Showing posts with label Shadow. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Shadow. Show all posts

Tuesday, February 27, 2024

Shadow of a Doubt - February 2024

 February 2024

NCAS Public Lecture Series

Uses and Potential Harms of Psychedelics in Medicine


 YouTube Live Event with Q and A 

Peter Grinspoon, M.D.
Instructor in Medicine, Harvard Medical School

Saturday, February 10, 1:30pm US/Eastern (UTC-05:00)


What is the exciting new research about psychedelics as treatment for depression, addiction, pain, and obsessive-compulsive disorder?  What are the barriers (cost, legality, access) and harms?

Peter Grinspoon, M.D. is a primary care physician and cannabis specialist at Massachusetts General Hospital and an Instructor in Medicine at Harvard Medical School. He is a certified Health and Wellness Coach as well as a board member of the advocacy group Doctors for Cannabis Regulation, an advisor to "The Parabola Center," and has been providing medical cannabis care for patients for two decades.

Dr. Grinspoon is a widely recognized expert on cannabis science and drug policy. He regularly appears as an expert on national television and radio programs, including NPR's All Things Considered, NBC Nightly News, C-SPAN's Washington Journal, Fox and Friends, and Fox News. He is quoted frequently in the national media, in such venues as People, the New York Times, New York Magazine, the Washington Post, USA Today, the Wall Street Journal, the Chicago Tribune, and the Boston Globe. He is a TEDX speaker.

Grinspoon's Harvard Health articles have reached tens of millions of readers, have been widely referenced in the national media, and have been cited in Congressional testimony. His writing has been published in The Nation, the Los Angeles Times and Narrative Inquiry in Bioethics.

He is the author of the groundbreaking memoir Free Refills: A Doctor Confronts His Addiction, and his most recent book, Seeing through the Smoke: A Cannabis Specialist Untangles the Truth about Marijuana (Prometheus Books, 2023).


https://www.ncas.org/2024/01/uses-and-potential-harms-of.html


How to Watch and Participate in this Online Discussion Event:

1) Use a supported browser... https://www.youtube.com/supported_browsers
2) Use the link https://youtu.be/u_kjRWJWdzM
3) The live stream begins shortly before 1:30pm US/Eastern (UTC-05:00) on Saturday, February 10, 2024.
4) To post questions, you must be signed in to a Google account.
5) Post your questions in the chat window to the right of the video player when the live stream is active.
6) Click into where it says "Say something..." and begin typing (up to 200 characters). Then click the send icon.

Along with your question, please post what city or town you're in.


Eldritch Investigations and a Discount for NCAS
"Cults and cryptids collide when a curious Washingtonian investigates local unexplained phenomena.  Explore the lure of the unknown and its entanglement with DC history in this multi-chapter adventure across the city."

At the start of the pandemic, the local Rorschach Theatre company created a unique theatrical experience that extended over the course of 9-10 months. It was originally a way for the show to go on when the pandemic shut down stage performances, but it has been so successful that they've continued into their 4th year with an all-new story in December 2023.

Rorschach often incorporates elements of fantasy, horror, and/or supernatural. This coming season the Eldritch Investigations project involves themes particularly close to NCAS. The company has extended a 20% discount to NCAS members.

Subscribers receive a monthly box or envelope with maps, directions to locales around DC, and other artifacts such as postcards, telegrams, and various trinkets that help unfold a story over the course of 9-10 months. You investigate these locations at your own pace, on your own time. They also provide online videos for those who can't visit in person.

The adventure has already begun, so new subscribers will receive all previous chapters in the first shipment.

For the discount, use code NCAS when subscribing here:

https://rorschachtheatre.com/23-24-psychogeographies-project/

Sounds a bit like an expanded version of our NCAS Skeptours!


March NCAS Event
We invite you to watch the documentary The UFO Movie THEY Don't Want You to See BEFORE March 2, 2024. Then join us on Saturday, March 2 at 1:30 PM ET for an online Q & A with Producer Brian Dunning. 

In an age when misinformation, alternative facts, and conspiracy theories have become mainstream, UFOs have risen to become one of the most-talked about pop culture phenomena. With all of this noise, how can we expect anyone to know how much of this is true? What is in our skies? What do we know, and how do we know it? And most importantly: Are we being visited? Science does have most of these answers, and we're working on answering the rest of them. Featuring experts in cosmology, physics, and image analysis, The UFO Movie THEY Don't Want You to See will lay out for you exactly what we know and how we know it. https://theufo.movie

The movie is available for free (with ads) on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t72uvS7EJT4

Of course, you can watch on your own.  Or, if you prefer a shared experience, there will be an online viewing event on Wednesday, February 28 at 7:30 PM ET.

How to Watch and Participate in the Online Viewing Event:

1) Check your email inbox (the same one that's receiving this Shadow of a Doubt) at 7 PM ET on Wednesday, February 28.
2) Click on the "Watch2Gether" link in the email.  Your browser will display our "room" to watch a YouTube movie together.
3) Start typing in the chat window at the right of the screen.  The documentary will start at 7:30 PM sharp, but anyone who wants to hang out there before showtime is welcome.
4) Webcams and microphones won't be active, just the chat window.  Get ready to type!


