SI DIGEST 1-15-98
SkeptInq (SkeptInq@aol.com)
Thu, 15 Jan 1998 14:44:44 EST
SKEPTICAL INQUIRER ELECTRONIC DIGEST
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January 15, 1997.
SI Electronic Digest is the weekly e-mail news update of the Committee for
the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal (CSICOP.)
http://www.csicop.org.
The Digest is written and edited by Matthew Nisbet and Barry Karr. SI
Digest has over 1800 readers worldwide, and is distributed via e-mail from the
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CSICOP publishes the bi-monthly SKEPTICAL INQUIRER, The Magazine for Science
and Reason. To subscribe at the $17.95 introductory price, call 1800-
634-1610. The Jan/Feb issue features Claudio Benski on "Testing New Claims of
Dermo-Optical Perception."
In this week's SI Digest:
--Center for Inquiry Institute Draws Large Crowds In San Diego and LA.
--CSICOP Heats Up NBC with Psychic Sleuth Interviews on Dateline and CNBC.
--NY Times' "Science Times" Features CSICOP on Alternative Medicine.
--Encyclopedia Brittanica Cites CSICOP on Chinese Medicine.
--Rocky Mountain Skeptics Alternative Medicine Database.
--FEATURE: Psychic Detectives: Do They Really Help Solve Crimes?
CENTER FOR INQUIRY INSTITUTE DRAWS LARGE CROWDS
San Diego-- Over 40 people attended the Center for Inquiry Institute--Winter
Session this past weekend (Jan 9-11) in San Diego, CA. Several hundred people
also attended lectures in San Diego and Los Angeles by CSICOP chair Paul
Kurtz.
"History& Philosophy of Skepticism" discussed the origins of skepticism and
the legacy of skeptical philosophers through the ages. The course was taught
by CSICOP chair Paul Kurtz and Muhlenburg College philospher Theodore Schick
Jr.
"Evolution vs. Creationism" reviewed the theory of evolution and the evidence
for it, and contrasted the theory with the claims of creationism. The course
was taught by Eugenie Scott, executive director of the National Center for
Science Education and Jere Lipps, Director of the Museum of Paleontology of
the University of California, Berkeley.
Saturday at the Regency Plaza Hotel in San Diego, and Sunday at the Olympic
Collection Hotel in Los Angeles, CSICOP chair Paul Kurtz gave standing-room
only lectures on the topic of science and paranormal religions. Kurtz
reviewed the rise of paranormal religions like the Heaven's Gate cult and the
alarming development of public fascination with the paranormal. He maintained
that the growth of paranormal and other religious cults endangers the future
development of science and technology upon which America's economic leadership
is dependent.
CSICOP HEATS UP NBC WITH INTERVIEWS ON PSYCHIC SLEUTHS
On Sunday, January 11, CSICOP Senior Research Fellow Joe Nickell appeared on
NBC Dateline evaluating the claims of police psychic Dorothy Allison. Nickell
introduced the idea of retrofitting as a not-so-extraordinary explanation for
Allison's success in allegedly helping NYC-area police departments solve
crimes.
Nickell is scheduled to be on CNBC Thursday Jan. 15 or Friday Jan. 16 after
8pm live with interviewer Brian Williams. He will be debating a
parapsychologist on the alleged abilities of police psychics. For background
on police psychics see the FEATURE at the end of this edition of SI Digest.
NY TIMES FEATURES CSICOP ON ALTERNATIVE MEDICINE
December 30, 1997--- In the Tuesday, Dec. 30 Science Times section, the New
York Times reports on the launch of the new journal the Scientific Review of
Alternative Medicine(SRAM). In an article titled "Journal Casts a Cold Eye on
Alternative Medicine", the Times interviews CSICOP fellow and SRAM editor
Wallace Sampson.
Sampson, a clinical professor of medicine at Stanford University, has been a
long-time member of CSICOP's Health Claims Subcommittee. SRAM, published by
Prometheus Books, is a continuation of the work of the Health Claims
Subcommittee and its members.
The only peer-reviewed medical journal devoted exclusively to objectively
evaluating the claims of "Alternative Medicine", SRAM has been endorsed by
over 50 prominent physicians and scientists, including 5 Nobel laureates.
SRAM's debut in October received international media coverage that included
CNN, USA Today, Chicago Tribune, MSNBC, Fox News, and the journals Science and
Nature.
Topics covered in the first issue include homeopathy, therapeutic touch, the
alleged anticancer cure hydrazine sulfate, chelation therapy, Deepak Chopra's
claims regarding quantum healing, alternative medicine proponent Andrew Weil,
and more.
To subscribe to the journal call Prometheus Books at 1800-421-0351. Media
inquiries may be directed to Executive Editor Lewis Vaughn at 716-636-7571.
