Cheating

I've been battling to find time for blogging for a while now. Rather than stopping, I've decided to abbreviate my blog posts and then expand them when I find the time.

This post is a brief commentary on Lewis Hamilton and McLaren's cheating at the Australian F1 Grand Prix. Under amateur codes the ideas of fair play and fair competition are held in high esteem, although it would be naive to believe that gaining an unfair advantage and even cheating do not happen. In professional sport such practices seem much more common, even if officially frowned upon. Hamilton and McLaren's blatent lying while seeing their opponent being punished unfairly, while at the same time facing almost certain exposure, seems particularly cold-blooded and at the same time stupidly irrational.


Image from Top F1 Galleries.

Dan Ariely has some interesting ideas on the psychology and behavioural economics of cheating. See his excellent talk an this issue on video here.

Hat tip to Vaughan from Mind Hacks for pointing me to the Ariely video.

Traumatized

On Sky News today, some obscure celebrity fashion designer gushed about how she is "traumatized" by global warming. "Traumatized" has become a fad word, overused and often meaningless. Parents have also picked up on this fad and I've had a number complain that their children had been traumatized by trivial incidents at school.

The first time parents complained to me that their child had been traumatized at school, I steeled myself to have to deal with molestation or physical assault, necessitating calling the police. It turned out that little Johny, sitting in my office trying to look suitably traumatized, fell over a school bag after he was shoved by little girl whom he was pestering - no medical certificate was produced and no bruises were visible. They were not impressed when I refused their demand for the girl to be suspended.

Since then I've had to deal with traumatized parents and children on a regular basis. Needles to say, more often than not, the events that led to the trauma were nothing more than common everyday niggles. Trying to explain to such parents that they're teaching their children to cry wolf and that the children may end up unable to deal with the vicissitudes of life, is often futile.

Critical thinking, arguments and argument mapping

Dr. Steven Novella's Neurologica blog recently featured a tutorial on conducting arguments (in a critical thinking sense). There are many of such tutorials on the web, but his is especially valuable because it has useful examples related to quackery and pseudoscience. He covers some basic logic and also offers information on logical fallacies, valuable again because they are especially applicable to many of the issues covered in Occam's Donkey.

Dr. Novella's tutorial, read with A practical guide to critical thinking by Greg Haskins, provides a good basic introduction to critical thinking. This can be further supplemented by using argument mapping software. Austhink developed two good argument mapping programmes, Rationale for the educational market and bCisive for the business market. Both can be obtained free for a trial period.

Other good resources can be found at Austhink's Critical Thinking on the Web and The Skeptic's Dictionary. Carl Sagan's The Fine Art of Baloney Detection from his book The Demon Haunted World, is available online at various websites and is also a good read.

"The whole art of government consists in being honest"

Hat tip to Ron Anger, the editor of Magnum (a South African gun magazine), for most of the ideas in this post, which is based on his April 2009 editorial.

Anger tells the story of Thomas Jefferson, the third American president, who after his inauguration returned to his lodgings to find that there was no space left at the dinner table. He retired to his room without dinner, accepting that he received no special treatment. I say no more.

Anger continues with a quote from Thomas Jefferson:

"The whole art of government consists in being honest."

I again say no more.

Anger then suggests that vote-seeking politicians be challenged to answer "True" or "False" to Jefferson's words. If "False", don't vote for them. If "True", ask them how they and their their party would re-introduce honesty to government.

I would add that I would vote for any politician of any party who exemplified the Jeffersonian qualities of honesty, modesty and self-sacrifice. I realise that sadly, if those are my standards, I would probably vote for no-one, not even myself (at least I'm honest, although there seems to be a logical contradiction here).

Mind Myth 8: What about quantum physics!?

Much quacking mischief has been caused in the names of a trio of scientific impostors, pop-neuroscience, postmodernism and quantum quackery. From pop-neuroscience the idea that the brain is as easily manipulable as a yo-yo on a string; from post-modernism the idea that there is no objective reality and that any viewpoint is as valid as any other; from quantum quackery the idea that our thoughts can influence the physical world and change our destiny (without behavioural intervention).

Much of pop-neuroscience has been exposed comprehensively as pseudoscience, as documented on this blog in the previous mind myth posts. Scientists such as Alan Sokal in the famous Sokal affair exposed post-modernism as an emperor with no clothes and it has been on the wane, except in pockets of academia. Quantum quackery has also been exposed as nonsense by scientists such as Robert Park and Victor Stenger, but because of the very complexity of the science of quantum physics it claims to be based upon, and the support of guru quacks such as Deepak Chopra, continues to deceive many. It's often said that even physicists struggle to understand quantum physics. I'm not a physicist, but based on the work of others more knowledgeable than I am, I'll try to demonstrate that the science of quantum physics offers no scientific basis for various nonsensical ideas of mind-matter interaction.

