60 Volume 41 Issue 3 | Skeptical Inquirer As part of the agency’s campaign, Leah Ceccarelli of the QUANTUM LEAPS IN THE WRONG DIRECTION: Where Real Science University of Washington, a specialist in scientific and anti- Ends…and Pseudoscience Begins. scientific rhetoric, defined manufactroversy as “a manufactured Second edition. Charles M. Wynn and controversy that is motivated by profit or extreme ideology to Arthur W. Wiggins with Cartoons by intentionally create public confusion about an issue that is not Sydney Harris. A new edition of a wel- in dispute” and offered as examples “global warming skepticism, come book first published in 2001. AIDS dissent in South Africa, and the intelligent design move- For this edition, the authors, both ment’s ‘teach the controversy’ campaign.” scientists, have updated it throughout and expanded the discussion on Although the cumbersome word never attained currency and alternative medicine as well as the additional readings and remains absent from the Oxford English Dictionary, manufac- added reliable websites. Chapters deal with the scientific tured controversies are, lamentably, still common. In Creating method, scientific reasoning, reality vs. illusions, UFOs, Scientific Controversies, David Harker, a philosopher of science out-of-body experiences, astrology, creationism, ESP, alter- at East Tennessee State University, aims to equip the reader with natives to medicine, and the scientific approach to reality. the conceptual wherewithal to understand, evaluate, and respond Oxford University Press, 2017, 187 pp., $35. to manufactured controversies in science. The book is intended True Genius: The Life and Work of as a textbook: each chapter is furnished with a list of discussion Richard Garwin. Joel N. Shurkin. Sci- questions and suggested reading, and each of the three sections ence journalist Shurkin chronicles of the book concludes with a helpful list of “points to remember.” the life and extraordinary contribu- But the cogency of Harker’s discussion, as well as his lucid if not tions of polymath physicist Richard always lively style, ensures that any reader, student or not, will Garwin, “the most influential scien- benefit from reading Creating Scientific Controversies. tist you never heard of.” Garwin, who received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Obama just last year and who Enrico Fermi called a “true genius,” has influenced modern life in countless ways but is little known to the public. Shurkin rectifies that by chronicling Garwin’s work first in designing the hydrogen bomb and then becoming a life- The cogency of Harker’s discussion, long advocate of nuclear disarmament, along the way making brilliant innovations in spy satellites, air traffic control as well as his lucid if not always lively systems, touch screens, color monitors, laser printers, GPS style, ensures that any reader, student navigation systems, and much more. Prometheus Books, 2017, 308 pp., $25. or not, will benefit from reading WAITING FOR CONTACT: The Search Creating Scientific Controversies. for Extraterrestrial Intelligence. Law- rence Squeri. A short, readable, popular history of the scientific search for extraterrestrial intelligence (SETI). Squeri (professor emeritus of history at East Stroudsburg University in Pennsylvania) looks at the people, reasons, goals, and mindsets behind After a brief introduction, in which the project of the book is SETI, the challenges it has faced over explained and the example of the manufactured controversy over the years in being taken seriously, op- tobacco’s role in causing lung cancer is usefully sketched, Harker position from congressional opponents, its perpetual lack of funding, and the way it has forged ahead with private devotes the first part of the book to issues in the philosophy funding and new instruments on one of the epic quests of of science. He is skeptical of attempts to specify what is and science and exploration. University Press of Florida, 2016, what isn’t scientific—to solve what is known in the trade as the 233 pp., $26.95. demarcation problem—and instead recommends engaging with the details of how scientific claims are or aren’t supported by the —Kendrick Frazier evidence. In addressing a host of various philosophical challenges to the success or the objectivity of science—challenges often op- portunistically invoked by manufactroversialists—his approach is generally to concede a modicum of justice to the challenge but to insist that science is still capable of objective success by any reasonable standard.

