http://www.dbskeptic.com Skepticism. Critical thinking. Podcast. Community. Sat, 14 Aug 2010 01:54:54 +0000 en-us hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0 Digital Bits Skeptic brings skepticism and critical thinking to a world of new age, religion and credulous pop culture. Andy Kaiser clean Andy Kaiser skeptic@dbskeptic.com skeptic@dbskeptic.com (Andy Kaiser) 2009 Skepticism and critical thinking in a world of new age, religion and credulous pop culture skeptic, skepticism, critical thinking, new age, religion, pop culture, skeptical articles, critical thinking articles, philosophy http://www.dbskeptic.com/images/dbskeptic-logo-144.jpg http://www.dbskeptic.com/category/supernatural/ http://www.dbskeptic.com/2010/04/17/how-to-have-an-out-of-body-experience/ http://www.dbskeptic.com/2010/04/17/how-to-have-an-out-of-body-experience/#comments Sat, 17 Apr 2010 23:36:03 +0000 Andy Kaiser http://www.dbskeptic.com/?p=1996 http://www.dbskeptic.com/2010/04/17/how-to-have-an-out-of-body-experience/feed/ 5 Kevin Bridges by Kevin Bridges Article ID: 1410 - What do you think of when you hear the words "out of body experience"? Perhaps you imagine an ill-fated victim of a car accident, a spirit floating inside an ambulance looking down at EMTs as they try frantically to ... by Kevin Bridges Article ID: 1410 What do you think of when you hear the words "out of body experience"? Perhaps you imagine an ill-fated victim of a car accident, a spirit floating inside an ambulance looking down at EMTs as they try frantically to revive his broken, unconscious body. Explore the wilds of the Internet and you’ll get plenty of variations on the “out of body” theme. Plenty of people claim to have out-of-body experiences, saying "I've had one of those!” Or “I've had a dozen!” Or “I had one last night!" Did they all have traffic accidents? Do that many people fall off the roof trying to take down their Christmas lights? How accident-prone can a person be? No. Further study shows that many out-of-body experiences happened in the security of a person's own bed. It’s usually very late at night or in the wee hours of morning. It doesn't take Sherlock Holmes to debunk this one, does it? It's called having a dream!  Elementary, my dear Watson. However, a closer look at the experiences paints a different picture. The general scenario involves a body shaking and vibrating and then a sensation of floating up out of the body and being able to view one's own bedroom from a ceiling’s perspective. Personally, I've had more dreams about being naked at my old high school than I've had about floating around in my bedroom.  But every one of these people will tell you that the experience isn’t like a usual dream – there is no strange dreamlike logic and plotlines, and it doesn’t physically feel like a dream – it feels real. Then maybe it isn't a dream.  But if it’s not an actual out-of-body experience, what else could it be? For some of us, it's too improbable – too much of a stretch of logic - to think that these people not only have souls but that these souls sometimes go out to play.  But a closer look at the techniques to induce an out-of-body experience shows us just how this could happen without a supernatural element. Out of body techniques include instructions like this: 1) Lie down in a comfortable bed or kick back in a recliner. 2) Completely relax your whole body. 3) Enhance the relaxation with visualization techniques. For example, imagine yourself walking down some stairs, and with every step you descend, have your heart rate slow and your breathing grow deeper and slower. 4) Eventually you will fall into a self-induced trance. 5) During this process, say affirmations. Repeat to yourself: "The out-of-body experience is completely natural.  I will use this technique every night when I sleep. I am more than my physical body." 6) Using these techniques, your soul will rise away from your body, and your consciousness will follow. Anyone who’s heard the word “hypnosis” is right now cocking a skeptical eyebrow. Many excited people out there are learning self-hypnosis without realizing it. In the books and websites with instructions for getting out of your own skin, many teach the same techniques that others use to quit smoking or lose weight. The process to coax your soul from your body is the same one you can use to stop eating three desserts after dinner. With this in mind, let's again look at the out-of-body experience. Read a thick book about people’s souls flying around like thrown confetti. Spend an hour on a forum devoted to the topic. Then go lie in bed and repeat to yourself that you are going to have an out-of-body experience. What would you expect to happen?  I’d be surprised if someone doing this didn't have a supposed out-of-body experience. If the out-of-body experience isn't a dream, should we assume it’s reality? Not yet. There are other explanations available, possibilities that don’t presume the supernatural. We’d need to first rule those out before a supernatural explanation would make sense. Although now that I think about it, just because the out-of-body experience isn’t real doesn't mean I don’t want to try it. Andy Kaiser clean 8:13 http://www.dbskeptic.com/2010/01/24/modern-day-miracles/ http://www.dbskeptic.com/2010/01/24/modern-day-miracles/#comments Mon, 25 Jan 2010 02:51:15 +0000 Andy Kaiser http://www.dbskeptic.com/?p=1858 http://www.dbskeptic.com/2010/01/24/modern-day-miracles/feed/ 52 Nicholas Covington By Nicholas Covington Article ID: 143 - Can miracles occur today? - Let’s look at the evidence by examining three kinds of miracles: One type is “Marian apparitions”. Another is the spontaneous remission of cancer, By Nicholas Covington Article ID: 143 Can miracles occur today? Let’s look at the evidence by examining three kinds of miracles: One type is “Marian apparitions”. Another is the spontaneous remission of cancer, in which malignant tumors reduce or disappear, and can’t be attributed to any standard medical treatment. The final type is what I call “mundane miracles”, seemingly inexplicable and fortunate events which people attribute to the supernatural. I wrote this article for two reasons. First, I am genuinely curious about these strange events. They need explanation, and could perhaps tell us something meaningful about reality. Second, the faiths that we Westerners are most familiar with (like Christianity, Judaism, and Islam) all depend upon the idea that miracles occurred in the past. If there is insufficient evidence that miracles occur today, or if there is evidence against miracle claims, this presents difficulty for those who want to argue that miracles occurred in history. Imagine the following: you’ve poured yourself a glass of soda, then you set it down and walk out of the room. When you walk back in, there is more soda in your glass than when you left. How do you explain this? Did someone add soda to your glass, or did more soda somehow emerge spontaneously? Since you have experienced the law of conservation every moment of your life without a single exception, it’s extremely unlikely that it’s been broken here. On the other hand, you have probably experienced people playing jokes, or a faulty memory. These second set of alternatives must be deemed far more plausible than the first, unless some extremely strong evidence is discovered which vindicates spontaneous soda generation. Let’s examine some modern-day miracles. Marian apparitions From 1900-2007, Mary, the mother of Jesus Christ, allegedly made 386 reported appearances.[1] Out of all these, the Catholic church has deemed only eight as authentic. The rest are undecided or negative. How are these appearances judged? According to one source, the Catholic Church judges a Marian apparition as authentic based on the following criteria[2]: 1) The facts in the case are free of error. 2) The person(s) receiving the messages is/are psychologically balanced, honest, moral, sincere and respectful of Church authority. 3) Errors in doctrine are not attributed to God, Mary or another saint. 4) Theological and spiritual doctrines presented are free of error. 5) Moneymaking is not a motive involved in the events. 6) Healthy religious devotion and spiritual fruits result, with no evidence of collective hysteria. These criteria are rather problematic. For one thing, how do we know that the doctrines of the Catholic Church are correct? We don’t, so using doctrinal correctness as a criterion to judge these apparitions is spurious. Other criteria, such as “the facts in the case are free of error”, “the person(s) receiving the messages is/are psychologically balanced, honest, moral, sincere…”, “Moneymaking is not a motive” and “Healthy religious devotion and spiritual fruits result” are really only preliminary questions. The sanity and honesty of the witness must certainly be established before we begin to investigate whether the apparition was real. However, the fact that we have established that the witness is sane and honest does not by itself indicate that the apparition actually occurred. Roughly one in two hundred people are schizoid personalities and are prone to hallucinate, even though they are otherwise sane and normal people.