Here is a write-up from the Trib: Workshop, show reveal how ‘mentalists’ work their magic

Join Us for an Evening with

Toni Van Pelt
Director of CFI’s Office of Public Policy in Washington, D.C.

“Promoting Science & Reason in Law and Policy”

Scientific thinking is being challenged culturally in the United States today as never before. Despite the success of science and technology in providing us with unparalleled benefits, religious fundamentalists and some postmodernists seek to inhibit free inquiry. This is a highly charged political issue, because both science and secularism are under attack. While a number of organizations lobby and work to defend science politically, so far no organization has worked to defend science and inquiry in all important areas of human endeavor more than the Center for Inquiry.

In it’s first two years, CFI’s Office of Public Policy – with the indispensable help of our members – has established the necessary credentials for action in our government’s halls. Please come to learn the ways the Center is standing up, speaking out, and demonstrating the responsibility and privilege necessary to maintain a civil society – and learn how you can help!

We’re very pleased to welcome Toni to Pittsburgh to give us a first hand look at what the OPP is doing to represent secular humanists to the Federal Government. This is an excellent opportunity for all of us to get a better handle on the issues that affect us and learn what is being done to resolve them. It will also give a greater appreciation of the scope of the Center’s activities and their importance to our world today.

See you Monday!

For more information about this and other CFI Pittsburgh events, please call (412) 384-5893 or visit www.centerforinquiry.net/pgh.

Swiss will be hosting two events: A magic show titled Heavy Mental at 7:00 p.m. and a workshop from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. called Science, Magic, and Skepticism: A Natural Relationship.  The workshop also features Point of Inquiry host D.J. Grothe and Pittsburgh magician and founder of Deceptions Unlimited Rick Maue.

Swiss has appeared on tons of shows including Penn & Teller’s Sin City Spectacular. Check him out:

More details and CFI’s full press release after the jump.

WHO: Jamy Ian Swiss, world-renowned magician and mentalist

D.J. Grothe, magician, skeptic, and host of Point of Inquiry

Rick Maue, Pittsburgh magician and founder of Deceptions Unlimited

WHAT: “HEAVY MENTAL,” a baffling show of “mind-reading” phenomena, and

“Science, Magic, and Skepticism: A Natural Relationship,” an afternoon workshop.

WHEN: Saturday, November 1, 2008, Workshop 1:00-5:00 p.m., Show: 7:00 p.m.

WHERE: Science Stage, Carnegie Science Center, One Allegheny Avenue, Pittsburgh

COST: Workshop: General Admission: $30, Students/CFI Friends: $20, Carnegie Members: FREE

Show: General Admission: $15, Students/CFI Friends/Carnegie Members: $10

PITTSBURGH, PA.—On Saturday, November 1, the Center for Inquiry Community of Pittsburgh and the Carnegie Science Center will welcome magician and mentalist Jamy Ian Swiss to Pittsburgh. Mr. Swiss will be here to host a workshop on “Science, Magic and Skepticism: A Natural Relationship” and to present his new magic show, “HEAVY MENTAL,” a performance of baffling, unnerving, “mind reading” phenomena accomplished with pure psychology, deft illusion, and a healthy dose of deception.

Mr. Swiss has performed magic throughout the United States and in 13 countries. He has appeared on CBS 48 Hours, PBS Nova, the PBS documentary The Art of Magic, and Comedy Central. 

An expert in sensory deception, Jamy Ian Swiss is also a long-time skeptic who often lectures to scientific, academic, and university audiences about deception and the paranormal. Why is a professional magician concerned about the misuses of deception? 

“I want to highlight the line between illusion and reality,” Mr. Swiss explains. “The fantasy world I create as a magician is a nice place to visit, but I wouldn’t want to live there.”

Mr. Swiss will be joined by D.J. Grothe, an amateur magician and the host of the Center for Inquiry radio show and podcast Point of Inquiry, and Rick Maue, Pittsburgh magician and founder of Deceptions Unlimited, for the afternoon workshop that will examine the paralllels between magic and skepticism, and explain how the conjuring arts can inform the skeptical movement. 

