Well, the first thing I need to do in today's post is to figure out if I can correct the timestamp, which is clearly wrong. Hmmm... let's see... no, it won't let me do it. Okay, then, I'll just have to state for the record that today you should date all of your checks, documents, and correspondence with "July 25, 1715."
What? How can that be true, you ask? 1715... so, J. S. Bach would still be alive, King George I would just have been crowned king of England, and the USA wouldn't exist for another sixty-odd years? To which I chuckle gently, and explain: of course that's not what I mean. You can't just jump backwards in time, that would be ridiculous. What I'm saying is that the calendar is wrong, not because we've leapt back to the 18th century, but because...
... the years between 614 and 911 C.E. did not exist.
Yes, according to the Phantom Time Hypothesis (sources here and here), devised by Hans-Ulrich Niemitz and Heribert Illig, time actually went from the year 613 directly to the year 912. Any events that occurred during those years, or people who are alleged to have lived then are:
1) legends being misunderstood as reality;
2) misinterpretations of documents that refer to events or people from other time periods;
or 3) deliberate fabrications by a bunch of calendar conspirators.
Some of the people who therefore didn't exist are King Harald I Fairhair of Norway, King Alfred the Great of Wessex, the writers Alcuin, Caedmon, Li Po, and Bede... and Charlemagne.
Why, you might ask, do Niemitz and Illig believe this? Apparently it's based on hiatuses in historical records (the Early Middle Ages in Europe was a chaotic time, and most of the few records that were written during that time have been lost), coupled with perceived gaps in building in Constantinople. Niemitz and Illig also believe that the development of religious doctrine in Europe goes into a stall between the 7th and 10th centuries, as does the progress of art, language, and science. All of these gaps, they say, can be explained if those three centuries didn't exist -- they were inventions of a conspiracy of church fathers in the 11th and 12th centuries, that originated with Holy Roman Emperor Otto III and Pope Sylvester II, and has continued lo unto this very day.
Well, let me see here. Where do I start?
Interesting, if three centuries fell out of historians' pockets somewhere along the way, that astronomical records (especially records of comets and solar eclipses kept by the Chinese) agree precisely with back-calculations done by present day astronomers. The Tang Dynasty -- which coincides almost perfectly with Niemitz and Illig's lost centuries, and which they consider a "Golden Age Myth" -- not only produced art and artifacts, but kept intricate records of observations of events in the sky. It's a little hard to explain the solar eclipses that occurred during that time, and which line up perfectly with when astronomers know they occurred, if (1) those three centuries never happened, and (2) the Tang Dynasty astronomers were themselves later fabrications.
We also have the problem that this is the period during which Islam spread across the Middle East -- so we're supposed to believe that we jump right from 614 (Muhammad is still alive, but has yet to make his pilgrimage to Mecca) to 911 (the Muslims are in control of territory from southern Spain to Arabia and beyond)? And I guess they should revoke my master's degree, because the subject of my thesis (the Viking conquest of England and Scotland) occurred during those years... and so is an elaborate fiction, as is the linguistic and archaeological evidence.
Or, maybe I'm one of the conspirators. I've been accused of that before.
Anyway, this whole hypothesis seems to be a lot of nonsense, and is yet another good example of Ockham's Razor, not to mention the ECREE Principle. So, you can relax, and cancel any plans to go back and yell at your high school history teachers -- Charlemagne was almost certainly a real person. As were Alfred the Great and the rest. Me, I'm glad. I have a hard enough time remembering to write the correct year on my checks when January 1 rolls around; I don't know what I'd do if I had to remember that it was a whole different century.
Wednesday, July 25, 2012
Tuesday, July 24, 2012
Cryptid menagerie
It's been a busy week, here in the cryptozoological wing of the Skeptophilia research offices. We're currently tracking three stories about alleged spine-chilling, bizarre, non-human life-forms, and we're not even talking about the cast of Jersey Shore.
First, we've got a story from The Examiner about an old man in the Philippines who was attacked by a shape-shifting monster called an "aswang" or "manananggal," which attacks humans and eats their livers. The still photographs show, lo and behold, an old man being confronted by someone who looks like he's wearing one of the rubberized monster heads from the movie Alien:
So, anyway, the story goes on to say how there's a video of the incident but it "hasn't been released yet," which sounds kind of fishy right from the get-go. Also a bit sketchy is the lack of detail; the victim wasn't named, although it does say that the victim's brother "José" filmed the entire incident. Which raises the question of why he didn't run to help, instead of standing there with a video camera while his brother had his liver eaten.
Then, I noticed that the guy who went to the Philippines to gather information for the report was none other than Blake Cousins, who appeared in Skeptophilia just last week -- as the "investigative reporter" who did the video clip about the 12-year-old boy from Australia who made himself an "Atlantean copper headband" that allowed him to talk to spirits from inside the Hollow Earth. In fact, even the site Phantoms and Monsters, not generally the most skeptical of sources, called this story "possible buffoonery." (Here) So given those two strikes against it, this story is almost certainly a non-starter, especially considering the credibility Cousins has, or the lack thereof. So let's move on to our next story, which takes us to the dry hillsides of Utah.
The UK Daily Mail is reporting on a story about some hikers near Ben Lomond Peak in Weber County, Utah, who saw... a goat man.
In fact, one of them, Coty Creighton, took a photograph of Goat Man:
Creighton told reporters at the Utah Standard Examiner that he "...thought it was a deformed goat. It was clumsy, not nimble… He was on his hands and knees, crawling along the mountainside."
In a separate communication with Salt Lake City's CityWeekly.Net, Creighton said, "I was racking my brain trying to figure out what other type of animal it could be. An albino bear? A honky Sasquatch?"
At this point, I had to stop for a moment to clean the coffee spatters off my computer screen.
Creighton, however, got out binoculars and took a closer look, and found out that it was none of those things. It was...
... a guy in a custom-made goat suit.
Creighton stared at the guy for about five minutes, and at some point, the Goat Man realized he was being observed, and stopped moving -- and just stared back. Creighton got creeped out, and said he wasn't going to get any closer, because "Something was definitely off with that guy."
