The voice of the skeptic

A 14th century illustration depicting the torture and burning of women accused of witchcraft. Source: Wikimedia.

About witches and terrorists or why torture is ineffective

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Evidence supports non-social causes of sexual orientation. Source: pixabay.

Sexual orientation: this is how we were born

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Shinjuku Ward, which is one of 23 wards in Tokyo. Greater Tokyo contains 35 million people and functions as a megacity. The number of megacities in the world will increase by 2030, and sixty percent of the human population will live in cities. From Wikipedia

Doomsday catch

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Cryogenics. Illustration: shutterstock

The afterlife of the atheists or whether the brain can be preserved after death

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Consent and unanimity

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The "food pyramid" according to the "Paleolithic diet" theory. Image: Maria Ticce/Shutterstock

The voice of the skeptic - Paleolithic diet, genetically modified food and food prohibitions / Michael Shermer

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American Spirit / Shutterstock.com

The voice of the skeptic - eternal peace / Michael Shermer

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baby playing From WIKIMEDIA COMMONS CC license

The voice of the skeptic - the beginning of justice

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Virtual cities. Illustration: shutterstock

The voice of the skeptic - heaven on earth / Michael Shermer

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Religions in crisis - not in Israel. Illustration: shutterstock

The voice of the skeptic - is God dying? / Michael Shermer

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terrorism. Illustration: shutterstock

The voice of the skeptic - five myths about terrorism

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2 Dzhokhar Tsarnaev - self-photograph, image processing Dzhokhar Tsarnaev - self-photograph, image processing Share 0 In the article "A Beautiful Object" from last week, Yaki Manschenfreund justified the criticism of the photo of the Boston-based danger Dzhokhar Tsarnaev on the cover of "Rolling" Stone", and concluded that presenting it as a "beautiful object" insults the victims and their families, and basically any person with moral sensitivity. I liked Munchenfreund's analysis, but I do not agree with his conclusion. I tried to understand why the editors of "Rolling Stone" chose this particular photo, and in my humble opinion the explanation is quite simple and obvious: Tsarnaev looks like the cute neighbor's boy in the photo, a sensitive poet or a gigolo after a night of pleasure - but the editors of the magazine tell us: he is not what he is seen. He is a murderer. monster. The inscription on the cover leaves no room for doubt: "The terrorist. How a popular and promising student was failed by his family, degenerated into radical Islam and became a monster." The caption confronts the reader with the meaning of the image, balances it and attaches the proper interpretation to it. This is a message whose effect is much stronger precisely because of the controversial use of the photo, but the very claim that this photo of Tsarnaev humiliates the victims of the murder and belittles their relatives is demagogic and manipulative. And since when can the physical characteristics of a murderer "despise" or "respect" his victims? In addition, it is an approach that expresses a flat, binary view, according to which beautiful = good, ugly = bad, from the outside and from the inside. When "Rolling Stone" publishes a beautiful representation of a bad man, it breaks down the equation and builds a complex and even deceptive picture of reality. Perhaps he wants to convey a message to his readers: you will be able to understand this complex reality without us having to illustrate it for you with simplistic representations. By the way, the same photo of Tsarnaev was published in May prominently on the front page of the "New York Times", and even then received barrages of criticism. The presentation of Tsarnaev as a "beautiful object" raises another issue: this is not a press photo, but a self-portrait. At a certain point in time, Tsarnaev chose to present himself this way (as do all his peers). This self-photograph is seen as serving Tsarnaev's personal-subjective agenda, rather than as legitimate objective journalistic documentation. From this point of view, the criticism is about the privilege that was allegedly granted to Tsarnaev - to make use of this biased image representation of him, and to burn himself in the collective consciousness in a way that contradicts, or at least does not coincide, with his identification as a murderer. Dzhokhar Tsarnaev on the cover of "Rolling Stone", August 2013 The Boston Marathon victim Dzhokhar Tsarnaev on the cover of "Rolling Stone", August 2013

The voice of the skeptic - the crime scene, science

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The cover of the book "The Secret Race"

The voice of the skeptic - about tyrants and conservatives

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Nuclear waste in northern Australia

The voice of the skeptic - the left's war on science / Michael Shermer

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Smoke billows over the Twin Towers on September 11, 2001. Photo: US National Park Service. From Wikipedia

The voice of the skeptic - contradictory conspiracies

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Brain scan of an Alzheimer's patient. Decreased function of many areas of the brain. Photo: from Wikipedia

The voice of the skeptic - the soul of Aunt Millie / Michael Shermer - a weekend of skepticism

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Barack Obama versus Mitt Romney - the candidates for the US presidency in the 2012 elections

The voice of the skeptic - the science of righteousness / Michael Shermer

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German poster from 1935 showing a Jewish conspiracy with the Freemasons for world domination

The voice of the skeptic - the conspiracy detector / Michael Shermer

The Knesset House - the center of Israeli democracy

The voice of the skeptic - The Democracy Lab

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Survive Death with Larry King Live

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The optimist looks at the world through rose-colored glasses

Raspberry juice psychology

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Smoke billows over the Twin Towers on September 11, 2001. Photo: US National Park Service. From Wikipedia

The paranoia runs deep

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Cosmic scene with DNA, stars, solvents and atomic circles in oral flow.

want to believe

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End of the first column. Maurice Garin, the conductor, stands with his hands folded. From Wikipedia

The dilemma of drugs in sports

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Cosmic scene with DNA, stars, solvents and atomic circles in oral flow.

I was kidnapped!

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