Scot Bastian Ph.D.
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Fire, Fruit, Frankenstein, and Fission. On Science, Mythology, and Responsibility.

7/30/2013

2 Comments

 
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Chained to a rock for eternity. Every day the eagle comes to devour his liver. And every night, because Prometheus is immortal, the liver grows back. What was his crime? He defied the gods and gave fire to mankind. In Old Testament mythology in the Garden of Eden, Adam and Eve could eat freely from the Tree of Life, but, tempted by the silver-tongued snake, they partook of the "Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil," and were banned forever from paradise. Early in the 19th century Mary Shelley, at the remarkably young age of 19, wrote "Frankenstein" ("The Modern Prometheus"), the story of Dr. Viktor Frankenstein, architect of an experiment that goes tragically wrong. And, in the last century, there is J. Robert Oppenheimer, who, with Enrico Fermi, is described as the Father of the atomic bomb, came to regret his work. He quotes the Bhagavad Gita , "I am become death, the destroyer of worlds." In the video below of Oppenheimer the sense of regret and guilt embodied by this epiphany is crystal-clear, and quite moving.
     There are several not-very-subtle unifying threads that can be seen in all these stories. 
One thread is human curiosity. It is characteristic of the human spirit, I think, to the very essence, the root of our being, to be explorers, discoverers, inventors. Human beings have a natural desire, stated so eloquently in the Star Trek series "To boldly go where no one has gone before."
     Second, scientific discovery is a profound and sacred enterprise. As Arthur C. Clarke wrote, "Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic." Every new scientific advance is a transition from the unknown to the known, from the sacrosanct to the wondrous, and, finally, to the commonplace.
     A third thread is that human beings are rebellious.  Forbidden fruit is so delicious. We will defy our very God or Gods to discover something new. 
     Another thread is hubris. We have the excessive pride and self-confidence to believe that we can contain, to control, the knowledge we uncover. But, we being mere mortals, sometimes have a narrow understanding of the consequences of our discoveries. In the wakes of discoveries there are innumerable unknowns. Although it can illuminate, Science is also dangerous. The consequences of discovering the keys that unlock the mysteries of the Universe are hard to predict. Fire can bring light, but it also burns. 
     And, my last thread, with knowledge comes responsibility. What is done, cannot be undone. As in the old saw, you cannot stuff the genie back into the bottle. In all four of my examples above, whether myth, fiction or real, the principals felt acutely responsible for what they had done.
     But, there is now a different ethos spreading through humanity. People are rejecting the gods and mythologies of the past. More and more the gods are seen as a product of the human imagination, rather than the other way around. We are alone. We must take full responsibility for our fate, and the consequences of our actions.  I would not wish to dismiss the benefits of scientific advance. Who wishes to live without medicine, or agriculture or transportation?  Still, humanity is faced with substantial challenges; overpopulation, global climate change, nuclear proliferation. and now we don't have a Sky Daddy to rescue us. William Faulkner said as part of his Nobel Prize acceptance speech, "There are no longer problems of the spirit. There is only the question: When will I be blown up?" 
     But, there is hope in all four of the stories I cite above.  Prometheus was finally unchained from the rock by Hercules; Adam and Eve went on to "be fruitful and multiply;"  We have listened to Mary Shelley's cautionary tale which has spread widely, and morphed into many similar legends; and we are trying, at least, to harness the atom for peaceful purposes. Even Faulkner, maybe especially Faulkner, refused to surrender to fate. Later in his speech he stated, "I believe that man will not merely endure: he will prevail. He is immortal, not because he alone among creatures has an inexhaustible voice, but because he has a soul, a spirit capable of compassion and sacrifice and endurance. "  
    So, this blogger asks not the question "When will I be blown up" but I ask: Will you blow it up?  Will we? 

