Conspiracy theories in particular are notoriously resilient to criticism (Goertzel 2011). Many people remained convinced of Pizzagate and—as is typical with conspiracy theories—public disconfirmation only served to convince diehards of a cover-up in the works. To believers, it seems the media doth protest too much.Benjamin Radford, M.Ed., is a scientific paranormal investigator, a research fellow at the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry, deputy editor of the Skeptical Inquirer, and author, co-author, contributor, or editor of twenty books and over a thousand articles on skepticism, critical thinking, and science literacy. His newest book is America the Fearful.The BFMS was founded in 1993, in the wake of Britain’s 1988–1991 Satanic panic. The government report eventually issued in 1996 examined sixty-two of the many cases of alleged ritual abuse that had been reported by police and welfare agencies and concluded that in the cases that could be substantiated the main event was sexual abuse ...At its core, Missing411 is the vague claim that something unusual is occurring related to deaths and disappearances in national parks. The concept has been steeped in the milieu of conspiracy and the supernatural, as Paulides frequently appears on paranormal-oriented radio shows and podcasts to discuss it. A forthcoming documentary appears to ...James “The Amazing” Randi is a magician, investigator of psychic claims, author (Flim-Flam!, The Faith Healers, The Mask of Nostradamus, The Magic of Uri Geller), and the president of the James Randi Educational Foundation. He was a founding fellow of CSICOP. This article is based on a special presentation on investigating psychics he gave ...Skeptical Inquirer Presents. Skeptical Inquirer Presents is a series of live online presentations from leading experts in science, skepticism, medicine, media, activism, and advocacy, all devoted to the cause of advancing science over pseudoscience, media literacy over conspiracy theories, and critical thinking over magical thinking. Joe Nickell. Joe Nickell, PhD, is senior research fellow of the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry (CSI) and “Investigative Files” columnist for Skeptical Inquirer.A former stage magician, private investigator, and teacher, he is author of numerous books, including Inquest on the Shroud of Turin (1983), Pen, Ink and Evidence (1990), Unsolved History (1992) and Adventures in Paranormal ... January/February 2024. Volume 48, No. 1. Feature Article. Is Bigfoot Dead? Benjamin Radford. Twenty years ago, in this magazine I wrote an overview of the evidence for …The President is one of countless people who have come to believe that there is a “97% consensus” on anthropogenic global warming (AGW). Since it is inconceivable that any climate scientist today could have no opinion on the subject, if 97 percent accept AGW it follows that 3 percent reject it. To those outside of science, 3 percent may ...Randi convinced the world that the skeptical approach is a blast. He wrote and performed with joyful, stinging, defiant wit. He gave skepticism all the fun and romance of a daredevil magic show. He showed how advocating science can be wicked fun, rebellious, full of high adventure, spy-movie derring-do, and laughs.WASHINGTON (AP) — Conservative Supreme Court justices appeared skeptical Wednesday that state abortion bans after their sweeping ruling overturning …Bjorn Lomborg. Bjørn Lomborg, PhD, is an adjunct professor in the Copenhagen Business School and organizer of the Copenhagen Consensus, a conference of top economists who come together to prioritize the best solutions for the world’s greatest challenges. He is author of The Skeptical Environmentalist and, most recently, Cool It!Pinker, a longtime Committee for Skeptical Inquiry Fellow, is the author of eight books, including How the Mind Works, The Blank Slate, The. Language Instinct, and most recently The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence has Declined. The interview focuses on the premise of his. latest book: that we now live in the least violent and most ...A new film, dedicated to CSI Fellow and Skeptical Inquirer columnist Harriet “SkepDoc” Hall, describes the rise of the anti-vaccination movement from long before COVID-19 to the present day. The film’s executive producer is Academy Award–winning documentarian Mark Jonathan Harris, and the film is produced by Laura Davis and directed and ...Harriet ‘SkepDoc’ Hall (1945–2023) Stuart Vyse. On January 12, as this issue of the magazine was being finalized, we received word that Harriet Hall, MD—the “SkepDoc” and longtime author of the “Reality Is the Best Medicine” column for Skeptical Inquirer—had died. Hall was an astonishingly prolific writer, a sought-after ...Amardeo Sarma, Anna Veronika Wendland. March 11, 2021, marked the tenth anniversary of the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake, which, together with