I Speak of Dreams

Meetup

So I am behind the info curve. (What else is new?) I just ran across Meetup. Might make my life more interesting.

Excellent article on how to evaluate claims

Characteristics of Quack Claims

Listening to the frequent discussions over controversial empirical claims, an unsophisticated reader could easily walk away with the view that only tradition and prejudice separate the sparring factions. Such a reader might think that most scientists cast a skeptical eye on paranormal phenomena, the claims for homeopathic dilution, the idea that the earth is relatively young, etc., merely because these scientists were taught opposing claims. As one poster's signature would have it, such critics merely engage in "school of thought bashing."

I think this view is wrong. I think it stems, in part, from an inadequate understanding of how to evaluate evidence. The evidential claims for many of these controversial notions exhibit common flaws. They are the kinds of flaws that scientists recognize from many, many past failures. It is this history of dead ends which seduced previous researchers with flawed evidence that informs the way scientists evaluate the evidential claims accompanying these controversial notions.

">Go on, read the rest

Another confused homeopath

Dr. Mirman, Dr. Mirman, just proclaiming something is true does not make it true.

Hello everybody. Thank you for visiting. The primary purpose of this site is to educate about Homeopathy. Homeopathy is serious science and as such deserves a serious explanation. I attempted to provide such an explanation in my booklet Demystifying Homeopathy.

Repeat after me, there is no reputable evidence that homeopathy works.

Killing the Buddha

As Captain Jack says, "Interesting"

Killing the Buddha is a religion magazine for people made anxious by churches, people embarrassed to be caught in the "spirituality" section of a bookstore, people both hostile and drawn to talk of God. It is for people who somehow want to be religious, who want to know what it means to know the divine, but for good reasons are not and do not. If the religious have come to own religious discourse it is because they alone have had places where religious language could be spoken and understood. Now there is a forum for the supposedly non-religious to think and talk about what religion is, is not and might be. Killing the Buddha is it.

Parents' attitudes make the private school admissions process more painful for kids.

[this was originally published in the Country Almanac March 22, 2000. The Almanac does not archive letters to the editor.

How parents distort the admissions process.

I read Kim Glenn's letter published in the Almanac March with great dismay.
She wrote about her perceptions of the admissions process for private secondary schools. In it she wrote, "... envelopes ... are opened to reveal who is best. Just the notion that another group of people, most unknown to us on a personal basis, are passing judgment as to who is the best is astonishing to me ... Our fragile self-esteem, parents as well as children, rests in the mailbox ... my child or yours will or will not get into the school of their choice, based on an evaluation by people who may not share any of your perceptions or values. But whatever you may value about your child -- that special sparkle, great athletic prowess, stellar test scores or a kind and gentle nature -- may not have value for the school to which they have applied."

Ms. Glenn seems to think that admissions committees for private schools are faceless, sadistic individuals who like nothing more than the chance to humiliate and reject children.

She also thinks that a school's failure to admit a child means that the school finds no value in that child's special qualities.

Ms. Glenn's attitudes are a perversion of the admissions process. I have had the privilege of serving on the

Dolivaxil can't "cure" anything.

(Update 10/29/2004: More on Dolivaxil's effectiveness)

I get a lot of searches for things about homeopathy. Following back this one, I got:

Dolivaxil is our #1 remedy to prevent the flu. Safer than other methods to prevent the flu. Safe to use for all ages. Unlike vaccine, there are no contradictions to prevent safe use of Dolivaxil. Each box of Dolivaxil contains the complete treatment for 1 person. Take 1 vial of tiny pellets once a week for 4 weeks. Wait 3 weeks and take the final vial. That's it! Avoid the dangers of the flu shot. We receive many requests now from many families who used Dolivaxil successfully last year. Think of the savings in doctor visits, missed school and work, and worthless over the counter treatments. Includes 5 vials and instructions on how to use to prevent the flu. Purchase one box per person when using as a vaccination alternative. Homeopathy works with your body and strengthens your immune system!

How many misstatements of truth can you find in that paragraph?

Repeat after me: there is no proof that homeopathy works in any way to do anything other than making your wallet lighter.

The quack homeopathic expensive waterremedy referenced above is a product of the Dolisos group, which is a subsidiary of the French health care giant Pierre Fabre

Frances Hodgson Burnett Classics: The Secret Garden and A Little Princess.

I think every girl should read, or have read to her, these books. Yes, they are goopy Victorian morality tales, but they are also well-written stories with stout-hearted heroines.

I can't remember which I encountered first, my mother's edition of A Little Princess, (that's actually the link to the Tasha Tudor edition of the 1960s),

Tangerine, by Edward Bloor

Tangerine is a remarkable novel.  It is stuck in the Young Adult ghetto, being narrated by a boy entering middle school, but it is a remakably mature novel of secrets uncovered, hidden strengths cultivated, and the courage to speak.

Speak: Laurie Halse Anderson

Attention Readers!  I am not Laurie Halse Anderson.  Sending me e-mail (ponytrax at batnet dot com) just annoys me and doesn't answer your questions.  Ms. Anderson has a website:

http://www.writerlady.com

Speak, the book, has a page:

http://www.writerlady.com/speak.html

There's even a lesson plan (I haven't a clue if it is useful, go look for yourself):

http://www.viterbo.edu/personalpages/faculty/GSmith/LessonPlanforSpeak.htm

And now, we return to what I wrote originally:

A fine young adult novel on the pain of entering highschool with a secret, trying to fit in, and developing the courage to speak the truth.

My daughter and I listened to it on tape over the course of a long drive, which in some ways was better than Al reading it herself, as we could talk over the writer's style, and the issues she brought up, as we went.

Highly recommended to readers grade 6 and above.  I also recommend that parents read this book with their children and discuss the issues.

Peter Dickinson: The Changes

Peter Dickinson is a fine writer, who I believe is underappreciated. He wrote a series of young adult novels in the late 1960s and early 1970s called, collectively, The Changes. I highly recommend the series to any reader who enjoys either the Harry Potter novels or Diana Wynne Jones's works. These are darker and more edgy than DWJ's Chrestomanci books, but each comes to a redemption in the end.

He wrote the last, The Weathermonger, first; the middle, Hearts-ease, next, and the first book (in terms of chronology) last: The Devil's Children.