Paths

The Way of the Soul

KEYWORDS: antiscience; belief; cognitive dissonance; counterknowledge; denialism; gullibility; ideological pathology; ignorance; intellectual deceit; misology; oncomeme; pseudoscience; stupidity

To believe, in the guise of religious faith, what is, on scientific or philosophical grounds, factually untrue is to be supersitious. Superstition is a counterfeit of religion and a perversion of it.

Mortimer J. Adler

The perversion of faith and the eclipse of reason alike begin with the denial of doubt; but the salvation of the soul and the way to peace begin with its acceptance.

Pippin of Vesuvius

List of Contents
Dark Powers: The Pathology of Belief and Persuasion Hate and Violence Political Extremism and Terrorism Religious Extremism and Fundamentalism Pseudoscience: Content and Critique Beams of Light: Religion Myth and Mythology Christianity Islam Religious Studies and Theology Ecumenism and Interfaith Dialogue

Dark Powers: The Pathology of Belief and Persuasion

Hate and Violence
Political Extremism and Terrorism
Religious Extremism and Fundamentalism
Pseudoscience: Content and Critique

---

Pseudoscience: Content and Critique

Aliens and UFOs
Creationism: Antiscience and Pseudotheology
Confusionism: Deceit, Denial, and the Policy of Abuse
Skepticism and Related Views


The radical novelty in modern science lies precisely in the rejection of the belief, which is at the heart of all popular religion, that the forces which move the stars and atoms are contingent upon the preferences of the human heart.

Walter Lippmann

Science is a way of trying not to fool yourself.

Richard P. Feynmann

There's a sucker born every minute.

David Hannum

The enemy of knowledge and science is irrationalism, not religion.

Stephen Jay Gould

AAAS honors defenders of evolution with Scientific Freedom and Responsibility Award (American Association for the Advancement of Science, 14 Feb 2007)

AAT the Counterarguments (Aquatic Ape Theory)

The AFU FAQ Page (Alt.Folklore.Urban)

AIDS Pseudoscience (AIDSTruth.org)

Alan Sokal Articles on the "Social Text" Affairs

The Anatomy of Pseudoscience (Steven Novella, The New England Skeptical Society, 1 Dec 2000)

Ancient Astrology and Divination on the Web (ed. Tim Spalding)

Anders Mad Scientist Page

The Annals of Improbable Research presents HotAIR

Anti-environmental myths (Jim Norton, Fairfield, California)

Anti-global heating claims - a reasonably thorough debunking (Brian Angliss, Scholars and Rogues, 23 Jul 2007)

Anti-Quackery Ring (Paul Lee et al.)

Aquatic Ape Theory: Sink or Swim? (Jim Moore)

The Assault on Scientific Freedom (American Civil Liberties Union, New York, 21 Jun 2005)

Astrocrud (Stephen Tonkin, UK)

Astrology (Robert T. Carroll)

Astrology (W. Rory Coker, University of Texas at Austin)

Astrology & Science (Rudolf H. Smit)

Astrology Overview (Roland Seidel, Australian Skeptics)

Astrology, Psychic Stuff, and Skepticism (Philip R. "Pib" Burns)

Astronomical Pseudo-science: A Skeptic's Resource List
(Andrew Fraknoi, Astronomical Society of the Pacific)

Atlantis Quest: A WebQuest for 9-12 Grade English or Social Studies (Carolyn O'Burleson)

Bad Astronomy (Phil Plait)

-- Bad Astronomy Blog

Bad Chemistry (Kevin K. Lehmann)

Bad Meteorology (Alistair B. Fraser)

Bad Physics (Geoff Piper, UK)

Bad Science (Alistair B. Fraser)

Bad Science (Ben Goldacre, The Guardian, London)

Bad Science Projects

BBC Online: Horizon, Atlantis Uncovered (BBC, 28 Oct 1999)

BBC Online: Horizon, Atlantis Reborn (BBC, 4 Nov 1999)

The Bermuda Triangle (Tobias Gibson)

Bermuda Triangle (US Navy FAQ)

Bush-League Lysenkoism (Editorial, Scientific American 290:5:10, May 2004)

Butterflies and Wheels (ed. Ophelia Benson & Jeremy Stangroom)

Cargo Cult Science (Richard Feynman, 1974)

Carl Sagan's Baloney Detection Kit (Michael Paine, The Planetary Society Australia)

CDC Current Health-Related Hoaxes and Rumors

Center for Inquiry Transnational (Barry Karr et al., Amherst, New York)

Center for Inquiry On Campus

CircleMakers: Home of England's Crop Circle Makers
(John Lundberg et al.)

