Sunday 13 June 2010

Ghosts, ouija boards, and some idiots motor effect.

When I was a child, say about 8 years old, my brother and I would spend our Sunday nights eating toast, drinking hot chocolate and watching a TV show known as “strange but true” you might of heard of it. It’s an old TV show from the early nineties, which gave eyewitness accounts, and reconstructions of paranormal experiences. We both believed firmly in ghost, U.F.O’s and the loch ness monster, so did our mom. They both still believe in ghosts now, I have managed to educate my brother a bit, so he doesn’t believe the U.F.O thing anymore. During the break of the show, we would let our poodle into the garden to do his usual business, leave him there for fifteen minutes or so until show finished. Then we would go back out to let him in (we lived in a flat and had to go into the main corridor to get to the gardens).

On one particular day, the second half of the show told a story of a haunting on a motorway. You see, the motorway was built over a site where there was once a monastery; a monk had ended his life there because he had disgraced the church by falling in love with a local woman, and was found out. His tormented spirit roamed the road trying to find his way back to the monastery so he could rest eternally. This scared the shit out of both of us, we, under no circumstances would go near that back door, to get the dog back. Funny now, but back then we couldn’t sleep for days.

Both my brother and mother claim to have had ghostly encounters. One of my favourite stories is of my mothers Ouija board experience, she had told it to me many times when I was a kid, but doesn’t tell me any more, ill explain. It goes a little like this:

One dark stormy night, my mom, dad, granddad, aunty, and two uncles felt a little bored, a discussion sparked up about contacting the dead. My great grandmother on my dad’s side had recently died, and they thought it would be entertaining to contact her via a Ouija board. My granddad wanted no part in this, he thought contacting the dead was a ridiculous idea and went to the pub round the corner for a drink, leaving them to construct the board, by placing paper letters around a round table.

Once it was completed, and they had a means to contact the after life, they sat down and placed there fingers upon the rim of an upturned glass. After some giggles and a bit of joking around, my dad asked the Ouija, in a spooky voice of course, “is there anybody there that would like to speak to us”. They waited and nothing happened, so he repeated “is there anybody there that would like to speak to us”. This time the glass started to move and slowly made its way across the table, to the piece of paper with the word “yes” written on it. Shocked and slightly terrified he continued, in a more serious tone “who is speaking?” faster now, the glass moved, first to the letter d, then to the letter e, then faster to the letter v. everyone in the room knew what came next, and watched as it completed the word “devil“. Out of nowhere the was a number of bangs on the living room door, the door had a patterned glass panel which was see through, and as everyone turned to see what the bang was, they were horrified. They saw a tall figure of a man, with a green face and long grey hair. He wore a long black cloak, and Wellington boots up to his knee. This figure moved its arm up and scratched on the door with its boney green fingers and sharp yellow nails.

Of course, being believers, they thought it was the devil, coming to get them for messing with his telephone line (he must have been expecting a call). They screamed and ran around the room, with my dad shouting “these are good women, take me, take me”. Then just as quick as it was there, it had gone.

Awesome story, I loved it. I loved it so much one day when I went to visit my granddad I told him the story, and what he missed out on that night. He laughed, for a long time, and then he turned to me and said “yes I remember that one, I pretended to leave, closed the door and made my way quietly upstairs. Once I was up there I put a Halloween mask on, it had a grey wig attached. I also put on my fishing coat, and boots. (He didn’t explain the hand thing). Once I was ready I quietly made my way back downstairs to the living room door, I knocked it real hard three times and they ran round like headless chicken. I used the panic and confusion to escape to the pub. I never told her.”

I found this hilarious, I asked him if it was ok to tell her what really happened, and he said it was alright. You would have loved to see the look on her face when I told her. Classic.

You see now there are parts to that story that don’t add up, for instance why did the Ouija spell “devil”, it moved on its own accord right?

This is where a little thing called the idiomotor effect. Basically, everyone is concentrating on this glass, wanting it to move. Somebody thinks they feel a slight pull in a certain direction, so they try following it. This causes others to feel a slight push, or pull, and they also follow it, moving the glass themselves without even realising it. Just a small movement at the start and it’s off. The letters are picked out subconsciously by one of the participants touching the glass, until they’re near the end of the word and the other participants can guess what the rest of the letters are and where to push the glass too. This is why you see the glass speed up towards the end of a word.