the tsunami it triggered, devastated the northeast coast of Japan’s main island of Honshu and triggered the Fukushima nuclear accident. However, it is Fukushima that has remained in public awareness.On June 21, 2019, a new couple purchased a fourteen-room farmhouse on eight and a half acres in Harrisville, Rhode Island, for approximately $439,000 (Mroch 2019). Normally such an event wouldn’t be a big deal—much less make news—but this was not an ordinary house. This was the infamous residence known to the world as “The Conjuring ...1. Judge skeptical of Trump’s lawyer. The presiding judge, Juan Merchan, was clearly unimpressed by Trump lawyer Todd Blanche’s desperate attempts to save Trump …Lee first unveiled his plans last fall to allow families to access public money for private schooling, regardless of income. At the time, he was surrounded by the state’s …Benjamin Radford. Benjamin Radford, M.Ed., is a scientific paranormal investigator, a research fellow at the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry, deputy editor of the Skeptical Inquirer, and author, co-author, contributor, or editor of twenty books and over a thousand articles on skepticism, critical thinking, and science literacy. His newest book ...Skeptical Inquirer Presents. Skeptical Inquirer Presents is a series of live online presentations from leading experts in science, skepticism, medicine, media, activism, and advocacy, all devoted to the cause of advancing science over pseudoscience, media literacy over conspiracy theories, and critical thinking over magical thinking.The BFMS was founded in 1993, in the wake of Britain’s 1988–1991 Satanic panic. The government report eventually issued in 1996 examined sixty-two of the many cases of alleged ritual abuse that had been reported by police and welfare agencies and concluded that in the cases that could be substantiated the main event was sexual abuse ...She is a contributing editor and frequent contributor to the Skeptical Inquirer and contributes to the blog Science-Based Medicine. She is author of Women Aren’t Supposed to Fly: Memoirs of a Female Flight Surgeon and coauthor of the 2012 textbook Consumer Health: A Guide to Intelligent Decisions .But as advice on how to constructively interact with others, it’s golden. By the way, McIntyre has written an entire book based on his Socratic conversations: How to Talk to a Science Denier: Conversations with Flat Earthers, Climate Deniers, and Others Who Defy Reason (MIT Press, 2021). It would make a valuable entry in your skeptic library.The Skeptical Inquirer published Rawlins’ account of these matters in his ascerbic commentary “Remus Extremus,” together with an editor’s introduction and responding statements by the Executive Council and Kurtz and Abell (SI, 6[2]:58-67, Winter 1981-82). Benjamin Radford, M.Ed., is a scientific paranormal investigator, a research fellow at the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry, deputy editor of the Skeptical Inquirer, and author, co-author, contributor, or editor of twenty books and over a thousand articles on skepticism, critical thinking, and science literacy. His newest book is America the ... Skeptical Inquirer Volume 41, No. 4. The Fires of Creationists, and Rallying for Science. Academies Report Urges Bolstered Efforts to Protect Integrity of Science. A Scientist Pushes Psychology Journals toward Open Data. … Homeopaths believe effectiveness increases the more you dilute the putatively active ingredient. They measure dilution on a logarithmic so-called C-scale. 30C—which is recommended as a good, effective dose—corresponds to a dilution of one part in 10 -60. The late James Randi calculated that this is equivalent to one molecule of the active ... SKEPTIC App Whether at home or on the go, the SKEPTIC App is the easiest way to read your favorite articles. Within the app, users can purchase the current issue and back issues. Download the app today and get a 30-day free trial subscription.Skeptical Inquirer, Amherst, New York. 148,282 likes · 344 talking about this. I know of no greater antidote to pseudoscience than the contents of Skeptical Inquirer magazine. Neil deGrasse TysonIt is also known as heavy hydrogen, and water containing artificially increased concentrations of deuterium is known as heavy water. Heavy water can be produced by distillation and other methods. What’s left over is deuterium depleted water, or DDW. Because the weight of regular hydrogen and deuterium differ slightly due to the … At its core, Missing411 is the vague claim that something unusual is occurring related to deaths and disappearances in national parks. The concept has been steeped in the milieu of conspiracy and the supernatural, as Paulides frequently appears on paranormal-oriented radio shows and podcasts to discuss it. A forthcoming documentary appears to ... in Skeptical Inquirer magazine, including her “Reality Is the Best Medicine” columns published since