Classics of Out(land)ish Anthropology (Lawrence University, WI)

Climate Change Denial (blog by George Marshall, Climate Outreach & Information Network, Oxford)

Climate Change Skeptics (David Suzuki Foundation)

Climate change special: State of denial (Fred Pearce, New Scientist, 4 Nov 2006)

Cockburn's form (Gavin A. Schmidt, RealClimate, 7 Jun 2007)

Cognitive Dissonance Theory of Leon Festinger (Ch 16 of Em Griffin, A First Look at Communication Theory, ed.3, 1997)

Correcting myths from Steven Milloy (Jim Norton)

Crank Dot Net: Cranks, Crackpots, Kooks & Loons on the Net
(Erik Max Francis)

Crimes of Persuasion: Schemes, Scams, Frauds (Les Henderson)

Critical Thinking about the Paranormal (Robert T. Carroll, Sacramento City College)

CSICOP HoaxWatch

Culture and Cosmos (ed. Nicholas Campion & Patrick Curry)

Curveball (Stephen Jay Gould, Review of Richard J. Herrnstein & Charles Murray, "The Bell Curve" (1994), The New Yorker, 28 Nov 1994)

The Danish Committee on Scientific Dishonesty
(Danish Research Agency)

DC's Improbable Science (David Colquhoun)

The Debunker's Domain (Robert Sheaffer)

Debunking AIDS Denialist Myths (AIDSTruth.org)

Debunking Pseudo-Scholarship: Things a journalist should know about The Skeptical Environmentalist by Bjørn Lomborg (World Resources Institute)

Debunking Thought Field Therapy and Related Pseudoscience
(Brandon Gaudiano)

Debunking Tools (USD Cult Archaeology)

Déjà vu All Over Again (Chris Mooney, Doubt and About, CSICOP On-line, 13 Sep 2004)

Deltoid (Tim Lambert)

Denialism (Wikipedia)

Denialism Blog (Mark & Chris Hoofnagle)

Denialists (Rev. Dr., Give Up Blog, 19 Sep 2006)

DeSmogBlog | Clearing the PR Pollution that Clouds Climate Science (Jim Hoggan et al., Vancouver, BC)

Diagnosing Delusions: Debunking Common Medical Myths Through Education (Georgia Scurletis & Tanya Yasmin Chin, New York Times Daily Lesson Plan, 7 Oct 2003)

DisinfoJournal (Jurgen Lubke et al.)

Disinformation (ed. Alex Burns)

Dispatches from the Culture Wars: Thoughts From the Interface of Science, Religion, Law and Culture (Ed Brayton)

The Domain of Patriarchy on the Internet (Robert Sheaffer)

Donald Simanek's Page

Doubt and About (Chris Mooney, CSICOP Web Column)

Doug's Archaeology Site: Skeptical Views of Fringe Archaeology
(Doug Weller)

Ephemera (SpiritHistory.com) - 19th Century American Spiritualism
(Ann Braud & John Buescher)

Eugenics Archive | Image Archive on the American Eugenics Movement (Dolan DNA Learning Center, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory)

Exploring the Unknown (Fox Family Channel)

Fantastic Archaeology Index (USD Anthropology Resources)

-- Cult Archaeology Topics

False Memory Syndrome Foundation (FMSF)

Fantasies and Misconceptions on the WEB (Robert J. Bradbury)

Fantastic Archaeology Debunking Tools (Larry Zimmerman)

A Few Things Ill Considered: A layman's take on the science of Global Warming featuring a guide on How to Talk to a Climate Sceptic (Coby Beck)

The Flat Earth Society

Follow the Money -- The Politics of Embryonic Stem Cell Research
(Eugene Russo, PLoS Biology 3(7):e234, 12 Jul 2005)

1421: The Year China Discovered the World (Gavin Menzies)

1421: The Year the Chinese DID NOT Discover America
(Ken Fitzpatrick)

Friends of Science (DeSmogBlog)

Friends of Science (SourceWatch)

Fringe and Controversial Science (Paul Carr)

'Fringe' or 'Cult' Archaeology (Keith Matthews, UK)

Global warming controversy (SourceWatch)

Good Science, Bad Science: Teaching Evolution in the States (Lawrence S. Lerner, Thomas B. Fordham Foundation, 1 Sep 2000)

