Return & New Blogging Schedule

My plans to get back to blogging while studying were an abysmal failure (exhibit A). However, now I have finished my studies it seems that my ready made academic excuses have faded into oblivion and my desire to write for pleasure is reaching peak levels. So I’m back and in 2011 my ‘new blogging schedule’ will involve attempting to make at least one post a week. No in-depth analysis of my motivations for re-starting this time just a suitably over the top picture which will hopefully shame me into sticking to my schedule…

The subtle metaphor of a giant flaming phoenix (in space)

Let’s see if I can be trusted in 2011…

NEWSFLASH: Acupuncture is relatively safe…

... although this form of acupuncture may carry slightly greater health risks.

So while killing time on facebook researching new science articles I came across this short Guardian article containing a startling headline announcing that:

“Dozens killed by incorrectly placed acupuncture needles”

But before I could begin hunting for news stories about the recent activity of an acupuncture themed serial killer the sub heading informed me that a “survey reveals punctured hearts and lungs among causes of death over past 45 years”. Despite my general lack of statistical competence even I can work out that ‘dozens’ of deaths across more than four decades does not work out as a particularly scary statistic and certainly not one that warrants such a sensationalist headline. In fact as the first paragraph of the article explains the total recorded deaths numbers 86 over 45 years which works out as an average of around 2 deaths a year.

What makes this figure even less impressive is that the number was obtained from worldwide reports including those from Japan and China. Two deaths a year from a treatment that is performed on millions of people, multiple times every year is really not something which people should worry about. Winning the lottery would appear to be more likely than dying from a botched acupuncture treatment.

Near Balance Experience (& Skeptiko No.101)

On the 16th April 2010, another episode of the pro-parapsychology show Skeptiko addressing the topic of Near Death Experiences (NDEs) was posted by its host, Alex Tsakiris. This was part of a series of episodes looking at NDEs and featured the return of a previous skeptical guest Dr. G.M. Woerlee. Dr. Woerlee is an anesthesiologist and has written a couple of books on NDE from a skeptical perspective. As for the content of the interview itself, I recommend anyone interested in NDEs ignore the dismissive title and introduction and take a listen, as there is some good discussion to be heard.

The first thing to note about the episode is that the interview itself is actually quite balanced. Alex makes his case for why NDEs are simply unexplainable by current medical knowledge and Dr. Woerlee responds by presenting and discussing the natural explanations for NDEs. As you might predict, Alex does not find such explanations compelling and Dr. Woerlee similarly does not find Alex’s conclusions- that NDEs prove dualism correct and that consciousness can survive bodily death- to be convincing. However, despite the disagreement a respectful tone is kept throughout the interview and Alex gives Dr. Woerlee the time to present his case and respond to points he raises.

Bad Intentions and Psi (& Skeptiko No.100)

Skeptiko is a pro-parapsychology podcast which attracts a mix of ire and exasperation from the skeptical community due to its misleading title and the tendency of its host, Alex Tsakiris, to promote the show as being an agenda free exploration of ‘controversial science’. A quick listen to any episode of Skeptiko will confirm to an impartial listener that the host, far from being ‘agenda-free’, possesses a painfully evident bias which infusses the entire character and tone of the show. Tsakiris tends to fawn over guests who are on to promote forms of parapsychology he supports and is openly hostile to- the point of occasionally berating- skeptical guests.

In light of the above, and to try and redress some of the bias inherent in the show, I have decided that I will try and offer some skeptical commentary on the Skeptiko shows as Alex adds them and I get time to go through them. It is unlikely that this will have any impact on Alex or the fans of his show, but it might mean that someone who listens to Skeptiko without an agenda and then does a google search on the topic could come across an alternative perspective rather than falling further down the Skeptiko rabbit hole.

So without further adieu, here are my thoughts on ‘Skeptiko episode 100: Dr. Garret Moddel Brings Psi Research to University of Colorado Classroom‘.

Simon Singh and the Appeal Decision

My Oxford studies might still be kicking my ass and making me break all my blogging promises but I simply cannot let last weeks development in the Simon Singh case past without comment.

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Simon Singh finally won his appeal!

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Detailed analysis of the victory and what it means, as always, is available from Jack-of-Kent who has provided four excellent articles on the decision (one, two, three and four). Jack’s dependable analysis has also been joined on this occasion by a raft of coverage in the mainstream media, with articles and news segments appearing on practically every notable UK news source (a partial roundup is available here).

The impact of the coverage has particularly struck me, in that I have had friends and family who previously knew nothing about the case (and thus suffered at the hands of my diatribes), contacting me to ask if I saw the decision on the news.  The coverage has also typically included discussion of the wider campaign for reform of the libel laws and has therefore increased the publicity for this excellent cause too!

Back to the Blogosphere

As is the way with all New Years resolutions the world over my ‘blog resolution’ to keep the updates constant and regular has failed miserably. This failure is due to many reasons not least of which is that I can’t quite mentally justify taking the time to write a blog post when I have a daunting (and ever increasing) amount of work to do every week to keep up with my university studies. This has resulted in the blog being totally neglected over the past few months… but despite this it has not been totally forgotten. In fact, I’ve found that over the past few months I’ve become increasingly aware that I really miss writing for pleasure about the things that intrigue and interest me.