February PhACT Lecture
Our skeptical neighbors to the north, the Philadelphia Association for Critical Thinking (PhACT), will host their next online event on Saturday, February 17 at 2 PM ET.  Historian Robert Hicks, PhD will present "19th-Century Astronomy."  Visitors to Philadelphia’s Ebenezer Maxwell Mansion might discover a curious object in the children’s room, a large 1871 cardboard planisphere that speaks to the widespread interest in astronomy during the mid to late 1800s. This presentation surveys what discoveries were made in astronomy during the era and how it was promoted and taught. What did people then think about intelligent life elsewhere? The size and nature of the universe?  The presentation concludes with a virtual 1870s public observing night with a telescope!  Event details at http://www.phact.org/meetings.php.


February Bay Area Skeptics Lecture
The [San Francisco] Bay Area Skeptics will host their next online event on Thursday, February 8 at 10:30 PM ET.  Glenn Branch, deputy director of the National Center for Science Education, will present "A Child's Garden of Climate Change Denial."  Climate change denial propaganda campaigns aimed at American teachers and students are not new, but in 2023, no fewer than four — from the Heartland Institute, the CO2 Coalition, EverBright Media, and PragerU Kids — were in the headlines.  In his talk, he will assess these campaigns and their likely effects in the context of the advances of climate change education in the United States over the last decade.  This will be livestreamed on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tx8w5jM8_1U


Torn From Today's Headlines
By Scott Snell
West Virginia Governor Proclaims February 15 as "Critical Thinking Awareness Day"
On November 3, 2023, Governor Jim Justice of West Virginia proclaimed that February 15, 2024 would be "Critical Thinking Awareness Day."  The full text is available at https://governor.wv.gov/Documents/2023%20Proclamations/2024%20Critical%20Thinking%20Awareness%20Day.pdf .  A list of this and other proclamations over the past year is located at https://governor.wv.gov/proclamations/Pages/default.aspx .

Daniel Reed of the West Virginia Skeptics Society (WVSS) was the impetus behind this.  His description of how it was done is presented at https://skepticalinquirer.org/exclusive/from-idea-to-proclamation-making-critical-thinking-awareness-day-a-reality/ .


WVSS has assembled relevant links to sites for critical-thinking activities for children and young adults: https://www.westvirginiaskepticssociety.com/activities

If NCAS were to pursue this for DC, Maryland, and/or Virginia, what sort of examples, activities, and/or resources might we offer to the public and news media outlets?


NCAS Membership
At its September 20, 2023 meeting, the NCAS Board of Directors approved a change in membership classifications, effective October 1.  Formerly in two classifications, Single and Double, membership now comprises one or two individuals at the same home address.  In addition to simplifying transactions for the NCAS treasurer, this represents a per-person reduction in membership costs.  The former Single membership cost now covers up to two people.  Consider adding a 2nd person in your household to your NCAS membership at no extra cost!  Both will be able to vote separately in the annual NCAS board of directors election.  Send an email to ncas@ncas.org to add a 2nd person to your membership.  We hope to add members, and of course a student or other young person is always welcome for the future of skepticism.  Also see https://www.ncas.org/p/join-ncas.html.


Shadow Light
Some members and contacts of NCAS receive a postal notification of this and every new monthly Shadow of a Doubt.  The Shadow Light postcard announces the monthly lecture and highlights of the electronic Shadow of a Doubt, which is available online at ncas.org/p/shadow.html.  NCAS thereby reduces Shadow production and postage costs.  To further reduce costs, members and contacts can opt out of postal notification altogether, while continuing to receive Shadow of a Doubt via e-mail.  To opt out, send us an e-mail at ncas@ncas.org.


Time to Renew?
Be sure to check your renewal date above your postal address on the Shadow Light postcard. Send any queries to ncas@ncas.org.  Use the online membership form to renew.
https://www.ncas.org/p/shadow.html

Saturday, January 27, 2024

Shadow of a Doubt - January 2024

 

January 2024

NCAS Public Lecture Series

Am I a "Competent Witness?" —
Would You Believe Me?


 YouTube Live Event with Q and A 

Steve Lundquist
Retired US Air Force Pilot

Saturday, January 27, 1:30pm US/Eastern (UTC-05:00)



"Reliable Witnesses" are a favorite source for credulous reports of just about anything. Because these people have such impressive credentials, the thought of them being incorrect is just hard to wrap your mind around. But even someone who should know better is still subject to all the foibles of being human.


Steve Lundquist
is in the Aerospace Defense industry working as a leader in the Program Management Office. He is a retired Air Force pilot, and still flies today. He is actively involved in the skeptical community as an advocate for critical thinking and scientific skepticism. He has been active with the Granite State Skeptics, New York City Skeptics, and the Northeast Conference for Science and Skepticism. He practices everyday skepticism by infusing it into his work and other organizations such as Toastmasters.


https://www.ncas.org/2024/01/am-i-comptent-witness-january-27-2024.html



How to Watch and Participate in this Online Discussion Event:

1) Use a supported browser... https://www.youtube.com/supported_browsers
2) Use the link https://youtu.be/PMZlI4M5ZWY
3) The live stream begins shortly before 1:30pm US/Eastern (UTC-05:00) on Saturday, January 27, 2024.
4) To post questions, you must be signed in to a Google account.
5) Post your questions in the chat window to the right of the video player when the live stream is active.
6) Click into where it says "Say something..." and begin typing (up to 200 characters). Then click the send icon .

Along with your question, please post what city or town you're in.

December Shadow? Was there a December 2023 Shadow of a Doubt?  No, arrangements fell through for our prospective event that month.


