Category: Skeptical Article – vic skeptics

January 18, 2017

The Great Debate: Evolution vs Creationism

This article first appeared as a Vic Skeptics discussion pamphlet and was first posted here in March 2011.

With Charles Darwin’s impending 208th birthday on February 12 it seems appropriate to revisit it.

By PTH

One of the many amazing stories in the Bible is the story of The Great Flood.

Before The Great Flood Noah was commanded by his God to build an ark (a large boat) and to collect a pair of all the animals on Earth. The Great Flood wiped out all the other animals, including humans, and those on Noah’s Ark repopulated the Earth after the flood subsided.

Given our present knowledge of evolution, genetics, geology, physics and archeology, few people, even practising Christians, believe the story to be literally true. However there are some people who insist that all the Bible stories are literally true. As well as the story of Noah’s Ark they also believe that:

 The Earth and all living things on it were created in six 24-hour days.

 This occurred about 10,000 years ago.

 All present day animals are descended from those on Noah’s Ark.

 The theory of evolution is incorrect because it is not consistent with the Bible stories.

These are the fundamental beliefs of Creationism. But why are the religious beliefs of Creationists of concern to scientists? Does it matter if people’s religious beliefs are in disagreement with scientific knowledge?

View More The Great Debate: Evolution vs Creationism

3 Comments
October 12, 2016

Lynne Kelly

13700193_1054121704666480_7843799502333502259_nDr Lynne Kelly is one of the more interesting people to be encountered among the Australian Skeptical community. She’s a writer, researcher and science educator, as well as being a foundation member of Australian Skeptics.

Lynne tends not to follow stereotypes. Her first tertiary qualification was in Engineering; armed with this, she began a teaching career in government secondary schools. On the way she co-authored a series of Maths text books. She later branched into extension education for gifted children. Her 1994 book Challenging Minds: Thinking Skills and Enrichment Activities is one result of that period.

View More Lynne Kelly

1 Comment
August 31, 2016

A Skeptic’s Guide to Bible Codes

This article first appeared as a Vic Skeptics discussion pamphlet and was first posted here in March 2011.

 by Peter Barrett, Canberra Skeptics, updated by Ken Greatorex

In the late 1990s, a book called “The Bible Code” was published. Its author, Michael Drosnin, claimed that a high-powered computer program had uncovered a large number of secret messages in the Jewish Bible (the Christian Old Testament). The most amazing claim was that a few years before the book’s publication, this program had discovered that the then Prime Minister of Israel, Yitzakh Rabin, faced assassination. Several months after Drosnin and his partners warned him, Mr Rabin was assassinated. View More A Skeptic’s Guide to Bible Codes

No Comments
July 9, 2016

A Skeptic’s Guide to Life In the Universe

This article first appeared as a Vic Skeptics discussion pamphlet and again here in December 2010.
The full range of our discussion pamphlets can be downloaded from our  USEFUL INFO  page.

 by Peter Barrett, (Canberra Skeptics), updated 2016 by Ken Greatorex

It’s one of the great questions: is there life elsewhere in the universe, apart from the Earth? Skeptics would say, “Almost certainly, but at the moment we don’t know how likely it might be.”

Life thrives on Earth, particularly in the tropical and temperate latitudes. Life exists even in the harsh desert and polar regions. But most importantly, life has been found to exist in places previously thought inhospitable, such as inside rocks in the dry valleys of Antarctica or around geothermal vents, where the water is boiling hot. The fact that life can survive in such unlikely places dramatically increases the range of potential habitats for life elsewhere. So are there places where life could exist elsewhere in our own Solar System?

View More A Skeptic’s Guide to Life In the Universe

1 Comment
June 20, 2016

A Skeptic’s Guide to Dowsing

This article first appeared as a Vic Skeptics discussion pamphlet and again here in 2010.
The full range of our discussion pamphlets can be downloaded from our  USEFUL INFO page.

Dowsing, (also known as Divining) is widely practised in Australia. Dowsers claim the ability to detect useful substances in the ground using processes which are not able to be explained by current scientific principles.