A Habit of Lies: How Scientists Cheat (John A. Hewitt)

The Hall of Shame

Heavenly Errors: Common Astronomical Misconceptions
(Neil F. Comins)

The History of Phrenology on the Web (John van Wyhe)

Hoaxes and Urban Legends (Walt Howe, Delphi NavNet)

Hoax-Slayer Newsletter (Brett M. Christensen)

Honest Intellectual Inquiry: The Weird & The (Sur)Real on the Net (Carol De Priest)

How a professor of mathematics made 1000 years disappear (excerpt from Florin Diacu, The Lost Millennium (2005), Macleans.ca, 12 Dec 2005)

How Sound Is Bush's 'Sound Science'? (Jeffrey Brainard, The Chronicle of Higher Education, 5 Mar 2004)

How to Talk to a Climate Skeptic (Coby Beck, Gristmill)

Hugh's HAARP Info Page

Ignatius Donnelly and the End of the World

In the Hall of Ma'at (John Wall et al.)

In Search of Mathematical Miracles (Brendan McKay)

Integrity in Scientific Research: Creating an Environment That Promotes Responsible Conduct (Arthur Rubenstein et al., U.S. National Research Council, 2002)

Integrity of Science (Pacific Institute, Oakland, California)

IPL Ready Reference Collection: Controversial

Isaac Newton and Astrology: Witness for the Defence or for the Prosecution? (Robert H. van Gent)

Is Astrology Relevant to Consciousness and Psi? (Geoffrey Dean & Ivan W. Kelly, Journal of Consciousness Studies 10:6-7:176-98, Jun-Jul 2003) PDF

The Island of Doubt: Shipwrecked in a Sea of Certainty (blog by James Hrynyshyn)

The James Randi Educational Foundation Homepage

Journal of Consciousness Studies: Controversies in Science and the Humanities (ed. Joseph A. Goguen et al.)

-- JCS-Online: A Digest of the Key Debates

LinkMaster Search: WEIRD

Loch Ness Investigation (Dick Raynor)

The loons take flight (Eli Rabett, Rabett Run, 26 Oct 2007)

Mathematical Miracles in the Qur'an or the Bible? (Jochen Katz)

Mathematical Mistakes, Glossary of (Paul Cox)

The May 5, 2000 Planetary Alignment And Its Destructive Potential
(Truman Collins)

The measurement of civic scientific literacy (Jon D. Miller, Public Understand. Sci. 7:203-23, 1998) PDF

Method for Finding Scientific Truth (Nick Strobel, Astronomy Notes)

-- Contents

Michael Shermer, The Work of (MichaelShermer.com)

Moon Base Clavius

The Moon Landings Were NOT Faked (Jim Scotti)

Mosley, John, 'The Millennium is Coming!' (Skeptic 4:4:46-54, 1996)

Mr. Cool: Nurturing doubt about climate changes is big business (Charles Montgomery, Globe and Mail, 12 Aug 2006)

The Multiple Meanings of Public Understanding: Why Definitions Matter to the Communication of Science (Matthew Nisbet, Science and the Media, CSICOP, 28 Apr 2005)

The Museum of Hoaxes (Alex Boese)

The Museum of Jurassic Technology

The Museum of Questionable Medical Devices

The Museum of Unnatural Mystery Homepage (Lee Krystek)

MythBusters (Jamie Hyneman & Adam Savage et al., Discovery Channel)

-- MythBusters (Wikipedia)

-- MythBusters Fan Club (Lisa LaVigne, Oak Park, Minnesota)

-- MythBusters Results

-- Mythbusters UK

-- MythBusters Wiki

Natural Philosophy Alliance

New Mexicans for Science and Reason (Peralta, New Mexico)

Nexus 6 (blog, Adelaide, Australia)

Nonsense in America: The Lure of the Irrational (Course Syllabus, Mark A. Wilson, College of Wooster, Ohio)

NOVA | The Boldest Hoax (Kate Bartlett et al., PBS, 11 Jan 2005)

NOVA Online | Holocaust on Trial | Exposing Flawed Science
(Rick Groleau, PBS, Oct 2000)

Number Watch (John Brignell)

ORI - Office of Research Integrity (U.S. Department of Health & Human Services)

Ottawa Recovered Memory Page (Wendy Hovdestad)

Paleontology and Scientific Literacy (UCMP)

Parable of the Monkeys (James A. Reeds)

Planetary Alignments (John Mosley, Griffith Observatory)