Skeptical Inquirer | May/June 2017 61 In the second part of the book, Har- supposed controversy is indeed merely a ing manufactroversy. ker considers why people are vulnerable created controversy. In the cases of cli- Creationism also poses a challenge to accepting created controversies. He mate change and evolution, his ruling is to Harker’s evasion of the demarcation devotes a chapter to the results of cogni- that these are merely manufactroversies; problem. “The project of defining sci- tive psychology (confirmation bias, the in the cases of AIDS and vaccination, ence,” he writes, “cedes to the project availability heuristic, and the like) and a he finds that the criteria are not clearly of identifying which beliefs about the chapter to argumentation (deductive ar- satisfied, suggesting that conspiracy the- world are plausible in light of available guments, non-deductive arguments, and ory might be the better diagnosis; and evidence” (p. 30). But the concept of ev- informal fallacies); a highlight of the in the case of genetically modified or- idence is not uncontroversial. Creation- latter is the thoughtful discussion, in- ganisms, he regards the question as too ists have attempted to include as evi- debted to Jamie Whyte’s Crimes Against complicated to resolve in detail. dence what the overwhelming majority Logic (2004), of the vapid slogan “Every- These case studies are all presented of contemporary scientists would not one’s entitled to their own opinion.” A clearly, cogently, and for the most part accept as evidence, such as revelation, third chapter—“Created Controversies without error—although it was surpris- and to exclude as evidence what the and How to Detect Them”—defines ing to see Eugenie C. Scott’s creation/ overwhelming majority of contempo- “created controversy” along Ceccarelli’s evolution continuum as presented in her rary scientists would accept as evidence, lines, suggests that such controversies Evolution vs. Creationism: An Introduc- such as data supporting claims about are created mainly by “magnifying un- tion (2009) credited to the illustrator the prehistoric past. A full diagnosis certainty and manufacturing doubt” (p. who provided the associated diagram, of what’s wrong with creationism will 163), and offers three plausible criteria and to see Scott herself misidentified therefore require, if not a fully general for deciding whether a purported scien- as “Eugene” (p. 204). Although it was solution to the demarcation problem, tific controversy is merely created. impossible for Harker to provide a com- at least engagement with creationism’s The first of these criteria involves plete treatment of any of the case stud- faulty philosophy of science as well as the motives underlying the claim. If the ies, the literature in the lists of suggested with its faulty science. people claiming that there is a scientific reading is generally excellent. And Har- It would be unreasonable, however, controversy over, say, evolution turn out ker is clearly on the side of the angels to expect a book like Creating Scientific to be fundamentalist creationists who throughout, endorsing the scientific Controversies to offer a key to all pathol- think that teaching evolution in schools consensus on the topics he considers ogies. Despite what appear to be the imperils the souls of the students, it is while mindful of the possible legitimate explanatory limitations of the central appropriate to approach the claim with concerns, especially with respect to ge- concept of created controversies, it is not caution. (But not to dismiss it out of netically modified organisms, that the only a fine textbook for a class on the hand; Harker emphasizes that he is not public may have about the applications philosophy of science or science and so- endorsing the genetic fallacy here.) The of the science. ciety but also a substantial contribution second and third involve the focus of But the ambiguous results of the case of its own. And it is needed. As Harker their arguments. If they are preoccupied studies suggest that the idea of created compellingly writes in his final chapter, with attacking the scientific view from controversies is perhaps not the best “Levels of scientific literacy lower than which they dissent, rarely attempting to way to understand pseudoscience. After they otherwise would be is one regret- produce a positive case for the supposed all, Harker identifies only a handful of table consequence of creating contro- alternative, or if they are preoccupied full-fledged examples of created controversy. More practical consequences are with addressing the public rather than versies, while failing to explain the di- also apparent. When we ignore expert the relevant communities of profes- agnosis, that of conspiracy theory, that opinion, we risk our health, our well-be- sional scientists, then again it is appro- he assigns in the alternative. Moreover, ing, and the quality of life of future gen- priate to suspect that they are engaged there is a lot involved in creationism in erations” (p. 248). The ability to detect in manufactroversy. particular beyond the “teach the contro- manufactroversies for what they are is The third part of the book provides versy” slogan in its various incarnations. not merely desirable. It is, increasingly, ■ case studies: anthropogenic climate A creationist counterestablishment of essential. change, evolution and creationism (in- societies, institutions, and journals at- cluding intelligent design), and, together tempts—or is intended to be viewed in a single chapter, HIV and AIDS, au- as attempting—to provide positive Glenn Branch is deputy director of the Na- tism and vaccination, and genetically evidence for creationism and to con- tional Center for Science Education. He re- modified organisms. In each case study, stitute its own relevant community of cently coauthored “Climate Education in the Harker briefly presents the relevant professional scientists, thus ostensibly Classroom: Cloudy with a Chance of Confu- science, discusses the supposed contro- distancing creationism from the second sion,” published in Bulletin of the Atomic versy over it, and considers whether the and third of Harker’s criteria for detect- Scientists.

