Holy Higgs - at a recent meeting in Beijing representatives from 12
countries agreed on the blueprint for the international linear collider,
which is intended to accelerate electrons and positrons along a pair of 15-km-long
pipes and have them collide in the middle. The resulting debris will, it
is hoped, reveal a rash of "new" particles, and offer clues to the birth
and structure of the Universe. One of these particles would be the long sought after
Higgs boson, which could explain how all
the other particles obtain their mass. This
BBC piece is good straightforward
reporting of what promises to be exciting and revelatory physics. In the
Guardian however, the science
correspondent, in what is otherwise a good piece, uses what, in 80's view,
is a cheap trick, the God ploy, to draw attention to his article. He opens
with "They call it the God particle: a mysterious
sub-atomic fragment that permeates the entire universe and explains how
everything is the way it is." Who are "they" that use the word God
in relation to physics and cosmology? Nobel Laureate
Leon Lederman for one, for it was he who
first coined the term God particle for the Higgs boson, although in
mitigation the story goes that his first choice, God-damned particle, was
nixed by his publisher. The others are lazy journalists using a cheap
attention-grabbing phrase, and science popularizers such as physicist Paul
Davies (author of The Mind of God) and even Stephen Hawking, who famously
wrote that if we had a theory of everything we would then "know
the mind of God". This "God" referred to by most
physicists (apart from the likes of
John Polkinghorne) including Albert
Einstein, is not a deity but more of a shorthand for the abstract concept of physical laws, by which the universe,
and everything therein operates. As 80 wrote to New
Scientist back in 2000, the problem with the G word is that "To
many members of the public, however, this is seen as an endorsement of the
Judaeo-Christian mythology of a personal God, with all the trappings of
miracles, resurrections and the rest." This is still the case, and
journalists and physicists should take more care in their use of what is a
theological term. A final thought - if the Higgs boson is the God particle
does that imply that
Higgs is God?
"Are science and religion converging? No. There
are modern scientists whose words sound religious but whose beliefs, on
close examination, turn out to be identical to those of other scientists
who straightforwardly call themselves atheists." Richard Dawkins, The
Devil's Chaplain (2004)
The Shrinking Gaps
- Religion at one time had the answer, pretty much the only answer, to
most questions about who we are, how we came to be and the origin of this
amazing universe that we inhabit. It defended its territory and fought
tooth and nail against any discoveries and observations that contradicted
its dogma. Since the advent of science and the scientific method the role
of religion, or more specifically a god or gods, has been diminished as,
one by one, many of the big questions were found to be answerable without
reference to the supernatural. The areas of knowledge that religion could
arrogate to itself have been steadily shrinking and this has led to the
name for the Christian God of the
God of the
Gaps - an increasingly unimportant entity, relegated to explaining
those gaps in human knowledge that science has yet to illuminate. This God
will linger in human thought forever, as even the most hardened advocate
of science would surely agree there are some things to which it is not
applicable, and may never be. This lingering supernatural remnant is not
how most religionists see things, but nevertheless it is the case that
when religion makes claims that are scientifically testable it is the God
squad who are the losers.
One of the latest examples of this is the case
of the Mormons
and DNA. Quite simply the Book of Mormon says that many native
Americans are descendants of Hebrew tribes, and this is accepted as
received divine wisdom and believed implicitly by the devout. The only
problem with this fantasy is that research using genetic and blood tests
show that the American "Indians" are related closely to the inhabitants of
Siberia, not the so-called Holy Land. This is damning enough but Thomas W.
Murphy, a Mormon himself, although not an active congregation member, used
DNA analysis to examine contemporary Jews and native Americans and found
that they do not share a common ancestry, at least not over the last few
thousand years. He concluded that parts of the Book of Mormon are fiction,
although he did hedge his bets saying that it may be fiction, but was
inspired as well. So it seems that Joseph Smith was divinely inspired to
tell lies dressed up as truth, unfortunately scientifically testable
truth. This is not a good result for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter
Day Saints (LDS) to give them their proper name, who were to arraign
Murphy on a charge of heresy but, mainly because of the publicity Murphy's
findings have attracted, this has been postponed indefinitely.
