trentmkelly/rationalwiki huggingface dataset:
Earthdance

{{newage}}
'''Earthdance International ''' bills itself as "the world's largest synchronized music and dance festival for peace" and is held annually in various cities across the world. It started in 1997 and has since grown into an annual festival for aging hippies and various other [[New Age]] practitioners. Earthdance was conceived in 1996 by event producer/musician Chris Deckker, with a vision to unite the whole world in peace through the universal platform of dance and music. They are a California-based non-profit organization (501c3) dedicated to "Building a Culture of Peace" by fusing the elements of festival culture and conscious entertainment with the worldwide movements of peace and sustainability through music, art, dance and synchronized prayer/meditation practice.

The highlight of each event is the simultaneous playing of the Earthdance "anthem" at midnight (GMT) at all the various parties worldwide. The organisation is aligned with the United Nations International Day of Peace on September 21, and thus the parties take place on, or around, these days.

Each year, Earthdance focuses on a specific cause or charity. In 2010, they focused on "Embracing All Traditions" and participated in a worldwide synchronized "Prayer for Peace" in the [[Holy Land]]. Previous years have focused on Drums of Peace (2004), Honoring the Wisdom of the Elders (2006), Honoring the Water (2007), Honoring the Earth (2008) and Blessing the Children (2009).

It's also a perfect opportunity for the aging hippies to indulge in [[drugs|recreational pharmaceuticals]].

==See also==
*[[Psychedelic trance]]
*[[Burning man]]

==External links==
*[http://www.earthdance.org Earthdance homepage]

[[Category:California]]
[[Category:Music]]
[[Category:New Age]]

Categories: California, Music, New Age
Earthing

[[File:The German nature-cure, and how to practise it (1897) (14774708101).jpg|thumb|right|165px|Earthing in [[Germany]] (1897)]]
{{Altmed}}
{{hatnote|Not to be confused with {{wpl|Ground (electricity)|grounding.}} }}
'''Earthing''' is an [[alternative medicine]] therapy where individuals "connect" with the [[Earth]]'s negative surface charge. Apparently this is supposed to help you "balance" your internal circuitry and restore a lost electrical charge.<ref>http://earthinginstitute.net/about-us/</ref> On the Earthing Institute's website they claim Earthing can help improve blood flow, reduce inflammation, reduce pain, and allow for deeper [[sleep]].

==How to do it==
To establish a connection to the ground it is suggested one can simply walk around barefoot.<ref>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z4F8mterVGE</ref> Unfortunately if you're a <strike>[[crank]]</strike> conman you'll find it hard to charge people for walking outdoors. So the solution is to charge people for special mats they can plug in to their walls and rest their feet on.<ref>http://www.earthing.com/</ref> Presumably the electrical design is fairly simple, just involving a dummy plug with a connection to the mains safety ground.

==Efficacy==
Of course it's not a bad idea to try and get outside on a regular basis, but it's unlikely that walking barefoot would be better than walking in shoes, particularly in cold weather or other conditions where exposed skin could be dangerous. In particular, walking barefoot outdoors can sometimes lead to [[parasite]]s (plantar warts or hookworm). The mats, on the other hand, could have no conceivable benefit beyond the [[placebo effect]]. Of course an advocate of Earthing will tell you a different story, about how supposedly [[Non sequitur|because the nervous system uses electric signals to communicate literally grounding oneself electronically will help your nervous system function.]]

==See also==
*[[Barefoot running]]

==References==
{{reflist}}
{{stub|alternative medicine}}
Eastern Bloc

{{sources needed}}
{{expand}}
[[File:Eastern bloc.png|thumb|right|200px|The nations of the Eastern Bloc, colored red 
with blood
.]]
{{Communism}}
The '''Eastern Bloc''' — also known as the '''Communist Bloc''', '''Soviet Bloc''', and the '''Iron Curtain''' — was the group of Soviet-aligned nations during the [[Cold War]]. It is often confused with Eastern Europe (geographical term), where the USSR was located, hence the vague and incorrect term Eastern Europe came to usage. The Eastern Bloc consisted of countries of eastern Europe and allied countries of central Europe, the [[Balkans]], as well as the Baltic states in the crossroads of central and northern Europe that were once under the domination of the [[Soviet Union]], and other nations mostly in [[Asia]] and [[Africa]]. All of these nations were governed by [[communist]] [[totalitarian]] [[dictator]]ships.<ref>[https://www.crf-usa.org/bill-of-rights-in-action/bria-19-1-a-life-under-communism-in-eastern-europe BRIA 19 1 a Life Under Communism in Eastern Europe], ''Constitutional Rights Foundation''</ref>

==History==
The Soviets had little trouble establishing dominance over the European Eastern Bloc nations, having invaded them at the end of [[World War II]] in pursuit of the retreating armies of [[Nazi Germany]], then stuck around for decades after the war ended. It became closely affiliated with Communist governments that popped up in revolutions around the world, heavily influencing them and providing them support.

