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The JREF is proud to announce a continuing series on randi.org featuring articles by skeptical teachers exploring critical thinking in the classroom, using the investigation of the paranormal, fringe science, and pseudoscience to teach methods of science and reason. We welcome feedback, discussion, and further suggestions from educators and parents in the comments section. If you would like to be involved in this project, please contact Bob Blaskiewicz.

Me: Ok, class. David Icke. Go. What did you think of the reading?
Student A: I don’t understand how 12-foot lizards can come from both the fifth dimension and from inside the Earth’s core.  
Student B: Maybe they’re the same place?
Student A: Now that’s ridiculous.

 

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At the James Randi Educational Foundation, we hear all sorts of interesting health claims: “These special candles can remove excess ear wax,” “these colored lights will align your chakras,” or “apricots cure cancer.” One of the most popular claims is that “cleansing” your colon will eliminate “toxins”: substances that build up in our bodies, causing harmful side effects like weight gain, fatigue, and a host of diseases. So the story goes, a special fast or diet can help eliminate these poisons and promote better overall health. Never one to turn up a good experiment, I decided to try one of the most popular alternative colon therapies: the so-called “Master Cleanse.” The test: try to survive five days of consuming nothing but lemon juice, maple syrup, water, cayenne pepper, and two daily doses of laxatives. Guest blogger Ross Blocher joined me in this investigation by trying out a similar alternative medicine practice, colonic hydrotherapy, which he will share in a future post.

What follows is my daily diary of what happened when I stopped eating food, and started drinking non-stop lemonade and laxatives. Warning: stool photo within.

Day One

Today is my “ease-in” day. According to the rules, a Master Cleanser can choose to ease in to their fast by first eating a “regular diet” for a day, relying heavily on “live” foods (I’m not sure what that means, but vegetables and grains are offered as examples), eating only fruits and vegetables for day two, fruit and veggie juice for day three, nothing but orange juice for day four, and then start the lemon juice medley on day 5. Since the lemon juice fast is supposed to go on for ten days (and I am only attempting five total), I thought I ought to get this truck rolling, and sprint right to the orange juice phase. I allowed myself one large glass of orange juice, followed by nothing but “lemonade” and laxatives.

So far, it’s been about 19 hours since I ate solid food, and I’m feeling fine. The orange juice is keeping me relatively satisfied, even if I am tempted by the faux ham and fancy bread I have in the fridge here at the JREF office. The instructions advise me to drink my lemon juice mixture every time I get hungry, followed by water or tea. Needless to say, I am taking frequent bathroom breaks. Tonight I take my first laxative; the Master Cleanse site I’ve been studying tells me that because I am not eating, I won’t have bowel movements (sure) and therefore can’t remove toxins from my body (oh!), so the laxatives will help me do that. Sounds not at all shady-- let’s give it a whirl.

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Here is a rundown of the top stories in pseudoscience and paranormal news from the past week courtesy of Doubtful News.

Pseudoscience was BIG news this week.

One story managed to outrage teachers, scientists and monster hunters all at once. And, it made the rest of the public laugh out loud. The Loch Ness monster is mentioned in a bible-based textbook as evidence against evolution. Makes your brain melt? Yes. Imagine what that does to the children who attend such schooling.

Meanwhile, Texas politicians advocated nonsense in schools and across the state. The Texas Republican platform was released and it is chock full of ridiculousness.

We also found defense against pseudoscience is costly: $172,000 spent by a school to fight the claim that Wi-Fi is harmful.

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The JREF is proud to announce a continuing series on randi.org featuring articles by skeptical teachers exploring critical thinking in the classroom, using the investigation of the paranormal, fringe science, and pseudoscience to teach methods of science and reason. We welcome feedback, discussion, and further suggestions from educators and parents in the comments section. If you would like to be involved in this project, please contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .

It’s good to receive confirmation and encouragement from our peers – but to what end? SamanthaSteinAsking why it is that some social groups are more accepting of skepticism than others is a good step towards making critical thinking effective at addressing problems in the wider society. It should also be a question educators should be asking themselves when they devise skeptical programs and initiatives that are in fledgling stages, with the goal of making them applicable (plus effective and measurable!) to the wider public. Thankfully, skeptics are naturally a questioning community and by encouraging an interest in and critical analysis of such programs, we can promote the progress of quality educational resources.

My naturally questioning nature led me to be greatly interested in a presentation at the Sixth World Skeptics Congress in Berlin, held last month, by Samantha Stein, the Director of Camp Quest UK. Her talk was on “Engaging Children in Science”, where she interrogated the current offerings by UK educational systems – whether teaching to the test and uninspiring resources (such as the dull example of osmosis via a potato) was partly to blame for the drop in students taking on science courses, and how matters could be improved by doing science in engaging contexts.

Since 2008 she has run Camp Quest – “Quest” stands for stands for “Question, Understand, Explore, Search and Test” - and been Camp Director for each UK event. She graduated from York University with a BSc in Psychology and did a Masters in Religion in Contemporary Society at Kings College London.

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Here is a recap of the stories that appeared last week at Science-Based Medicine, a multi-author skeptical blog that separates the science from the woo in medicine.  

Dr. Google and Mr. Hyde (David Gorski) http://www.sciencebasedmedicine.org/index.php/dr-google-and-mr-hyde/ The   Internet provides instant access to a wealth of medical knowledge but also to nonsense spewed by cranks and quacks. Patients who think they can do their own “research” by googling develop false beliefs based on the misinformation they find: the anti-vaccine movement is an unfortunate example.  

5-hour Energy (Harriet Hall) http://www.sciencebasedmedicine.org/index.php/5-hour-energy/ This popular energy drink is marketed deceptively and amounts to no more than a convenient source of caffeine.  

  1. Your Deceptive Brain
  2. Keep Up with TAM 2012 Online and on the Go
  3. Skeptic History: A Tale of Two Scientists, Redux
  4. In two weeks...