SKEPTICISM . SCIENCE . SOCIETY Vol. 32, No 3. September 2012 Are skeptics happy? +INTERVIEW Ray Hyman & the birth of the skeptical movement Kids & belief Kids in buckets POWER BANDS Test & non-test Australian Skeptics . www.skeptics.com.au Skeptic_Cover_Sep12.indd 1 10/09/12 12:47 PM The Skeptic September 12 Skeptical Groups in Australia Australian Skeptics Inc – Eran Segev Queensland Skeptics Association Inc – Bob Bruce www.skeptics.com.au PO Box 3480, Norman Park QLD 4170 PO Box 20, Beecroft, NSW 2119 Tel: (07) 3255 0499 Mob: 0419 778 308 [email protected] Tel: 02 8094 1894; Mob: 0432 713 195; Fax: (02) 8088 4735 Hear Bob on 4BC Paranormal Panel - 9-10pm Tuesdays [email protected] Meeting with guest speaker on the last Monday of every month Sydney Skeptics in the Pub – 6pm first Thursday of each (except December) at the Red Brick Hotel, 81 Annerley Road, month at the Mezz Bar, Coronation Hotel, Park St in the city South Brisbane. Dinner from 6pm, speaker at 7.30pm. (meeting upstairs) Dinner meetings are held on a regular basis. Next dinner- Media and Bunkum - Tory Shepherd, journalist Canberra Skeptics – Kevin Davies Sep 29 - Bookings online or contact [email protected] PO Box 555, Civic Square ACT 2608 http://www.canberraskeptics.org.au Tel: 0408 430 442 [email protected] (general inquiries), Hunter Skeptics Inc – John Turner [email protected] (Canberra Skeptics in the Pub). Tel: (02) 4959 6286 [email protected] A free monthly talk, open to the public, usually takes place on the 1st Saturday of each month at the Lecture Theatre, Meetings are held upstairs at The Cricketers Arms Hotel, Cooks CSIRO Discovery Centre, Clunies Ross Rd (check website for Hill (Newcastle) on the first Monday of each even numbered details of the current month’s talk). Skeptics in the Pub gather month, commencing 7.00pm, with a guest speaker or open at 1pm on the third Sunday of each month at King O’Malleys discussion on a given topic. Visitors welcome. Further information Pub in Civic. For up-to-date details : www.meetup.com/ from the secretary at: [email protected] SocialSkepticsCanberra/ Australian Skeptics (Vic) Inc – Terry Kelly Skeptics SA – Laurie Eddie GPO Box 5166, Melbourne VIC 3001 52B Miller St Unley, SA 5061 Tel: 1 800 666 996 [email protected] Tel: (08) 8272 5881 [email protected] Skeptics’ Café – Third Monday of every month, with guest Thinking and Drinking - Skeptics in the Pub, on the third Friday speaker. La Notte, 140 Lygon St. Meal from 6pm, speaker of every month. Contact [email protected] at 8pm sharp. www.meetup.com/Thinking-and-Drinking-Skeptics-in-the-Pub/ calendar/10205558 or http://tinyurl.com/loqdrt More details on our web site www.skeptics.com.au/vic WA Skeptics – Dr John Happs Borderline Skeptics Inc – Russell Kelly PO Box 466, Subiaco, WA 6904 PO Box 666, Mitta Mitta, Victoria 3701 Tel: (08) 9448 8458 [email protected] Tel: (02) 6072 3632 [email protected] All meetings start at 7:30 pm at Grace Vaughan House, Meetings are held quarterly on second Tuesday at Albury/ 227 Stubbs Terrace, Shenton Park Wodonga on pre-announced dates and venues. Further details of all our meetings and speakers are on our website at www.undeceivingourselves.org Gold Coast Skeptics – Lilian Derrick PO Box 8348, GCMC Bundall, QLD 9726 Australian Skeptics in Tasmania – Leyon Parker Tel: (07) 5593 1882; Fax: (07) 5593 2776 PO Box 582, North Hobart TAS 7002 [email protected] Tel: 03 6238 2834 BH, 0418 128713 [email protected] Contact Lilian to find out news of more events. Skeptics in the Pub - 2nd Monday each month, 6.30pm, Ball & Chain restaurant, Salamanca Place Darwin Skeptics – Brian de Kretser Tel: (08) 8927 4533 [email protected] Volume 32 • No 3. September 12 Contents REPORTS 10 TAM 2012 - too much fun? 10 Tim Mendham $1m power-band test 14 Richard Saunders 14 FEATURES 16 Ray Hyman and the birth of the skeptics 16 Tim Mendham 28 ARTICLES The Shuzi shyness saga 22 Richard Saunders The quackery poem 25 Lynne Davies 22 26 Students get a bucketing 26 Adam van Langenberg 32 Are kids born believers? 28 Ben Radford 42 The not so OMG diet 32 Chris Forbes-Ewan 44 Why save daylight? 36 Brian Dunning I disagree 40 Shane Greenup 36 The other apocalypses 42 Joseph Gelfer Are Skeptics happy? 