Now doesn’t that sound so much more reasonable then, a ghosts presence pushed the glass around the table, using its physical energy to move this glass, trying to get its message across…. But not using a pen and paper, or even a computer, surely its easier to press a key then to move a glass!

Some other things up for debate is the word that was spelt out, and the hands of the figure they saw. You see what happens with paranormal experiences, or any story for that matter, is it gets distorted over time. Every time you tell the story, you’re bringing it out of the memory banks, reprocessing the information, and sometimes you might just add a little something to make it more interesting. Just a little something like, the shape of the hands, then the next time you tell it, the colour of them. The next time you mention long nails, the time after that you might feel it necessary to add the colour of the finger nails, without even realising the changes made in previous times you have told the story. There will be small incremental changes, slowly adding a little more spark to the story. Now don’t get me wrong, I’m not calling anyone a liar. This is a natural thing we all do, humans like telling each other good stories, it comes from the cave man days when we told hunting stories over the fire, and hyped them up a little to impress the cave ladies.

There are many things you have to watch out for when you hear stories of paranormal encounters from people you know. Would you believe it from a stranger? Is there a more rational explanation?

There is a skeptical tool which can be used a lot to debunk paranormal claims, this is know as “occums razor”. Imagine you have a little bonsai tree, and on this bonsai tree is a certain amount of branches, each branch is assigned to a different possible explanation for whatever you are being told. Using a razor (occums razor) you cut of each branch (explanation) which you think is least likely, for instance, another one of my mother ghostly encounter is that of a sock being thrown at her whilst she was cleaning her toilet. She was in the house alone and it landed right on her shoulder. She always wants me to explain how it got there for a debate about ghost so I say “what do you think is more likely, one; the sock was left there from earlier in the day when you got the washing out of the washing machine, and only just noticed it. Two; it was hanging on the door, fell off and landed on your shoulder, three; it has been there since you got dressed this morning. Or four; a ghost came back from “the other side” and the only thing it wanted to do is to throw a sock at you”.

She always tells me it is our granddad playing tricks, I disagree. You see imagine a bonsai tree with four branches, one for each explanation. Take away the least likely until your left with one, now we know it is unlikely to be a ghost so that’s gone, it is unlikely that a sock got one top of the door (especially as my mom is like 4 ft 10), So that’s gone. Now the next two are a bit harder, we need more info. I Asked her when it happened and she told me around two in the afternoon, it is unlikely she went all day with out noticing it, so let’s shift that one as well. You are left with one branch, the one associated with the washing machine explanation. Even with the Ouija story you could have done the same thing, and I bet the only branch left standing, is the one where my granddad comes back from the pub, to dress up and scare every one.

Thanks for reading, now next time you here a bang upstairs while your at home alone, and your hair stands up on the back of your neck because your afraid it is a ghost, use occums razor, and you’ll realise its probably pipes, or the stuff your smoking in one.

Peace.

Tuesday 8 June 2010

How astrology works, Well, doesn’t work.

People have often asked me, “What is your star sign?” My usual reply to this is, “I don’t have one”, which usually leads on to them insisting that I do in fact have one. After a little bit of time of winding them up and playing along they come across as if I do not know what I am talking about, they ask me my date of birth, I tell them, and they announce I am a Scorpio. Of course I know this, everyone knows what star sign they are but unfortunately, not many people know why they are such a star sign, and what it is all supposed to mean. That’s where I come in!

I have given the impression that they are far more knowledgeable then I am when it comes to the subject of astrology. So acting like the dumbass I ask, “So, how does this work? How does it have an effect on me?” At this point of the conversation, it all seems to fall apart, they don’t even know how it works or what the basic principles of astrology are, but they are sure it is real, with out putting in any sort of research. They believe that the time that we are born will decide on our character, our future and our past, but have no idea why.