I have often experienced the following scenario, as I'm sure have most skeptics who sometimes find themselves engaged in arguments with people espousing "alternative" views of scientific reality. After all the person's arguments had been exposed as lacking evidence and scientific credibility, he (or she) would get a faraway in his eyes, then pose the clinching question: "But what about quantum physics?" My typical exasperated response would be: "Quantum physics has nothing to do with it!" A useless response, because normally his mind's been made up and arguments about the irrelevance of Heisenberg, the measurement problems, entanglement, and so forth (half of which I did not understand in any case, and most of which I am sure he did not understand), would have made no difference.

What is quantum physics and how is it different from (or rather, how does it complement) classical Newtonian physics (which is a special case of Einsteins general general theory of relativity). These are not simple questions and on a brief Google search I could find no succinct answers, possibly for the simple reason that there are none. Let me, however, for present purposes and at the grave risk of oversimplifying it, try:

Newtonian physics, primarily characterised by Newton's laws of motion, is mathematically precise and deterministic. It is applicable mainly to macroscopic objects, from golf balls to planets.

Quantum physics, primarily characterised by paradoxes inherent in the dual nature of light as particle and wave, is best described mathematically as probabilistic. It is applicable to the very small, the universe of atomic and sub-atomic particles.

So, how does this tie in with quantum quackery? Wikipedia offers a useful definition:

"Quantum mysticism is the claim that the laws of quantum mechanics incorporate mystical ideas similar to those found in certain religious traditions or New Age beliefs. It is descended from the measurement problem – the seemingly special role which observers play in quantum mechanics. The related term quantum quackery has been used pejoratively by skeptics to discount claims that quantum theory might support mystical beliefs, while quantum mysticism has been used as a more neutral description of ideas that blend the ideas of eastern mysticism and quantum physics."

while an astrophysicist writing under the pseudonym Moonflake in the blog Smoke & Mirrors, described its origins:

"Historically, all this quantum flapdoodle began with Niels Bohr’s interpretation of quantum mechanics, the famous Copenhagen Interpretation, and Erwin Schrodinger’s response to it, the even more famous Schrodinger’s Cat thought experiment. Most people interpret these to mean that all reality is interconnected, including the human mind, and that the conscious observer is able to affect reality by will alone. Some take it even further and take it to mean that we actually create reality with our thoughts."

So, what about quantum physics makes quacks and New Age fluffy bunnies (Dave Snowden's term) so excited? First is the so-called measurement or observation phenomenon.

The measurement problem

Stephen Hawking in his book (with Leonard Mlodinow) A Briefer History of Time (Hawking Light so that even I can understand), explains this well. In order to predict the future state (position and velocity) of a particle, its initial state has to be known. The initial state can be determined by shining light on it. Light being both particle and wave, will limit the accuracy of the measurement to not better than the distance between its wave crests. You cannot use a small arbitrary amount of light, at least one packet of light (one quantum as determined by Planck's quantum hypothesis) has to be used. As predicted by Heisenberg in his famous Uncertainty Principle, the packet of light will disturb the particle being measured. The more accurate the position of the particle is measured, the less accurate can its speed be determined and vice versa. The speed or position becomes a matter of probability.

How do you get from the firing of a quantum of light to determine the position of a subatomic particle to the notion of conscious thought influencing reality? Surely an individual thinking about or observing a subatomic particle, does not emit a quantum of light in the process? The idea that the eyes emit rays when seeing dates back to Augustine and before. If anyone still believed it today, it would surely be on par with belief in a flat earth. Yet, that is exactly the implication of quantum quacks' belief that thoughts influence reality, based upon the measurement issue in quantum physics. There is is to my knowledge no scientific evidence to support such ideas.

This post is work in progress. I'm writing out of my area of expertise and with time limits due to work commitments. I'll welcome any expert comments (even comments for true believers in quantum mysticism).

For now I close with a quote from the physicist Robert Park from his book Voodoo Science:

"Where once the magician in his robes would have called forth the spirits, the pseudoscientist invokes quantum mechanics, relativity, and chaos."