62 Volume 41 Issue 3 | Skeptical Inquirer LETTERS TO THE EDITOR]

Superbug Crisis | Ten Tactics for Skepticism | Claims of Chi | Fake Bomb Detectors duce all of the solutions needed ticism I have ever read—in Skep through partisan political times. for cures. Yet we will never know tical Inquirer or anywhere Also, while skepticism is not par

the Magazine for Science and Reason Vol. 41 No. 1 | January/February 2017 that answer unless stem cell re else. He also makes excellent tisan, it is also not racial; we must search continues with signifi arguments for welcoming all po use care to avoid the perception cantly greater support. litical views into the community that simply because so many of of skeptics. I hope to see more the faces of famous skeptics are William F. Vitulli articles by Foster in the future. white, science-based reason is Professor Emeritus of Psy Please continue publishing not available only to white peo chology Public your excellent magazine. I have ple, nor are those of other races Debate on Project Science Greenglow University of South Alabama necessarily lacking in skepticism. Issues been reading Skeptical In Creationism Mobile, Alabama Myths of in Europe quirer since it began and have Foster made one semantic Child Psychology Doubt and American Fears Uncertainty every issue—including when it error I’d like to correct. In his Survey Barglow and Schaefer, the au INTRODUCTORY PRICE U.S. and Canada $5.99 Skepticism final paragraph, he wrote that Is Nonpartisan was called The Zetetic. The ar thors of the leading stem cell “truth changes as the evidence Published by the Center for Inquiry in association with the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry ticles are always good but your article (a physicist and a philoso January/February 2017 issue was dictates.” In fact, that which is pher), better learn some basic bi true is immutably so! It has al ology before they try to support especially interesting and relevant Stem Cell Research ways been true that the cosmos the use of stem cells. As it stands, to my interests—particularly is based on orbiting bodies and It is disappointing to learn how they may well achieve the oppo Craig Foster’s article. Thank you that the Earth orbits the Sun; this “sluggish” stem cell research has site. Their example of hair cells for your attention. was not “untrue” before it was advanced as described in Drs. only exposes their lack of basic Roy A. Billinghurst proven by Galileo, et al. It was Barglow and Schaefer’s detailed biological knowledge. As most Pikeville, Tennessee always true, and always will be chronology, “Stem Cell Re anybody knows, haircuts don’t true, whether or not we believe search: Still Embattled After All harm hair cells, only their life I opened the January/February it, and indeed whether or not we These Years” (January/February less out-growths: the hairs. Thus, issue of SI, and there it was, the are even conscious of it. What 2017). Sadly, violation of the Jef regarding a haircut as murder is article I had always hoped would changed was not the physical fersonian principle of “separation even ludicrous as a thought ex appear in your publication. Craig relationship of celestial bodies; between church and state” has re periment. The same is true of the A. Foster had finally explored the what changed was our grasp and inforced obstruction of stem cell cutting of finger- and toenails. issue of skepticism and partisan research in Congress. politics. As a skeptic, atheist, and understanding of the available Theodor O. Diener That is, while in-vitro fertil Republican, I am certain that I evidence. Beltsville, Maryland ization (IVF) surplus embryos do not fit the profile of your typ The truth is the constant we “are routinely discarded as waste” ical subscriber. Nor do I fit the seek. Only our knowledge of the (p. 36), stem cells from embryos Raymond Barglow responds: stereotype of poorly educated, evidence is subject to change. increase the probability of suc fundamentalist Christian climate Compare this perspective to cessful advances. Contrasted We apologize for the error to which religion, superstition, and the you’ve drawn our attention. You change denier that is often linked with the rigid, negative position to Republicans. Liberal skeptics paranormal, all of which hinge are absolutely correct: hair follicles taken by some politicians and should understand, however, on the “sincerity of belief” given but not hair cells are alive. Al- religious leaders that any remote that the use of condescension is over to them. Psychics get a pass though we do not wish to excuse link to “abortion” must be stifled, not helpful in trying