Michael Schermer and the Baloney Detection Kit

I have been using this video but just realized I had not shared it on the blog.  It is Michael Schermer, author of these books,

• The Believing Brain: From Ghosts and Gods to Politics and Conspiracies---How We Construct Beliefs and Reinforce Them as Truths, 
• Why People Believe Weird Things: Pseudoscience, Superstition, and Other Confusions of Our Time,
• How We Believe: The Search for God in an Age of Science

explaining the role of skepticism in science.  Great words and some cute graphics to explain the important questions in skepticism.

My handout includes this information:

With a sea of information coming at us from all directions, how do we sift out the misinformation and bogus claims, and get to the truth? Michael Shermer of Skeptic Magazine lays out a "Baloney Detection Kit," ten questions we should ask when encountering a claim.
The 10 Questions:
1. How reliable is the source of the claim?
2.Does the source make similar claims?
3. Have the claims been verified by somebody else?
4. Does this fit with the way the world works?
5. Has anyone tried to disprove the claim?
6. Where does the preponderance of evidence point?
7. Is the claimant playing by the rules of science?
8. Is the claimant providing positive evidence?
9. Does the new theory account for as many phenomena as the old theory?
10. Are personal beliefs driving the claim?

posted by Chuck Schallhorn

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