[3] The Church’s criteria do not allow us to establish that these apparitions are real beyond reasonable doubt. At best, they act as a filter to remove some obviously false Marian apparitions, though even this is questionable. One could always wonder if some extremely well-documented and genuine Marian apparition has been discarded because it collided with Catholic dogma. Andy Kaiser clean 18:06 http://www.dbskeptic.com/2009/11/08/the-league-of-scientists/ http://www.dbskeptic.com/2009/11/08/the-league-of-scientists/#comments Sun, 08 Nov 2009 20:47:52 +0000 Andy Kaiser http://www.dbskeptic.com/?p=1615 http://www.dbskeptic.com/2009/11/08/the-league-of-scientists/feed/ 3 Andy Kaiser By Andy Kaiser Article ID: 1344 - Hi everyone, Andy Kaiser here. - The majority of people who visit Digital Bits Skeptic are - you’ll be shocked to know – mostly skeptics. Many of us here have related interests in critical thinking, in science, By Andy Kaiser Article ID: 1344 Hi everyone, Andy Kaiser here. The majority of people who visit Digital Bits Skeptic are - you’ll be shocked to know – mostly skeptics. Many of us here have related interests in critical thinking, in science, and in wondering about how the world works. This is just a guess, but it’s an educated one; these topics often go hand-in-hand. It is with this shared interest that I’d like to introduce you to my latest project, a book called “The League of Scientists”. If the book is successful, we’ll take it to a series. The full title for this first book is “The League of Scientists and the Ghost in the Water”. The League of Scientists stars several science-minded young adults. They use their knowledge along with skepticism and critical thinking to solve seemingly-supernatural mysteries. Kinda like what a lot of skeptics do, isn’t it? This is a “real” book – it’s not from a print-on-demand company or a vanity press. It’s been accepted by a traditional book publisher (Science, Naturally!), and I’m working with an editor to finish, edit and get it published. You’ll eventually be able to find it in big bookstores near you, and of course at the usual online places. I’m telling you about The League of Scientists because investigating our world and exploring mysteries with science and critical thought is important to a lot of skeptics. It is to me – that’s why I’m writing the book. (And knowing a little bit about the publishing industry, believe me, it's not for the money.) If you’d like to know more, visit LeagueOfScientists.com. The book isn’t available yet – the writing, editing, promotion and publishing process takes a while, particularly for a new, unproven writer like me – but, I wanted to get the word out to start driving interest. The sooner the better, because, well, it’s a lot of work and it takes a while. If you have kids, and if they like science and mysteries, go to LeagueOfScientists.com, visit the “Info” page, and sign up for email updates. I’ll let you know as I make progress on the book, and you’ll of course be notified when it’s available for purchase. If you are a young adult, and want to know more – anything from questions on the publishing process to The League of Scientists characters and story - let me know. This is my first experience working with a book publisher, but I’m happy to share what I know. And I'll share more League of Scientists updates as they occur. Stay tuned. Andy Kaiser clean 4:50 http://www.dbskeptic.com/2009/08/02/synchronicities-and-%e2%80%9cthe-odds%e2%80%9d/ http://www.dbskeptic.com/2009/08/02/synchronicities-and-%e2%80%9cthe-odds%e2%80%9d/#comments Sun, 02 Aug 2009 18:41:27 +0000 Andy Kaiser http://www.dbskeptic.com/?p=1412 http://www.dbskeptic.com/2009/08/02/synchronicities-and-%e2%80%9cthe-odds%e2%80%9d/feed/ 2 Kevin Bridges by Kevin Bridges Article ID: 1333 - A synchronicity is another word for coincidence.  The difference between the two is that, with a synchronicity, there is more to the event than mere coincidence.  Events in a synchronicity are said to be a part of a ... by Kevin Bridges Article ID: 1333 A synchronicity is another word for coincidence.  The difference between the two is that, with a synchronicity, there is more to the event than mere coincidence.  Events in a synchronicity are said to be a part of ... Andy Kaiser clean 7:06 http://www.dbskeptic.com/2009/07/05/how-to-be-a-fakir/ http://www.dbskeptic.com/2009/07/05/how-to-be-a-fakir/#comments Mon, 06 Jul 2009 04:32:14 +0000 Andy Kaiser http://www.dbskeptic.com/?p=1191 http://www.dbskeptic.com/2009/07/05/how-to-be-a-fakir/feed/ 3 M Parrott By M Parrott Article ID: 1329 - In a previous article, I covered "How to be a psychic", telling how to recreate common psychic supernatural abilities. But there are more important problems in the world. Not a politician's expense claims, but fakirs. By M Parrott Article ID: 1329 In a previous article, I covered "How to be a psychic", telling how to recreate common psychic supernatural abilities. But there are more important problems in the world. Not a politician's expense claims, but fakirs. Fakirs convert people to religions by performing supposed miracles that people assume would otherwise be dangerous or impossible. Before I begin: everything I describe here is dangerous and should not be attempted. If you hurt yourself or someone else with the techniques described here, it's not my fault, it's yours. I will describe how these things are done, and the science behind them, as much as I can. If you are so desperate to try these techniques, I can't stop you. But I did warn you. How to lay on a bed of nails As many of you know, this trick is where someone just lies on a bed, and the bed is made from hundreds or thousands of upturned, pointy, sharp and dangerous-looking nails. The performer takes a snooze, gets up, and is unpunctured. So the trick... actually, there is no trick. All that is needed is a real bed of nails. The nails must all be the same length. You need someone to lower you down so that your weight is evenly distributed over all the nails. You want your body to be pressing against as many nails as possible. Your weight being distributed means there is not enough pressure on any one nail to puncture the skin. When getting up from the bed of nails, make sure no extreme pressure is applied to any nail-covered area. There's a similar (and much safer) way to perform this trick with eggs instead of nails. You can lay out a bed of eggs so that the top of the eggs - the pointy part -  are all facing upwards. Then lay down carefully in the same manner as you would on a bed of nails. If you mess up, at least it's not painful. Just moist. How to perform snake flossing This is a trick where the fakir gets a snake, sucks it in through his nose and pulls it out of his mouth. How's it done? Well, you get a snake, suck it in through your nose and pull it out of your mouth. Any perceived "trick" is just due to human biology: right above your nostrils is the entrance to your nasal cavity. The nasal cavity connects to your throat near the same place your mouth connects to it. So the idea is you snort the snake in through your nose with sharp intakes of breath (I'd suggest tail first), grab it from deep inside your mouth and pull it through. Now obviously if you were stupid enough to not follow my earlier warning and are going to try this (which I thoroughly suggest you do not), don't start with a snake. A thread of 100% cotton (I emphasise cotton) is best. How to walk on broken glass In this trick, a bed of broken glass is laid out. The fakir walks across the bed of glass from one side to the other. At the end of the journey, the fakir shows his feet, and they're uncut by the shards of glass. This relies on a similar principle to the bed of nails - weight distribution. Your pressure is spread out over enough pieces of glass that you won't cut your feet. But there is another element to making sure this trick works. A lot of the glass shards will lay smooth side up - sharp edges will press against the ground, not against your foot - but this isn't always the case. So, when you put your foot down, you must move it slowly back and forth, helping the glass settle into the right distribution so that you can put your entire weight on that foot without getting hurt. Do not transfer pressure to that foot until you are absolutely certain you won't cut yourself. Then repeat the process. The idea is to take it slowly, for two reasons. One, you don't want to cut yourself. Two, the slower it is done the more pain the performer appears to be going through. In reality, any pain is caused by walking on the broken glass too fast. How to walk on hot coals - How to firewalk A bed of burning hot coals. A fakir in bare feet, Andy Kaiser clean 12:49 http://www.dbskeptic.com/2009/06/12/the-ideomotor-effect/ http://www.dbskeptic.com/2009/06/12/the-ideomotor-effect/#comments Sat, 13 Jun 2009 02:25:50 +0000 Andy Kaiser http://www.dbskeptic.com/?p=1126 http://www.dbskeptic.com/2009/06/12/the-ideomotor-effect/feed/ 7 M Parrott By M Parrott Article ID: 1326 - The ideomotor effect is a psychological accident that spans many new age traditions, séances, and other "woo-woo" practises. I must emphasise that these practises aren't faked intentionally. By M Parrott Article ID: 1326 The ideomotor effect is a psychological accident that spans many new age traditions, séances, and other "woo-woo" practises. I must emphasise that these practises aren't faked intentionally. People delude themselves into believing they are true. Examples of the ideomotor effect cover a wide range of supernatural games, from Victorian-era séances to examining the most harmoniously-vibrating new age crystal. The ideomotor effect and the Ouija board Ah, yes, one of the most popular séance tools! Today, Ouija boards are usually perceived more as a joke and a fun party game. We all know the basic principal and layout of the most common Ouija boards - you've got a flat board with letters of the alphabet printed on it: You've got a "planchette", which is a small pointing device that can be slid around the board. Participants put their hands on the planchette and concentrate on a particular problem, question or spirit communication. The planchette will then start to move towards particular letters or symbols on the Ouija board, giving you a response to your question. If you want to test this out as we go, it would be a great exercise and far superior to me just talking to you: 1) Get 26 small sheets of paper. Write the letters A-Z on the pieces. 2) Get a large table and remove any coverings (like tablecloths). 3) Place all the cards face up in a circle so it looks somewhat like the picture you see here. Candles are optional. 4) Get a strong wine glass (preferably one without wine inside). Turn it upside down and place it in the centre of the cards. And there you have a homemade Ouija board. The next steps work better if you have more than one person, however you can try it alone if you want to tempt the Powers of Darkness all by yourself. Turn one letter over so it's face down. Place two fingers on the wine glass. Concentrate. Focus on believing that the wine glass WILL definitely move towards that one letter turned upside down. Don't move your hand intentionally, but if the glass moves move with it. Keep concentrating. It will move if you concentrate. And it'll speed up towards the letter and when it gets there it will stop at the letter. Now that may not have worked for all of you, but it will have worked for some. I also apologise if the wine glass shot off the table and smashed. If so, that just means you are really easy to manipulate. Now you may be wondering how that worked and why the glass moved. You know for a fact you didn't move the glass. So how did it move? Through a genuine spirit! Nah, just messing with you. The movement happens because of the ideomotor effect. The ideomotor is the mechanism which makes your reflexes kick in when your knee is tapped gently with a doctor's hammer. But in this case what happens is, due to you focusing so much mental power on something, your body makes it physically happen. You may not think you are doing it, but you are, and the more you are convinced it is going to happen, the faster it happens. Which is why a Ouija board "works" better for people who use one more often. What evidence do I have for this? Easy: find a medium who will do the Ouija board blind-folded. Blindfold them, and then without telling them, turn the Ouija board around. As the "Ouijing" commences, the medium will move the planchette to the locations that they think the letters are, as if the board was rotated correctly. This shows the Ouija board is all in the user's mind, and that it isn't some spiritual communion. Ouija boards aren't the only evidence of the ideomotor effect in new age superstitions. Dowsing Dowsing is traditionally thought of as the process of finding underground water or oil using Y-shaped sticks or wire. To a large extent, this is the process. But dowsing has widened its spectrum of effect. A few years ago, I saw a dowser trying to find human remains on a British Archaeology programme called "Time Team". Andy Kaiser clean 11:07 http://www.dbskeptic.com/2009/04/12/trading-my-fingers-for-aliens/ http://www.dbskeptic.com/2009/04/12/trading-my-fingers-for-aliens/#comments Mon, 13 Apr 2009 00:56:25 +0000 Andy Kaiser http://www.dbskeptic.com/?p=940 http://www.dbskeptic.com/2009/04/12/trading-my-fingers-for-aliens/feed/ 17 Nick Farrantello By Nick Farrantello Article ID: 1316 - I don't believe in anything. UFOs, Bigfoot, ESP, the Loch Ness Monster, ghosts, you name it.  In my mind it's all a bunch of hooey.  Despite that, I still consider myself very open-minded. By Nick Farrantello Article ID: 1316 I don't believe in anything. UFOs, Bigfoot, ESP, the Loch Ness Monster, ghosts, you name it.  In my mind it's all a bunch of hooey.  Despite that, I still consider myself very open-minded.   The reason for this is nothing revolutionary.  It's a reason that other skeptics cite as to why they too are open-minded.  Simply put, I want there to be flying saucers.  Are you kidding?  Alien visitors from another planet, how awesome would that be?   I want there to be a Loch Ness Monster.  The idea of some animal surviving from the age of the dinosaurs would be fascinating.  I want there to be ghosts.  Who in their right mind wouldn't want there to be an afterlife?  ESP?  Bring it on.  Mindreading would be the bomb. Now, in the spirit of complete disclosure, Bigfoot doesn't do anything for me.  If there really is some big, hairy, naked guy running around in the woods of Montana, I'd just as soon not know about it. To make it absolutely clear, as to how much I would love it if there where aliens, I want to state here and now:  I would sacrifice digits if that would prove the existence of aliens. I am serious. I am willing to give up to four toes (or two fingers) if that loss would somehow help prove the existence of aliens.  Or three fingers if it would help determine that the aliens built the pyramids.  Now, I am not sure what would initiate such an exchange.  Maybe if I found some proof of aliens, and I wanted to share it with the entire world, but at the last minute, government agents discover me. As I make a run for it, I get my hand caught in the screen door.  No, that's just clumsy. Maybe something involving me escaping from a Russian submarine.  ...Yeah, that sounds better. It doesn't matter.  I'll even take the clumsy way.  The point is, I really want there to be aliens. That is why I am open-minded.  And that is why I think other skeptics are open-minded.  Many have the exact same desire I do. Not the thing about the fingers - I believe I'm the only one to say that - the part about them wanting supernatural things to be true. That I have heard from many others. Carl Sagan expressed this in many of his books.  I've heard Steve Novella, the head of the New England Skeptical Society, say it on his podcast.   Even James Randi, the King of all Skeptics, has said stuff like this.   They want ESP and flying saucers and ghosts and yes - God knows why - they even want there to be a Bigfoot. If you read skeptic literature, you've probably heard this appeal to impartiality before.  But here's an angle on this subject that you might not have heard.  I'll state it in the form of a challenge.  Show me one person on the other side of these issues that has said the same thing. I don't mean, show me a believer who thinks it would be cool if aliens existed.  That's a dime a million.  I'm saying, show me one UFO advocate who has said, "To be honest, I don't really like the idea of UFOs."  Show me one biologist who has said, "The Loch Ness Monster?  I assure you the evidence for its existence is most definitely there; but frankly, the entire subject rather bores me.  I have asked my university to approve my grant to study the mealy bug instead, those little creatures, now they really are something."  Show me one cryptozoologist who has said, "Yes, unfortunately, I captured Bigfoot but I'm not looking forward to all that re-classifying.  It's just so much paperwork." I know you're thinking this comparison isn't fair.  Scientists wouldn't be looking for paranormal stuff if they weren't interested in it.  But think about all those physicists in the turn of the century that we've read about who really hated quantum physics.  