Science education is the best protection we have against
being exploited by pseudoscientific claims. Every day, somewhere in
the media, someone is claiming a wondrous feat or product that “defies
known science.” |
There is the psychic John Edward, talking to dead people
using a sixth sense when science says there are only five. There are
people levitating when we teach that forces need to be balanced for
us to remain stationary. There are UFO sightings and aliens, crop
circles and reports of ghosts, astrology and water divining. Explaining
these phenomena in simple scientific terms can add relevance and interest
to education. |
Reports of UFO sightings enable us to differentiate
between a skeptic and a cynic. Like most people, I would love to still
be alive if contact is made with an alien intelligence. What could
be more exciting? As a scientist and skeptic, I acknowledge the possibility,
but I require some evidence before believing that contact has been
made. Cynics dismiss aliens and UFOs as rubbish. Skeptics want to
know more. |
The Shroud of Turin is a great theme for explaining
carbon dating techniques and hence the whole concept of half-lives.
The Bermuda Triangle is a lovely example of the nature of evidence
– a paranormal effect explained using anecdotal evidence alone, when
there is no actual data to support the claim. |
Then there is the language of science. Its abuse is
rampant. Asking for the research papers and evaluating them is solid
and important science that we need to be able to do for ourselves.
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I do psychic readings using the psychology of human
desires, generalities couched in specific-sounding terms, and statistics
where I tell people things I “couldn’t possibly have known.” I claim
science. Others claim psychic powers. I have a public claim out to
replicate, using science alone, anything a psychic can do.
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All this is fun and adds to the relevance of science
education in the “new age,” but there is a serious side as well. John
Edward’s TV show has a disclaimer that says that the show is “for
entertainment purposes only.” He had people in the midst of grief,
crying for the cameras, “for entertainment purposes only.” Some claim
that clairvoyants using this mysterious sixth sense solve murders
that the police could not manage with their mere five senses. Again,
tragedy and grief is exploited for entertainment. Are there arrests
as a result of these amazing insights using senses science does not
acknowledge? No, and there is a reason why not. |
Skepticism is simply a desire to believe in things that
are real. Skepticism is applying scientific method to what we are
told. Cynicism is the rash dismissal of all new ideas. We want skepticism
without the cynicism. |
Science is not all about the ancient discoveries of
dead white guys. It is about the awesome world we live in right now.
We don’t need to have it embellished with claims of the paranormal.
What science teaches us - from the birth of a child, to the human
brain, to the incredible dimensions of space - is way, way more astounding
than anything the “new age” offers. |
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