Eldritch Investigations and a Discount for NCAS
"Cults and cryptids collide when a curious Washingtonian investigates local unexplained phenomena.  Explore the lure of the unknown and its entanglement with DC history in this multi-chapter adventure across the city."

At the start of the pandemic, the local Rorschach Theatre company created a unique theatrical experience that extended over the course of 9-10 months. It was originally a way for the show to go on when the pandemic shut down stage performances, but it has been so successful that they've continued into their 4th year with an all-new story that began last month (December 2023).

Rorschach often incorporates elements of fantasy, horror, and/or supernatural. This coming season the Eldritch Investigations project involves themes particularly close to NCAS. The company has extended a 20% discount to NCAS members.

Subscribers receive a monthly box or envelope with maps, directions to locales around DC, and other artifacts such as postcards, telegrams, and various trinkets that help unfold a story over the course of 9-10 months. You investigate these locations at your own pace, on your own time. They also provide online videos for those who can't visit in person.

The adventure has already begun, so new subscribers will receive all previous chapters in the first shipment.

For the discount, use code NCAS when subscribing here:

https://rorschachtheatre.com/23-24-psychogeographies-project/

Sounds a bit like an expanded version of our NCAS Skeptours!

February NCAS Lecture
Peter Grinspoon, M.D., primary care physician and a cannabis specialist at Massachusetts General Hospital and an Instructor in Medicine at Harvard Medical School, will present "Uses and Potential Harms of Psychedelics in Medicine."  What is the exciting new research about psychedelics as treatment for depression, addiction, pain, and obsessive-compulsive disorder?  What are the barriers (cost, legality, access) and harms?  Saturday, February 10 at 1:30 PM ET, live on the NCASVideo YouTube channel.

February PhACT Lecture
Our skeptical neighbors to the north, the Philadelphia Association for Critical Thinking (PhACT), will host their next online event on Saturday, February 17 at 2 PM ET.  Historian Robert Hicks, PhD will present "19th-Century Astronomy."  Visitors to Philadelphia’s Ebenezer Maxwell Mansion might discover a curious object in the children’s room, a large 1871 cardboard planisphere that speaks to the widespread interest in astronomy during the mid to late 1800s. This presentation surveys what discoveries were made in astronomy during the era and how it was promoted and taught. What did people then think about intelligent life elsewhere? The size and nature of the universe?  The presentation concludes with a virtual 1870s public observing night with a telescope!  Event details at http://www.phact.org/meetings.php.

February Bay Area Skeptics Lecture
The [San Francisco] Bay Area Skeptics will host their next online event on Thursday, February 8 at 10:30 PM ET.  Glenn Branch, deputy director of the National Center for Science Education, will present "A Child's Garden of Climate Change Denial."  Climate change denial propaganda campaigns aimed at American teachers and students are not new, but in 2023, no fewer than four — from the Heartland Institute, the CO2 Coalition, EverBright Media, and PragerU Kids — were in the headlines.  In his talk, he will assess these campaigns and their likely effects in the context of the advances of climate change education in the United States over the last decade.  This will be livestreamed on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tx8w5jM8_1U

Torn From Today's Headlines
By Scott Snell
The Washington Post "Notable Works" of 2023 Includes Poorly-Researched UFO Book
On November 15, the Washington Post published its list of "The year's best memoirs, biographies, history and more."  Among the "50 notable works" was UFO: The Inside Story of the US Government's Search for Alien Life Here — and Out There by Garrett Graff.  The book was also lauded by the Wall Street Journal ("One of the rare books on the topic that manages to be both entertaining and factually grounded") and the Associated Press ("The perfect guide for readers interested in learning how that discussion has evolved").

A few days later, Graff was interviewed by David Ignatius of the Post at a public event held in the Politics and Prose NW DC bookstore.  I attended the event and was surprised at what Graaf was getting wrong.  Perhaps he misunderstood or garbled information from experts, didn't research enough, or outright omitted information and perspectives that would present the UFO topic in a more accurate and less sensational way.  (The event video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8tLX00F5LgQ )

I first noticed a problem when he spoke (more than once) of the interstellar object Ê»Oumuamua as coming from another "galaxy" instead of "solar system."  (At other points, he did speak of our solar system correctly, so hopefully he's more of a writer than a speaker.  Presumably publisher Simon & Schuster ensured that the book is well-edited.)

Some of his facts were correct, but misapplied.  "In 1947, we didn't understand that there could be daytime meteor showers," he said with regard to the first "modern" and famous UFO report, by pilot Kenneth Arnold in June 1947.  Sort of true (better to say, "we hadn't been able to discover daytime meteor showers until the invention of radar"), but whether a visible daytime meteor is part of a shower or not isn't relevant.  Some of the public certainly knew about daytime meteors: astronomers.  Daytime meteors have been seen all through history, and there was no question that some meteors should be visible in daylight, based on the brightness of the brightest nighttime meteors.  (And Earth's daytime side is getting roughly the same amount and sizes of incoming matter as the nighttime side.  See https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/new-map-shows-frequency-of-small-asteroid-impacts-provides-clues-on-larger-asteroid-population)  Astronomers, including J. Allen Hynek, who later became consultant for the US Air Force's UFO study, "Project Blue Book," would've considered such a possibility and rated it essentially impossible due to the sighting lasting a couple of minutes rather than a matter of seconds.  (Some investigators have suggested that Arnold didn't correctly read his plane's sweep second hand clock, but this seems unlikely.)

