This will freaking BLOW YOUR MIND!
I always thought that levitation would take some kind of mystical super sub-quantum amazing godlike powers, but now I've seen this, it all makes sense!
Now go forth and practice!
Showing posts with label skepticism. Show all posts
Showing posts with label skepticism. Show all posts
Monday, July 13, 2009
Monday, June 8, 2009
Thursday, May 14, 2009
Open Mindedness
This video is a really good explanation of some of the logical fallacies applied to skeptical thinking. It's really worth checking out.
Monday, April 20, 2009
Tuesday, April 7, 2009
Monday, April 6, 2009
Skeptical ABC's
A Poem Beyond Belief by Phil Plait
A is Ad hominem, attacks quite insulting,
They may feel good but no good is resulting.
B is for Bible, they swear it’s all true,
But so do the Muslims, and Buddhists, and Jews.
C is Creation, 6000 years past;
But when looked at the evidence is always half-assed.
D is Debunker, it’s said with a jeer.
But we cannot debunk without bunk, that is clear.
E: EVP, hearing voices of dead,
but it’s really just patterns of sound you are fed.
F: The Face that’s on Mars is really a butte,
Is there on the obverse a giant patoot?
G is for Geller, a spoon he will bend,
Is it magic or powers, or more likely pretend?
H, Homeopathy, infinite dilution,
Perhaps better known as persistent delusion.
I, Ideomotor, the dowser’s director,
It fallaciously points on a randomized vector.
J is Junk science, it’s always reforming,
from alt med to New Age, and anti-global warming.
K is for Karma, you reap what you sow,
but if it’s not coincidence, then how would you know?
L’s Levitation, they claim that they float
but I think it’s just bouncing they’re trying to promote.
M: Mayans said: doom in Twenty Oh Twelve,
In 2013 those predictions we’ll shelve.
N is Nibiru, a planet of vapor,
It never shows up but it looks good on paper.
O: Oxygen water, marks can’t get their fill,
What they don’t understand is that they don’t have gills.
P: Faces in patterns is called Pareidolia,
In clouds it’s mundane but in pastry it’s holier?
Q is for Quacks, their science is lacking,
They’ll sell you snake oil with the government’s backing.
R: Repressed memories, bad things you’ve forgotten,
But it’s really the premise behind it that’s rotten.
S: Sylvia Browne, who randomly guesses,
That people believe her is why it depresses.
T’s for Trudeau, and the trash that he’s sellin’,
But credit card fraud? FTC: "He’s a felon."
U, Unidentified, the definition’s specific,
But it doesn’t stop cranks thinking they’re scientific.
V is Vaccines, which clear germs up quick,
But some folks don’t like them, they fight little pricks.
W’s for Woo-woo, Randi’s favorite word choice,
And who’ll argue with him? He gave us our voice!
X is for Xenu, scientologist’s Satan,
Give us all of your money, your engrams we’ll straighten.
Y is for Yeti, the Bigfoot, Sasquatch,
A whole lot of nonsense without a single hair swatch.
Z is for Zetans, those E.T. mind readers,
But they disappeared as they followed the Lieder.
Now you know your ABCs,
Don’t fall prey to fallacies.
Saturday, March 7, 2009
Tuesday, March 3, 2009
February's Podcasts
Looking back over February, there were a lot of really good podcasts produced throughout the various freethinking groups, and here's a showcase of some of the cream of the crop
American Freethought spoke to:
Neil deGrasse Tyson (awesome science and astronomy communicator),
Ken Miller (literally wrote the book on evolutionary biology) and
Phil Plait (hyper excitable skeptic extraordinaire)
Astronomy Cast spoke to Bob Novella of the Skeptics Guide to the Universe
The Atheist Experience had a double show with a call in theist Matt Slick (#592 & 593), as well as their usual terrific 'Live Calls' show (#590)
Freethought Radio spoke to Charles Darwin's great great grandson, Matthew Chapman (Feb 14)
The Infidel Guy spoke to Neil Shubin, author of 'Your Inner Fish'
Skepticality spoke with Ben Radford
The Skeptics Guide interviewed Massimo Pigliucci as well as their always interesting 5x5 mini show
Other shows worth checking out include:
(I haven't hyperlinked them... I'm heading off to work and don't have time. Just google them, they're out there. If you can't find something, I can provide links)
Australian Shows
Here's Why
Hunting Humbug
Brains Matter
Diffusion Science Radio
Here's Why
Ockham's Razor
The Psuedo Scientists
The Skeptic Zone
G'Day World
Dr Karl (Great moments in science, and the naked scientist, on Triple J)
Sunday Night Safran
International Shows
Another Goddamned Podcast
Are We Alone?
