The Debunking Handbook
There’s a very strong likelihood that if you’re reading this you’re either:
a) a rational skeptic
b) a trojan spiritualist
c) a fan of Derren Brown
Good news then that all three will find something to enjoy in The Debunking Handbook, an Ebook that is free to download courtesy of skepticalscience.com, a website that focuses primarily on explaining what peer-reviewed science has to say about global warming.
They describe it thus:
“Although there is a great deal of psychological research on misinformation, there’s no summary of the literature that offers practical guidelines on the most effective ways of reducing the influence of myths.
The Debunking Handbook boils the research down into a short, simple summary, intended as a guide for communicators in all areas (not just climate) who encounter misinformation.”
Feel free to go grab your copy of The Debunking Handbook and then come back here to let us know what you think. It shouldn’t take you long, it’s only seven pages long.
Souce: Lifehacker
(Thanks to DG for the scoop)
The Good Book?
Chances are that you may already be familiar with Penn & Teller, but what you mayn’t have heard yet is that Penn, the looming, bombastic ‘talkier’ half of the legendary magic duo has just released a book: ‘God, No!’
In it he tackles, you guessed it, issues of Faith from the perspective of a confirmed Atheist.
He’s currently doing Press duties to promote the publication, even going so far as to sit across a table from the delightful Piers Morgan who, in Penn’s own words;
“Seems he hadn’t read the book, and I had no idea what he was trying in the interview. Odd.”
You can see a snippet of that odd interview here, read a short essay that Penn’s penned for CNN giving a flavour of the book here and, if you’re ready to go the whole hog, you can buy the book here.
Do let us know if you’re going to get it, or have got it already, and what you think of it in the comments below!
The mystery of the monumental post-apocolypse stones
The strangest monument in America looms over a barren knoll in northeastern Georgia. Five massive slabs of polished granite rise out of the earth in a star pattern. The rocks are each 16 feet tall, with four of them weighing more than 20 tons apiece. Together they support a 25,000-pound capstone.
Nobody knows exactly who commissioned it or why. The only clues to its origin are on a nearby plaque on the ground—which gives the dimensions and explains a series of intricate notches and holes that correspond to the movements of the sun and stars—and the “guides”, written in many different languages on each side, instruct a future society on how to conduct itself.
The story of the stones is just as strange as the monument itself. It’s since been covered in mystery and controversy. Books have been written, TV and press have swarmed to it and conspiracy theorists have pulled a mass of ideas for it’s use, from UFO landing sites to satanic cults ready to take over the world.
Wired magazine’s fascinating article writes:
The astrological specifications for the Guidestones were so complex that Fendley had to retain the services of an astronomer from the University of Georgia to help implement the design. The four outer stones were to be oriented based on the limits of the sun’s yearly migration. The center column needed two precisely calibrated features: a hole through which the North Star would be visible at all times, and a slot that was to align with the position of the rising sun during the solstices and equinoxes. The principal component of the capstone was a 7\8-inch aperture through which a beam of sunlight would pass at noon each day, shining on the center stone to indicate the day of the year.
The main feature of the monument, though, would be the 10 dictates carved into both faces of the outer stones, in eight languages: English, Spanish, Russian, Chinese, Arabic, Hebrew, Hindi, and Swahili. A mission statement of sorts (LET THESE BE GUIDESTONES TO AN AGE OF REASON) was also to be engraved on the sides of the capstone in Egyptian hieroglyphics, classical Greek, Sanskrit, and Babylonian cuneiform. The United Nations provided some of the translations (including those for the dead languages), which were stenciled onto the stones and etched with a sandblaster.
Read the full article at Weird Wired
The Believing Brain: From Ghosts and Gods to Politics and Conspiracies
In this work synthesizing thirty years of research, psychologist, historian of science, and the world’s best-known skeptic Michael Shermer upends the traditional thinking about how humans form beliefs about the world. Simply put, beliefs come first and explanations for beliefs follow. The brain, Shermer argues, is a belief engine. From sensory data flowing in through the senses, the brain naturally begins to look for and find patterns, and then infuses those patterns with meaning.
Our brains connect the dots of our world into meaningful patterns that explain why things happen, and these patterns become beliefs. Once beliefs are formed the brain begins to look for and find confirmatory evidence in support of those beliefs, which accelerates the process of reinforcing them, and round and round the process goes in a positive-feedback loop of belief confirmation.
Shermer outlines the numerous cognitive tools our brains engage to reinforce our beliefs as truths. Interlaced with his theory of belief, Shermer provides countless real-world examples of how this process operates, from politics, economics, and religion to conspiracy theories, the supernatural, and the paranormal. Ultimately, he demonstrates why science is the best tool ever devised to determine whether or not a belief matches reality.
Paranormality free mind bending magic app
For those of you in need of a Richard Wiseman fix, there’s plenty to keep you happy even if you live in the US. His recent book has had trouble finding a publisher open minded enough to distribute it, despite the fact it’s had rather wonderful endorsements from:
James Randi
PZ Myers
The Magic Newswire
and many others including Richard Dawkins who has said that in the book ”Wiseman shows us a higher joy as he skewers the paranormal charlatans, blows away the psychic fog and lets in the clear light of reason“.]
Available in the UK here: Amazon Book, Amazon Kindle
Available in the US here: Amazon Book, Amazon Kindle
Stephen Hawking: ‘There is no heaven; it’s a fairy story’
In a dismissal that underlines his firm rejection of religious comforts, Britain’s most eminent scientist said there was nothing beyond the moment when the brain flickers for the final time. Hawking, who was diagnosed with motor neurone disease at the age of 21, shares his thoughts on death, human purpose and our chance existence in an exclusive interview with the Guardian today.
