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The new-age guru who claims cancer can be cured by drawing magic shapes in...
One of the main lessons I’ve learned as a skeptical investigator is to always keep my eyes open for what pseudoscientific services are out there, because even relatively innocuous leads can be...
View ArticleSaju: the Korean obsession with fortune-telling
In August, there was a special lecture by Kim Tae Won, executive director of Google Korea, who is in the spotlight as a ‘mentor for the young”. The theme was “How to live as a Creative Talent in the...
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The shamanic hunt for missing planes and easy answers in Singapore
On the 8th of March 2014, MH370, a Boeing 777-200ER aeroplane, seemingly disappeared off the face of the Earth. Its disappearance had the world scratching its head. Months went by after the first...
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Len Dong: the role of traditional rituals in modern Vietnamese communities
“If I didn’t take him to Master Huong [for the len dong ceremony][…], he would have lived slightly longer with his wife and children,” Mr Dang recalled how his superstition led to the death of his...
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If you should go at midnight: legends and legend tripping in America
Readers may not have heard the term ‘legend tripping’ before, but you’ve probably been legend tripping, and you’ve quite likely watched one of the many extraordinarily popular movies about the...
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Joss paper offerings: how to make Chinese hell a fun place for your ancestors
If hell is truly what the Chinese people believe it is, I am quite excited to die. Having spent my whole life with a family who strongly believes in the afterlife and in burning paper offerings for...
View ArticleClosed coffins and open coffers: the costs of Singaporean Chinese funeral...
I was taken aback when my mother told me what we paid for my grandfather’s funeral. “I believe the final amount was around $15,000 or more”. $15,000 was no small amount for a single mother with a...
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‘Fan Tai Sui’: The Chinese superstitious belief that your birth date has...
“It was the worst year of my life, you know. I never been so sick before…I couldn’t breathe, I couldn’t stop coughing.” In 2019, Ms Yue’s health was disastrous. Dengue fever, sinusitis, an on-and-off...
View ArticleWhat effect can superstitions have on your mental health?
Have you ever wondered how superstitions affect your mental health? Superstitions are incredibly enthralling – people believe in them even when we know they cannot be real. We believe in them anyway,...
View ArticleAdvocacy for Alleged Witches: African skepticism in action
Skepticism is usually associated with the west, not with Africa or Africans. Western anthropologists, colonialists and missionaries introduced Africa as we largely know it today to the world. But that...
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