Ask an Astronomer Videos
Atheist Talk
Bad Science
Beyond Belief
Dogma Free America
Geologic Podcast
The Good Atheist
The Non-Prophets
Nova Vodcast
Pat Condell's Godless Comedy
Point of Inquiry
Quackcast
Rearview Radio with Rick Wood
Reasonable Doubts Podcast
Secular Nation Podcast
Skeptoid
Slacker Astronomy
Star Stuff
This Week in Science
Scientific American's 60 second podcasts (Earth, Psych, Science, Video)
American Freethought spoke to:
Neil deGrasse Tyson (awesome science and astronomy communicator),
Ken Miller (literally wrote the book on evolutionary biology) and
Phil Plait (hyper excitable skeptic extraordinaire)
Astronomy Cast spoke to Bob Novella of the Skeptics Guide to the Universe
The Atheist Experience had a double show with a call in theist Matt Slick (#592 & 593), as well as their usual terrific 'Live Calls' show (#590)
Freethought Radio spoke to Charles Darwin's great great grandson, Matthew Chapman (Feb 14)
The Infidel Guy spoke to Neil Shubin, author of 'Your Inner Fish'
Skepticality spoke with Ben Radford
The Skeptics Guide interviewed Massimo Pigliucci as well as their always interesting 5x5 mini show
Other shows worth checking out include:
(I haven't hyperlinked them... I'm heading off to work and don't have time. Just google them, they're out there. If you can't find something, I can provide links)
Australian Shows
Here's Why
Hunting Humbug
Brains Matter
Diffusion Science Radio
Here's Why
Ockham's Razor
The Psuedo Scientists
The Skeptic Zone
G'Day World
Dr Karl (Great moments in science, and the naked scientist, on Triple J)
Sunday Night Safran
International Shows
Another Goddamned Podcast
Are We Alone?
Ask an Astronomer Videos
Atheist Talk
Bad Science
Beyond Belief
Dogma Free America
Geologic Podcast
The Good Atheist
The Non-Prophets
Nova Vodcast
Pat Condell's Godless Comedy
Point of Inquiry
Quackcast
Rearview Radio with Rick Wood
Reasonable Doubts Podcast
Secular Nation Podcast
Skeptoid
Slacker Astronomy
Star Stuff
This Week in Science
Scientific American's 60 second podcasts (Earth, Psych, Science, Video)
Monday, March 2, 2009
Thursday, February 26, 2009
TAM& Lineup and Registration Announced!!!!
TAM6 was such an incredible time last year and actually marked the start of this blog.
We got to hang out with Martin Wagner, PZ Myers, The Skeptics Guide, Michael Shermer, Greydon Square, George Hrab, James Randi and Phil Plait.
We met Richard Wiseman, Banachek, Penn & Teller, Ben Goldacre and Matthew Chapman.
And got to see so many of our friends from the various social network sites we frequent
It was an absolute blast, and one of the best times I've ever had! I will be doing all that I can to make sure I get back this year!
Just Today, The JREF has announced that registration is open and has revealed the guest list. To find out more Follow these links: TAM7 home. Register here. Speakers. Workshops. Events.
You can watch some Videos of past TAM talks here.Here's some to whet your appetite
Christopher Hitchens
Michael Shermer
Neil DeGrasse Tyson
Phil Plait
James Randi and Richard Dawkins
Sunday, February 15, 2009
Randi Speaks: Does It Work?
James Randi talks about Theta Healing and Homeopathy
You can check out more of the 'Randi Speaks' series on this player:
or just go to the James Randi youtube channel.
Links for this video are:
Direct link to Theta Healing website http://www.thetadnahealing.co.uk/thet...
More about Jack Myers challenge
http://www.randi.org/jr/2007-04/04130...
http://www.randi.org/site/index.php/s...
More info on Homeopathy by James Randi
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BWE1tH...
More info on Homeopathy by Stephen Barret, M.D.
http://www.quackwatch.org/01QuackeryR...
Video shoot and edited by: Richard Montalvo
You can check out more of the 'Randi Speaks' series on this player:
or just go to the James Randi youtube channel.
Links for this video are:
Direct link to Theta Healing website http://www.thetadnahealing.co.uk/thet...
More about Jack Myers challenge
http://www.randi.org/jr/2007-04/04130...
http://www.randi.org/site/index.php/s...
More info on Homeopathy by James Randi
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BWE1tH...