Graff omitted an interesting aspect of the first modern UFO reports: the public was seeing something different than what Arnold had seen.  They saw saucers.  Arnold saw nine objects that "looked something like a pie plate that was cut in half, with sort of a convex triangle in the rear."  The earliest news stories told the public, "'saucer-like' objects" (Associated Press, dateline June 25, 1947) and "flying disks" (AP, June 27, 1947).  Perhaps the power of suggestion caused the public to interpret their genuine sightings as circular disks instead of the true shape, as Arnold saw?  Or Arnold was the flawed eyewitness, misconstruing circular disks?  Or, much more likely, the power of suggestion caused the public to misconstrue all sorts of mundane aerial phenomena as "flying disks."

When I asked for Graff's thoughts about this during the Q/A portion of the program, he got the relevant facts wrong.  He stated that Arnold's "description of what he saw evolved pretty significantly from telling to telling to telling.  The first interviews he gave, he used the word 'saucers.'"  I checked Graff's assertion by comparing Arnold's "pie plate" description (excerpted from a recording of a radio interview about 48 hours after the sighting*: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E0D8eAm8h2Y) with what he sketched for authorities in July 1947.  One of his sketches is in the FBI's files related to UFOs in 1947: https://vault.fbi.gov/UFO/UFO%20Part%204%20of%2016/view (page 67).  That matches well enough to contradict Graff's claim that Arnold's description was evolving significantly, at least during the early weeks of the public's saucer sightings.  And whether or not Arnold used the word "saucers" (he didn't during the radio interview), the point is that the public was seeing the shape as reported in the news, not as what Arnold described.

One of the insights Graff was offering his audience seemed poorly considered: "The second half of this book is about the collapse of truth and trust in government and institutions.  And that, you have — in the wake of Watergate, Vietnam, the Pentagon Papers, the Church Committee, the Pike Committee — the rise of these conspiracy theories like the Bermuda Triangle, which comes out in the '70s..."  Was the Bermuda Triangle a conspiracy theory?  In the early and mid '70s, I was a voracious consumer of books, articles, and shows on the topic (including/until Larry Kuche's The Bermuda Triangle Mystery - Solved in late 1975, which was my first skeptical "mind opener").  The focus of the story then was on the mysteries of the missing planes and ships.  In any case, the Bermuda Triangle books/shows were already popular with the public before anything in Graff's list of government malfeasance except Vietnam.  (For example, the "documentary" film, The Devil's Triangle, narrated by Vincent Price, is from 1970.)  There's no reasonable way to connect the public's brief embrace of the Bermuda Triangle myth with their suspicions of the US government.

My impression of Graff's careless/superficial research and analysis seems to be borne out by at least one skeptic who read the book, Brian Dunning (host of Skeptoid, the award-winning weekly science podcast, and producer/writer/director of the recent documentary film, The UFO Movie THEY Don't Want You to See).  Dunning's review: https://briandunning.substack.com/p/review-ufo-the-inside-story-of-the

On the other hand, Michael Shermer called it "the best book I've read on the whole subject," after mentioning his bookcase full of UFO books.  "A perfect blend of history, cultural/mythological narratives that run through a lot of these stories.  You don't really pass judgment on whether these things represent aliens or whatever they represent, which I like.  It's a pure journalistic, objective look at the story."  Shermer's interview with Graff: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=od_a1lwN8kM

After watching the Shermer interview, I think I understand how his praise can coexist with the critiques of other skeptics.  He simply doesn't have the detailed information at hand to formulate deeper questions for Graff, such as "You're impressed with the Zamora UFO sighting in 1964, but what are your thoughts on the claim that it was a prank by New Mexico Tech students?"  Then Graff could perhaps demonstrate out loud how he weighs differing claims to reach his conclusions.

Shermer did respond skeptically to Graff's suggestion that a tech expert in the defense/intelligence community may have "seen a piece of wreckage that they've collected, who says, 'that doesn't look like anything that's been built on Earth.'"  Shermer: "It's easy to say 'Well, I don't know what it was, gosh, I've never seen anything on Earth like it!'  Well, that's entirely possible, you probably haven't seen everything there is on Earth, before you say something's out of this world, first make sure it's not in this world."

I see that Amazon.com's editors also selected the book among the best nonfiction for November.  As of today (January 26), it ranks #11,881 in Amazon book sales, #32 in Communication & Media Studies, #44 in Political Science, and #202 in American History.  I don't know what its earlier performance was.  Perhaps it's already run its course in the public's attention.

(*The radio interview is plausibly authentic, probably from June 26, 1947, based on the conversation.  Most likely the interviewer is Ted Smith at KWRC-AM in Pendleton, Oregon.  See https://ufologie.patrickgross.org/htm/arnoldrepsmith.htm )

NCAS Membership
At its September 20, 2023 meeting, the NCAS Board of Directors approved a change in membership classifications, effective October 1.  Formerly in two classifications, Single and Double, membership now comprises one or two individuals at the same home address.  In addition to simplifying transactions for the NCAS treasurer, this represents a per-person reduction in membership costs.  The former Single membership cost now covers up to two people.  Consider adding a 2nd person in your household to your NCAS membership at no extra cost!  Both will be able to vote separately in the annual NCAS board of directors election.  Send an email to ncas@ncas.org to add a 2nd person to your membership.  We hope to add members, and of course a student or other young person is always welcome for the future of skepticism.  Also see https://www.ncas.org/p/join-ncas.html.