==European countries==
*[[Bulgaria]]
*[[Czechoslovakia]]
*[[East Germany]]
*[[Hungary]]
*[[Poland]]
*[[Romania]]

==Asian countries==
*[[Afghanistan]]
*[[Cambodia]]
*[[Laos]]
*[[Mongolia]]
*[[North Korea]]
*[[Yemen|South Yemen]]
*[[Vietnam]]

==African countries==
*Angola
*Benin
*People’s Republic of the Congo (Now the Republic of the Congo)
*[[Ethiopia]]
*Mozambique
*[[Somalia]]

==North American countries==
*[[Cuba]]
*[[Grenada]], shortly had a Communist government come to power in a coup, but it was quickly suppressed by the [[United States]] and the original government.

==Countries that became autonomous==
Three other nations were originally aligned with the Bloc, but later established their autonomy:
*[[China]] (autonomous after 1961)
*[[Albania]] (autonomous after 1960)
*[[Yugoslavia]] (autonomous after 1948)

==See also==
*[[Soviet Union]]
*[[Communism]]

==References==
{{reflist|2|80%}}

==External links==
*{{wpa|Eastern Bloc}}

[[Category:Geography]]
[[Category:Communism]]
[[Category:European history]]
[[Category:History of communism]]

Categories: Geography, Communism, European history, History of communism
Ecclesiastes

{{biblenav}}
{{cquote|What has been will be again,<br/>what has been done will be done again;<br/>there is nothing new under the sun.|||{{bible|Ecclesiastes|1|9}}}}
'''Ecclesiastes''' is the most 
optimistic
 [[nihilism|nihilistic]] book in the [[Bible]].  It is presented as a book of wisdom by a man, known in [[Hebrew]] as Qohelet (often translated as "preacher" or "leader of the assembly"), and rumored to be an early incarnation of 
Roger McGuinn
 Pete Seeger<ref>{{wpa|Turn! Turn! Turn!}}</ref> — who has realized that everything is worthless, and life has no meaning, so one should enjoy simple pleasures. In this respect, his ideas resemble [[Epicurus|Epicurean]] philosophy.  It has a certain eerie beauty born of desolation and tells you to enjoy life while you can.  [[Christian]] [[exegesis]] bends over backward to explain how the book's message is that we should focus ourselves on [[God]] and that the author is trying to point out that life without [[God]] is meaningless.  The majority of it is pretty much the direct opposite of that sentiment, though the concluding passages do emphasize following God's commandments.

Eric Dodson described the book as being precursor to [[existentialism]].<ref>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HohAXI6YpGU</ref>

==See also==
*[[RationalWiki:Annotated Bible/Ecclesiastes]]

==References==
{{reflist}}
{{stub|bible}}
{{BibleGuide}}
[[Category:Old Testament Wisdom]]
[[Category:Old Testament]]
[[Category:Blasphemy (probably)]]

Categories: Old Testament Wisdom, Old Testament, Blasphemy (probably)
Eclipse of Darwinism

{{Evolution}}
The '''eclipse of Darwinism''' is a phrase to describe the state of affairs prior to the [[modern synthesis]] when [[evolution]] was widely accepted in scientific circles but relatively few [[biologist]]s believed that [[natural selection]] was its primary mechanism. From the 1880s through to the first couple of decades of the 20th century a number of [[non-Darwinian]] alternatives to natural selection were developed and explored, as many biologists considered natural selection to have been a wrong or only of a minor importance to evolution.

Some of the alternatives to natural selection include:

*[[Theistic evolution]]
*[[Spiritual evolution]]
*[[Vitalism]]
*[[Orthogenesis]]
*[[Neo-Lamarckism]]
*[[Saltationism]]
*[[Directed mutation]]
*[[Zoogenesis]]

These mechanisms were rejected by the neo-Darwinian synthesis theorists in the 1940's as evidence had proven the role of natural selection in evolution; however there has been a recent interest in Lamarckism due to epigenetics and in [[saltational evolution]]. Spiritual, theistic and vitalist evolution have largely disappeared from the scientific literature at the beginning of the 20th century as direct appeals to [[supernatural]] causes came to be seen as unscientific.

Henri Bergson, a philosopher and proponent of ''élan vital'', was awarded the Nobel prize in literature in 1927.

