A Thank You For Your Birthday Wishes
- Details
- Written by James Randi
- Category: Swift
- Hits: 15260
As the JREF announced yesterday on our social networks, the Earth has just started -- for me -- its 84th tour of the Sun. I'm appropriately flattered and edified at the number of good wishes that came my way via the various online services we now enjoy, and I thank you all for your kind comments.
May you all have the degree of satisfaction that I enjoy in my position with the JREF, a position I hold only because of the wonderful support and input I get from my staff and friends. Please believe my gratitude for such firm assistance and joy that I'm shown as I plug away every day working on my next -- 10th -- book, and try to keep up my correspondence.
The JREF is reaching new heights in educating the public, inspiring our next generation of critical thinkers, and developing even more exciting events for everyone who embraces the skeptical/rational point of view.
Thank you, one and all. Per ardua ad astra...
James Randi.
Your Skeptic Stories
- Details
- Written by Maria Myrback
- Category: Swift
- Hits: 7098
[Editor’s Note: “Your Skeptic Stories” is an ongoing series written by readers like you, people who have, through one means or another, discovered skepticism and critical thinking. These stories remind us that we all started somewhere and some of us are still finding our way as skeptics If you are interested in contributing your own story, please submit your piece of around 1000 words to maria (at) randi.org along with a short 2-3 line bio.
Today’s story comes from Josh]
My name is Josh Hunt, and I am a skeptic. I wasn’t always a skeptic, though. As a skeptic, you might be asked, “What’s the harm in believing in the paranormal?” You might even be asked why skepticism is important. I have an answer to both questions, and it comes in the form of a personal story.
In 2004, when I was eighteen, I moved to New York City to study and pursue a career in acting. I had gotten a regular job taking room-service orders. I remember feeling very out of place and very uncertain about what I was doing with my life. I had so many questions that I wanted answered, but I didn’t know who to ask. Was I supposed to be in New York City? Was I supposed to be an actor? Would I be working in a job I hated for the rest of my life? Who would have the answer to these questions? Maybe a psychic would.
Randi at Camp Inquiry
- Details
- Category: Swift
- Hits: 5775
I'm with Randi today in Holland, N.Y. at Camp Inquiry, CFI's annual summer camp for young skeptics. The JREF's Director of Education Michael Blanford has been here all week, helping kids from age 7 to 16 flex their skeptical muscles and practice rational ways of discovering the truth for themselves. Randi never fails to delight, inform, and entertain with tales of his years as a conjuror, escape artist, and skeptic.
Weekly Media Roundup, August 4, 2011
- Details
- Category: Swift
- Hits: 4273
This week: Still more coverage of TAM 2011 Las Vegas!
The Physics of Relativity and a Lesson in Skepticism
- Details
- Written by Matt Lowry
- Category: Swift
- Hits: 16422
I often spend at least a few days or, if I’m lucky, a few weeks addressing the topic of modern physics (that is, post 19th-century physics) in my high school classes towards the end of the year. And the topic I spend the most time on is Einstein’s theory of relativity, something which never fails in gaining the interest of my students, despite the fact that summer vacation is just around the corner. It’s one thing to talk about Newton’s laws, force diagrams, and vectors, but once you get to that “good stuff” like light speed, time travel, and whatnot the students perk right up. That’s precisely why I teach the topic at the end of the year when it is most difficult to keep classes on track.
Whenever I introduce this topic I start off with a very basic review of the physics of relative motion – many students roll their eyes at this introduction as “too simple” because it is a rehash of simple vector addition. For example, if you are traveling down a road in a bus that is moving at 50 mph and you throw a ball in front of you at a speed of 20 mph (from your viewpoint), an observer on the side of the road will see the ball moving at 50 mph + 20 mph = 70 mph, assuming there is no acceleration involved. But here’s the rub, and quite an extraordinary claim on my part: that idea is wrong!
Read more: The Physics of Relativity and a Lesson in Skepticism
Page 192 of 408