Useful links:

Victor Stenger Quantum Quackery
Wikipedia Quantum mysticism
Smoke & Mirrors Midweek Cuckoo: Quantum Quackery
Smoke & Mirrors Quantum Quackery follow up - the culprits
SA Skeptics Society Body Talk & Quantum Quackery
General Relativity & Newtonian Physics
Quantum Mechanics
Special Relativity

Google, Google on the wall ...

In a recent post on Green Chameleon, Patrick Lambe posed the question:

"Google, Google on the wall ... Who's the Guru-est of them all?"

Well, Google as the 21st century magic mirror seems an apt simile - and you'd need a magic mirror to identify the guru-est guru. Peter Drucker, who resented being called a guru, once remarked that:

"I have been saying for many years that we are using the word ‘guru’ only because ‘charlatan’ is too long to fit into a headline."

Should I free-associate on the word "guru", the first word that would come to mind would be "bullshitter". I have to concede, however, that many to whom the term may be applied, would prefer it not te be and may in fact be legitimate experts in a legitimate fields of expertise.

In the context of this blog, I'm more concerned with quackery than gurury (no, I don't think such a word exists, I've just made it up). So ...

"Google, Google on the wall ... What's the Quack-est of them all?"

Let's consider only controversial techniques/approaches/devices that featured in this blog the past year.

First, just off the top of my head, the criteria I would use to label something quackery:

A lack of scientific plausibility

The misapplication of popularised science, i.e. quantum physics, hemispheric asymmetry

Promoted through hyperbole and quacking (if it quacks like a duck, it's a duck)

Appeal to false authority - the authority of the original contriver has to be accepted, even though he or she has no specialised knowledge of the putative underlying science

A granfalloon - have established a meaningless structure, preying on the greed and gullibility of significant numbers of its own "consultants" and on the desperateness and gullibility of its clients

The candidates are:

Brain Gym

Genetic Brain Profiling

Human Pin Code

Bio-Strath (for ADHD)

Quantum Xrroid Consciousness Interface, or SCIO/QXCI

The number of hits on Google, the modern magic mirror, suggested the quackest quackery. It was done by googling the name of the approach, combined with the label "quack". No, I don't claim this to be research and certainly not science.

The quackest of them all according to Google is Brain Gym (539 hits), followed by the first princess, the Quantum Xrroid Consciousness Interface - SCIO/QXCI (207 hits). Google has spoken.

The Midmar Mile: Will it make the Guinness Book of Records?

Swimming the Midmar. Image from Flickr, thanks to Andrew Tweddle

My youngest son, Dieter, and I just swam our first Midmar Mile. Reported to be the largest open water swim in the world, this year around 16 000 swimmers participated. The organisers have applied for recognition in the Guinness Book of Records. The Midmar is held in high regard by swimmers, as this quote by Sam Greetham, a 2008 World Open Water Swimming Man of the Year nominee, shows:

"Nothing I have seen comes anywhere near the Midmar Mile. Both in terms of the number of participants, tip-top organization, security and safety aspects, and the interaction between the participants and the public."

Well, we survived the melee at the start (two weeks ago I was left with a black eye after a rough start in another open water swim) and the swim itself was fairly comfortable. Dieter completed it in 32 minutes and I in 38 minutes, which placed each of us approximately half-way in our respective categories of boys 14 to 16 years and veteran men 51 to 60 years.

Shall we do it again? Time will tell, but at this stage my main impression is that dam swimming is for Platanna's (literally "flat Anna", an African frog well-known for its role in pregnancy tests).

A Platanna. Image from Encyclopaedia Brittanica.

Aide Memoire 6 February 2009

Young teens really are shortsighted, but don't blame impulsivity from ScienceDaily shows that teens are shortsighted more due to immaturity in the brain systems that govern sensation seeking than to immaturity in the brain systems responsible for self-control.

It's hard work that fosters responsibility in teen programmes from ScienceDaily shows that it's not the fun and games of these programs but the tough tasks that are most likely to foster responsibility and self-discipline.

Amid rising childhood obesity, preschoolers found to be inactive from ScienceDaily shows that preschoolers (at nursery schools) are inactive for much of their preschool day. The study also finds that teachers very rarely encourage children to be more physically active.

Never ending childhood from MindBlog by Deric Bownds about "... our new scientific understanding of neural plasticity and gene regulation, along with the global spread of schooling, will let us remain children forever — or at least for much longer."

Mental deficiency: Gene mutations that affect learning, memory in children identified from ScienceDaily. A genetic mutation in the most common variety, non-syndromic mental deficiency (NSMD).