It's messy, anti-intuitive and almost impossible to understand. But - reluctantly - they accepted it. My examples are written for laughs, but consider the following:  Is there a scientist who is a steadfast atheist, searching for ghosts? Andy Kaiser clean 7:40 http://www.dbskeptic.com/2009/03/29/how-to-be-a-psychic/ http://www.dbskeptic.com/2009/03/29/how-to-be-a-psychic/#comments Mon, 30 Mar 2009 03:13:06 +0000 Andy Kaiser http://www.dbskeptic.com/?p=903 http://www.dbskeptic.com/2009/03/29/how-to-be-a-psychic/feed/ 2 M Parrott By M Parrott Article ID: 1314 It is my belief that self-proclaimed psychic Uri Gellar has been deluding people for several decades by bending spoons, stopping watches, changing the movement of compasses and making predictions as to what is on a piece o... By M Parrott Article ID: 1314 It is my belief that self-proclaimed psychic Uri Gellar has been deluding people for several decades by bending spoons, stopping watches, changing the movement of compasses and making predictions as to what is on a piece of paper. I am a magician and I can replicate each one of these. Contained in this article are various videos of Geller failing or unintentionally revealing his secrets. I will also - to a degree - tell you how he does these tricks. Please understand I can't tell you everything, as magic must have its secrets. Let's start with the easiest: how to magically stop a running watch. How to stop and start a running watch Do this trick with two warnings: you may damage a watch with this technique, requiring a trip to a watchmaker for repair. Also make sure your target watch is not a Rolex, as they often will not restart. Get an analogue watch and a magnet. Whack the magnet on the back of the watch and it'll stop.  Easy, right? Nothing too hard, apart from palming the magnet. And you can even get around that requirement, since magicians like to make things as easy as possible. There are magnetic rings. Geller also supposedly starts "broken" watches. Here is one technique: grab a watch that hasn't worked for years. Warm it in your hands. By that warming process, a few broken watches will start to work. Admittedly not all, but some of them. How to magically move a compass This one is easy. And I even have a video for this one. One way is to use a magnetic ring like before. Another is to use a magnetic fake thumb. You know how a compass works, and you know how a magnet would change it. I have a video for you: Well... That seems a bit weird. For legal reasons I can't say he cheated as Geller tends to sue people. However if you look you can see him putting something on his thumb, or it appears that he does. Also the final (successful) attempt is the only one where you cannot see his thumb, so he may be trying to hide something. Notice the word "may". I can't say anything for sure. There is also another technique that Mr. Geller could use. In his earlier clips of this trick you will note that you can see his thumb all the time. However, you could easily repeat this effect by placing strong magnets under your shirt. Spoon bending The magic community has plenty of material on these effects. Far more impressive cutlery bends too, like forks! It's easy, though not all metal will bend. Some are easier than others. But the general idea behind any metal bend is the same, be it spoons, forks, coins, keys, it all comes down to the same thing, and that is misdirection. If you have no knowledge of basic magic principles then you have no idea what I am on about. So let me explain. Misdirection is the art of, surprisingly, misdirecting people. A simple but very effective way of doing this is by talking and asking questions. If you ask someone a random question, that person - for a split second - will stop concentrating on you, and that's your opportunity to do anything. Corinda (writer of the mentalist bible "13 Steps to Mentalism") alludes that - using misdirection - you should be able to bring in a chocolate-covered elephant being ridden by trumpet-playing pigmies without anyone noticing. Actually, Corinda didn't say exactly that. I'm exaggerating to make my point. But the principle still remains. Go up to someone, show them a normal spoon. Take it back, ask them a question, while they're thinking about your question, bend the spoon. Watch in amazement as they later see that the spoon is bent. Well... It's not that simple. There is also the use of "ratcheting". This is the technique of making something look like it's bending, when it's been bent already. Cover the bend, then place two fingers on the spoon and start rubbing. With a bit of practise you can make it look like it is bending in your fingers. Spoon bending example and explanation: Andy Kaiser clean 11:04 http://www.dbskeptic.com/2009/02/28/spontaneous-human-combustion-and-the-wick-effect/ http://www.dbskeptic.com/2009/02/28/spontaneous-human-combustion-and-the-wick-effect/#comments Sat, 28 Feb 2009 23:42:55 +0000 Andy Kaiser http://www.dbskeptic.com/?p=761 http://www.dbskeptic.com/2009/02/28/spontaneous-human-combustion-and-the-wick-effect/feed/ 11 Andy Kaiser By Andy Kaiser Article ID: 1310 - Imagine you're sitting at home on your favorite overstuffed armchair. You sink down in the stuffing and relax. You've got a cigarette in one hand, a drink in the other. - You smoke and drink. You're sleepy, By Andy Kaiser Article ID: 1310 Imagine you're sitting at home on your favorite overstuffed armchair. You sink down in the stuffing and relax. You've got a cigarette in one hand, a drink in the other. You smoke and drink. You're sleepy, and the lazy trail of cigarette smoke is a gentle hypnosis. It lulls you into closing your eyes. Your brain decides it would rather be dreaming, and the rest of your body agrees. You go to sleep. You never again wake up. After your hysterical neighbor calls emergency services, the police break in to your home and find a gruesome and unbelievable sight. Your body is burned. Clothing, flesh and bones. It's gone. All that's left of you is a foot still wearing a slipper. Your chair is nothing but black cinders. But what's so perplexing, so frightening, is that there is no other damage to the room. Your body and your chair were destroyed, incinerated. But despite the horrible heat and flame needed to accomplish this, the fire never spread beyond, well, you. This wasn't caused by an electrical problem, and there was no highly-combustible fuel like gasoline. The fire was brutally hot, and burned fast, so couldn't have been caused by a dropped cigarette. And in either case, the pain of being burned would have woken you up before killing you. This is the mystery of spontaneous human combustion. While I've used a little poetic license in the story above, it really did happen. These were the facts of what could be the most famous case of spontaneous human combustion, that of Mary Reeser, who died in St. Petersburg, Florida, in 1951. Proponents of spontaneous human combustion point to several possible explanations. Humans can suddenly explode into flame, they say, because of things like excessive static electricity build-up. Get a big enough zap, and you'll spark a fire. There are indeed people who get more than the average amount of static shocks. And every human gut carries around a quantity of methane gas. This highly flammable gas is one of the byproducts of digestion. Perhaps certain unlucky people - those with more than average methane and a higher incidence of static shocks - are more likely to burst into flame without warning. If you were looking for a reason to stop smoking, I can't think of any better incentive. Luckily for those of us who haven't yet combusted, things make more sense when we look at spontaneous human combustion from a skeptical point of view. In order for a human body - or anything - to burst into flame, we need three things: 1) Fuel 2) Heat 3) Oxygen Let's examine the Mary Reeser case. We have oxygen, of course: The air we breathe is about 21% oxygen. We have heat: Reeser's lit cigarette. And we have a limited fuel source: Reeser's chair. What I haven't yet detailed beyond the opening story are a few additional facts about Mary Reeser: She was overweight. At the time of the accident, she was wearing flammable nightclothes. She had also just taken multiple doses of sleeping pills. The floors and walls of her apartment were made of concrete. The wick effect I said the chair is a "limited" fuel source because stuffing and wood are probably not enough to produce a bone-incinerating heat all on their own. To achieve this, we consider "the wick effect". This is where the fat in a body contributes to a fire. As the fire heats a body, the fat will melt and begin to burn. Just as a cotton wick will pull molten wax from a candle and burn it, cotton stuffing in a chair will do the same thing with human body fat of a person sitting in that chair. Like Mary Reeser. With the addition of these facts, the sequence of events becomes ever clearer: Mary Reeser fell asleep in her chair. Her lit cigarette dropped and ignited her nightgown or her chair. The material burned, and Reeser did not wake in time (or at all) because of her recently-ingested sleeping pills. The fat in her body liquefied and burned, Andy Kaiser clean 8:21 http://www.dbskeptic.com/2008/11/17/more-original-versions-of-classic-fairy-tales/ http://www.dbskeptic.com/2008/11/17/more-original-versions-of-classic-fairy-tales/#comments