February 21, 2003

Amazing Meeting Summary, "Illustrated Non-Science," Borrowed Angels, Veterinarians Adopt Quackery, The Korean Penn & Teller, A Greasy Psychic Is Cleaned Up, and Banachek's Coming!

Friend/Member/Magician/Reader Larry Thornton from Canada, attended The Amazing Meeting, and took lots of photos. He has prepared an excellent summary of the activities which can be seen at: www.members.shaw.ca/freethink. Thanks, Larry. That saved me a lot of work. I've yet to get around to writing each person who contributed so well to the success of The Meeting, due to commitments here in South Korea. Comments on TAM continue to come in, and all are being noted.


Reader Santeri Saarimaa of Finland informs us of an article from Tieteen Kuvalehti ("Illustrated Science") dealing with the plethora of "free energy" and "perpetual motion" machines currently being offered. He quotes, roughly translated, the closing quote:

Nobody knows yet whether there is a so-far-unknown law of physics that prevents this kind of a perpetual motion machine from working.

Notes Santeri, there is "No mention about the already-known laws of physics that deny free energy." Exactly. One has to wonder where the science is in Illustrated Science.


Reader Jun Okumura points out something that just didn't occur to me, re the possible origin of angels-with-wings that we mentioned:

I hate to disappoint your Arabic friend, but the Bible predates Islam by many centuries. Reliable historians tell us Islam inherited much of the Judeo-Christian imagery, including winged angels, during its incipience.

So "we" came up with the mythology first? Another proud achievement, along with Virgin Birth and other fantasies? Okay. I'd rather go with the Heliocentric system and calculus, I think.


Reader Vaughn Rees, Project Coordinator for the Center for Inquiry-West, in Los Angeles, notes a recent important departure from common sense, one that will put the AVMA safely within political correctness and firmly in the ranks of the Quack Army. Says Vaughn:

The American Veterinary Medical Association, an organization which establishes national guidelines for veterinary practice among its members, has found itself on the yellow brick road to fantasyland. In a proposed draft for its Model Veterinary Practice Act dated December 23, 2002, it states:

"Complementary, alternative, and integrative therapies" means a heterogeneous group of preventive, diagnostic, and therapeutic philosophies and practices, which at the time they are performed may differ from current scientific knowledge, or whose theoretical basis and techniques may diverge from veterinary medicine routinely taught in accredited veterinary medical colleges, or both. These therapies include but are not limited to veterinary acupuncture, acutherapy, and acupressure; veterinary homeopathy; veterinary manual or manipulative therapy (ie, therapies based on techniques practiced in osteopathy, chiropractic medicine, or physical medicine and therapy); veterinary nutraceutical therapy; and veterinary phytotherapy.

"Practice of veterinary medicine" means: To diagnose, treat, correct, change, alleviate, or prevent animal disease, illness, pain, deformity, defect, injury, or other physical, dental, or mental conditions by any method or mode; including: (1) the prescription, dispensing, administration, or application of any drug, medicine, biologic, apparatus, anesthetic, or other therapeutic or diagnostic substance or medical or surgical technique, or (2) the use of complementary, alternative, and integrative therapies, or (3) the use of any manual or mechanical procedure for reproductive management, or (4) the rendering of advice or recommendation by any means including telephonic and other electronic communications with regard to any of the above.

In light of the above, The Veterinarian's Oath as found on the AMVA web site states the following:

Being admitted to the profession of veterinary medicine, I solemnly swear to use my scientific knowledge and skills for the benefit of society through the protection of animal health, the relief of animal suffering, the conservation of animal resources, the promotion of public health, and the advancement of medical knowledge.

I will practice my profession conscientiously, with dignity, and in keeping with the principles of veterinary medical ethics.

I accept as a lifelong obligation the continual improvement of my professional knowledge and competence.

Somehow they overlooked the word "science" in formulating this document, which can be seen at http://www.avma.org/education/mvpa/mvpa_commentary.pdf.

Agreed, Vaughan. There's a lot of money in quackery as practiced on humans, so why shouldn't veterinarians have the right to those profits by using it on pets and farm animals? Next thing you know, it'll be popular all over the world. Oops. It already is.


A brief report from Korea:

The first of eight one-hour programs in our TV series aired on the Seoul Broadcasting System on Sunday, February 16th, in prime time. This time-slot is hotly contested, and SBS is accustomed to competing with other hugely popular shows, giving them about a 2% share of this slot; we got a 13.4% slice on Sunday.

Much of the series content was already prepared by the very efficient and perceptive SBS team, working with my suggestions and technical experience of the psychic scams and delusions that we'd found in place in Asia, and in particular in South Korean society. In Japan, the team had taped Akiyama, a prosperous psychic there who rose to fame largely on a bizarre stunt in which he manages to stick a small stack of one-yen coins on his forehead. Yes, you read that correctly. On such minor miracles are fortunes made, folks. Remember spoon-bending?

