Skeptophilia

Before I start today's post, allow me to begin with a disclaimer: I am not  claiming psychic abilities are impossible.  I am not  hostil...

I'm going to start out with a quote from the brilliant Randall Munroe, whose comic strip xkcd  is rightly beloved by science nerds and t...

A recommendation for bloggers and other commentators: if you are going to write about science, make sure you understand the damn science.  A...

Yesterday, we saw one example of mistaking correlation for causation -- that being a skeptic (or materialist, or rationalist) is why two pro...

One of the best arguments against superstitions is how variable they are across cultures.  For example, if a rabbit's foot is lucky for ...

Everyone loves a good correlation.  Our brains are outstanding pattern-finders; we are very good at picking patterns out of the sensory inpu...