The Ethics of Paranormal Investigation, Part 2 of 2
July 30, 2011 2 Comments
A continuation of my discussion about the panel I moderated at The Amazing Meeting, on the ethics of paranormal investigation:
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That is really odd that explaining how a mentalist trick is done would make a person say, the next time they saw it, “That’s gotta be real!”. I wonder if that is in any way related to how giving countering facts to try and topple a person’s beliefs sometimes only makes them believe more strongly.
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Another ethical issue is conflicts of interest. A number of prominent skeptics and scientists, like Michael Shermer, James Alcock, and Stephen Barrett of Quackwatch are listed as science advisers to the industry-friendly American Committee on Science and Health (ACSH).
http://www.acsh.org/about/pageid.89/default.asp
When Skeptical Inquirer editor and UFO debunker Kendrick Frazier was “outed” by his brother as a PR specialist at Sandia National Laboratories, it looked like an undisclosed conflict of interest.