In this remarkable lecture/demonstration Mr. Swiss defines the four kinds of paranormal events — telepathy, precognition, clairvoyance and psychokinesis — declares them to be non-existent, and then proceeds to demonstrate all of them and more, proving that even the most intelligent and wary of audiences can be fooled by a determined charlatan. A stunning, informative and entertaining lesson in critical thinking.

The workshop will also include segments about the history of magic in skepticism, the illusion of psychic powers, and a question and answer session about the relationship between magic, skepticism, science and reason.

“Whether or not you believe in psychics or the paranormal, you should attend this program,” said Bill Kaszycki, president of CFIC-Pittsburgh. “Even if you believe in the paranormal, you cannot deny that there are crooks and con-men out there trying to take advantage of the honest beliefs of a sincere and trusting public. We hope that seeing Mr. Swiss in action will inoculate you against these criminals and their fraudulent use of magic to deceive.”

In the evening, Mr. Swiss, an acclaimed master of the art of sleight of hand, will present, HEAVY MENTAL, a program of baffling and unnerving “mind reading” phenomena — accomplished with pure psychology, subtle influence, deft illusion, uncanny intuition, and a healthy dose of downright deception — what he calls “sleight of mind.”

Both events are open to the public. The workshop, “Science, Magic, and Skepticism: A Natural Relationship,” runs from 1:00 to 5:00 PM on Saturday, November 1. “HEAVY MENTAL” will start at 7:00 PM. Both workshop and show will be held on the Science Stage at the Carnegie Science Center, One Allegheny Avenue, Pittsburgh. Admission for the workshop is $30.00 for the general public, $20.00 for students and CFI Friends, and free for Carnegie Members. Admission for HEAVY MENTAL is $15.00 for the general public and $10.00 for students, CFI Friends and Carnegie Members.

For more information, please visit www.centerforinquiry.net/pgh, www.carnegiesciencecenter.org, and www.jamyianswiss.com.

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The Center for Inquiry Community of Pittsburgh (CFIC-Pittsburgh) was founded in 2004 to provide a social support network for freethinkers of western Pennsylvania. For more information, check out CFIC-Pittsburgh’s web site at www.centerforinquiry.net/pgh#.

CFIC-Pittsburgh is associated with the Center for Inquiry/Transnational – a nonprofit, educational, advocacy, and scientific-research think tank based in Amherst, New York. The Center for Inquiry/Transnational’s web site is www.centerforinquiry.net.

I just got back from seeing religious with some friends. They all had great opinions on the film, but I want to hear more. But to be honest with you I’m sick of ranty rambling reviews. So I’m challenging everyone to keep their review to 100 words or less.

Please respond to this video with one of your own, or write a response in the comments below.

Here’s my 100 word review:

Religulous

Religulous is funny. The first hour-and-a-half of the film has hilariously awkward moments, slick one-liners, smarmy subtitles, constant laughs. But the ending isn’t great. (Bill) Maher spends so much time humorously “promoting doubt,” that in the end when he calls all the anti-religious to stand and be heard it falls flat. You can’t use a suicide bombing clip for a laugh and then try to use another for a doom-and-gloom call to action. It doesn’t work. Religulous will offend some. Others will gain that ember of doubt that can change a person into a fiery skeptic.

If Pauly Shore can do it why can't I?

It may be your civic duty, but jury duty sucks and people are always looking for a way out of it.

About six weeks ago I received a summons to go through the jury selection process today. During that time whenever I would mention it to someone they’d suggest a way for me to get out of it. “Tell’em you hate cops. “ “Tell’em your for capital punishment.” “Tell’em you’re against the whole system.”

Maybe I’m being Pollyannaish, but I wasn’t willing to lie to save myself a little inconvenience. As it turns out my honesty and (what I perceive as) my rationality prevented me from serving.

The Answer That Got Me Out of Jury Duty

When faced with the question: Would you believe the testimony of a police officer over that of another witness? I answered: yes.

That answer got me nixed, because it wasn’t the answer the prosecution or defense was looking for. They wanted people who believe that experience and credentials don’t mean anything. But those people are wrong. They do.