Murphy is
taking this as a green light to "speak out against
the injustices of racism, sexism, homophobia, and anti-intellectualism."
that he sees in the church. Mormon professors are questioning the validity
of Murphy's work and are wriggling around to find reasons for the lack of
Middle Eastern genetic markers in the native American population, but
their efforts have the feel of desperation. The official LDS site even has
a page called
Mistakes in the News part of which is devoted to the DNA results, but
which actually amounts to little more than a handwaving exercise. The fact
is that the God of the Gaps has had another refuge plugged by science, and
he is having to scuttle around in steadily decreasing circles, although
sadly he is unlikely ever to disappear up his own fundamental orifice. The
embarrassment to the Mormons was greeted with glee by some fundamentalist
and evangelical Christians. They should temper such feelings with the
knowledge that their fantasies (where testable) could well be exposed for
what they are, under scientific scrutiny. (For more on Mormons generally
look here and
here is Recovery from Mormonism,
described as a site for those who are questioning their faith in the
Mormon Church. Also see this
article about the book, "Losing a Lost Tribe:
Native Americans, DNA and the Mormon Church" by Simon Southerton,
himself a scientist and an ex-bishop.The Skeptic's Annotated Bible now
features The Book of Mormon
The section on Science and History is most illuminating.)
No Designer Label - here is a
hilarious page
from the Talk Origins archive, by E T Babinski that addresses those who
claim that our universe betrays the hand of a Designer. This is the old
William Paley
watchmaker argument that something so intricate and organized as the
Universe, our world and its lifeforms, must have had a designer. Basically
a species of Creationism, wearing an ill-fitting mock-scientific suit,
Intelligent Design
uses different ploys in an attempt to point to the hand of a designer,
often based on arguments from incredulity and non-explanations such as the
Strong Anthropic Principle. The
Argument from Incredulity is nicely described
here and basically says
that if something cannot be conceived as having happened naturally, ie by
the laws of physics, then it must have been created. This of course brings
us once more to the sad little character mentioned above, the God of the
Gaps. The more science explains, the less there is for God to do. The
Strong Anthropic Principle (SAT) takes a slightly different approach.
If the properties of the Universe such as the the masses and charges of
sub-atomic particles, for instance, were even slightly different from what
we see, a Universe capable of sustaining stars, planets and galaxies could
not have happened, providing no environment for life like ours. Therefore
these properties must have been chosen in some way - by a designer. This
assumes that the Universe we can see and measure is all there is, rather
than perhaps a balmy and relatively hospitable corner of a much larger
Universe in which these properties are varied. Another suggestion is that
rather than one Universe there are
many, perhaps an
infinite number, and we happen to live, somewhat obviously, in the only
one which is suitable for our existence. Many people don't like this idea,
saying to postulate endless other Universes that are indetectable is an
uneccessary, arbitrary and inelegant thesis. It may be, but certainly no
more so than postulating a divine, omniscient, omnipresent and complex
being that would appear to have come from nothing, and which exists
outside of space and time. To return to the Babinski page,
Why We Believe
In A Designer!, this demonstrates that the more we learn of the
Universe, the less it looks like a creation, and the more it looks like
the operation of the uncaring laws of physics - the opening sentence
should give you flavor enough to want to read the rest. "Only
a Designer would have had the infinite wisdom to make countless stars
blaze away countless kilowatts of energy in every corner of this vast
cosmos for no apparent purpose; and have the prize of his creation, the
earth - which God worked on for "five" out of the "six days of creation" -
receive only an infinitesimal portion of the energy expended by even the
nearest star, the sun."
Water Water Everywhere - and
none of it with special properties. What is the most hyped substance on
the planet? Diamond, perhaps or gold or even
red mercury?
No, in 80's view it is good old water, or
dihydrogen monoxide. This is not your ordinary bottled water, which is
quite a business in its own right, but water that has been changed by
pseudoscientific hocus-pocus to give it special curative and restorative
properties. It also has the side-effect of making the water very, very
expensive. But that doesn't matter if the very molecular structure of the water has
been altered by a "patented physics process using
high-energy sound waves" that gives it unique properties. At least
that's what Penta Water
claims, and after all, they are suppliers of official bottled water to the
US Olympic Water
Polo team so it has to be good, right? (Before you ask, they are
drinking it, not swimming in it.) Penta even cite
research backing up
their product, proving that it has smaller molecular clusters than regular
water, although they are careful to say that while "Penta’s
unique properties may also be responsible for allowing the water to move
through the body more quickly for superior hydration." any benefits
may well be illusory "Please note that having
smaller molecular clusters is scientific proof of our restructured water,
and may NOT contribute to faster hydration." But why worry about
that, when there is scads of
anecdotal
evidence! (One has to wonder at the reliability of testimony from a guy who is described
as an "energy addict",
80 thought we all were, unless we are dead.) "Countless
Penta drinkers have told us that, through effectively hydrating, they look
and feel more youthful, energetic and all around better." And let's
face it, feeling "all around better" is more
interesting than any scientific quibbling, right? Besides, they have a
patent so it must be good stuff. There is still a niggling doubt in
the back of 80's mind though. Having a patent is actually
no big deal.