So here I explain to them, this is how it works: you see, astrologers believe that the planets (in our solar system) have particular energies, and depending on their positions when we are born, will dictate the events we will encounter through out our lives and how we will approach them. It’s all about gravity, though nowadays with the studies going on into “quantum mechanics” they like to use this as an explanation of why this works (a lot of these bullshit claims now use quantum mechanics to try and give some sort of reasoning to their nonsense).

Astrology is all based upon the sun, moon and the 8 planets (this is because Pluto was not discovered when astrology was first dreamt up, as it happens we still only have 8 planets as Pluto was downgraded to a planetoid/dwarf planet in 2006) The position of these planets represent certain days and months these are divided into 12 groups to correspond to the 12 months in the year. This is known as the zodiac which consists of 12 different constellations that the sun, moon and planets travel through in the span of one year. Each constellation is given a certain name as the 12 signs of the Zodiac:

ARIES
MARCH 21 - APRIL 20

TAURUS
APRIL 21 - MAY 21

GEMINI
MAY 22 - JUNE 21

CANCER
JUNE 22 - JULY 23

LEO
JULY 24 - AUG 23

VIRGO
AUG 24 - SEPT 23

LIBRA
SEPT 24 - OCT 23

SCORPIO
OCT 24 - NOV 22

SAGITTARIUS
NOV 23 - DEC 22

CAPRICORN
DEC 23 - JAN 20

Aquarius
JAN 21 - FEB 19

PISCES
FEB 20 - MAR 20

Depending on the time in the year of a person's birth, each individual falls under one of these 12 signs. Astrologers believe that certain personality traits and habits of the person born under a particular sign are decided by that sign.



In reality even the nearest planet to us (mars) has no effect on us gravitationally or otherwise noticeably, therefore if the nearest planet has no effect on us, why would planets further away have an effect?
The doctor who helped deliver us has more of a gravitational pull on us then any celestial body, are we to say that the doctor plays a part in our habits and personality just as believers would have us think the moon does or any other planet.
According to recent studies, it has been shown that the way we are as people is 50% genetics and 50% environmental 0% celestial body positions!

If astrologers are to believe that the planets positioning is the reason for their personality and habits then they will give no credit to their parents, family, teachers etc, according to them the way they are and will be, are already determined by the planets.

Another aspect of astrology is horoscopes, which are small predictions of the future also based on a person's Zodiac sign. This can be found in the back of your local paper.
Over the course of a year, 12 different constellations will pass over head. Obviously you can only see this at night time, but where the constellations are at mid-day depends on what star sign you are. So say for example I am a Scorpio, this means that during the time I was born the Scorpio (constellation) was overhead at mid-day (Oct 24 - Nov 22).


Now think about this sceptically, today is the 8th June 2010 and this is my daily horoscope according to mystic Meg in the sun newspaper (who I would punch if I ever met!)

“Luck and work link in unexpected ways, but the one thing that is certain are your skills.

Don't play down what you can do well. Commitment of all kinds comes to you - passion vows, cash-making plans and prizes.

Take it and run with it.

Luck circles a sporty family and door 15”

As said above, as you will probably know, constellations are divided into 12 different sections, you ready for some maths?!

There are approximately 6.7 billion people on the planet who obviously each have a star sign, so, 6.7 billion divided by 12 which gives us 558,333,333. That means that there are 558,333,333 people with the same daily prediction as you. So just out of odds there is sure to be someone who is lucky at work, someone who does know a sporty family and have links to door number 15. And I’m sure all of them have got commitments so that does not apply. Some people will tell you that their signs are accurate without putting these thought into mind, but with these large numbers of people and vague readings the odds of getting one right is sure to be lower then 558,333,333 to 1.

Not only is it based on when the constellation are over head at midday, but what planets are close too or passing through your constellation, hence “ mars is blocking Venus in your sign, so expect trouble over love”. You see Venus is the”lurve planet” and mars, the planet of “war”. Because mars is covering Venus in my constellation, according to astrology, I can assume that mars will have more influence on my daily activities. Obviously it will not, my decisions and action are what I decide them to be, maybe we can talk philosophically and say they are more decided by me subliminal mind, and I don’t actually have free will, but that’s a different subject.