Shadow Light
Some members and contacts of NCAS receive a postal notification of this and every new monthly Shadow of a Doubt.  The Shadow Light postcard announces the monthly lecture and highlights of the electronic Shadow of a Doubt, which is available online at ncas.org/p/shadow.html.  NCAS thereby reduces Shadow production and postage costs.  To further reduce costs, members and contacts can opt out of postal notification altogether, while continuing to receive Shadow of a Doubt via e-mail.  To opt out, send us an e-mail at ncas@ncas.org.

Time to Renew?
Be sure to check your renewal date above your postal address on the Shadow Light postcard. Send any queries to ncas@ncas.org.  Use the online membership form to renew.
https://www.ncas.org/p/shadow.html

Saturday, November 18, 2023

Shadow of a Doubt - November 2023

 

November 2023

NCAS Public Lecture Series

The Times They Are(n't) a-Changin'

Scott Snell
President, National Capital Area Skeptics

Saturday, November 18, 1:30pm - 4:00pm US/Eastern (UTC-05:00)
Connie Morella Library
7400 Arlington Road
Bethesda, MD [map] [directions]
(Bethesda Metro station)
FREE admission – Everyone welcome, members and non-members

 Also a YouTube Live Event with Q and A 

NCASVideo YouTube Channel:




Back and forth we go.  Are you tired (literally tired) of switching your clocks one hour back every Fall and one hour forward every Spring? Why do we go to all the trouble?  Do we have any good alternatives?  What’s been tried before, or tried elsewhere?

Polls show that the public is divided on what to do.  But even the experts can’t agree among themselves. Meanwhile, the US Congress and some state legislatures have introduced legislation to alter standard time.

You're encouraged to Google the topic to prepare for this event.  We’re seeking a lively informed discussion, online and in person, focused on problem-solving.

Scott Snell is a flight software engineer at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, tending the onboard computer of the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter. He received his BS in physics from the University of Maryland. A charter member of NCAS, he has served as its president since 2018.

Refreshments will be available.

https://www.ncas.org/2023/11/november-18-times-they-arent-changing.html


Eldrich Investigations and a Discount for NCAS
"Cults and cryptids collide when a curious Washingtonian investigates local unexplained phenomena.  Explore the lure of the unknown and its entanglement with DC history in this multi-chapter adventure across the city."

At the start of the pandemic, the local Rorschach Theatre company created a unique theatrical experience that extended over the course of 9-10 months. It was originally a way for the show to go on when the pandemic shut down stage performances, but it has been so successful that they are continuing into their 4th year with an all-new story beginning this month (November 2023).

Rorschach often incorporates elements of fantasy, horror, and/or supernatural. This coming season the Eldrich Investigations project involves themes particularly close to NCAS. The company has extended a 20% discount to NCAS members.

Subscribers receive a monthly box or envelope with maps, directions to locales around DC, and other artifacts such as postcards, telegrams, and various trinkets that help unfold a story over the course of 9-10 months. You investigate these locations at your own pace, on your own time. They also provide online videos for those who can't visit in person.

For the discount, use code NCAS when subscribing here:

https://rorschachtheatre.com/23-24-psychogeographies-project/

Sounds a bit like an expanded version of our NCAS Skeptours!


November PhACT Lecture
Our skeptical neighbors to the north, the Philadelphia Association for Critical Thinking (PhACT), will host their next online event on Saturday, November 18 at 2 PM ET.  Brian 'Happie' Foshee will present "How Are We Deceived?"  He'll "explore how others deceive us, and the world of magic. Unraveling the psychology and techniques involved, we'll gain insights to navigate the intricate web of deceit that surrounds us. Welcome to the enigmatic world of deception and magic."  Event details at http://www.phact.org/meetings.php.


A Report on CSICon 2023
By Curtis Haymore

This year’s CSICon was my first in a few years and it was as fun and interesting as previous CSICons and TAMs. Attending CSICon conferences requires a big commitment of time and money, but each one I have attended proved worth it.

Attendees about filled the large hall and nearly a third of them appeared to be first-time attendees, based on how many raised their hands in response to emcee George Hrab's question. Every conversation I had that started with “How did you become interested in this conference?” led to a multitude of interesting stories about people’s histories and revelations.

The presentations were mostly half-hour, which led to snappy and very focused talks, and allowed a wide range of speakers.

I signed up for the two workshops. “Magic for Skeptics” was entertaining and insightful from even the simplest things. Psychologist Richard Wiseman in particular always makes me smile. Jim Underdown and Kenny Biddle led the “Investigating and Testing Extraordinary Claims” workshop. Kenny is fun, entertaining, and curious. CSI is in good hands with Kenny as its new chief investigator.

Thursday night was the Richard Dawkins lecture, “Science, the Poetry of Reality, Jewel in Humanity’s Crown.” It was really wonderful, deeply thoughtful, filled with his well-crafted language. He reminded me of Christopher Hitchens…having a rare gift to form thoughts around interesting stories and analogies, and speak so well.

Friday night was devoted to Bill Nye receiving the Richard Dawkins Award from Dawkins, followed by their conversation. Nye was passionate, relaxed, and entertaining. As CEO of The Planetary Society, he advocated for robotic and human travel to other planets. I’m skeptical about human space exploration, but he has me reconsidering it—at least to Mars.

