CSICon Las Vegas 2017

Teresa Giménez Barbat will discuss her work denouncing pseudosciences and defending a secular society in the European Parliament. Her efforts to combat pseudoscience and false ideas are based on her conviction that political decision making should be guided by critical thinking instead of ideology. Secondly, she will describe her commitment to a secular society. She is especially aware of the necessity to protect the atheistic movement in the Islamic world. She also thinks secularism is a frame for co-existence and it offers a common ground to citizens with different religious beliefs (or no beliefs at all).

We're going to look at the most common images that have been mistaken for paranormal evidence...specifically ghosts. We'll talk about how the camera operates, why these anomalies are captured, and what we can do to cut down on mistakes. Photo and video examples of alleged ghosts will be displayed from what paranormalists consider the "real deal" to outright hoaxes.

Along the way, we're going to play with our digital cameras - from compact cameras & DSLRs to camera phones - so make sure you bring yours! Not only are we going to discuss the examples shown... we're also going to deconstructed and duplicate a few!

We're going to have some fun turning attendees into "ghosts" on film!

* This will be interactive workshop and we'll need an area for people to get up and be able to walk around. We'll also need to be able to shut the lights off during some parts in order to demonstrate certain effects (and ghost hunters usually work in the dark).

* I strongly suggest people bring their cameras. Tripods are recommended as well.

Why do people believe conspiracy theories? What’s the harm if they do? And just what is a conspiracy theory, anyway? Conspiracy theories captured the attention of philosophers and historians decades ago, but it is only within the last few years that psychologists have begun gathering data on these kinds of questions. In this talk, Rob Brotherton provides a psychological perspective on conspiracism, drawing on his own research as well as other insights explored in his book Suspicious Minds: Why We Believe Conspiracy Theories. In particular, research into cognitive biases and heuristics – quirks in the way our brains are wired – suggests that we’re all intuitive conspiracy theorists; some of us just hide it better than others.

There are both differences and striking similarities between misrepresentations of science and scholarship in conservative Muslim and Christian religious circles. Sect leaders and televangelists denounce chess or advertise crank medicine. Arab conspiracy theorists resurrect new versions of antisemitism and feed into an apocalyptic imagination. Turkish religious innovators and stuffy Islamist government officials propagate creationist ideas. The content of Muslim weirdness is sometimes strange, sometimes strangely familiar to any reader of the Skeptical Inquirer. But its context of religious politics, a right-wing populist revolt against secular expertise, increasing inequality, and a hyper-commercial and consolidated media landscape is even more familiar. The Age of Misinformation is more global than we might think.

Ever wonder how celebrity psychics can be so accurate with their “psychic readings” or how a medium can know all about Granny’s health problems? In the present post-truth era we live in, such methods as data-mining and predicative analyses are so commonly used by con artists, there is no limit to their ability to hack into our lives and extract whatever information they need to convince us of their “powers.” Information gathering is no longer just the territory of charlatans, it’s an accepted global business practice. Find out how the ability to “cold read” has evolved into a survival skill everybody should be aware of.

Genetic engineering has demonstrated benefits in medicine and agriculture, yet many remain concerned about these technologies. While skepticism around new food and medical technologies is always warranted, in excess it can slow deployment of helpful technologies that can help people and the planet. The presentation will first cover why so many fear genetic engineering. Next it will explore new transformative technologies that are poised to change agriculture and medicine. The talk will conclude with the critical role of the skeptical community in this important discussion, and how to effectively engage others in this topic.

In the GMO debate, both pro and anti camps claim science is on their side. Who’s right? Food Evolution shows how easily misinformation, confusion and fear can overwhelm objective analysis. How do we ensure that our food supply is safe, and that everyone has enough to eat? How do we feed the world while also protecting the planet? Has genetic engineering increased or decreased pesticide use? Are GMO foods bad for your health? And, most importantly, what data, evidence and sources are we using to approach these important questions?

