Derren Brown Investigates--The Man Who Contacts The Dead

Derren Brown, well known English Mentalist/Magician.
He has a TV show currently running on Channel 4 in Britain called "Derren Brown Investigates".
In this show Derren investigates a medium, a ghost hunter and a psychic expert who claims to make the blind see.
The first show was televised early last week and it was on Joe Power a so called Medium from Liverpool, England.
The show is now on YouTube in a 5 part video.

First Video
Second Video
Third Video
Fourth Video
Fifth Video

Look at the five videos and tell us what you think.

Believers and scepticism

Danish researchers from the Uffe Schjoedt Aarhus University Denmark have found that certain parts of the brain that control scepticism and vigilance seem to deactivate in some people in the presence of a speaker who they believe has divine healing powers.
The researchers obtained 36 male and female participants, half of which were Christian of the Pentecostal Church faith and the other half non religious.
They assembled three speakers and the participants were told that the speakers were a Christian, a non Christian and a Christian with known healing powers. In reality all three speakers were Christians with no alleged healing powers. 
 The participants listened to 18 different prayers whilst undergoing brain scans (not sure of what type of scan, the article did not state).
They were looking at the prefrontal cortex that allegedly controls scepticism.
The Christians had decreased activity in this region when listening to the claimed Christian with healing powers. Their brain activity in the prefrontal cortex was increased when the claimed non religious speaker was speaking.
The non religious participants had no change in brain activity across all three speakers.

SMH Article
I suppose this is not surprising. Believers of anything seem to loose their rational thinking when in contact with people they believe in having some type of supernatural powers, or possess extraordinary things to improve you, such as miracle wrist bands, crystal bracelets, longer dongers it is never ending for the charlatans. These  could be religious preachers, Psychics, purveyors of miracle substances such as, Body Flow Machines, Power Balance Wrist bands. By the way Benji's power balance wrist band must be letting him down going on the Tigers performance over the last two weeks, I would want my money back.
To me this sums up a need to be forever vigilant to all sorts of claims, religious, health, sex life (longer dongers etc), spiritual and new age claims.
Scepticism for me is a never ending vigilance.

Another perspective

Here is another perspective to the scandal in the Catholic Church.
The current leaders of this church blame secularism and progressive times for the paedophilia in the church by the priests. Watch this video for a different perspective.
Catholic Church a different look.

Body Flow machine

I was reading The Sun Herald  this morning and came across an article that headlined.
Revealed: how Storm get an edge in recovery.
To read article on line click here
The article went on to talk about a "BodyFlow" machine that Melbourne Storm are using in aid of quicker recovery from injury and training by flushing out toxins and by-products of exercise. The Storm allegedly bought 25 of these units at $4000 each. 
The machine allegedly stimulates muscles with electrical impulses. Of course the article goes on to talk of other high profile athletes that use this scam, um, um I mean fantastic machine.
I don't know if it is a scam or does really work. The body gets rid of toxins in the muscles by the lymphatic system. I assume the makers and promoters of this machine are saying is that it increases the lymphatic flow of these toxins out of the body. Below is a web site promoting and selling these machines.
Body Flow Machine
This site uses the word believe a lot when talking of this machine, a little worrying I would think. They do say this on that site.     It has been demonstrated in clinical trials, however, that Body Flow can help manage Lymphoedema by flushing away the excess fluid with a mild electro-stimulant.
They mention clinical trials which is good, but they do not show any link to those trials or if they were blinded etc.  A clinical trial can mean anything. Maybe the manufacturers did the trial or a unscientific body, they don't say, which is very worrying.

Lymphoedema is a retention of these excess fluids, that causes swelling. There are two types:
1. Primary, caused by the underdevelopment of the Lymphatic System, and
2. Secondary, the result of surgery or major trauma.
The usual treatment for this is massage and compression bandages. Does electrical stimulation work as well as or better than massage or compression bandages? I do not know. Does electrical stimulation work at all? It seems a lot of money to pay when a massage could be as good or better.
It smells to me of a scam. Taken hook line and sinker by the Storm and whoever else is using them. I could be wrong. But I remain very sceptical. I can be convinced with good credible evidence though.

Power Balance wrist band

I saw this in today's Sunday Telegraph saying that Benji Marshall is wearing one.
What is a "Power Balance wrist band you may ask.
This is from their website
Power Balance is performance technology that uses holograms embedded with frequencies that react positively with your body’s natural energy field.
Balance • Strength • Flexibility.
Most everything has a frequency inherent to it.  Some frequencies react positively with your body and others negatively. When the hologram comes in contact with your body’s energy field, it allows your body to interact with the natural, beneficial frequency stored within the hologram. This results in improved energy flow throughout your body.
Well my "bullshit detector" was going crazy after reading this. There is no evidence that the body has a frequency or a flow of energy. This sounds like a heap of steaming bullshit. Pseudo-science at it's best.
Of course there is the old saying that there is one born every minute. Well I think Benji Marshall, Brett Kimmorley etc were born on that minute. Where are their critical thinking skills. If something sounds too good to be true, it usually is, too good to be true.
 But as always, I could change my mind, if I receive good credible evidence that this wrist band works. Until then I remain very sceptical 
Here is a video reporting on this.
Unbelievable, what do you all think.

Went to a Psychic Show

Well, I have done what a lot of believers have asked all of us sceptics to do, and went to a Psychic show.
I went on Friday night 20/11/09 and saw, Ezio De Angelis.
He is one of the Psychics from "The One".
Here is his interview with Ghost Radio
Ghost Radio interview

The evening started with me entering the building a little nervous. Not because of my first psychic
show, but I was hoping I did not meet someone who I knew, thankfully I did not. I then relaxed.