Mon, 17 Nov 2008 06:59:08 +0000 Andy Kaiser http://www.dbskeptic.com/?p=477 http://www.dbskeptic.com/2008/11/17/more-original-versions-of-classic-fairy-tales/feed/ 30 Andy Kaiser By Andy Kaiser Article ID: 1260 - [This article is a companion piece to "Original meanings of classic fairy tales".] - Fee! Fie! Foe! Fum! I smell the blood of an Englishman. Be he live, or be he dead, I'll grind his bones to make my bread. By Andy Kaiser Article ID: 1260 [This article is a companion piece to "Original meanings of classic fairy tales".] Fee! Fie! Foe! Fum! I smell the blood of an Englishman. Be he live, or be he dead, I'll grind his bones to make my bread. It's a cool speech. But when you think about its literal meaning and the murderous intent of the giant ogre in "Jack and the Beanstalk", you know - even as a child - that some fairy tales have strong undercurrents of gore and violence. You can confirm this by examining classic fairy tales and learning their original versions. Many of today's fairy tales have been retooled to save our children from terrible stuff like blood, guts, sex, and unplanned pregnancies. Unfortunately, that means the original lessons of many fairy tales have been mangled or lost entirely. Parents and teachers, this is a warning. Here be sex, gore, and worse: the potential destruction of fun childhood bedtime stories. The original story of Jack and the Beanstalk and Jack and His Bargains An interesting aspect of this story is that Jack's adventure with the beanstalk was not his only tale. There were many stories in what is called the "Jack cycle". "Jack and the Beanstalk" just happens to be the most popular one. One example from the Jack cycle is called "Jack and his Bargains". This story starts with Jack and his father, and can be thought of as a sequel to Jack and the Beanstalk. Jack is asked to sell the family cows for money. And like the Beanstalk story, he doesn't, but instead trades the cows for magical items. In this case, the items are a magical stick (which physically beats anyone once Jack activates it by saying, "up stick and at it"), a singing bee, and a fiddle which plays beautiful music. Jack uses these items to impress a local princess, after which they get married and have "baskets full of children". On to the beanstalk: in "Jack and the Beanstalk", Jack sells the family cow for magic seeds, as the cow (named "Milky White") no longer gives milk. These seeds are planted, and a giant beanstalk grows out of the ground and high into the sky. Jack climbs the beanstalk. At the top, nestled in the clouds, is a giant castle. A huge ogre lives in the castle. The ogre gives us the memorable line of "Fee! Fi! Fo! Fum!" Jack makes three trips, and each trip has a similar plot: he hides from the giant (twice in the giant ogre's oven, and once in a cooking pot), and steals the ogre's possessions (a bag of gold, a hen that lays golden eggs, and a golden harp). An fun twist is that the ogre is married. The ogress actually helps Jack hide from her husband, and she and Jack get along great together when the ogre isn't around. As Jack escapes after his third theft, the golden harp in his hands comes alive and starts screaming for help. The ogre chases after Jack. Jack descends the beanstalk with the ogre close above him. He calls for his mother to cut down the beanstalk with an axe. The mother gets the axe, but freezes - she can't do it. Jack drops to the ground, frantically chops down the beanstalk, and the ogre dies from the fall. I end up feeling sorry for the ogre husband and wife. They seem to have lived a pretty good life in the clouds, in their own castle, along with some pretty cool magical gadgets. And here comes Jack to ruin it all, with no moral justification for his repeated burglaries and his final murder of the ogre. The morals of the original Jack and the Beanstalk: Grow up and stop being an infant. You must be able to independently strike out alone to provide for a family. The killing of the giant by destroying the beanstalk is a nicely phallic representation of the need to supersede male influence, taking control of one's own life and rejecting superstition and magic. The original story of Beauty and the Beast The father is rich. There is no mother. The father has three sons and three daughters. The youngest daughter, the most attractive, Andy Kaiser clean 25:17 http://www.dbskeptic.com/2008/11/10/the-god-confusion/ http://www.dbskeptic.com/2008/11/10/the-god-confusion/#comments Mon, 10 Nov 2008 05:35:53 +0000 Andy Kaiser http://www.dbskeptic.com/?p=466 http://www.dbskeptic.com/2008/11/10/the-god-confusion/feed/ 13 Science Reason & Rationality by Science, Reason & Rationality Article ID: 1259 "It is said that men may not be the dreams of the Gods, but rather that the Gods are the dreams of men." ~ Carl Sagan - Hello. My name is God, and I am an atheist. by Science, Reason & Rationality Article ID: 1259 "It is said that men may not be the dreams of the Gods, but rather that the Gods are the dreams of men." ~ Carl Sagan Hello. My name is God, and I am an atheist. I don't believe in gods because there are no gods who created me and there's no one else here to compare myself to. I just have always existed. I didn't evolve from anything. I am now just as I always have been, and will always be that it in the future. Messes with your head, doesn't it? Think of how I feel! But, what if there is a god who created me? I don't see any other gods here except me, so why should I believe in another god? How about faith? Can faith establish that there is another god? No way! That's just being silly. Even if I do have a creator, who created that god? No, that's a faulty line of reasoning. I am the one and only. There is no other god but me. Right? Before I could know of another god, there must first be hard evidence and genuine scientific proof. That's not going to happen, because I am God, I'd know of such things. Okay, just me then. Now that I've got that question solved, what am I going to do now? There's a lot of black empty space out here and I'm getting really bored! I gotta do something. Maybe I should create a "Big Boom" or a "Big Bam" or some kind of huge explosion and see what happens. [A gigantic, mind-numbing, multiverse-shaking explosion ensues...] ...Okay, so I guess that was more of a "Big Bang". Not bad, not bad at all. I'm an instant artist! Look at these beautiful stars, planets, and galaxies. I'm impressed. I'm the greatest thing in this whole universe. But then, I'm the only one here, so I'm greatest by default. I suppose I could create other gods, and challenge them so that I can see for myself if I am indeed the greatest. On second thought, that may be a bad idea. What if they beat me? Or form evil alliances against me and revolt? That'll be embarrassing. And what if they ask me who created me? Since I am the one who created them, they might think there must be some other god who created me. They'll stop worshipping me, and look for other gods. Not acceptable. Moreover, they're not gonna believe me if I said I just came into being out of nothing. Still, I could force them to believe whatever I want them to believe. Or I could punish the non-believers. I'll have to give this some thought. [Some time later...] I'm bored. I've created everything I wanted to create. Am I going to be the only one admiring my own work?  That would be lame. ...I know! What if, instead of creating new gods, I create some tiny little creatures on one or more of these planets? They won't be as powerful as a god, so they won't be a threat to me. I'll design them unable to see me, but they can see all my genius works. They can admire my work and praise me for it. It'll be fun seeing them trying to figure out what the heck is going on. I can see it now: some will claim that they know me and have spoken to me or I have spoken to them, and they'll use my name to start a religion. Soon, there will be a whole bunch of them and they'll be killing each other to prove which Me is the one and only "true" Me. And I'll never speak to any one of them. Anything they think is my voice will be misinterpretation or self-delusion. This will be good entertainment. Should keep my boredom away. I get to be movie director. Producer too. And the whole special effects production crew. To paraphrase someone I'm about to create, "it's good to be the god!" Okay, got a little sidetracked there. Back to the plan. Those "religion" businessmen will use really effective marketing strategies in order to control others, making people behave with a predetermined right and wrong. All in my name, of course. That'll cause problems, but those are their problems, not mine. I just want an audience. Now, what will my creatures look like? I can't make them all look exactly like me. Andy Kaiser clean 10:31 http://www.dbskeptic.com/2008/10/27/original-versions-of-classic-fairy-tales/ http://www.dbskeptic.com/2008/10/27/original-versions-of-classic-fairy-tales/#comments Mon, 27 Oct 2008 05:39:27 +0000 Andy Kaiser