I'd say that's a major understatement. So if you're going to be in Utah any time soon, make sure you keep your eyes peeled for Goat Man.
Our third report comes all the way from the Moon, via MUFON (the Mutual UFO Network) and the site Ghost Theory. (Source) It shows a still photograph, and a video clip, of a pulsating, cloudlike "anomaly" hovering over a lunar crater. Scott McMan, of Ghost Theory, writes, "The person who submitted the video seemed as confused as I was because he could only make the following statement: 'I don’t know what to make of this object.'" People who've analyzed the video say that the "entity... moves in a lifelike fashion."
Well, I'm a bit at a loss myself, but my initial reaction is that it looks like a stationary object whose image is being distorted by the passage of the light rays from it through the Earth's atmosphere. This effect, similar to the heat shimmer you see above a hot roadway on a clear day, is caused by light bending as it passes through media with different indices of refraction, warping the image, and (if the medium itself is moving) making it appear that the object itself is moving. I'll admit, though, that it's pretty bizarre-looking. And even though I strongly suspect that this has a perfectly natural explanation that has nothing to do with an alien entity moving in a lifelike fashion, at least it doesn't shout out "hoax!" to me.
Which is more than I can say for the "aswang" photographs and the Utah Goat Man.
First, we've got a story from The Examiner about an old man in the Philippines who was attacked by a shape-shifting monster called an "aswang" or "manananggal," which attacks humans and eats their livers. The still photographs show, lo and behold, an old man being confronted by someone who looks like he's wearing one of the rubberized monster heads from the movie Alien:
So, anyway, the story goes on to say how there's a video of the incident but it "hasn't been released yet," which sounds kind of fishy right from the get-go. Also a bit sketchy is the lack of detail; the victim wasn't named, although it does say that the victim's brother "José" filmed the entire incident. Which raises the question of why he didn't run to help, instead of standing there with a video camera while his brother had his liver eaten.
Then, I noticed that the guy who went to the Philippines to gather information for the report was none other than Blake Cousins, who appeared in Skeptophilia just last week -- as the "investigative reporter" who did the video clip about the 12-year-old boy from Australia who made himself an "Atlantean copper headband" that allowed him to talk to spirits from inside the Hollow Earth. In fact, even the site Phantoms and Monsters, not generally the most skeptical of sources, called this story "possible buffoonery." (Here) So given those two strikes against it, this story is almost certainly a non-starter, especially considering the credibility Cousins has, or the lack thereof. So let's move on to our next story, which takes us to the dry hillsides of Utah.
The UK Daily Mail is reporting on a story about some hikers near Ben Lomond Peak in Weber County, Utah, who saw... a goat man.
In fact, one of them, Coty Creighton, took a photograph of Goat Man:
Creighton told reporters at the Utah Standard Examiner that he "...thought it was a deformed goat. It was clumsy, not nimble… He was on his hands and knees, crawling along the mountainside."
In a separate communication with Salt Lake City's CityWeekly.Net, Creighton said, "I was racking my brain trying to figure out what other type of animal it could be. An albino bear? A honky Sasquatch?"
At this point, I had to stop for a moment to clean the coffee spatters off my computer screen.
Creighton, however, got out binoculars and took a closer look, and found out that it was none of those things. It was...
... a guy in a custom-made goat suit.
Creighton stared at the guy for about five minutes, and at some point, the Goat Man realized he was being observed, and stopped moving -- and just stared back. Creighton got creeped out, and said he wasn't going to get any closer, because "Something was definitely off with that guy."
I'd say that's a major understatement. So if you're going to be in Utah any time soon, make sure you keep your eyes peeled for Goat Man.
Our third report comes all the way from the Moon, via MUFON (the Mutual UFO Network) and the site Ghost Theory. (Source) It shows a still photograph, and a video clip, of a pulsating, cloudlike "anomaly" hovering over a lunar crater. Scott McMan, of Ghost Theory, writes, "The person who submitted the video seemed as confused as I was because he could only make the following statement: 'I don’t know what to make of this object.'" People who've analyzed the video say that the "entity... moves in a lifelike fashion."
Well, I'm a bit at a loss myself, but my initial reaction is that it looks like a stationary object whose image is being distorted by the passage of the light rays from it through the Earth's atmosphere. This effect, similar to the heat shimmer you see above a hot roadway on a clear day, is caused by light bending as it passes through media with different indices of refraction, warping the image, and (if the medium itself is moving) making it appear that the object itself is moving. I'll admit, though, that it's pretty bizarre-looking. And even though I strongly suspect that this has a perfectly natural explanation that has nothing to do with an alien entity moving in a lifelike fashion, at least it doesn't shout out "hoax!" to me.
Which is more than I can say for the "aswang" photographs and the Utah Goat Man.
Monday, July 23, 2012
Lemmings, hockey fans, and fire pits
Friday, the Silicon Valley Mercury reported that 21 people were treated at a local hospital for burns after participating in a firewalking activity at an event organized by inspirational speaker Tony Robbins. (Source)
My first reaction was that I find it hard to fathom how 21 people were injured. One or two, okay. But 21? You'd think that even by person number 5, the rest of the crowd would see that persons number 1 through 4 were writhing on the ground, screaming with agony, and would say, "Hmmm. Maybe not. I think I'll just watch from the sidelines, thanks." But that's not what happened. Mr. Robbins kept telling the participants, "C'mon! You can do it! This time it's really going to work!", and for some reason they kept believing him. Perhaps he had them lined up in reverse order of IQ, so that each person in line was incrementally stupider than the previous one.
The interesting thing is that even now, Robbins and the events staff aren't admitting that walking on hot coals is basically a stupid thing to do. "We have been safely providing this experience for more than three decades, and always under the supervision of medical personnel," a spokesperson told reporters after the fiasco on Friday. "We continue to work with local fire and emergency personnel to ensure this event is always done in the safest way possible."
And even the injured firewalkers aren't willing to say that the problem is that "hot things will burn you." One participant, Andrew Brenner, told reporters that he did get burned, but it was his own fault, for not having enough "faith and concentration." "I did it before, didn't get into the right state and got burned," Brenner said. "I knew I wasn't at my peak state. I didn't take it as serious."