Inside the foyer there was a long queue waiting to enter the room. I joined the queue and listened
intently.I could not hear anyone talking of who they wanted to connect to if chosen. There did not
seem to be any collecting of information, no stooges etc. So no hot reading in the foyer.

We went into the room and paid our $20 at the door to a woman who I found out at the beginning of the show that she was the partner to the psychic.

There were about 120 to 150 people at the show. This was the estimate of the Psychic and
fairly accurate I would say.That is $2400 to $3000 for just over an hour show, plus some chit chat
after the show. You of course subtract their costs.
There were only two people in the show, the Psychic and his partner.

The women outnumbered the men by at least 10 to 1. Great for meeting chicks.

The show started at around 7.40pm with the women taking the stage and welcoming everyone.
She then introduced the Psychic and he entered, stage right.
He welcomed everyone, acknowledged some people he recognised. Mentioned some other people that are on his Facebook.
He then asked for everyone who is having their first visit to his show to put their hand up.
A lot did, less than half, but still a substantial number. He mentioned that there were an
exceptional number of first timers tonight.

The room was divided up into thirds. There was a centre, left and right block of chairs.

Just as he was about to start the readings he mentioned his, I think he said spirit guide, Marcus.
He said Marcus will be assisting him tonight.
He also mentioned that people being read need to be open to the spirit or it won't work.
He also said that if something that he said fitted you then please put your hand up.
In other words the Psychic process won't work. He mentioned the Psychic process.

His technique was to go to a particular part of the room, centre, left or right, the area that
the spirits apparently sent him then voice usually a persons name and wait for the response
in that particular area of the room.
He did not cast the net wide over the whole room. Sometimes he did stray into another part of the
room if he got no response from the area he initially tried.

Once a connection was made to a name he would ask the person being read who this person was.
The person was then expected to fit the name to him or herself and volunteer the information
on who this person is. Everyone that had a reading volunteered the information 100% of the time.
He would then say another name and wait for the response. The psychic would say this.
"Who is Mary", the person being read would fit the name and volunteer this information.
100% of the readings were like this, all questions, nothing else. it was the usual thing of I am
getting a T name or a John, James, Margaret, Maggie, Marge, the whole show was a series of
questions.The person being read is expected to say who this name fitted, father, mother,
grandmother, aunt, friend, daughter of friend. Some of the connections were obscure and the psychic would then ask the person to ask a third party about this.

Sometimes the Psychic would bring forward a place or thing. Example he was reading two women who were sisters of Italian origin and asked what the chickens were about. They apparently were their deceased fathers chickens. Duh, migrants that do not own chickens.

It got very boring after about 45 minutes of the name game and I found myself looking around the
room at walls, furnishings etc.

There were a couple of occasions when he said something fairly specific that drew a big hit.
The best was when he went to the centre block of chairs and towards the back and said,
"he is getting America and Colorado".
This drew no response whatsoever.
He then mentioned a suicide that elicited 2 responses from that area of the room.
He eventually settled on a woman who said that her sister had commited suicide.
He played this when he said he saw depression, anxiety and psychosis with her.
This elicited a negative from the woman being read.
He then went to the next possibility, a relationship problem, this finally elicited a hit.
The Psychic then asked about the America and Colorado connection.
The woman elicited the fact that she went on holidays with her deceased sister to Los Angeles,
and that they also went to Colorado. The psychic then asked what about Tinkerbell and asked
if she went to Disneyland, this elicited a response in the affirmative.
I don't know how he got the America and Colorado connection, but it was interesting.
I did not detect any great cold reading except the name calling game. I think his system works
well for him and his credulous audience.
The show finished around 9.10pm.

Well, the show was pretty much just throwing out names and getting a response then people
fitting the name to themselves. He said he was talking to the spirits and also giving them
some direction. So I don't know why the spirits would not say I am John, the father of the person
that you are reading. Instead the person getting the reading needed to fit it themselves.
The Psychic also often did not know the name that he presented was deceased or a person
still living.

He was convincing, a bit I suppose to a believer or someone not sure of how a psychic operates,
or not very sceptical.
What I saw on Friday night did not change my mind.
The information he elicited allegedly from the spirits were incredibly mundane and not the sort
of information that you could confirm. Such as, "He is happy now with his family, she is sorry
that she caused great angst in the family because of the suicide.
His stage technique is one of appearing to communicate with the spirits, hearing voices.

I would have loved an unedited video of the evening.
I could give a more informed version.
The memory is not perfect.
I remain extremely sceptical of psychics.

Update on "Chiropractors breaking their necks to get into NSW Emergency Departments

Further to the blog on Chiropracors and NSW EDs.
A letter is in the Sunday Herald today 15/11/09, from Bryce Conrad who is President of the Chiropractors Association Of Australia, NSW.
In the letter he is saying there is a large body of published scientific evidence that shows chiropractic can effectively treat medical conditions.
He goes on to say that Chiropractors already work in the U.S., Canada and Ireland hospitals.
Here are some links to mull over.
Debate about chiropracty
The Lay Scientist
Sense about science
Improbable science

Chiropractors breaking their necks to get into NSW Emergency Departments

The NSW arm of the Chiropractors' Association of Australia is trying to get a foot into Emergency Departments (EDs) in NSW.
They say they want to work in EDs to treat patients, and they say they will save the hospital system hundreds of millions of dollars a year.
They claim they would save thousands of admissions of patients with musculoskeletal problems.
Of course doctor groups are against this for the obvious reasons. No evidence to back up Chiropractics claims.
Doctor groups claim that paracetamol plus early mobilisation for back complaints particularly lower back pain is as effective as Chiropractic care.
Read the article in todays newspaper at the link below.
Sydney Morning Herald Article