Another thing, how come the Penta Water people agreed to have their
water claims tested by
the James Randi Foundation for a million dollar prize, only to pull out?
Perhaps they are doing so well that kind of cash is small change, but of
course they could have given it to charity after all. They and the
Foundation would have had to agree to the nature of the test which would
not proceed without both parties acquiescing to the protocols and
pronouncing satisfaction, so there was no fear of them being set up. So
what was the problem? No one, unless they are deranged, or
Sylvia Browne,
passes up the chance of a million bucks and the opportunity to put Randi
in his place, to boot. 80's niggling doubt is by now turning into a rat -
a dead one, smelling accordingly. For a general overview of structurally-altered water (SAW) see
this page, and learn
that Penta is just one of many firms claiming to be able to alter the
structure of water for the better. The writer, Stephen Lower, is out to
inform and does not bother to build any suspense - the page is boldly
titled Water Cluster Pseudoscience. Lower's
home page is here and is a mine of
information - more than that, he is providing a public service, although
sadly he does not get the publicity that the water peddlers do. For more
on the subject see 80 on
Wonder
Waters and also this page on
water stupidity and an
investigation by the North Texas Skeptics. Ben Goldacre's
Bad Science has also taken a crack at water quackery.
Mugged by Gobbledegook - By the
way, if you are convinced that the water you just got fleeced for must
have special powers, don't jump to conclusions - it may be the container.
At least it would if it came in an "Essential
Energy eMug" from Ewater.com, the brainchild of
Fred Van Liew, also
known apparently as "The Water Doctor".
(Looking at his photo, it appears that the eMug will also give you an
unconvincing tan. Incidentally, Liew's bio does not mention any real
medical qualifications.) The eMug works when "any
substance is placed in or on the Essential Energy eMug, the "energy
information" is transferred from the eCrystal technology within the eMug
to the water in the new liquid or solid. Bovis levels of 30-40K may be
obtained within minutes and the very balancing 90 K within minutes instead
of hours. The electrons in the substance take on a positive left spin.
Their free radical nature is virtually eliminated! The body can more
easily process and eliminate chemicals, allergens, or pathogens. "Negative
memories" within a liquid substance formerly retained are wiped away
within seconds!" 80 is surprised that Liew does not also make an
eCrock. After reading that bullshit you may well conclude that an eMug is
actually any person who hands over their hard-earned cash for this ejunk.
Van Liew excels himself with another product, the literally unbelievable "Quantum
Coherence Generators" which use "FlexoElectric E
Technology!" These little objects offer "Whole
home protection for the entire family from EMF, microwave, cell phones,
television & cell phone towers, electrical wiring and lighting, negative
emotions and more." Surprisingly even while these things are
"protecting" you, your home is still full of, gasp, radiation, otherwise
you would have no TV signal, phone calls or microwaved food. Perhaps the
devices can tell the difference between "good" and "bad" radiation.
As for "negative emotions", what if you are
the sort that likes to curl up and watch a good weepie? Will the generator
keep you relentlessly cheerful against your will? But this is not
all, these devices can seemingly help with individual health problems, "a
single QCG is excellent for chaos related pain, anxiety, digestion
disorders, and any number of challenges in the body." Chaos related
pain? Now there's a new concept - or is it just the discomfort anyone over
30 feels upon viewing a teenager's bedroom? Oddly, no prices are available
for Van Liew's wondrous devices without registration, so although the casual
visitor can read that there is a six month money back guarantee, there is
no clue as to what you have to shell out in the first place.
Illusory Sandlot - We are all
familiar with illusions of one type or another, from mirages to drawings
that show us different and irreconcilable things, depending upon what we
look for. Some types of illusion crop up regularly in the press, when
members of the public claim to see the Virgin Mary in a
fence post, a
chapati or tortilla or a discolored window pane. The works of artist
Max Escher play with the two-dimensional images of buildings that are
impossible - and yet look completely convincing until they are are
examined closely.
