Category: Behavior & Belief
The Telepathy Tapes: A Dangerous Cornucopia of Pseudoscience
The New Year started badly. I woke on January 1 to discover that The Telepathy Tapes was the most popular podcast in the United States on both the Spotify and Apple iTunes apps. The enormously popular Joe Rogan Experience had dropped to #2, and my first thought was, “My life’s work has been for naught. …
Spiritualist History in London (and Cambridge): A Skeptic’s Tour
I appear not to be like other tourists. Because I am interested in science and pseudoscience and because I am a writer who—like most of our ilk—is perpetually on the prowl for material, when I visit a new city, I find myself seeking out the science, magic, and superstition unique to that place. So far, …
Fear of Flying and the Search for Gate 13
While traveling, I’ve made a small hobby of noting whether any airport I’m passing through has a Gate 13 or not. Many elevator riders have noticed that apartment buildings, hotels, and commercial structures often “skip” the thirteenth floor. As I reported in an earlier column, “According to a 2015 story in the Atlantic (published on …
Maybe, Do Stop Believing—in Rituals.
It’s happened again. Back in 2014, I published a revision of my book Believing in Magic: The Psychology of Superstition, and I included the famous German “lucky golf ball study,” which suggested that people who were handed what they believed was a lucky golf ball actually performed better when asked to putt the ball into …
How Does the Ouija Board Work?
I have been writing about the discredited technique facilitated communication for several years, and to explain one of the mysteries of facilitated communication, I’ve tossed off the phrase “it is a Ouija-like phenomenon.” I’ve also seen writers use the reverse formulation, describing the actions of Ouija board players as similar to facilitated communication. Recognizing that …
Science and Pseudoscience in London: A Skeptic’s Tour
I appear not to be like other tourists. Because I am interested in science and pseudoscience and because I am a writer who—like most of our ilk—is perpetually on the prowl for material, when I visit a new city, I find myself seeking out the science, magic, and superstition unique to that place. So far, …
Scientists on Trial: Follow the Money
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, …
A Life Shattered by Pseudoscience
On January 8, 2021, Kevin Plantan left his home in Naples, Florida, on his way to a regular monthly visit to see his fourteen-year-old daughter, SP, who was living with her mother in Hanover County, Virginia. He arrived the next day, and by prior arrangement with his ex-wife, he drove to Courthouse Park in Hanover—this …
How Does the Ouija Board Work?
I have been writing about the discredited communication method facilitated communication (FC) for several years, and to explain one of the mysteries of FC, I’ve tossed off the phrase “it is a Ouija-like phenomenon.” I’ve also seen writers use the reverse formulation, describing the actions of Ouija board players as similar to facilitated communication. Recognizing …
Savoring Uncertainty: A Skeptic Goes to the Movies
Editor’s note: Spoiler alert! This column contains information that might spoil the ending of the movie Anatomy of a Fall. However, what actually constitutes a spoiler is not always clear, a topic discussed in the column. Some evidence even shows that spoilers might increase the enjoyment of a movie, a topic discussed at the end …
Magic at the Horizon
It began at lunch with a professor in the Physics Department. I mentioned that I’d just taught a lesson about the moon illusion—the apparent larger size of the moon at the horizon than when seen overhead—in my introductory psychology class. My dining companion often taught astronomy courses, and he was gobsmacked when I suggested that …
Scientists on Trial: Follow the Money
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 caused by the mere fact of the lawsuit. Nowadays, professors often sue their employers. The classic case involves a professor who is denied tenure and sues claiming discrimination—an …
Skip the Doctor, Just Diagnose Yourself
On May 8, 2021, in an awkward opening monologue, Elon Musk created a small controversy when he claimed to be making history as the first person with Asperger’s to host Saturday Night Live. The next day, Marlow Stern of The Daily Beast pointed out that former cast member Dan Aykroyd has Asperger’s Syndrome and returned …
New Research Suggests Almost Everybody Is Superstitious
Polls and surveys have found that about a quarter of Americans are superstitious (e.g., Moore 2000; Orth 2022). At the high end of the scale, there have occasionally been surveys showing somewhere around half of respondents were at least a little superstitious (60 Minutes/Vanity Fair: Superstition 2015). According to new research—some published and some yet …
Savoring Uncertainty: A Skeptic Goes to the Movies
The Palm D’Or– and Academy Award–winning film Anatomy of a Fall1 was one of my favorites of 2023, and the opening credits gave a hint of what was ahead when the website address didshedoit.com flashed on the screen. In the story that followed, the central character, Sandra, was accused of the murder of her husband, …
Rhinos and Radium: A Skeptic’s Tour of Paris, Part II
In the summer of 2021, not long after the first COVID-19 vaccines became available, I made my first trip to Paris, France; when I returned home, I wrote “French Science & Pseudoscience: A Skeptic’s Tour of Paris” for Skeptical Inquirer. In the fall of 2023, I went back to Paris and continued my tour of …
New Research Suggests Almost Everybody Is Superstitious
In the past, when people in the United States have been polled about their level of belief in superstition, the results showed that approximately 25 percent were superstitious (e.g., Moore 2000; Orth 2022). At the high end of the scale, there have occasionally been surveys showing somewhere around half of respondents were at least a …
Should We Lie to Our Kids?