2 Comments

Romantic Encounters of the Pseudoscientific Kind

7/24/2013

1 Comment

 
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Astrology is crap. Yep, pure and steaming. Wikipedia does a pretty good job of summarizing the history of astrology and noting the scientific objections. No point in reiterating that article here.
There have been several occasions when I have been asked “What is your sign?” Maybe this is just selection error, but it has invariably been an attractive female asking the question. I even parodized this in a playlet I wrote a few months ago. Well, it happened again this week. Usually, I respond “My sign is: "Yield,” or “Stop” or, “Do Not Pass.” But, if that fails to discourage, I generally say “Guess.” I offer the qualifier that some day this is going to get me in trouble. I know that they have a one in twelve chance and, eventually, someone is going to nail it. I’m sure that they will nod with a self-assured, self-congratulatory grin, smugly thinking they actually have supernatural powers. Remarkably, even after several tries, not one of these women has ever guessed my sign. One even tried, after several failed attempts, to stack the odds by guessing that I’m one of the fire signs. (Astrological signs are divided into four groups of three, Fire, Earth, Water and Air.) She didn’t even get that right. Pfffft. When I spill-the-beans and tell them my sign, they usually say something like, “Ah, yes, it is so obvious now.” Hmmm.  Anyhow, in the latest encounter when I said “guess,” she coyly said, “I don’t know you well enough yet.” Later in the conversation, she quite craftily interrogated me about my interest in snow skiing. I explained “That I used to love to ski, I learned in Colorado, which has some of the best skiing in the world, lucky me.” Perky innocent smile.  Fluttering eyelashes. “So, did you like to ski on your birthday?” Nice try, crafty cold-reader. Increasing the odds, are we? I don’t think I encouraged her when I explained that the doctor who delivered her had a stronger gravitational pull on her than the Sun, the Moon, any planet or constellation. But, apparently, at least according to this source, I’m wrong about that. Matt Springer calculates that Jupiter has about a 20-fold higher gravitational pull than the average doc, but the pull of both is vanishingly small, or, as he puts it, “Twenty times pretty much nothing is still pretty much nothing, but still – Jupiter wins.”
Well, phooey on me! That’s what I get for trying to counter pseudoscience with an unreliable source.
    She never did venture a guess of my sign. Ah well, no loss.
    So, ladies, I say, if you really want to make a fashion statement--wear a brain. Nothing is more beautiful in a woman than intelligence. Skepticism is the new black! If you want to attract my attention, be rational, nerd-girl, and I just might fall in love--or maybe I'll just spank you with my slide ruler.

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"Missing the Boat" Whither the Unicorns and Brontosauruses? A Parable of the Noah's Ark Tale.

7/22/2013

0 Comments

 
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This is a  videotaped stage performance of a play that I wrote a few years ago that is now available online. The play was directed and costumed by Ellen Covey and she recruited a stellar cast. Rose Kinne as Ani, Jeff Nelson as Uni, (who are featured in the still photograph by Carl Nelson.) and John Paul Sharp as Barnie and Tom Brophy as Bennie. The videographer and editor was Rita Andreeva. I love this play. It was very popular when performed a couple years ago in Seattle as part of a showcase of Halloween-themed plays entitled Products of a WARPed Imagination by Writers and Actors Reading and Performing (WARP). It was also performed again at a Seattle Skeptics Meeting a few months ago, with the same unicorns and different brontosauruses. This play is available as part of a collection of short plays and monologues that I wrote called Do Ya Think? Science, Science Fiction, and Skepticism as a Amazon Kindle E-Book (It is formatted to be read on a Kindle, Kindle Fire, IPod, IPad or Galaxy readers.) at the, I think, ridiculously reasonable price of $2.99 at this link. Enjoy!  Performance rights are also available--just send me an email and I'll get in touch.

Here is the complete text of the play, although there may be minor differences between the staged version and the text. 

MISSING THE BOAT
      By Scot Bastian (c) 2012
        Noah's Farce?
            A One-Act Play         


CAST OF CHARACTERS
UNI:   Male unicorn, married to ANI. Any age.
ANI:   Female unicorn, married to UNI. Any age.
BARNIE:   Male Brontosaurus. Any age.
BENNIE:   Male Brontosaurus. Any age.