http://www.dbskeptic.com/?p=412 http://www.dbskeptic.com/2008/10/27/original-versions-of-classic-fairy-tales/feed/ 23 Andy Kaiser By Andy Kaiser Article ID: 1257 - [This article is a companion piece to "More original meanings of classic fairy tales".] "Oh Grandmother, what big ears you have!" "All the better to hear you with, my dear." "Oh Grandmother, what big eyes you have! By Andy Kaiser Article ID: 1257 [This article is a companion piece to "More original meanings of classic fairy tales".] "Oh Grandmother, what big ears you have!" "All the better to hear you with, my dear." "Oh Grandmother, what big eyes you have!" "All the better to see you with, my dear." "Oh Grandmother, what big hands you have!" "All the better to grab you with, my dear." "Oh Grandmother, what big teeth you have!" "All the better to eat you with, my dear." Thus begins the true terror of Little Red Riding Hood. Do you know what happens in the original story? Find out, and this Halloween you may think twice when you see certain costumes. This Digital Bits Skeptic article keeps to the usual credo of skepticism and critical thinking. But since it's a Halloween special, it also gets pretty creepy. A quick alert to parents and teachers - this article doesn't have forbidden words, but revealing the dark nature of beloved childrens' fairy tales may be too much for young kids. It's almost Halloween. In less than five days, young children will dress up, put on makeup or a mask, and knock on strangers' doors, expecting oodles of free candy. And they get it. The kids are happy, the strangers are happy, everyone wins except dental insurance companies. When I was younger, the cool costumes were made from anyone from the Star Wars movies. I too donned the smelly, sweaty plastic mask, and trick-or-treated as Darth Vader. Being probably three feet tall made me a much less imposing figure. My friends all did the same. Movies and TV shows dictated our choices. A costumed resurgence occurred at the time Disney started remaking classic fairy tales, like The Little Mermaid and Beauty and the Beast, and rereleasing older movies like Cinderella and Snow White. The Little Mermaid was big. Girls everywhere dressed up like Ariel and knew line-by-line the story of unrequited love eventually rewarded. Yet, this isn't the original story. Did you know that the original Little Mermaid story by Hans Christian Anderson ended with the Little Mermaid's death? She essentially committed suicide because she was unwilling to kill the prince, who was already married to someone else. It's not quite the happy Disney ending. Yet, I remember being a kid, being somehow more satisfied when I heard the "real" endings of fairy tales. It's like watching the TV-edited version of an R-rated movie. The R-rated version is invariably better, and was the director's original intent. Even though the original fairy tale storylines deal with nasty issues, they are truer than hiding behind a Disney-esque ending. They reflect the original violent themes of some fairy tales: that the world is a dangerous place, certain behavior is tolerated and some isn't, and some people are here to protect you, and some will hurt you. For those who really like to dig deep, fairy tales also involve heavy symbolism and psychology. The Hansel and Gretel story is an examination of children's emotional growth and eventual rejection of parental supervision. Many tales (like Little Red Riding Hood, Rapunzel, and Sleeping Beauty) have a heavily sexual tone, and explore sexual awakening and desire. Now that we've mentioned sex and violence, let's get to it and find about the original versions of classic fairy tales. The original story of The Three Little Pigs The Three Little Pigs is sanitized for today's children by telling the violence-packed story without the violence. We're left with a cautionary tale that shows how being smart is a good thing. The original has lost a lot. The original Three Little Pigs is a lot longer, as the Big Bad Wolf doesn't stick with blowing down houses. He does do that to get the first two little pigs. Those unfortunate morsels are quickly terrorized and eaten. The third pig - the smart one - is the holdout. Unable to blow down the third pig's house, the wolf tries guile. He tries to tempt the pig out of the house, Andy Kaiser clean 15:13 http://www.dbskeptic.com/2008/10/04/religulous-review-bill-mahers-brutal-and-intelligent-take-on-religion/ http://www.dbskeptic.com/2008/10/04/religulous-review-bill-mahers-brutal-and-intelligent-take-on-religion/#comments Sat, 04 Oct 2008 08:56:40 +0000 Andy Kaiser http://www.dbskeptic.com/?p=320 http://www.dbskeptic.com/2008/10/04/religulous-review-bill-mahers-brutal-and-intelligent-take-on-religion/feed/ 16 Andy Kaiser By Andy Kaiser Article ID: 1252 - Before we get to the good stuff, you should know that this review of Religulous contains spoilers. The spoilers give away the main topics addressed by Bill Maher. If you don't want to know them yet, By Andy Kaiser Article ID: 1252 Before we get to the good stuff, you should know that this review of Religulous contains spoilers. The spoilers give away the main topics addressed by Bill Maher. If you don't want to know them yet, go see the movie first. If you're considering seeing the movie and want more information, or you want someone else's take on it, keep reading. Special thanks goes to the Center for Inquiry's Michigan chapter, who brought Religulous to West Michigan. Without their efforts, I may not have seen this movie. Religulous begins with Bill Maher talking about the Bible's Book of Revelations, a terrifying, end-of-the-world scenario preached by Biblical literalists. We get a lot of humor, and Religulous stays funny throughout much of its running time. Maher intersperses witty remarks with political and religious commentary, much like his stand-up act. But here you realize he's making a very directed, laser-focused point: religion is bad. Some quotes from him include: "[Religion is] selling an invisible product." "It's just so shamelessly invented." After his entertaining intro, we get to the main focus of the movie. Here, Bill takes on various aspects of religion, with both interviews and informal talks directly to the camera. While I don't have all the topics listed here, these are the majority, and are what Religulous spends the most time discussing: Pascal's Wager This concept says, "You should worship God, because what if you're wrong. If God exists, and you worship him, then you're safe. If He exists and you don't worship him, you've just written a one-way ticket to an everlasting pitchfork-infested sauna." There are many problems with Pascal's Wager. How do you know which God is the right one? So many religions have so many conflicting tenants, you can't know which one is true. What if God doesn't exist, and you waste your whole life worshipping a nonexistent being? Or worse, what if you've spent your life subjugating and abusing others based on religious-driven morals? Pascal's Wager is one of those questions that at first sounds witty and interesting, until you examine it logically and realize it's flawed logic. Biblical Inaccuracies The Catholic Bible is huge. From Old Testament to New, it's jammed packed with stories, morals, punishments and contradictions. Religulous spends time addressing many of these. Instead of listing them here (as even the Internet has a limited amount of space), I'll instead recommend a book: A great source of Biblical inaccuracies, problems, contradictions and abuses can be found in the book, Ken's Guide to the Bible. It's best to read Ken's Guide with an actual Bible nearby. Otherwise, you may not believe some of what you read - there are a lot of horrible things in the Bible that rarely get mentioned in Sunday's sermon. TV Preachers TV preachers bring in massive amounts of money. It's easy - they ask their viewers for contributions, and the checks and credit card numbers come pouring in. This seems like a violation of Jesus' teachings, who seemingly was a man teaching simple living and criticizing the rich. How can a television preacher reconcile his incredible material wealth while still claiming to live by Jesus' example? The Church and Homosexuality You might not know the Westboro Baptist Church by name, but you've probably heard about them. These are the people who loudly protest funerals of soldiers and other high-profile deaths. They're known for their motto, "God hates fags". Religulous uses them and others to expose the beliefs and teachings of the Catholic Church on how homosexuality is a conscious choice and a sin. Particularly interesting is a conversation Bill has with the head of Exchange Ministries, a religious non-profit specializing in converting gays away from homosexuality. Miracles Bill addresses the stupidity of various kinds of miracles. There are the obvious, in your face miracles, Andy Kaiser clean 21:11 http://www.dbskeptic.com/2008/05/06/supernatural-nightmare-experiences-and-the-illusion-of-prayer/ http://www.dbskeptic.com/2008/05/06/supernatural-nightmare-experiences-and-the-illusion-of-prayer/#comments Tue, 06 May 2008 12:39:13 +0000 Andy Kaiser http://www.dbskeptic.com/2008/05/06/supernatural-nightmare-experiences-and-the-illusion-of-prayer/ http://www.dbskeptic.com/2008/05/06/supernatural-nightmare-experiences-and-the-illusion-of-prayer/feed/ 7 Science Reason & Rationality By Science, Reason & Rationality Article ID: 1223 - It's been almost ten years since my last supernatural nightmare experience. The last one I've had was way back in my late 20's. This is because I've learned a little secret on how to get rid of such n... By Science, Reason & Rationality Article ID: 1223 It's been almost ten years since my last supernatural nightmare experience. The last one I've had was way back in my late 20's. This is because I've learned a little secret on how to get rid of such nightmares, once and for all. Let me share with you what led to my enlightenment. When I was a kid, I remember not being afraid of the dark, or anything supernatural like ghosts, evil spirits, demons or the devil. I also never had any supernatural nightmares. Why? Because I didn't know such entities existed. But later, I heard my family members speak about their existence. My big brother frightened me with it. My big sister shared an experience of being suddenly woken from sleep by an invisible entity pressing her down on her bed. She said that she couldn't move or call for help, and was absolutely sure it wasn't a bad dream. With this information and all the supernatural horror movies we watched at home, it became possible for me to believe in such things, which inevitably also made it possible for me to experience supernatural nightmares as well. I have never experienced sleep paralysis, but in my adult years I realized my sister's experience was just that. However, I did have my own share of supernatural nightmares which I experienced until my late 20's. One of these gave me assurance that the power of God is real and Jesus is who he said he was. In this dream, I was chased by a demonically possessed girl who was going to torture, kill or possess me. She was really horrible to look at, exactly like Linda Blair from the movie The Exorcist. Of course, I was influenced by the movie, but I didn't realize that in the dream. So, while I was running, scared to death, in the dark, away from this girl making all sorts of horrifying sounds - just like in the movie - I suddenly remembered to call upon God and pray for help. I prayed while I ran. Then I stopped running, turned around to look directly at this girl eye to eye and said, "In the name of Christ Jesus and by the power of the Holy Spirit of God, I command you to STOP!" But the girl kept coming closer and closer. I stood my ground and placed all my faith in God and in his Biblical promises. When she got about ten feet away from me, a sunny light came down from the sky (I suppose it was from Heaven) and shone on me. The light was like a force field, protecting me from the girl. She couldn't come near me. She couldn't enter the light (I suppose because it was Holy). The dream ended there: I woke up refreshed in faith and trust in Jesus Christ and in the God of the Bible. There was one problem. You see, I hadn't always been a Christian. Before I accepted Jesus Christ as my personal Lord and Savior, I was following the teachings of Hinduism for approximately ten years. For the last two of those years, I'd been a loyal devotee of the Lord Krishna (an incarnation of the Hindu God, Vishnu). During this time, I was protected from evil entities in my nightmares in the same way that I was protected through prayer and in the name of Jesus Christ. The only difference was that it was done in the name of Krishna or Vishnu. Hindu prayer also worked much the same way: one says a certain Hindu Mantra or incantation while thinking of the god or gods that it's associated with. The second religious book that I studied diligently after the Hindu Bhagavad Gita was the Quran of Islam. During this period I managed to protect myself from the evil entities in my nightmares by praying to the God of the Quran, Allah, and by reciting specific verses from the Quran for this purpose. Guess what? Yep! It worked the same way. After this, I studied the Old and New Testaments of the Bible. I also studied both the Catholic and the Protestant faith including their Canon Laws. I stayed a Christian for about seven years and almost started my very own non-denominational Christian church. Yes, I'd become a very staunch Christian, Andy Kaiser clean http://www.dbskeptic.com/2008/03/08/the-dyatlov-pass-accident-and-the-fatal-unknown-compelling-force/ http://www.dbskeptic.com/2008/03/08/the-dyatlov-pass-accident-and-the-fatal-unknown-compelling-force/#comments Sun, 09 Mar 2008 00:43:51 +0000 Andy Kaiser http://www.dbskeptic.com/2008/03/08/the-dyatlov-pass-accident-and-the-fatal-unknown-compelling-force/ http://www.dbskeptic.com/2008/03/08/the-dyatlov-pass-accident-and-the-fatal-unknown-compelling-force/feed/ 200 Andy Kaiser by Andy Kaiser Article ID: 127 - What was the Dyatlov pass accident? - On January 28, 1959, ten experienced cross-country skiers left for a skiing expedition. They headed for the Otorten Mountain range in the northern Urals. by Andy Kaiser Article ID: 127 What was the Dyatlov pass accident? On January 28, 1959, ten experienced cross-country skiers left for a skiing expedition. They headed for the Otorten Mountain range in the northern Urals. One skier fell ill and had to turn back. The remaining nine skiers left him behind and continued their journey. They were led by Igor Dyatlov, 23, from whom the accident and location were named: What happened next is partially conjecture, partially reconstructed from search party evidence, and photos and journals from the deceased. The skiers never returned from their trip. On February 26, 1959, searchers found the group's tent "half torn and covered with snow". While no one was in the tent, the group's belongings, including shoes and clothing, had been left behind. Footprints were in the snow around the tent, indicating people wearing socks, one shoe or no footwear at all. Below is a picture of the tent as it was found by the search party: Two bodies were found almost two kilometers down the mountainous slope, near a forest. Both were barefoot and dressed only in underwear. The remains of a fire were nearby. Branches on a nearby tree were broken up to five meters high, and some branches remained in the snow. Three more bodies were found between the first two bodies and the tent. The positioning of these three was such that it seemed they'd been trying to return to the tent when they were overcome by the cold. While these five died of hypothermia, one had a fractured skull (this was considered not fatal). Four more bodies were found in a nearby ravine. Buried in snow, they seem to have suffered traumatic deaths: one suffered a crushed skull. Two others, multiple broken ribs. A fourth was missing her tongue. Adding to this, these bodies showed "no external wounds", as would be seen from a physical attack by human or animal. These latter four were dressed warmly. The first five were not, and some were wearing parts of the others' clothes. It seems that those who died last removed clothes from those who died first. The clothes all contained high levels of radiation. A source for this contamination was not found. After the funerals, relatives said the victims' skin had a "strange orange tan", and that they were completely grey-haired. Reconstructions of the victims' behavior indicated that they may have been blinded. An example is that the victims broke wet tree branches to start their campfire, though there was good dry kindling nearby. While treated as a crime scene, the investigation ceased officially in May 1959 due to the absence of a guilty party. The group was deemed to have died from an "unknown compelling force". During the night of this tragedy, another group of hikers 50 kilometers south reported they saw "strange orange spheres" in the northern sky. Similar spheres were seen in nearby cities during February through March of 1959. Witnesses included a weather service and the military. On February 2, 2008 six of the rescuers and over 30 independent experts gathered together to examine the facts and look for answers. They concluded that the deaths were caused accidentally by military testing. That's a horribly mundane end to a frightening, confusing and exciting story. Other theories as to what happened at the Dyatlov pass accident include encounters with UFOs, Yeti, "mountain madness" or a group of murderous natives in the area. One of the points of this article is to illustrate that, while the above pseudo-scientific explanations may sound better or make a better movie, scientific analysis can and does prove them wrong, or far less probable. In addition, there are many explanations as to the "unexplainable" facts from the Dyatlov pass