[Baps] talk at Harvard, 26 March

[Andy Rivkin]

Not planetary science per se, but perhaps of interest to the list:


Friday March 26
12:30 pm: Radio and Geoastronomy Division Lunch Talk. "Bashing
Pseudoscience in Academia," Dr. Salman Hameed, Astronomy Department, Smith
College/UMass-Amherst; Dr. George Robinson, Psychology Department, Smith
College; and Dr. Janice Mounton, Philosophy Department, Smith College.
Room M-340, 160 Concord Avenue.

Abstract: Belief in paranormal, supernatural and other new-age claims is
increasing according to surveys by the NSF and others. Astronomy-related
pseudo-scientific beliefs are especially common. For example, more than
thirty percent of Americans consider astrology to be scientific and more
than one-third believe that extraterrestrial beings have visited earth at
some time in the past. Not only do such beliefs ignore sound reasoning and
information but they compete as alternative explanations for the world
around us. While a general education might be expected to reduce
acceptance of unsound beliefs, the level of such belief is surprisingly
high among those with a higher education. An astronomer, a philosopher and
a psychologist cooperated in developing a brief college course designed to
challenge unsound reasoning and information, and to inoculate the
participants with skepticism. Pre- and post-course opinion surveys show
significant changes in belief.