My wife and I told our children that Santa Claus would bring them presents on Christmas Eve. We had them leave cookies for Santa and carrots for the reindeer, and we made certain those items disappeared or looked half consumed on Christmas morning. Like many parents, I am guilty of lying to my kids about …
The Mozart Effect Lives On
Every now and again it’s worth looking back at old unsupported ideas that we thought were dead and buried because, like zombies, they sometimes climb out of their graves and stagger into the future. So, when I came across a recent mention of Wolfgang Mozart in a psychological study, I was not entirely surprised by …
Trigger Warnings: Discredited but not Discarded
Many social programs are implemented with the best of intentions and later discovered to be either ineffective or, in the worst cases, counterproductive. At the height of its popularity in the 1980s and ’90s, the Drug Abuse Resistance Education (D.A.R.E.) program was used in 75 percent of American schools at a taxpayer expense of an …
Rhinos and Radium: A Skeptic’s Tour of Paris, Part II
In the summer of 2021, not long after the first COVID-19 vaccines became available, I made my first trip to Paris, France; when I returned home, I wrote “French Science & Pseudoscience: A Skeptic’s Tour of Paris” for Skeptical Inquirer. In the fall of 2023, I went back to Paris and continued my tour of …
Mental Illness and the Tragedy of Good Intentions
For many medical conditions, the preferred treatment is settled science. When you go in for a broken bone, you will get very similar care no matter which doctor you choose. In the world of psychiatric disorders, however, things can be quite different. Professionals often advocate wildly varying approaches and may disagree about the basic question …
The Mozart Effect Lives On
Every now and again, it’s worth looking back at old unsupported ideas that we thought were dead and buried because, like zombies, they sometimes climb out of their graves and stagger into the future. So, when I came across a recent mention of Mozart in a psychological study, I was not entirely surprised by what …
Nature Falls for Autism Pseudoscience
On May 10, 2023, the journal Nature stooped to a new low when it credulously highlighted one of the most rampant forms of pseudoscience in the world of autism. Facilitated communication, a method thoroughly debunked in the 1990s, has come back, repackaged variously as rapid prompting method (RPM), spelling to communicate (S2C), or simply “using …
Mental Illness and the Tragedy of Good Intentions
Mental Illness and the Tragedy of Good Intentions For many medical conditions, the preferred treatment is settled science. When you go in for a broken bone, you will get very similar care no matter what doctor you choose. In the world of psychiatric disorders, however, things can be quite different. Professionals often advocate wildly varying …
Can We Trust Peer Review Journals?
In January 2023, I received an email from an editor at the journal Frontiers in Marine Science inviting me to join the editorial board: “Having looked at your research, we think you could make an excellent addition to our editorial board.” This was quite flattering, but if they had actually looked at my research, they might not …
The Journal Nature Falls for Autism Pseudoscience
On May 10, 2023, the journal Nature stooped to a new low when it credulously highlighted one of the most rampant forms of pseudoscience in the world of autism. Facilitated communication, a method that was thoroughly debunked back in the 1990s, has come back, repackaged variously as rapid prompting method (RPM), spelling to communicate (S2C), …
Scientific Contagion Spoils the Magic of Religion
University of Pennsylvania psychologist Paul Rozin is a magician—of a sort. A century before Rozin began practicing magic, Scottish anthropologist James Frazer (1854–1941) coined the term sympathetic magic in his classic volume The Golden Bough (1935) and identified two primary principles of sympathetic magic: similarity and contagion. According to similarity, things that have the appearance …
Can We Trust Peer Review Journals?