One highlight of Saturday’s program was an informative talk on vaccines by Dr. Paul Offit. Even though I thought I knew a lot about the vaccine rollouts—I really didn’t understand the background he gave about the research on the variants and the vaccines and decisions for use—I wonder if he is available to talk with some of my relatives (please!). There was a theme around education and communication of scientific understanding and critical thinking skills, which gave at least some hope for better reasoning among future generations. Health/wellness reporter Rina Raphael described how she became a skeptical reporter on that industry, which was fascinating.  Naomi Oreskes’ talk about her impressive new book, “The Big Myth,” co-authored with Erik Conway about “the magic of the market,” provided information I hadn’t seen or at least hadn’t seen put together in the way she had.

Glenn Kessler of The Washington Post talked about fact-checking. We should all be grateful for the exhausting work of all of the fact-checking groups and organizations, and depressed on how little shame and repentance that work engenders.

Between Nye, Wiseman, Penn & Teller, comedian Leighann Lord, and George Hrab, there were plenty of laughs to go along with the learning.

If you need a skeptical boost in your life, try attending the next CSICon.

(CSICon 2023, sponsored by the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry / Center for Inquiry / Skeptical Inquirer magazine was held October 26-29 at the Flamingo Las Vegas Hotel & Casino.)

NCAS Membership
At its September 20 meeting, the NCAS Board of Directors approved a change in membership classifications, effective October 1.  Formerly in two classifications, Single and Double, membership now comprises one or two individuals at the same home address.  In addition to simplifying transactions for the NCAS treasurer, this represents a per-person reduction in membership costs.  The former Single membership cost now covers up to two people.  Consider adding a 2nd person in your household to your NCAS membership at no extra cost!  Both will be able to vote separately in the annual NCAS board of directors election.  Send an email to ncas@ncas.org to add a 2nd person to your membership.  We hope to add members, and of course a student or other young person is always welcome for the future of skepticism.  Also see https://www.ncas.org/p/join-ncas.html.

Shadow Light
Some members and contacts of NCAS receive a postal notification of this and every new monthly Shadow of a Doubt.  The Shadow Light postcard announces the monthly lecture and highlights of the electronic Shadow of a Doubt, which is available online at ncas.org/p/shadow.html.  NCAS thereby reduces Shadow production and postage costs.  To further reduce costs, members and contacts can opt out of postal notification altogether, while continuing to receive Shadow of a Doubt via e-mail.  To opt out, send us an e-mail at ncas@ncas.org.

Time to Renew?
Be sure to check your renewal date above your postal address on the Shadow Light postcard. Send any queries to ncas@ncas.org.  Use the online membership form to renew.
https://www.ncas.org/p/shadow.html

Saturday, October 21, 2023

Shadow of a Doubt - October 2023

 

October 2023

NCAS Public Lecture Series



The Werewolves Among Us

Brian A. Sharpless, PhD
Visiting Research Fellow at Goldsmiths, University of London

Saturday, October 21, 1:30pm - 4:00pm US/Eastern (UTC-04:00)
Connie Morella Library
7400 Arlington Road
Bethesda, MD [map] [directions]
(Bethesda Metro station)
FREE admission – Everyone welcome, members and non-members

 Also a YouTube Live Event with Q and A 

NCASVideo YouTube Channel:



Join us as Brian A. Sharpless discusses unusual psychological conditions described in his new book, Monsters on the Couch: The Real Psychological Disorders Behind Your Favorite Horror MoviesWe'll delve into Clinical Lycanthropy, a psychiatric syndrome within which the patient has the delusional belief of turning into a wolf, and Clinical Zoanthropy, a broader category of delusional belief in turning into an animal.  (Hollywood has dramatized werewolf stories many times, but were-gerbils remain "stories untold.")  What are these real-life disorders, how do they compare with myth and popular culture, and what treatments are available?

Brian A. Sharpless is a licensed psychologist, author, and a visiting research fellow at Goldsmiths, University of London. He received his PhD in clinical psychology and MA in philosophy from Pennsylvania State University and completed post-doctoral fellowships at the University of Pennsylvania. He has authored more than fifty professional publications including three books for Oxford University Press. His research interests include common and unusual psychological disorders, psychotherapy, professional issues, and the history of mental illness.  This research has been featured on TV, radio, and in other media outlets, and he is a frequent speaker at conferences and public events in the United States and abroad.

Twitter:       @briansharpless
website:      www.briansharpless.com


Refreshments will be available.

https://www.ncas.org/2023/10/october-21-clinical-lycanthropy.html

At the speakers' request, this live-streamed event will not be recorded for the NCAS YouTube channel.

November NCAS Lecture
NCAS President Scott Snell will present "The Times They Are(n't) a-Changin'." Should we stop changing our clocks forth and back between Daylight Saving Time and Standard Time?  We’ll sort through conflicting advice from experts.  Saturday, November 18 at 1:30 PM (that's Standard Time!) at Connie Morella Library.

September Bay Area Skeptics Lecture
The [San Francisco] Bay Area Skeptics will host their next online event on Thursday, November 9 at 10:30 PM ET.  Jennifer Pan, Sir Robert Ho Tung Professor of Chinese Studies, Professor of Communication and (by courtesy) Political Science, and a Senior Fellow at the Freeman Spogli Institute at Stanford University, will present "The Science behind Social Media and Political Behavior."  Details of the livestream will be posted at https://baskeptics.org/upcomingskeptalk/.

CSICon 2023
CSICon 2023, sponsored by the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry / Center for Inquiry / Skeptical Inquirer magazine will be held October 26-29 at the Flamingo Las Vegas Hotel & Casino.  Speakers include Bill Nye, Penn & Teller, Richard Dawkins, Mick West, and many others.  Register at csiconference.org.

