Archive for May, 2014

May 12 2014

Correlation and Causation

Every skeptic’s new favorite website is Spurious Correlations. The site is brilliant – it mines multiple data sets (such as causes of death, consumption of various products, divorce rates by state, etc.) and then tries to find correlations between different variables. The results are often hilarious.

The point of this exercise is to demonstrate that correlation does not necessarily equal causation. Often it is more effective to demonstrate a principle than simply to explain it. By showing impressive looking graphical correlations between phenomena that are clearly not related (at least proposing a causal connection superficially seems absurd.), it drives home the point that correlation is not enough to conclude causation.

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49 responses so far

May 08 2014

After the Afterlife Debate

Published by under Paranormal

The debate hosted by Intelligence Squared on the proposition – Death is not Final, was a lot of fun. Of course, I am pleased with the outcome, as I think my partner, Sean Carroll, and I performed well, and in the end we won the final audience vote.

Off stage I found Raymond Moody to be a very nice guy. He is a philosopher of logic, and in general seems to understand a great deal about skepticism. He rejects the pseudoscience of ESP and other paranormal claims. Yet – he seems to have a soft spot for claims of the afterlife. Not surprising since he wrote the book on NDEs in the 1970s.

Eben Alexander was also very friendly, as I expected given his interviews and everything I have read about him.

Although interesting, debates are terrible venues for carefully dissecting the evidence. There is no time to look up references and check claims. Two times Eben Alexander and I came to an “impasse” and had to simply move on.

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685 responses so far

May 06 2014

Afterlife Debate

Published by under Paranormal,Skepticism


I will be involved in a debate Wednesday evening (May 7th) at the Kaufman center in New York.

The debate will be from 6:45 to 8:30pm.

The debate is hosted by Intelligence squared, which hosts a series of such debates. While tickets are sold out, the debate will be live streamed. I have embeded the stream below, or you can see the stream here: http://goo.gl/WNV6nQ 

The specific topic is “Death is not Final”

Against this proposition will be me and Sean Carroll. Sean is  a physicist, so he will cover the physics angle, while I will cover the neuroscience.

For the proposition will be Eben Alexander, author of Proof of Heaven, and Raymond Moody, author of Life after Life.

The evening promises to be very interesting, so please tune in.

You can view the live stream of the debate here:

35 responses so far

May 05 2014

David Katz on Evidence in Medicine

David Katz is a fellow physician at Yale, and he is also a strong proponent of so-called “integrative medicine.” He has written a recent commentary at the Huff Po, defending the integrative approach. He writes:

Integrative Medicine — a fusion of conventional and “alternative” treatments — provided patients access to a wider array of options. So, for instance, if medication was ineffective for anxiety or produced intolerable side effects, options such as meditation, biofeedback, or yoga might be explored. If analgesics or anti-inflammatories failed to alleviate joint pain or produced side effects, such options as acupuncture or massage could be explored.

His basic argument is this – when we lack strongly evidence-based options, we need to explore not-so-evidence-based options, for the good of our patients. Mainstream medicine is not that evidence-based either. And – mainstream medicine relies on money-driven research, which is biased against integrative approaches.

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102 responses so far

May 02 2014

Framing Bias

Published by under Neuroscience

Let’s say you need a surgical procedure and the surgeon tells you there is a 98% survival rate with the procedure. How would you feel about that? What if she told you there was a 2% mortality rate? Would you feel the same way? Probably not, according to years of psychological research.

This is known as framing bias, just one more of the many ways in which our brains are biased in the way we evaluate information. The two scenarios above are identical, but statistically people will make different decisions based upon how the information is framed. We generally respond better to positively framed information (98% survival) than to negatively framed information (2% mortality).

The framing effect is often exploited by those who are deliberately trying to manipulate our reactions. Politicians, for example, can talk about employment rates or unemployment rates. Events can give you an early-bird discount or a late registration penalty. Products can have 4% fat or be 96% fat free.

Framing is another way in which we construct our picture of realty, by deciding what information is important.

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8 responses so far

May 01 2014

Can Diet Cure MS?

I always find it fascinating to read an opinion piece that, from my perspective, is entirely wrong. In general I like to confront views that differ from my own; it is a great opportunity to probe and understand your own position better. I also find it fascinating to dissect the process that could lead someone to a demonstrably wrong position. Are they just misinformed, is their logic flawed, or are they overwhelmed by bias and ideology?

Usually it is the result of all three of these things in a self-reinforcing echochamber, an ideologically pleasing narrative propped up by confirmation bias.

A number of people have sent me links to this opinion piece, and other articles about Dr. Terry Wahls, who claims to have cured her own multiple sclerosis (MS) with diet alone. She advocates a paleo-style diet to cure whatever ails you. The evidence for this claim – zippo.

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13 responses so far

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