In 2016, Florent Montaclair was the proud recipient of the Gold Medal in Philology, awarded to him by the International Society of Philology. This award is equated with the Fields Medal or a Nobel prize… or so he would have us think.
I recently watched a debate on YouTube between Dr. Zachery Ardern and Stephen Woodford.
This past weekend I visited the Go Green Expo, which is a show with the general theme of “green” or being ecologically mindful. Such things are usually a magnet for companies promoting bogus products in addition to those with genuine solutions to becoming “greener”.
There are two theories about the nature of hypnosis – one that it is an altered state of consciousness (ASC) and the other that it isn't. Prof. Charles Spanos of Carlton University (Canada) conducted a large number of hypnotic regressions – the induction of an experience of an apparent previous lifetime – on students at Carlton. He would subtly prime a subject on what to expect in such an experience. For example, he might suggest to subjects that children were generally mistreated in the old days, and that was what a significant number of his subjects found, For another group of subjects he would suggest that children were well-treated and this is what was reported. He'd ask his hypnotised subject simple questions about where and when they found themselves, what the currency looked like, who the country's leader was and whether the country was at war. These answers – as any sceptic might expect – were usually wrong. He also primed one group to expect past-life experiences under hypnosis and another that such experiences were rare. And the two groups largely delivered what they had been primed to expect. On the basis of his work Spanos concluded (agreeing with previous academics) that his subjects were involved in a kind of play-acting and that hypnosis was, indeed, not an altered state of consciousness. From Wikipedia:
This week, Gordon Hewitt, one of NZ Skeptics' founding members tells us why he's a skeptic. Take it away, Gordon…
This week it's been reported that University of Auckland scientists Associate Professor Siouxsie Wiles and Professor Sean Hendy have taken a case to the Employment Relations Authority. They're claiming that their employer - the university - hasn't done enough to protect them from attack by people upset with their science communication and public comment on COVID-related issues. They describe their attackers as “a small but venomous sector of the public”.
Hot off the press, International Law lecturer Amy Benjamin has resigned from Auckland University of Technology this week. I wrote about Amy back in August, at the beginning of our second national lockdown, when she started up her YouTube channel called “American Spirit” where she posted videos about COVID and lockdowns. Her opinions seemed somewhat fringe, and she talked about how the threat to people's mental health in lockdown was worse than that of COVID, that Ivermectin and Hydroxychloroquine could treat COVID, and that the government had criminalised peaceful protest.
Craig Shearer announced the winners of our annual awards at the beginning of the second day of our conference, and it was accompanied by the following press release:
Thankfully there have been some who have been willing to critique this paper and its conclusions. Mark Boslough, who wrote a paper on asteroid air bursts that this Sodom paper references, had a lot to say about the legitimacy of this paper, especially as it's been published in a journal owned by the prestigious Nature.
One of our contacts noticed an item on TVNZ news on the 7th March detailing a product being developed by the University of Otago for prevention treatment of type 2 Diabetes. A complaint was made to TVNZ but they have not upheld the complaint.
Good news! We have found someone who has a copy of the video (VHS tape) taken of James Randi speaking at Canterbury University back in 1993. Next steps will be to check if it's good to digitise, and if so, we'll look to publish it to our YouTube channel. Keep posted.
There's a lot of rhetoric these days around educating students 'for the 21st century', and the need for '21st century skills', while (not always but often) disparaging what is currently taught & how it's delivered. Catherine Kelsey has a good op-ed. on this https://educationcentral.co.nz/response-catherine-kelsey-21st-century-skills-debate-unhelpful/ on the Education Central site, https://educationcentral.co.nz/ in which she comments on two other opinion pieces that I - like her - had found somewhat polarising in their approaches (see here https://educationcentral.co.nz/opinion-briar-lipson-could-the-route-to-skills-be-counterintuitive/ and here https://educationcentral.co.nz/response-steve-morris-in-defence-of-21st-century-skills-hogwash/), and says:
Otago University have defended their decision to allow a screening of Vaxxed, citing free speech and a need to controversial topics to be discussed.
Julia Rucklidge from Canterbury University has suggested that processed food may be a cause of a mental illness epidemic.
Someone has put Mr Trump forward for this year's Nobel Peace Prize. Supporters said in the submission that Mr. Trump deserved the prize for:
Alison Campbell considers the current state of tertiary education.
Another annual conference has come and gone, with the usual collection of thought-provoking presentations. This issue we present two highlights, from Waikato University biology lecturer and science communicator Alison Campbell, and Greek Honorary Consul Nikos Petousis.
The Intelligent Design (ID) movie Expelled (Editorial, NZ Skeptic 86) has scored a spectacular public relations own-goal at a screening in Minneapolis (New York Times, 21 March). University of Minnesota developmental biologist PZ Myers, best known for his blog Pharyngula, was one of many who took up the offer to register on-line for the pre-release public screening.
