No. 5 | Skeptical Inquirer (original) (raw)
Feature Article
The Truth about Sallie Winchester and the Mystery House That Never Was Adrienne Hill
Editor’s note: The Winchester Mystery House has appeared in Skeptical Inquirer a few times over the years. Most notably, Joe Nickell (2002) and Karen Stollznow (2011) previously corrected misperceptions about the house and its most famous owner. Our cover story shows how earlier SI reporting combined with other valuable sources (e.g., the Skeptoid podcast) help …
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Feature Article
Mysterious Mastermind: Conspiracy Theories and Taylor Swift David Hahn
Editor’s note: There are hidden Easter eggs in this article. See something that looks “wrong” typographically? It might be a clue. See if you can find them all. This isn’t an article about Taylor Swift specifically—at least, the point isn’t to discuss her. This is an article about conspiracy theories and a musician in her …
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Feature Article
Dark Turn in a Thrift Store Urn: A Serial Killer’s Ashes? Kenny Biddle
In my years of investigating extraordinary claims of alleged paranormal activity, I’ve come across my share of hoaxes. From the Dibbuk Box (Biddle 2019) to spirits moving a table (Biddle 2022) to a dancing Cabbage Patch doll (Biddle 2021), I’ve seen people try to pass off all manner of deception to gain fame, fortune, or …
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Feature Article
Is Belief in Improbable Theories Ever Warranted? A Fortune Teller’s Own Death Card Lee McIntyre
For years, I have been fascinated by the irrationality of science denial. When people typically engage in science denial, the problem is not simply that they deny well-tested empirical theories for which there is ample evidence but that they also usually subscribe to an alternative belief for which there is little to no evidence. Of …
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Feature Article
Eye Movement Therapies, Purple Hats, and the Sagan Standard Gerald M. Rosen and Loren Pankratz
Editor’s note: Gerald Rosen and Gerald Davison coined the term purple hat therapy as a metaphor for treatment packages such as eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) that combine essential elements (cognitive and behavioral techniques) and nonessential elements (eye movements). Wikipedia now has a page dedicated to this concept. In the 1980s, several novel psychotherapeutic …
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Call to Action
Join Guerrilla Skepticism on Wikipedia—and Help Us Find More Science Experts Susan Gerbic
The Guerrilla Skepticism on Wikipedia (GSoW) project I run is often associated with writing and maintaining pages focused on paranormal, anti-vaccine, and science biographies. Although we do indeed write a lot about those topics, we also focus on pages that are just science. We are nearing our fifteenth year and have written over 2,200 articles, …
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In Memory
In Memory of CSI Fellow Frederick Crews The Crews Family
Frederick Crews was an admired professor of literature and the author of fourteen books, some of which drew wide interest for their satirical or argumentative import. He died peacefully on June 21, 2024, at age ninety-one after a brief illness. Crews was the son of Ruby Gaudet Crews and Maurice Augustus Crews. He was educated …
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Commentary
Trauma Here, Trauma There, Trauma, Trauma Everywhere! Peter Barglow
The English word trauma originates from the ancient Greek word τραῦμα, referring to the appearance of physical wounds that show twisting, bruising, piercing distortions. It became embedded in the English language in the late seventeenth century, and during the late 1880s, its meaning was extended by Jean-Martin Charcot (1825–1893) and Sigmund Freud (1856–1939) to refer …
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Special Report
Critical Thinking Conference in Argentina Stephen Hupp
On May 18–19, 2024, I attended the Critical Thinking Conference held by the Argentina branch of the Center for Inquiry. Its executive director, Alejandro Borgo, organized the event, billed as “an antidote to current scams,” and welcomed me to Buenos Aires. Held in the historic Argentine Scientific Society building, presenters came from across South America …
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Forum
How and Why I Got Involved in Scientific Research and Skepticism Alejandro Borgo
When I was a child, my father used to give me huge popular science books on various subjects. The one I liked the most was an illustrated book on astronomy. That book fascinated me, and I began to observe the sky. When I was a teenager, my parents and I moved to a friend’s house …
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From the Editor
Skepticism Saves the Mystery House Stephen Hupp
Beware the Mystery House! In 1886, Sarah Winchester purchased an eight-room farmhouse in San Jose, California, and quickly began the house’s transformation into a 160-room Victorian mansion. After her death in 1922, the mansion came to be called the “Winchester Mystery House” by its new owners, John and Mayme Brown. Inspiration for Walt Disney’s Haunted …
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News & Comment
Vatican Revises Rules for Investigating Miracles Benjamin Radford
In May 2024, the Vatican issued updated guidelines on how the Catholic Church should investigate and adjudicate claims about miracles and other supernatural phenomena (healings, weeping statues, stigmata, etc.). The document, Norms for Proceeding in the Discernment of Alleged Supernatural Phenomena, is technical and a bit tough going, but basically because God has, reportedly, chosen …
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News & Comment
News Bites: From a Psychic Scam Sentence to the ScienceSaves Winners Stephen Hupp, Julia Lavarnway, and William M. London