SCENE
A shoreline on the edge of the Island of Atlantis.


TIME
Long ago.

UNI:   Okay, we’ve reached the ocean. What now?
ANI:   I don’t know. I guess we wait.
UNI:   Wait for what?
ANI:   I don’t know.
UNI:   Well, that’s two “I don’t knows.”  Let me add an “I don’t know, either.” And
       let me add a little “What the fuck” on the side and how ‘bout
       this addendum: “Standing around with our heads up our asses.” That mean        anything to ya?
ANI:   We’ll think of something.
UNI:   And I might throw in that having your head up your ass when you’re a unicorn
       is not very comfortable.
ANI:   Stop it!  You’re supposed to be a marvelous, magical, mystical creature
          beloved by children and the young-at-heart everywhere. Act like it.
UNI:   Well right now all I feel like is a horse’s ass.
ANI:   Well, as a matter of fact--
UNI:   —Don’t say it!
ANI:   You know, your ranting and raving is getting us exactly nowhere. Why don’t
       you try thinking instead of whining?
UNI:   I can whine if I damn well please. It wasn’t my stupid idea.
ANI:   Can I help it if Atlantis is an island?  Now shut up if you’re not going to think,
       so that I can.
UNI:   Why I ever married you I’ll never know.
ANI:   You married me because you love me…asshole.
UNI:   I love it when you talk dirty to me.
ANI:   Look, stud, we better come up with a solution, cause it’s damn hard to mount
       in twenty feet of water. Now think!
UNI:   Okay. But before I start burning brain cells, explain to me again why we gotta
       go to this place.
ANI:   I already told you twice.
UNI:   Well, tell me a third time. I didn’t believe you the first two—try again, maybe
       my last shred of rationality will surrender and I’ll finally buy into your crazy        story.
ANI:   How are we going to make any progress if you continue to doubt my sanity? 
      Have I ever led you astray?
UNI:   Well…no. I’ll make you a deal. You explain this vision to me one more time,
       and I promise not to think you’ve eaten loco weed. Maybe if we analyze it a        little more closely we’ll find a way out of this predicament. Make sense?
ANI:   Okay. I don’t have any better ideas, so we might as well.
UNI:   Finally, we agree on something.
ANI:   Okay. There’s this guy named Noah--
UNI:   —What a stupid name. What’s his last name, Count?
ANI:   “No account.” Very funny. No, I don’t think he has a last name.
UNI:   Why not?
ANI:   I don’t know. Maybe he’s got a last name, but I don’t know what it is.
UNI:   Okay, this Noah-guy—he’s the one who’s gonna make it rain. Right?
ANI:   No!  You really don’t listen to me, do you?  God is going to make it rain.
UNI:   God, huh?  He’s going to do a rain dance?  This is nuts.
ANI:   No. He’s just going to command the rain to start.
UNI:   Clever fellow. I suppose that this God-guy doesn’t have a last name either.
ANI:   Nope. Not that I know about.
UNI:   So what’s God got to do with Noah?
ANI:   God is the one who talks to Noah. Says he’s gonna rain down on
                      his Jewish ass.
UNI:  What is he, a Mafioso or something?
ANI:   I don’t know.
UNI:   Quit saying “I don’t know,” damn it!
ANI:   Well, I don’t know. Maybe he is in the mafia, but I get the idea that he’s sorta
       the don of all dons, kingpin of all kingpins. The big cheese in the sky.
UNI:   So what’s he so pissed off at this Noah-dude about?
ANI:   No, you don’t get it. God seems to like Noah, and he’s warnin’ him about the
       upcoming shit.
UNI:   Uh—hunh. So, what’d he tell ‘im?  Get outta town?
ANI:   Nope. No place to go.
UNI:   Whattya mean?
ANI:   This God-guy is so honked off, that he’s gonna drown the whole world like
      rats in a barrel.
UNI:   Uh-hunh. Are you sure some funny mold didn’t get in your oats? 
ANI:   I don’t—as you darn-well know—eat oats. And I’m a little tired of you implying
      that I’m a horse.
UNI:   You’re the one who implied that I got a horse’s ass.
ANI:   Well, quit acting like one.
UNI:   All right. Let’s take it on face value that this God-dude told this Noah-dude
       that the world is toast--
ANI:   —He said that a massive flood is coming--
UNI:   —Okay, soggy toast!  But if there ain’t no place to go, what’s he supposed to               do about it, climb a tree?
ANI:   God told him to build an ark. It’s like a big boat.
UNI:   A boat?  That’s one Hell of a thunderstorm. Why not just buy a boat?
ANI:   No, this is a really big boat. Hundreds of cubits long.
UNI:   Cubits?  What the heck is a cubit?
ANI:   How should I know?  But it sounds big.
UNI:   So, he’s gonna float out this soggy catastrophe.
ANI:   Yeah, him and his family.
UNI:   Oh, how sweet. Dad, mom and the three midgets.
ANI:   Quit being sarcastic!
UNI:   So what does this have to do with us?
ANI:   Well—you’re not gonna like this--
UNI:   —Lay it on me.
ANI:   God told him that he’s gotta collect two of every animal, male and female, so
       the world can start over.
UNI:   Loco weed. It’s gotta be loco weed.
ANI:   Now you stop that!  You promised!
UNI:   This God-dude apparently never heard of inbreeding. Then what’s gonna
           happen?
ANI:   After he collects them—the rain starts and then the flood and then they just
      float it out.
UNI:   Why doesn’t this Noah-dude just high-tail it for the hills until things chill out?
ANI:   You keep missing the point—God is drownin’ out everything. I mean
               everything!  The forest, the jungles, the desert and the mountains. No place        to go.
UNI:   That's a lot of water. How long is it going to rain, for cryin’ out loud?
ANI:   Forty days and forty nights.
UNI:   Big frickin’ deal. It will rain that much in Seattle every winter when it gets
           built.
ANI:   Anyhow, that’s the vision. Forty days and forty nights. Must be some kick-ass
      rainstorm.
UNI:   Got that right. So, one thing I don’t get, how are the penguins, polar bears
       and kangaroos gonna get on this boat?
ANI:   I don’t know. Maybe they’re gonna swim, or take a little boat, or something.
UNI:   And we ain’t got a boat.
ANI:   Nope.
UNI:   So, how’s this Noah gonna feed all these animals?  Do you know how much
           elephants eat?  Not to mention zebras, rhinos, tyrannosauruses, allosaurases        and hippos.
ANI:   Maybe they’ll just not eat for  month.
UNI:   Well, good luck keeping the mice and the antelopes on the same boat with
           the snakes and the lions. I, to put it mildly, predict problems.

