Skeptic: Extraordinary Claims, Revolutionary Ideas, and the Promotion of Science

Superstition:
Belief in the Age of Science

Dr. Robert Park
Sunday, November 23, 2008 at 2:00 pm
Baxter Lecture Hall

From uttering a prayer before boarding a plane, to exploring past lives through hypnosis, why has superstition become so pervasive in an age of science? Robert Park, the University of Maryland physics professor and the best-selling author of Voodoo Science, asks why people persist in superstitious convictions long after science has shown them to be ill-founded. He takes on supernatural beliefs from religion and the afterlife to New Age spiritualism and faith-based medical claims. He examines recent controversies and concludes that science is the only way we have of understanding the world…

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The mind-reading crystal skull featured in the newest Indiana Jones movie was based on mysterious real quartz crystal skulls. What are they? Where did they come from? Could they be alien or Atlantean artifacts? And what of the strange powers they are said to possess?

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Anti-science propaganda: how Ben Stein’s new ‘documentary’ film entitled Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed equates evolution with Nazism. Was anyone really fired for their belief in Intelligent Design? Read these four articles and listen to the Skepticality podcast to find out!

1. Ben Stein’s Blunder
2. The Richard Sternberg Affair
3. The Expelled Case
   of Caroline Crocker
4. Was Guillermo Gonzalez Expelled?
5. READ Dawkin’s open letter to a victim of Ben Stein’s propaganda
6. WATCH a parody of the film
   on RichardDawkins.net: Sexpelled: No Intercourse Allowed

Listen to the following Skepticality episodes that deal with the subject.

• episode 74
• episode 76
• episode 77

Shermer explains how evolution shaped the modern economy and why people are so irrational about money. How did we make the leap from ancient hunter-gatherers to modern consumers and traders? Why do people get so emotional and irrational about bottom-line financial and business decisions… Read more >

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In this week’s eSkeptic, Gary J. Whittenberger Ph.D. discusses how a global warming petition project has mislead the public by indicating there is a consensus that the evidence is weak or nonexistent for anthropogenic global warming.

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In last week’s eSkeptic, Gary J. Whittenberger Ph.D. discusses how a global warming petition project has mislead the public by indicating there is a consensus that the evidence is weak or nonexistent for anthropogenic global warming.

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Break the Science Barrier

Dawkins communicates both the power and the beauty of science through a series of stories and vignettes dealing with a wide variety of topics, including the discovery of the Big Bang, junk science in the courtroom, magic and deception, and how science is the best tool ever devised for understanding how the world works…

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The Root of All Evil?

In this two-part documentary, Oxford Professor Richard Dawkins examines how religious faith is gaining ground in the face of rational, scientific truth. The program takes you to some of the world’s religious hot-spots, both in America and the Middle East…

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Growing Up in the Universe

Dawkins presents a series of lectures on life, the universe, and our place in it. With brilliance and clarity, Dawkins unravels an educational gem that will mesmerize young and old alike…

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Environmental Wars
now at Shop Skeptic

The 2006 conference is now available at Shop Skeptic in DVD, VHS, CD and audio cassette formats. The lectures (which took place at Caltech on Saturday, June 3rd) are sold individually, or as a 5 part set at incredible discounts!

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The Power of Belief

In this 14-minute introduction to skepticism, Dr. Michael Shermer (Executive Director of the Skeptics Society) discusses why people believe weird things and elaborates on the power of belief systems. This lecture was delivered at the 2006 TED conference (Technology, Entertainment, Design) in Monterey, California. For additional TED talks go to www.ted.com/tedtalks

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Deepak and Shermer debate the question of life after death.

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