Skeptic » Reading Room

What is Mental Illness, Anyway?

Peter Barglow, MD | July 16, 2019

Peter Barglow, MD reviews Mind Fixers: Psychiatry’s Troubled Search for the Biology of Mental Illness by Anne Harrington.

Dead Weight

Chris Edwards | July 9, 2019

Chris Edwards reviews Skin in the Game: Hidden Asymmetries in Daily Life by Nassim Nicholas Taleb.

Entomologist and nature explorer Mark Moffett has a new book that not only advances our knowledge about human societies, but attempts to create a biological definition and understanding of the very concept of “society” itself. But how does his intriguing thesis integrate with other theories on the origin of our uniquely human sociality?

The Sisyphean Challenges of Skepticism or, Start by Disbelieving

Carol Tavris | June 25, 2019

Social psychologist Carol Tavris reminds us that justice requires us to assess the evidence, and that this requirement is especially imperative when public opinion and emotion are weighted heavily in favor of one side.

The Pentagon’s UFOs: How a Multimedia Entertainment Company Created a UFO News Story

Robert Sheaffer | June 5, 2019

Countless media outlets are proclaiming that the US Defense Department has “disclosed UFOs,” or has “acknowledged” that they exist. How much of that is true? Very little!

Health Freedom, Right to Try, and Informed Consent

Harriet Hall, M.D. | May 29, 2019

Harriet Hall, M.D. expresses concerns that under the right-to-try law, patients may not fully understand the risks and the low probability of success, and drug companies may take advantage to sell their products to desperate individuals at inflated prices.

Is Low-Dose Radiation Good for You? The Questionable Claims for Hormesis

Harriet Hall, M.D. | May 22, 2019

Harriet Hall, M.D. examines the dubious claims of radiation hormesis — that low levels of radiation are beneficial to health.

A Disproof of God’s Existence

Colin McGinn | May 15, 2019

British philosopher Dr. Colin McGinn avers that it is wrong to say that God is by definition all powerful; he is only powerful within the limits of his nature.

How Science Will Explain & Fix Fake News

David Cowan | May 1, 2019

Fake news, crafted to exploit us, wreaks havoc on our health, finances and politics. VeriSign founder David Cowan avers that science is the key to combatting the spread of disinformation.

Debating Science and Lost Civilizations: My Experience on the Joe Rogan Experience

Michael Shermer | April 23, 2019

After his appearance on the Joe Rogan Experience podcast # 961 with Graham Hancock and Randall Carlson, Michael Shermer devoted a special issue of Skeptic magazine (22.3) to Hancock’s theory that an ancient lost civilization predates by tens of thousands of years all other known ancient civilizations. The follow is Dr. Shermer’s account of the show and a refinement of his notes for why he is skeptical of Hancock’s theory.

American Atlantis

Jason Colavito | April 20, 2019

In the new book America Before: The Key to Earth’s Lost Civilization, author Graham Hancock looks for traces of a lost Ice Age civilization in the Americas. Despite relying on controversial research and drawing extreme conclusions, his hunt still comes up short.

Hoaxed!

Michelle E. Ainsworth | April 3, 2019

The breadth of what can be meant by the word “hoax” makes the concept — and consequences — worthy of renewed study. Michelle E. Ainsworth reviews Bunk: The Rise of Hoaxes, Humbug, Plagiarists, Phonies, Post-Facts, and Fake News by Kevin Young and Hoax: A History of Deception: 5000 Years of Fakes, Forgeries, and Fallacies by Ian Tattersall and Peter Nevraumont.

The Opioid Epidemic Misunderstood

Raymond Barglow | March 27, 2019

Dr. Raymond Barglow discusses three mistaken approaches to the opioid epidemic in this article that appeared in Skeptic magazine 24.1 (2019).

Conversations with My Dead Mother: Why We See Signs & Omens in Everyday Events

Jesse Bering | March 20, 2019

What is it about the human mind that so effortlessly translates natural events into messages from another realm — even despite our best attempts to deny that there’s any message in them at all?

Pressured Apologies, False Confessions, Witch Hunts

Stewart Justman | March 13, 2019

Often someone who makes a public comment out of compliance with progressive opinion is set upon by online vigilantes, attacked personally, repents, and promises to do better next time. Using two cases as touchstones, Stewart Justman draws an analogy between the extraction of such an apology and the extraction of a false confession to a crime of violence, the critical point being that in both instances the pressured party may well begin to believe the accusations against him or her.

Behe’s Last Stand: The Lion of Intelligent Design Roars Again

Nathan H. Lents | March 6, 2019

Intelligent Design advocate, Dr. Michael Behe, has recently written his third book attacking modern evolutionary theory called Darwin Devolves: The New Science About DNA that Challenges Evolution. In this article from Skeptic Magazine 24.1, Professor of Biology Dr. Nathan H. Lents points out some of the many flaws in Behe’s book.

Meeting Our “Enemies” Where They Are: The Advantage of Understanding Your Adversary’s Arguments

Andrew Cooper-Sansone | February 27, 2019

Most people take an attack on their beliefs as an attack on their identity. Andrew Cooper-Sansone avers that to succeed in changing minds and building a better world, we must begin by cultivating a compassionate view of our enemies’ deeply-held and identify-defining beliefs.

The Arguments for Creationism and the Arguments for Evolution: A Study in Contrasts

Ralph M. Barnes | February 20, 2019

How do arguments for evolution used by mainstream scientists differ from arguments employed by creationists and proponents of Intelligent Design? Ralph M. Barnes sheds some light on this question in this article from Skeptic magazine 23.4 (2018).

Personhood & Abortion Rights: How Science Might Inform this Contentious Issue

Gary Whittenberger | February 13, 2019

Although it’s been 45 years since Roe v. Wade, abortion continues to be a highly controversial and polarizing issue. In this essay, Gary Whittenberger articulates the philosophical and scientific foundation for a third option between the two extremes of pro-life and pro-choice — the pro-person position — after examining the evidence for the best possible answer to the question: “When does the human fetus acquire the capacity for consciousness?” This article appeared in Skeptic magazine 23.4 (2018).

What Can Science Learn from Religion? Steven Pinker on Religious Beliefs & Rituals

Michael Shermer | February 6, 2019

In response to a NYT op-ed by Northeastern U. Psych. Prof. David DeSteno, Michael Shermer presents Harvard psychologist Steven Pinker’s full reply to DeSteno’s question about what science can learn from religion through testable hypotheses about human behavior.

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