Peering back into the echo chamber...

When I started blogging it was primarily because I wanted to make sure that while I was working in a relatively dull office job I had some motivation to keep reading studies and research relevant to my academic interests and to create a record of  my thoughts and research that I could go back and refer to if I ever needed/wanted to. Of course it was not an entirely private endeavour and I also hoped that at least some others would read the posts, find something worthwhile and occasionally leave comments telling me what they thought about the topic or my perspective.

One thing I had not been prepared for was that blogging could have any kind of significant impact or that it could introduce you to an entirely new community of people. My experience with the Simon Singh case and subsequent meetings with fellow UK skeptics woke me up to these possibilities and are now a significant motivation for getting back on the blogging horse.

My main motivation however is that I have decided that the best way to try and avoid blogging from interfering with my studies is to try and make it a part of my study. Two of the three things this blog is supposed to be about are anthropology and religion and I am currently studying ‘Cognitive & Evolutionary Anthropology‘ which involves reading papers every week about the cognitive science of religion! Writing a coherent description of research or topics necessarily requires that I actually have a coherent understanding of said research or tipic and so it seems entirely silly that I haven’t been using the blog as an opportunity to help me study and push what I am reading into my longer term memory!

I’m going to try and rectify that situation now and so I will begin blogging again from this week on. To give myself even fewer excuses I am also going to try and keep to a blogging schedule of just one post a week posted on Saturday. If I find myself with extra time or something terribly interesting happens I may write more but one post a week- with my current schedule- seems like a perfectly feasible target so that’s what I’m going to aim for.

So that’s that… I’m back and there is nothing anyone can do about it!

Japan and the Christian Cafe

Nice Chandelier!

So it’s 2010. Time to put those new year resolutions into practice and get myself organised and in this futuristic decade what better place to start than my hi-tech internet blog. Granted it is now almost a week since New Years day but since I am technically still ‘on holiday’ in Japan I think getting the blog back in order at this early stage of the year can almost pass for an achievement!

Being in Japan at the moment I can’t help but feel like I am missing out on the predictable collapse of society that occurs in the UK following any unexpected weather. However, I can at least console myself by enjoying the sites of Tokyo and visiting the various bizarre cafes and bars that are littered across the city. This post is about one such venue called the ‘Christon Café’ which aside from being a nice place to eat also provides a pretty good illustration of the paradoxical attitude towards religion found throughout Japan of widespread indifference alongside a fascination with religious iconography and aesthetic.

Nano-Art

There is certainly a lot of hype surrounding nanotechnology but most scientists involved in the field admit that we are still a long way from harnessing the full potential of this new technology. However, one thing that scientists do seem to already be quite adept at is creating nano-scale sculptures. These micro works of art are certainly a testament to human ingenuity and the wonders of modern technology but they also serve as a welcome reminder of how at heart we are still a very silly species.

World's Smallest Snowman created by David Cox

Nano-Guitar made by Dustin Carr from Cornell

Nano-Toilet by Takashi Kaito

Response to a Chiropractor

A few days ago ‘Charles’ a chiropractor left quite an extensive comment on an post from a few months back about the Simon Singh case. Since his arguments are raised frequently I felt  it would be useful to offer a response and I also decided that if I was going to compose a long response I might as well put it in a new post where it may be read (at least by someone).

So here is my response to Charles the chiropractor…

Homeopathic Review: Putting the Boot In

Repeat with banging

Over the past week there has been an ongoing  ’evidence check’ by the ‘House of Commons Science and Technology Sub-Committee’ to see whether the governments current policies on issues relating to homeopathy were supported by scientific evidence. The manner in which the evidence is being checked largely revolves around a series of expert panels being questioned by a committee of MPs.

In the first of these panels which took place on the 25th November 2009 the panels of experts stacked up as follows:

Panel 1

Dr. Ben Goldacre- Medical doctor, writer and Guardian columnist. Merciless mocker of bad science and tireless advocate of good science.
Tracey Brown- Managing director of science advocacy charity Sense About Science. Another tireless promoter of science who is a familiar face to all those following the Simon Singh libel case.
Prof. Jayne Lawrence- Chief Scientific Advisor for the Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain. Title says it all really.
Paul Bennet- Professional Standards Director of well known pharmaceutical retailer, Boots. Present because Boots is one of the largest retailers of Homeopathic remedies in the UK.
Robert Wilson- Chairman of the British Association of Homeopathic Manufacturers. Shockingly an advocate for homeopathy.

Panel 2

Prof. Edzard- Director of Complementary Medicine Group at Peninsula Medical School. Long term researcher into the validity of alternative treatments and co-author of Trick or Treatment: Alternative medicine on trial with Simon Singh.
Dr. James Thallon- Medical Director of NHS West Kent. Not familiar with the chap but he seemed to be an advocate of evidence based medicine and hence less than impressed with homeopathy.
Dr. Peter Fisher- Director of Research at Royal London Homeopathic Hospital. Hard to direct research at a homeopathic hospital without being a staunch advocate for homeopathy. A practising homeopath and a medical doctor.
Dr. Robert Mathie- Research Development Advisor of the British Homeopathic Association. Another staunch advocate for homeopathy.