Witness Vs. Expert Witness

If you’ve ever watched one of the half-million courtroom dramas, you’ve seen the defense pullout its expert witness. You know the moment, it’s normally followed by gasps from the audience, panicked looks from the prosecution and an immediate cut to a commercial.

But do jury members really know the difference between a forensic pathologist and a forensic psychologist? If you had a forensic pathologist give their opinion about a defendant’s metal state I bet most jurors would except their testimony as valid. Even though they’re giving testimony in fields outside their expertise.

I don’t know (and most jurors don’t know) what it takes to be a good forensic whatever-ist. But with a police officer; I don’t have that problem.

Instant Credibility

When you tell me someone is a police officer, I automatically know several things about them: they can pass a background check; they’re civically minded; they’ve been trained to gather evidence; and they’re likely to be experienced witnesses.

If a hit-and-run occurs on the street most people will be shocked and look around to see what others are doing. A cop will be getting the car’s license plate number.

Cops aren’t infallible. They might not remember the plate number exactly right. But in general, a cop will be a better witness because they’re trained not to be frazzled by the situation.

Why Would a Cop Lie?

It’s obvious why a defendant would lie. Lying might mean keeping themselves out of jail. The risks of an additional perjury conviction is minuscule in comparison to the reward of getting off scot-free.

However, if a police officer lies he / she risks loosing their job, going to jail, and being banned from the profession. Convictions look good on their record, but most people would be ethically opposed to convicting an innocent person.

In court everyone is innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. A cop saying someone committed a crime doesn’t remove reasonable doubt. I would never make a case for that. But can you honestly not consider someone’s experience and motivation when trying to determine if they are a credible witness?

You’ll probably recognize a ton of people in this video, including Lawrence Krauss, who is speaking in Pittsburgh on Oct. 3. I recommend Googling anyone you don’t already know.

If you like what you hear definately checkout Pittsburgh’s CFI chapter.

I wish I could go, but Youngstown is a bit of a trek for me.  Hopefully, some of you other yinzers can make the trip out there and represent the Burgh, or maybe you know some skeptics in Ohio who’d like to attend.

Here’s the organizers description: 

This will be our first Meetup. Here we will lay out the foundation for our future meetups.

Meet other local freethinkers. Gather to discuss beliefs, philosophy, world issues and art. Read group chosen books and discuss them during Meetups. Plan group trips to museums, musical performances and film showings with intent to intelligently critique the resultant experiences and discuss them with group members. Generally brainstorm and aid others in their own creative projects. And just have a fun time interacting with open-minded, creative, rational people in a pressure free environment.

The Downtown Coffee Cafe is a nice place to go, but depending on our turnout and length of our meetings we may need to consider another place to meet at some point in the future. So the meetup location as well as the meetup time can be refined once we gather a member base. I hope for this to be a fun, creative and intellectual gathering of open-minded people. Hope to see you there.

It wants to distance itself from fundamentalist Christians, who believe in the Biblical account of the creation of the world in seven days.

Wow, the Church of England must be the only rational church in the world.

Dr Brown argues that there is nothing incompatible between the scientific theories adopted by Darwin and Christian teaching.

Nope. Sorry, I hadn’t finished reading the article.

From Break.com

I hope he’s wrong, but either way I’m sure this experiment is going to result in a really kick-ass episode of The Universe.

Just in case all the scientists are wrong and universe does explode, I’m going to eat some trans-fats tomorrow (maybe Arby’s).

Incase you have know idea what I’m talking about, below is a great explanation of the experiment from Brian Greene’s TED presentation.

Skip ahead to about the 16 minute mark if you’re not interested in string theory.

–UPDATE–

After watching the MSNBC people downgrade the LHC story to the “News You Can’t Use,” segment of their morning show, I was happy to see Google’s logo this morning.

I’m normally a defender of the mainstream American media (it’s the capitalist in me), but seriously the BBC News devoted 10 minutes to this and even went live to scientists answering questions. While, everything  I’ve seen from the U.S. media has basically just called it a 10-billion-dollar black-hole maker.