Your local police are unscientific from Socratic Gadfly about a report on the lack of an evidence base for forensic science.

Legal chill from LBC 97.3 over Jeni Barnetts MMR scaremongering from BadScience by Ben Goldacre about lawyers trying to silence him.

Colours affect mental performance, with blue boosting creativity from BPS Research Digest about the effect of colour on cognition.

Psychosocial stress inhibits prefrontal function from MindBlog by Deric Bownds.

Forget Sarah Palin, Lorenzo's the real deal from Donald Clark Plan B by Donald Clark about evidence-supported educational reform that (gasp) really works.

$10 laptop - India leads the way, again from Donald Clark Plan B by Donald Clark. Thoughts on a netbook for every child and points out the hopeless implementation of ICT in schools resulting in the wheel being re-invented all the time.

The best time to teach "21st century skills" is after school from Flypaper by Mike Petrilli. Argues that skills in sport and subjects such as mathematics and even history should not be neglected for so-called 21st century skills.

How not to argue from Neurological by Steven Novella. A useful discussion on argument, logical fallacies, etc.

The Ritalin generation from The Frontal Cortex by Jonah Lehrer. A balanced science-based discussion on the use of psychostimulants for ADD.

Olympic athletes reveal their mental strategies from BPS Research Digest. Re. modern pentathlon.

Aide Memoire 31 January 2009

This is the first Aide Memoire in Occam's Donkey. It is aimed at reminding me of a variety of material that may be useful in future blog posts, also of information that may be some other use or just interesting. Readers of my blog will also find valuable links to material that I may never get around to blogging about.

Complex beginnings from Mind Hacks by Vaughan traces early thinking about the concept "complex" in Psychology. He has some interesting thought about Carl Jung.

Reconstructing the brain in action: Motor re-programming from Developing Intelligence about reductionism in neuroscience and motor re-programming.

Games result in real learning from Donald Brown Plan B about enhancing learning through games.

Concussion In Former Athletes Can Affect Mental And Physical Processes Later In Life from ScienceDaily.

Giant killing from Mind Hacks by Vaughan about big pharmaceutical companies being caught out doing off-label marketing.

Google Google on the wall... Who's the Guru-est of them all? from Green Chameleon by Patrick Lambe about the criteria for determining the greatest leadership guru of them all. (Tongue-in-the-cheek).

Eating dirt is good for you from Deric Bownds' MindBlog reports on the negative effect on children's immune systems (lasting into adulthood) of too hygienic and sterile environments.

Is technology producing a decline in critical thinking and analysis? This title from ScienceDaily is self evident.

Lessons from Bob Woodward: A call for evidence-based management. Bob Sutton supports a call for Pres. Barack Obama to follow the principles of evidence-based management.

The straight dope on learning styles from Mind Hacks by Tom Stafford. A balanced look at learning styles.

Physically fit kids do better at school. From ScienceDaily, self0evident.

Buffett from Frontal Cortex by Jonah Lehrer about Warren Buffett and Colin Powell recognising the importance to distinguish what you know from wat you don't know (an acknowledging wat you don't know".

Marching to the beat of the same drummer improves teamwork by ScienceDaily. On the value of synchronized activities to improve teamwork.

War trauma and brain impact from Mind Hacks by Vaughan. On PTSD in war. Thoughts on EMDR and NLP.

The connectome from Frontal Cortex by Jonah Lehrer on "slicing" the brain. Also an interesting discussion on an inductive vs. deductive model of science. Points out that the brain is so complex that generating theories a priory does not work.

How to avoid procrastination: Think concrete from PsyBlog by Jeremy. Self-evident.

Require new congressment to undergo science training from Socratic Gadfly. Reports on a call for British MP's to be trained in science and suggests extending to congressmen.

Towards a Post-Newtonian era in Psychology: SIMPLE from Developing Intelligence by Chris Chatham. On reductionism and complexity in Psychology.

Spaced practice in learning - at last! from Donald Clark Plan B by Donald Clark. Overjoyed to find that someone in education is at last applying scientific principles of learning.

Unstructured play from The Frontal Cortex by Jonah Lehrer on the value of unstructured play and daydreaming for young children.

President Obama on parental responsibility in education

We have a new American president and I hope he'll be a great one. From President Obama's brilliant Inaugural Address:

"Our challenges may be new, the instruments with which we meet them may be new, but those values upon which our success depends, honesty and hard work, courage and fair play, tolerance and curiosity, loyalty and patriotism -- these things are old.

These things are true. They have been the quiet force of progress throughout our history.

