Angels?
Saturday, July 12th, 2008 Posted in Paranormal, Religion | No Comments »I was out shopping today and happened to go into a branch of WH Smiths so I could browse through some books. I couldn't help noticing that the science books section was way at the back of the store. There ...
Role playing
Friday, July 11th, 2008 Posted in General, Paranormal | No Comments »Here's a question: what would you do if you discovered you had supernatural powers? It's a very serious question, because it lies right at the heart of my fifth rule for rational thinking. I think, of the five, that this one ...
Criticising science; follow-up
Thursday, July 10th, 2008 Posted in Creationism | No Comments »So I've just been pacing up and down in my kitchen for half an hour, waiting for dinner to cook, and I think I've worked out the fundamental problem with the new Louisiana laws. It's very simple. Or, rather, it ...
More ID Craziness
Thursday, July 10th, 2008 Posted in Creationism, Religion | No Comments »Yes folks, guess what? Yet another wacky US state is sliding backwards to the dark ages with more legislation designed to sneak intelligent design into the science classroom. And you thought it was all over with Kitzmiller vs. Dover. Well, ...
Home births
Wednesday, July 9th, 2008 Posted in Health | No Comments »I was just watching a programme entitled "Extraordinary People: Outlaw Births", about women who choose to give birth at home instead of a hospital. It was shown on UK channel 5 at 9pm tonight. It struck me as a really ...
Red flag replies
Tuesday, July 8th, 2008 Posted in General | No Comments »So... I guess I can't put up those red flags without also adding the replies that I personally use whenever they arise. Your mileage may vary, of course ;) It's all one big conspiracy. Well, all conspiracy theories are wrong (see ...
Red flags
Monday, July 7th, 2008 Posted in General | No Comments »One of the biggest problems we have as skeptics is that we can't, unfortunately, be omniscient. And because of that, we can't hope to know enough about every aspect of science to rebut any crazy pseudoscientific claim. So, a good ...
How to change someone’s mind
Sunday, July 6th, 2008 Posted in General | No Comments »There's a phrase in the skeptic world used to describe those people who are so completely engaged with their deluded beliefs that there is simply no way of getting them to change their mind. They are the True Believers, who ...
Mixing with the Enemy
Saturday, July 5th, 2008 Posted in Creationism, General | No Comments »I guess this post is sort-of following on from yesterday's, but I'm also keen to talk about something new, which is a simple question: how much should skeptics interact with proponents of supernatural or paranormal phenomena? Eugenie Scott, executive director ...
The barbed hooks of delusion
Friday, July 4th, 2008 Posted in Health, Religion | No Comments »I've recently discovered the excellent podcast recorded by the New England Skeptics Society, which you can find at this address. One thing I was struck by in an archive episode was a comment about faith healers, and the insidious Benny ...