Well, turning to basic tests of the claim, SBS examined the possibility that ordinary sweat might stick coins together, and to the forehead; it didn't, no matter how icky the perspiration. But skin gives out another secretion, sebum. This is a greasy mixture of natural substances produced by the skin's sebaceous glands, found over most of the body. The glands on the forehead and chin are larger and more numerous than elsewhere. And, we'd noticed that corpulent "psychic" Akiyama handled the coins he used, rather a lot, touching his forehead and chin, then massaging each coin. It seemed possible that Akiyama might have been using sebum to stick the coins together and to his skin. The coins are made of thin aluminum, and weigh just one gram....

There was only one way to test that idea. SBS called in three substantial gentlemen who had been instructed not to wash their faces for at least 24 hours. This was not easy for Koreans, who are fastidious citizens! On camera, Akiyama was undone. Either these three Korean men had psychic powers, too, or Akiyama was an ordinary sweaty guy who had transmuted sebum into gold....

Exit Akiyama. Though he had produced numerous letters of authentication from Japanese scientists, press raves, and various personal validations of his powers, none of that had deterred the SBS folks from properly looking into his stunt, and they solved it definitively and clearly: Akiyama-san has a greasy face. That's it, that's the answer. No "biomagnetism," no psychic forces, were involved.

I'll keep you informed as our Korean odyssey moves along. Next comes a "healer" from Malaysia who lights a fluorescent tube held in his hand, and draws evil from a patient's body by rolling an egg over the afflicted. Wow!


Last week, I was invited to see a magic show featuring two local magicians and some guest performers, at a major theater. It's been a sold-out success here in Seoul, and it's not hard to figure out why. Eungyeol, a tall 22-year-old with spiky yellow-tipped hair, is one of the funniest, most talented members of the conjuring profession that I've seen in a long time. With great mime moves, powerful use of facial expressions, and general charm, and certainly well-equipped with dexterity, this performer just wows his audience, young and old. I won't go into the list of prizes that he's won internationally for his skills in manipulation and comedy; those are nice to have, but the acid test is the paying audience, and Eungyeol just ate 'em up.

But there's more. Eungyeol's partner on stage is a smaller 26-year-old named Choi Hyeon-Woo, a winsome foil who has also won prizes for "close-up" magic, and for comedy, and the International Brotherhood of Magicians Grand Prix at a recent convention held in Dublin. This is an exuberant, frenetic, highly talented, young man who bounces around the stage as if he were born there. Another pro we'll be seeing a lot of.

The confidence and obvious energy of Eungyeol and Hyeon-Woo onstage is simply remarkable. They exhibit enthusiasm and joy in their work, show respect for one another, and share duties naturally and effortlessly. They belong together.

Inevitably, I thought of Penn & Teller. I've advised these two Korean artists, who just fell together for this current "Valentine's Day" run, that they would miss the boat if they didn't think about teaming up on a long-term basis. They complement each other perfectly, they work together seamlessly, and get much more done as a team than they could ever do as individuals, in my opinion.

Hold on. I know what you're wondering: what is a review of a magic show doing here on this page? That's not why we're here, is it? True. But I will be leaving South Korea in a week or so, having finished the SBS TV series. My conversations with the magic team established that they are very much in tune with the goals of the JREF, and Choi Hyeon-Woo made that very clear from the theater stage during their show. In the USA, Penn & Teller fight against flummery and irrationality both onstage and via the media, and to have the Eungyeol/Hyeon-Woo team supporting our goals in South Korea, would please me very much. Korean audiences are going to see much more of this pair from now on, and if they were to drop into their routines a few comments reflecting the findings and goals of the JREF, that would be only a positive function.

Go, guys! Burn up that stage with your talent, and use your popularity to promote reality in your country!


I must say that I've found the literacy and perception of the Korean citizenry to be very high indeed. The e-mail commentary that SBS received following the broadcast of the first program, indicated that most of the viewers agreed with a skeptical "take" on all psychic claims and pretensions. That's very encouraging. I think that Americans, in particular, need to know more about this part of the world. We know much more about Japan and China that we do about Korea. That's unfortunate, and should be remedied. Everywhere I go here, I encounter smiles, willing assistance, and pleasant, understanding people. Nice folks, tolerant of a strange bearded guy who, they often note, looks like Saint Nick.... Yes, beards are crowd-stoppers in the land of the clean-shaven. Hey, if you got it, flaunt it!


It's sad to see the huge rolls of barbed wire that guard the bank of the river north of Seoul. Guard houses are positioned along that border to prevent the North Koreans from entering the South for refuge. This section of Korea has the ninth-most-prosperous economy in the world, and the starving people just across the way can only dream of sharing this bounty. Families are separated, friends are parted, hearts are broken because a despot in the North squanders their resources at the expense of maintaining his power and way-of-life.

It happened in Berlin, in Hungary, in Russia, and in Romania. Can it happen here? Can the barbed wire come down.....?


All for this week. Former Alpha Kid Steve Shaw, as the mentalist Banachek, joins us this week on SBS to participate. There are lots of challenges to meet, taping to do, and interesting folks to meet. All the time, JREF-ers, we're doing what you want us to do. We're opening minds and eyes to the flummery, and we're making clearer the way that the real world works.

And it's beautiful.....


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