Young Australian Skeptics

From my own blog

We have probably all seen the Lemon Detox commercials for one of the latest snake oils to hit the market. It has all the red flags of a fraudulent product, celebrity endorsements, miracle claims and personal testimonies. What I can’t find is any scientific support for the claims that are made on the official Australian website. How ever I did find an interesting quote on the Spiritual Cleansing section of their site.

“Fasting is a valid experience. It can benefit any otherwise healthy person whose calories now have the upper hand in his or her life.”-The New England Journal of Medicine

Read more »

Cross-​​posted from Divisible By Pi

Today began as most days do. Wake up, have a shower, brush my teeth, feed the goat that has taken up residence in my dishwasher, and then head off to uni. On my way home from uni, however, things got interesting.

Some of you may remember a while back Ray Comfort wrote an introduction to The Origin of Species and set up a big book giveaway on US university campuses. To refresh your memory: Read more »

This might be pretty controversial, but I’m going to go ahead and say it anyway.

I don’t have any problem with people who call themselves “climate change skeptics” — if they really are good skeptics. In fact, based on what I consider a reasonable definition of the term “climate change skeptic”, I’m a climate change skeptic. More on this later.

But, before I continue, let’s make something clear that I’m sure everyone will agree on. If a person is clearly approaching the issue in a non-​​skeptical way, then don’t use the term climate change skeptic. If a person is clearly approaching the issue in a non-​​skeptical way then calling them a climate change denier, or whatever the term you’d like to use is, is probably fair enough. Read more »

Hi fellow Global Atheist Convention attendees who are not attending the official dinner. For those looking for somewhere to dine on Saturday night in Melbourne, the Humanist Society of Victoria have chosen a good venue and it would be great if a few groups all caught up in the same place to chat. So get a group together and book a table.

The Humanist Society of Victoria invites you to come together over dinner on Saturday night, 13 March, if you are not going to the Global Atheist Convention’s slap-​​up banquet. You can book a table at Othello, Southbank, from 6.45 p.m.; phone number 9699 5600, see http://​www​.othello​.com​.au for location and menu. Ask to be placed near the ‘Stuart’ table in the general dining area. This is a Greek restaurant, set back a little from the river, and reached from the Melbourne Convention Exhibition Centre by strolling along the colourful, river boulevard for a few blocks — an appetite-​​building constitutional after a day of lectures. I look forward to seeing you there.

Yours sincerely,
Stephen Stuart — President, Humanist Society of Victoria Inc.

Cross Posted At Friend of Reason

It’s time for the second installment of my “Chronicle of Belief” where I attempt to put into words my own world-​​view and the opinions and positions that help define me. This entry is about my identification with the label Secular Humanist, a particular world-​​view with which I sympathize and identify strongly. Before I begin explaining secular humanism I should start by clarifying my position on other terms commonly used by those who reject the supernatural and/​or demand falsifiable evidence for claims about reality. Of these people some of the most common terms I hear used are skeptics, rationalists, critical thinkers, agnostics, atheists and humanists. I must make clear that this blog entry is not about arguing for or against the existence of divine beings. I am planning on dividing my evaluation of particular arguments for divinity into a series of future blog posts. This is simply about which branch of non-​​believers I identify with and why. I am also not discussing which particular belief systems I believe are objectively “better” than any other. While I do believe strongly that beliefs in the supernatural range along a spectrum with demonstrably harmful on one side (Jonestown) and perfectly harmless on the other (loose deists) this post is not a discussion on such matters. I shall enter now into a case by case discussion on particular labels associated with a rejection of the supernatural: Read more »

… no wait! That’s Richard Hughes and Jack Scanlan from The Pseudo Scientists podcast, and regular contributors to the Young Australian Skeptics blog. They attended the University of Melbourne Secular Society’s recent “Flying Spaghetti Monster Mixer” (come dressed as your favourite deity or religious figure).

Cross posted at Divisible by Pi.

…as in the case of ;this article on Conservapedia. Currently my mind is playing a kind of tug-​​of-​​war with itself; as I sit here, I can’t help but try to convince myself that this is absolutely the bottom of the barrel, and that it doesn’t get any worse than this. At the same time, I’m reminding myself that that is exactly what I thought last time something like this happened. Read more »

Cross posted at my new blog, Divisible By Pi…

We’ve all had it. You’ve just made a new acquaintance, or a number of new acquaintii (learn it, love it, use it — that plural is here to stay!), and inevitably they’ll want to know what it is you actually do with your time in real life. Being a student gets you past the first, most general conversational hurdle, but you know that eventually you’re going to have to be more specific. If you study medicine, law, or engineering you’re sitting pretty — most people have a vague to decent understanding of what’s involved in those degrees, and in a worst case scenario can at least feign interest until they finish their drink and need a refill. Biology is pretty safe unless you happen to have been cornered by the only creationist at the party. Languages give you instant credibility.

Pure maths gets mixed reactions.

In general it goes a little something like, “Oh, maths. I don’t know how you could stand that — I hated maths at school, haven’t studied it since.” And then either the conversation or the person moves on. At a basic level the issue stems from the content and style of high school mathematics; courses that seem specifically designed to suck all the fun and creativity out of maths. As someone once said (though I regret forgetting who or where), if they taught English in school the way they teach maths, kids would be assessed on filling out DMV forms.

But I digress — that particular rant is for another time.

What I’m getting at here is that maths is more than what most people realise it is. It’s creative, it’s beautiful, and it can be extremely counterintuitive — which, as the name of the title implies, is what we’re here to talk about. So from one awkward segue way to another, what better place to start talking about counterintuitive maths than with the Monty Hall Problem? Read more »

If you are one of the finalists listed, please find a new badge (below) that you may like to add to your own blog. This badge is for finalists only.