NCAS Membership
At its September 20 meeting, the NCAS Board of Directors approved a change in membership classifications, effective October 1.  Formerly in two classifications, Single and Double, membership now comprises one or two individuals at the same home address.  In addition to simplifying transactions for the NCAS treasurer, this represents a per-person reduction in membership costs.  The former Single membership cost now covers up to two people.  Consider adding a 2nd person in your household to your NCAS membership at no extra cost!  Both will be able to vote separately in the annual NCAS board of directors election.  Send an email to ncas@ncas.org to add a 2nd person to your membership.  We hope to add members, and of course a student or other young person is always welcome for the future of skepticism.  Also see https://www.ncas.org/p/join-ncas.html.

Happy Belated Friday the 13th!
NCAS had no events planned for Friday, October 13, but we hope our members celebrated the silliness of superstition responsibly.  Always wear eye protection if you smash a mirror, be careful when walking under a ladder, etc!

Torn From Today's Headlines
By Scott Snell
NASA to Investigate UFOs
On September 14, 2023, NASA's "Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena Independent Study Team" released its final report, about 11 months after the study began.  The report is a relatively quick read:
https://smd-cms.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/uap-independent-study-team-final-report.pdf

From the Framework of Recommendations: "Although [the Defense Department's All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO)] leads the whole-of-government response to [Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena], the panel recommends that NASA play an essential role within that framework. NASA should leverage its core capabilities and expertise to determine whether it should take a leading or supporting role in implementing [the panel's] recommendation[s]."  NASA's reputation for openness was also cited as justifying a role for the agency in UFO investigations.

Also from the report, "The panel finds that public engagement in the effort to better understand UAP will be vital. NASA, by lending its name to UAP studies, is already helping to reduce stigma associated with reporting."

NASA announced its first "Director of UAP Research," Mark A. McInerney, a meteorologist and climate data scientist at Goddard Space Flight Center.  Here's a NASA public outreach interview with McInerney from 2020:
https://www.earthdata.nasa.gov/learn/data-chats/data-chat-mark-mcinerney

Author's comments:
The rationale for selecting McInerney isn't obvious.  As described in the NASA news release...
https://www.nasa.gov/news-release/update-nasa-shares-uap-independent-study-report-names-director/
...he was the "liaison to the Department of Defense covering limited UAP activities for the agency."  I assume he was chosen as the liaison and then the director of research because of his experience in the technical management of NASA's Earth science data.  My assumption follows from the first recommendation in the report: "We specifically recommend that NASA utilize its existing and planned Earth-observing assets to probe the local environmental conditions associated with UAP that are initially detected by other means."

To me, the most remarkable aspect of the report is the opening sentence of its foreword, written by Nicola Fox, Associate Administrator for NASA's Science Mission Directorate: "Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena (UAP) are one of our planet’s greatest mysteries."  Given that her expertise is in heliophysics and plasma physics (see https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Nicola-Fox-3), she may have requested briefings on the UAP topic--briefings that apparently underemphasized prosaic explanations.

Soon after its commissioning by NASA Administrator BIll Nelson, the independent study team was discussed by Dr. Fox's predecessor, Thomas Zurbuchen, at the June 2022 Space Studies Board meeting at the National Academies of Sciences:
https://vimeo.com/723865564 (starting at the 34:30 mark).  This is an interesting presentation because it represents a scientist-to-scientists defense of the NASA UAP study.

Now that NASA has established a program to search for UAP, there will be associated programmatic funding.  I wonder how much funding, and what other programs will have their funding reduced within the overall NASA budget?

At this point, NASA seems mainly interested in studying Earth science data for UAPs.  But it could also be worthwhile to examine lunar science data.  (Disclosure: I'm part of the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter's engineering team at Goddard.)  LRO's sensors, including high-resolution cameras, have studied the Moon since 2009.  Unlike Earth or Mars, the Moon's dusty surface preserves displacements of all kinds, from impact craters to footprints.  Perhaps the aftereffects of alien landings and departures, sample scoopings, etc are still visible on the surface, hidden away in the many terabytes of LRO camera data that are analyzed solely for geological features (except for occasional localized searches for a crashed spacecraft from Russia or other countries, for example).  For that matter, alien artifacts may be on or near the surface.  I suppose aliens may have taken care to leave no trace whatsoever of their scientific study of the Moon.  If we find nothing in our mining of LRO data, that might be an explanation.  Or perhaps they have no interest whatsoever in the Moon, although that seems inconsistent with a species curious enough to travel here.  (Maybe their remote sensing is so good, they don't need to land on the Moon to study it thoroughly.  But then why are they landing on Earth?)  In any case, the Moon is an excellent place to look for ancient* or recent evidence of alien visitation.  We just may need to look at our data in a new way.  (I'm not proposing a rehash of Richard Hoagland's pseudoscientific interpretation of lunar images: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_C._Hoagland.)

*Mark Robinson, an Arizona State University scientist and the principal investigator for LRO's camera, stated "probably there will be no traces of the Apollo exploration in, let's say, 10 to 100 million years [due to erosion from micrometeorites]."  That may also be an upper limit on how long alien traces would last on the Moon.