(Enter BENNIE and BARNIE, paddling a raft.)

ANI:   Hey look!  A couple of brontosauruses on a raft! 
UNI:   Maybe they’ll give us a ride. Hey dudes!  Ya got room for a couple of
              passengers?!
BENNIE:   No. Buzz off!
BARNIE:   Oh Benny, don’t be that way. Be civil. They might be nice unicorns.
BENNIE:    Where are we going to put them?  We don’t have the room.
BARNIE:   Oh, there’s always room for one more.
BENNIE:   There’s two of them.
BARNIE:   We fit the kangaroos didn’t we?
BENNIE:   Little bastards wouldn’t quit hopping all over the raft. Pain in the ass.                         Unicorns are too big, won’t fit anyway.
BARNIE:   Yoo-hoo, unicorns. Where are you going?
BENNIE:   You’re irrepressible, aren’t you?
ANI:   We’re going to the Middle East. Can you give us a ride?
BARNIE:   Middle East?  Where’s that?
UNI:   It’s between the near-east and the far-east. Where do you think?
BENNY:   Smart ass. We ain’t giving no ride to smart-ass unicorns.
BARNIE:   A little tolerance, please, Benny.
ANI:   We’re looking for a guy named Noah.
BARNIE:   Well, what a remarkable coincidence. We just met a guy named Noah.                         Didn’t go well, though.
UNI:   I’ll be darned. He does exist!
ANI:   Of course he does. Why didn’t it go well?
BENNY:   Did you see the weather prediction?  Rain. Gloom. Misery as far as the eye                  can see.