the September/October 2018 issue skepticalinquirer.org , where her monthly SkepDoc’s Corner columns have been published since September 2016, including some that were translated into Spanish by Alejandro Borgo of the Center for …Skeptical Inquirer Presents. Skeptical Inquirer Presents is a series of live online presentations from leading experts in science, skepticism, medicine, media, activism, and advocacy, all devoted to the cause of advancing science over pseudoscience, media literacy over conspiracy theories, and critical thinking over magical thinking. ...Skeptical Inquirer Volume 41, No. 4. The Fires of Creationists, and Rallying for Science. Academies Report Urges Bolstered Efforts to Protect Integrity of Science. A Scientist Pushes Psychology Journals toward Open Data. …The Skeptic published a preliminary report, Not for Prophet, about the GAPPP in March 2021. This was written by one of the project’s participants, Adrienne Hill, and it describes both the creation and the work of the team assembled to score the massive number of predictions. It is available here.By Andrea Nicolotti. Waco, Texas: Baylor University Press, 2020. 523 pp. Hardcover, $59.95. The remarkable thing about the Shroud of Turin is that it started out as merely a painting but ended up being treated as a relic—namely a piece of cloth bearing an imprint of Jesus’s dead body. Church historian Andrea Nicolotti’s tome on the ...It is also known as heavy hydrogen, and water containing artificially increased concentrations of deuterium is known as heavy water. Heavy water can be produced by distillation and other methods. What’s left over is deuterium depleted water, or DDW. Because the weight of regular hydrogen and deuterium differ slightly due to the …Joe Nickell. Joe Nickell, PhD, is senior research fellow of the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry (CSI) and “Investigative Files” columnist for Skeptical Inquirer.A former stage magician, private investigator, and teacher, he is author of numerous books, including Inquest on the Shroud of Turin (1983), Pen, Ink and Evidence (1990), Unsolved History …Logo of the Skeptical Inquirer. CSI publishes the magazine Skeptical Inquirer, which was founded by Truzzi, under the name The Zetetic. The journal was under Truzzi's editorship for the first year, until August 1977. The magazine was retitled to Skeptical Inquirer with Kendrick Frazier, former editor of Science News, serving as its editor. In ...Susan is also founder of the Guerrilla Skepticism on Wikipedia (GSoW) project. She is a Fellow of the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry, and writes for her column, Guerilla Skepticism, often. You can contact her through her website. Harriet A. Hall was born in St. Louis, Missouri, on July 2, 1945, and died on January 11, 2023, in Puyallup ...Harriet ‘SkepDoc’ Hall (1945–2023) Stuart Vyse. On January 12, as this issue of the magazine was being finalized, we received word that Harriet Hall, MD—the “SkepDoc” and longtime author of the “Reality Is the Best Medicine” column for Skeptical Inquirer—had died. Hall was an astonishingly prolific writer, a sought-after ...The Hills, as many skeptics know, spawned the “alien abduction” craze, and their experiences set the template for many later reports. ... Skeptical Inquirer Magazine. PO Box 703 Amherst, NY 14226 800-634-1610 or (716) 636-1425. Center for Inquiry – Headquarters. PO Box 741 Amherst, NY 14226Randi convinced the world that the skeptical approach is a blast. He wrote and performed with joyful, stinging, defiant wit. He gave skepticism all the fun and romance of a daredevil magic show. He showed how advocating science can be wicked fun, rebellious, full of high adventure, spy-movie derring-do, and laughs.Evolutionary psychology, the study of the evolutionary roots of human behavior, is a bogus field based on false assumptions. The biologist P.Z. Myers joined several other critics of this field (once called sociobiology) when he asserted that: “The fundamental premises of evo psych [evolutionary psychology] are false.”.Harriet Hall, MD, a retired Air Force physician and flight surgeon, writes and educates about pseudoscientific and so-called alternative medicine. She is a contributing editor and frequent contributor to the Skeptical Inquirer and contributes to the blog Science-Based Medicine. She is author of Women Aren’t Supposed to Fly: Memoirs of a Female Flight Surgeon …2. Your Uncle Wants to Avoid Cognitive Dissonance. If you put yourself in the shoes of one of these vaccine rejectors, you can understand why—even in the face of the more virulent Delta variant—they are not going to change their minds now. At the beginning, there was a moment when things might have gone the other way.Apr 18, 2023 · Skeptical Inquirer Magazine. PO Box 703 Amherst, NY 14226 800-634-1610 or (716) 636-1425. Center for Inquiry – Headquarters. PO Box 741 Amherst, NY 14226 (716) 636 ... But in this case, it