I am working my way through The Skeptic Encyclopedia of Pseudoscience edited by well known ex - fundamentalist Christian and now born again self-proclaimed rationalist Michael Shermer. As you guys may be aware I have read many books written from the skeptical viewpoint. I strongly advise my FB friends to check this out and, as with all claims to knowledge, read it with an open mind. This hefty tome was published in 2002 and consists of nearly 1,000 pages of self - congratulatory analysis that pretends to be even handed and intellectually rigorous. It is dedicated to the patron saint of Skeptics, the amazing James Randi. It consists of a series of articles that picks virtually every easy target of occult or pseudo - scientific beliefs. It smugly dismisses the Cottingly fairies, Eric von Daniken and scores of other soft targets. I am finding reading it as annoying and frustrating as I do when reading some of the worst examples of new age gullibility. For example in the section on reincarnation it dismisses the deja phenomenon in three paragraphs. Indeed it confidently states that deja vu has been adequately explained for over a hundred years. It cites the work of William James. Guess what guys... deja vu is simply us having an inability to distinguish between a current experience that resembles a past experience in some important aspects. This was James explanation. Remember that William James was a member of the Society for Psychical Research (an organisation demolished in s subsequent article). I will post more later as my mobile is about to run out of charge...
Posted on: Mon, 07 Apr 2014 18:02:12 +0000
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