Skeptic March 2020

EDITORIAL / ADVISORY BOARD CONTENTS
Arthur Benjamin
Professor of Mathematics,
Harvey Mudd College, Magician

Roger Bingham
Science Author & Television Essayist

Napoleon Chagnon
Professor of Anthropology, U.C. Santa Barbara
K.C. Cole
Science Writer, Los Angeles Times

Richard Dawkins
Emeritus Professor, University of Oxford

Jared Diamond
Professor of Geography &
Environmental Health Sciences, UCLA

Clayton J. Drees
Professor of History,Virginia Wesleyan College

Mark Edward
Professional Magician & Mentalist

Gregory Forbes
Professor of Biology,
Grand Rapids Community College

John Gribbin
Astrophysicist & Science Writer

William Jarvis
President, National Council Against Health
Fraud, Professor, Loma Linda University

Lawrence M. Krauss
Theoretical Physicist,
Arizona State University

Christof Koch
Professor of Cognitive & Behavioral Biology
California Institute of Technology

William McComas
Director, project to advance Science Education
University of Arkansas

Bill Nye
Executive Director, The Planetary Society
Leonard Mlodinow
Physicist, Caltech

Richard Olson
Professor of History of Science, Harvey
Mudd College, Claremont Graduate School

Donald Prothero
Professor of Geology, Cal Poly, Pomona

Nancy Segal
Professor of Psychology, CSU. Fullerton

Eugenie Scott
(Retired) Executive Director,
National Center for Science Education

Julia Sweeney
Writer, Actor, Comedian

Frank Sulloway
Research Scholar, MIT

Carol Tavris
Social Psychologist / Author

Stuart Vyse
Behavioral Scientist, Author

volume 25 number 1 2020 W W W. S K E P T I C. C O M 3

COLUMNS

4 The SkepDoc

Anti-Aging Myths

by Harriet Hall, M.D.

6 The Gadfly

How Would You Design a

“Code of Conduct”? by Carol Tavris

64 Authors & Contributors

COVER ARTICLE

12 Why People Believe

Conspiracy Theories

by Michael Shermer

MEDITATION

26 Meditation as Ideology

by Kathy Schultheis

27 Meditations on Meditation

A Scientific and Clinical Perspective

by Jefferson M. Fish

DEBATE

40 Why We Are Living

in a Post-Truth Era

by Lee McIntyre

42 The Truth About

Post-Truth Truthiness

by Michael Shermer

ARTICLES

7 Apples and Oranges,

Ants and Humans

The Misunderstood Art of Making

Comparisons by Mark W. Moffett

10 The Phantom Drone Scare

Drone Sightings in the Midwest—But

Rule Outthe Mass Hysteria Explanation

by Robert Bartholomew

17 Biological Beauty

An Adaptive Illusion

by Victor S. Johnston

22 Monopoly and Monopolies

What Board Games Teach Us About

Capitalism and How to Modify It

by Jonathan Kay

35 Integrative Cancer Care

Below the Bar of Science

by Michael Stefanek

and Christina D. Jordan

47 Can We Ever Explain It All?

Eight Key Points from World History

by Chris Edwards

52 Countless Counterfeits

A New Logically Fallacy?

by David Kyle Johnson

REVIEWS

54 Leaving the Garden

A Review of The Genealogical Adam and

Eve: The Surprising Science of Universal

Ancestryby S. Joshua Swamidass.

reviewed by Tim Callahan

56 Ten Years Away...

And Always Will Be

A Review of Artificial Intelligence: A

Guide for Thinking Humansby Melanie

Mitchell. reviewed by Peter Kassan

58 It’s Magic

A Review of The Secret History of Magic:

The True Story of the DeceptiveArtby

Peter Lamont and Jim Steinmeyer.

reviewed by Michelle Ainsworth

61 Houdini Lives

Reviews of The Life and Afterlife of

Harry Houdiniby Joe Posnanski; and

Houdini: The Life and Times of the

World’s Greatest Magicianby Charlotte

Montague. reviewed by Michelle

Ainsworth

JUNIOR SKEPTIC

65 Are You Eating Fake Food?

by Daniel Loxton

ON THE COVER: Conspiracies. A photo illustration

from an original photo by “Who is Danny” (Shutter-

stock), with conspiracy symbols added.