Episode Eleven – On Cognitive Dissonance and Hopeopathy – Interview With Bruce M. Hood

ANNOUNCEMENT! The transcript of this interview features at Curiouser and Curiouser – at the CSI Website!

Hello to Token Skeptic listeners – right now, at this very minute, I am half-way through editing an article for a website, creating the slides for a presentation at a university lecture I’m presenting tomorrow, doing papers for my high school philosophy class … and also preparing for a conference in another city on the other side of the country.

So, things are just a little hectic. Nothing new there, but I thought you might like to know!

However, I do owe you an episode and I’m really quite excited about this one. Professor Bruce M Hood originally contacted me in December 2008 to tell me about his brand new blog and ask about mine, the Podblack Cat site.

His blog was created on the suggestion of his publishers, and created in anticipation of his book tour for ‘Supersense – Why We Believe the Unbelievable‘. We’ve spoken since that time for an interview with the Skeptic Zone podcast (episode #30 at www.skepticzone.tv) and I’ve been following his media appearances and blog ever since. I’ve reviewed his book and have happily gone through about three editions, because I’ve given away so many copies and scribbled all over the first one I got with too many notes!

Why is Professor Hood featuring on this episode of the Token Skeptic? Because if you follow his blog at www.brucemhood.wordpress.com, you’ll see how he is very much involved with some rather ‘unbelievable’ developments in the UK.

Firstly, his efforts to challenge fake bomb-detectors – costly dowsing-rod-like devices being used by the military in countries world-wide – has been broadcast on BBC news and discussed by governments in places like Thailand and Iraq.

On his site, he reports “Some officers in the Thai Army are determined to save face and will continue to use the GT200 bomb detecting device, according to the Bangkok Post.

We know from Leon Festinger’s cognitive dissonance theory that people justify their mistakes by ignoring evidence that contradicts their position (read “Mistakes were Made: But not By Me” by Carol Tavris & Elliot Aronson). But maybe there is another reason- these devices are a pretty good excuse for arresting suspects for questioning who are “contaminated” with explosive residue.’

Secondly, he has some very interesting insights on homeopathy (or as he put it, hope-o-pathy!) and the report on the funding of it in the UK by the National Health Services. His site has practically exploded with comments by the skeptically-minded due to his breakdown of ‘why hopeopathy is not likely to disappear.’

Since this show is about superstition and the science behind it (as well as the occasional other topics that intrigue me as a skeptically-minded person who always wants to know more) – I asked him to clarify his position and respond to some of the arguments that were posed.

He’s very active on Twitter with his account called Supersense – so that’s where I began the following interview!