The inaugural meeting of the St. Louis Skeptical Society was by all accounts a success. We look forward to seeing more inquiring minds at November's meeting. Here are some notes from the first meeting:
- October 11, 2007 (7:30 pm-10:00 pm)
- Location: Cicero's
- Members in attendance: 5 (BB, JF, DM, ST, GG)
- Purpose of the society (tenuous)
- Promote Science
- Discuss the application of scientific skepticism and critical thinking to all aspects of life
- Explore our own convictions and "sacred cows"
- Give presentations on topics related to science and critical thinking, or the lack thereof
- Provide a resource for the community as a place to seek help on topics where skepticism may be of service (looking at product claims, homeopathic remedies, alternative medicine, etc. )
- Discussion of recent articles on alternative medicine
- Loose definition of alternative medicine: Any treatment that claims to be beneficial but is not evidence based medicine
- Acupuncture to treat lower back pain and many other ailments
- What is Body Energy/Chi?
- What are proper experiments to test acupuncture?
- How much of an effect does the placebo effect have?
- There are physiological effects to acupuncture but there seems to be little evidence that acupuncture helps correct the flow of Chi/Body Energy in the way claimed by practitioners.
- Calcium, Magnesium and Vitamin B6 for PMS (control mood changes, bloating, and flow)
- How well can emotions be quantified as chemical effects?
- Discussed credibility of sources which led to a mention of the argument from authority logical fallacy
- St. John's Wort to treat depression
- Studies lasted less than 6 weeks but most proponents claim St. John's wort takes 6-8 weeks to start working
- Once something is proven to work, it no longer becomes alternative medicine as it is then evidence based. Therefore we should be weary of products/methods which have been "alternative" for a long time
- Guided imagery to help ease pain and anxiety
- Helps as much as general relaxation
- Are therapists practitioners of alternative medicine?
- Example brought of up of the 11 year old Emily Rosa who debunked therapeutic touch as a method of healing: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emily_Rosa
- Glucosamine to lessen joint pain
- "It's safe and it looks like is it's effective."
- Short discussion on homeopathy
- Like cures like
- Incredibly weak dilutions
- The lower concentration of a dangerous substance in the medicine, the stronger it works
- Very popular in Europe
- Cold reading, warm reading, hot reading
- John Edward
- Background information
- Some criticism of his methods
- South Park episode
- Sylvia Browne
- Shawn Hornbeck
- Appearance on Montel Williams and Larry King Live
- Acceptance of James Randi's $1,000,000 Challenge
- James Van Praagh
- Shawn Hornbeck
- Confrontations with Michael Shermer
- Caught cheating in Denver
- To be discussed at November's meeting (date, time, and location TBD):
- Common Logical Fallacies
- The Secret
- Global Warming
- Other topics TBD
2 comments:
Cicero's! What a great place for a skeptics' meeting!
It was a little loud but quite fun nonetheless.
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