Posts Tagged paranormal
Psychics: Why Believe Them At All?
Posted by Colin H in Psychics, Skepticism, cold-reading, paranormal on November 18th, 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 »
Skeptics with a K – Episode #008
Posted by Mike in Podcast, Skeptics with a K on November 7th, 2009
Seances and twitter, Mr T ‘s graduation, syndicated culture and lunacy. All this plus the homeopaths guide to physics, drugs classification and the result of our T-Shirt Competition in the latest edition of Skeptics with a K.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Skeptics in the Pub: December 17th – Trystan Swale
Posted by Mike in Merseyside, Pseudoscience, Skeptics in the Pub, paranormal on October 26th, 2009
Ghosts and the People Who Hunt Them
Trystan Swale
When: Thu, Dec 17, 2009 8:00 – 11:00 PM
Where: Crown Hotel, 43 Lime Street, Liverpool.
Summary
Who are the people that spend their weekends sat in haunted buildings hoping to capture evidence of an after life or a snapshot of a ghost? From academics to housewives, Trystan Swale blows the whistle on the profiles, methods, means, deception, poor research and bad science of the people who continue to shape popular culture and perception of ghosts.
Read the rest of this entry »
Do Angels Believe In The Telegraph?
Posted by Marsh in Religion, Skepticism, paranormal on September 17th, 2009
I thought I’d read it all when it comes to the Telegraph. Homeopathy to cure cancer? Sure. UFOs that are really really not Chinese lanterns? Uh-huh. The moon landing was hoaxed? Gotcha. Telegraph, thy mysteries bore me and thy secrets hold no shock.
Except, I was wrong. That’s fine though, I’m always happy to admit when I’m wrong (I am! What do you know, anyway?!). So it was with equal parts incredulity and glee I allowed my love/hate affair with the Telegraph to take me in its warm and scientifically-bereft arms with the headline ‘Do you believe in angels?‘
No, I don’t. Nor should you. Silly Telegraph.
Still, it’s been a while since we wrote about them, and it’s rude of me to deny the Telegraph their fun, so let’s see what it’s all about. Read the rest of this entry »
A Fraud in a Cassock
Posted by Andy in Atheism, Religion, Skepticism on August 21st, 2009
I cannot recall being a believer. I can recall not really having an opinion about things. Agnostic if you will. But I must have made my mind up early because I do remember joining St John’s church choir, simply because I fancied one of the choristers, to discover I had to pledge my love for and service to God each week.
This was difficult and I tried not to say “The Creed” out loud, mouthing it instead. I knew I was a fraud in a cassock. I was about 13.
Astrology 101: Debunking The Dirty Dozen
Posted by Marsh in Skeptic 101, astrology, cold-reading on July 12th, 2009
As we were sat around MSS HQ (which, being skeptics and all, you’re no doubt 100% aware of the fact it doesn’t actually exist), it occurred to us that there is an awful lot of woo out there, and not everyone can be expected to be fully versed in every bit of it. I’d never heard of Pascal’s Wager (as Mike charmingly announced to the world). People we’ve spoken to had no idea why homeopathy and acupuncture were pseudomedicine. Some forms of woo are so obscure people may not have even heard of them (please please please spend 5 minutes looking up Breatharianism, for your next ‘what’s the harm?’ conversation). We’ll be giving a basic intro to the pseudoscience and fuzzy thinking behind some of those in the near future, as part of our ‘Skeptic 101‘ series.
Then there are the other topics – the ones where everyone knows it’s nonsense, but you might not have the facts to hand next time you’re accosted by a woo-peddler on the subject. Bigfoot. Crop Circles. Dowsing. For me, Astrology falls firmly into this second category.
Twelve signs, twelve months, twelve types of people. In the whole world. From looking at the positions of the stars and planets at precisely the moment of birth, it’s possible to predict character, future events, love life and a whole manner of cold, hard facts about a person. Except it isn’t. Because that’s ridiculous. We all know that. So here’s your at-a-glance guide to the woo that is astrology. Read the rest of this entry »