accident. These make far more sense than assuming the Dyatlov pass accident was supernatural. Summarized, here's a list of the Dyatlov pass accident facts: The victims' tent was "cut from the inside". Andy Kaiser clean http://www.dbskeptic.com/2007/12/29/the-flight-of-dragons-book-review-how-dragons-could-have-evolved-and-existed/ http://www.dbskeptic.com/2007/12/29/the-flight-of-dragons-book-review-how-dragons-could-have-evolved-and-existed/#comments Sat, 29 Dec 2007 05:55:01 +0000 Andy Kaiser http://www.dbskeptic.com/2007/12/29/the-flight-of-dragons-book-review-how-dragons-could-have-evolved-and-existed/ http://www.dbskeptic.com/2007/12/29/the-flight-of-dragons-book-review-how-dragons-could-have-evolved-and-existed/feed/ 9 Andy Kaiser By Andy Kaiser Article ID: 1111 - - Dragons existed. Real ones. They breathed fire. They flew through the air. They dripped poisonous blood and horded tons of gold. At least, that's what the book The Flight of Dragons says is possible. By Andy Kaiser Article ID: 1111 Dragons existed. Real ones. They breathed fire. They flew through the air. They dripped poisonous blood and horded tons of gold. At least, that's what the book The Flight of Dragons says is possible. It's not telling us dragons definitely existed. But given certain evolutionary adaptations, they could have. The book The Flight of Dragons by Peter Dickinson is an entertaining and intelligent experiment in critical thinking. It entertains children while respecting an adult intelligence. It exposes the reader to a believable "fantasy" world built on a foundation of reality. I'll quote Peter Dickinson in his introduction: "This book is called The Flight of Dragons because my theory is that the particular specialisation of dragons was that they evolved a unique mode of flight. They grew to their enormous size because size was necessary if they were to fly successfully. They breathed fire because they had to. Their "blood" had seemingly magical properties because a particular chemical reaction was necessary for their mode of flight." The book is 132 pages of showing just how dragons could have lived and flew and, yes, breathed fire. Why is The Flight of Dragons a book for critical thinkers and skeptics? Because it presents a very interesting theme: it doesn't say "dragons never existed". It doesn't say "dragons did exist". It says, in essence, "Dragons are most likely mythological creatures. However, there are so many myths about them, so many shared dragon characteristics between cultures, that if they did exist, here is one possible explanation how dragons evolved the way they did." The book is an evolutionary analysis of the dragon, and the result is brilliant: well-researched and entertaining, fun for dragon buffs, fantasy buffs, or critical thinkers and skeptics. In addition to massive amounts of scientific analysis and critical thought, the book also provides a great amount of history of dragons and dragon myths. Here's a chapter by chapter breakdown for The Flight of Dragons: Introduction: A concise introduction by the author, Peter Dickinson: it is his view that dragons really existed, and that he can "put together a coherent theory which is at least as probable as the theory that dragons are completely legendary." Flight: In a book titled "The Flight of Dragons", it makes sense that the first chapter after the introduction be a discussion of the mechanics of flight. It introduces the concept of a wing-size-to-weight ratio, and emphasizes that the heavier an animal is, the larger the wingspan needed to fly. In addition, dragon legends speak of dragons having abilities that would add to their body weight: they are fast fliers. They can hover. But these attributes require a sturdy and strong body, contrary to a light body weight. Dickinson realizes there is something wrong with the usual assumption about how dragons were thought to fly, and that weight was the critical factor: If dragons flew, it was because they were weightless. The Flying Brick: This two-page spread is a visual explanation of what was described in the previous chapter: as the weight of an animal increases, the wing size required for flight increases significantly. This is why the animals and insects that do fly are generally very small and very light. Fiery Breath: Why does a dragon breathe fire? How does a dragon breathe fire? This chapter answers these questions, while also describing Dickinson's revelation about the mechanics of dragon flight: 1) Dragons could fly because their bodies were lighter-than-air. Think of a blimp. 2) Also like a blimp, dragons were large because their bodies needed to be large in order to fly. 3) Dragons would therefore not need huge wings, since they were more for maneuvering than actual flight and lift. 4) "Dragons breathed fire because they had to." The gas that gave dragons their lift was hydrogen. To prevent possible explosions (think of the Hindenburg), Andy Kaiser clean http://www.dbskeptic.com/2007/12/12/photo-evidence-of-ectoplasm-and-ghost-orbs-explained/ http://www.dbskeptic.com/2007/12/12/photo-evidence-of-ectoplasm-and-ghost-orbs-explained/#comments Wed, 12 Dec 2007 22:39:21 +0000 Andy Kaiser http://www.dbskeptic.com/2007/12/12/photo-evidence-of-ectoplasm-and-ghost-orbs-explained/ http://www.dbskeptic.com/2007/12/12/photo-evidence-of-ectoplasm-and-ghost-orbs-explained/feed/ 12 http://www.dbskeptic.com/2007/12/02/photo-evidence-of-ectoplasm-and-ghost-orbs/ http://www.dbskeptic.com/2007/12/02/photo-evidence-of-ectoplasm-and-ghost-orbs/#comments Sun, 02 Dec 2007 07:27:12 +0000 Andy Kaiser http://www.dbskeptic.com/2007/12/02/photo-evidence-of-ectoplasm-and-ghost-orbs/ http://www.dbskeptic.com/2007/12/02/photo-evidence-of-ectoplasm-and-ghost-orbs/feed/ 11 Andy Kaiser By Andy Kaiser Article ID: 118 - So there I was. Just minding my own business. Thinking about whether I should have a granola bar or a cup of soup. On one hand, the soup would be tastier - I had just purchased a cream-of-something-or-other, By Andy Kaiser Article ID: 118 So there I was. Just minding my own business. Thinking about whether I should have a granola bar or a cup of soup. On one hand, the soup would be tastier - I had just purchased a cream-of-something-or-other, and wanted to give it a taste. On the other hand, a granola bar would match the instant gratification our society prides itself on. A tough choice: quality or pride. Which to pick? I was deep in such ponderous thought, when I felt a little funny. Felt like something was in my mouth. I felt it, pushing around. Like a mouthful of irritated cotton candy. Then I made a mistake. I opened my mouth. It came out. It came out of my mouth and flowed into the air, hissing in front of my face. There was no smell. Just the loud, angry hissing. The brown cloud was thick, and it roiled in front of my face. I didn't know what it was. But I knew - I KNEW - that it was alive. I also felt two other "beings" there with me. I felt like I was being judged, or watched. I also knew that I didn't have much time. I was terrified that this ectoplasm had vomited its way out of my mouth. My hands were shaking, and my heart was hammering. And then I saw my camera on the counter. I fumbled for it, and still shaking and terrified, I took this picture of myself. This photo evidence of ectoplasm and ghost orbs is hard to ignore. How can you ignore it, when it's right there in front of my face? You can clearly see the blob of ectoplasm hovering just after it forced its way out of my mouth. There are the other two ghosts as well, one orb brightly shining on the upper left, and a small blue orb on the right. This photo evidence was completely untouched, except for necessary resizing and cropping. The millisecond the camera flash went off, the ectoplasm vanished. It disappeared, and left nothing behind except - oddly - a faint musty smell. Any sense of ghost presences also vanished. I now carry a video camera with me at all times. I know that the ectoplasm will come back. The ghost orbs will be back, too, and I want to get the orbs and ectoplasm on video evidence. I'll use this photo and video evidence to prove that ghosts, orbs and ectoplasm are real. It will happen. I know it will, just like I knew the ectoplasm was alive. It'll all come back, and then I'll have further proof of what happened to me. I saw a ghost. A blob of ectoplasm worked its way out of my mouth and hovered in front of my face. Forget the naysayers. I saw it, I know it's true. Andy Kaiser clean http://www.dbskeptic.com/2007/10/16/whats-the-harm-in-believing-reasons-for-skeptical-thought-and-critical-thinking/ http://www.dbskeptic.com/2007/10/16/whats-the-harm-in-believing-reasons-for-skeptical-thought-and-critical-thinking/#comments Tue, 16 Oct 2007 13:53:21 +0000 Andy Kaiser http://www.dbskeptic.com/2007/10/16/whats-the-harm-in-believing-reasons-for-skeptical-thought-and-critical-thinking/ http://www.dbskeptic.com/2007/10/16/whats-the-harm-in-believing-reasons-for-skeptical-thought-and-critical-thinking/feed/ 2