ENCYCLOPEDIA BRITTANICA CITES CSICOP ON CHINESE MEDICINE
In the Alternative Medicine section of Encyclopedia Brittanica's Medical and
Health Annual, CSICOP's is cited as a pioneer in the investigation of Chinese
healing practices. In 1988, CSICOP members Kendrick Frazier, Paul Kurtz,
James Alcock, Phil Klass, Barry Karr, and James Randi were one of the first
teams of American experts to travel to China to evaluate Chinese healing
practices.
"It is possible that some of the procedures might still work, but for
reasons unrelated to the magical belief system that supplied their rationale
thousands of years ago. Open-minded physicians everywhere would welcome any
treatment that could benefit their patients, regardless of its origins,
providing it can demonstrate its value in properly controlled clinical trials"
comments CSICOP chair Paul Kurtz.
The Encyclopedia Brittanica article is written by Andrew Skolnick, a news
editor with the Journal of the American Medical Association.
Details of CSICOP's investigations in China can be found in the Summer 1988
and July/August and September/October 1996 issues. To order back articles or
issues call 1800-634-1610.
ROCKY MOUNTAIN SKEPTICS CREATE ALTERNATIVE MEDICINE DATABASE
From the Rocky Mountain Skeptics website:
The RMS Database of Negative Testimony for Alternative Medicine
(Go to http://bcn.boulder.co.us/community/rms/rms-altmd.htm)
Have you had a bad experience with alternative medicine?
We want to hear about it!
Everyone, it seems, has heard personal testimony about the amazing
effectiveness of this or that "alternative" or "nontraditional"
medication/supplement/healing technique. Unfortunately, that's all we
get--anecdotes. Tests are rarely performed to discover if these substances or
methods really do work.
Well, you may already know that anecdotal evidence is not the same as a
double-blind test with control groups. Or you may have learned this to your
sorrow when you used a form of alternative medicine that resulted in no
improvement to your health, the worsening of your condition, or even the
development of a new health problem. Remember the Chinese herbs that gave
people liver damage? Or the recent, notorious Phen-Fen flap? Or maybe you
tried some homeopathic medication and simply discovered that it did nothing
for you. You had nowhere to make a fuss, and the "medicine" didn't cost too
terribly much, so you just threw it away quietly, without complaint.
We at Rocky Mountain Skeptics want to provide you, the person who had a bad
experience with alternative/complementary medicine, with a forum where you can
speak out against the product or service that wasted your time, money, and
health. We are building up a body of anecdotal testimony--the primary kind of
evidence beloved by proponents of alternative/complementary medicine, and
therefore more believable to them than those dreaded scientific tests--to
counter the outrageous claims made by herbalists, chiropractors, naturopaths,
and other such
"medical" personnel. We want you to tell the world about the problems you
had from taking a particular herbal supplement, or from having mercury
fillings unnecessarily removed, or from NOT having crucial surgery done.
PLEASE NOTE: We are not interested in testimonies, debates, or lectures
about the efficacy of alternative/complementary medicine. Ours is a forum
exclusively for the other side.
All data will be posted at this web site in the future. However, your
testimony can be completely anonymous if you so choose. Remember, a word from
you might prevent someone else from making a serious mistake!
(Go to http://bcn.boulder.co.us/community/rms/rms-altmd.htm)
FEATURE: Police Psychics: Do They Really Help Solve Crimes?
Joe Nickell
1298 words
The subject is nothing if not controversial. On one television show an
experienced detective insists that no psychic has ever helped his department
solve a crime, while another program features an equally experienced
investigator who maintains that psychics are an occasionally valuable
resource, citing examples from his own solved cases. Who is right? Is it a
matter of science versus mysticism as some assert, or an issue of having an
open mind as opposed to a closed one as others claim?
In ancient times those who sought missing persons or who attempted to
uncover crimes could consult oracles or employ various other forms of
divination including astrology. After dowsing became popular in the sixteenth
century, certain practitioners used divining rods to track down alleged
culprits. Throughout the nineteenth century, certain "sensitive" persons
received information regarding crimes in their dreams, while during the heyday
of Spiritualism some mediums claim to solve crimes through information
provided by spirits of the dead.
Today virtually all of the old, supposedly discredited techniques are in
vogue. Dorothy Allison, regarded as America's most famous psychic sleuth, at
times employs astrology, while Greta Alexander sometimes gets information from
her "spirit guides," Raoul and Isaiah. Dutch psychic Marinus Dykshoorn and
others have plied their dowsing rods and pendulums in the supposed service of
crime detection. Noreen Renier employs still another old divination technique
called psychometry, by which she purportedly gets psychic impressions from
objects
connected with a particular person. Some psychics claim to use clairvoyance
("clear-seeing") whereby they supposedly "see" remote images and scenes as if
they were viewed on a movie screen. Psychic Bill Ward even studies people's
"auras" and reads the lines in their palms.
