ENGL100 City College of San Francisco Talking to the Dead Research Essay Use critical thinking and skepticism to analyzes either the pseudoscientific/paran

ENGL100 City College of San Francisco Talking to the Dead Research Essay Use critical thinking and skepticism to analyzes either the pseudoscientific/paranormal claims of so-called psychics who claim to be able to talk to the dead, astrologers, or ghost hunters. Pick one. IMPORTANT:Your essay MUST focus on the scientific explanation for the claim, NOT the pseudoscientific/paranormal explanation.This is an explanatory, research essay. Regardless of your personal opinion, you should be able to write an essay that accurately represents the scientific explanation for the pseudoscientific/paranormal claim. English 100
Prof. Mark Harrison
Talking to the Dead/Astrology/Ghost Hunters Research Essay Assignment
Use critical thinking and skepticism to analyzes either the pseudoscientific/paranormal claims of
so-called psychics who claim to be able to talk to the dead, astrologers, or ghost hunters. Pick
one. IMPORTANT: Your essay MUST focus on the scientific explanation for the claim,
NOT the pseudoscientific/paranormal explanation.
This is an explanatory, research essay. Regardless of your personal opinion, you should be able
to write an essay that accurately represents the scientific explanation for the
pseudoscientific/paranormal claim.
Requirements:
1) Your essay must focus on the scientific explanation of one of the following
pseudoscientific/paranormal claims:
➢ Psychics can talk to the dead (i.e., communicate messages from the dead to the
living).
Explain how so-called psychics use each of the following methods or behaviors to fool
people into believing the “medium” is communicating with the dead, when the so-called
psychic is actually performing an age-old carnival trick: 1) cold reading, 2) hot reading,
3) shotgun approach, 4) inflated hits/forgotten misses (confirmation bias), 5) the Barnum
effect, 6) editing for TV shows
➢ Astrologers can read the position of the planets, the sun, other stars and celestial
bodies at the moment of a person’s birth to determine a person’s character and
predict a person’s future.
Explain how astrologers ignore the following facts and use the following methods or
behaviors to fool people into believing astrology can determine a person’s character and
predict a person’s future, when astrology is actually pseudoscience invented thousands of
years ago based on misunderstandings of how our solar system works: 1) Earth’s wobble
on it’s axis (precession), 2) lack of physical influence of gravity or light from the sun and
planets on human beings (no plausible mechanism), 3) Barnum effect as applied to
horoscopes, 4) cold reading, 5) hot reading, 6) the shotgun approach, 7) inflated
hits/forgotten misses (confirmation bias).
➢ Ghost hunters can find ghosts using a variety of techniques.
Explain how ghost hunters convince other people and themselves of the existence of
ghosts by misusing or misinterpreting the following equipment, observations, and
behaviors: 1) EMF (electromagnetic field) meters, 2) EVP (electronic voice
phenomenon) recordings, 3) photographs and videos of “spirit orbs,” 4) dowsing rods, 5)
psychic mediums, and 6) pareidolia.
2) Your essay must explain how at least one logical fallacy applies to your topic, such as:
anecdotal fallacy, appeal to ignorance, appeal to emotion, special pleading, appeal to
popularity (bandwagon), appeal to tradition or antiquity (ancient wisdom)
English 100
Prof. Mark Harrison
3) Your essay must discuss the harm in belief in pseudoscience and the paranormal. How
might belief in the specific pseudoscientific/paranormal claim of your topic adversely affect
both the individual and the society at large. How might thinking skeptically and demanding
extraordinary evidence for extraordinary claims favorably affect both the individual and the
society at large? Why is it important for a person to develop solid critical thinking skills and
employ skepticism when evaluating any claim, whether made by a paranormal enthusiast,
website or blogger, TV commercial, politician, or spiritual leader? For examples, go to the
website What’s the Harm?
4) Your research essay must include a thesis statement. Underline your thesis statement.
5) Your research essay must quote from at least three outside sources.
6) Your research essay must be 5-7 pages (1250-1750 words) in length and conform to MLA
format, including proper in-text citation and works cited page.

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