What is demanded then is a return to these truths. What is required of us now is a new era of responsibility -- a recognition, on the part of every American, that we have duties to ourselves, our nation and the world, duties that we do not grudgingly accept but rather seize gladly, firm in the knowledge that there is nothing so satisfying to the spirit, so defining of our character than giving our all to a difficult task.

This is the price and the promise of citizenship."

Trusting that his words were not just political rhetoric, South Africans could do worse than to take note and apply them here. Such words, if acted upon, could restore the soul of a nation, not only America, but also South Africa.

Educational issues are obviously to a large extent country and culture specific, but Obama's view elsewhere on parental responsibility and is universally applicable (from Flypaper, the blog of the Fordham Foundation):

"There is no program and no policy that can substitute for a parent who is involved in their child’s education from day one. There is no substitute for a parent who will make sure their children are in school on time and help them with their homework after dinner and attend those parent-teacher conferences... And I have no doubt that we will still be talking about these problems in the next century if we do not have parents who are willing to turn off the TV once in awhile and put away the video games and read to their child. Responsibility for our children’s education has to start at home. We have to set high standards for them and spend time with them and love them. We have to hold ourselves accountable."

A commenter to the blog expanded on this with the following:

"Poorly educated parents can’t help their kids write a research essay or solve an algebra problem, but they should be able to set a time for homework or reading, enforce a bedtime, limit TV on school nights, teach manners and self-control to their children. Most can read aloud to young children or listen to them read."

As a school principal I can only concur.

Bullshit Blue Monday

Today (19 January 2009) is "officially" Blue Monday Day, the worst day of the year. I'm not sure whether it applies to the Southern Hemisphere though. It is "calculated" by means of a "mathematical" formula by a Dr. Cliff Arnall. The formula reads as follows:

where:

W = weather; d = debt; T = time since Christmas; Q = time since failing our new year’s resolutions; m = low motivational levels; Na = the feeling of a need to take action

D is not specified and no units are mentioned. My mathematics is somewhat rusty, but if this is considered mathematics, the discipline has surely changed since my varsity days.

Some apparently take the Blue Monday idea quite seriously. Vaughan from Mind Hacks reported on a transparent attempt by Green Communications, the PR company promoting it for mental health reasons, to anonymously delete criticism of the idea from Wikipedia. Vaughan (I think) has appropriately re-named the day Bullshit Blue Monday. Mind Hacks had a number of interesting posts on the Blue Monday idea up to now during January 2009.

Well, I thought to get in on the act and make Bullshit Blue Monday applicable to the Southern Hemisphere and the restaurant and the end of the universe, if you happen to be there. I have slightly changed Arnall's formula for universal application. As can be seen below, I have added a Quantum Consciousness Constant (QCC) to the formula. By just thinking about your current or preferred location, your thoughts will instantly through quantum mechanics generate the QCC and synchronize Bullshit Blue Monday over time and space with that location. Be careful though, it could ruin your day!

Have a good Bullshit Blue Monday, wherever you are!

Those English are crazy!

Mad dogs and Englishmen ..., the song goes. Or to (mis)quote Obelix: "Those English are crazy!" Like in political correctness outweighs common sense crazy.


Consider these (possibly unrelated, certainly not causally related) issues:

Fairytales scare English parents

English teachers hesitant to restrain violent nursery school children for fear of being sued

More than 4 000 children aged 2 to 5 expelled fron English schools

Yes, I know that the Scots and Welsh would have me keelhauled for lumping them with the English, but from far-off South Africa all Poms look the same.

Fairytales are the latest victims of politically correct Pom parents. The Mail Online carried this list of the fairytales that English parents found less appealing.


Snow White is not PC, apparently because it is not nice to talk about dwarfs (I thought the dwarfs in Snow White referred to mythical creatures, i.e. knomes). Cinderella does not make it either, I suppose the USSA (Ugly Stepsisters Association) complained. Little Red Riding Hood? Way too scary for sensitive little ears. For the life of me, however, I can't imagine what the problem would be with the Emperor's New Clothes.

Consider that many of the fairytales we know are already heavily sanitized versions of traditional fairytales as captured by the Grimm brothers. Fairytales are typically good stories with good storylines, heroes, villains, tension, the possibility of exploring different outcomes, different storylines and so forth. I've never read one of the new favourite stories, The Very Hungry Caterpillar, but I somehow doubt it has these features of a good story.

In considering the role of fairytales in childhood, a starting point can be Bruno Bettelheim's The Uses of Enchantment. Be aware though of its Freudian slant.