44 Alison White REGULARS Editorial 4 Around the Traps 5 58 Them! 8 Puzzles page 31 Astrology column 35 The logical place 43 What goes around 46 Forum 48 Book reviews 58 Letters 62 46 EDITORIAL From the Editor On reflection ’ll say it up front: I don’t think I approach is recommended.) have ever met a more self-reflective Self-reflection is not a comfortable I self-analytical bunch of people than thing. In fact, it should never be the skeptical community. I don’t comfortable. It should always be say navel-gazing or self-absorbed, confrontational and often disagreeable ISSN 0726-9897 because they don’t apply. They apply and disagreed. But it is healthy to Quarterly Journal of to an inward obsession, a negation undertake the occasional review of a Australian Skeptics Inc or denial of, or apathy to the ‘outside movement, its tenets, its practices, its (ABN 90 613 095 379) world’, and skeptics, by and large, are very nature. Editor always facing outwards – dealing with You’d be hard pressed to find Tim Mendham claims and claimants, followers and many movements as seriously fraudsters, the misled and misleaders. self-flagellating about their very Editorial Board But with all that concern with fundamentals. You can see political Steve Roberts the world out there, at the same parties doing it, but often from the Eran Segev time skeptics regularly (constantly?) point of view of leaks and boosting Martin Hadley review and examine their own or undermining of individual Barry Williams motivations and activities. At every positions. Almost 1700 years ago, the meeting of skeptics, there is always Christian church did some of this at Design Services an element – at the very least – of the Council of Nicaea, but that was Nova Consulting P/L discussion on why we do what we primarily to formalise and unify its All correspondence to: do, how we approach the multiplicity various divergent beliefs. No such Australian Skeptics Inc of topics that we deal with, how luck in the skeptical movement – too PO Box 20 we assess the evidence, and how we many individuals, too many different Beecroft NSW 2119 should approach individuals and cultures and, most importantly of all, Australia organisations that we consider to be it is a movement based on method not misled or misleaders. mantras (or, at least, it should be). Contact details Inherent in that reflection is a lot So, is all of this discourse and Tel: +61 (0)2 8094 1894 of criticism, much of it very strongly sometimes disagreement held up for Mob: +61 (0)432 713 195 worded, much of it confrontational. all the public to see a good thing, Fax: +61 (0)2 8088 4735 Phil Plait’s famous talk on “Don’t or does it undermine the skeptical [email protected] Be a Dick” – presented two years ago ‘brand’? There are enough problems www.skeptics.com.au at TAM 8 – derided a self-satisfied ‘out there’ that we hope to deal with, skeptical movement for what he for better or worse, so is it right that The Skeptic is published four times saw as “hubris ... running rampant. we do the same internally? per year by Australian Skeptics Inc. ... Egos are just out of check, and I believe so. I think it is an honest Views and opinions expressed in articles sometimes logic in those situations and healthy approach to the issues and letters in The Skeptic are those of falls by the wayside.” confronting skepticism. But only if the authors, and are not necessarily At this year’s TAM, Jamy Ian it is carried out in the spirit in which those of Australian Skeptics Inc. Swiss criticised a skeptical movement it should be intended – a discussion Articles may be reprinted with and individuals who were allowing among equals. There is nothing permission and with due acknowledge- personal and organisational politics to wrong with criticism – it’s a necessary ment to The Skeptic. override science and scientific method; revitalising of an organisation All effort is made to ensure correct in fact, individuals who were allowing and movement. But if it becomes acknowledgement of all contributions. “logic to fall by the wayside” in destructive for other than altruistic We are happy to update credit when so favour of grievances and animosities. motives, then perhaps we should informed. These include the arguments on both do some reflecting on the type of sides in the supposed “elevator-gate” reflection we do. Editorial submission deadline debate. (Readers not familiar with this for the next issue: should do some googling, but at the November 10, 2012 same time maintaining a dispassionate - Tim Mendham, editor 4 NEWS The Skeptic September 12 it includes liaison with relevant Around the traps ... community groups and individuals For regular news updates, go to www.skeptics.com.au who have reports or records of possible sightings.” The study is expected to take several Apocalyptic fears should contact protective services, months to complete. which she did.” The investigation is known to USA: A NASA scientist has been Proving that there’s no such thing as include staff from the Department of given the task of responding to literally a harmless pseudoscience.