The most frequently dowsed substance in drought-prone Australia is water. Many Australians can claim a friend or relative who is a water-diviner.

Australian Skeptics have long been interested in dowsing. It clearly lies within the range of paranormal activities which come under scrutiny. Australian Skeptics offer a sum of money, (currently $100,000) to anyone who can demonstrate paranormal ability of any kind. Our only stipulation is that candidates must pass a proper scientific test, the protocols of which have been agreed upon by all parties before the test commences. Most acceptors of this challenge have been water-diviners; probably because they are genuine people who believe in their abilities, and are as interested in being tested as we are to test them.

View More A Skeptic’s Guide to Dowsing

1 Comment
May 16, 2016

A Skeptic’s Guide to Firewalking

This article first appeared here in 2010. It is also available as a classroom discussion pamphlet.
The full range of our discussion pamphlets (and much more) can be downloaded from our  USEFUL INFO page.

What is Firewalking?

Typically, firewalking involves walking with bare feet across a level bed of hot glowing coals, the remnant of a wood fire. On the Pacific Islands, heated stones are substituted for coals. View More A Skeptic’s Guide to Firewalking

1 Comment
May 6, 2016

Traditional Chinese Medicine at RMIT: roll up and start a new life in woo

RMIT Open Day TCM 2015

by: Mal Vickers

Imagine you’re in the midst of the stress of VCE and facing those life-changing questions: What do I do with my life? Which university course should I do? You’d want accurate and reliable information, right?

Sadly I witnessed an audience of impressionable, aspiring young people who were considering career moves being given poor information by an Australian university.

In August 2015, I sat in on RMIT’s Open Day presentations promoting a degree courses in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM). By the look of the demographic in attendance, most were Year 12 students. About one quarter looked to be the parents, with a few possible mature-age students and one known skeptic, MOI.

Young people are going to be exposed to misleading information and dubious advertising in society, that’s a given. As a society, we’re already taking up a lot of valuable educational time in teaching science and critical thinking, but class time is limited. How much time should we devote to educating students about the many ways people can be misled?
View More Traditional Chinese Medicine at RMIT: roll up and start a new life in woo

1 Comment
April 30, 2016

A Skeptic’s Guide to Astrology

This is an edited repost of an article which first appeared here in August 2010. You can also download a similar classroom discussion pamphlet (and a lot more) from our USEFUL INFO page.

The basic proposition of Western Astrology is that your personality and fate are influenced by the apparent positions and motions of heavenly bodies. View More A Skeptic’s Guide to Astrology

3 Comments
April 21, 2016

A Skeptic’s Guide to Conspiracy Theories

This article first appeared as a Vic Skeptics discussion pamphlet.
The full range of our discussion pamphlets (and a lot more) can be downloaded from our USEFUL INFO page.

A Skeptic’s Guide to

by Peter Barrett, Canberra Skeptics (2016 edit by Ken Greatorex)

Test 1: Is the argument factually correct?

It’s remarkable how many conspiracy theories are based on arguments which are simply factually incorrect. If you’re presented with a conspiracy theory argument, check the facts.

[Sites such as

http://www.snopes.com/

http://urbanlegends.about.com/

https://www.truthorfiction.com/

are useful here.]

Many incorrect arguments are repeated in ignorance. But there are also some people who knowingly repeat conspiracy arguments they know are wrong. View More A Skeptic’s Guide to Conspiracy Theories

2 Comments
January 10, 2016

An Australian Skeptic’s Guide to Numerology

This article first appeared as a Vic Skeptics discussion pamphlet;
(See the “Useful Info” link at the top of this page.) A version also appeared on this site in 2010. However, we’ve had a few celebrities come and go since then, including several Australian Prime Ministers; so an update seems indicated.

People are all different, with different personalities, talents and desires. Numerology probably harks back to pre-Christian Hebrew mystic writing. That’s not surprising, as back then, the first letter of their alphabet also stood for the number one, and so on. View More An Australian Skeptic’s Guide to Numerology

1 Comment