Overall life is what you make of it, and what you decide to do is down to you, the stars, planets, nor the American military’s G.P.S satellites will have no part in them, unless you’re lost and trying to find your way to your mates house.

Don’t get me wrong, read the horoscopes all you like, but never take the seriously, they are stories told by crazed people, trying to make money off others vulnerability. Next time you’re reading the paper and your friend says to you, “read my horoscope please?” ask what star sign they are, and read a completely different one. I am sure they will still say it applies to them. But don’t just do that; refer them to this blog post.

And what do these belivers say to me once i have told them all this???? thats a typical answer from a scorpio!

Peace. May Jupiter’s moons keep you safe, and Venus watch over your every move lol.

Saturday 5 June 2010

Good listening material.

Here is a list of pod cast to listen too, you can find them all on Itunes, or just click the name to be put through to the website where you can down load it from there.

The skeptics guide to the universe: The Skeptics Guide to the Universe is a weekly Science podcast produced by the New England Skeptical Society (NESS) in association with the James Randi Educational Foundation (JREF) : discussing the latest news and topics from the world of the paranormal, fringe science, and controversial claims from a scientific point of view.


Skeptics with a k: Skeptics with a K is the podcast of the Merseyside Skeptics Society, recorded and edited at the region’s internationally-renowned Summit Studios. Each episode features Mike, Marsh and Colin chatting about stuff that interests them, often with a skeptical angle.


Skeptoid: Skeptoid is a weekly science podcast dedicated to furthering knowledge by blasting away the widespread pseudosciences that infect popular culture, and replacing them with way cooler reality.


Each weekly episode focuses on a single phenomenon — an urban legend, a paranormal claim, alternative therapy, or something just plain stupid — that you've heard of, and that you probably believe in. Skeptoid attempts to expose the folly of belief in non-evidence based phenomena, and more importantly, explains the factual scientific reality.

Logically critical: The Logically Critical podcast is intended to encourage critical thinking in everyday situations without the hassle of checking facts at the library. Rather than quote historical research or bore you with statistics about how many dentists suggest what cigarette to their patients, this will use information that we can all reasonably agree on, and will show by example how to more-fully explore any given issue be it traffic, religion, or how to lure a weasel into a cardboard box.


Skeptically speaking: Skeptically Speaking encourages you to call in, and question everything.

We interview experts from various scientific and academic fields, and shine the light of logic on practitioners of alternative therapies, people with paranormal/supernatural “abilities” and other peddlers of pseudoscience.

With a little humour and a lot of curiosity, Sceptically Speaking guides its listeners through the sometimes complex, but always fascinating world of science and reason.

The Infidel Guy show: Since 1999, The Infidel Guy show has brought you uninterrupted free thought and science-minded guests such as Michio Kaku, Dan Barker, Ken Miller, Michael Shermer, Asia Carrera, Richard Dawkins, Massimo Pigliucci, James Randi and many others. At our site and on our show we take a truthful and investigative look at religious beliefs, political systems, social issues, economic systems, the paranormal, pseudo-science and scientific claims. We feature free thought news, an arcade, forums, chat room and free free thought downloads as well as paid memberships to all IG content.



Also there here is a list of pod cast dedicated to science, as a said in an earlier post, science is very important to skepticism, and these pod cast are easy listening and very good at explaining science for anyone to understand.


Astronomy cast: Astronomy Cast takes a fact-based journey through the cosmos as it offers listeners weekly discussions on astronomical topics ranging from planets to cosmology. Hosted by Fraser Cain (Universe Today) and Dr. Pamela L. Gay (SIUE), this show brings the questions of an avid astronomy lover direct to an astronomer. Together Fraser and Pamela explore what is known and being discovered about the universe around us.


The naked scientist: The Naked Scientists are a media-savvy group of physicians and researchers from Cambridge University who use radio, live lectures, and the Internet to strip science down to its bare essentials, and promote it to the general public. Their award winning BBC weekly radio programme, The Naked Scientists, reaches a potential audience of 6 million listeners across the east of England, and also has an international following on the web.

