In this week’s eSkeptic:
- Follow Dr. Shermer: Heavens on Earth: Can a Scientific Utopia Succeed?
- Follow Daniel Loxton: Is Debating Pseudoscience a Good Idea?
- Our Next Geology Tour: Grand Canyon, Zion & Bryce (Jun. 13–20, 2014)
- Skepticality: Interviews with Robert Blaskiewicz and Guy Harrison
- Rent a Science Lecture: Robert Trivers: Deceit and Self-Deception
- Our Next Science Lecture: Physics in Science Fiction, with Dr. Charles Adler
NEW ON MICHAELSHERMER.COM
Heavens on Earth
In Michael Shermer’s February 2014 ‘Skeptic’ column for Scientific American, he asks “Can a scientific utopia succeed?”
NEW ON SKEPTICBLOG.ORG
Is Debating Pseudoscience a Good Idea?
Carl Sagan Weighs In
Daniel shares some thoughts from a pioneering skeptic about the value of scientific confrontation of pseudoscientific ideas.
Grand Canyon, Zion & Bryce
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JOIN US AS WE TRAVEL through an iconic landscape that reveals one of the most studied sequences of layered rock on earth! We will spend a day and and two nights at the less-visited North Rim of the Grand Canyon, a day to explore majestic Zion Canyon, a day visit to Bryce Canyon, plus additional stops at the Coral Pink Sand Dunes, Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area and Museum, Calico Ghost Town, Virgin River Gorge, the Dinosaur Museum in St. George, Utah, and two nights in Las Vegas. Through the entire trip, we will learn about the geology and natural history of the majestic scenery, making this a tour you could get nowhere else! Seats are limited — so make your reservations soon!
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What’s Included?
Tour package includes: natural science lectures en route, charter bus, hotels, all breakfasts and lunches during the trip, one dinner at the Grand Canyon (the traditional Grand Canyon Cookout Experience with a live country-western show), museum and park fees, and a tour guide booklet. The fee also includes a $200 tax-deductible donation to the Skeptics Society.
Questions?
Email us or call 1-626-794-3119 with a credit card to secure your spot.
Think
SKEPTICALITY EPISODE 225
In this episode of Skepticality, Derek chats with Robert Blaskiewicz, who has been highly involved in bringing attention to the dodgy cancer research that Stanislaw Burzynski has been conducting. Then, Guy Harrison visits Skepticality, once again, to talk about his new skepticism-focused book, Think: Why You Should Question Everything, which aims to give rational thinkers a set of tools to help talk to, and work alongside, those who hold dubious beliefs.
Robert Trivers, On Demand
The Folly of Fools: The Logic of Deceit
and Self-Deception in Human Life
Whether it’s in a cockpit at takeoff or the planning of an offensive war, a romantic relationship or a dispute at the office, there are many opportunities to lie and self-deceive—but deceit and self-deception carry the costs of being alienated from reality and can lead to disaster. So why does deception play such a prominent role in our everyday lives? In his bold new work, Rutgers University evolutionary theorist Robert Trivers unflinchingly argues that self-deception evolved in the service of deceit—the better to fool others. We do it for biological reasons—in order to help us survive and procreate. From viruses mimicking host behavior to humans misremembering (sometimes intentionally) the details of a quarrel, science has proven that the deceptive one can always outwit the masses. But we undertake this deception at our own peril.
Rent this video for only $3.95
or explore the entire series.
INSTRUCTIONS: Click the button above, then click the RENT ONE button on the page that will open in your Internet browser. You will then be asked to login to your Vimeo account (or create a free account). Once you complete your purchase of the video rental, you will then be able to instantly stream the video to your computer, smartphone, or tablet, and watch it for the rental period.
Our Next Science Lecture
Wizards, Aliens, and Starships: Physics and Math in Fantasy and Science Fiction
with Dr. Charles Adler
Sun., Feb. 16, 2014 at 2 pm
Baxter Lecture Hall
From teleportation and space elevators to alien contact and interstellar travel, science fiction and fantasy writers have come up with some brilliant and innovative ideas. Yet how plausible are these ideas? Which concepts might actually happen, and which ones wouldn’t work at all? A professor of physics at St. Mary’s College of Maryland, Adler delves into the most extraordinary details in science fiction and fantasy—time warps, shape changing, rocket launches, and illumination by floating candle—and shows readers the physics and math behind the phenomena…
Order Wizards, Aliens, and Starships from Amazon.