Ironically, the name ''[[Social Darwinism]]'' was chosen for a political and social movement that arose during the period of the eclipse of Darwinism.

==References==
{{reflist}}
*Bowler, Peter J. (2003). ''Evolution:The History of an Idea''. University of California Press.
*Bowler, Peter J. (1983). ''The Eclipse of Darwinism: anti-Darwinian evolutionary theories in the decades around 1900''. Johns Hopkins University Press.

[[Category:Evolution]]
[[Category:Biology]]

Categories: Evolution, Biology
Ecological fallacy

{{logicnav}}
The '''ecological fallacy''', sometimes referred to as the '''ecological inference fallacy''', describes a fallacious inference made about a particular individual/group from aggregate [[statistical]] data in reference to whatever population that individual(or group) is part of.<ref>"[https://www.britannica.com/science/ecological-fallacy Ecological fallacy]" - ''Encyclopedia Britannica''.</ref>  It's a fallacy very similar to the fallacy of composition/division or [[category mistake]]. It can also be said to apply in contexts where someone assumes that a statistical property for a population applies to subgroups of that population.  It would be similar to making a mathematical error in assuming properties of an entire set also apply to subsets within the set, and/or particular elements within said set. 

==Form==
The ecological fallacy can take several forms:
{{syl
|2=''X'' has a high average for ''Y''.
|4=''A'' is a ''X''.
|6=''A'' must be ''Y''.
}}

Alternatively:
{{syl
|2=''X'' has a higher average than ''Y'' at ''Z''.
|4=''A'' is a ''X'' and ''B'' is a ''Y''.
|6=''A'' must be better at ''Z'' than ''B''.
}}

==Examples==
{{syl
|2=Women on average tend to score higher on [[mathematical]] calculation when compared to men.
|4=Sarah is a woman, while Jack is a man.
|6=Therefore Sarah is better at mathematical calculation than Jack.
}}

This is a fallacy because the inference about an individual doesn't necessarily follow from the group generalization. In [[statistics]], the average is the sum of all the scores in a given set divided by the number of scores.<ref>"[https://mathworld.wolfram.com/ArithmeticMean.html Arithmetic mean]" - Wolfram Mathworld</ref> Sarah's true score does not need to reflect or even be close to the average in order for the population average to hold.  So it doesn't necessarily follow that Sarah will be better at math than Jack.  Similar reasoning applies to the two examples that follow. 
{{syl
|2= Ashkenazi Jews as a population have a high average for [[IQ]] scores.
|4= Dave is a Ashkenazi Jew.
|6= Dave must have achieved a high IQ Score. 
}}

Again doesn't necessarily follow. 
{{syl
|2= New York City has a high crime rate. 
|4= Jane lives in New York City. 
|6= Therefore Jane has likely seen a lot of crime.
}}

In the hypothetical case that New York City had a high crime rate ''overall'' it doesn't rule out the possibility that Jane lives in a part of the city that experiences a much lower crime rate than the overall average for the city.

In each of these examples given the inference is logically invalid this makes the ecological fallacy a [[formal fallacy]].

==See also==
*[[Correlation does not equal causation]]
*[[Simpson's paradox]]
*[[Association fallacy]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

[[Category:Fallacies]]
[[Category:Statistics]]

Categories: Fallacies, Statistics
Ectoplasm

{{significantly problematic}}{{paranormal}}
{{sources needed}}
'''Ectoplasm''' is a physical substance supposedly created paranormally on the bodies of psychic [[medium]]s for [[spirits]] to take form in. Since [[World War II]], reports of ectoplasm have declined and [[science]] has shown that the substance turned out to be a hoax, made of natural substances such as cheesecloth or fabric. 

==Definition==
The term derives from ''ecto-'' (from Greek for ''outside'') and ''plasm'' (from Greek for ''a molded thing''), or more in other words ''something molded outside'', i.e. something physical being "molded" externally to the body by use of psychic power. Sometimes the synonymous term ''exteriorization'' is used instead. Charles Richet (1850-1935) who had coined the term ectoplasm, did not actually believe the substance had anything to do with spirits. Similar to other psychical researchers who studied mediumship in the 19<sup>th</sup> century such as Camille Flammarion wrote that it was a mysterious force that could emanate from the body of the medium during [[seance]]s.

The view that ectoplasm was an actual force or fluid was later dropped due to investigations into ectoplasm by scientific sampling. Evidence had shown from samples that ectoplasm was the result of fraud and trickery of the medium made from chewed paper, cloth, egg white or butter muslin. The photographs of ectoplasm show it to closely resemble cheesecloth and natural substances. Most modern paranormal researchers accept that ectoplasm as spirits has been refuted by science. The only modern-day supporters of ectoplasm being genuine are some [[spiritualist]]s.

