Cincinnati Skeptic - Vol 02 No 02 - 1993

Magazine Overview

Title: The Association For Rational Thought News
Issue: Volume 2, No. 2
Date: January, 1993
Publisher: The Association For Rational Thought
Focus: Practicing The Art Of Rational Thinking In Everyday Life, encouraging rational evaluation of fringe-science, pseudo-science, and paranormal claims.

Joe Gastright Goes Ghost-Hunting

This section details Joe Gastright's investigation into a family in Hamilton, Ohio, who reported being troubled by ghosts for seven years. The family, particularly the daughter Kim, believed they were harassed by spirits of the Joseph Symmes family who had previously lived in their late nineteenth-century farmhouse. Incidents included objects being moved, apparitions, and a Ouija board session suggesting a ghost was sexually attracted to Kim. Gastright, the Investigations Officer for A.R.T., interviewed eight family members and listened to their accounts for two and a half hours. He consulted with Robert Baker, a ghost-buster, who suggested a ceremonial exorcism. However, Gastright opted for a more naturalistic approach, working with Kim to explore alternative explanations. He explained how shared belief systems can create a collective haunting experience and how a mother might gain attention and control by fostering ghost stories. He also addressed the psychological mechanisms behind Ouija board phenomena. Gastright concluded that the family's experiences were likely a product of their own beliefs and interpretations, and by helping Kim accept naturalistic explanations, he eased her fear.

The Cincinnati Nature Center Goes Supernatural

Virginia Jergens reported on a series of five lectures held at the Cincinnati Nature Center (CNC) in the fall, which explored "unusual phenomena...hard-to-explain occurrences in the natural world." The CNC, a nonprofit educational organization, presented a mix of scientific and pseudoscientific topics. Four speakers focused on paranormal or pseudoscientific phenomena from a belief-oriented perspective, while one discussed sleep and dreams scientifically. Attendees paid $7.00 per session or $25.00 for the series.

Discussions with CNC staff revealed a division in belief regarding the credibility of the topics. Due to a fear of confrontation, the staff initially avoided presenting scientific counterpoints. However, pressure from A.R.T. members led to lengthy disclaimers before each speaker and a Q&A session at the end of lectures, though questions were not permitted during the talks.

Summaries of the lectures included:

• October 22: Mary Lou Ackerman, a "well-known Cincinnati psychic," claimed to read auras, palms, and cards to describe clients' past, present, and future lives. She also asserted that meditation cures cancer and heart disease, and that thyroid disease can be cured by placing light blue silk over the thyroid gland. Her daughter, she claimed, could pick winning horses with high accuracy. Ackerman charged $35 for a half-hour reading and distributed business cards.
• October 29: Martin Patton, a "certified hypnotherapist," posited that mental and physical illnesses are caused by "possession" by spirits of the dead. His therapy, costing $75 per hour ($115 for the first session), aims to "dispossess" patients. He claimed spirits leave bodies at death, causing them to weigh five pounds more. He also warned nurses about the danger of being "grabbed" by spirits of the recently deceased.
• November 5: Mike Sepate, a sleep disorders expert from Bethesda Sleep Disorder Clinic, delivered a scientifically oriented lecture on sleep and dreams without making extraordinary claims.
• November 12: Noreen Wessling, a "graphoanalyst," claimed that handwriting reveals every nuance of personality and motivation. She suggested that personality could be changed by altering handwriting, such as crossing T's with an ascending stroke. She promoted workshops for $125 and therapy for $75.00 an hour, as well as mail-in analyses for $15.00. The article notes that while handwriting analysis can detect forgeries, it cannot detect personality traits.
• November 12 (Second Speaker): Brian Thompson, who claimed to earn a living doing "electrical wiring" and other jobs, stated he was a graduate of U.C. Medical College but not licensed to practice medicine. He presented excerpts from over 80 audio and visual tapes of individuals recounting abduction memories under hypnosis. Thompson claimed many people are abducted by aliens, who insert implants into brains (evidenced by blood on pillows) and plant "instructions" to prevent disclosure. He asserted that "the military" and "the government" are hiding evidence of alien invasion and labeled CSICOP Fellow Philip J. Klass a "pseudo-skeptic" for suppressing such news.

The article concludes this section by urging readers to write to the CNC to protest the inclusion of unscientific and exploitative programming, providing contact information for Ronald E. Heinlen and James M. Berry.

In Our Own Words: Growing Up Religious Contributes to Rational Understanding

This article, written by A.R.T. member Everett DeJager, responds to a talk by Keith Brabender on the artist's view of science. DeJager discusses his theories on enlightenment, contrasting inspired knowledge with experimentally derived information. He notes that historical figures like Isaac Newton and Albert Einstein had aspects of their beliefs that were not purely rational (alchemy and belief in God, respectively).

DeJager describes his personal journey to skepticism, emphasizing that it is a gradual process of identifying and discarding erroneous beliefs. He recounts his realization that there is no god, which he found to be a lonely but necessary process. He attributes his ability to question religious dogma to his father's decision to leave a strict Calvinist church.

He then explores the idea that a religious background can offer an advantage in understanding rationality. He references a lecture series by the Nathaniel Branden Institute on "Basic Principles of Objectivism." During a discussion on consciousness, DeJager objected to Branden's definition, proposing that consciousness is the function of a living organism that monitors internal and external conditions for survival. He questioned how consciousness could evolve from non-consciousness and where it originated if not from God.

DeJager concludes that the Objectivist concept of consciousness, as presented by Branden, was religious in nature, drawing a parallel to the biblical phrase "In the beginning was the Word." He suggests that many philosophies unknowingly adopt a religious approach, and his religious upbringing helped him recognize this.

Calendar and Officers

The newsletter includes a calendar of upcoming Executive Council Meetings and Regular Monthly Meetings for A.R.T., typically held at Greenwich Tavern & Restaurant on the second Saturday of the month. It also lists the A.R.T. Officers for 1992-93: Keith Brabender (President), Dick McGrath (Vice-President), Peggy Borger (Treasurer), Mary Pacinda (Secretary), Porter Henry (Public Relations), and Joe Gastright (Investigations Officer).

Recurring Themes and Editorial Stance

The recurring themes in this issue are skepticism, critical thinking, and the rational evaluation of paranormal and pseudoscientific claims. The Association For Rational Thought actively promotes scientific investigation and challenges unsubstantiated beliefs. The editorial stance is clearly in favor of evidence-based reasoning and critical analysis, as demonstrated by the reporting on ghost investigations, pseudoscientific lectures, and philosophical discussions on rationality and belief systems. The publication encourages public engagement in promoting rational thinking, particularly in educational settings like the Cincinnati Nature Center.