Most states require that health care professionals acquire continuing education (CE) credits (or continuing medical education – CME – for MD’s) in order to maintain their license. This is a good concept but unfortunately the system is completely broken. What I consider to be a minor problem with the system is that it is haphazard – professionals can get CE/CME credits essentially on random topics within their field. There is no attempt at ensuring that critical updates are part of continuing education. But as I said, this is a minor flaw.

What completely breaks the system is the absurdly low standards for what kinds of information qualify for CE credit. A professional could easily fulfill their CE requirements without having to expose themselves to any legitimate educational information. For example, nurses can get CE credits for learning how to do therapeutic touch, even though this modality has no scientific legitimacy at all. Of course the bigger problem here is that TT is used by nurses at all.

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Uri Geller is a mentalist – a magician who uses trickery in order to simulate psychic or paranormal ability. He is a performer of modest talent – his signature trick that of bending spoons while no one is looking. But he has become an international celebrity by crossing a line most mentalists only flirt with, claiming that he performs his feats with true psychic ability and not trickery. Fellow magician, James Randi (scourge of all charlatans) has made an ongoing effort to expose Geller’s tricks for what they are, largely by reproducing them with slight of hand. As Randi says, “If Geller is using supernatural powers to perform this feat, he’s doing it the hard way.”

In an interview with me (not yet published) and in his online newsletter, Swift, Randi reported that recently, in an interview with German magazine Magische Welt (Magic World), Geller is quoted as saying:

’ll no longer say that I have supernatural powers. I am an entertainer. I want to do a good show. My entire character has changed.

That is quite a revelation. Taken at face value it is a confession that all these years he has been nothing but a garden-variety mentalist and that he lied about having psychic power. I don’t know if this is the last word on the matter from Geller (he may have second thoughts about this reversal) but it confirms what skeptics and magicians have always known – it is not necessary to postulate paranormal powers in order to explain Geller’s feats.

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A recently published study uses functional MRI to look as brain function in response to possible extra-sensory perception (ESP) stimuli. The study was negative, leading the authors to conclude:

These findings are the strongest evidence yet obtained against the existence of paranormal mental phenomena.

While that might be overstating it a bit, it was an interesting new approach to the question of ESP. Study authors, Samuel Moulton, a graduate student in the department of psychology at Harvard University, and Stephen Kosslyn, also at Harvard, decided to look for ESP in the brain by imaging subjects with fMRI during ESP and non-ESP signals. The ESP signals consisted in one trial of an emotionally close person looking at the target image and attempting to telepathically send the image to the subject, who was also looking at the image. A second trial involved a computer screen in another room with the target image (testing clairvoyance). And a third trial involved displaying the image to the subject again after the trial (testing precognition).

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It’s that time of year again, the time for every newspaper and news outlet to do their obligatory Halloween story about ghosts and ghost hunting. It’s an opportunity for every amateur paranormal investigator to misrepresent science to the public, for the amateur skeptic to regurgitate a few token lines of reason, and for the grunt journalist to get their holiday fluff.

OK, I’ll admit it. I’ve been that token skeptic (and this year is no different). We skeptics collectively wring our hands, filled with angst over whether or not such token skepticism does more harm than good. The truth is, nobody knows. On the one hand, we provide at least some balance to the nonsense – perhaps we plant a seed of doubt in the occasional reader. On the other hand, we lend credibility to the bunk just by giving it our time and attention.

To my mind the real culprit here are the lazy journalists who follow the tired formula of the fluff paranormal piece. But occasionally we get lucky, we encounter a critical thinking “ringer” among the drones. Recently, I was contacted by Michael Hartwell to provide the skeptical point of view on yet another ghost hunting story. Michael is a regular listener of the SGU, so I had reason to hope the results would be better than usual, and they were. Rather than the token skepticism we are often content to accept, the article was closer to a 50/50 point-counterpoint.

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I admit I am always bugged when I hear a news report to the effect that, “Doctors say the patient’s recovery is nothing short of miraculous.” I don’t know if more commonly reporters are introducing the term “miracle,” if they are suckering the doctors they are interviewing into using or endorsing it, or if the doctors are using the term on their own. Either way, it inaccurate and fosters misunderstanding and superstition.

Just today I received the following question from a long time NESS member, Fred Cunningham:

“The other day someone stated in letter to some publication that one proof of God was the 65 miracles at Lourdes. I have heard of medical miracles such as spontaneous remission of advanced cancer, etc. Has anyone compared the probability of a miracle at Lourdes with the natural rate of such events. I doubt that it would be higher than the natural rate and suspect that it is lower. An awful lot of people go to the place so only 65 cures seems a pretty poor result. The term ‘medical miracle’ may be a bit fuzzy, but there must be some standard set by Lourdes that can be used elsewhere. Have you ever encountered a situation that might be considered a miracle? At the college I went to, the term ‘miracle’ was defined as an event that had probability of less than one in a thousand.”

The term “miracle” implies a supernatural event, one that cannot be explained scientifically or naturalistically. It also carries a definite religious connotation, more so than “supernatural” or “paranormal.” Sometimes the term is used to refer to a low probability event. This is an unfortunate alternate definition, and I discourage its use, because it carries the implication that low probability events are inherently difficult or impossible to explain and therefore may be, or are likely to be, supernatural.
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This past Saturday, May 12th, I was interviewed on the Beyond Reality radio show on the topic of demonic possession. http://www.planetparanormal.com/podcast/ The show is broadcast live from Rhode Island (WPRO 630 AM), streamed over the internet, and you can listen to the recording here. Jason and Grant, from SciFi Channel’s Ghost Hunters, host the show.

I must say, it was an enjoyable interview. Heir to the Warren’s ghost hunting legacy, John Zaffis, was also on the show, although we were interviewed separately and I never had an opportunity to debate him. Jason and Grant were very personable and respectful throughout the interview, although we disagreed on some key issues.
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