At lease on the face of it, this disparity of approach-- in which one
technique seems to work about as well as another-- does not seem to provide a
credible basis for psychic sleuthing. Neither do specific tests. For example
the seventeenth-century French dowsing sleuth, Jacques Aymar, was extensively
tested in Paris with embarrassing results: he failed to detect the guilty, and
even accused those who were innocent, while inventing absurd excuses for his
failures. In 1991 tests of British "police psychic" Nella Jones indicated
that her ability to "psychometrize"
possible murder weapons was nonexistent. Indeed, tests conducted by Los
Angeles Police Department researchers, reported in the Journal of Police
Science and Administration (7, no. 1 [1979]: 18-25), showed that information
generated by psychics was no better than chance would allow.
Retrofitting
But what about testimonials from experienced homicide detectives who have
actually used psychics? Most reported successes appear to be like the one
that a New Jersey police captain attributed to Dorothy Allison. Her
predictions "were difficult to verify as initially given," he said. "The
accuracy usually could not be verified until the investigation had come to a
conclusion." Indeed, this after-the-fact matching—known as "retrofitting"—is
the secret behind most alleged psychic successes. For example, the statement,
"I see water and the number seven," would be a safe offering in almost any
case. After all the facts are in, it will be unusual if there is not some
stream, body of water, or other source that cannot somehow be associated with
the case. As to the number seven, that can later be associated with a
distance, a highway, the number of people in a search party, part of a license
plate number, or any countless other possible interpretations.
Other explanations for psychics' reputed successes include the following:
(1) Some psychics exaggerate their successes, even claiming positive results
in cases that were failures or that never existed. (2) Psychics may use
ordinary means of obtaining information which they then present as having been
psychically obtained. For example, psychics have been accused of
impersonating police and even of bribery of police officers in order to gain
information. In one instance the psychic, unknown to a detective, had
actually been briefed on the case by others.
Shrewd psychics can brief themselves by studying newspaper files or area
maps, and some make use of the fortune tellers technique of "cold reading" ( a
technique in which the psychic fishes for information while watching the
listener's face for reactions that suggest correctness or error.) (3) Another
potential explanation for psychic's apparent successes is faulty recollection
of what was actually said. The fallibility of memory is well known, and many
stories of psychic success get better as they are told and retold. (4) Many
psychics deal in vague generalities: for example, one psychic reported
perceiving, "the names 'John' or 'Joseph' or something like that." (5) And
there are social and psychological factors that may influence people to accept
the accuracy of information. Obviously their own belief system will have an
effect.
These factors--combined with the ever-present technique of retrofitting--
can make a "psychic" of almost anyone. The result is like painting the
bullseye around the arrow after it has been shot. Some credulous police
officers even help the psychic in the reinterpretation necessary to convert a
failure into an apparent "hit." For example, in one case when there was no
nearby church as had been predicted, property owned by a church was counted as
fitting the criterion.
The Bottom Line
Except in the extremely rare case in which a psychic was actually involved
in the crime or had apparently received secret information (as from a tip),
psychics rarely lead police to concealed bodies or unknown assailants. Of
course they may use their own logical skills, or they may benefit from luck or
perseverance, but there is no credible scientific evidence that psychic power
ever solved a crime. Instead, crimes are invariably solved by police who
search crime scenes, interview witnesses, and perform all of the myriad tasks
necessary to locate a missing person or to convict a criminal.
Common sense suggests that if psychics really had the powers they claim then
they would long ago have identified the "Unabomber" or have discovered the
remains of missing Teamster Jimmy Hoffa. If they cannot accomplish such
missions, how much more telling is their collective inability to do so.
Actually, the case against psychics is worse than just their inability to
provide information that actually solves crimes. A far more serious problem
exists with regard to the wasted resources of police departments who expend
precious time and human activity in following up on a psychic's meaningless
"clues." In one instance, the Nutley, New Jersey, police spent the whole of
an afternoon in digging up a drainage ditch that Dorothy Allison mistakenly
thought contained a missing boy. In another case, the fire department pumped
the water from the flooded
basement of an abandoned building in a fruitless search for a boy's remains
that eventually were discovered across town. Even worse, psychics have
wrongfully accused persons of committing crimes, a memorable example being
that of Peter Hurkos, "the man with the radar brain," who mistakenly
identified an innocent man as the notorious Boston Strangler. These examples
answer the question that is often asked by those who defend the use of
psychics, "what harm can it do?" Another argument defenders use is that, on
occasion, a psychic's pronouncements
prompted further search efforts, resulting in the discovery of the missing
person's body, even though the psychic did not actually identify the location.
But surely police should not have to rely on psychics to urge them to do more
thorough work.
In brief, knowledgeable police officials resist the temptation to employ
psychics. They know that psychic claims lack any scientific verification and
that, in fact, psychics do not solve crimes. No longer should police solve
crimes and let publicity-seeking occult pretenders take the credit.
###
Joe Nickell is investigative columnist for SKEPTICAL INQUIRER magazine and
author of Psychic Sleuths: ESP and Sensational Cases
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