Today would have been the 94th birthday of physicist Richard Feynman. Feynman was, of course, one of the most influential physicists of our time, but he was also more than that. He was a philosopher-scientist, the kind of thinker that would go to great lengths to put his terrific sum of knowledge into perspective for the rest of us, and then show us what such knowledge could mean for the very nature of existence. He gave much to the world, so much so that his contributions probably wont be fully realized for many years to come. You can get caught up by reading any of the many spectacular books he wrote on science and philosophy, if you haven’t already…

Feynman is also the subject of one of those great YouTube video series that puts great words to beautiful music and imagery. I highly suggest you visit The Feynman Series and watch the wonderful videos there. Chapter One is posted below, as an example.

94th Birthday of Richard Feynman Skeptinerd - Nerdy with reason.

Stephen Colbert Slams Don McLeroy Skeptinerd - Nerdy with reason.

Andrew Basiago is a lawyer and a journalist from Vancouver, who also claims to have discovered life on Mars and to have been part of a secret government project as a child that involved regular time-travel. It looks like Andrew has been making these claims since 2008, but a recent surge in attention to his online presence has brought him to my attention for the first time.

His claim to being the first person to find life on Mars is based on picking odd shaped portions of the mars environment out of photos from the rovers and claiming that they are alien life forms, buildings, and plant life. This is, of course, the pareidolia effect. It was when Andrew started submitting academic papers, claiming to have discovered these “life forms”, to peer reviewed journals that his insanity was first brought to light.

Andrew’s life on Mars fantasies isn’t what makes him interesting; the much more interesting story is his claim that he was once a time traveler as a child. He could be aware that he is telling lies, but from viewing several of his talks and interviews available on YouTube it appears that he really believes that what he is saying is true. This, coupled with the level of detail he includes in his stories, makes for a fascinating study of a conspiracy theorist gone off the deep end.

As a story teller myself, I wish I was capable of having such fully formed science fiction stories pop into my head, you know, minus the believing they are real part. But, really, if this man focused his story telling abilities into writing fiction he could be a best seller. This is what fascinates me the most about Andrew, just watch the videos, it really is something to see. Andrew has an answer for every question asked. These aren’t just quick answers, they are fully formed with back stories that tie into the mythology of the tale he is telling. (I should note here, if it isn’t obvious, that his story being internally consistent is not the same as it being consistent with reality.)

His story is this: A secret government (seekrit gubmint?) project called “Project Pegasus”, run by DARPA (who else?), invented several forms of time travel in the late sixties. Andrew was just one of many children who were chosen, along with adults, to test the effects of time travel on people. The entire project was created to give the president historical insight and advanced warning about future events. All of this was made possible by documents found in Nikola Tesla’s apartment after he died. Andrew traveled as far back a million years, was present at the Gettysburg address, and even met alternate versions of himself. Andrew has also visited Mars, because, why stop at time travel.

The mechanism by which this elaborate story is created is also fascinating. Andrew claims that he, along with everyone else involved in the experiment, was “brainwashed” to forget what had happened. It is after having this realization that he has been able to spend many years of his life “remembering” what had happened to him. It is easy to see how such a tool could be used to construct such detailed stories, as Andrew does research and digs for support to his claims anything that he finds gets factored into the conspiracy and becomes something he “remembered” taking place. He is implanting memories in himself, something people who claim to have been abducted by aliens do regularly.

Andrew’s entire story is so crazy it doesn’t even need debunking, none of the things he talks about are even remotely possible. But, this is a look at just how self reinforcing conspiracy theories can be, and it is further proof that it really doesn’t matter how crazy some claim is, there will be people who believe it.

Confessions of a Time Traveling Child Skeptinerd - Nerdy with reason.

Meryl Dorey, Queen of the Quacks

A little protest was ignited among skeptics this week when it was announced that American Airlines would be playing an antivax interview in-flight as well as publishing the interview in their magazine. The interview is with a woman named Meryl Dorey, queen of the quacks, who asserts anti-scientific claims about vaccines causing autism and DNA alterations and more. She is a conspiracy theorist and a nutter, and like most people in those catagories she will believe anything as long as it is not connected to reality.

The danger of this interview being aired is that parents who are not sufficiently educated about medical issues, especially those concerning vaccines, might believe the things they hear Dorey spewing. If believing her conspiracy theories and lies leads a parent to not get their child vaccinated it puts that child at risk of horrible, life threatening diseases, and it puts everyone else at greater risk as well. The effects of the anti vaccination movement are already being felt in places with lower vaccination rates like Washington, where they have reached epidemic levels of pertussis (whooping cough).

These are the kinds of lies that are already killing people. Phil Plait pointed out on his blog that this is like “telling people that smoking is good for them, or that meth is just great!”. Anytime antivax campaigns are spotted there is an immediate attempt by skeptics, scientists, doctors, and generally concerned people to get it shut down. It’s important that this misinformation isn’t allowed to spread. Though, when the skeptic movement initially reached out to AA on twitter last week it looked like AA was going to take a rather unfavorable stance. This is how AA responded to it’s customers concerns:

@reasonable_hank This program is produced by a 3rd party & opinions expressed don’t represent AA opinions or position. Listening is optional

— American Airlines (@AmericanAir) April 21, 2012

Ouch. That is not a very enlightened response. Yes, listening is optional, and hopefully such a message will be ignored, but some people wont ignore it. The fact that people can choose to ignore what you are saying doesn’t get you off the hook, morally, for spreading blatant misinformation that is taking lives.

Luckily, AA changed their position rather dramatically after an online petition was started. The skeptical community raised some noise online and generated enough feedback for AA to take this matter seriously. Phill Plait updated his blog again yesterday with a brief twitter exchange he had with AA after directly questioning them about weather or not they were still going to publish the interview. AA responded:

@badastronomer This interview has not been submitted to AA yet. We have decided not to air this audio&thank those who shared their opinions.

— American Airlines (@AmericanAir) April 23, 2012

And, after Phil requested clarification about weather or not they would print the interview he was answered with:

@badastronomer It will not be included in any printed material as well.

— American Airlines (@AmericanAir) April 23, 2012

Yay! It’s another win for science. Hopefully this trend can be continued and we can keep using protests and petitions to keep nutters like Meryl Dorey from spreading dangerous lies. And, just to be clear, the science is in and it has been proven time and again that there is absolutely no truth in anitvax claims, and the history of the movement shows that it was all fabricated to begin with.

A Win for Science: AA Wont Air Antivax Interview Skeptinerd - Nerdy with reason.

Stephen Colbert interviews Neil deGrasse Tyson for 70 minutes. This isn’t the typical Stephen Colbert interview, he isn’t assuming the character he is is known for on The Colbert Report, though, he still injects this kind of humor. The conversation that unfolds between these two is very interesting, they cover a wide variety of topics; everything from philosophy, to science, to politics, and even a little science fiction.

Stephen Colbert (Out of Character) talks with Neil Tyson Skeptinerd - Nerdy with reason.

This Weeks Skeptilinks of Note Skeptinerd - Nerdy with reason.

On the most recent episode of Skeptic’s Guide to the Universe they interviewed Gripp, aka Marshall Gillson, a talented musician and rapper. Gripp’s newest album is filled with songs with a skeptical message and strong arguments for atheism. After a few song samples played on SGU I knew I had to hear more of Gripp’s work.

I’ve always been a fan of good rap music, but often find myself unmoved by the lyrics of modern, popular rap. That’s not to say that all rap music is unintelligent or boring. There is plenty of excellent and thoughtful rap out there, but Gripp’s new album has the feel that it was made for me. This feels like the kind of music I would make for myself if I had any musical talent.

When I downloaded the album from Amazon I imediately listened to it, beginning to end, twice. Two things became immediately clear; Gripp is passionate about music, the quality of the tracks proves it, and Gripp is passionate about thinking, the quality of his lyrics proves it.

-”Oh Yeah?!” (Feat. Jay Novella)

None of the music you hear on the album is sampled, Gripp composes everything himself and with the help of a pianist friend, Dylan. Also, the production company behind releasing his music is his own. He produces, records, engineers, and releases all his music stating, “I like having my hands in every aspect of the process… That way, I can engineer the effect of the art from single lyrics all the way up to the arc of the album..”. As if all that isn’t impressive enough, when Gripp isn’t writing music he’s writing code. He is currently earning a Master’s Degree in Computer Science from Georgia Tech.

All this knowledge comes through loud and clear in his music. I like every song on the album, but my favorite is probably “Claim to Truth”

-[1st Verse] “Claim to Truth”

Don’t get the impression that his music is just about skepticism and science, there is much more to it than that, it’s also about the human condition.