==Gallery==
<gallery>
File:Mina Crandon ectoplasm face.png|[[Mina Crandon]]'s ectoplasm face
File:Mina Crandon Fake Ectoplasm.jpg|Mina Crandon's Mina Crandon hand
File:Eusapia Palladino with ectoplasm hands.png|[[Eusapia Palladino]]'s ectoplasm hands
File:Eva C ectoplasm face.png|[[Eva Carrière]]'s ectoplasm face
File:The fake ectoplasm of Mary Marshall.jpg|[[Mary Marshall]]'s ectoplasm: she should have had a doctor look at her sinus
File:Mary Marshall ectoplasm.png|Mary Marshall again
File:Kathleen Goligher fake ectoplasm.jpg|[[Kathleen Goligher]] with ectoplasm
File:Helen Duncan fake ectoplasm.jpg|[[Helen Duncan]] with ectoplasm
File:Helen Duncan with roll of cheesecloth.png|Helen Duncan again
File:Gordon Higginson spiritualist medium.jpg|Gordon Higginson with ectoplasm: must have been something he ate
File:Ectoplasma10.jpg|Ronald Edwin Cockersell with ectoplasm
File:Franek Kluski medium.jpg|Franek Kluski with ectoplasm

File:Magician Heredia with fake ectoplasm.png|Carlos María de Heredia demonstrating fake ectoplasm
File:Houdini demonstrating fake ectoplasm.png|[[Harry Houdini]] demonstrating fake ectoplasm

</gallery>

{{stub|paranormal}}
Ecumenism

{{religion}}
'''Ecumenism''' (aka '''Ecumenicalism''' or the '''Ecumenical movement''') refers to the beliefs and practices of certain religionists who have the crazy idea that disparate religions — i.e., [[Baptist|Baptists]], [[Mormons]], and [[Catholics]] or [[Christians]], [[Muslims]], and [[Jews]] — should set aside their 
ungodly hatred for each other
 differences and work together for world peace and [[social justice]]. It also refers to movements specifically within Christianity to unite different [[denomination]]s under an umbrella body, or even to merge them into a single denomination. The latter has been notably successful in [[Canada]], with its largest [[Protestant]] denomination being the United Church of Canada, a merger of the [[Methodism|Methodist]], Congregationalist, [[Presbyterianism|Presbyterian]], Local Union, and Evangelical United Brethren churches.

Ecumenism had its roots in the Christian missionary field, where missionaries of different sects found themselves together in the field and had to reconcile some of their differences in order to get the job done. The first notable step towards ecumenism came in 1910 with the gathering of differing [[Protestants]] at the International Missionary Conference. Today, there exist churches that unite splintered sects, such as the United Church of Christ and Evangelical Lutheran Church of America. The National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States, and the World Council of Churches, are two major Christian ecumenical organizations.

==Fundamentalist reaction==
[[Fundamentalism|Fundamentalist]] Christians view ecumenism as a movement of [[liberal]] denominations to compromise what they view as essential Christian doctrine such as [[creationism]], the [[virgin birth]], a literal [[hell]], and the [[Biblical literalism|inerrancy]] of the [[Bible]], all in the name of setting aside their differences. They may view it as a movement whose end result is muting the message of [[sin]] and personal [[salvation]], and replacing it with a "social gospel" of [[secular]] political activism around mostly liberal issues such as [[social justice]], ending [[poverty]], opposition to [[war]] and the [[death penalty]], etc.  

Those fundamentalists of an [[anti-Catholicism|anti-Catholic]] bent often adhere to a [[conspiracy theory]] that the ecumenical movement is a plot by the [[Pope]] to merge all the Protestant churches back into the [[Catholic Church]].

Fundamentalists obsessed with the [[end times]] likewise often adhere to a belief that ecumenism will be the vehicle through which the [[Antichrist]] establishes a world "[[One world religion|superchurch]]", which [[Name it and claim it|denies all the essentials of the Christian faith while fooling most people into thinking it is a Christian church]]. (What the fundies don't realize is that they're really describing ''themselves''.)