Mystery spots
where odd things are seen, such as cars appearing to roll uphill, are
popular places to visit - and are the product of optical illusions. All
kinds of optical illusions are described and explained at
Sandlot Science.com. There
are page upon page of them, many of which are animated and all accompanied
by a clear and comprehensive explanation. The best place to start looking
through the site is an essay by J R Block, called
What is an Illusion? It is filled with links to the image pages
on the rest of the site, and neatly places them in the context of an
exploration of perception. Sandlot Science is an excellent resource and
demonstrates that learning about the principles underlying the illusions
shown does not diminish the sense of wonder at their effects. It also
emphasizes the fallibility of our perceptions, and makes you realize why
an eye-witness account is often not all it seems. (many of the illusions
shown require Flash and/or Java)
Still With Us
- 80 recently reread Martin Gardner's book, Fads and Fallacies In the Name
of Science. First published in 1952 and revised and expanded in 1957 it is
a fascinating study of pseudoscience in its many forms. Two things are
immediately apparent when reading this work, one is Gardner's sense of
humor, he has some great fun examining some of the more outrageous ideas,
and shares this with the reader. The other is how familiar most of his
pseudosciences are to the 21st century reader, with very few exceptions,
nearly all the claptrap he examines, from Pyramidology to dowsing and
creationism, to UFOs and Atlantis, homeopathy and chiropractic, is still
around. None of them have been validated, and none have been accepted as
additions to scientific knowledge, but they still have their adherents
from true believers to the cynical extorters of money from the trusting
and gullible - in fact it is a monument to the human capacity for
self-delusion that some folk can inhabit both camps at once. The last
paragraph of Gardner's introductory chapter is as true today as when he
wrote it. "If the present trend continues, we can
expect a wide variety of these men (pseudoscientists), with theories yet
unimaginable, to put in their appearance in the years immedoately ahead.
They will write impressive books, give inspiring lectures, organize
exciting cults. They may achieve a following of one - or one million. In
any case, it will be well for ourselves and for society if we are on our
guard against them." Happily, Gardner too, is still with us, and
about to celebrate his 90th birthday on October 21st 2004. James
Randi, author of another classic work on pseudoscience, Flim-Flam, has a
plan to celebrate Gardner's birthday by deluging him with greetings cards
- see here for
more details. For more on Gardner's life and works see
here. (The book that introduced 80 to Martin Gardner back in 1966 was
The Annotated Alice - see
80's Recommended
Reading. Books, or anything else, purchased through the Amazon links
on the home page will help with the upkeep of this site.)
Plus Ca Change
- plus c'est la meme chose. Another, considerably earlier work
looking at strange beliefs and pseudoscience, although it long predates
that particular term, is Memoirs of Extraordinary Popular Delusions and
the Madness of Crowds, by
Charles Mackay.
This work, originally published in 1841, is available in various places
online -
here
it is presented by the Library of Economics and Liberty. It covers a wide
range of subjects some of which appear to be of only historical interest,
like the chapter devoted to the
South Sea Bubble, and the incredible inflated price the shares of the
South Sea Company reached amid near hysteria, before the inevitable crash.
Historical interest indeed, until you realize this is the great great
grandfather of our time's DotCom Bubble, and the original use of the word
bubble in such a context. 80 has yet to read all the book, but so far it
certainly deserves its reputation as a classic. Also, like the subjects
covered by Gardner, some are familiar, all too familiar to the modern
reader. There is an unbroken line of descent from the useless magnetic
insoles sold in your local pharmacy/drugstore and
The Magnetizers Mackay examines in Chapter 7. The opening paragraph on
this particular quackery shows that Mackay understood what we now call the
placebo effect "The wonderful influence of
imagination in the cure of diseases is well known. A motion of the hand,
or a glance of the eye, will throw a weak and credulous patient into a
fit; and a pill made of bread, if taken with sufficient faith, will
operate a cure better than all the drugs in the pharmacopœia."
Modern prophecies, alchemy, haunted houses and fortune telling are
familiar subjects too, but chapter 8, entitled "Influence
of Politics and Religion on the Hair and Beard" is, 80 would imagine,
unique.