What strikes me about all of this -- besides the general observation that given a contest between "faith and concentration" and "extremely hot object," the hot object is going to win every time -- is how this is indicative of the lemming-like aspects of human behavior. All of us, when in large groups, tend to participate in behavior that we would never dream of doing while alone or in smaller groups. Look at the kinds of things that can happen at athletic events, concerts, and festivals. I think it unlikely, for example, that I would paint my face, shoulders, and chest red-and-white (Cornell colors, for those of you who are non-New Yorkers) in any group with less than ten members, and the number might rise to 25 if we were talking about a freezing cold day in early March. However, at the ECAC hockey finals, buoyed up by the energy of thousands of cheering Big Red hockey fans...? But perhaps I've incriminated myself enough already.
It all comes from being a social primate, really. We do what the group does, for a variety of reasons. Most of such behavior is probably pretty harmless, honestly, and the sociologists would point to its importance in group cohesion and our sense of belonging. Of course, the dark side of this tendency is the capacity for mob violence. In groups, people will often break their own moral and ethical precepts, not then (if ever) recognizing the point where they crossed that line, because a sort of group mentality takes over. As Stanislaw Lec said, "Every snowflake in an avalanche pleads not guilty." And from one of my own personal favorites, Terry Pratchett: "The IQ of a mob is equal to the IQ of its stupidest member, divided by the number of people in the mob."
Leaders, from corporate CEOs to high school principals to motivational speakers, take advantage of this tendency, often with the best of motives. Get the group stirred up; get them excited about something. Identify a few of the major power brokers in the group (the Head Lemmings), and get them on your side. At that point, you can propose damn near anything, and the whole group will follow you. I've seen it accomplish great things; in my own school, five years ago, the creation of our highly successful electives program was accomplished using just such a method. Of course, it's also resulted in riots, crusades, and wars. Any tendency in human nature can be used for good or for evil.
Or just to make people do stupid stuff, like walking across a fire pit after the first twenty people burned their feet up, just because some silly motivational speaker was shouting, "do it! I believe in you!"
My first reaction was that I find it hard to fathom how 21 people were injured. One or two, okay. But 21? You'd think that even by person number 5, the rest of the crowd would see that persons number 1 through 4 were writhing on the ground, screaming with agony, and would say, "Hmmm. Maybe not. I think I'll just watch from the sidelines, thanks." But that's not what happened. Mr. Robbins kept telling the participants, "C'mon! You can do it! This time it's really going to work!", and for some reason they kept believing him. Perhaps he had them lined up in reverse order of IQ, so that each person in line was incrementally stupider than the previous one.
The interesting thing is that even now, Robbins and the events staff aren't admitting that walking on hot coals is basically a stupid thing to do. "We have been safely providing this experience for more than three decades, and always under the supervision of medical personnel," a spokesperson told reporters after the fiasco on Friday. "We continue to work with local fire and emergency personnel to ensure this event is always done in the safest way possible."
And even the injured firewalkers aren't willing to say that the problem is that "hot things will burn you." One participant, Andrew Brenner, told reporters that he did get burned, but it was his own fault, for not having enough "faith and concentration." "I did it before, didn't get into the right state and got burned," Brenner said. "I knew I wasn't at my peak state. I didn't take it as serious."
What strikes me about all of this -- besides the general observation that given a contest between "faith and concentration" and "extremely hot object," the hot object is going to win every time -- is how this is indicative of the lemming-like aspects of human behavior. All of us, when in large groups, tend to participate in behavior that we would never dream of doing while alone or in smaller groups. Look at the kinds of things that can happen at athletic events, concerts, and festivals. I think it unlikely, for example, that I would paint my face, shoulders, and chest red-and-white (Cornell colors, for those of you who are non-New Yorkers) in any group with less than ten members, and the number might rise to 25 if we were talking about a freezing cold day in early March. However, at the ECAC hockey finals, buoyed up by the energy of thousands of cheering Big Red hockey fans...? But perhaps I've incriminated myself enough already.
It all comes from being a social primate, really. We do what the group does, for a variety of reasons. Most of such behavior is probably pretty harmless, honestly, and the sociologists would point to its importance in group cohesion and our sense of belonging. Of course, the dark side of this tendency is the capacity for mob violence. In groups, people will often break their own moral and ethical precepts, not then (if ever) recognizing the point where they crossed that line, because a sort of group mentality takes over. As Stanislaw Lec said, "Every snowflake in an avalanche pleads not guilty." And from one of my own personal favorites, Terry Pratchett: "The IQ of a mob is equal to the IQ of its stupidest member, divided by the number of people in the mob."
Leaders, from corporate CEOs to high school principals to motivational speakers, take advantage of this tendency, often with the best of motives. Get the group stirred up; get them excited about something. Identify a few of the major power brokers in the group (the Head Lemmings), and get them on your side. At that point, you can propose damn near anything, and the whole group will follow you. I've seen it accomplish great things; in my own school, five years ago, the creation of our highly successful electives program was accomplished using just such a method. Of course, it's also resulted in riots, crusades, and wars. Any tendency in human nature can be used for good or for evil.
Or just to make people do stupid stuff, like walking across a fire pit after the first twenty people burned their feet up, just because some silly motivational speaker was shouting, "do it! I believe in you!"
Friday, July 20, 2012
Flea, tick, and baloney repellent
Do you subscribe to views of medicine that involve the words "frequency" and "vibration?" Do you think that when you're ill, it would really be a good idea to take a "remedy" from which every last potentially useful molecule has been removed? Do you think that when you get the sniffles, it's because you have a clogged chakra?
Do you have pets?
If you answered all of those questions "yes," you will be thrilled to know that the woo-woos have now extended their wacko ideas into treating Fido, Mr. Fluffums, and your other furry friends.
A friend of mine sent me a link yesterday advertising "Only Natural Pet EasyDefense Flea & Tick Tags," available for $71.99 (on sale), should you have no better uses for 72 bucks, which in my opinion would include using it to start a campfire. Here is the pitch, which (for the record) I am not making up:
1) Seriously?