You supported the March for Science. Now what? Susan Gerbic will be explaining why the answer is to join her project, Guerrilla Skepticism on Wikipedia (GSoW). She will explain why improving the pages for Science and Scientific Skepticism on the 10th most popular website improves education world-wide. GSoW works to support the people and organizations that do the research, write the books, organize the conferences and take the heat from the anti-science and paranormal world. GSoW gives them the best possible Wikipedia pages possible, while following all the rules of Wikipedia. The GSoW has had a large impact on education around the world since 2010. The GSoW has written and rewritten hundreds of Wikipedia pages, including Spontaneous Human Combustion, Facilitated Communication, Perry DeAngelis, Genetic Literacy Project, Joe Nickell, David Gorski, Eugenie Scott and more.

It is generally assumed that medical practice should be based on rigorous science. Yet, increasingly in one area of medicine that has become less true. Over the last 30 years, medicine has been increasingly embracing modalities that were once considered quackery—and rightly so. Acupuncture, reiki, naturopathy, and even homeopathy have found their way into respected academic medical centers, and a whole center at the NIH, the National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health, funds dubious studies. How did this happen, how extensive is the problem, and what, if anything, can be done about it?

Can a general education college course reduce belief in pseudoscience? Recent research will be presented that this goal can indeed be attained at a significant level. This workshop will explore the curriculum content of current critical thinking courses offered at the college level, including key concepts covered, and a description of the desired learning outcomes students are expected to attain. Specifically, we advocate course content that examines and studies epistemically unwarranted beliefs (pseudoscience in particular) as a means to conveying critical thinking concepts.

Participants will design curriculum content connecting a popular pseudoscience topic (of their choice) to specific critical thinking skills using high impact teaching practices supported by education research.

Target audience: Teachers and those who wish to understand best practices in teaching critical thinking skills at the college level.

As our country tackles the issues of marriage equality, gays in the military and other issues of inclusion of gays and lesbians into mainstream society, and as Russia and other countries enforce laws limiting the rights of their gay and lesbian citizens, fringe religious and therapeutic organizations have operated mostly in the shadows, attempting to convert their homosexual clients to heterosexuality through a mixture of prayer and pseudoscience.

Sheldon describes the history of attempts to define homosexuality as an illness and to make gays go straight. Some forms of gay conversion therapy have been outlawed in a few states, and one of the primary institutions that promoted it has announced its closure, but what are the real stories behind these announcements, and do they go far enough?

Naturopathic doctors (NDs) are actively lobbying for state licensure and broad scopes of practice that would allow them to practice like medical doctors, despite not having completed legitimate medical training. NDs argue that regulating their field ensures public safety. In reality, licensed naturopathic doctors are far more dangerous than their unlicensed counterparts. Join former naturopathic doctor Britt Hermes for a spooky presentation about the ways NDs are experimenting on patients, often with their blood, and getting away with it. Prepare to be horrified!

How should we think about the role of luck in our lives? What do we control, what do we not - and can we learn to tell the difference? This talk examines common human biases in thinking about chance - tendencies like the illusion of control, the optimism bias, and overconfidence - and strives to help us untangle illusion from reality, to become better, more balanced decision makers.

In fall 2016, I co-authored the book "The Madhouse Effect: How Climate Change Denial is Threatening our Planet, Destroying our Politics, and Driving us Crazy" with Washington Post editorial cartoonist Tom Toles. At that time, many felt that climate change denial had been rendered irrelevant,--that we were past it, and ready to tackle the problem head one.  With the election as President of Donald J. Trump— an individual who rejects the overwhelming consensus of the world’s scientists that climate change is real and human-caused, denialism however has now officially infected the very highest level of our government. The official policy of the U.S. government is distraction, denial and delay, and doubling down on our headlong exploitation of dirty fossil fuel energy.

I will update the story told by the book of the ongoing campaign to deny the reality and threat of climate change, using humor, satire and where appropriate, ridicule, built around Tom Toles’ famously insightful, edgy, and provocative climate-themed cartoons in the Washington Post. I will  review the scientific evidence of climate change, the reasons we should care, and the often absurd efforts by special interests and partisan political figures to confuse the public, attack the science and scientists, and deny that a problem even exists. Despite the monumental nature of the challenge we face, particularly in the era of Trump,  I will explain why I'm cautiously optimistic we will prevail in the greatest battle human civilization has ever faced—the battle to avert catastrophic and irreversible climate change impacts.