Each week, listeners of all ages and backgrounds tune in on a Sunday evening to hear creator Dr. Chris Smith, together with his entertaining sidekicks, interview renowned scientists and researchers from all over the world and take science questions on any subject live from the listening public.

In addition to the radio show, the group has organised Naked Science at Borders, a public lecture series enabling the community to attend informative presentations given by some of the UK's most celebrated scientists. They have also put together this website to allow the radio show, lectures, and much more to be accessible world-wide. According to Dr. Smith, the basic goal of the Naked Scientists "is to help people enjoy science as much as we do and, at the same time, to have fun."

Stuff you should know: In the Stuff You Should Know podcast, follow Chuck Bryant and Josh Clark as they explain hot topics. Get informed with the Stuff You Should Know podcast.





Thursday 3 June 2010

Why is skepticism important?

It was once said by a very wise man that “skepticism is not a position, it’s a process”. Of course, he is right. To be skeptical you have to critically examine claims made by people, that have no, or very little empirical evidence (dependant on evidence observable by the senses). This is because we can trust that such observations are made, critically and to the scientific method, making them repeatable and reliable. Without such a thing people can be lead to believe in whatever they like. We use “critical thinking” to determine what is believable, what is not believable, and what is still to be determined.

Evidence is the key to skepticism, Carl Sagan famously said “extraordinary claims, take extraordinary evidence” and he is damn right. Let me give you an example; your in a bar enjoying a nice cold glass of beer, when a guy comes over and asks “hey man, do you play golf? I’ve got a set off golf clubs in the boot of my car for sale, £20, you want them???” now there is no reason to doubt that this guy has a set of golf clubs in his car, golf clubs are easy to come by and cheap enough to buy a second hand set for 20 quid. But let’s say instead, you’re in the same bar, with the same beer, and the same guy comes over and he says to you; “hey man, I got a genuine cigar, half smoked by Winston Churchill on D-day in my glove compartment, you can have it for £30”. This is a completely different situation all together, how do you know the cigar he has was Winston Churchill’s? How do you know that it was smoke on D-day, and how would you even know it was the same brand I cigar Churchill smoked? You would need a lot of evidence to prove this claim, and you would not go about believing this without a lot proof. This is an extraordinary claim, and it would require extraordinary evidence to prove it.

About five years ago I used to be one of those conspiracy nuts. 9/11 was an inside job, JFK was killed by the CIA, there was some one the grassy knoll, the whole world is run by an organisation known as the illuminatti or majestic 12. You see, I love a good story, and those conspiracy theories are great tales of wonder, corruption, and it makes you think you see the bigger picture. For some reason the people who believe in these conspiracy theories are also known as “skeptics”, which in my part is part good. As back then used to class my self as a skeptic ( I do now, but a true skeptic), I started to look for some pod casts on itunes on such subjects, to see if I could get a better understanding of them. Fortunately for me I came across “the skeptics guide to the universe” and “skeptiod”, I listened to a few of each and realised I have been completely wrong about the way I was looking at things, I hadn’t examined the claims being made properly, so I learnt some of the logical fallacies, and went back to re-examine the information I had been provided with, to find it was bull, and now I was finally seeing the whole picture ( or was that “them” brainwashing me?? hmmmm). Not only was I learning a lot but I was also enjoying doing it, learning a lot about what it takes to be a true skeptic, critical thinking, logical fallacies, good debating skills and an all round knowledge of good science.

So I started reading lots of good books by many great authors, Carl Sagan, James Randi, Phil Plait, Einstein, Stephen Hawking, and Richard Dawkins, learnt a lot about evolution, physics, astronomy, medicines, and realised, those old conspiracy stories hold nothing against the wonders science can provide us with. The size of the universe, how it came to be, how it works, they way we experiment to find out the things we know, and where it is going to take us. We ALL have to rely on science, it is the only thing that will bring us truth, one day it might even provide us with eternal life just like all religions promise, science can provide. It has provided us with technology far exceeding the expectations of past generations. We have landed on the moon, sent machines to mars; we have sent probes into the far end of our solar system. We have eradicated many diseases due to vaccination, grown food for the hungry using G.M foods, provided people with clean water, electricity, and the ability to be on the other side of the planet within a day.

