Archive for November, 2009
Question of the Week: Taxing Scientific Illiteracy
Posted by Mike in Question of the Week on November 19, 2009
I don’t get a lot of time to read, unfortunately, which is why podcasts are so fantastic. I can sit at work and listen to a podcast, but I can’t sit at work and read. Audiobooks are the same. Any authors reading this: please, tape your book as an audiobook and whack it on iTunes. Or the chances are, I won’t get time to read it. Please. As a favour? To me?
That said, on a recent trip down to Cheltenham for the Open horse racing festival, I found myself on a three-hour train trip (each way) and at a loose end. So I took the opportunity to read the book at the top of my reading list; Ben Goldacre’s magnificently cutting Bad Science. Truly fantastic book–if you haven’t read it, then you must. Now. Really!
One thing that surprised me, however, was Goldacre’s attitude to homeopathy and indeed alternative medicine in general. Goldacre appears to take the view that alternative medicine represents a tax on scientific illiteracy. If people are willing to go and spend a good chunk of money on what amounts to a bag of placebos, well that’s their choice. I’m not sure I agree. What do you think?
Should alternative medicine be viewed as a tax on scientific illiteracy? Do those who know have a responsibility to educate those who don’t? Should educators make special efforts for people who wear scientific illiteracy as a badge of honour? Or should medical interventions, legitimate and pseudoscientific, be subject to state regulation and required to back up claims of efficacy with robust scientific data?
Answers on a postcard please. Or, actually, just put them in the comments below. Probably easier.
Psychics: Why Believe Them At All?
Posted by Colin H in cold-reading, paranormal, Psychics, Skepticism on November 18, 2009
Psychics and their antics are a common presence on our blog. Whether it’s Joe Power being grumpy on a Liverpool street or Jayne Wallace contacting the spirit of Michael jackson through twitter, we’ve covered it. It’s not surprising, really. Psychics make so many extravagant claims that they’re bound to attract those of us with a Skeptical bent.
Except me.
For some reason, I’ve never been that bothered about psychics, even though as woo goes, psychic powers are up there with the best. Psychics claim extremely ridiculous and hard-to-believe powers, yet are incredibly popular with the public. And they’re everywhere! People reading fortunes through crystal balls and tarot cards, others contacting the dead or reading your mind. You find them at seaside towns, in circuses, on the internet and on phonelines. You even get travelling fairs that run the full gamut of ‘spiritual’ woo. Most people will have heard of the ‘Mind, Body and Spirit’ festival. Read the rest of this entry »
Handwringing Over Handwriting In The BBC
Posted by Marsh in cold-reading, Graphology, Pseudoscience on November 17, 2009
This week the BBC reported on the condolence letter written by Prime Minister Gordon Brown to the mother of a fallen soldier. Labelling a spelling mistake in the note as ‘disrespectful’, the BBC then decided on report on other inferences the note could betray about the PM’s mental state.
But what does Mr Brown’s handwriting style, and those of other prime ministers, betray about their state of mind?
That’s right – we’re on that little known nonsense that is Graphology – with the BBC running the letter by Elaine Quigley, former head of the British Institute of Graphologists. In case you’re not familiar with it, graphology is the pseudoscience of examining handwriting – size, shape, slant, angularity, form of the letters and more – and using the analysis to gain insights into the personality and mindset of the writer. Which doesn’t work. But why let that stop a good feature? Read the rest of this entry »
Dowsing For Danger: Pseudoscience On The Frontline
Posted by Marsh in Divination, Pseudoscience on November 16, 2009
Friend of the MSS and presenter of Righteous Indignation Trystan Swale offers his take on the pseudoscientific bomb-detection devices currently in use in Iraq.
As America continues to mourn deaths of its troops in Iraq, the New York Times has published an astonishing story regarding a device used by Iraq’s security forces in detecting explosives carried by vehicles at roadside checkpoints. Costing up to $60,000 per unit, the ADE651 is manufactured by British based ATSC who is believed to have shifted 1500 of the devices to the Iraqi authorities.
Despite claims by the manufacturers that the device can also detect illegal drugs, it seems the device is no more than useless for detecting either explosives or narcotics. Dale Murray of America’s National Explosive Engineering Sciences Security Center said the organisation had “tested several devices in this category, and none have ever performed better than random chance.” Read the rest of this entry »
Twittering The Dead: 140 Characters Of Crap
Posted by Marsh in cold-reading, Media, Psychics, Skepticism on November 15, 2009
In the wake of Derreck Acorah’s derisable attempts to pretend to be contacting Michael Jackson last weekend, it occurred to me just how busy Jacko has been of late. Aside from having his barely-cold corpse mawkishly pecked at by dear Derreck, and all the shameless cashing in on his death by film companies with the new flick ‘This Is It’, he recently was the subject of a seane. Well a Tweance. (And yes, I do feel horrible even typing the word. Tweance. Has there ever been an uglier word? Besides ‘groin’, I don’t think so. Still, on I’ll go – the lengths I’m willing to go to for you guys, really…)
Users of Twitter (are they called Twusers?) will already be familiar with the notion of a ‘Tweance’, but for anyone who’s been hibernating for a fortnight, here’s the deal – a ‘Tweance’ is a seance on Twitter. Yeah, Twitter. A Twitter seance. Ponder that for a moment, if it’s new to you.
In fact, supposed-psychic (Twychic?), medium (Twedium?) and utter prat (…?) Jayne Wallace on Halloween night tried to convince people she would be able to contact the spirits of dead celebrities and take questions from users of the social networking site Twitter to put to the deceased. Readers of our blog might remember Jayne from a little while ago when she claimed to have contacted Jade Goody’s spirit while conducting a reading with the dead reality TV star’s grieving mother for the Sun newspaper. Yeah. Still, why exploit the memory of one dead celebrity when you can cram four into a single night. Read the rest of this entry »
Question of the Week: Mac or PC?
Posted by Colin H in Question of the Week on November 14, 2009
Since the beginning of time (well, about 1976) one question has been at the forefront of the world of computing. Wars have been fought (on forums) in its name, and legions of computer users the world over are willing to fight to the death, or at least until their computer crashes, in its name. Maybe it will never be resolved, but never let it be said that the Merseyside Skeptics Society did not play its part in attempting to end this ancient and divisive dispute…
So, the Question of the Week is this:
Which is better: Mac or PC?
No other question seems to exercise the ire of computer users quite as much as this one. Is it true that macs are better machines, or are they just for vegetarians, communists and hippies? Is the lack of viruses worth the astronomical price tag? Has the PC always been better, but is the victim of a jealous pc-ist campaign? Who would win in a fight, Steve Jobs or Bill Gates? Why are they named after nouns?
Let’s put this issue to bed once and for all. Which is better: Mac or PC? You decide.
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