2) I kind of doubt that my "pet's own energy" repels much of anything. I own two dogs that seem to be magnets for dirt, filth, burs, and dead animal residue, so I think if this tag somehow enhanced my "pet's own energy," every bad-smelling thing in a five-mile radius would suddenly fly through the air toward my house, sort of like the last scene in the movie Carrie only way more disgusting.
3) Saying that something you're promoting is "somewhat similar to the basic principles of homeopathy" is not a selling point, okay? This is a little like a person running for political office saying that his fiscal policy is "somewhat similar to the basic principles of fraud."
4) What is a "quantum mechanic?" Is this a guy who wears a jumpsuit with "Rick" embroidered on the pocket, who works on atoms? "Well, it's gonna be kind of expensive. I had to rotate your quarks, and your electrons' spin kinda had a bit of a shimmy, so I replaced the bearings, and then tuned up the nucleus and lubed the neutrons. She should run pretty smooth now."
The advertisement then goes on to say that the EasyDefense tag is "completely safe for your pet, with no possible side effects." I'm sure this is true. In fact, in my opinion, they should broaden that statement to read, "completely safe for your pet, because it has no effects whatsoever."
It is unclear to me whether there should be a point where the government steps in to prevent hucksters from making claims that are clearly false. However, being that caveat emptor seems to be the general rule, there's nothing to stop anyone from claiming anything, even if it's total baloney (although there are some restrictions with respect to human health -- you are required to state, "The FDA has not evaluated these claims" if, in fact, what you are claiming is patently untrue). In general, the law sides with the seller -- for example, just last week, a Louisiana judge ruled that the claims of fortunetellers and mediums to be psychic are protected free speech. [Source] This makes it all the more important that people learn critical thinking skills early -- because that is the only thing I know that acts to repel frauds, fakes, and phonies. And it does so without even having to resort to using "quantum mechanic's refined frequencies."
Do you have pets?
If you answered all of those questions "yes," you will be thrilled to know that the woo-woos have now extended their wacko ideas into treating Fido, Mr. Fluffums, and your other furry friends.
A friend of mine sent me a link yesterday advertising "Only Natural Pet EasyDefense Flea & Tick Tags," available for $71.99 (on sale), should you have no better uses for 72 bucks, which in my opinion would include using it to start a campfire. Here is the pitch, which (for the record) I am not making up:
Protect your dogs and cats from fleas, ticks and mosquitoes naturally! The Only Natural Pet EasyDefense Flea & Tick Tag is a safe, chemical-free way to keep harmful pests off of your pet. Using state of the art holistic technology, the EasyDefense Tag utilizes your pet’s own energy to create a natural barrier to pests. There are no chemicals or pesticides involved. It is completely safe for pets and humans in the household...Okay. I do have a few questions about this:
The EasyDefense tag is treated with a bio-energetic process and sealed in an electro-magnetic shielded envelope. When opened and placed on your pet, it uses your pet's own inherent energy to send out frequencies that repel pests. The process operates with quantum mechanic's [sic] refined frequencies, and is somewhat similar to the basic principles of homeopathy. (It does not use traditional energy forms like electrical, chemical, thermal, magnetic, or radioactive.)
This holistic energetic approach combines the knowledge of Eastern medicine with advanced Western technology, and is the result of more than 10 years of targeted research in collaboration with renowned doctors and scientists. This quantum energy approach has been used in Europe for many years to enhance human health and wellness through the energizing of objects, water, drinks, and supplements.
1) Seriously?
2) I kind of doubt that my "pet's own energy" repels much of anything. I own two dogs that seem to be magnets for dirt, filth, burs, and dead animal residue, so I think if this tag somehow enhanced my "pet's own energy," every bad-smelling thing in a five-mile radius would suddenly fly through the air toward my house, sort of like the last scene in the movie Carrie only way more disgusting.
3) Saying that something you're promoting is "somewhat similar to the basic principles of homeopathy" is not a selling point, okay? This is a little like a person running for political office saying that his fiscal policy is "somewhat similar to the basic principles of fraud."
4) What is a "quantum mechanic?" Is this a guy who wears a jumpsuit with "Rick" embroidered on the pocket, who works on atoms? "Well, it's gonna be kind of expensive. I had to rotate your quarks, and your electrons' spin kinda had a bit of a shimmy, so I replaced the bearings, and then tuned up the nucleus and lubed the neutrons. She should run pretty smooth now."
The advertisement then goes on to say that the EasyDefense tag is "completely safe for your pet, with no possible side effects." I'm sure this is true. In fact, in my opinion, they should broaden that statement to read, "completely safe for your pet, because it has no effects whatsoever."
It is unclear to me whether there should be a point where the government steps in to prevent hucksters from making claims that are clearly false. However, being that caveat emptor seems to be the general rule, there's nothing to stop anyone from claiming anything, even if it's total baloney (although there are some restrictions with respect to human health -- you are required to state, "The FDA has not evaluated these claims" if, in fact, what you are claiming is patently untrue). In general, the law sides with the seller -- for example, just last week, a Louisiana judge ruled that the claims of fortunetellers and mediums to be psychic are protected free speech. [Source] This makes it all the more important that people learn critical thinking skills early -- because that is the only thing I know that acts to repel frauds, fakes, and phonies. And it does so without even having to resort to using "quantum mechanic's refined frequencies."
Thursday, July 19, 2012
Kiss kiss bang bang
There's apparently a evolutionary significance to kissing. Who knew? I'm an evolutionary biologist by background, and I didn't know. Me, I just thought it was kind of fun.
Wendy Hill, a neuroscientist at Lafayette College in Pennsylvania, published research a couple of years ago that indicates that there are changes in levels of hormones when couples kiss. Apparently, Hill's team paid heterosexual couples to kiss for fifteen minutes, and measured blood levels of various hormones before and after (and I can only imagine the lines of horny college guys waiting to sign up for this opportunity). (Source)
The results were intriguing. In particular, the hormone oxytocin seems to be affected by kissing. Oxytocin is one of the "feel-good hormones," and has been nicknamed the "cuddle hormone" because it is associated with the maternal instinct and caring for an infant, and the fact that its levels skyrocket in both genders immediately after orgasm. The research indicates that oxytocin levels spike in men during kissing, but they fall in women. This I find surprising, but I can't find anywhere that the researchers speculated as to why oxytocin falls in women after they kiss. This to me would seem to indicate that men feel better after kissing and women feel worse, which seems a little odd. Maybe it's because kissing makes men think about having an orgasm and makes women think about taking care of a infant.