to persuade on their errors if there is an unbe this mistake, we believe that it the majority of public opinion conservatives of the merits of liever present. Prophets base their does not compromise the argument on stem cell research is positive various scientific realities. As we credibility on followers’ beliefs. and should influence policy in a being made: a living cell from make our way through the next Some folks simply believe the democratic society. For example, any human tissue, such as skin or four years, we can all look for loudest voice in the room. It is a recent Gallup Poll (2016) re blood, like a fertilized egg, counts ways in which rational thinking not the truth itself that such peo garding use of stem cells obtained as a “human life,” since it is both can be a positive tool in solving ple seek to control, it is the minds from human embryos showed 60 human (i.e., belongs to a member the myriad problems facing us. of those who comprise the con of the human species) and alive. percent of respondents found Efforts to demean one another gregation. Partisan politics often it “morally acceptable” while based on partisan labels will serve relies on the same “in-group loy 32 percent found it “morally absolutely no purpose. alty” to make its case. I propose Skepticism Should Be that “partisanship” itself should wrong.” William A. Robinson Nonpartisan be classified as one of the many Those who obstruct stem Jacksonville, Florida cell research funding show little I wish to thank you for publish fallacies against which skeptical empathy for persons who suffer ing the Commentary by Craig I deeply enjoyed Craig A. Fos thinking finds itself opposed. from intractable diseases such as Foster “Skepticism, at Heart, Is ter’s Commentary “Skepticism, Paul Schlueter III Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, paraly Not Partisan” (January/February at Heart, Is Not Partisan.” His Dallas, Pennsylvania sis, etc. Granted there are no as 2017). Foster provides the best point is valid and probably cru surances that stem cells will pro description of skeptics and skep cial to making useful headway While I am generally sympathetic

Skeptical Inquirer | May/June 2017 63 [ LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

with the position presented in the United States Naval Academy. weak, as well as stupid.” with the physicist Brian Cox and Craig A. Foster’s “Skepticism, at In this book, he analyzes the I would love to see the Center mentions his interchange with the Heart, Is Not Partisan,” I have liberal perspective (his and that for Inquiry bring these two inter climate change denier Malcolm to take issue with his claim that of his liberal-arts peers) and esting thinkers together for a dis Roberts (an Australian politician). “proponents of the anti-vaccina the conservative perspective (that cussion, and put it on a webcast. I suggest that exchange highlights tion movement are more likely to of his students and bosses). I could certainly use information a core element in his discussion come from the political left than Fleming concludes that these about how best to argue for the and a confusion in the meaning the political right.” perspectives differ so fundamen ideals I believe in. of the term consensus. The Ox Although such claims are fre tally as to be incommensurable. ford dictionary has two main quently advanced, the evidence For example, liberals have facts Bill Fishman definitions: 1) a group of people is equivocal. A survey conducted while conservatives have beliefs, Los Angeles, California agreeing on a majority verdict; 2) by the Pew Research Center so that attempts by liberals to a unity of opinion. in 2015, for example, asked, It seems those on opposing argue the facts are simply irrele Craig A. Foster replies: “Thinking about vaccines for vant to the conservative. Liberals sides of such debates disagree Thanks to all of you who took the diseases such as measles, mumps, have discussions but conserva partly because of a semantic time to respond. and rubella, do you think these tives take action, so debates by confusion. The situation with Mr. Schlueter, I agree that vaccines are safe for healthy liberals over what should be done anthropogenic climate change is “truth” is immutable. I was try- children or are they not safe for a remarkable unity of evidence, just annoy the conservatives, ing to convey a humble approach healthy children?” because they delay and obstruct leading to unity of opinion, to skeptics’ perceptions of “truth” among scientists from a diverse While a commendable 89 the action and interfere with the by describing it as “a truth that range of countries and back