As a passing shot, please read the origin of the story about British parents' views on fairytales on the TheBabyWebsite.com. Note that their survey showed that only one in four British moms rejected traditional fairytales. Put otherwise, four out of five had no problem with them. Many parents preferred to keep these fairytales for daytime reading and for when toddlers were slightly older. These seem good commonsense measures, but was not always reflected in press reports on the survey. Moral of the story, don't trust the press to get it right, check the evidence.

My blog title should therefore probably have read Some English (and Australians, Americans and South Africans) are crazy! But what the hell, to an Afrikaner of Irish descent, Those English are crazy!, is much more satisfying.

Occam's Donkey - the image

I've had numerous positive comments about the thinking donkey image used in this blog. It was drawn specifically for my blog by an excellent cartoonist, Rob Hooper of Flaming Pencil. The brief was to draw a thinking, skeptical donkey, based on Rodin's The Thinker. In line with the Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 2.5 South African License, you may use the image non-commercially. I do ask that Occam's Donkey be acknowledged and that a link to Occam's Donkey be provided. I can recommend Rob's work strongly.


I would prefer the blog not to become Occam's Ape, but here is another animal thinker, Hugo Rheinhold's Affe mit Schädel (ape with skull):

Image from Wikipedia.

According to Wikipedia:

"Hugo Rheinhold's original inscription "eritis sicut deus" (sometimes wrongly "eritus …."), either suggests that Darwinian understanding may lead to Frankenstinian abuse of life's essence, or a more inclusive innocence that recognises a place for other advanced life‑forms on our intellectual podium, if only we can just accommodate those guests."

Another "thinker" I recently came across on a farm in the Northern Transvaal (Limpopo). The two meter high figure was fashioned out of hardwood, probably by an illiterate Zimbabwean illegal immigrant (although you never know with the Zimbabweans, some of them are well educated, their education system was quite good before Mugabe destroyed it). The huge figure of the thinking baboon can be scary when your headlights suddenly illuminate it late at night on a dusty farm road.

Occam's Donkey makes radio appearance

For South African followers of Occam's Donkey, I shall be interviewed tomorrow on Radio Sonder Grense ("Radio without borders"), the national Afrikaans radio station. I shall be interviewed at 14:15 SA time by Fanie du Toit, the presenter of the programme Die leefwêreld van die gestremde ("The living world of the disabled"). I shall try to guide parents of children with disabilities, as well as adult persons with disabilities, on how to research and decide upon suitable therapies to deal with their child's or their own disability. I shall also touch on quackery and give guidelines on how to avoid it.

Readers of this blog who are not within range of RSG broadcasts will be able to follow the transmission on the internet at this link.

Prof Della Sala slates neuroscience quacks

Prof. Sergio Della Sala, a major figure in the fight against neuroscience quackery, was the first winner recently of the University of Edinburgh Tam Dalyell Prize for Excellence in Engaging the Public with Science. On 10 December 2008, coinciding with the presentation of the award, he delivered a lecture entitled Tall Tales about the Mind and Brain. The video of the lecture is available online here on the University of Edinburgh website. Watch out for the thinking donkey image from this blog, which featured briefly in the presentation!

Prof. Della Sala is well known as the editor of two books on mind myths, the first one that featured extensively in some of my seven posts on mind myths up to now (three more to go). The books are:

Della Sala, S. (Ed.)(1999). Mind myths: Exploring popular assumptions about the mind and brain. New York: John Wiley & Sons.

Della Sala, S. (Ed.)(2007). Tall Tales about the Mind and Brain: Separating Fact from Fiction. London: Oxford University Press.

Tall tales seems to be based on a conference Tall tales about the mind and brain that was held in Edinburgh in 2007. Based on the speakers and abstracts I would venture that it was excellent. Wish I could have been there!

Here is a list of just some of the stuff Della Sala addressed in his Tam Dalyell lecture and press interviews coinciding with the lecture:

The Mozart effect

Brain Gym

Institute of Neuro-physiological Psychology (INPP)

Left brain, right brain

Genetic Brain Profiling

Some of these I have previously blogged about, follow the links. Others I shall attend to later. It was good to see that academics are also weighing in on issues of quackery. Maybe we'll win the fight yet!

The newspaper articles reporting on his lecture and the interviews can be found at:

Is "Brain Gym" scientific? The Herald
Celebrated neuroscientist to set the record straight. The Journal
Brain exercises are 'waste of time'. The Guardian