Do you have an uncontrollable desire to jump up and dance while watching “Dancing with the Stars”? Perhaps it’s not the music and excitement, but tarantism. In the 17th century, this urge to engage in a frenzied whirling dance, accompanied by nervous bouts of melancholy and hysteria, spread widely in southern Italy. The syndrome’s name comes from an energetic dance, the tarantella, a supposed cure for the venomous bite of a tarantula. The officially dubbed “tarantism” followed a 1518 outbreak when a woman danced for days in the streets of Strasbourg. Before long, dozens of ... Read More
Linguistic Myths and Adventures in Etymology
March 22, 2012 • By • Leave a Comment
The alarm went off. What does that mean? Recently, a friend who is learning English couldn’t quite figure it out. Isn’t the alarm going on, not off, he asked. Comprehending such phrases is often one of the more difficult steps in learning a language. These idiomatic expressions are collections of words that mean something different than each word’s dictionary definition. For example, “that barking dog next door is driving me up the wall,” if taken literally, could mean that the neighbor’s poodle has recently earned a driver’s license and is using a car to accelerate up the ... Read More
Presidents’ Day: Just Another Presidential Fable
February 14, 2012 • By • Leave a Comment
In the United States, February brings “Presidents’ Day” and some familiar stories, such as George Washington chopping down ye olde cherry tree, circulate anew. Sweet as it may sound about not lying to one’s father, this story is not true. Nor, to bite into a story of more recent vintage, did he have wooden teeth. Let’s skeptically consider a few of the many fables that regularly appear about current and past presidents, and critically think about the purposes they may serve. First, we need to address the initial fable of a “Presidents’ Day.” Yes, Martha, there is no such ... Read More
Numerology Doesn’t Know the Score
January 26, 2012 • By • Leave a Comment
We entered the new year with all sorts of expectations and excitement, but I’m sure none compared to the chills from realizing 2012 will see the last major numerical date event — using the Gregorian calendar — for almost another century: December 12, 2012 — better represented as 12/12/12. I know, just a few months ago, we achieved 11/11/11. But not until 2101 will we be able to write 01/01/01, just as we did on that numerically glorious day of January 1, 2001. Disappointing I know, but should we celebrate or cower? Is this the end of the world, as the Mayans sort-of predicted? No, ... Read More
Full Moon Myths Leave Skeptics Howling
December 16, 2011 • By • Leave a Comment
A stock image of the holiday season is a night scene of Santa and his reindeers silhouetted across a full moon, his sleigh packed with presents ready to be delivered throughout the evening. While this joyous image fits some of our romantic notions of being moonstruck, it contradicts some widely held beliefs about the negative effects of full moons. (And never mind that the odds of experiencing a full moon on Christmas Eve itself are very small: the last one was in 2007 and the next may not appear until 2026.) A teacher I know, complaining about her students’ boisterous behavior in the ... Read More
Dr. Placebo — Half Quack and Half Savant
November 28, 2011 • By • Leave a Comment
[Cue the drum roll] Ladies and gentlemen, introducing tonight, the magical, the amazing, the astounding, the one, the only [cue the cymbal] — DR. PLACEBO!! Performing sleights of hand that will amaze you, entice you, and lure you into miracle cures that will release you from your hard-earned cash. Come see never-before effects. Well, maybe always-seen effects. Step right this way … OK, perhaps I’m more cynical than skeptical here, but given the successful selling of sham products such as balance bracelets and homeopathy, it’s important that we learn to think critically about one ... Read More
Critical Thinker Explains Skepticism vs. Cynicism
October 13, 2011 • By • Leave a Comment
Several Skeptic’s Café columns have invoked the work of MacArthur Foundation “genius” James Randi and his James Randi Educational Foundation, or JREF. This nonprofit “promotes critical thinking by reaching out to the public and media with reliable information about paranormal and supernatural ideas,” and is one of the key players in the world of skeptical and critical thinking. In honor of International Skeptics Day (October 13), we turn the tables on the president of JREF, D.J. Grothe, who routinely interviews skeptical thinkers for his podcast series “For Good Reason,” by ... Read More
Conversion Therapy Fails to ‘Pray Away the Gay’
September 30, 2011 • By • Leave a Comment
"Pray away the gay" joins other notable catchphrases in our popular culture and comedians' repertoires, (perhaps like "wide stance" did just a few years ago.) This time it's due to the efforts of Michele and Marcus Bachmann, who run a Christian counseling center practicing what is called "reparative therapy." Skeptical thinkers may ask how a simple prayer could change people's core sexual orientation. Could heterosexual-oriented people "pray to be gay"? More seriously, why is there a treatment for something that is not an illness? A critical investigation into the practice of conversion ... Read More
Psychic Detectives Have a Perfect Record
August 27, 2011 • By • Leave a Comment
The afternoon of June 7, The New York Times sent out a news alert: “Up to 30 Dismembered Bodies Found Near Houston, Reuters Reports.” CNN also reported that the home near Houston involved “at least 20 bodies, including those of children.” The Liberty County Sheriff’s Office obtained a search warrant for the house in Hardin, Texas, and despite some conflicting information related to blood found on a door and strange odors, Texas Rangers were unable to locate any bodies or graves on the site. While all this makes fine fodder for castigating reputable news organization like the ... Read More
Applying Healthy Skepticism to Healthy Foods
July 26, 2011 • By • Leave a Comment
Summertime: outdoor concerts, beaches, barbecues. I don’t know about you, but my picnic basket is going to be filled with blueberries, pomegranates, açai, green tea, omega-3-laden fish and organic probiotic yogurts. This is the summer to start increasing my antioxidants and live longer. Or so I thought before I rediscovered my critical thinking skills hiding on the bottom of the grocery cart. Don’t get me wrong. It’s great to improve the way we eat. In July 2011, for example, the Los Angeles Unified School District stopped serving chocolate or strawberry flavored milk, which has ... Read More