As skeptics we have to critically examine anything that seems out of place and make sure that the information we receive is reliable. To better our knowledge and understanding of the world, each other and what will happen to the world as we leave it to our children, we have too make sure that we get it right. To pass down beliefs such as; climate change is a myth; crystals can cure cancer, western medicine is corrupt by big pharma, is just irresponsible. With the problems we will face as a planet in the future, we cannot afford to believe in medicines that don’t work just as we can’t ignore climate change just because a few guys said it is lie. We have to know that the information we pass onto our children is reliable so they can use it to live their lives rationally and in turn do what is best for the planet and all species on it and make sure they know they are doing the right thing because evidence tells them so, not beliefs.

Personally, I think the most important thing to being a good skeptic is an all round knowledge of science, and the scientific method. This might seem difficult, as science has reached a level where we have to be so in depth, we have to study some subjects for near a decade before we can really understand the things we know so far. Even the fields of science have inner fields. It may seem a lot harder to follow than it used to be, but a basic knowledge of science is something everyone should be aiming for. The better we understand the world around us, the better we can survive. This is how our species has lasted so long, Intelligence. We have learnt how to use the things around use to make tools, clothes, houses, and eventually power tools, space suits and sky scrapers. We have come a long way by using science, and we will go even further using it in the future. It is our responsibility as the only know intelligent species in the universe, to learn as much as we can, and pass it down to the next generation, bettering ourselves, correcting errors, filling in gaps, until we can all live together in good health, with long lives, all animals, including us.

Peace.

Wednesday 2 June 2010

Face book group "psychics should be licensed"

A few weeks ago, a few friends and myself decided it would be interesting to terrorise some people at a psychic fayre near me, under the impression it was going to be a big professional event. Unfortunately when we arrived, all that was there were about 6 middle aged women with crystal balls and tarot cards. There were also leaflets giving information about each one. Some claimed to be able to contact angels, some could read palms, and some even claimed they could cure diseases and ailments with crystal (raiki). Being a skeptic and believing that these people are frauds, I was quite shocked to learn of the prices they charge for a simple tarot card reading (£20). I wanted to have a reading for a laugh, but I’m not paying £20, for a crazed old lady to tell me shit that’s so vague, it could apply to my pet dog!

I have always had a problem with the way psychics work. To say that you can contact the dead child of a grieving parent for a fee (any fee!) is absolutely wrong, and anyone who can do this to a person has no morals, and no respect for the grieving process people have to go through once they have lost a loved one, especially as psychic “powers” have never been proven scientifically, all we have is anecdotal evidence. Due to this, I have taken it upon myself to begin a movement. I want every psychic in the U.K (worldwide actually, but we will start here) to be licensed. If they are going to charge people for something, surely they have to prove that what they are charging for is legit.

So I am making this the start of the journey, either psychics should prove their abilities, or stop charging people for bullshit. I mean sure, if they enjoy it as a hobby, and their “marks” as I like to call them, know that it’s more like magic tricks than paranormal abilities, there is no harm in this. But for someone to make money (and some of them make lots of money) of the misfortune of others, without ever proving that what they do actually does have some credibility, I’m sure you agree, it is fraudulent, and I’m sure fraud is illegal in this country, so why do they get away with it?

The plan is to get enough members together to write a petition to parliament, explaining our grievances, why we have them and what we would like to do something about it. Seeing as we are not asking for psychics to be completely illegal (just for them to prove there abilities before practising) there shouldn’t be much of a problem, we are not asking too much. Of course there would be some sort of test that has to be taken to get the licence (preferably set up by the James Randi educational foundation), and of course it is not likely that anyone will pass under scientific scrutiny. Of course people will fail, and they will claim the test is unfair, but I’m afraid that if they fail, no job, and they would have to go out and earn an honest living like the rest of us!

( shortly after this post was written, Patrick Redmond of the "Birmingham skeptics in the pub" podcast was kind enough to interview me about the facebook group, to hear this interview, click HERE)