Warwick Don celebrated the 21st annual NZ Skeptics conference by presenting a potted history of the society.
Debunked! by G Charpak & H Broch, translator BK Holland. Johns Hopkins University Press, Reviewed by Bernard Howard.
Nessie's an elephant, says a leading British palaeontologist (Dominion Post, 7 March).
"There's no need for your organisation. We're all skeptics nowadays."
The Tertiary Education Commission (TEC) is gaining a reputation as a Mickey Mouse government organisation that harms the reputation and integrity of New Zealand's tertiary institutions.
A widely publicised trial which appeared to show prayer was effective in enhancing fertility now appears to have been fraudulent.
Lately, however, a vogue called postmodernism has challenged all claims to knowledge, including the work of scientists and historians. Science and empirical research supposedly are approaches that elites insist upon in order to strengthen their own standing. There are ways of knowing other than the rational. There is no one reality, only different perceptions and paradigms, all equally valid.
Bill Taylor explains some of the thinking behind the Time-Line installation, "Genesis Aotearoa", at Victoria University (See also Page 13)
Claire Le Couteur reports from the 2003 Skeptics' Conference in Wellington.
University days are a great time to explore new directions. But sometimes you may end up a long way from where you thought you were going.
When Raymond Richards included a lecture on the Mormon Church in his course on American history he ran foul of not only the Mormon community but also the University of Waikato heirarchy. He told his story at the NZ 2001 Skeptics' conference in Hamilton.
Tony Blair and Cherie took part in a 'rebirthing ritual' during a holiday in Mexico, says the Dominion (17 December). They were guided through the ritual while dipping in a Mayan steam bath. At least they were clean.
It wasn't a dark and stormy night but a gaggle of skeptics got together recently to listen to ghost stories in Hamilton. Professional story teller Andrew Wright sent shivers down the groups' skeptical spines as they listened to his rendition of one of the oldest known horror stories, Lord Fox, a BlueBeard variation.
I found it interesting to read Bernard Howard's article on complaining to the authorities. I myself complained about an incident that happened some years ago, when someone who was promoting a book he was trying to sell to a school library maintained that the author was "working with the health department on a cure for AIDS". The book was called Magnetic Healing and Other Realities. I complained to the Department of Trade and Industry, where I was in fact treated with the utmost courtesy and consideration.
Founding member Bernard Howard reminisces on the Skeptics' history in this guest editorial.
LET us be clear. We think skeptics are the most witty, pithy and intelligent of people. The type who can get their profound insights across in 300 lively, well-chosen words. We insist you prove us right by flooding us with splendid examples of the genre. The author of the best contribution in each issue will receive a suitable telepathic gift. The worst example will earn an unsuitable telepathic gift. Here are the rules
When author Arthur Koestler and his wife died, they left money to found a university Chair in Parapsychology. Edinburgh University accepted this gift after some hesitation, and Robert L. Morris has occupied the Chair since 1985. In a university hundreds of kilometres to the south, and some hundreds of years younger, Dr Richard Wiseman has also turned a scholarly eye on the subject. This book is a result of their collaboration.
"US Universities, cringing under a wave of Political Correctness and an extreme form of "multi-culturalism" are abandoning programmes which present the history of Western Civilisation as anything other than the history of the rape and plunder of minorities and other victims by a conspiracy of middle-class white males." ("The Challenge to Reason", Skeptic 34.)
On 8 February 1994, Professor Clyde F. Herreid, Department of Biological Sciences, University of Buffalo, gave a talk in the Department of Zoology, University of Otago entitled "The Magician as Skeptic". Notices were circulated to zoology staff and senior students, other university departments, and to local skeptics. Some 40 people thoroughly enjoyed the talk. Professor Herreid demonstrated, using a variety of magical tricks, how important it is that a natural explanation should always be sought for an apparently paranormal phenomenon. If such is not immediately forthcoming, any attempt at an explanation should be held in abeyance.
Irreproducible achievements finally get what they deserve
On Thursday evening, 26 June 1990, a large number of members and friends gathered at the University of Canterbury Staff Club in Christchurch, to hear Prof. T.W. Walker, late of Lincoln University, talk on Organic Gardening.
Early on Saturday, 2 September, on a bright but cold Christchurch day, over one hundred and fifty members and others met at the University of Canterbury for NZCSICOP's Fourth Annual Conference. After Chairman Tony Vignaux's welcome and introduction, Dr Bridget Robinson of the Christchurch Clinical School opened the programme with a talk on "Alternative Medicine, Cancer and Quackery". Mr Hugh Young of Radio New Zealand followed with "Cashing in on Gullibility". Other speakers were Dr Denis Dutton, "I know they're out there—The Psychic Universe of the UFO Believer"; Dr Matt McGlone, "On This Planet Skeptics are the Real Aliens"; Dr Colin McGeorge, "The Psychic Dog of Fendalton, the Horrible Severed Hand, and Other Colonial Wonders"; and Dr John Campbell, "Strolling Across the Coals—Physics Takes a Cool Look at a Hot New Age Fad".