Can you tell I’m an instant fan? Download his album, it costs as much as two cups of coffee, it will entertain the crap out of you, and you’ll be supporting an artist that really deserves it.

Gripp’s Website

Head in the Cloud

• On iTunes
• On Amazon
• On Google Play

Follow Gripp

• Facebook
• Google+
• Twitter

Gripp – Head In The Cloud, A rap album with a skeptical and atheist message Skeptinerd - Nerdy with reason.

I’ve written about Jessica Ahlquist a few times now, it’s no secret that I think she’s super cool and brave for standing up for her rights, while being harassed and threatened by ignorant and violent fools. Yesterday she posted a photo to twitter of a letter she received in the mail. So, here it is. Take a look at that good Christian love… Man, that is an enraging thing to read. It’s too bad the petty coward that wrote it wont step forward and take credit.

Please follow Jessica on Twitter and at her website and show her some support.

Jessica Receives a Christian Love Letter, Disturbing Contents… Skeptinerd - Nerdy with reason.

For the past few weeks there has been news about another anti-science education bill making the rounds in Tennessee. This bill, like the many others being proposed all over the country, pretends to be for the expansion of science education by pretending that there is conflict and controversy in the sciences. In reality, it is another thinly veiled attempt to allow the teaching of creationism in public schools. The bill passed into law yesterday, 4-10-2012.

There was some hope, among rational people anyway, that Governor Bill Haslam would veto the bill. After it passed the house and senate it appeared that Haslam had taken issue with the bill and was preparing a politically correct way of vetoing it when he said:

-Haslam

Sensible people were hoping that Haslam was working on a legal justification throwing out this terrible law without upsetting the droves of willfully ignorant people that support it. Either way, Haslam took the easy way out and let the bill pass into law without his signature. He said:

-Haslam

This is nonsense, of course. The bill allows science teachers to teach creationism as if it were fact. That changes the scientific standards alright, it makes them non-scientific.  The language of the bill is very sneaky, of course. The religious community has been at this for a while now and they are getting very good at concealing intention in carefully worded statements. The newest form of attack is to steer clear of any religious talk at all, and instead focus on imagined controversy. They, of course, don’t delve into what “controversy” they are talking about, any digging in that direction would immediately indicate that such controversy simply doesn’t exist within the scientific community.

The state goals of the bill are this:

-Bill 893

In the words of Emilio from Mr. Deeds, “I think you underestimate the level of sneakyness Mr. Deeds…” Yes, vastly underestimated. Just look at how carefully worded that language is. Go ahead, read it again. On a pass or two most people wouldn’t think twice about what was written there. The rest of the document is written the same way. Let’s break down this little bit, and look at what it’s really saying.

We can all agree with number one, it’s just a simple, true statement, that is why we educate children in science. But why say it? Because the rest of the document is going to imply that teachers are restricted, somehow, from meeting this noble goal.

Number two is where things get slimy. It says, “some scientific subjects, including, but not limited to, biological evolution, the chemical origins of life, global warming, and human cloning, can cause controversy”. Oh, it can cause controversy? Neat wording, interesting that it doesn’t say that there is a controversy among scientists about these basic science concepts. They state another simple truth, but not the whole truth. These scientific concepts “can cause controversy” because willfully ignorant people have motives for staying that way, and want their children, and your children, to be just as willfully ignorant.

Number three states that teachers are confused about how they should teach these subjects. Only, not really. Good science teachers know exactly how to teach these subjects, the way good science is always taught. If there is a teacher really wondering if they should be focusing on creationism in the classroom then they have no business being a teacher anyplace other than at bible study at the local church.

This brings me to the most important point applying to this bill, and all the others like it, that these lawmakers just don’t seem to understand. Real controversy in the sciences is perfectly normal and accounted for. At the very base of everything being taught by good science teachers is that everything should be questioned. Good science is done by challenging currently held ideas and holding them to the evidence. Nothing is sacred and nothing is safe from critical examination, that is what makes science work and grow and continue to serve us so well. We don’t need to “teach the controversy” because controversy is already at the heart of what science does.

The issue here is that certain groups of people are angry that what they believe has been proven untrue and has been discarded in the same way we did with the ideas that the earth is flat or at the center of the universe. When religious people say “teach the controversy” they are making the mistake of assuming that science works in the same way as their faith does. They don’t understand that scientists don’t dogmatically cling to ideas and believe things without reason. They don’t understand the first thing about science and it’s a damn shame we allow them to make laws governing how children are going to be taught it.

Phil Plait and Steven Novella have more on the issue, I encourage you to read their thoughts as well.

Tennessee Passes Anti-Science Education Law Skeptinerd - Nerdy with reason.

When I watched the video of Phil Plait’s talk at TAM 8 encouraging the skeptical community to keep in mind the big picture of what we are trying to do as skeptical activists, it resonated with me. He asserted that more people are swayed by kindness, logic, and reason than by aggressiveness, derision, and ridicule. Some of his fellow skeptical bloggers agreed while some disagreed with his pronouncement.  Those that demurred with Dr. Plait said that ridicule is a proper way to treat most ridiculous beliefs. As a generally sarcastic person who has a hard time holding in an eye-roll, I was worried I was hurting my own cause by the way I was engaging with others. I asked myself if I come across too strong, too acerbic, well…too mean. On the other hand, I was worried about being too accommodating and not challenging people on their claims. After much thought about the issue, I say, why choose?

Let’s face it, being a skeptic isn’t easy; it’s intellectual heavy-lifting.  While those that believe in astrology, psychics, mystical healing energy fields, and every kind of cryptozoological nonsense can eschew facts and reason, a skeptic is not so fortunate. For a skeptic, claims must pass certain tests and be filtered through a rigorous process called critical thinking. This requires diligence, research, and a dedication to the truth, no matter how unpleasant it may be to your own personal beliefs. So it can be tiring to see fundamentally impossible claims rear up like some indestructible zombie that you have riddled with bullets, but just keeps coming.

Phil Plait

Nothing really gets me irritated like the certainty people have while conveying really dumb things to me, all the while thinking something is wrong with me for critically analyzing their claims. In my head, I sometimes find myself repeating (like a mantra no less) Phil Plait’s admonishment, “Don’t be a dick.”

Of course there are times when it is appropriate to be kind, pleasant, and logical when presented with a truly extraordinary belief. These instances provide an opportunity for reasonable debate and a mutually respected exchange of ideas. Then there are the other times; when it is appropriate to launch every nuke in your skeptical arsenal at the person, holding them and their ridiculous claims with utter disdain. Let’s be clear, there is a distinction to be made between a grieving relative going to see a fraud like Jon Edwards so that maybe they can get some comfort for their loss. These folks deserve kindness, understanding, even disengagement until they are able to look at the situation more critically. But Jon Edwards himself, who victimizes these families with cheap cold-reading tricks and theatrical nonsense deserves scorn heaped on top of derision with a large helping of ridicule.  When dealing with people like this, it is appropriate to tear down their poorly constructed reality and salt the earth with logic. This is when you engage further when the other person seeks to disengage, to ridicule and laugh at them and then bring other people’s attention to the person’s belief so others can join you in a shark-like feeding frenzy on the tattered remains of their claim. This requires an almost merciless disregard for the other person’s point-of-view. Like in Tim Minchin’s video “Storm”:

-Tim Minchin

When these moments arise, and you’ve reached a moment of Defcon 1. When you unleash your entire arsenal of logic, reason, critical analysis, intelligence, knowledge, and wit…this is what I call Scorched Earth Skepticism.

There is nothing like having a reasonable conversation and then having the other person in your debate approach you later and tell you that their world view has become a little more logical. It is what we as skeptics ultimately wish for, to inject just a little more reality into the world. It is also equally pleasing for a skeptic to have their understanding of the world change to accommodate new evidence presented in a spirited and logical debate. But, there is also something deeply satisfying in seeing a truly deserving jackass get what is coming to them.  And while it is great when a skeptic brings the heat to the toes of a magically thinking huckster, there is nothing better than seeing a person not affiliated with the skeptical movement do it.

Here’s an example of an instance of unintended Scorched Earth Skepticism targeting a well-known psychic fraud.

Most people have at least heard of www.etsy.com and online crafts fair that specializes in a wide range of handmade and vintage items and supplies. I love the site; I have bought some stuff from there and was very pleased with the items. Like any commerce website, however, you will get your share of crackpots, kooks, fakes, and scammers. The woo found on this site seems to be more new-age inspired and some of it can border on the ridiculous. That is where www.regretsy.com comes in. Advertised as, “Where DIY meets WTF” this site accumulates some of the items being sold on Etsy and features them. Most items are subjected to gentle, good-natured ribbing and some presented to be adored for their daring and kitschy brilliance.  Some of the more mind-boggling moronic are presented for abject ridicule.

