Jason’s CFI diaries — Day 5
21Apr. 09
Richard Wiseman (above) got today’s sessions day off to a great start. Wiseman is well known for his research into the psychology of deception, humor, luck and the paranormal. He is the author of The Luck Factor – a best selling book exploring the lives and minds of lucky people, and Quirkology, an exploration of the curious science of everyday life. If you have a moment, make sure you also have a listen to him on episode 20 of The Skeptic Zone with Richard Saunders. At the conference, Wiseman described for us some of his more colorful adventures, including an examination of fire-walking he had done a few years earlier. His pitch to the network executives was that by testing fire-waling under scientific conditions on TV, they would either prove that these people have paranormal abilities, or watch them get burned trying. Either way, it makes for great TV. Check out the result below.
I would also just like to add in this rather humorous expert from Tony Wilson’s Footy Fan’s Handbook, my Dad put me onto it. You’ll see how it’s related…
Question: In 1993, Adelaide’s Nigel Smart organised a fire walking exercise to motivate the players for the long season ahead. Before he started walking barefoot across the coals, he said to himself, ‘Cold sand, cold sand, cold sand.’. What did he say after going across?
(a) ‘Well that was easy. Give me another go.’
(b) ‘If I can do that, I can do anything.’
© That kinda hurt! But bring on Round One.’
(d) Arrrrggggggghhhhhh! Take me to hospital!!’
[Answer: Yep, you guessed it, (d) Smart suffered serious burns to the soles of his feet and went to hospital. None of his teammates followed in his footsteps]
During the lunch break I had the pleasure of interviewing the legendary Sean McCabe, (available here for your listening pleasure). Sean is without a doubt the future of skepticism. So much so that he managed to get himself onto a panel and steal the spotlight from the likes of Ben Radford and Ken Frazier (editors of Skeptical Inquirer).
A talented public speaker, extremely witty and genuinely one of the nicest dudes I’ve ever met, he’s also full of fascinating stories (being Randi’s assistant and all) and the interview I did with him is testament to that. But what does Sean get up to when he’s not writing for Weird Things or traveling around the globe attending conferences with the world’s most famous demystifier of the paranoarmal?
See for yourself:
Unfortunately due to jet lag i needed a nanna nap and missed out on the session on Planetary Ethics, which included the superb Stephen Law. Luckily though, Jeff Wagg didn’t miss it, so I recommend you check out his great post about the talk on Swift.
Thanks to Derek and Justin for coming and waking me so I didn’t miss out the nest session: “Secularism and Islam”. It featured some prominent secular muslims from around the world, including Ibn Warraq (author of “Why I am not a Muslim”) and Tarek Fatah (founder of the Muslim Canadian Congress and a prominent secular muslim activist in Canada). Joining them were professors Pervez Hoodbhoy and Mourad Wahba, as well as Mona Abousenna, who directs CFI’s branch in Cairo, Egypt.
Mona Abousenna and a few of the other panelists dedicated substantial portions of their talks to the racking misery and injustice that has been wrought by the systematic suppression of civil liberties in societies where sharia is the law of the land. Desperate pleas to stamp out this creeping insanity in Europe were met with ringing applause, but there were also several glimmers of hope: CFI in Egypt has had promising success speaking out against the Parties of God (specifically the Muslim Brotherhood) where no voice advocating for secularism had previously existed. In Iran, secularism is strong and widespread among the nation’s youth — particularly in college-age kids, where the first and loudest public outcry after some state-sponsored religious atrocity unfolds can be heard echoing from University campuses across the country.
Tarek Fatah gave an intriguing speech about the importance of the tone and message of secularists engaging with islamists on issues like religious accommodation and Sharia Law. For Fatah, the prevailing language in the most prominent criticisms of radical Islam is sometimes interpreted by muslims a kind of western imperialism. His talk was interesting but nonetheless controversial for several other panelists, such as Mona Abousenna, who felt that Fatah’s insinuation — that she (and others) were painting muslims with the uniform bush of religious barbarism — was unfair. What followed was a lengthy debate about tactics that I won’t relate here, but that was certainly interesting to watch unfold.
In between sessions I managed to squeeze in an interview with the delightful Barbara Forrest. With Paul R. Gross, Barbara is co-author of Creationism’s Trojan Horse: The Wedge of Intelligent Design (I got it signed ^ ^) which examines the goals and strategies of the intelligent design movement and its attempts to undermine the teaching of evolutionary biology. She was a key expert witness in the Dover trail in Pennsylvania, in which Judge Jones (a conservative Bush appointed judge) ruled that intelligent design was creationism and not science. He also ruled that members of Dover’s school board lied under oath to hide their religious motivations. Check out a detailed summary of the case at Talk Origins.
The Saturday evening awards banquet was one of the highlights of the entire conference. Great food, great company, and a series of truly stirring speeches.
Larry Moran — professor of Biochemistry at the University of Toronto and writer of the Sandwalk blog — invited us to sit at his table. Larry is hardly the insufferable “evolutionist” the intelligent design cronies would have you believe. Warm and cordial, Larry was a pleasure to be around all weekend. He pulls no punches in his blog however, writing on everything from Canadian and American politics, to science, religion skepticism, and biology.
Larry’s blunt, tell-it-like-it-is attitude is what makes conversing with him so interesting. If he disagrees with you, you’ll be the first to know. At the conference, he didn’t disappoint, offering several pointed questions two days earlier after Michael Ruse suggested that answering students’ questions about the implications of evolution violated the establishment clause of the first amendment. Larry even took a photo of Derek and I and popped it in his blog! Woo!
During the awards portion of the evening, the guests of honour (James Randi, Paul Kurtz, and Lawrence Krauss) all received awards for their various contributions to advancing science and secularism in public life.
Maybe it was the wine, but seeing the founder of modern Secular Humanism speak about how much the movement and the various organizations at CFI meant to him was truly breathtaking. I am in continual awe at the youth and vigor that Paul Kurtz displays, even at 84 years of age. Dr. Kurtz has accomplished so much and inspired so many in his lifetime. He will no doubt leave a gaping hole and a lasting legacy in the hearts of everyone at CFI, but here’s hoping for many more happy years to come.
Lawrence Krauss gave an enthralling speech about the ramifications of the science-bashing that occurred during the past 8 years of the previous US administration. He showed how the new administration offers much hope for change and a renewal of America’s commitment to Science, but cautioned that it too will need guidance on some tough issues in the future. Much damage must be repaired, and the struggle to regain it’s scientific and moral footing in the world is just beginning for the USA. Lawrence Krauss is well known for his essay in the New York Times on Evolution and Intelligent Design in May 2005 was the tipping point that has helped refine the Catholic Church’s position change in support of evolution.
The evening wrapped up with a performance of world-renouned composer Richard Einhorn’s new body of work celebrating the life and legacy of Charles Darwin. The Music used lyrics borrowed from passages from Darwin’s work, including The Origin of Species. It was the perfect end to a perfect evening.
Well, it was the end to a perfect evening for the majority of attendees at the conference, but not the students. Tonight, the party was going off in room 545. I could only party for a small while though, as tomorrow was the big day of my talk, and I had to prepare! Wish me luck!