“The Detective of the Impossible” (as Massimo Polidoro dubbed him) shares his re-creations of numerous things that supposedly could not occur except for the paranormal. These include various “ghost” and “miracle” effects, such as the liquefying blood of Saint Januarius, as well as the gigantic birds and other geoglyphs drawn on Peru’s Nazca plains and a squadron of UFOs that flew over Buffalo.

Most of the public learn about science from the mainstream media, yet standards for science news reporting are worsening if anything. Steven Novella, a science blogger and skeptical activist, will review some of the worst instances of science news reporting and discuss what we can do about it.

Randi’s career seems to be well known to skeptics, and yet lots of intriguing stories remain untold.

Watch Massimo bring back to life some lesser known, but most surprising adventures of the greatest investigator of mysteries of our times.

Rome’s Colosseum is the second most visited monument in the world and we think we know everything about it. That’s not so. 

Massimo’s research will bring us back in time to the Roman Empire, to “see" what actually happened inside the bloodiest place the Earth ever knew.

After more than six years of joining religions, getting kicked out of religions, undergoing alternative medical treatments, consulting spiritualists and consorting with conspiracy theorists for the podcast "Oh No, Ross and Carrie!", Ross Blocher and his co-host Carrie Poppy have heard it all. Or at least, quite a bit of it. There's always more. From personal experience, Ross will share successes and failures in interacting with believers of all stripes, and present the benefits of playing the long game - prioritizing friendship and acceptance, and being willing to absorb a bit of dumb from time to time.

This is a film that will give a voice to the science-minded moms - the women who are too often drowned out by the fear mongers, the shamers, and the CelebMoms. Through interviews with "science moms" who are on the front lines of this struggle, this film will dissect the bogus claims of these celebrities one by one and explain in simple language what the science really shows about GMOs, vaccines, and alternative medicine - topics that are often in the headlines, yet even more often are misunderstood.

This film is about standing for science and rational thought. We hope that "Science Moms" inspires the audience to think critically, sparking a desire to look beyond the myths that have taken prominence in the world of parenting.

Scientists are often puzzled when members of the public reject what we consider to be well-founded explanations. They can’t understand why the presentation of scientific data and theory doesn’t suffice to convince others of the validity of “controversial” topics like evolution and climate change. Recent research highlights the importance of ideology in shaping what scientific conclusions are considered reliable and acceptable. This research is quite relevant to the evolution wars, the anti-vac movement, the public’s opposition to climate change, and to other questions of the rejection of empirical evidence.

This workshop is based on the original Skeptic’s Toolbox that was conducted annually over a period of 3-4 days at the University of Oregon. The current Workshop occupies a period of 5-6 hours. The workshop will be conducted by the  complete faculty of the original Toolbox. During the workshop the participants will be divided into five teams. Each team will be given an assignment consisting of a written case involving a paranormal claim (such as J.B. Rhine’s two publications on his test of Lady, the mindreading horse, or Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s report on “The Coming of the Fairies.” After the teams have discussed their cases, they will each provide a report on their conclusions in a plenary session. The faculty will serve as facilitators , coaches, and resources for the teams. The goal is to strengthen and enlarge the set of tools that the participants can use to cope with paranormal and other questionable claims.

In this autobiographical talk I will present several large-scale projects that I have staged to elicit that most elusive of feelings - curiosity.  This will include testing the nations lie detection skills, the search for the world’s funniest joke, and running one of the world’s most watched educational YouTube Channels. How do you get people to want to know more? To investigate further? To adopt a critical way of thinking about the world?

A curious set of circumstances has led to a career extending beyond the academic classroom into radio and television studios, to the public lecture podium and the pages of newspapers. Interacting with the public in this fashion has allowed for the gauging of interests, fears and numerous misconceptions. It is an eye-opening, thought-provoking, occasionally amusing, and often sobering experience to reflect on four decades of dealing with questions from the public, trying to separate sense from nonsense.

This summer millions in the US were treated to one of nature’s most beautiful phenomena: A total eclipse of the Sun. Our attempts to understand the processes that govern the formation and evolution of the Sun has revealed hidden aspects of reality that have not only pushed the forefront of science forward, but have also provided tools that have revealed new connections between our lives and a cosmos that we are only just beginning to truly understand.