More info on Homeopathy by Stephen Barret, M.D.
http://www.quackwatch.org/01QuackeryR...
Video shoot and edited by: Richard Montalvo
Sunday, August 24, 2008
Michael Shermer's Adventures in Sydney- Friday 22/8
Now I've finally got the photos up, I can say a bit more about our wonderful weekend. Friday, we stated at an exclusive lunch at the American Club, where Michael Shermer and John Lennox held an informal debate on the topic of 'Has science buried God'.
There was a fair group from the Australian Skeptics there
(From left to right) Me, Frode, Barry Williams, Margaret, John, Rachel and John.
(L to R) Margaret, John, Barry, Michael, Jason
John Lennox was the first speaker. He argued using all of the same weak arguments that we've heard time and time again coming from the religious front, such as that science cannot deal with abstract concepts such as love, poetry, music; Darwinism implies atheism; atheism is a religion; atheism is a philosophy, not science, etc etc etc...
Lennox also posited that atheism and theism are worldviews and the question is with which of these science is closer related;
Christianity gave us science, therefore they must be inseparable;
the atheistic worldview tells us that consciousness is unguided, so why should we believe it?;
atheism undermines the basic rationality needed to explain science because information cannot be reduced to physics and chemistry.
He concluded with asserting that mind must precede matter, not matter before mind, and his closing statement was that either in the beginning were the particles and a cold process of gradual movement from simple to complex forms, or in the beginning was the word...
-------------------------------------------
Michael Shermer then took to the lectern. After a few jokes, including an anecdote about his past life as an evangelical door knocking christian which was followed by a period of militant atheism where he went around knocking on the same doors and taking it all back!
Shermer made the points that atheism only answers the question of belief in a god which makes no positive assertion about what an atheist believes. He also spoke about all of the other groups, such as agnostics, secular humanists, naturalists, brights etc that have tried to escape from the negative connotations associated with the term 'atheism'. He went on to explain that American religion is so virulent because of the separation of church and state, which means that the churches have to compete with each other for money, like businesses; and because of the poor social services by which religious groups are the safety net for those who don't get the care they need from the state, as happened during hurricane Katrina.
Shermer also spoke about the difference between a top-down or bottom-up view of nature. God represents a top-down process, whereas Darwin proposed a bottom-up process, the difference between them being the testability of their claims. Science and religion intersect where religion makes testable claims, which led to a discussion on the efficacy of prayer studies (1,2,3)
Shermer concluded by saying that even if there was evidence to support the existence of god, science would still want to know the process by which she stared it all off. There is nothing that intersects with the physical world that lies outside of the scope of science.
-------------------------------------------
There was then a break and Michael Shermer made a b-line for Rachel, remembering her from TAM (I didn't get recognised nearly as quickly, but then again, I'm not a pretty blonde!)
We had a chat with him and congratulated him on a great speech, before getting an obscene amount of photos. It was really good to see him, he is such a nice guy that has time for anyone who wants it. Before long, we were being called back to our seats for the QnA side of the luncheon.
The questions included "What about other gods?"
Shermer: The world of a deistic god is not as satisfying as a world where the god interacts in people's lives, so the theistic gods appeal to people much more than the deistic gods. The reason that these debates are about the judeo-christian god is that it is the god that our society mostly identifies as 'God'. It would be frivolous to debate the existence of a god that people don't believe in anymore.
Does god interact with the world and can we test it?
Lennox: The resurrection of Jesus Christ is history and enough to prove Christianity.
Has science buried god? Whatever the answer, who cares?
Shermer: The recent boon of interest in the subject of religious criticism shows that there are many people that seem to care.
Lennox: The question of if there is or is not a god has a huge significance either way. If atheism is true, no victim of terror will ever achieve justice.
---------------------------------------------
Concluding statements:
Shermer- If there is no god, justice must be carried out in the present. Furthermore, we need to concentrate on the present without wishful thinking of an afterlife for which there is no evidence. The naturalistic worldview gives much more importance to the here and now.
Lennox- Justice in this world is an important thing to have, but there is an ultimate justice that exists. If atheism is right, there is no hope of justice for so many people.
---------------------------------------------
Afterwards, we all mingled together. There were a few heated debates with Lennox and John Dixon
And a photo opportunity or two
(L to R) Margaret, John, John Lennox, Frode, Rachel, Me (Alan) and John.
And that was just the beginning... more posts coming soon!
There was a fair group from the Australian Skeptics there
(From left to right) Me, Frode, Barry Williams, Margaret, John, Rachel and John.