ANI:   We’re unicorns. We know all about the future. What’s the deal with Noah?
BARNIE:   This Noah built a big boat.
BENNY:   Calls it an ark, for some stupid reason.
BARNIE:   Sort of a big ferry-thing.
UNI:   Yeah. Yeah. We know. Can you give a ride to the launch site?
BENNY:   We’re going the other way. We don’t ever want to see Noah again.
ANI:   What happened?  He didn’t have room for you?
BENNY:   He had plenty of room, the rat-bastard.
UNI:   So what was the problem?

BENNY:   He just crossed his arms, glared at us, and said:  No faggots.
BARNIE:   Can you believe it?  I did my best to reason with him. I tried to explain to                     him that all dinosaurs go through a homosexual phase. He wouldn’t buy it.                   He said some guy named God told him:  No gays. Not even bisexuals.
BENNIE:   There’s just no reasoning with some people. 

ANI:   He must be what’s going to be known as a Republican.
UNI:   Oh Ani, Not all Republicans will be bigots.
ANI:   Well, it seems like it.
BARNIE:   What’s a Republican?
ANI:   They’re a bunch of guys in the future that are going to start wars over what                 remains of your dead bodies.
BENNIE:   Insane unicorns. Great. I hate my life.
UNI:   Maybe this needs a little explanation. Unicorns have the ability to see the                   future.
BARNIE:   Really! Oh, that’s really cool!
ANI:   We can both do it, but it’s more developed in female unicorns than males. It               seems that female intuition synergizes with our ability to see visions.
UNI:   And, believe me, they never let us forget their superior vision.
BENNIE:   I know how you feel. I suffer too.
ANI:   That’s what these horns are for. See how they’re pointed up and out.
UNI:   They’re like antennae pointed into the future.
BARNIE:   Wow, what an amazing gift!  I wish I could see the future.

BENNIE:   The present is challenging enough, thank you.
ANI:   Sometimes the reception ain’t so great though.
UNI:   Lots of static. Lots of interference.
ANI:   But sometimes it’s as clear as can be.
UNI:   Remember Ari?  He damaged his horn and all he could see in the future was                 world peace, the end of poverty and disease and, believe it or not, zero-                   calorie chocolate that actually tasted good.

ANI:   Yeah. It was a shame. Talk about a warped vision. Totally delusional. Poor guy.           Remember Ori?  Lost his horn in an accident. Lost all his vision. His mind went             out the window and he reverted to the most base behavior.
UNI:   Eating oats.
ANI:   Whinnying like a horse.
UNI:   Completely lost it.
BARNIE:   That’s terrible.

ANI:   So Noah would absolutely not listen to reason?
BENNIE:   After Barnie explained it to him, catch this, he banned all dinosaurs—not                     just us—everybody!

BARNIE:   He had to explain it to the stegosauruses three times—they’re kinda slow,                   you know.
BENNIE:   What do you expect, with a brain the size of a walnut?
BARNIE:   One of the T-Rex’s threatened to EAT Noah! It still didn’t work.
ANI:   Boy, that God-dude is a real hard-ass.
BARNIE:   Yep. He really laid down the law.
UNI:   What are you going to do now?

BARNIE:   We’re going to paddle home. What else can we do?
BENNIE:   So what do you see in our future?  Bleak, I’ll bet.
UNI:   I don’t see a thing.
ANI:   I’m not sure. Kind of confusing. All I see is a shooting star, a big meteor and a             lot of little furry creatures eating eggs.
BENNIE:   What’s that supposed to mean?