The incurable illness was expected to kill Hawking within a few years of its symptoms arising, an outlook that turned the young scientist to Wagner, but ultimately led him to enjoy life more, he has said, despite the cloud hanging over his future.
“I have lived with the prospect of an early death for the last 49 years. I’m not afraid of death, but I’m in no hurry to die. I have so much I want to do first,” he said. ”I regard the brain as a computer which will stop working when its components fail. There is no heaven or afterlife for broken down computers; that is a fairy story for people afraid of the dark,” he added.
Hawking’s latest comments go beyond those laid out in his 2010 book, The Grand Design, in which he asserted that there is no need for a creator to explain the existence of the universe. The book provoked a backlash from some religious leaders, including the chief rabbi, Lord Sacks, who accused Hawking of committing an “elementary fallacy” of logic.
Full Article at Guardian Science
Cognitive Neuroscience book reveals why humans believe in gods
Dr Andy Thompson claims, in his new book, that the human mind generates religious beliefs as part of an evolutionary process. The recent revolution in cognitive science demonstrates the reasons why we create such myths, why we spread them and want other people to believe them too. His book shows the mechanisms in which the human mind constructs dogma, powers religious institutions and how irrational constructs can be harmful to society and its progression.
Every book bought contains a donation to the Richard Dawkins Foundation. The RDF finances research into the psychology of belief and religion, finances scientific education programs and materials, and publicises and supports secular charitable organisations.
It’s essential reading for all those who are interested in religious belief (whatever side of the fence you’re on), the way the mind works and gives an insight in to some of the recent breakthroughs in neuroscience and cognitive studies without being overly technical.
Paranormality – Why we see what isn’t there – Richard Wiseman
Britain’s most charming and lovely psychologist Richard Wiseman will not be a stranger to the people on this blog. He’s appeared on several of Derren’s shows and his last book is a constant reference for all of us.
For the past twenty years, he’s immersed himself in the weird world of supernatural science; testing telepaths, spending nights in haunted castles and attempting to talk with the dead.
In Paranormality he cuts through the hype and goes in search of the truth behind extraordinary stories of poltergeists, possession and second sight. And along the way he shows us some really rather remarkable things about how our brains work, how it is possible to have an out-of-body experience or lucid dream of our own, and just why we feel the need to believe. .
Following up from his extremely successful 59 Seconds Wiseman has tapped in to the reasons why our minds dictate reality to us even when the message it’s giving us has no scientific basis.
As usual it’s written in standard bullshit-free Wiseman style but manages to tap in to fairly complex ideas and subjects with beautiful ease. Throughout the book are various QR codes linking to external content and untrusting exercises and the short sharp chapters make it very easy to pick up and delve in to, or just read from front to back. Learning psychology isn’t supposed to be this much fun, Mr Wiseman’s managed to make it so.
Covering subjects such as fortune telling, out-of-body experiences, talking to the dead and ghost hunting, it’s also the perfect skeptics guide with solid science to back it up. For me the obvious favourite is chapter 6 about the world’s second greatest mind reader – Washington Irving Bishop. There’s even a little guide in there on how to read minds and tips on how to play tricks on your friends and get in to some light-hearted but effective mind trickery.
95% of all pop-psychology books can easily be reduced down to a fraction of the content without losing any of the message, often there’s a lot of fluffing around these subjects to prepare you for the really meaty bits in the middle and you can find yourself switching off a little after 20 pages and 19 repeats of the same message. But like Quirkology and 59 Seconds, Wiseman has managed to visit multiple topics, look at them from several angles and make this an invaluable book with plenty of content.
59 seconds took me 2 reads. One to get through it and the second to go back and absorb the content in detail. I’ve only just finished my first read of Paranormality and will be going back through it again to try out some of the tests myself. It’s certainly one to leave on the coffee table and is a guaranteed conversation starter anywhere.
Derren Brown Night ch4 – 8 Jan 2011
Thank you all for your lovely comments and emails, they are so nice – the team are answering as many as possible. We’ve had literally hundreds of people who didn’t realise that Derren was also a talented portrait painter. For those of you who want to see his work head on over to the Derren Brown Art Site here.
Tickets for the new live show Svengali are still available here (click the venue name to link to sales point) but they’re going rather fast and many venues are now sold out. Otherwise feel free to leave your comments below and thank you all for watching.
Stealing the Mystic Lamb – The story of the world’s most coveted masterpiece
Many of you may be forgiven for thinking that the above image is actually a sculpture, well you’d be wrong. It’s painted by an artist known as Jan van Eyck and is considered by many to be one of the most important paintings in history. The awe inspiring lighting, composition and photorealism of this piece isn’t just incredible for it’s life like qualities. It is in fact because it was painted nearly 600 years ago and since then has had a dark history that can’t be rivalled by many other works.
So other than the craftsmanship and age of the piece – why is this painting so important? Well, The Ghent Altarpiece is the most frequently stolen artwork of all time. Since its completion in 1432, this twelve-panel oil painting has disappeared, been looted in three different wars, been burned, dismembered, copied, forged, smuggled, illegally sold, censored, attacked by iconoclasts, hidden castle vaults and secret salt mines, hunted by Nazis and Napoleon, prized by The Louvre and a Prussian king, damaged by conservators, returned as war reparations, used as a diplomatic tool, ransomed, rescued by Austrian double-agents, and stolen a total of thirteen times.
Stealing the Mystic Lamb is the incredible tale behind the deception, fraud and scammers who throughout history have done whatever they feel necessary to obtain it.
