BRAINS! Read all my ideas about brains as well as others theories
BRAINS! Read all my ideas about brains as well as others theories
Phil Plait of Bad Astronomy writes eloquently on debating pseudoscientists:
Debunking fringe theories is usually not trivial. For example, Richard Hoagland has been making his (mistaken) claims about Mars for literally decades. The breadth and depth of his claims is astonishing! It would take forever to debunk everything he says, as it would for most pseudoscience theories. And every time you debunk one thing, they pop up with another claim, instantly ignoring that you just destroyed their last argument. This is another reason most scientists don't bother debunking wacky theories.... I took on the gist of the claims, and I don't bother with the hundreds or sometimes thousands of minor details. Destroy the foundation of their theories, and all the little claims flutter to the ground as well on their own.
But then, inevitably, the issue of a debate comes up. Nearly every major (in the loose sense of the term) pseudoscientist has challenged me to a debate at one time or another. Both McCanney and Hoagland have publicly called for me to debate them on, for example, the "Coast to Coast AM" radio show. In almost every case, I have refused.
Why?
To Hoagland's followers, the answer is obvious: I'm scared to debate him, because I know he will win. That is silly, and obviously so. If I thought I were wrong, why would I write my pages in the first place? Moreover, and this may be more pertinent: why go on C2C and talk about it? After all, there is a chance that one of the people whose theories I am trashing might call in! Clearly, there must be another explanation.
There is; read more. Or listen to an mp3 of the classic lecture Science and Pseudoscience by Imre Lakatos, with the transcript here on a memorial web site.
Among the pseudoscience out there today (hallmarks: paranoia, revolutionary, anecdotal, it's the only way, 100% cure, proprietary formulas, grandiose, expensive, medical miracle inspiration stories, poor references) is this ebook on how multiple sclerosis is a sham while the author has the real cure. For a fee, of course.
I challenge any media representative to investigate: the claims I make against medical leaders, my treatment approach, and the testimonies I supply on this website, to reveal that there is abundant medicald ocumentation which proves, the advice medical doctors and neurologists give to MS patients that lesions on the brain and irreversible deterioration of the nerve myelin sheath are responsible for the symptoms of multiple sclerosis and that the symptoms of MS cannot be overcome, is nothing short of absolute nonsense!
He goes on, and on. "I am willing to appear on any television program ..." I'm sure. But I'll heed the two scientists above and engage in debate. Instead, just a snicker at this banner. So bad it's good camp.
Dr. Phil will likely not debate either, though he and Oprah get a direct attack: "Dr Phil is completely wrong in saying: 'being overweight is nobody's fault but your own.'"
Why? Another pseudoscience cliche.
After Receiving Horrible Treatment At A Brisbane Hospital At Age Thirteen, I Am Speaking Out Loud And Clear, Against Leaders Of The Medical Profession Who Allow Pharmaceutical Drug Companies To Control The Medical Industry.Read the comments on this post...
This topic usually falls into the realm of ESP and parapsychology but there is no reason that it has to. For starters check out this snippet from a Wired article:
"It was slightly strange at first," Wächter says, "though on the bike, it was great." He started to become more aware of the peregrinations he had to make while trying to reach a destination. "I finally understood just how much roads actually wind," he says. He learned to deal with the stares he got in the library, his belt humming like a distant chain saw. Deep into the experiment, Wächter says, "I suddenly realized that my perception had shifted. I had some kind of internal map of the city in my head. I could always find my way home. Eventually, I felt I couldn't get lost, even in a completely new place."The effects of the "feelSpace belt" -- as its inventor, Osnabrück cognitive scientist Peter König, dubbed the device -- became even more profound over time. König says while he wore it he was "intuitively aware of the direction of my home or my office. I'd be waiting in line in the cafeteria and spontaneously think: I live over there." On a visit to Hamburg, about 100 miles away, he noticed that he was conscious of the direction of his hometown. Wächter felt the vibration in his dreams, moving around his waist, just like when he was awake.
Direction isn't something humans can detect innately. Some birds can, of course, and for them it's no less important than taste or smell are for us. In fact, lots of animals have cool, "extra" senses. Sunfish see polarized light. Loggerhead turtles feel Earth's magnetic field. Bonnethead sharks detect subtle changes (less than a nanovolt) in small electrical fields. And other critters have heightened versions of familiar senses -- bats hear frequencies outside our auditory range, and some insects see ultraviolet light.
Pretty cool eh? I'm not sure how legitimate this type of 'belt' is and whether the results are 'real' since I haven't seen any sort of research on this. Hey If they send me the belt I'll do some research!
In any case... I wanted to highlight a slightly less exciting but more demonstrative instance of a simple change in a task that allows us to become 'aware' of something we weren't before.
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The Assn for the Scientific Study of Consciousness announced their 2007 conference, June 22-25. It's being held at the Imperial Palace hotel on the Las Vegas strip, and features a special symposium on The Magic of Consciousness with five top magicians performing and discussing their trade.
Just as visual scientists study visual art and illusions to elucidate the workings of the visual system, so too can cognitive scientists study artists of cognitive illusions to elucidate the underpinnings of cognition. Stage magic shows are the manifestation of the deep intuition and understanding of human attention and awareness held by the accomplished magical performer. By studying magicians, and learning their techniques, researchers can hope to learn the skills necessary to manipulate attention and awareness in the lab, at a quantitative level. In this spirit, each of these performers will describe an aspect of magical technique that serves as a powerful tool to manipulate attention and/or awareness, either on a large scale (to a large audience) or a small scale (such as a card trick, or other close-up manipulation). They will demonstrate an example application of each technique, and then discuss why/how they believe the technique may work, in terms of human cognition.The presentations will be followed by 30 minutes of Q&A with the audience.
The goal of the event is to help raise awareness among ASSC delegates about the powerful tools that magicians have already developed to manipulate awareness. And the magicians themselves have also expressed their wish that the information flows both ways! The performers deeply hope to learn from the consciousness research community about new principles in cognitive science that can be exploited to entertain and amaze their audiences.
Probably change blindness is just the beginning. Sounds fun. A reader recently went to Las Vegas and left this comment at Channel N on a post with a great video on ghe neurobiology of addiction: "I JUST GOT BACK FROM LAS VEGAS BABY, I'D LOVE TO SEE WHAT KIND OF ADDICTION THAT CAUSES. I WANT A SLOT MACHINE ON EVERY CORNER STORE AND A ROULETTE TABLE IN EVERY OUTBACK STEAKHOUSE." What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas, though, right? Even this symposium on secrets of stage magic illusions? We'll see.
Hat tip to The Neurocritic!
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