==External links==

*[http://www.answers.com/topic/ecumenism Answers: ecumenism]

{{stub|religion}}

[[Category:Religion]]

Categories: Religion
Ed Grimsley

{{Sources needed}}{{ufology}}
{{cquote|I am in concern about the increasing activity of space craft and the things that we see on skywatch. I am concerned that man-kind may be nearing it's own destruction. Or that [[Extraterrestrial|alien]] or human-like beings may very well be getting ready to take control or evict us from plant [sic] Earth.|||from Ed Grimsley's "Special Projects" web page }}


'''Ed Grimsley''' was a [[Ufology|UFOlogist]] who cornered the [[woo]]-market in night vision binoculars, enabling him and any of his <strike>suckers</strike> clients to observe the space war that has been going on over our heads for decades.

Lest anyone should doubt Grimsley's sincerity or expertise, it should be sufficient of a pedigree to note that he once collaborated with no less a <strike>con-man</strike> world-renowned authority on planetary astronomy than [[Jose Escamilla]].

==Claims==
''Ed Grimsley has been seeing battles between unknown aircraft in the night skies since he was a teenager. Since then he has continued seeing what appear to be Delta shaped and Saucer shaped aircraft in space shooting it out using what appear to be laser weapons. He has seen hundreds of these objects recently and using his five Military grade night vision binoculars he has invited many people to come to his areas and view the objects in earth space shooting it out.''

==Doubts==
We wonder why the massed forces of advanced galactic intelligence only conduct their space-wars at night. Where do they go during the day?

We wonder what happens to the resulting debris when one saucer scores a direct hit on another. This must be quite a large amount of scrap, and potentially interesting for reverse engineering. Since Ed didn't claim that these things are actually in orbit, why does nothing ever fall back to Earth?

==Price list==
* Military grade night-vision binocs: up to $3,200
* DVD $24.95 inc. shipping
*''Skywatch'' UFO vigil: $40 per person

==External links==
*[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IrO8055LQGs Typical Grimsley space-war viewing session], on [[YouTube]]
*[http://www.nbcnews.com/id/42908859/ns/technology_and_science-space/#.UtxCQPuIaHs A -- gasp!! -- skeptical view of Grimsley's claims]

{{DEFAULTSORT:Grimsley, Ed}}
[[Category:Ufology]]

Categories: Ufology
Ed Whitfield

[[File:Rep. Ed Whitfield.jpg|thumb|Ed Whitfield, official photography.|165px]]{{uspolitics}}
'''Wayne Edward "Ed" Whitfield''' {{lived|1943}} is an [[United States|American]] politician, a [[Republican]], a former Representative from [[Kentucky]]'s first district and a leading member of the Congressional [[global warming]] [[denialism|denial]] brigade. In 2006, along with [[Joe Barton]], he commissioned the [[Wegman Report]] in an attempt to discredit the "hockey stick" graph. The report is now infamous for both its use in the [[Climategate]] hearings and for the fact that it was mostly plagiarized and utterly fraudulent.

Because of his notorious denialism, he has been given the nickname "Exxon Eddie" in [[moonbat]] circles. Whitfield has, in fact, not taken any money from Exxon. The health industry is by far his biggest campaign contributor, so a more accurate nickname would be "[[Big Pharma|Pharma]] Eddie," but that doesn't roll off the tongue as well.<ref>[http://www.opensecrets.org/politicians/industries.php?cycle=Career&cid=N00003467&type=I Whitfield's profile at Open Secrets]</ref> Whitfield, however, has taken a good load of dough from the coal and mining industries and, surprise surprise, is a "staunch advocate" of "[[clean coal]]."<ref>[http://whitfield.house.gov/the-issues/complete-issues-list/energy Whitfield's energy policy page]</ref> Whitfield co-sponsored the 2011 "Energy Tax Prevention Act," which would repeal the decision by the EPA labeling greenhouse gases as pollutants. [[Environmentalism|Environmentalist]] blogger Dave Hawkins has dubbed it the "Reality Prevention Act."<ref>[http://www.grist.org/article/2011-02-09-republican-congressmen-vote-away-scientific-facts Republican Congressmen Vote Away Scientific Facts]</ref>

==Irony alert==
Whitfield accuses those who accept science as misrepresenting science:
{{quotebox|Misrepresenting scientific research to support one’s own personal beliefs, particularly on an international stage, is dangerous, disingenuous and simply unacceptable. I call on Mr. Gore to come clean about the real science surrounding climate change and let the American people come to their own conclusions on global warming.<ref>[http://whitfield.house.gov/press-release/whitfield-blasts-use-false-science-copenhagen Science isn't science!]</ref>}} This is hypocrisy, he is guilty of "misrepresenting scientific research" himself.

==References==
{{reflist}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Whitfield, Edward}}

[[Category:Former United States Representatives]]
[[Category:Denialists]]
[[Category:Living people]]

Categories: Former United States Representatives, Denialists, Living people