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anti Francis E. Dec 2003 Jul 24
     ... crankology ...
"Francis E. Dec, Esquire, of 29 Maple Ave, Hempstead, New York, is one of the most mysterious characters in all kookdom. Though thousands are familiar with his letters and rants, my researches have turned up only a few choice morsels of information about him. Until late 1995, none of his thrill-seeking fans had ever seen him; and to this day, none of them has ever heard him speak. Dec is best known for his repeated invocations of the mantras 'Frankenstein Earphone Radio,' 'Frankenstein Eyesight TV' and 'Computer God Parroting Puppet Gangster Slaves,' signature phrases that turn up in each of his flyers."

anti The Seven Warning Signs of Bogus Science 2003 May 22
     ... crankology . science ...
"I began this list of warning signs to help federal judges detect scientific nonsense. But as I finished the list, I realized that in our increasingly technological society, spotting voodoo science is a skill that every citizen should develop."

anti NASA Breakthrough Propulsion Physics Projects: Common Errors 2003 May 22
     ... crankology . physics ...
"A variety of 'breakthrough' propulsion ideas are regularly submitted to the NASA Breakthrough Propulsion Physics Project from amateur researchers, far more than can be assessed. Many of these submissions involve concepts that are already known not to work, even though detailed assessments have not yet been published. Here now, as a service to other would-be submitters and other curious researchers, are examples of commonly submitted ideas that are not propulsion breakthroughs. These examples include a description of why they appear to be a breakthrough, and a description of what they really are."

anti Unskilled and Unaware of It 2002 Sep 19
     ... crankology . psychology ...
"Abstract: People tend to hold overly favorable views of their abilities in many social and intellectual domains. The authors suggest that this overestimation occurs, in part, because people who are unskilled in these domains suffer a dual burden: Not only do these people reach erroneous conclusions and make unfortunate choices, but their incompetence robs them of the metacognitive ability to realize it. Across 4 studies, the authors found that participants scoring in the bottom quartile on tests of humor, grammar, and logic grossly overestimated their test performance and ability. Although their test scores put them in the 12th percentile, they estimated themselves to be in the 62nd. Several analyses linked this miscalibration to deficits in metacognitive skill, or the capacity to distinguish accuracy from error. Paradoxically, improving the skills of participants, and thus increasing their metacognitive competence, helped them recognize the limitations of their abilities."

links mempool.com: Wackos archive 2002 Aug 17
     ... resources . crankology ...
The excellent "Wackos" section on memepool.com.

links Insolitology: The study of crackpots on the Internet 2002 Aug 15
     ... resources . crankology ...
"Welcome to Insolitology, the site about Web oddities. Some people say that humour is only veiled derision -- here at Insolitology, all of our derision is explicit. Choose a category below and enjoy this trip into the eye of the unusual."

chat Psychoceramics Mailing List 2002 Aug 15
     ... crankology ...
"The psychoceramics mailing list is intended as a forum for the discussion of crackpot phenomena and the exchange of crackpottish or weird literature, URLs, citations of books, etc. There, subscribers may exchange URLs of kooky and weird pages, forward crackpot documents, rants and manifestoes found on USENET, electronic forums, mailing lists and in real life (within the bounds of copyright and netiquette, of course) and discuss the finer points of weird science, conspiracy lore, religious mania, esoteric metaphysics and the solutions to all problems."

links Immortal Fumbles 2002 May 13
     ... crankology . resources . Usenet kooks ...
"A modest collection of intremely extelligent remarks of my favourite champion Usenet crackpots."

anti Did Einstein cheat? 2000 Nov 18
     ... Einstein was wrong . crankology ...
"If you're tired of hearing about creationists and the war against Darwinism, you might be surprised to learn that another pillar of modern science, Einstein and his theory of relativity, is under attack. An underground of 'dissident' scientists and self-described experts publish their theories in newsletters and on the Web, exchanging ideas in a great battle against 'the temple of relativity.' According to these critics, relativity is not only wrong, it's an affront to common sense, and its creator, Albert Einstein, was a cheat."

links Quintessence of the Loon 2000 May 16
     ... resources . crankology ...
"This site is devoted to weirdness and madness on the World Wide Web, and each week I add more links to places so bizarre that you will think I am making it up. Please see the background page for some more information. The icon over at the right will lead to previous Loons of the Months who have distinguished themselves by loonity beyond the norm."

links Eric's Crackpot Page 1999 Oct 12
     ... resources . crankology ...
"I have a fascination with alternative delusional thinking. Hey, who knows maybe general thinking is wrong and some of these people are right ... Maybe nut cases provide a rich 'intellectual gene pool.' They may be fun to laugh at, but most crackpots are well meaning people who lead difficult lives."

anti The Crackpot Index 1999 May 27
     ... science . physics . crankology ...
"... written by John Baez, is 'a simple method for rating potentially revolutionary contributions to physics."

newsgroup alt.usenet.kooks newsgroup 1999 May 27
     ... Usenet kooks . crankology ...
... is the newsgroup to talk about Usenet kooks.

newsgroup alt.net.personalities newsgroup 1999 May 27
     ... Usenet kooks . crankology ...
... is a newsgroup for the discussion of Net "personalities."

links Crank menagerie 1999 May 27
     ... resources . crankology . skepticism ...
"The pages collected here showcase the wide variety of strange beliefs on the Web. I assembled this list to highlight areas where I think some skeptical thinking is sorely needed. That's just what I think, but you can certainly have a look and decide for yourself!"

links Donald Simanek's Page 1999 May 27
     ... resources . science . urban legends . crankology . skepticism ...
"... is an extensive collection of links on skepticism, critiques of science, urban legends, crankism, mistakes in science, as well as a variety of others, usually with a short description of each entry."

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