Finally! Many, many thanks to everyone who submitted and here are our final selections for the Young Australian Skeptics Blog Anthology!

Being selected, of course, doesn’t automatically mean they’ll be included — we’re writing now to politely ask all of our finalists if they will consider submitting to the anthology. We’re really very grateful for any inclusion and will run with what we get. Naturally, a helping-​​hand for those selected if they’re stuck with the formatting we’re proposing.

Additional big thanks to the following people: “Dr Adequate”, Dr Karen Stollznow and Dr Mark Henn for helping select these posts. We couldn’t have done it without them.

Additional HUGE thanks to the advice, guidance, support and fine example of a blogging anthology that greatly inspired this venture — Bora Zivkovic of Blog Around the Clock at Science Blogs (the latest Open Laboratory is now for sale at LuLu​.com!)

Deadline for final entries will be March 20^th, 2010, so we have enough time to collate everything and edit. Thanks again to everyone who suggested entries, submitted their own sites and we hope you’ll get this book!

Action Skeptics — A Deeper Level of Criticism
The Digital Cuttlefish — Nathaniel Jeanson, Stealth Ph. D.
Skeptical OB — How do vaccines work?
Greta Christina’s Blog — Conspiracies and Unshakeable Faith: What Would Make You Change Your Mind — Part 2
ICBS Everywhere —Even More B.S. for Antivaxxers: Homeopathic Alternatives
I Doubt It —Bridging the Chasm: Follow Up For Skeptics
My Chemical Journey — When Pigs Fly
The NESS —Alternative Engineering
Neurologica Blog — Common CAM Media Myths
Pharyngula — The Greatest Show on Earth: The Evidence for Evolution
The Quackometer — Top Ten Tips For Creating Your Own New Alternative Medicine
Rationally Speaking —An Evening With Paranormalists
The Skepbitch —Skepticism — Going Out of Business?
Young Australian Skeptics — Stupid Quote
Young Australian Skeptics —My Canon is Bigger Than Yours
New York City Skeptics - Recovered memories: evidence?
Bruce M. Hood — Would You Accept the Heart of a Killer?
Skeptic North — Quick Questions with Daniel Loxton
New York City Skeptics — Why Skeptics Don’t Have To Be Atheists
Pandagon — Clever Hans The Crime-​​Fighting Horse Is Getting Nervous
The Merseyside Skeptics Society — Compulsory Ignorance: More Anti-​​​​Vax Propaganda From The AVN
Rational Moms — I’m not a skeptical celebrity, how can I be involved?
Bad Science — Pay to play?
Bad Science - “We are more possible than you can powerfully imagine”
Science Based Parenting — Sharing Skepticism With Children – Is It OK?
Rational Moms - A Rational Halloween
Quiche Moraine - The “Rule” of Threes
Bad Astronomy - Texas wrapup: Yup. Doomed.
Rainbow of Chaos — The Dangers Of Not Vaccinating Your Child
Neurologica Blog — Anomaly Hunting
Skeptic Blog — Daniel Loxton — What, If Anything, Can Skeptics Say About Science?
Dr Petra Boynton - Increase in breast enlargement surgery for teenage girls – let’s just blame celebrities and not address the root cause of the problem
ICBS Everywhere — Warning, Bad Research Ahead
PodBlack Cat — The Deist Skeptic – Not A Contradiction
Skeptic Zoners — Snuffing out ear candles
The Amateur Scientist — Three Tiers of Religious Belief
The Skeptic’s Dictionary — Doing God’s Work
Dr Chris French (Guardian) — The waking nightmare of sleep paralysis
Skeptic Blogs — Yau Man Chan — Newsweek vs Oprah & Enabler Chopra
Homologous Legs Blog — What is Philosophical Naturalism, and why do I accept it?
Respectful Insolence — The anti-​​vaccine movement: Is it too late for scientists to bridge the gap between evidence and fear?
Skeptic North - You Won’t Like Skeptics When They’re Angry
Happy Jihad’s House of Pancakes — Shakespeare was Sicilian and Sort of Jewish!
White Coat Underground — “What’s your problem with alternative medicine?“
Science Based Medicine — Are the benefits of breastfeeding oversold?
Science Based Medicine - The One True Cause of All Disease
Pharyngula — Crank science is as crank science does
Sceptic’s Book- Homeopathy website ordered to publish retraction for dubious claims
The Rogues’ Gallery — Remembering the Holocaust and its Deniers
Bruce M. Hood - Cheesus, It’s Just a Type 1 Error

Skeptical Blog Anthology Finalists Badge 150x73:

<a href="http://www.youngausskeptics.com/2010/03/blog-anthology-final-selections" title="View the other finalists"><img src="http://dl.dropbox.com/u/53544/SBA-trophy-150x73.png" alt="YAS Blog Anthology Finalist" width="150" height="73" /></a>

As many of you know Jamie Kilstein is opening for Richard Dawkins at the Rise of Atheism conference in Melbourne on the 14^th of March.

You may not have known that he will be performing shows in Melbourne and Adelaide for the Melbourne Comedy Festival!

If you don’t know who Jamie Kilstein is let me give you a bit of a run down. He is a comedian from the states who is well known for being an atheist and a freethinker! His comedy is current, rich and hilarious. He has been compared to George Carlin and Bill Hicks.

Jamie Kilstein is at once irresistibly endearing and wonderfully audacious. Watching his work is like going to cuddle a puppy and having it hump your leg. But funnier.

 — Tim Minchin

Watching Jamie reminds me of why I got into comedy. It is like watching a combination of George Carlin and Bill Hicks

 — Janeane Garofalo

Buy tickets for the Melbourne Comedy Festival and catch Jamie live!

Melbourne Comedy Festival tickets on Sale now March 25^th — April 18^th