In any case, it's interesting that 90% of human societies (according to the research study) "practice kissing." I don't know about the other 10%. Perhaps they rub foreheads together, or something. Perhaps they don't practice any more because they've figured out how to do it right. It's a mystery.
The other intriguing find of the study was that men prefer "sloppy kisses," whereas evidently women don't. The researchers explain this by positing that saliva contains trace amounts of testosterone, which is linked to increased sex drive in both genders, and swapping spit is a way of dialing up the response in your partner. So, I guess that sloppy kisses are just another human male equivalent of the peacock shakin' his tail feathers -- a chemical way of saying, "hey, baby." So, it falls in the same category as going to the gym to build up your biceps or owning a Jaguar. It's a non-verbal statement that says, "I am just the most virile male you will ever meet in your life. I have so much testosterone that I can just throw it away. You definitely want me to be the father of your children."
Recently Paul Zak, "the world's expert on oxytocin," has published further studies (read about them here) that support the claim that oxytocin has a role in more than just sex, pair bonding, and the mother/infant relationship; it's apparently vital in all sorts of positive social interactions. Zak, in fact, calls oxytocin "the moral molecule." His studies indicate that people's oxytocin levels rise when they have pleasant encounters of all sorts; and if given boosts of oxytocin artificially, they tend to make more moral decisions and behave with more generosity and trust. Oxytocin levels also spike, Zak found, when people play with their pets, socialize with their friends, and watch romantic movies with happy endings. All of these are activities that are connected with pair bonding, social cohesion, and reciprocity -- phenomena that are intrinsic to life as a social primate, so no wonder this response is ubiquitous. It'd be a pretty unpleasant world without it, wouldn't it?
Ah, natural selection. It explains so much.
Anyway, I find all of this stuff pretty fascinating, and I wish you luck conducting any empirical research on the subject that you have the opportunity to do. Here's to raised oxytocin levels.
Wendy Hill, a neuroscientist at Lafayette College in Pennsylvania, published research a couple of years ago that indicates that there are changes in levels of hormones when couples kiss. Apparently, Hill's team paid heterosexual couples to kiss for fifteen minutes, and measured blood levels of various hormones before and after (and I can only imagine the lines of horny college guys waiting to sign up for this opportunity). (Source)
The results were intriguing. In particular, the hormone oxytocin seems to be affected by kissing. Oxytocin is one of the "feel-good hormones," and has been nicknamed the "cuddle hormone" because it is associated with the maternal instinct and caring for an infant, and the fact that its levels skyrocket in both genders immediately after orgasm. The research indicates that oxytocin levels spike in men during kissing, but they fall in women. This I find surprising, but I can't find anywhere that the researchers speculated as to why oxytocin falls in women after they kiss. This to me would seem to indicate that men feel better after kissing and women feel worse, which seems a little odd. Maybe it's because kissing makes men think about having an orgasm and makes women think about taking care of a infant.
In any case, it's interesting that 90% of human societies (according to the research study) "practice kissing." I don't know about the other 10%. Perhaps they rub foreheads together, or something. Perhaps they don't practice any more because they've figured out how to do it right. It's a mystery.
The other intriguing find of the study was that men prefer "sloppy kisses," whereas evidently women don't. The researchers explain this by positing that saliva contains trace amounts of testosterone, which is linked to increased sex drive in both genders, and swapping spit is a way of dialing up the response in your partner. So, I guess that sloppy kisses are just another human male equivalent of the peacock shakin' his tail feathers -- a chemical way of saying, "hey, baby." So, it falls in the same category as going to the gym to build up your biceps or owning a Jaguar. It's a non-verbal statement that says, "I am just the most virile male you will ever meet in your life. I have so much testosterone that I can just throw it away. You definitely want me to be the father of your children."
Recently Paul Zak, "the world's expert on oxytocin," has published further studies (read about them here) that support the claim that oxytocin has a role in more than just sex, pair bonding, and the mother/infant relationship; it's apparently vital in all sorts of positive social interactions. Zak, in fact, calls oxytocin "the moral molecule." His studies indicate that people's oxytocin levels rise when they have pleasant encounters of all sorts; and if given boosts of oxytocin artificially, they tend to make more moral decisions and behave with more generosity and trust. Oxytocin levels also spike, Zak found, when people play with their pets, socialize with their friends, and watch romantic movies with happy endings. All of these are activities that are connected with pair bonding, social cohesion, and reciprocity -- phenomena that are intrinsic to life as a social primate, so no wonder this response is ubiquitous. It'd be a pretty unpleasant world without it, wouldn't it?
Ah, natural selection. It explains so much.
Anyway, I find all of this stuff pretty fascinating, and I wish you luck conducting any empirical research on the subject that you have the opportunity to do. Here's to raised oxytocin levels.
Wednesday, July 18, 2012
The woo-woos go high tech
I suppose it was only a matter of time. The woo-woos have gotten hold of high tech.
I find this a kind of curious idea, given how they harp so continuously on how their beliefs are Ancient Magick Passed Down From The Elders -- it never occurred to me that they would jump on the "app" bandwagon. But given the utility, ease of use, and low cost of your typical iPhone or iPad app, it was bound to happen.
So, put away your crystals and dowsing rods and sacred knives, and get out your electronic device of choice. Here's a few of the hundreds of apps I found.
Rune Magic ($2.99) - "Rune Magic is a state of the art application for rune divination and studying. Ask runes about your destiny, fortune, love, health and business. The application provides four types of runic divination with the detailed descriptions of rune meanings. The runes will tell you about the past, the present and the future, and also will give an advice about your problems. The application is also perfect for studying runes. A strict compliance with all magical rules makes application predictions highly accurate. Try it, you would be impressed! The application is on sale, it is the best time to buy it."
