Here we go again: a Templeton-sponsored conference designed to “expand” evolutionary biology

When I was sent this announcement of a conference on evolution at Cambridge University next year (click on screenshots), and when I read the program and saw the speakers (links at third screenshot), I smelled a RAT (abbreviation for “rubbish and Templeton”), but I didn’t know for sure that the John Templeton Foundation was one […]

Teleogical views predict not just creationism, but conspiracy theories

I’ll be brief here because the paper itself, just published in Current Biology (reference below, access free, pdf here) is short: just over a page of text. After finding evidence in a small survey (N = 157) that teleology  (“the tendency to ascribe function and final cause to nonintentional natural facts and events”) was significantly […]

Teen Vogue pushes astrology as “wellness” and “spirituality”

I haven’t yet concluded that Control Leftism goes along with woo, but Teen Vogue, a girl’s fashion magazine that’s been turning into a nubile Huffington Post after replacing its editor with a former editor of Feministing, has shown a certain penchant for woo. For example, its “Wellness” section is actually a “wellness and spirituality” section, […]

NYT op-ed endorses amulets and other woo for disease

As part of the continuing decline of the New York Times, we have this new op-ed by Steve Petrow, a writer from North Carolina who, the paper says, “is a regular contributor to Well” (the paper’s health column). But this is more about woo than about health. Click the link below to read the piece. Petrow’s point […]

Jordan Peterson, Sophisticated Theologian

I am still deliberately avoiding reading or listening to Jordan Peterson. He seems to be a maelstrom, a black hole who will suck you into Internet arguments that will eat up all your time and energy.  As Bert Jansch sang, “I have no time to spend with you; you talk of nothing, what can you […]

New York Times pushes pseudoscience: detoxing!

Most of you probably know that the concept of “detoxing”—taking various nostrums to purge your body of supposedly retained “toxins”—is a scam. Our body doesn’t retain toxins (except for things like ingested polonium fed you by Russian operatives); and the “purges,” ranging from drinking lemon juice to taking coffee enemas—do nothing. (Thanks, Gwyneth!) Despite that, […]

Diseases are correlated with birth months

Five days ago I reported on the unctuous Dr. Mehmet Oz and his new claim that various medical conditions and ailments were correlated with your astrological sign. I poo-pooed this since I couldn’t see any obvious connection between birth date and medical conditions. Well, I may have spoken a bit too fast, though, as I […]

Woo from Dr. Oz and Everyday Feminism

Dr. Mehmet Oz was launched into public celebrity via promotions by Oprah Winfrey and Larry King. He still has a daily television show on Fox, “The Dr. Oz Show,” which I blessedly haven’t seen. But I have read about his various promotions of pseudoscience, including weight loss nostrums, alternative medicine, and even “reparative therapy” designed to […]

Jesus ‘n’ Mo ‘n’ Reiki

The new Jesus and Mo strip, called “trade”, came with a message from the pair: We’ve done Reiki before, but exorcism is in the news again [JAC: see here], and the irony of exorcists being sceptical about reiki is just too tasty to resist. If you don’t know what Reiki is, it’s a form of […]

Octopuses as aliens from another planet?

Reader Tim sent me a link to this article from the Daily Express, which I don’t read but suppose, from this one article, is about as credible as The Sun or other British tabloids purveying fake stories. Click on screenshot to see the article.  I’ll make this into an exercise in which readers can tell […]