really is the way. Making critical thinking a national educational norm is the cognitive vaccine America needs to have a fighting chance of maintaining sufficient sanity. Good thinking prevents and alleviates bad thinking. Young students can be taught reason and skepticism as basic life skills.The President is one of countless people who have come to believe that there is a “97% consensus” on anthropogenic global warming (AGW). Since it is inconceivable that any climate scientist today could have no opinion on the subject, if 97 percent accept AGW it follows that 3 percent reject it. To those outside of science, 3 percent may ... Skeptical Inquirer THE SKEPTICAL. INQUIRER is the official journal of the Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal. Editor Kendrick Frazier. Editorial Board George Abell. Martin Gardner. Ray Hyman. Philip J. Klass, Paul Kurtz, James Randi. Consulting Editors James E. Alcock, Isaac Asimov, William Sims Bainbridge. Joe Nickell. Joe Nickell, PhD, is senior research fellow of the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry (CSI) and “Investigative Files” columnist for Skeptical Inquirer.A former stage magician, private investigator, and teacher, he is author of numerous books, including Inquest on the Shroud of Turin (1983), Pen, Ink and Evidence (1990), Unsolved History …We should be good skeptics, and we should demand evidence before assuming that something is language. ... Skeptical Inquirer Magazine. PO Box 703 Amherst, NY 14226 800-634-1610 or (716) 636-1425. Center for Inquiry – Headquarters. PO Box 741 Amherst, NY 14226 (716) 636-4869.That joke came to my mind when I read three short tributes to biologist E.O. Wilson in Skeptical Inquirer (May/June 2022). Wilson passed away on December 26, 2021, at age ninety-two. The tributes are by evolutionary biologist and science popularizer Richard Dawkins, evolutionary developmental biologist Sean B. Carroll, and cognitive linguist ...It was a “road to Damascus” experience for the Mad Men era. In 1966, the respected astronomer J. Allen Hynek had gone—seemingly overnight—from a. determined debunker to an ardent apostle of the UFO gospel. A longtime consultant to Project Blue Book noted for his skeptical stance toward UFOs, Hynek.Joe Nickell. Joe Nickell, PhD, is senior research fellow of the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry (CSI) and “Investigative Files” columnist for Skeptical Inquirer.A former stage magician, private investigator, and teacher, he is author of numerous books, including Inquest on the Shroud of Turin (1983), Pen, Ink and Evidence (1990), Unsolved History …Skeptical Inquirer Volume 45, No. 5. September/October 2021. The following statement and guide for media coverage of UFOs was issued June 3 and reissued June 25 (the day the Pentagon UFO report came out) by the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry, publisher of the Skeptical Inquirer. It expresses concern about some of the … Three Vie for Skeptics Prize. Jim Underdown. Between May 20, 2023, and May 24, 2023, the Center for Inquiry Investigations Group (CFIIG) tested three applicants to our $500,000 Paranormal Challenge. We’ve been conducting tests since 2000 for various amounts of money. After that, the addition of the false etymology created an aura of scholarship about the article (to be fair, procedures for creating and adding to Wikipedia articles have tightened since then; see “Skepticism One Wikipage at a Time: Talking with Wikiskeptic Susan Gerbic-Forsyth” in the March/April 2012 Skeptical Inquirer).The direction of all eight of these errors is consistent in tending to indicate a temporal association. It is unlikely that these were simply accidental copying errors. It indicates that the authors falsified the temporal associations between MMR vaccine administration and development of behavioral symptoms. Fraud 3.February 15, 2024. Well not really, but I suppose to explain the past three weeks I should start with the Bent Spoon award the Australian Skeptics gave to award-winning journalist Ross Coulthart. The Bent Spoon is a tongue-in-cheek award “presented to the perpetrator of the most preposterous piece of paranormal or pseudoscientific piffle.”