Strong Atheism - 80's attention
was recently drawn to a new(ish) site with the name
Strong Atheism. What is that
you may inquire, not realizing, like 80, that atheism comes in different
strengths. The description offered is one that immediately engages the
attention "Strong-atheism : the proposition that we
should not suspend judgment about the non-existence of God or gods. A
positive position against theistic values, semantics and anti-materialism,
a rational inquiry in the nature of religious thought, a new way of
thinking about religious and spiritual issues." The uncompromising
nature of the views expressed struck a chord with 80 "If
you seek a solution to the intellectual vacuum in religious discourse,
this is a place for you." They even supply a way to swiftly
determine if this is somewhere you would like to linger, by offering a
short
questionnaire, which, while far from taxing, is definitely
thought-provoking. The site is replete with information in an easily
accessible form, and would repay examination not just by strong (or weak)
atheists, but also religionists, or at least those who are not frightened by being made to
think hard about their beliefs, and are prepared to apply some logic to
the consequences of those beliefs. Among many other features there are
discussion
forums and also
downloadable mp3 files on various topics such as
The Meaninglessness of the God-Concept, courtesy of the Hellbound
Alleee internet radio show, which has its own site
here. The show is also
easily accessed through the
Live 365 internet site. Recommended. (thanks to Francois Tremblay, who
not only is one of the authors of Strong Atheism but is also webmaster of
Insolitology, a site that 80
has looked at in
Hybrid Hilarity)
Sites That Stink - this is an
occasional feature looking at websites that are one or all of the
following, irresponsible, money-grabbing, immoral and despicable, not to
put too fine a point on it. This is the kind of site that you think, how
do these lowlife get away with it? Do they believe their own lies or are
they just happy to dash for your cash? The site that has 80 brimming with
contempt right now is called
What Doctors Don't Tell You (WDDTY). It follows a depressingly
popular sCAM (so-called Complementary and Alternative Medicine) approach.
Your doctor, apparently, is just one strand of a huge web of deceit, the
purpose being to bar sufferers from effective treatment in order to feed
the profits of the huge pharmaceutical industry. 80 fully realizes the
pharmaceutical companies are not paragons of virtue, only recently there
has been a well-deserved stink over the practice of only
publishing
positive tests of new drugs and quietly sitting on the others. The
obscene amount of money made from medicines and the offer of enticements
(bribes) to those who prescribe their particular drugs are also
well-known, but even the "big pharma" hated by the conspiracy mad alt.med
crowd could learn a thing or two from the creeps at WDDTY. The main page
has the most incredible example of scaremongering.
WHAT DOCTORS DON'T TELL YOU ABOUT
PREVENTING AND TREATING CANCER.
"In no area of medicine have alternative ideas
been more stifled than with cancer. In Britain, it is illegal for any
alternative practitioner to claim a cure for cancer. In America, virtually
every last cancer pioneer-mostly highly respectable, orthodox
scientists-have been prosecuted or hounded out of the country. Despite a
climate of outright repression, studies and anecdotal evidence poke
through here and there like daffodils in February, consistently
demonstrating that alternative cancer therapies do work."
This is such a farrago of idiotic lies it is hard to know where to start.
There is no "alternative" cancer therapy that has been clinically proven
to work - although studies are being
pursued, not
suppressed.The only so-called cancer pioneers driven out of the US are
dangerous quacks such as Hulda Clark,
who, to avoid prosecution, has to practice her deceptive and cruel trade
just over the border in Mexico. Anecdotal evidence is not admissable as
data (see
here) Apart from anything else the statement from WDDTY is not
designed to help or provide reliable information - its purpose is to get
you to spend money - nothing more and nothing less. If you wish to know
more you must buy a "new 80-page special report
published by What Doctors Don't Tell You pulls together all the very
latest scientific research and thinking on cancer and how best to beat it."
Ok, everyone has to make a living but not by frightening vulnerable people
and lying to them. You also have to wonder where they find out about the "latest
scientific research" on cancer if it is being "repressed".
They must have some special method by which they can identify genuine
studies, as opposed to those studies which are purely propaganda for the
big pharmaceuticals. WDDTY may just may have some useful information to
offer, backed up by evidence, but until they relinquish their trashy and
misleading scare tactics they are deserving of little more than contempt.
Quotes
"Isn't it enough to see that a garden is beautiful without having to
believe that there are fairies at the bottom of it too?"
Douglas Adams
[Alternative medicine is defined as] "that set of practices that
cannot be tested, refuse to be tested or consistently fail tests."
Richard Dawkins
"The universe that we observe has precisely the properties we should
expect if there is, at bottom, no design, no purpose, no evil, no good,
nothing but pitiless indifference." Richard Dawkins
"Praying is like a rocking chair -- it'll give you something to do,
but it won't get you anywhere."
Gypsy Rose Lee
"The most curious social convention of the great age
in which we live is the one to the effect that religious opinions should
be respected." H.
L. Mencken
A humanist is someone who does the right thing even
though she knows that no one is watching.
Humanism is the pursuit of an ethical,
rewarding and joyous life without recourse to the supernatural.
--Will Ross, Phoenix, Ariz.
Humanism is a progressive philosophy of life that, without
supernaturalism, affirms our ability and responsibility to lead ethical
lives of personal fulfillment that aspire to the greater good of humanity.