Ouija Board version 6.2 ($1.99) - "A talking board, generically referred as "Ouija Board" and also known as spirit board, witch board, oracle board, mystic board or channeling board, is any flat board printed with letters, numbers, and other symbols, to which a planchette or movable indicator points, answering questions from people at a séance. The fingers of the participants are placed on the planchette that is moved by the spirits about the board to spell out messages. These boards are considered to be a spiritual gateway used to contact the dead or to receive information from beyond."
New Age Stone and Crystal Guide ($3.99) - "New Age Stones and Crystals Guide provides metaphysical property information for hundreds of stones and crystals. Search through indexes of stone names or property types to find the exact stone needed for your self development. The most extensive virtual stone and crystal guide available, this application identifies stones helpful for improvement of spiritual, mental and psychological aspects."
Erzulie's Voodoo ($3.99) - "Learn all about the secrets of Voodoo & Vodou with the world’s FIRST authentic Voodoo app, from Erzulie’s Authentic Voodoo in the French Quarter of New Orleans. Erzulie’s Voodoo “Advanced” app delves into the roots, detailed history, advanced spiritual concepts, Vodou rituals and magic of this vast and mysterious tradition, written by highly experienced, initiated, Vodou priests and priestesses. Erzulie’s Voodoo Advanced App offers comprehensive information on Voodoo beliefs, performing your own authentic Voodoo spells, extensive sections on the Divine Voodoo Spirits (Lwa), how they are served in Vodou, and their Catholic Counterparts plus Magical Veve’s (sacred symbols of the Spirits), Spiritual Possession, New Orleans Voodoo, Palo Mayombe, Voodoo dolls, fetishes, Voodoo magic and much more... Perform your very own powerful Voodoo Love Spells, Wealth Spells and Banishing Spells with our extensive collection of authentic Voodoo rituals found only in the Erzulie’s Voodoo Advanced App, complete with their very own detailed instructions and resources."
Goddess Inspiration Oracle (free) - "Get inspired! The Goddess Inspiration Oracle offers a free one card oracle reading to grant you guidance for your day. It features eighty goddesses from around the world, all whom offer inspiration and guidance. These powerful feminine role models range from Abeona, goddess of gateways, to the Zorya, each of whom are represented in this app with gorgeous art and inspiring, well-researched text... Since time immemorial, humans have invoked the wisdom of goddesses by using oracles. Oracles provide an experience of synchronicity, a term created by Jung to describe a series of random events that connect within us to gain a deeper meaning. By doing so, the oracle helps us release information we already possess, thus allowing inspiration to strike when we most need it."
iTarot Classic (free) - "iTarot Classic provides straightforward two-card readings --"Daily Tarot" and "Love Tarot"-- with a streamlined design that makes consulting the Tarot effortless.
Features:
• Draw new cards with a simple shake
• Display only a one-card reading, if desired
• Use only the Major (or only the Minor) Arcana
• Allow or prohibit reversed cards
• Draw "Daily" and "Love" cards independently, from separate decks"
And those are just six out of hundreds. I'm kind of overwhelmed, and not just because I'm a Luddite. I just never would have thought that the whole electronic media thing would have caught on with these folks. My question is: do they really think it's the same thing? I mean, isn't the basis of these beliefs that when you handle the crystals, Tarot cards, rune stones, or whatever, the act of touching the objects is what is creating some kind of mystical interconnectedness of being? Can putting your fingers on a touch screen made in China really accomplish the same thing?
Maybe we should try a different app to see if we can get an answer to this question. How about:
Magic 8 Ball ($0.99) - "Magic 8 Ball™ has all the answers! And now it’s available for your iOS device! Ask it any yes or no question, shake your device (or tap the screen) and, “without a doubt,” it will give you an answer to life’s most complicated questions. Inquire about romance, friendship, school, work…whatever! "
Let's see... "Reply hazy, try again."
I shoulda known.
I find this a kind of curious idea, given how they harp so continuously on how their beliefs are Ancient Magick Passed Down From The Elders -- it never occurred to me that they would jump on the "app" bandwagon. But given the utility, ease of use, and low cost of your typical iPhone or iPad app, it was bound to happen.
So, put away your crystals and dowsing rods and sacred knives, and get out your electronic device of choice. Here's a few of the hundreds of apps I found.
Rune Magic ($2.99) - "Rune Magic is a state of the art application for rune divination and studying. Ask runes about your destiny, fortune, love, health and business. The application provides four types of runic divination with the detailed descriptions of rune meanings. The runes will tell you about the past, the present and the future, and also will give an advice about your problems. The application is also perfect for studying runes. A strict compliance with all magical rules makes application predictions highly accurate. Try it, you would be impressed! The application is on sale, it is the best time to buy it."
Ouija Board version 6.2 ($1.99) - "A talking board, generically referred as "Ouija Board" and also known as spirit board, witch board, oracle board, mystic board or channeling board, is any flat board printed with letters, numbers, and other symbols, to which a planchette or movable indicator points, answering questions from people at a séance. The fingers of the participants are placed on the planchette that is moved by the spirits about the board to spell out messages. These boards are considered to be a spiritual gateway used to contact the dead or to receive information from beyond."
New Age Stone and Crystal Guide ($3.99) - "New Age Stones and Crystals Guide provides metaphysical property information for hundreds of stones and crystals. Search through indexes of stone names or property types to find the exact stone needed for your self development. The most extensive virtual stone and crystal guide available, this application identifies stones helpful for improvement of spiritual, mental and psychological aspects."
Erzulie's Voodoo ($3.99) - "Learn all about the secrets of Voodoo & Vodou with the world’s FIRST authentic Voodoo app, from Erzulie’s Authentic Voodoo in the French Quarter of New Orleans. Erzulie’s Voodoo “Advanced” app delves into the roots, detailed history, advanced spiritual concepts, Vodou rituals and magic of this vast and mysterious tradition, written by highly experienced, initiated, Vodou priests and priestesses. Erzulie’s Voodoo Advanced App offers comprehensive information on Voodoo beliefs, performing your own authentic Voodoo spells, extensive sections on the Divine Voodoo Spirits (Lwa), how they are served in Vodou, and their Catholic Counterparts plus Magical Veve’s (sacred symbols of the Spirits), Spiritual Possession, New Orleans Voodoo, Palo Mayombe, Voodoo dolls, fetishes, Voodoo magic and much more... Perform your very own powerful Voodoo Love Spells, Wealth Spells and Banishing Spells with our extensive collection of authentic Voodoo rituals found only in the Erzulie’s Voodoo Advanced App, complete with their very own detailed instructions and resources."