(L to R) Margaret, John, Barry, Michael, JasonJohn Lennox was the first speaker. He argued using all of the same weak arguments that we've heard time and time again coming from the religious front, such as that science cannot deal with abstract concepts such as love, poetry, music; Darwinism implies atheism; atheism is a religion; atheism is a philosophy, not science, etc etc etc...
Lennox also posited that atheism and theism are worldviews and the question is with which of these science is closer related;
Christianity gave us science, therefore they must be inseparable;
the atheistic worldview tells us that consciousness is unguided, so why should we believe it?;
atheism undermines the basic rationality needed to explain science because information cannot be reduced to physics and chemistry.
He concluded with asserting that mind must precede matter, not matter before mind, and his closing statement was that either in the beginning were the particles and a cold process of gradual movement from simple to complex forms, or in the beginning was the word...
-------------------------------------------
Michael Shermer then took to the lectern. After a few jokes, including an anecdote about his past life as an evangelical door knocking christian which was followed by a period of militant atheism where he went around knocking on the same doors and taking it all back!
Shermer made the points that atheism only answers the question of belief in a god which makes no positive assertion about what an atheist believes. He also spoke about all of the other groups, such as agnostics, secular humanists, naturalists, brights etc that have tried to escape from the negative connotations associated with the term 'atheism'. He went on to explain that American religion is so virulent because of the separation of church and state, which means that the churches have to compete with each other for money, like businesses; and because of the poor social services by which religious groups are the safety net for those who don't get the care they need from the state, as happened during hurricane Katrina.
Shermer also spoke about the difference between a top-down or bottom-up view of nature. God represents a top-down process, whereas Darwin proposed a bottom-up process, the difference between them being the testability of their claims. Science and religion intersect where religion makes testable claims, which led to a discussion on the efficacy of prayer studies (1,2,3)
Shermer concluded by saying that even if there was evidence to support the existence of god, science would still want to know the process by which she stared it all off. There is nothing that intersects with the physical world that lies outside of the scope of science.
-------------------------------------------
There was then a break and Michael Shermer made a b-line for Rachel, remembering her from TAM (I didn't get recognised nearly as quickly, but then again, I'm not a pretty blonde!)
We had a chat with him and congratulated him on a great speech, before getting an obscene amount of photos. It was really good to see him, he is such a nice guy that has time for anyone who wants it. Before long, we were being called back to our seats for the QnA side of the luncheon.
The questions included "What about other gods?"
Shermer: The world of a deistic god is not as satisfying as a world where the god interacts in people's lives, so the theistic gods appeal to people much more than the deistic gods. The reason that these debates are about the judeo-christian god is that it is the god that our society mostly identifies as 'God'. It would be frivolous to debate the existence of a god that people don't believe in anymore.
Does god interact with the world and can we test it?
Lennox: The resurrection of Jesus Christ is history and enough to prove Christianity.
Has science buried god? Whatever the answer, who cares?
Shermer: The recent boon of interest in the subject of religious criticism shows that there are many people that seem to care.
Lennox: The question of if there is or is not a god has a huge significance either way. If atheism is true, no victim of terror will ever achieve justice.
---------------------------------------------
Concluding statements:
Shermer- If there is no god, justice must be carried out in the present. Furthermore, we need to concentrate on the present without wishful thinking of an afterlife for which there is no evidence. The naturalistic worldview gives much more importance to the here and now.
Lennox- Justice in this world is an important thing to have, but there is an ultimate justice that exists. If atheism is right, there is no hope of justice for so many people.
---------------------------------------------
Afterwards, we all mingled together. There were a few heated debates with Lennox and John Dixon
And a photo opportunity or two
(L to R) Margaret, John, John Lennox, Frode, Rachel, Me (Alan) and John.
And that was just the beginning... more posts coming soon!
Sunday, August 10, 2008
Resources for freethinkers: Podcasts
Here's a list of the podcasts that I listen to.
I hope there's something here that people will find interesting.
In particular, I would recommend The Atheist Experience, The Non-Prophets, The Skeptic's Guide to the Universe, Point of Inquiry and the Infidel Guy Show.
Happy podcatching!
Atheism
I hope there's something here that people will find interesting.
In particular, I would recommend The Atheist Experience, The Non-Prophets, The Skeptic's Guide to the Universe, Point of Inquiry and the Infidel Guy Show.
Happy podcatching!
Atheism
Atheist viewpoint from American atheists
The Way of Reason- An Infidel Guy Production
Scepticism
The Amazing Show Starring James Randi
The Skeptics Guide to the Universe
Science
The royal society- audio podcasts
Science Talk: The Podcast of Scientific American
Humour
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