Skeptic: Examining Extraordinary Claims and Promoting Science
Skeptic Magazine, Volume 4 Number 2
Table of Contents
Articles
- ’Twas Brillig…
- Save Fuel, the Nation, the Environment, Money … Sure
-
Whose is the
Higher Superstition? -
Reflections on the Need for Skeptical Open-Mindedness
in the Days to Come - Cosmythology
-
Was the Universe
Designed to Produce Us? -
The Question All
Skeptics are Asking - What Was Adam’s IQ?
Reviews
-
Psychotherapeutic
Witch Hunting - Satan’s Silence: Ritual Abuse and the Making of a Modern American Witch Hunt, by Debbie Nathan and Michael Snedeker; Satanic Ritual Abuse: Principles of Treatment, by Colin Ross, M.D.
-
Leaps of Logic
-
Leaps of Faith: Science, Miracles,and the Search for Supernatural Consolation, by Nicholas Humphrey
-
Mother Not So Superior
-
The Missionary Position — Mother Teresa In Theory and Practice, by Christopher Hitchens
Books in Brief
- How Could You Do That?!: The Abdication of Character, Courage, and Conscience, by Laura Schlessinger; Issues in Evolutionary Ethics, edited by Paul Thompson; Narrow Roads of Gene Land,Volume 1: Evolution of Social Behaviour, by W. D. Hamilton; The Temptations of Evolutionary Ethics, by Paul Lawrence Farber; Emotions in Command: A Naturalistic Study of Institutional Dominance, by Frank Kemp Salter; The Third Culture: Beyond the Scientific Revolution, by John Brockman; Lies My Teacher Told Me: Everything Your American History Textbook Got Wrong, by James W. Loewen; The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark, by Carl Sagan; The Unconscious Quantum: Metaphysics in Modern Physics and Cosmology, by Victor J. Stenger; Frauds, Myths, and Mysteries: Science and Pseudoscience in Archaeology, by Kenneth L. Feder; The Encyclopedia of the Paranormal, edited by Gordon Stein; Not Out of Africa: How Afrocentrism Became an Excuse to Teach Myth as History, by Mary Lefkowitz; They Say You’re Crazy: How the World’s Most Powerful Psychiatrists Decide Who’s Normal, by Paula J. Caplan; Who Wrote the New Testament?: The Making of the Christian Myth, by Burton L. Mack
News
- Skeptics Society 1996 Conference: A Huge Success
- Publishing Controversy
- Gathering for Gardner II
- Skeptics Walk on Fire For Bill Nye “the Science Guy.” Deconstruction Self-Destructs; Another National Skeptics Group; Attention Chicago Skeptics; Bad Writing Contest; Deaths in Major Sect; The Mysterious (and Profitable) Origins of Man; Millennium Mystery or Misinformation?
- Patterson Bigfoot Hoax; Gallup Poll Results: Hell/Devil Gainers, Science/Rationality Losers; Edgar Mitchell’s Carefully Omissive Interview
- Iron Butterfly Band Member Disappears After Working on Faster Than Light Communication. Is He In A Godda Da Vida?
Special Section:
Evolutionary Ethics
& Secular Morality
- Interview: Living Within Limits & Limits on Living
-
Garrett Hardin on Ecology, Economy, and Ethics
- Toward a Science of Morality
- In Our Own Self Image
-
The Evolution of Morality, Deception, and Religion
- Prospects for Existence
-
Morality and Genetic Engineering
- Plants, Property & People
-
Should Indigenous Peoples Be Compensated For Their Medicinal Plant Knowledge?
- The Secular Sphinx
-
The Riddle of Ethics Without Religion
-
Why Creationists
Fear Evolution -
An Introduction to
Bryan’s Last Speech - The Most Powerful Argument Against Evolution Ever Made
-
The Undelivered Speech to
the Jury in the Scopes’ Trial
Forum
- Hollywood Skepticism; A “Spiritual “Experience; Never Been So Edified; Tipler Has Had It; Replace God — With What?; Replace God — With Nothing; Breasts Are For Babies Not Men; Breasts and Brains; What Women See in Men; Two Confusions — Daniel Dennett Responds; The E-Word; Gish Overrated, But Useful; Creationists Drown in Flood; The I.Q. Toll; Gould Against Affirmative Action?; The Thin Veneer of Civility; Hartung and Chait Are Both Right … and Wrong; Hartung Misinformed; Constructive Revisionism; In the Name of God, Nazi Style; Spinoza’s Stone; Leave God to the Philosophers; Velikovsky’s Place Clarified; Scientific Facelift; Shame on Skeptic; Why Hide Church Secrets?; Jacobsen Responds to Scientology; Miss Blood Speaks; No Liberal Conspiracy; Say What? Miele Replies
- Dr. Tipler ≠ Dr. Asimov
- Or How I Learned to Love the Second Law of Thermodynamics
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The Believing Brain
(now in paperback)
Get the autographed paperback
In this, his magnum opus, Dr. Michael Shermer presents his comprehensive theory on how beliefs are born, formed, nourished, reinforced, challenged, changed, and extinguished. Sam Harris calls The Believing Brain “a wonderfully lucid, accessible, and wide-ranging account of the boundary between justified and unjustified belief.” Leonard Mlodinow calls it “a tour de force integrating neuroscience and the social sciences.”
FREE PDF Download
Top 10 Myths About Evolution (and how we know it really happened)
This concise pamphlet provides answers to common objections to evolution, such as: If humans came from apes, why aren’t apes evolving into humans?; Only an intelligent designer could have made something as complex as an eye; The second law of thermo-dynamics proves that evolution is impossible; Evolution can’t account for morality; and more…
FREE PDF Download
Top 10 Things You Should Know About Alternative Medicine
Harriet Hall, MD (aka the SkepDoc), shares her wit and wisdom about alternative medicine including: chiropractic, the placebo effect, homeopathy, acupuncture, and the questionable benefits of organic food, detoxification, and ‘natural’ remedies.
FREE PDF Download
Learn to be a Psychic in 10
Easy Lessons
Psychic readings and fortunetelling are an ancient art — a combination of acting and psychological manipulation. While some psychics are known to cheat and acquire information ahead of time, these ten tips focus on what is known as “cold reading” — reading someone “cold” without any prior knowledge about them.