Operator of ‘Psychic’ Mailing Scam Sentenced. On April 15, 2024, Patrice Runner, a Canadian and French citizen, was sentenced to ten years in federal prison for directing a mass-mailing fraud scheme from 1994 through 2014 that stole more than $175 million from over 1.3 million U.S. victims. Runner, along with four coconspirators who previously pleaded …
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Investigative Files
The Vanishing Lighthouse Keepers Joe Nickell
This mystery story, involving a lighthouse on one of a group of remote islands called the Flannan Isles, began in December 1900. The island is called Eilean Mor, meaning “big island,” and is indeed the largest of the group that lie off Scotland’s northwest coast. The island was uninhabited except for a bit of wildlife …
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Notes on a Strange World
Tribal Thinking: Exposing Ourselves to Potentially Deadly Risks Massimo Polidoro
“All the world’s a stage, and all the men and women merely players,” wrote William Shakespeare in As You Like It. A poetic license, to be sure, but one that seems to have a scientific counterpart. Three centuries after Shakespeare, Canadian-born sociologist Erving Goffman devoted much of his work to studying how people try to …
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The Philosopher’s Corner
Are Plants Conscious? Massimo Pigliucci
We have published comments to Massimo Pigliucci’s article. You can read them by clicking this link. When scientific skeptics think of a purveyor of pseudoscience, they may visualize a somewhat socially awkward dude with a tinfoil hat. Oddly, however, sometimes pseudoscience claims come from credentialed scientists who ought to know better. The ongoing question of …
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Behavior & Belief
Scientists on Trial: Follow the Money Stuart Vyse
Shock waves rolled through academia in August 2023 when Harvard Business School professor Francesca Gino sued her employer, Harvard University. The reaction to this news was not merely a result of the lawsuit. Nowadays, professors often sue their employers. The classic case involves a professor who is denied tenure and sues claiming discrimination—an understandable response, …
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The Practical Skeptic
The Useful Mandela Effect Mick West
You might remember seeing the 1979 James Bond movie Moonraker. It’s not one of the better Bond movies (Esquire magazine ranked it the second worst), but it has a memorable setting (partly in space) and a memorable villain, the steel-toothed Jaws, played by 7’3” Richard Kiel. Midway through the movie, Bond is in a cable …
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The Time Warp: Skepticism Revisited—from the Future
Ancient Aliens, Now Extra Cringey Craig A. Foster
Welcome aboard, friends! In The Time Warp, we aren’t limited to present-day examinations. We use Skeptical Inquirer’s rich history to examine skepticism … from the future. On this voyage, we travel to Winter 1978 and the sixth installment of Skeptical Inquirer (Vol 3, no 2). Some historical glitter to prepare us for our journey: Freak …
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Skeptical Inquiree
Parsing Possession: Meeting a Woman and Her Reported Possessor Benjamin Radford
Q: Have you ever been in the same room with someone who was possessed or undergoing an exorcism? —S. Rob A: There are several subcategories of possession. The context of this question was Roman Catholic possession and exorcisms specifically—the kind most people are familiar with through pop culture (especially horror films such as The …
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New And Notable
New and Notable – Vol. 48, No. 5 Stephen Hupp
BIZARRE MEDICAL IDEAS … and the Strange Men Who Invented Them. CSI Fellow and emeritus professor of complementary medicine Edzard Ernst wrote this new book that “focuses on the individuals who invented specific forms of alternative medicine. Examples are Hahnemann (homeopathy), Still (osteopathy), Schulz (autogenic training).” Springer, 2024. MIND THE SCIENCE: Saving Your Mental Health …
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Review
Myths, Monsters, and Mysteries of Those Meddling Kids Benjamin Radford
Zoinks! is the first book to examine the folklore, myths, and legends about Scooby-Doo that inspired so many of the Mystery, Inc., gang’s adventures. Approaching the beloved cartoon with scholarly rigor and more than a bit of wit, Mark Norman (host of the Folklore Podcast and author of several books, including Black Dog Folklore and …
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Review
Science Stories Shaping Our World Katie Suleta
The essence of what a science communicator does is try to make science relatable and accessible to the masses. Joe Schwarcz has been doing this for decades. His latest book, Superfoods, Silkworms, and Spandex: Science and Pseudoscience in Everyday Life, continues his legacy of making science both accessible and fun. It’s a veritable buffet of …
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Review
Bigfoot and the Folk Brian Regal
Musicologist Alan Lomax (1915–2002) spent his professional career traveling around the country making audio recordings of obscure American musicians, mostly poor and rural, playing obscure American music. He believed such folklore was an aspect of the American experience worth preserving and studying. He argued such music was crucial to understanding American history. It didn’t matter …
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Fun & Games
Fun & Games – Vol. 48, No. 5 Stephen Hupp
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Letters to the Editor
Letters to the Editor – Vol. 48, No. 5
Shadows of Science Including Kendrick Frazier’s article “Stories That Should Be Handled with Care: The Subjects of Pseudoscience” in the March/April 2024 issue of Skeptical Inquirer is much appreciated. The article offers a wonderful taste from a skeptical thinker who dedicated his work to upholding scientific beliefs, which were beautifully brought to fruition in his new book Shadows of Science. Please allow me …
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