percent of Republican respon solidarity necessary to make the changes as the evidence dictates.” grounds. That is dramatically dents agreed that these vaccines action forceful. Your description clarifies this issue different from the consensus that were safe, 87 percent of Demo Now I open the January/Feb better than I did. might be arrived at following a cratic respondents agreed; since ruary 2017 Skeptical Inquirer The Pew Research Center panel discussion about some the sampling error was plus-or- to find the Commentary “Skep (2013) study is interesting. Dem- thing, the evidence for which minus 3.6 percentage points, the ticism, at Heart, Is Not Partisan” ocrats and Republicans provided is usually uncertain—which is difference is negligible. Indeed, a by Craig A. Foster, a professor of similar endorsement of vaccines the idea produced in the minds report on the survey was subti psychology at the United States being safe. However, the differ- of most people, I suspect, when tled “No Partisan Differences in Air Force Academy. He urges ence between Democrats and Re- they hear the word consensus, Views of Vaccine Safety.” that more conservatives should publicans was greater in terms of which fuels the conspiracy men Matters are complicated, be brought into the skeptical believing that vaccines are not safe tality. unsurprisingly, when research movement. His goal is that more (9 percent of Democrats versus Consensus is an ambiguous ers move beyond the simplistic evidence-based conclusions be 5 percent of Republicans; “Don’t term; saying “unity of evidence binary categorization of Repub agreed upon. He indicates that Know” was another possible re- and conclusion” would be more lican versus Democrat. Con the way to do this is by skeptics sponse). Nevertheless, additional accurate. Roberts’s response of sider, for example, “The Role research indicates that anti-vacci- being nicer to conservatives so as “cite data not consensus” illus of Conspiracist Ideation and nation supporters are distributed to win them over, while arguing trates my point. Worldviews in Predicting Rejec only evidence, not personalities, widely across the U.S. political tion of Science,” a 2013 paper by so as to convince them. spectrum such that one cannot gen- Dr. Ken Gillman Stephan Lewandowsky, Gilles E. One of Fleming’s bon mots is erally characterize this movement Queensland, Australia Gignac, and Klaus Oberauer. that conservatives criticize liber as being liberal or conservative at In their analysis, Lewandow als for thinking that because they this time. I am glad, Mr. Branch, Unfamiliar Terms sky and his colleagues found that you took the time to clarify are nice everyone is. Another: I would appreciate clarification “free-market endorsement pre this bit of misinformation. Thank Conservatives think liberals are of a point in “Science vs. Silliness dicting rejection and conserva stupid, while liberals think con you also for promoting the value of skepticism. for Parents...” (January/February tivism predicting acceptance of servatives are evil. I will close 2017). vaccinations, respectively.” But with two quotations from Flem Finally, I hope I have provided some encouragement for conserva- Looking at Table 2, my first the most significant predictor ing’s book: “Those for whom tive skeptics to stick with the pro- thought was surprise that 90+ of rejection of vaccinations was belief is primary can let others gram. Conservatives and liberals percent of respondents knew conspiracist ideation—the very talk until they are blue in the have plenty of reasons to disagree. what “Cognitive-behavioral antithesis of skepticism! face; if the end result is not the It would surely be more construc- therapy” and “Applied Behavior [correct] belief, it’s wrong. This Glenn Branch tive if this disagreement was based Analysis” mean. I wondered if National Center for Science makes perfect sense to the con solely on sensible interpretations of the approval rating was in part a Education servative, and none at all to the the available evidence. tendency to approve of anything Oakland, California liberal.” And: “As conservatives that sounds good. (As with the see it, liberals believe everyone “North Dakota crash,” in “Survey I enjoyed a startling and pleasant can be convinced by reasoning. Consensus? Shows . . .” in the same issue.) coincidence recently. I just Presumably, instead of blowing My second thought was that, finished the interesting and them away, liberals want to talk In “Consensus: Could Two Hun at age seventy-five, I should not entertaining book Why Liberals with enemies, or invite them to dred Scientists Be Wrong?” Stuart be surprised that almost everyone and Conservatives Clash by Bruce tea. This, to conservatives, means Vyse (January/February 2017) of college and child rearing age Fleming, professor of English at that liberals are indecisive and refers to a television program knows terms I don’t. I remember

