Articles tagged with "peter"

After having written in the last issue about the committee's hesitance to let people submit articles for inclusion in the newsletter that include significant AI content, I wasn't totally surprised to receive an email from Peter Harrison, who we've had on our podcast before talking about AI. What did surprise me, though, was the formal tone of his letter - which at first I took to be a little passive-aggressive. However, this and the Americanized spelling still didn't tip me off as to the real author of the email:

On March 21st my Facebook feed brought up the following dire warning:

A Manual for Creating Atheists, Peter Boghossian, 2013, Pitchstone Press.

A New Zealand focused anti-vaccine “documentary” has recently been released, called Silenced. It focuses on broadcaster Peter Williams, as well as ex-GP Anne O'Reilly and sociologist Jodie Bruning, with much of the talk centering around COVID vaccination, the mainstream media and alternative treatments such as ivermectin. It also talks quite a bit about Dr Simon Thornley, past winner of our Bent Spoon award, although the footage the documentary makers shot of Thornley is not used in the documentary beyond a couple of silent clips, as apparently his lawyers recommended after filming that he shouldn't be a part of it.

We've covered the Peter Ellis case before, and indeed, it was a particular focus of NZ Skeptics activity in the 1990s.

This past week has seen an appeal of the Peter Ellis child sex abuse case being heard in the Supreme Court.

I recently learned about the absolutely fun conspiracy that is “birds aren't real”. According to the theory, the CIA in the 1950s were trying to solve two hard problems. Firstly, they wanted to be able to secretly spy on the entire population of the United States. Secondly, they needed to stop birds pooping on their cars in the CIA headquarters car park. These two seemingly disconnected problems gave birth to the genius idea to replace all the birds in America with flying camera drones that look just like birds. As the Birds Aren't Real twitter account states:

While trawling conspiracy websites and videos, as I tend to do for fun, I stumbled across a recommendation for a local kiwi numerologist. But the recommendation said that, unlike the usual mystical nonsense, this particular numerologist uses science and maths to find real patterns that are actually useful.

By Robert Bartholomew and Peter Hassall > > Reviewed > > Although this was published six years ago, I think it is a classic reference book that will endure. It is available in some local libraries, including the Auckland public library. > > The previous survey, “Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds” was published a long time ago now. It is a great companion reference for Lynley Hood's analysis “A City Possessed” on the Moral Panic in Christchurch surrounding the Peter Ellis case. > > I learnt several things of great interest to skeptics. For example: > > The moon hoax used pseudo-scientific terms and quoted a defunct journal. It gave a big boost in circulation to newspapers that published it. > > There was a case of anxiety hysteria in Auckland in 1973 about a smell coming from leaking drums in the Parnell wharf. Many people became ill until it was shown the substance in the drums was not poisonous. > > Medics (as in a Canadan case in 2004) can suffer from anxiety hysteria. You'd think their training might make them immune! > > Exorcism and religion can make things worse in cases of hysteria, due to excessive fear of bad spirits - as it strengthens belief in the imaginary causes of these delusions. > > Sometimes harsh conditions can trigger hysteria, and so a 'spirit' can speak out or 'cause' absenteeism from horrible institutions or work-places due to hysterical symptoms.Sometimes conditions improve as a result; whereas the victims in these institutions may not have been successful had they just protested. > > Self-mutilation can be an extreme way to gain attention, and can involve false accusations. > > False confessions are common during public moral panics. > > Sometimes, as with the Peron family case, psychiatric conditions are falsely reinterpreted as paranormal phenomena. > > Finally, skeptics have in some cases managed to help defuse panics by effectively debunking false beliefs. > > Look out for my next review, which will hopefully be on the book NOISE by Daniel Kahneman.

MP Grant Robertson was on Peter Williams' Magic Talk radio show this week when he was asked about the “Great Reset”. His immediate reaction was to quit the interview early, and he's subsequently let Magic Talk know that he won't be returning for his regular weekly slot with Williams. So, what's going on in this drama that's of interest to skeptics?

In recent weeks there's been a bit of controversy on the airwaves in the form of talkback radio. Talkback radio's an interesting format - where else (apart from letters to the editor) do you get to voice your opinion on any matter to such a big audience? A few weeks ago we saw the removal of John Banks from the Magic Talk radio network after his abhorrent racist remarks (and not shutting down those of a caller).

I am almost certain, that despite the fact the conference was held in a Wellington nunnery, none of the attendees converted to the cloth, and none became extras in the next Peter Jackson dwarf-based epic (please email me if I am wrong: editor@skeptics.nz).

Sir Peter Gluckman, the PM's Science Advisor, says that NZ has a science denial problem, but that it's no worse than the rest of the world. Peter thinks that social media bubbles are contributing to this issue, by allowing people to get their news only from places that agree with their existing views on topics. He points out that traditional media is becoming more likely to be polarised as well, which is not good.

The Health Minister (Jonathan Coleman) and Associate Health Minister (Peter Dunne) are proposing to move the decision about water fluoridation out of the hands of local councils, and giving the responsibility to DHBs.

Few events have so captured the local imagination as the search for a thermal bore near Methven. Word of the search spread after a drilling rig appeared in a paddock. Nothing unusual in rigs -- they dot Mid-Canterbury in the eternal quest for reliable sources of irrigation water. This rig, though, was not after cold water, but hot.

The Crusader Radulph of Caen expressed doubts about the discovery of the Holy Lance of Antioch during the First Crusade. The drawing at left shows Adhemar, bishop of Le Puy, carrying the Lance in battle outside the gates of Antioch.

At the Annual Dinner on 2 September media excellence awards were made to the following: