TheESP – Ep. #468 – Education Fail

We are still fascinated by the on-going planetary alignment and this week is an even better opportunity to watch it. And if it’s cloudy and a Thursday, go back inside and join the SITP Online virtual pub, it’s highly recommended!

In TWISH we hear about Émile Coué who popularized autosuggestion which in a way paved the way for all self-help books that we are still riddled with today. Then of course, we have the news:

• NORWAY: Heat record blown away in northern Norway
• GERMANY: Election results
• AUSTRIA / SWITZERLAND: Shaman on the run
• INTERNATIONAL / WALES: Trust in politics on the decline
• EU: The European economy needs immigration – that’s science!
• INTERNATIONAL: Nominations for the John Maddox Prize now open

The Really Wrong award goes to science education in general in the EU – lots of people are still creationists and / or believe that early humans lived along dinosaurs…

Enjoy!

Segments: Intro; Greetings; TWISH; News; Really Wrong; Quote; Outro; Outtakes
 
0:00:27 INTRO

0:00:52 GREETINGS

• 7 planets visible on the western sky
  • BBC: https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c5yd4z15r54o
• Shout-out to the SiTP-online team
  • SITP Online: https://sitp.online/

0:09:04 TWISH – THIS WEEK IN SKEPTICAL HISTORY

• 25 February 1857: Father of autosuggestion Émile Coué born
  • UK Hypnosis: https://www.ukhypnosis.com/2009/06/17/emile-coues-method-of-conscious-autosuggestion/
  • JSTOR: https://daily.jstor.org/the-self-help-mantra-that-got-better-and-better/

0:19:29 NEWS

• NORWAY: Heat record blown away in northern Norway
  • NRK: https://www.nrk.no/nordland/varmerekorder-star-for-fall-og-snoen-forsvinner-i-nord-norge-1.17313408
• GERMANY: Election results
  • the Conversation: https://theconversation.com/german-election-the-results-explained-as-friedrich-merz-comes-out-swinging-for-europe-250690
• AUSTRIA / SWITZERLAND: Shaman on the run
  • GWUP: https://blog.gwup.net/2025/02/23/schamanische-scharlatanerie-betrug-in-millionenhoehe/
• INTERNATIONAL / WALES: Trust in politics on the decline
  • the Conversation: https://theconversation.com/trust-in-politics-is-in-long-term-decline-around-the-world-new-research-250078
  • the Conversation: https://theconversation.com/wales-wants-to-punish-lying-politicians-how-would-it-work-248728
• EU: The European economy needs immigration – that’s science!
  • the Guardian: https://www.theguardian.com/world/ng-interactive/2025/feb/18/europes-population-crisis-see-how-your-country-compares-visualised
  • the Guardian: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/feb/18/how-spains-radically-different-approach-to-migration-helped-its-economy-soar
• INTERNATIONAL: Nominations for the John Maddox Prize now open
  • Nature: https://www.nature.com/immersive/maddoxprize/index.html

0:42:02 REALLY WRONG

• Really Wrong: Science Education in Europe
  • EU: https://europa.eu/eurobarometer/surveys/detail/3227?etrans=en
  • Notes from Poland: https://notesfrompoland.com/2025/02/23/almost-40-of-poles-dont-believe-humans-evolved-from-animals/

0:47:43 QUOTE AND FAREWELL

“I believe in evidence. I believe in observation, measurement, and reasoning, confirmed by independent observers. I’ll believe anything, no matter how wild and ridiculous, if there is evidence for it. The wilder and more ridiculous something is, however, the firmer and more solid the evidence will have to be.”
/ Isaac Asimov (2 January 1920 – 6 April 1992), American writer and professor of biochemistry at Boston University. During his lifetime, Asimov was considered one of the “Big Three” science fiction writers, along with Robert A. Heinlein and Arthur C. Clarke. The quote is from The Roving Mind, 1997. /

0:49:44 OUTRO

0:51:06 OUT-TAKES