64 Volume 41 Issue 3 | Skeptical Inquirer the difficulty explaining what electrical equipment often fail, data!” But the skeptics I’ve to provide them with an evalua- “cyber space” means to people and the failure is invariably at encountered claim to know tion of the experiments in the most only one generation older than tributed to power-draining by a already that there’s nothing promising areas of parapsychology. me. spirit. The website of the Atlan to it, and then they break all ARI provided our subcommittee a Both my first and second tic Paranormal Society features the rules of scientific pro- copy of Palmer’s book-length eval- thoughts are plausible to me. an article by cofounder Grant cedure to go about their uation of the best experiments in Which is it? And it would seem Wilson titled “Bring Batteries” debunking. Skepticism, as it these areas. Although Palmer was that polls like those in “Science (http://the-atlantic-paranormal- is generally practiced, is nei- critical of many of the experiments, vs. Silliness for Parents...” should society.com/bring-batteries-by- ther legitimate science nor his overall assessment was in favor include one or two “North Da grant-wilson/) that expounds legitimate skepticism. of the reality of psychic phenomena. kota crash” questions to address on this theme, and even claims Ronald Rood I engaged Jim Alcock to provide an that point. that ghosts and other entities will Tampa, Florida alternative assessment of this liter- sometimes drain energy from ature. Alcock decided to review the Richard Brandshaft the human investigators if they Editor’s note: We asked our col- same experiments that Palmer had Vancouver, Washington cannot find a sufficient power league Ray Hyman, professor emer- chosen for his report. In this way, source. This energy, it is claimed, itus of psychology at the University we could not be accused of “cherry picking” our cases. Jim provided Stephen Hupp replies: is used by the spirit to manifest of Oregon, to respond to Mr. Rood. itself in corporeal (or at least vis Here is Hyman’s reply: our subcommittee with a careful It admittedly seems likely that some and masterful review. respondents simply liked the sound ible) form. Ronald Rood quotes the parapsy- If electrical energy helps the I could easily cite many more of Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy chologist Charles Tart to support such cases, including my own and Applied Behavior Analysis. For spirits to manifest themselves, the oft stated mantra that we and the investigators actually history of evaluating the parapsy- future research, we’ve considered in- should be “skeptical about skep- chological literature, but space is want to find said spirits, why on cluding a brief description of each tics.” Tart claims that “just about limited. I hope that this suffices to Earth do they shut off the power therapy when asking respondents every skeptic I’ve met is a pseudo reassure Rood that “real skeptics” when they investigate a haunted about their beliefs. A website de- skeptic.” Real skeptics, according to exist in the contemporary skeptical site? You’d think they’d have every veloped by the Society of Clinical Tart, will look at the relevant data movement. Child and Adolescent Psychology lamp in the place blazing to help before drawing conclusions about (Division 53 of the American Psy- the poor departed souls gather parapsychology. chological Association; www.effec- the energy needed to materialize. Undoubtedly some “skeptics” [FEEDBACK tivechildtherapy.com) includes de- David M. Chandler fit Tart’s stereotype. However, his scriptions of specific treatments and sampling of “skeptics” appears to Rockland, Massachusetts T he letters column is a forum on also identifies which treatments be rather biased. His sample fails matte rs raised in previous issues. are currently considered to be evi- to include those skeptics who have Letters should be no longer than dence-based. Additionally, the idea Ben Radford replies: drawn conclusions about parapsy- 225 words. Due to the volume of including “North Dakota crash” Excellent point! Perhaps the most chological claims only after exten- of letters we receive, not all can be published. Send letters as questions in our future survey de- “logical” situation would be for sive examination of the evidence. email text (not attachments) to velopment is fantastic. We’ll try ghost hunters