ANI:   I don’t know.
BENNIE:   Well, we better get running along. Or, I guess, paddling along. If you do                       get to Noah, tell the bigot to kiss my tail. This the worst trip ever.
BARNIE:   At least we met some nice unicorns. Good luck you two!
BENNIE:   I hate life.
BARNIE:   And the scenery on the way was beautiful.
BENNIE:   I sure hope this raft doesn't sink.
BARNIE:   It won’t sink.
BENNIE:   Are we running low on food and water?
BARNIE:   We have plenty. Quit being so grouchy.
BENNIE:   I have a bad feeling about this.
BARNIE:   You always have a bad feeling about everything.
BENNIE:   Today it is particularly acute. I’m so miserable, I feel like I could crawl into                  a tar pit and die.
BARNIE:   I’m never going on a vacation with you again. You’re just too miserable                      when you travel.
ANI:   And good luck to you too!
BARNIE:   Thanks!  Bye!

(BENNIE and BARNIE exit)

UNI:   Well, there they go. What do we do now?
ANI:   Maybe another boat will come along going the other way.
UNI:   Fat chance.
ANI:   Quit being negative. You remind me of that cranky brontosaurus.
UNI:   I’m not negative. I’m realistic.
ANI:   Pessimists always say they’re just being “realistic.” I bet you don’t think I’m               crazy anymore.

UNI:   No, I don’t. You’re right. I’m sorry. I’m just frustrated. That’s all and I’m                   getting a little tired of you always correcting me.
ANI:   Well, I wouldn’t have to if you weren’t wrong so often. If it wasn’t for me we             wouldn’t have even started this trip. You’d be sitting in a field, chewing your             cud, waiting for the flood to come.
UNI:   Oh, so now we’re resorting to personal insults.
(It begins to rain.)
ANI:   And I am sick and tired of going over the same story over and over and over                again. You never listen to me anyhow. You’re as stupid as Ori.
(It rains a little harder.)
UNI:   Now you’ve gone completely off your feed, you old nag!
ANI:   Who are you calling an old nag, you, you, STUD!  And another thing--
(A thunderbolt claps. Both go silent.)
UNI:   I don’t like the look of this.
ANI:   Doesn't look good—does it?

UNI:   Yep…This is not a little thundershower is it?
(A large thunderclap strikes.)
UNI:   I love you Ani.
ANI:   I know you do.
UNI:   That’s not the response I’m supposed to get.
ANI:   Raining pretty hard, huh?
UNI:   Any more ideas?

ANI:   Nope…I love you too, Uni
UNI:   I know you do.
(The stage goes dark. A very bright flash of lightning is followed by very loud thunder.)
ANI:   Shit.
UNI:   Yeah, shit.
END PLAY
Here is a link to the book.  Below is the cover.
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Rational Hero of the Week:  Susan Gerbic, Wikipedia, Guerrilla Skepticism, and Couple of Noisy Quacks

7/11/2013

4 Comments

 
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I love Wikipedia. I love the whole concept. A crowd-sourcing miracle. The "People's Encyclopedia!" Both the greatest strength and weakness of Wikipedia is that nearly everyone can be an editor. With over 30 million articles in 286 languages, to say it has caught on is definitely an understatement. All that with no advertising (Yay!)--only grants and donations. It is somewhat surprising that there aren't more errors, but it seems to compare favorably with the accuracy of such venerable giants as Encyclopedia Britannica, which continues to survive, at least online. Frankly, I think encyclopedias as a business are doomed. I wonder how much longer Encyclopedia Britannica and World Book can last.
    Here's a fun entry, Wikipedia's List of Common Misconceptions. Have a beef with one of the supposed misconceptions?  Well, get in there and edit. Straighten them out. Here's another fun site: a website showing real-time recent changes of Wiki entries from all over the world. Wikipedia has its critics, but here I want to discuss one group that is helping to keep the entries honest, accurate, and referenced. Susan Gerbic's idea: guerrilla skepticism started about 2 years ago and has already attracted over 120 editors in 17 different languages. So what is meant by "guerilla skepticism?" Here is the entry from their mission statement:  

"The mission of the Guerrilla Skepticism editing team is to improve skeptical content of Wikipedia. We do this by improving pages of our skeptic spokespeople, providing noteworthy citations, and removing the unsourced claims from paranormal and pseudoscientific pages. Why? Because evidence is cool. We train – We mentor – Join us."