.Most everyone in the skeptic community has a hot-button subject that really gets their heart racing. Mine is psychics. ... Skeptical Inquirer Magazine. PO Box 703 Amherst, NY 14226 800-634-1610 or (716) 636-1425. Center for Inquiry – Headquarters. PO Box 741 Amherst, NY 14226Benjamin Radford, M.Ed., is a scientific paranormal investigator, a research fellow at the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry, deputy editor of the Skeptical Inquirer, and author, co-author, contributor, or editor of twenty books and over a thousand articles on skepticism, critical thinking, and science literacy. His newest book is America the Fearful.August 22, 2022. Nick Tiller. Kinesiology tape, also known as Kinesio Tape, KT Tape, or just K-Tape, is made from 100 percent cotton fiber and “specialized elastic cores” that stretch in length but not width, allowing it to move and flex with muscles and joints. The Skeptic’s Guide to Sports Science.Mark Edward did a cold-reading demonstration event at CSICon in 2017; the workshop was all skeptics, and you needed a separate ticket to attend. We obtained a list with about fifty names of people who would be at the workshop. ... Skeptical Inquirer Magazine. PO Box 703 Amherst, NY 14226 800-634-1610 or (716) 636-1425. Center for …At its core, Missing411 is the vague claim that something unusual is occurring related to deaths and disappearances in national parks. The concept has been steeped in the milieu of conspiracy and the supernatural, as Paulides frequently appears on paranormal-oriented radio shows and podcasts to discuss it. A forthcoming documentary appears to ...In the two entity photos, we can clearly see hard shadows cast by Candy’s silhouette. Hard shadows are very distinct, appearing in sharp contrast to the subject and the background. In the first image (above left), a hard shadow appears along the right side of Candy. In the second image (above right), the hard shadow appears to the left of Candy.Rob Palmer has had a diverse career in engineering, having worked as a spacecraft designer, an aerospace project engineer, a computer programmer, and a software systems engineer. Rob became a skeptical activist when he joined the Guerrilla Skepticism on Wikipedia team in 2016, and began writing for skepticalinquirer.org in 2018.For more about the Mill Creek tracks, see my article in the Skeptical Inquirer, Spring 1989, pp. 264-272. Richard Noll, a longtime Bigfoot enthusiast, loaned Crowley his copy of the Onion Mountain print and allowed Crowley to make a copy of it. Crowley supplied me with a copy of the e-mail exchange made in November 2005.Joe Nickell. Joe Nickell, PhD, is senior research fellow of the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry (CSI) and “Investigative Files” columnist for Skeptical Inquirer.A former stage magician, private investigator, and teacher, he is author of numerous books, including Inquest on the Shroud of Turin (1983), Pen, Ink and Evidence (1990), Unsolved History … Volume 46, No. 1. From Russia’s Stalin to Climate Change—The Irrational World of Motivated Reasoning. January/February 2022. John C. Sherwood of Pennsylvania, a reporter and editor for Gannett Co. newspapers for twenty-eight years, has written interactive mysteries and books on magic. Contact him at [email protected] or MysteryVisits.com. The Committee for Skeptical Inquiry ( CSI ), formerly known as the Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal ( CSICOP ), is a program within the U.S. non-profit organization Center for Inquiry (CFI), which seeks to "promote scientific inquiry, critical investigation, and the use of reason in examining controversial ... Sagan went back to the librarian and explained that he meant real stars. “She thought this was funny,” Sagan remembered. But this time she got him what he was seeking, an act that helped launch a future astronomer. I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the delight Sagan held for Skeptical Inquirer magazine.Joe Nickell. Joe Nickell, PhD, is senior research fellow of the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry (CSI) and “Investigative Files” columnist for Skeptical Inquirer.A former stage magician, private investigator, and teacher, he is author of numerous books, including Inquest on the Shroud of Turin (1983), Pen, Ink and Evidence (1990), Unsolved History …In September 2021, the head of the Biden panel overseeing Havana Syndrome, Pamela Spratlen, was forced to resign after she refused to rule out mass psychogenic illness as a possible cause (Lederman and Breslauer 2021). This was a clear signal that the government’s investigation was being driven by politics instead of science.I know Skeptical Inquirer has largely remained aloof from partisan controversies, but it seems to me that what’s going on in the country these days needs a good, heathy dose …In an article in the Skeptical Inquirer (Nickell 2014) and in the book American Hauntings (Bartholomew and Nickell 2015, 57–77), I analyzed the Perrons’ claims of demonic activity and showed that they were consistent with the effects of strong winds, misperceptions, schoolgirl pranks, vivid dreams, simple suggestion, role-playing, and other …In the two entity photos, we can clearly see hard shadows cast by Candy’s silhouette. Hard shadows are very distinct, appearing in sharp contrast to the subject and the background. In the first image (above left), a hard shadow appears along the right side of Candy. In the second image (above right), the hard shadow appears to the left of Candy.November / December 2015. Forty years have passed since my book The Bermuda Triangle Mystery—Solved was published in 1975. The most important