Planetary Alignments (Louis Strous, NSO/Sacramento Peak)

Planetary Conjunctions (Brian Monson)

Point of Inquiry, with DJ Grothe (prod. Thomas Donnelly, Center for Inquiry, Amherst, New York)

Politics & Science - Investigating the State of Science Under the [George W.] Bush Administration (Henry A. Waxman, Committee on Government Reform, U.S. House of Representatives)

Pop Science Watch (UNE's The New England Institute)

The Power of Randomness (Ralph Greenberg)

Preeminent Scientists Protest Bush Administration's Misuse of Science (Union of Concerned Scientists, 18 Feb 2004)

Promoting Integrity in Scientific Journals (White Paper, Council of Science Editors, Reston, Virginia)

Pro-science (blog by Kristjan Wager)

Pseudoscience (Brian Monson)

Pseudoscience (Robert T. Carroll)

Pseudoscience - The Alternative to Science (Les Lane)

Pseudoscience Symptoms (Michael Tobis, Only In It For The Gold, 15 Sep 2007)

Psi Wars: Getting to Grips with the Paranormal (ed. James Alcock et al., Journal of Consciousness Studies 10:6-7, Jun-Jul 2003)

Purportal.com: The Bunk Stops Here

The Quackatorium (David Rickert)

The Quack-Files: Anti-Quackery Resources & Web Rings
(Paul Lee)

QuackWatch Home Page (Stephen Barrett)

Quantum Leaps in the Wrong Direction: Where Real Science Ends...and Pseudoscience Begins (Charles M. Wynn & Arthur W. Wiggins, Nat'l Academy Press, Washington DC, 2001)

Questioning the Honesty of White House Science (Colloquy Live, mod. Jeffrey Brainard, The Chronicle of Higher Education, 5 Mar 2004)

Quintessence of the Loon (Peter Bowditch)

Radical-Science@EGroups.com
(Radical-Science E-Mail Group, Ian Pitchford)

RC Wiki (RealClimate)

Reason in the Balance and Why Fundamentalists are Beyond Reason (Lewis Loflin)

Recovered Memory Therapy and False Memory Syndrome
(John Hochman, Skeptic, 1994)

Reincarnation, Life After Death, and Astral Travel
(W. Rory Coker, University of Texas at Austin)

Relative Gravitational Forces of the Planets (Brian Monson)

Research Group for the Critical Study of Astrology
(Chris Bagley et al., University of Southampton)

Resources regarding Darkness in El Dorado
(U-M University Relations)

Respectful Insolence (Christopher Mims, New York)

Roahn H. Wynar's Clearinghouse of Pseudoscience and Quackery in Central Texas

Science & the Decline of Magic (Michael Shermer, Jan 2007)

Science and the Media: A Web Column by Matthew Nisbet (CSICOP)

Science and Non-Science (M. J. Overy)

Science and Pseudoscience (Imre Lakatos, Open University, 30 Jun 1973)

Science and Pseudoscience: Links Debunking Pseudoscience
(W. Rory Coker, University of Texas at Austin)

Science and Pseudoscience Review in Mental Health
(Association for Advancement of Behavior Therapy)

Science Based Medicine (Steven Novella et al.)

Science Fiction in Pseudoscience (W. Rory Coker, University of Texas at Austin)

Science Frontiers Digest of Scientific Anomalies (William Corliss)

Science Myths (Bill Beaty, Science Hobbyist)

Science, Risk and the Media - do the front pages reflect reality? (ed. Jacqueline Cassidy, Social Market Foundation, London, 3 Mar 2006) PDF

Science, Scientism, and Anti-Science in the Age of Preposterism
(Susan Haack, Skeptical Inquirer, Nov. 1997)

Science Under Siege: The Bush Administration's Assault on Academic Freedom and Scientific Inquiry (Tania Simoncelli with Jay Stanley, American Civil Liberties Union, New York, 20 Jun 2005)

-- PDF

Science Watch (Davie Thomas & Kim Johnson, New Mexicans for Science and Reason, KABQ 1350 AM, Albuquerque)

-- Podcast Archives

Scientific Defense of Astrology (Eric Krieg)

Scientific Fraud and the Power Structure of Science
(Brian Martin, Prometheus, Jun 1992)

Scientific Illiteracy and the Partisan Takeover of Biology
(Liza Gross, PLoS Biology 4(5):e167, 18 Apr 2006)

Scientific Integrity (American Association for the Advancement of Science)

