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  1. Ian

    Dr. Henry Bauer, Why We Shouldn’t Trust Science |362|

    I'd refer you to the Swedish Agency for Health Technology Assessment's big meta-study of 16,000 studies published in 2013, discussed in the following article: Anders Hansen, "Swedish Health Advisory Body Says Too Much Carbohydrate, Not Fat, Leads to Obesity", British Medical Journal 347 (15th...
  2. Ian

    Brian Dunning, Is the “Skeptical Thing” Over? |363|

    You may well be correct about a "Pavlovian response": certainly the dopaminergic and social rewards for successful competition are at the heart of much great achievement in science and other areas; and I would of course agree that it's not necessarily sociopathic (in a loose sense) except...
  3. Ian

    Brian Dunning, Is the “Skeptical Thing” Over? |363|

    In addition to the point you make, Chefjames, the point he makes about the "law of large numbers" is not a scientific statement but an ad hoc claim which nobody to my knowledge has made any attempt to test. I'm not even sure it could be tested in any serious way. It's all very Thomas Kuhn!
  4. Ian

    Brian Dunning, Is the “Skeptical Thing” Over? |363|

    Interesting interview, but I suppose predictable that when it came to discussing psi research it turns out he's completely ignorant (look up presentiment experiments before doing a science-y show on the topic? whatever for?). Also predictable that he was ignorant of the problems at JREF/TAM and...
  5. Ian

    Dr. Henry Bauer, Why We Shouldn’t Trust Science |362|

    Yes, I'm aware of that, and it's also quite likely that the broader dietary advice is responsible in part for the "obesity epidemic", as well as increased numbers of heart attacks (excess sugar) and strokes (insufficient fatty acids). Overall, it's quite clear just from trends in the general...
  6. Ian

    Dr. Henry Bauer, Why We Shouldn’t Trust Science |362|

    My favourite example of bad science at present is the whole saturated fats/cholesterol/salt is bad for you myth. There's a really good book on the topic called The Big Fat Mistake by Nina Teicholz. Interestingly, The Lancet in England has taken an editorial line against the theory, which...
  7. Ian

    The Psi Encyclopedia

    It's people like you that make it impossible to have a sensible discussion. Your aim is clearly to provoke me into being unpleasant to you, or to intimidate me into silence. Moderator, please step in.
  8. Ian

    The Psi Encyclopedia

    Many thanks for these thoughts on the encyclopedia. Food for thought. Without wishing to discourage further criticism, I'd just like to address the remarks made by Max_B. There are certainly advantages to the crowd-sourced approach, especially with a global encyclopedia; but there are also...
  9. Ian

    The Psi Encyclopedia

    [This is a re-post of something which got wiped out in the recent database crash. Thanks, Kamarling, for the feedback in the earlier thread -- your suggestion has been taken on board.] Some of you may remember, way back in early 2013, there were some discussions on the old Skeptiko forums at...
  10. Ian

    Dr. John Brandenburg – Plasma physicist gives inside look at outsourced UFO research |325|

    I don't wish to sound sound dismissive, but I'm really not happy about anyone coming along claiming something as remarkable as a nuclear holocaust on Mars and apparently not engaging with serious journal articles that would (if true) discredit his hypothesis. Is anyone who owns a copy of the...
  11. Ian

    Dr. John Brandenburg – Plasma physicist gives inside look at outsourced UFO research |325|

    At 1:05:27 in the interview: Gordon White: “[… w]hat I know people listening are thinking is: How have you run down the options? There must be some – even just for doing proper scientific diligence – Dr. Brandenburg, are there genuinely any other naturally occurring reasons for this ratio [of...
  12. Ian

    Dr. John Brandenburg – Plasma physicist gives inside look at outsourced UFO research |325|

    Re: 129Xe, based on a quick Google search it would appear that an explanation put forward by a team of researchers is that “[132Xe was] lost by impact erosion during heavy bombardment, followed by release of 129Xe produced from 129I decay in the crust.” Donald S. Musselwhite, Michael J. Drake &...
  13. Ian

    Grant Cameron – Classified documents suggest UFO/consciousness link |324|

    The only thing I found surprising about this interview was when he said that the Clintons are "very spiritual people". Aliens in spaceships I can do, but that?
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