Leveling Up as a Skeptic - SkeptiCamp at 50 Events
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- Written by Reed Esau
- Category: Swift
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As self-identified skeptics, what's the value in learning to tease the logical fallacies out of a bad argument? What's the value of compensating for our cognitive biases or recognizing our own motivated reasoning? Or learning how to criticize in a manner that doesn't sacrifice civility for substance? Or how to evaluate the quality of evidence? Or how to compose a sound argument that can persuade rather than alienate?
Contemporary skepticism has long prized the mastery of these "tools of skeptical thinking" not only for how they can help each of us to become more thoughtful and articulate critical thinkers, but also as a prerequisite to the activism of reducing the harm of nonsense.
As an example, Carl Sagan's notable "baloney detection kit" enumerated these core tools employed by scientists and hinted at the value of their broad application outside of science: "Like all tools, the baloney detection kit can be misused, applied out of context, or even employed as a rote alternative to thinking. But applied judiciously, it can make all the difference in the world--not least in evaluating our own arguments before we present them to others." (The Demon-Haunted World, p.216, Random House 1995)
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Last Week At Science-Based Medicine
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- Written by Dr. Harriet Hall
- Category: Latest JREF News
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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.
Quackademic medicine trickles out to community hospitals (David Gorski) http://www.sciencebasedmedicine.org/index.php/quackademic-medicine-trickles-out-to-community/ Academic medicine is systematically encompassing things that used to be called quackery, lending them an undeserved aura of respectability. Community hospitals feel encouraged to follow their example. Hospitals are even offering their patients such ridiculous, disproven treatments as ionic footbaths and ear candling.
What Would It Take? (Harriet Hall) http://www.sciencebasedmedicine.org/index.php/what-would-it-take/ It has been claimed that a 2 milligauss field emanates from the hands of energy healers. Physics says that’s highly unlikely and even if true would not explain energy healing. A discussion of what it would take to get this improbable claim accepted by mainstream science illustrates how science evaluates any claim.
Skeptic History: Currents of Fear
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- Written by Tim Farley
- Category: Swift
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cell phones have been in the news. Long-time skeptics know that this is just the latest variation of this health scare, which shares many features with the phenomenon known as a moral panic.
These fears no doubt have ties to the long-standing popular fear that mobile phones may cause brain cancer. This idea entered the popular consciousness in the U.S. in 1993 when David Reynard appeared on The Larry King Show to claim it caused his wife's death. But there was an even earlier story that laid the groundwork for that one.
Calling All Educators!
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- Written by Michael Blanford
- Category: Latest JREF News
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If you are a teacher who makes critical thinking, skepticism, or information literacy part of your curriculum, we want to hear from you. We at the JREF want to learn more about the various resources educators are bringing into the classroom to inform and inspire their students to take a more critical approach to navigating our information-rich world.
It may be YouTube, Scooby-Doo, Flim-Flam!, Encyclopedia Brown, or The Demon Haunted World. Tell us what you are using and how you use it.
Whether you teach kindergarten or graduate school, I know that many have battle-tested lists of books, movies, videos clips, demonstrations, games, and activities used to make the skeptical perspective more accessible and compelling. We are asking that you share those resources with the JREF so that we can create an information base of skeptical teaching tools suited to every age group and educational environment. By compiling an exhaustive list of favorite resources and methods, we can share your great ideas and the benefit of your experience with other teachers and parents in the JREF community and beyond.
Cognitive Dissonance And Morality
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- Written by James Walker
- Category: Swift
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Crimes and Misdemeanors by Woody Allen is an excellent movie. Of course, this isn’t a movie review, but an article about cognitive dissonance. So why the movie reference? It is a nice example of how people deal with cognitive dissonance.
What I found most compelling about the movie was the struggle that the main character, Judah, has with himself between his life long rejection of religion and superstition and the Jewish religion that his father raised him and his siblings in. As a youngster he questioned his father’s beliefs and as a man, he openly rejected them, but after he commits a terrible crime, he is racked with guilt to the point of a mental breakdown.
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