to place new car bat- In this brief reply, I will name just [email protected]. In the subject to come up with something more teries in every room in a supposedly one of the skeptics who has devoted line, provide your surname and in- unique than North Dakota Crash haunted house, thus presumably considerable time toward closely ex- formative identification, e.g.: “Smith Letter on Jones evolution article.” In Therapy (NDCT), although it’s providing any spirits with the en- amining the best evidence put forth clude your name and address at the tempting to just go with that! ergy to materialize and show them- by parapsychologists. end of the letter. You may also mail selves in spooktacular fashion! My colleague Jim Alcock has your letter to the editor to 944 Deer carefully studied and evaluated the Dr. NE, Albuquerque, NM 87122. Ghost Hunting in Dark evidence for ESP and precognition. Skeptical about Skeptics? Jim’s 1981 book Parapsychology: I really enjoyed Benjamin Rad Science or Magic? argues that ford’s column “Ghost Hunters I came across the following quote parapsychology has not justified its in the Dark” in the January/ by Charles Tart recently that calls claims. He reached this conclusion February 2017 Skeptical In for reflection, lest we fall prey to only after an exhaustive examina- quirer. However, he neglected the same bias and cognitive dis tion of the best parapsychological to mention the most glaring in sonance that we find in others. It experiments. consistency on the part of ghost doesn’t hurt to be skeptical about In 1985, I was appointed to hunters who turn out the lights skeptics. chair the subcommittee on parapsy- when they investigate paranor chology for the National Research I wish there were a genu- mal activity. Council’s Committee on Enhancing inely skeptical community. According to the majority of Human Performance. The Army I’m afraid that just about paranormal investigators, and re Research Institute (ARI), which every skeptic I’ve met is peated ad nauseam on countless a pseudo skeptic. A real provided the financial support for television programs, ghosts like skeptic says, “I don’t know the Committee’s work, asked us to to draw on convenient power about parapsychology and include a subcommittee on para- sources in order to obtain the PSI, and the explanations psychology. Before the formation energy needed to materialize. On we have so far don’t satisfy of our committee, ARI had hired these shows, batteries and other me. I want to look at the the parapsychologist John Palmer

Skeptical Inquirer | May/June 2017 65 [ the last laugh BENJAMIN RADFORD, Editor

66 Volume 41 Issue 3 | Skeptical Inquirer Scientific and Technical Consultants Centers for Inquiry www.centerforinquiry.net/about/branches Gary Bauslaugh, Univ. of California at Berkeley Richard H. Lange, Tim Printy, writer and editor, MD, Mohawk Valley Physician amateur astronomer, UFO skeptic, former Luis Alfonso Gámez, Transnational Victoria, B.C., Canada science journalist, Bilbao, Spain Health Plan, Schenectady, NY Navy nuclear reactor operator/division chief, Manchester, NH 3965 Rensch Road, Amherst, NY 14228 Richard E. Berendzen, Sylvio Garattini, William M. London, Tel.: (716) 636-4869 astronomer, Washington, DC California State Univ., Los Angeles Daisie Radner, director, Mario Negri Pharmacology Austin prof. of philosophy, SUNY Buffalo Martin Bridgstock, Institute, Milan, Italy Rebecca Long, PO Box 300036, Austin, TX 78703 senior lecturer, School of Science, nuclear engineer, president of Geor Robert H. 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NASA’s Juno spacecraft skimmed the upper wisps of Jupiter’s atmosphere when JunoCam snapped this image on February 2, 2017, at 5:13 a.m. PT from an altitude of about 9,000 miles (14,500 kilometers) above the giant planet’s swirling cloud tops. Streams of clouds spin off a rotating oval-shaped cloud system in the Jovian southern hemisphere. Citizen scientist Roman Tkachenko reconstructed the color and cropped the image to draw viewers’ eyes to the storm and the turbulence around it. The Juno spacecraft has been in a fifty-three-day orbit around Jupiter since July 4, 2016, and will remain so for the remainder of its mission. Its science instruments are fully operational. “Juno is providing spectacular results, and we are rewriting our ideas of how giant planets work,” said Scott Bolton, Juno principal investigator from Southwest Research Institute San Antonio. JunoCam’s raw images are available at www.missionjuno.swri.edu/junocam for the public to peruse and process into image products.

Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech/SwRI/MSSS/Roman Tkachenko