Shadow Light
Some members and contacts of NCAS receive a postal notification of this and every new monthly Shadow of a Doubt.  The Shadow Light postcard announces the monthly lecture and highlights of the electronic Shadow of a Doubt, which is available online at ncas.org/p/shadow.html.  NCAS thereby reduces Shadow production and postage costs.  To further reduce costs, members and contacts can opt out of postal notification altogether, while continuing to receive Shadow of a Doubt via e-mail.  To opt out, send us an e-mail at ncas@ncas.org.

Time to Renew?
Be sure to check your renewal date above your postal address on the Shadow Light postcard. Send any queries to ncas@ncas.org.  Use the online membership form to renew.
https://www.ncas.org/p/shadow.html

Saturday, September 09, 2023

Shadow of a Doubt - September 2023

We're sorry to have to report this at this late date, but today's talk has to be cancelled due to unforeseen circumstances. We hope that this can be rescheduled at a later date.

 Combating Psychic Fraud

Mark Carlon and Catherine Woytowicz
Society of American Magicians
Paranormal Investigation Committee
Fraud Awareness Program

Saturday, September 9, 2:30pm - 4:30pm [NOTE SPECIAL TIME]
Central Library
Barbara M. Donnellan Auditorium
1015 North Quincy Street
Arlington, VA [map] [directions]
(Virginia Square-GMU Metro station)
FREE admission – Everyone welcome, members and non-members

 Also a YouTube Live Event with Q and A 

NCASVideo YouTube Channel:



The Society of American Magicians  (S.A.M.) is the oldest fraternal magic organization in the world, founded in 1902.  Several months after S.A.M.'s founding, Harry Houdini was elected to membership. Houdini was well-known for his escapes and magic acts, but he also worked to expose frauds who claimed to have supernatural powers.

Based in part on his own experiences with psychics attempting to contact the dead, Houdini helped form the S.A.M’s Paranormal Investigation Committee (P.I.C.) and establish its mission to investigate and expose those “supernatural” frauds. Houdini even testified before Congress, exposing a method fraudulent psychics used to imply they were in communication with the dead. S.A.M.'s P.I.C. has carried on that work for more than 100 years.

Mark Carlon and Catherine Woytowicz will talk about P.I.C.’s current work to raise awareness of fraud.  They have created a presentation on typical fraud cases and are partnering with community law enforcement agencies to raise awareness of these scams – especially psychics who are preying upon people who lost loved ones during COVID.

Mr. Carlon will be joining us virtually while Ms. Woytowicz will join us in person.

Mr. Mark Carlon is a member of the International Brotherhood of Magicians (IBM) and S.A.M. who has performed magic from Chicago to Las Vegas.  He has a degree in developmental psychology and is a retired attorney.  Mr. Carlon is the chair of the Paranormal Investigation Committee.

Ms. Catherine Woytowicz is a magician, mentalist, and comic who began her magic career at 14 in a girl-to-tiger change illusion.  She performs corporate magic and facilitates critical thinking/structured thinking techniques with her company, Just the Trick.  She has a PhD in pharmaceutical design and discovery.  If you believe she could talk about drugs for hours, she will promise not to.

Refreshments will be available.

https://www.ncas.org/2023/08/september-9-combating-psychic-fraud.html

At the speakers' request, this live-streamed event will not be recorded for the NCAS YouTube channel.

October NCAS Lecture
Psychologist Brian Sharpless will discuss his new book, Monsters on the Couch: The Real Psychological Disorders Behind Your Favorite Horror Movies.  Saturday, October 21 at 1:30 PM at Connie Morella (formerly Bethesda Regional) Library.


September PhACT Lecture
Our skeptical neighbors to the north, the Philadelphia Association for Critical Thinking (PhACT), will host their next online event on Saturday, September 16 at 2 PM ET.  CSI Fellow Nathan H. Lents, PhD, Professor of Biology and Director of the Cell and Molecular Biology program at John Jay College of the City University of New York, will present "Hacking Humanity - Advances in Technology Lead to Big Breakthroughs in Medicine."  Event details at http://www.phact.org/meetings.php.

September Bay Area Skeptics Lecture
The [San Francisco] Bay Area Skeptics will host their next online event on Thursday, September 14 at 10:30 PM ET.  Michael Worobey, Professor and the Head of the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at the University of Arizona, will present "Origins of the COVID-19 Pandemic."  This will be livestreamed on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jg0OlyCRhww

Nanotechnology Symposium in DC
Quinn Spadola, PhD, the Deputy Director of the National Nanotechnology Coordination Office, contacted NCAS to let us know that a free symposium entitled "Enabling the Nanotechnology Revolution: Celebrating the 20th Anniversary of the 21st Century Nanotechnology R&D Act" will be held on Tuesday, October 10 at the National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine in DC.

Dr. Spadola gave an NCAS lecture in November 2016, "Debunking the Nanobot," available on the NCASVideo site: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7z5mCYpiIOI.

Shadow Light
Some members and contacts of NCAS receive a postal notification of this and every new monthly Shadow of a Doubt.  The Shadow Light postcard announces the monthly lecture and highlights of the electronic Shadow of a Doubt, which is available online at ncas.org/p/shadow.html.  NCAS thereby reduces Shadow production and postage costs.  To further reduce costs, members and contacts can opt out of postal notification altogether, while continuing to receive Shadow of a Doubt via e-mail.  To opt out, send us an e-mail at ncas@ncas.org.

Time to Renew?
Be sure to check your renewal date above your postal address on the Shadow Light postcard. Send any queries to ncas@ncas.org.  Use the online membership form to renew.
https://www.ncas.org/p/shadow.html