Scientific Integrity (Public Employees for Environmental Reponsibility, Washington, DC)

Scientific Integrity in Policymaking: An Investigation into the Bush Administration's Misuse of Science (Union of Concerned Scientists, Mar 2004)

Scientific Integrity Program (Union of Concerned Scientists)

Scientific Literacy and Cultural Studies Project (William W. Cobern)

Scientific Literacy: A Conceptual Overview (Rudiger C. Laugksch, Sci. Educ. 84:71-94, 2000) PDF

The Scientific Take on Aliens, Psychic Powers, and Stuff Like That
(Don Lindsay)

Scrutinizing Rumors and Exposing Hoaxes (Answering Islam)

Seal Rescue or Pseudoscience? Homeopathy in Wildlife Rehabilitation (Peter Ommundsen, Salt Spring Island, Jul 2003)

Sense About Science (dir. Tracey Brown, London)

SIS Catastrophism & Chronology Links
(Ian Tresman, Society for Interdisciplinary Studies, UK)

The Skeptical Astrology Website (American Humanist Association)

The Skeptical Environmentalist: A Case Study in the Manufacture of News (Matthew Nisbet, CSICOP, 23 Jan 2003)

Skepticality - Truth in Podcasting (Derek Colanduno & Swoopy)

Skepticism toward The Skeptical Environmentalist
(Scientific American Explore!, 15 Apr 2002)

-- Danish Committee on Scientific Dishonesty (Udvalgene Vedroerende Videnskabelig Uredelighed)

Skeptic's Dictionary Topical Index: Junk Science and Pseudoscience (Robert Todd Carroll)

Slamming the Climate Skeptic Scam (Jim Hoggan, DeSmogBlog, 1 Dec 2005)

Society for Interdisciplinary Studies (SIS) Home Page

The Sokal Affair (Jason Walsh)

The Sophia Centre: Centre for the Study of Cultural Astronomy and Astrology (Michael York et al., Bath Spa University College, Bristol)

The Sophia Project (UK)

Sowing doubt about climate change in Stephen Harper's backyard (Sheila Pratt, The Edmonton Journal, 20 Aug 2006)

STATS Statistical Assessment Service

The Straight Dope (Cecil Adams)

Strange Science: The Rocky Road to Modern Paleontology & Biology (Michon Scott)

Swift: Newsletter of the James Randi Educational Foundation

Thanks for the Facts. Now Sell Them. (Matthew C. Nisbet & Chris Mooney, Washington Post, 15 Apr 2007)

Torah Codes - Scientific Refutation of the Bible Codes
(Brendan McKay et al.)

UCS Examines The Skeptical Environmentalist by Bjørn Lomborg (Union of Concerned Scientists)

Unlikely Events and Coincidence (W. Rory Coker, University of Texas at Austin)

The Urban Legend Combat Kit (Patrick Douglas Crispen)

UrbanLegends (Mahtomedi High School Media Center)

Urban Legends and Folklore - Home Page
(David Emery, About.com)

Urban Legends and Hoaxes Resource Center
(Jim & Audri Lanford, ScamBusters.org)

Urban Legends: Get the Scoop (Lynn Foltz)

Urban Legends Reference Pages (Barbara & David P. Mikkelson)

Urban Legends Reference Pages: Search Engine

Urban Legends Research Centre (Redman Lucas Wells)

The War on Science: What Have We Learned? (Webcast of Chris Mooney, Cornell University Provost Lecture, with discussion mod. Ron Herring, 20 Sep 2007)

Weird Science (Bill Beaty's Homepages)

-- Weird Science of the Week (Bill Beaty)

Weird Science (Hopkins Philosophy Pages)

What The Bleep Do We Know: The minds boggle
(The Guardian, 16 May 2005)

What is Pseudoscience? (Stephen K. Lower)

When Ideas Don't Fit (Rachel M. MacNair, Achieving Peace in the Abortion War (Jan 2000), Ch 4)

Who Lost the Middle Ages? (Jason Colavito, Skeptic Magazine, Summer 2004)

Why I Am Not a Postmodernist (Edward R. Friedlander)

Woo Suk Hwang (Nature Special, 11 Jan 2006)

The World According to Wolfram (Brian Hayes, Computing Science, American Scientist 90:4, Jul-Aug 2002)

Zheng He's Voyages of Discovery (Richard Gunde, UCLA Asia Institute, 20 Apr 2004)

See also Critical Thinking

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