Warwick Don was elected at the AGM to succeed Prof. Tony Vignaux as Chairman of the New Zealand Skeptics. Mr Don, a senior lecturer in Zoology at the University of Otago, was a founding member of the society. However his experience as an advocate for science and the scientific approach goes back much further. My personal collection of clippings contains two articles he had published in Otago University's student newspaper in 1966 and 1967 responding to attempts to recast evolution in a religious mould. He is also a formidable debater against creationism—as was evident from the letters in The Nelson Evening Mail (27/5/87 to 30/7/87) in which he and Jim Ring presented the skeptical viewpoint. Mr Don's special concern at the moment is the draft Form I-V science syllabus—in particular its inclusion of non-scientific elements.
Massey University Palmerston North August 17,18,19, 1990
With this issue we farewell our editor Keith Lockett, who has served us so well in the nurturing and development of the New Zealand Skeptic. We have all seen how, from modest beginnings, the Newsletter has grown in stature and contents to a periodical that can hold its head among like journals internationally. Even the bleak patches when Keith was desperate for contributions proved temporary and recent editions demonstrate that we have a lively and informative journal that we will be proud to place in libraries in New Zealand and exchange with groups overseas.
The education subcommittee of the US CSICOP is working on two projects: First, it is compiling materials on the scientific investigation of the paranormal, suitable for 6 and 7th form High school and for University level and second it is designing a'set of guidelines for tertiary institutions considering offering extension and adult courses on paranormal subjects. If you are interested in these topics and can suggest something that might be useful to them, you are urged to contact the Chairperson: Steven Hoffmaster, Education Subcommittee CSICOP, Physics Department, Gonzaga University, Spokane, Washington, 99258, USA.
A very short note this time as space is limited.
The University of Edinburgh announced on Saturday 18 May that Dr Robert Morris had been invited and accepted an offer to become the first holder of the Koestler Chair of Parapsychology at the University of Edinburgh. Dr Morris, who is expected to take up his post at Edinburgh by 1 January 1986 is currently Senior Research Scientist in the School of Computer and Information Science at Syracuse University, Syracuse, New York State, USA.
The first two NZCSICOP conferences enjoyed such success that they are difficult acts to follow ... but our third conference may prove the most lively of all.
SEELISBERG, Switzerland (Reuter). — Followers of Indian guru Maharishi Mahesh Yogi have staged what they called Europe's first European yogic flying" competition, describing it as a demonstration of their leader's programme to end violence on earth.
"Critical thinking" is the name given to a way of reasoning, in everyday language, which is a great benefit to everybody who uses it. It is a tool which can be used to improve our understanding of other people's arguments, to improve our own reasoning, to improve decision making, and to aid communication. It is especially useful for skeptics and debunkers. It is also a new idea, since in the past people have never been taught how to reason properly using everyday language, which is how most of us reason most of the time. Most of us could improve our thinking considerably by using critical thinking methods. I would like to see the Skeptics involved in the promotion of this subject.
Shortly after our Wellington convention, Radio New Zealand presented a superb Insight documentary on NZCSICOP. This half-hour programme was broadcast on a Sunday morning on National Radio and rebroadcast the following evening. The producer was Colin Feslia, who will be remembered for having patiently taped the whole of our Wellington meeting. We have to admire the way he assembled the material into a coherent, interesting half hour of radio. It is an excellent introduction to the Skeptics.
With a nearly firm programme in hand, the 1987 NZCSICOP conference is shaping up to be a remarkable event. The presentations will cover a wide range of arresting topics, from the dangers of alternative medicine and fraudulent faith healing, through the connections between paranormal belief and the decline of religion, to astrology, creationism, the not-so-mysterious Shroud of Turin, and more.
Sir, — I share Colin Bell's concern about what goes on in our universities and what sort of watching brief the university councils keep on their tutors (March 2).
Circle the dates 29 and 30 August on your calendar, for these are the days for the second annual conference of NZCSICOP, to be held this year at Victoria University in Wellington. We plan to have lectures and symposia all day Saturday and till noon Sunday, so there will be opportunity for a good mix of material. Accommodation will be in Weir House and can be expected to be quite reasonably priced. Last year's meeting was of course very successful, and we can expect an equally arresting series of presentations this year in Wellington. Plan now to join us. And if you have any ideas either for a presentation yourself or for a speaker or event you'd like to see, please let me know.
Dear fellow skeptics, please note the following: N.Z.C.S.I.C.O.P. incorporated's first annual convention, University of Otago, 9-10 August, 1986
12 - 2 p.m., Press Conference, - Committee Members and guests
Is there any manner in which you would be able to assist the Committee in furthering the aims of NZCSICOP? (e.g. providing expert opinion, public presentation, fund-raising, media contacts, newsletter contributions, etc.)?
12 - 2 p.m., - Press Conference, - Committee Members and guests