The items on Regretsy are posted by “Helen Killer” who runs the site and picks the choice items to be featured. “Helen” is really the lovely and talented April Winchell and if you have watched a cartoon in the last 15 years you have heard her voice. My favorite character being Ms. Finster from Recess:

The design of Regretsy seems to be more consumer awareness than outright skepticism, but its criticisms are so solid that I thought April Winchell might be affiliated with the skeptical movement, especially after seeing the items tagged under the simple moniker of “Bullshit”. After a quick email exchange April assured me she was not affiliated with skepticism but could definitely identify bullshit when she saw it and she considered one poster in particular to be a “big steamy pile”.

So imagine my interest when I saw one of skepticisms greatest punching bags getting the treatment from Regretsy. Many people may not be familiar with the fact that Jackie Stallone is famous for being not only Sylvester Stallone’s mother and being featured prominently in stories about plastic surgery gone wrong, but she is the world’s foremost “rumpologist”. You may be tempted to ask, “What the hell is rumpology?” Well, let me quote her site:

So when Jackie started advertising her wares on Etsy, I guess I shouldn’t have been so surprised that it would be picked up and juggled here by Regretsy. Those of you familiar with the tactics of people like Jackie Stallone will not be surprised that Helen Killer soon got a familiar email threatening legal action here; which she promptly ignored. Reading this exchange, I started feeling that old familiar happiness at the historically alternate ending of Inglorious Basterds. Not only had Stallone been subjected to deserving ridicule for charging 300 dollars to read someones butt crack, but she is now being made a laughing stock for her stupid threats as well. But it got better. Imagine my elation when I found how much Regretsy had actually burrowed into the psyche of Jackie Stallone. Finding this 1000 word, babbling tirade in defense of her fanciful art, I saw just how little scrutiny or teasing these stupid cons can sustain. Here is a paragraph  from Jackie Stallone’s rant called In Defense of Rumpology that  will illustrate her level of butt-hurt.

-Jackie Stallone

I see simple beauty in the exchange between Helen (AKA April Winchell) Killer and Jackie Stallone; Regretsy was not trying to debate Stallone or critically analyze rumpology, it pointed and laughed, and when Stallone whined like a baby, it pointed and laughed harder.

There are some things that deserve this treatment and I’m comfortable with holding them to that standard without feeling like a dick. So in that spirit, here’s some other examples of people and ideas I think deserve to be treated with Scorched Earth Skepticism:

• Erich von Daniken: For the History channel airing Ancient Aliens.
• The History Channel: See above
• Richard Hoagland: for making pareidolia profitable.
• James Van Praagh: For dodging the JREF Million Dollar Challenge while playing the victim.
• “Psychic” Sally: For pulling a “Popoff” then suing anyone that dares call her a fraud.
• Sylvia Browne: For telling the family of Shawn Hornbeck that he was dead when if fact he was kidnapped.
• David Icke: For deflecting his role as a lizard-person, by accusing others of being lizard people.

The list goes on and on. Peddlers of alternative medicine, free energy cranks, conspiracy theorists and a host of other predators that rely on people not exposing their uncritical, unproven, unscientific crackpottery while at the same time profiting from the credulousness of the public.

So let’s all agree to have polite discourse and let the facts speak for themselves. Let’s be happy that we skeptics will never be haunted by ghosts, probed by aliens, attacked by bigfoot, eaten by a lake monster, be seduced by conspiracy, or fall for a huckster who will read our palms, eyes, and even our asses. But let’s not handicap ourselves too much with kindness. Keep a full armament of skeptical weapons ready to deploy and, when the situation calls for it, use some Scorched Earth Skepticism.

Links:

http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2010/08/17/dont-be-a-dick-part-1-the-video/
http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2010/08/18/dont-be-a-dick-part-2-links/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HhGuXCuDb1U
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0934589/
http://www.jacquelinestallone.com/rumps.html
http://famousplastic.com/2009/01/23/jackie-stallone-wasnt-always-scary-looking/
http://www.regretsy.com/2011/07/20/crack-head/
http://www.regretsy.com/2011/11/14/stop-or-my-mom-will-shoot/

Scorched Earth Skepticism Skeptinerd - Nerdy with reason.