Reading Assignments NS4/NS4H

...in preparation for the group presentations

Updated: 9/8/2004 to include the 2nd Edition of Hines
"Weird Things" is the 3rd Edition of Schick & Vaughn

Ancient Astronauts

• Weird Things

- Ch. 1, p. 10 (from the Weirdness Sampler) -- Have we been visited?

- Ch. 3, Perceiving: True or False? Pp. 35-41, Looking for clarity in vagueness--the Face on Mars.

• Hines, 1st Ed

- Ch. 9, pp. 211-219 Von Däniken, the Dogon.

• Hines, 2nd Ed

- Ch. 9, pp. 303-314

Astrology

• Weird Things: Ch. 3: Looking for Truth in Personal Experiences

- Pp. 57-65. Especially note the sections on

• Subjective Validation (or Selective Attention) -- seeing what we want to see.

- This is also discussed in Moore, Ch. 3 under problems with Inductive Generalizations.

• The Forer Effect

• Vague Prophecies

• Hines, 1st Ed: Ch. 6: Astrology, the Lunar Effect and Biorhythms

• Hines, 2nd Ed: Ch. 6, pp. 205 ff.: Astrology, the Lunar Effect and Biorhythms

Bermuda Triangle

• Weird Things

- No assignment

• Hines, 1st Ed

- Chapter 9, section on Bermuda Triangle, pp. 219-228

• Hines, 2nd Ed

- Ch. 9, pp. 314-323

Chiropractic

• Weird Things

- Ch. 8 How to Assess a "Miracle Cure"

- Read the entire chapter

• Hines, 1st Ed

- Ch. 11 Health and Nutrition Quackery

- Read the entire chapter

• Hines, 2nd Ed

- Ch. 11 "Alternative" Medicine - read this entire chapter.

- Hines has removed explicit mention of chiropractic from the 2nd edition.

- See www.quackwatch.com and http://www.chirobase.org/. Also try http://www.chirobase.com/. What is the difference?

Creationism (Evolution and Old Earth Deniers)

• Weird Things:

- Ch. 7, pp 171-181, Criteria of Adequacy

• Testability, Fruitfulness, Scope, Simplicity, and Conservatism

- Ch. 7, pp. 182-193, Creationism and the Criteria of Adequacy

• Hines:

- 1st Ed: Ch. 12, Current (1988) Trends in Pseudoscience, Creationism -- pp. 280-284

- 2nd Ed: Ch. 13, Special Topics in Pseudoscience, Creationism -- pp. 407-412.

Dowsing

• Weird Things

  • ch. 9, pp 260-264 , Case studies in the Extraordinary

• Hines

  • 2nd Edition: Ch. 13, Special Topics in Pseudoscience, Dowsing-pp. 418-422

ESP (Extrasensory Perception)

• Weird Things

- There are many references to ESP found in the index. At least read Ch. 7: Science and Its Pretenders, pp. 193-205 on parapsychology

• Hines, 1st Ed

- Chapter 2: Psychics and Psychic Phenomena

- Chapter 4: Laboratory Parapsychology

• Hines, 2nd Ed

- Ch. 2, Psychics and Psychic Phenomena (entire chapter)

- Ch. 4: Laboratory Parapsychology (entire chapter)

Homeopathy

• Weird Things

- Chapter 1, pp. 10-11 Homeopathy from the Weirdness Sampler

- Chapter 8: How to Assess a "Miracle Cure" review methods for evaluating drugs.

- Chapter 9: Case Studies in the Extraordinary, pp. 257-260 on Homeopathy.

• Hines

- Chapter 11: Health and Nutrition Quackery, p. 274 Homeopathy

• Hines, 2nd Ed.

- Ch. 11: "Alternative" Medicine, pp. 358-362

Near Death Experiences

• Weird Things:

- Ch. 1, pp. 4-7 Do you believe...?

- Ch. 9, pp. 282-293 Other explanations for NDE

• Hines:

- 1st Ed: Ch. 3, Life After Death

- 2nd Ed: Ch. 3, Life After Death

Poltergeists

• Weird Things

- Schick and Vaughn don't have a specific section on poltergeists, but read Ch. 6 pp. 140-144 on The Availability Error (how vivid explanations can overshadow more mundane evidence).

• Hines

- 1st Ed: Chapter 3, Life After Death

- 2nd Ed: Ch 3, pp. 97-101 on Poltergeists

Psychoanalysis

• Weird Things

- Ch. 3, pp. 46-53 Remembering: Do we revise the past?

• Hines

- 1st Ed: Chapter 5, Psychoanalysis

- 2nd Ed: Ch. 5, Pseudopsychology. Read the entire chapter. Only the first part deals specifically with Freudian Theory. Presenters may wish to expand this topic beyond the theories of Freud as Hines does in this edition. Hines is a psychologist and has much to say on the topic of psychotherapy in general.

Psychokinesis (PK)

• Weird Things

- Chapter 3: PK Parties and Self-Delusion, pp. 40-41

• Hines, 1st Ed

- Chapter 2: Psychics and Psychic Phenomena, p. 22: spiritualism and PK

- Chapter 4: Laboratory Parapsychology, p. 77, p. 87 Uri Geller, and p. 99: attempts to measure PK

• Hines, 2nd Ed

- Read through Ch's 2 and 4 as in the 1st edition, looking for references to PK.

Reincarnation

• Weird Things

- Ch. 3, p. 51 Cryptomnesia?

• Hines, 1st Ed

- Chapter 3, pp. 72-76 on Reincarnation

• Hines, 2nd Ed

- Ch. 3, Life After Death, pp. 106-110.

- Also look at the sections on Recovered Memories (see the index).

UFOs

• Weird Things

- Chapter 9: UFO Abductions, pp. 264-276

• Hines, 1st Ed

- Chapter 7: UFOs I, Close Encounters of the First Kind

- Chapter 8: UFOs II, Photographs, Physical Evidence and Abductions

• Hines, 2nd Ed.

- Chapters 7 and 8 still cover Close Encounters of the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Kinds. Read them all.