chapter is “Flight 19,” the account of the five Navy Avenger torpedo bombers and a Martin Mariner PBM that disappeared on December 5, 1945. Flight 19 was on an overwater navigation-training …1. Judge skeptical of Trump’s lawyer. The presiding judge, Juan Merchan, was clearly unimpressed by Trump lawyer Todd Blanche’s desperate attempts to save Trump …Joe Nickell. Joe Nickell, PhD, is senior research fellow of the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry (CSI) and “Investigative Files” columnist for Skeptical Inquirer.A former stage magician, private investigator, and teacher, he is author of numerous books, including Inquest on the Shroud of Turin (1983), Pen, Ink and Evidence (1990), Unsolved History … That joke came to my mind when I read three short tributes to biologist E.O. Wilson in Skeptical Inquirer (May/June 2022). Wilson passed away on December 26, 2021, at age ninety-two. The tributes are by evolutionary biologist and science popularizer Richard Dawkins, evolutionary developmental biologist Sean B. Carroll, and cognitive linguist ...
Harriet ‘SkepDoc’ Hall (1945–2023) Stuart Vyse. On January 12, as this issue of the magazine was being finalized, we received word that Harriet Hall, MD—the “SkepDoc” and longtime author of the “Reality Is the Best Medicine” column for Skeptical Inquirer—had died. Hall was an astonishingly prolific writer, a sought-after .... Flights to iceland from boston
Logo of the Skeptical Inquirer. CSI publishes the magazine Skeptical Inquirer, which was founded by Truzzi, under the name The Zetetic. The journal was under Truzzi's editorship for the first year, until August 1977. The magazine was retitled to Skeptical Inquirer with Kendrick Frazier, former editor of Science News, serving as its editor. In ...Joe Nickell. Joe Nickell, PhD, is senior research fellow of the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry (CSI) and “Investigative Files” columnist for Skeptical Inquirer.A former stage magician, private investigator, and teacher, he is author of numerous books, including Inquest on the Shroud of Turin (1983), Pen, Ink and Evidence (1990), Unsolved History …Sep 10, 2018 · Skeptical Inquirer Magazine. PO Box 703 Amherst, NY 14226 800-634-1610 or (716) 636-1425. Center for Inquiry – Headquarters. PO Box 741 Amherst, NY 14226 His first SI column, “Thinking about Science,” ran for twelve years from 2002 to 2015. This new column will explore skepticism from the viewpoint of the philosophy of science. —The Editors. The term pseudoscience has been the object of a renewed interest by philosophers of science in recent years. This is not just because the so-called ...Letters – Vol. 46, no. 4. Afloat in Misinformation As a former teacher of undergraduate and graduate students, I appreciate Melanie Trecek-King’s excellent articles in Skeptical inquirer (“Teach Skills, Not Facts,” January/February 2022, and “A Life Preserver for Staying Afloat in a Sea of Misinformation,” March/April 2022).In QM, there is no transmission of energy between the separated particles; it is only that they are “entangled.”. In short, parapsychology cannot be true unless the rest of science isn’t. Moreover, if psi effects were real, they would have already fatally disrupted the rest of the body of science.In an article in the Skeptical Inquirer (Nickell 2014) and in the book American Hauntings (Bartholomew and Nickell 2015, 57–77), I analyzed the Perrons’ claims of demonic activity and showed that they were consistent with the effects of strong winds, misperceptions, schoolgirl pranks, vivid dreams, simple suggestion, role-playing, and other …Joe Nickell, PhD, is senior research fellow of the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry (CSI) and “Investigative Files” columnist for Skeptical Inquirer. A former stage magician, private investigator, and teacher, he is author of numerous books, including Inquest on the Shroud of Turin (1983), Pen, Ink and Evidence (1990), Unsolved History (1992 ...Any one of the above twenty-one facts destroys the idea that Noah’s flood was a worldwide occurrence. Nevertheless, a local large flood in Mesopotamia in biblical times could have been possible (Collins 2009). Young-Earth creationists commonly point out that Jesus supported the existence of Noah’s flood (Luke 17:27; Matthew 24:38–39), but ...Harriet ‘SkepDoc’ Hall (1945–2023) Skeptical Inquirer Volume 47, No. 2. March/April 2023. Stuart Vyse. On January 12, as this issue of the magazine was being finalized, we received word that Harriet Hall, MD—the “SkepDoc” and longtime author of the “Reality Is the Best Medicine” column for Skeptical Inquirer—had died.To improve skeptical thinking, become familiar with the works of top-notch skeptics such as James Randi, Michael Shermer, Benjamin Radford, Daniel Dennett, Sam Harris and so on. Recognize the term ideological immune system. In everyday life, as well as in science, we all resist fundamental paradigm change..