Goddess Inspiration Oracle (free) - "Get inspired! The Goddess Inspiration Oracle offers a free one card oracle reading to grant you guidance for your day. It features eighty goddesses from around the world, all whom offer inspiration and guidance. These powerful feminine role models range from Abeona, goddess of gateways, to the Zorya, each of whom are represented in this app with gorgeous art and inspiring, well-researched text... Since time immemorial, humans have invoked the wisdom of goddesses by using oracles. Oracles provide an experience of synchronicity, a term created by Jung to describe a series of random events that connect within us to gain a deeper meaning. By doing so, the oracle helps us release information we already possess, thus allowing inspiration to strike when we most need it."
iTarot Classic (free) - "iTarot Classic provides straightforward two-card readings --"Daily Tarot" and "Love Tarot"-- with a streamlined design that makes consulting the Tarot effortless.
Features:
• Draw new cards with a simple shake
• Display only a one-card reading, if desired
• Use only the Major (or only the Minor) Arcana
• Allow or prohibit reversed cards
• Draw "Daily" and "Love" cards independently, from separate decks"
And those are just six out of hundreds. I'm kind of overwhelmed, and not just because I'm a Luddite. I just never would have thought that the whole electronic media thing would have caught on with these folks. My question is: do they really think it's the same thing? I mean, isn't the basis of these beliefs that when you handle the crystals, Tarot cards, rune stones, or whatever, the act of touching the objects is what is creating some kind of mystical interconnectedness of being? Can putting your fingers on a touch screen made in China really accomplish the same thing?
Maybe we should try a different app to see if we can get an answer to this question. How about:
Magic 8 Ball ($0.99) - "Magic 8 Ball™ has all the answers! And now it’s available for your iOS device! Ask it any yes or no question, shake your device (or tap the screen) and, “without a doubt,” it will give you an answer to life’s most complicated questions. Inquire about romance, friendship, school, work…whatever! "
Let's see... "Reply hazy, try again."
I shoulda known.
Tuesday, July 17, 2012
Bias, self-awareness, and evil spirits
If there's anything that is a sign of true intelligence, it's caution regarding accepting ideas at face value. The tendency of many, unfortunately, is to accept whatever is being said, or read, without question, especially if the claim comes from a reputable-looking source.
The issue becomes further complicated when we're biased ahead of time to accept (or reject) the source itself. A study (here) by Charles Lord and Cheryl Taylor, of Texas Christian University, indicates that people are more likely to accept as correct false statements if they're told that the false statement came from someone whose political or religious stance they share, and conversely, to think true statements are false if they're told that the true statement came from a source in the opposite ideological camp. Another study (here), by Emily Pronin, Daniel Yin, and Lee Ross of Stanford University, further indicates that just about everyone believes him/herself to be unbiased as compared to others; and worse still, a study by David Dunning (here) suggests that we are likely to rate ourselves as "above average" in knowledge, even in realms in which we score in the bottom quartile.
In other words, none of us is aware of how unperceptive, biased, and ignorant we actually are.
So, the salient question becomes: given that this is the case, how do we know what is true or false?
Well, in the absolute sense, we can't. We're trapped inside our own skulls, and certainty about anything is probably unrealistic. Science helps, because it establishes a baseline for validity, along with a reliance on hard data. But even science doesn't solve the problem entirely; as James Burke, one of the finest thinkers I know of, said, in his wonderful documentary series The Day the Universe Changed, "Even when you get the raw data, the situation doesn't improve. Because it isn't raw data. It's what you expected to find. You'd designed your equipment based on what you already thought was going to happen, so what your equipment is good at doing is finding the kind of data you reckoned you were going to find."
Still, the situation isn't as dire as all that, or we'd be in doubt about everything. There are ways we can detect specious thinking, and an assortment of red flags that will alert us to bias, slant, and outright lies. Let's look at one fairly simple example, which appeared in the rather goofy online magazine Who Forted? (although let's not dismiss it just because of the source; see paragraph 2).
Entitled "Bad Vibes: Can Dealing With Evil Spirits Kill You?", this article makes the claim that delving too deeply into the occult puts you in touch with "forces" that can have negative effects on your health. "(W)hat about those few people who make it a career to deliver the mortal souls of sinners from the grip of evil?" the author, Greg Newkirk, asks. "What of exorcists, demonologists, and ghost hunters with a flair for the dramatic and a reality show audience? Is there a risk in placing yourself between a negative spirit and it’s [sic] prey? Surely the religious will believe that it’s your own soul at stake, but do the scars of spiritual warfare have a physical manifestation? What I’m asking essentially amounts to one question: Can the pursuit of evil spirits affect your heath?"
Newkirk then goes on to describe the various ways in which evil spirits could cause you harm, including (to his credit) the practitioner simply experiencing continuous stress, fear, and negative emotions -- i.e., the effect could be real even if the spirits themselves aren't. (This, then, might qualify as a sort of nocebo effect -- a documented phenomenon in which a person who believes himself to be in harm's way from supernatural causes actually experiences negative health effects.)
The most interesting part, to me, is when Newkirk begins to list off various psychic researchers, exorcists, black magicians, and so on, gives a brief curriculum vitae for each, and describes how and at what age each died. If you want the complete stories, check out the link, but here's a list of names, ages, and causes of death:
1) It's short. Beware of small sample sizes. Given a small enough sample size, you can find just about any sort of statistically unlikely pattern you'd like. (Sort of like if you rolled a die four times in a row, and got four sixes -- and decided that the chance of rolling sixes on a fair die was 100%.)
2) Given that the writer already had decided that working with evil spirits is dangerous, it's pretty likely he'd have selected examples that supported the conclusion he already had, and ignored ones that didn't. This kind of cherry-picking of data isn't always this obvious -- unfortunately.
