Legends, Lore, and Lies

Description

Legends, Lore, and Lies presents critical readings in five sections–urban legends, alternative medicine, the media’s role in public gullibility, psychics and the paranormal,  and pseudo science–to demonstrate the importance of critical examination and the differences between an opinion or assertion and a supported claim.

LONGMAN TOPICS are brief, thought-provoking readers on a single complex, compelling, topic. Featuring about 30 full-length reading selections, these volumes are generally half the size and half the cost of standard composition readers.

Legends, Lore, and Lies: A Skeptic’s Stance presents intriguing readings in five sections–urban legends, alternative medicine, the media’s role in public gullibility, psychics and the paranormal, and pseudo science–to demonstrate the importance of critical examination and the differences between an opinion or assertion and a supported claim.

Legends, Lore, and Lies offers a wealth of features, including

• Explorations of the powers and limits of skepticism in understanding topics like urban legends and pseudoscience that often are awarded uncritical acceptance in our culture.
• An excellent explanation of skepticism, along with a number of tools that every reader can use to become a critical consumer of information.
• A handful of “believers” point-of-view readings, which students are encouraged to examine with the tools they acquire throughout the text.
• A variety of pedagogical tools including brief author biographies and questions preceding and following the readings that function as writing and discussion prompts.
• End-of-chapter synthesis questions that provide writing suggestions for longer research and inquiry papers.

Preface

Introduction: A Skeptic’s Stance

Carl Sagan, The Burden of Skepticism

1. URBAN LEGENDS

Jan Brunvand,  “Lights Out!” A Faxlore Phenomenon

L. Kirk Hagen, French Follies: Appalling Deception of a 9/11 Conspiracy Theory

Samuel Sass, A Patently False Patent Myth—Still.

Jan Willem Nienhuys, Spontaneous Human Confabulation: Requiem for Phyllis

Richard Roeper, Big Lies on Campus: Exam Scams.

2. MEDIA GULLIBILITY

Science Indicators 2000: Belief in the Paranormal or Pseudoscience, Skeptical Inquirer

Shari Waxman, Mind Over Media

Philip J. Klass , That’s Entertainment! TV’s UFO Coverup

Bryan Farha , Stupid “Pet Psychic” Tricks and the Animal Planet Network

Joe Nickell, Bone Box of Contention: The James Ossuary

Joyce Bynum, Kidnapped by an Alien

3. ALTERNATIVE MEDICINE

Lynn McCutcheon, What’s That I Smell? The Claims of Aromatherapy

James Livingston, Magnetic Therapy: Plausible Attraction

Harriet Hall, Oxygen Is Good—Even When It’s Not There

Harriet Hall, Wired to the Kitchen Sink: Studying Weird Claims for Fun and Profit

Catherine Guthrie, Homeopathy Finally Gets Some Respect

Stephen Barrett, Analysis of Kevin Trudeau’s “Natural Cures” Infomercial

4. PSYCHICS AND THE PARANORMAL

Martin Gardner, Heaven’s Gate: The UFO Cult of Bo and Peep

David E. Thomas, Hidden Messages and the Bible Code

Carl Sagan, The First Crop Circles

Gary P. Posner, A Not So Psychic Detective?

John McCrone, Psychic Powers: What are the Odds?

Sonya Fitzpatrick, The Turtle Jean Lafitte: Adventures of a Pet Psychic

5. PSEUDO SCIENCE

Robert Park, Only Mushrooms Grow in the Dark

Philip Plait, The Disaster that Wasn’t: The Great Planetary Alignment of 2000

Susan Blackmore, Why I Have Given Up

Eugenie Scott, My Favorite Pseudoscience

Stephen Jay Gould, Dr. Down’s Syndrome

Elizabeth Loftus, Remembering Dangerously

• Explores the powers and limits of skepticism in understanding such topics as urban legends, pseudo science, and the paranormal–areas that often are awarded uncritical acceptance in our culture.
• Provides an excellent explanation of skepticism and offers a number of tools that every reader can use to become a critical consumer of information.
• Provides balance through the inclusion of some believer’s point-of-view readings, which students are encouraged to examine with the tools they acquire throughout the text.
• Includes flexible pedagogical apparatus: headnotes to contextualize each reading, and discussion and writing suggestions that can be adapted to help students explore subject areas beyond the reading material.

Legends, Lore, and Lies presents critical readings in five sections–urban legends, alternative medicine, the media’s role in public gullibility, psychics and the paranormal,  and pseudo science–to demonstrate the importance of critical examination and the differences between an opinion or assertion and a supported claim.