Guest wish list for TAMIII

bignickel said:


Try being one of the few vegetarians at a conference full of omnivores! ;)
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Yes slim pickens for Vegetarians at the TAM2 The veggie pizza opening night was good, but lunch on the other two days was just for the flesh-eaters. But that is Vegas for you, home of the $5.99 Prime Rib.


As for guests next year, my votes are for the usual favorites -

Ray Hyman
Johnny Carson
George Carlin
Snopes.com people
South Park people

And as I am a middle school teacher, I would welcome more academic folks who can address success stories getting the message out to younger kids. Also more psychologists/anthropologists who can look at skepticism from that angle.

Share and Enjoy - Aaron
 
How about William B. Davis? Known for his role as the "Cigarette Smoking Man" in the creduloid TV show The X-Files, he is an avowed skeptic who also later hosted a skeptic TV series called Critical Eye.
 
All of these are great suggestions (especially Bill Bye!). I have a couple more:

David Acer, magician/skeptic who co-wrote and co-hosted the skeptical Mystery Hunters on Discovery Kids.

Someone from WebMD; in my opinion, they do a much better job of debunking specious medical claims than Quackwatch, and I was very lukewarm on the Quackwatch guy. WebMB is more how I'd like to think skeptics are.
 
shanek said:
Someone from WebMD; in my opinion, they do a much better job of debunking specious medical claims than Quackwatch, and I was very lukewarm on the Quackwatch guy. WebMB is more how I'd like to think skeptics are.
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Try typing homeopathy into their search engin and see what comes up. Not good.

As for belivers to invite:

Dana Ullman (ok unlikly to turn up unless we pay her $450 a session but thats life)
 
A common topic on the JREF forum seems to be quantum mechanics, consciousness, and the paranormal. How about getting physicist Victor Stenger as a speaker on this topic. He's written a couple of books for the layman addressing this very topic, published by Prometheus.

From the back cover of his 1995 book The Unconscious Quantum:

Physics or Metaphysics?

For more than a decade now, gurus of the New Age and preachers of the New Christianity have been telling us that developments in twentieth-century physics and astronomy—quantum mechanics, big-bang cosmology, the so-called anthropic coincidences, and the new sciences of chaos and complexity—are leading toward a convergence of the differing views of the universe provided by the outer voices of science and the inner voices of ego. They proclaim that the discoveries of modern physics imply a central role for human consciousness, and for a universe created with humans in mind....

Much of the literature of modern metaphysics...is written in a "gee whiz" fashion for a popular audience. That audience is duly impressed by the mysteries of quantum mechanics and eager to believe the implications drawn that human consciousness holds the key to reality and their personal immortality....

As science and critical thinking become increasingly watered down in our educational system, and opposing forces exploit the consequent public gullibility, the duty of every scientist is to speak out in protest. The antiscientists who pursue a political agenda, and the pseudoscientists who pursue the dollar, need to be fought at every turn. Scientists cannot continue to ignore these issues.
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Okay, after watching 20/20 last night, one name to add:

John Stossel!
 
Originally posted by deBergerac
Thinking of people it would be interesting to see at TAM III and also about scepticism and the media I thought of one guest speaker especially appropriate if we end up in Las Vegas next year as well. There are several drama series on TV there the paranormal has no part what so ever but the only series I know that actually deal with evidence based research is C.S.I. It would be nice if we could have the producer or a writer as a speaker. I think that C.S.I. is one of the more popular TV-series if I am not mistaken.
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You are SO right. How could we miss that opportunity (again) :)
It would be interesting to find out how they go about researching for the show. Well, I know *I* would be interested in that :D
 
I second the suggestion regarding the "Mythbusters" guys from the Discovery Channel. They're entertaining and come up with sometimes surprising results.
 
We need to get an astronaut. How about Ed Lu?

We can do without Ed Mitchell and Gordon "Gordo" Cooper (who I understand has recently gone a little overboard in connection with his pronouncements pertaining to aliens).
 
Brown said:
We need to get an astronaut. How about Ed Lu?
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Good idea! Randi can do the trick on Ed again... :D

Brown said:
We can do without Ed Mitchell and Gordon "Gordo" Cooper (who I understand has recently gone a little overboard in connection with his pronouncements pertaining to aliens).
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No, no...by all means, let's get Ed Mitchell....

From Dann Simonsen, who we will see here shortly:

Richard Lewontin, author of It Ain't Necessarily So (Granta Books 2001): http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos...5117/sr=1-1/ref=sr_1_11_1/026-6588278-1669235

David Marks, author of The Psychology of the Psychic (Prometheus 2000):
http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos...5257/sr=1-1/ref=sr_1_10_1/026-6588278-1669235
 
- Bill Nye! I love that guy.

- Matt & Trey from Southpark.

- Massimo Pigliucci, a really stellar guy. I never miss one of his Rationally Speaking articles.

- Carson himself, if he's feeling up to it. Wouldn't THAT be a neat thing to see?
 
A new name . . .

How about Richard Dawkins? I don't know if he's the type to do something like TAM, but he's at the forefront of science vs. creationism.

H.
 
Re: A new name . . .

Houngan said:
How about Richard Dawkins? I don't know if he's the type to do something like TAM, but he's at the forefront of science vs. creationism.

H.
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Dawkins will be at TAM3.
 
Re: Re: Re: A new name . . .

Houngan said:


Really? Fantastic! Is there a list of confirmed speakers somewhere?

H.
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No but Mr. Randi said that Dawkins would be back next year when he was giving his speech closing the conference.
 
I'd like to see Radin, Dawkins, Schwartz, Nickell, Utts, Kurtz, May, and Hansel.
 
Gaaaack! I misspelled the title of Prof. John Allen Paulos's book! It is "Innumeracy: Mathematical Illiteracy and Its Consequences." Appy Polly Logies.

Other titles by Prof. Paulos are also very good. I don't know how good he is as a speaker, but his subject matter and the level of mathematical knowledge needed to understand what he says are both appropriate for TAM3!
 
T'ai Chi said:
I'd like to see Radin, Dawkins, Schwartz, Nickell, Utts, Kurtz, May, and Hansel.
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Me too, if they pay for registration and all their expenses. Last time, some "stars" wanted a free ride.
 
Hey, if they're paying anyone to show up, they should pay the skepchicks (not that we'd take any money in the service of the Amazing Randi, we're too classy).
 
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