3) Even despite #2, this was the best he could do? The first two men listed actually lived longer than the average American (US male average life expectancy currently stands at 75.6 years). A third, Tom Robertson, is still alive, and has a form of cancer that is often treatable. A fourth, George Lutz, died young of cancer -- but one of two photographs of Lutz in the article shows him sitting with a cigarette in his hand, in front of a full ashtray!
My point here is that there's a middle ground between accepting a source whole-cloth or rejecting it out of hand. There's no substitute for taking a cautious look at the argument presented, asking yourself some pointed questions about bias and slant (especially, given the Lord and Taylor study, if the source is one you habitually agree or disagree with!), and engaging your brain, before deciding one way or the other. And, if there isn't enough information to decide, there's nothing wrong with simply holding a judgment in abeyance for a while -- indefinitely, if need be.
A wonderful take on the whole idea of how to analyze claims is the chapter entitled "The Fine Art of Baloney Detection" in Carl Sagan's wonderful book The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark (which, in my opinion, should be required reading in every high school science curriculum in the world). Check it out, while you're taking a break from expelling evil spirits. It'll be good for your health.
The issue becomes further complicated when we're biased ahead of time to accept (or reject) the source itself. A study (here) by Charles Lord and Cheryl Taylor, of Texas Christian University, indicates that people are more likely to accept as correct false statements if they're told that the false statement came from someone whose political or religious stance they share, and conversely, to think true statements are false if they're told that the true statement came from a source in the opposite ideological camp. Another study (here), by Emily Pronin, Daniel Yin, and Lee Ross of Stanford University, further indicates that just about everyone believes him/herself to be unbiased as compared to others; and worse still, a study by David Dunning (here) suggests that we are likely to rate ourselves as "above average" in knowledge, even in realms in which we score in the bottom quartile.
In other words, none of us is aware of how unperceptive, biased, and ignorant we actually are.
So, the salient question becomes: given that this is the case, how do we know what is true or false?
Well, in the absolute sense, we can't. We're trapped inside our own skulls, and certainty about anything is probably unrealistic. Science helps, because it establishes a baseline for validity, along with a reliance on hard data. But even science doesn't solve the problem entirely; as James Burke, one of the finest thinkers I know of, said, in his wonderful documentary series The Day the Universe Changed, "Even when you get the raw data, the situation doesn't improve. Because it isn't raw data. It's what you expected to find. You'd designed your equipment based on what you already thought was going to happen, so what your equipment is good at doing is finding the kind of data you reckoned you were going to find."
Still, the situation isn't as dire as all that, or we'd be in doubt about everything. There are ways we can detect specious thinking, and an assortment of red flags that will alert us to bias, slant, and outright lies. Let's look at one fairly simple example, which appeared in the rather goofy online magazine Who Forted? (although let's not dismiss it just because of the source; see paragraph 2).
Entitled "Bad Vibes: Can Dealing With Evil Spirits Kill You?", this article makes the claim that delving too deeply into the occult puts you in touch with "forces" that can have negative effects on your health. "(W)hat about those few people who make it a career to deliver the mortal souls of sinners from the grip of evil?" the author, Greg Newkirk, asks. "What of exorcists, demonologists, and ghost hunters with a flair for the dramatic and a reality show audience? Is there a risk in placing yourself between a negative spirit and it’s [sic] prey? Surely the religious will believe that it’s your own soul at stake, but do the scars of spiritual warfare have a physical manifestation? What I’m asking essentially amounts to one question: Can the pursuit of evil spirits affect your heath?"
Newkirk then goes on to describe the various ways in which evil spirits could cause you harm, including (to his credit) the practitioner simply experiencing continuous stress, fear, and negative emotions -- i.e., the effect could be real even if the spirits themselves aren't. (This, then, might qualify as a sort of nocebo effect -- a documented phenomenon in which a person who believes himself to be in harm's way from supernatural causes actually experiences negative health effects.)
The most interesting part, to me, is when Newkirk begins to list off various psychic researchers, exorcists, black magicians, and so on, gives a brief curriculum vitae for each, and describes how and at what age each died. If you want the complete stories, check out the link, but here's a list of names, ages, and causes of death:
- Malachi Martin, 78, brain hemorrhage
- Ed Warren, 79, cause not listed (but was chronically ill during the last five years of his life)
- Lou Gentile, early 40s, cancer
- George Lutz, 59, cancer
- Tom Robertson, still alive (from his photograph, he appears to be 60-ish), has prostate cancer
- Ryan Buell, still alive (age 30), has pancreatic cancer
1) It's short. Beware of small sample sizes. Given a small enough sample size, you can find just about any sort of statistically unlikely pattern you'd like. (Sort of like if you rolled a die four times in a row, and got four sixes -- and decided that the chance of rolling sixes on a fair die was 100%.)
2) Given that the writer already had decided that working with evil spirits is dangerous, it's pretty likely he'd have selected examples that supported the conclusion he already had, and ignored ones that didn't. This kind of cherry-picking of data isn't always this obvious -- unfortunately.
3) Even despite #2, this was the best he could do? The first two men listed actually lived longer than the average American (US male average life expectancy currently stands at 75.6 years). A third, Tom Robertson, is still alive, and has a form of cancer that is often treatable. A fourth, George Lutz, died young of cancer -- but one of two photographs of Lutz in the article shows him sitting with a cigarette in his hand, in front of a full ashtray!
My point here is that there's a middle ground between accepting a source whole-cloth or rejecting it out of hand. There's no substitute for taking a cautious look at the argument presented, asking yourself some pointed questions about bias and slant (especially, given the Lord and Taylor study, if the source is one you habitually agree or disagree with!), and engaging your brain, before deciding one way or the other. And, if there isn't enough information to decide, there's nothing wrong with simply holding a judgment in abeyance for a while -- indefinitely, if need be.
A wonderful take on the whole idea of how to analyze claims is the chapter entitled "The Fine Art of Baloney Detection" in Carl Sagan's wonderful book The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark (which, in my opinion, should be required reading in every high school science curriculum in the world). Check it out, while you're taking a break from expelling evil spirits. It'll be good for your health.
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