In January of this year, I received an email from an editor at the journal Frontiers in Marine Science inviting me to join the editorial board: “Having looked at your research, we think you could make an excellent addition to our editorial board.” This was quite flattering, but if they had actually looked at my …
Autism Politics and the Death of Truth and Freedom
Among the hot-button issues of the current era is the nature of autism and the way people with this disorder should be treated. Due to the introduction of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in the 2013 edition of the American Psychiatric Association’s Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (2013), children and adults who previously would have been diagnosed …
What If Test Anxiety Wasn’t a Disability?
In my career as a college professor, I was often asked to make special testing accommodations for students with learning disabilities or other conditions that interfered with their test performance. Most often I was asked to allow for extended time and/or make arrangements for testing in a separate quiet room away from other students. Usually, …
Eat Popcorn: The Current State of the Priming ‘Train Wreck’
The story is the stuff of advertising legend. In 1957 at a movie theater in New Jersey, messages too brief to be consciously detected were flashed on the screen during a movie: “DRINK COCA-COLA” and “EAT POPCORN.” Without knowing why they were doing it, people streamed to the concession stand and plunked down good money …
Autism Politics and the Death of Truth and Freedom
Among the hot-button issues of the current era is the nature of autism and the way people with this disorder should be treated. Due to the introduction of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in the 2013 edition of the American Psychiatric Association’s Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (2013), children and adults who would previously have been diagnosed …
Is Autism Really a Spectrum?
Back in the late 1970s and early 1980s, I worked at a residential facility for children with severe autism. These kids had been rejected from many other schools because, if left on their own, they banged their heads against hard objects until their skin split open, bit themselves and others, and attacked staff members and …
Eat Popcorn: The Current State of the Priming ‘Train Wreck’
The story is the stuff of advertising legend. In 1957 at a movie theater in New Jersey, messages too brief to be consciously detected were flashed on the screen during a movie: “DRINK COCA-COLA” and “EAT POPCORN.” Without knowing why they were doing it, people streamed to the concession stand and plunked down good money …
Yes, The Dunning-Kruger Effect Really Is Real
Ignorant of your own ignorance. Frequently applied in a political context, the Dunning-Kruger (DK) effect has rapidly become a famous psychological concept. It describes a kind of double-whammy. If you suffer from the DK effect, you know very little about a subject—which is bad enough—but you also have the false impression that you know considerably …
Theodate Pope Riddle: Feminist & Spiritualist
Recently, I visited the Hill-Stead Museum in Farmington, Connecticut, not knowing much about what I would find. I understood that it was a house museum in a beautiful mansion in the green and rolling hills of central Connecticut and that it contained some masterpieces of impressionist art. As advertised, Hill-Stead was an impressive building decorated …
Is Autism Really a Spectrum?
Back in the late 1970s and early 1980s, I worked at a residential facility for children with severe autism. These kids had been rejected from many other schools because, if left on their own, they banged their heads against hard objects until their skin split open, bit themselves and other people, and attacked staff members …
Mass Psychogenic Illness: The Unacceptable Diagnosis
In the fall and winter of 2001–2002, school children across the United States began to break out in a strange rash (Talbot 2002). Groups of children—overwhelmingly girls—in Pennsylvania, Oregon, and Virginia turned up with itchy red blotches at school that disappeared when they went home. All this happened in the post-9/11 environment of anthrax scares …
Yes, The Dunning-Kruger Effect Really Is Real
Ignorant of your own ignorance. Frequently applied in a political context, the Dunning-Kruger (DK) effect has rapidly become a famous psychological concept. It describes a kind of double-whammy. If you suffer from the DK effect, you know very little about a subject—which is bad enough—but you also have the false impression that you know considerably …