A Collection of Strange Beliefs, Amusing Deceptions, and Dangerous Delusions

* * * * * *

Science & Religion

Is Science a Religion? by Richard Dawkins

Finding Darwin's God by Kenneth R. Miller

General Skepticism

New Agers and Creationists should not be President by Roger Ebert

Reality shopping; a consumer's guide to new age hokum by Alan M. MacRobert

Proper Criticism by Ray Hyman

The Mischief-Making of Ideomotor Action by Ray Hyman

The Belief Engine by James Alcock

The Fine Art of Baloney Detection by Carl Sagan

Guide to Cold Reading by Ray Hyman

Randi at Cal Tech: A Report from the Paranormal Trenches by James The Amazing Randi

A Skeptical Manifesto by Michael Shermer, Ph.D.

Cargo Cult Science by Richard Feynman 
Feynman compares critical with uncritical thinking about empirical matters and discusses the dangers of wishful thinking and self-deception.

Viruses of the Mind by Richard Dawkins

Philosophical Materialism by Richard C. Vitzthum

Scientific Illiteracy in the Press by Milton Rothman

How to Study Weird Things by Frank Trocco

Evil Skeptic and a Visit to Awareness 2000 by David Glück

Medicine & Alternative Medicine

How to read articles about health and healthcare by Dr Alicia White

The Energy Fields of Life by Victor J. Stenger

Quantum Quackery by Victor J. Stenger

Social and judgmental biases that make inert treatments seem to work by Barry L. Beyerstein

Why Bogus Therapies Often Seem to Work by Barry L. Beyerstein
I'd like to offer an eighth reason to Barry's list: Ignorance of the many failures of the therapy. Alternative healers don't keep records of their failures. The patients who never return, either because they realized the treatment was worthless or they died, are not reported. Dead patients don't make good anecdotes.

Why Health Professionals Become Quacks by William T. Jarvis, Ph.D.

Alternative Medicine and the Laws of Physics by Robert L. Park

Can Any Cancer Treatment Strengthen the Immune System? by Saul Green, Ph.D.

Can Alternative Treatments Induce Immune Surveillance Over Cancer in Humans? by Saul Green, Ph.D.

Science and Junk Science

Unraveling the Shroud of Turin by Steven D. Schafersman

The Use of Graphology as a Tool for Employee Hiring and Evaluation   British Columbia Civil Liberties Association

The New Age of alternative archaeology in Australia by Peter Hiscock

ESP and Cold Fusion Parallels in Pseudoscience by Victor J. Stenger

Characterization of Quack Theories by Russell Turpin

Willful distortions of history by Mary Lefkowitz

Does Race exist? by Dr. Loring Brace of the University of Michigan says 'no and Dr. George Gill of the University of Wyoming says yes

Psychic and Paranormal

Evaluation of Program on Anomalous Mental Phenomena, by Ray Hyman, Journal of Scientific Exploration, Volume 10 Number 1.

The Conscious Universe: The Scientific Truth of Psychic Phenomena by Dean Radin reviewed for Nature by I.J. Good

The Occult and Nazism Re-Examined by Steve Mizrach

New Age Therapy

First of All, Do No Harm A Recovered Memory Therapist Recants - An Interview With Robin Newsome by Mark Pendergrast

The Doctor's Plot by James Gleick (psychiatrists & aliens)

The Hard Facts About Satanic Ritual Abuse by Bob and Gretchen Passaintino
An attempt to get at the truth and into the delusional minds of those who see conspiracies everywhere.

Occult

The Laughing Gnostic: David Bowie and the Occult  by Peter-R. Koenig 

UFOs

The Eyes that Spoke by Martin Kottmeyer
A case of confabulation: the Hills & their UFO encounter

 
© Copyright 1994-2015 Robert T. Carroll This page was designed by Cristian Popa.