Let's hear it for "cool" evidence. Since there is no credible evidence for the paranormal, this sounds like the proverbial fish-in-a-barrel, right? Nope. Unfortunately, the opposition is mounting a counter-offense. Two well known  investigators or paranormal research, Rupert Sheldrake and Robert McLuhan have both recently written and blogged about guerilla skepticism. Sheldrake believes in telepathic communication between owners and their pets. He has done research that supposedly indicates that dogs can detect when their owners decide to come home. Hmmm. According to Sheldrake, "guerrilla skeptics... devote a great deal of time and energy to modifying Wikipedia entries so that they reflect a skeptical point of view about psychic phenomena, and try to portray research on these subjects as pseudoscience."  Robert McLuhan wrote a book called RANDI'S PRIZE: What sceptics say about the paranormal, why they are wrong and why it matters.  I invite you to read this Amazon review of the book, which is a pretty good summary of my feelings. McLuhan writes: We can't really complain about hostile editing, as long it stays within the Wikipedia guidelines for editors, which Gerbic seems committed to doing. As she sees it, it's all about insisting on backing up claims with evidence, which is what sceptics are all about...it's a pity that this key source for learning and education is so compromised as far as serious parapsychology is concerned. There is of course plenty of information about parapsychology, but little that isn't gummed up with sceptic disdain."
     "Skeptical point of view"? "Hostile editing"? "Serious parapsychology"? "Sceptic disdain"?

     Skepticism, obviously, should be neither hostile, nor disdainful; it should be pursued in the spirit of the search for truth, not in defense of any point of view. Otherwise, one is engaged in What Richard Feynman described as cargo cult science. 
     Try this on for size: I think that truth can only fit into three categories: true, not true, and confusing. A skeptic believes in the scientific method: that evidence should precede belief, and that when contradictory evidence is generated you need to change your beliefs, not shoe-horn the evidence into a pre-existing framework of beliefs--the latter is the province of religion or pseudoscience.
     All right. I've traveled too far away from my original intent in this blog entry, which was not to engage in quack-bashing, but to congratulate Susan Gerbic for her great idea and to thank all the contributors to Guerrilla Skepticism for their time and trouble. I hope to meet Susan when she comes to Tacoma for the CFI Summit in Tacoma this fall, so I can thank her in person.

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The Value of the Fool. A Compendium of Rational Knee-Slappers

7/7/2013

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Everyone loves comedy. Comedy is serious. The Fool is the one who speaks truth to power. In Tarot Cards the Fool, or the Joker, is designated with a zero. From the description of the Fool Tarot Card in Wikipedia, "The Fool is the spirit in search of experience. He represents the mystical cleverness bereft of reason within us, the childlike ability to tune into the inner workings of the world. The sun shining behind him represents the divine nature of the Fool's wisdom and exuberance, holy madness or 'crazy wisdom'." I'm not sure Fools are "bereft" of reason, but I certainly go along with "crazy wisdom." The use of the Fool by Shakespeare in King Lear has been examined by may scholars.  In this paper "[The Fool] acts as Lear's conscience and trusted guide, yet he is also a critic of Lear, a truth teller. In effect this makes a true friend, however some believe it was the Fool's constant remarks that drove Lear to madness."  But later "The Fool increasingly to be his voice of reason or his conscience, because he reminds Lear of all his mistakes and manipulates his feelings into realising them." Ah, yes, the "voice of reason."  
     I love Fools. We are lucky to have so many Rational Fools and this wonderful tool, the Internet, so that we can spread foolish wisdom all over the world.  Below is a collection of some of my favorite Rational Fools.   

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    Scot Bastian Ph.D. is a scientist and artist who lives in Seattle WA.

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