Medical Myths and Superstitions: How Our Instincts Can Lead Us Astray

Registration required: [https://bityl.co/GvH1 ](https://bityl.co/GvH1)
What grosses you out? Pretty much everyone is disgusted by open wounds, vomit, and or other things that could transmit germs and make us sick. Our sense of disgust can protect us—but it can also lead us astray. Many medical myths, misconceptions, and irrational health fears relate back to things we find disgusting, and to magical thinking that leads to fears of contamination. For example, it’s very easy to sell expensive treatments that promise to help people “sweat out” toxins, despite a resounding lack of scientific evidence those treatments actually work.
The popular online event series Skeptical Inquirer Presents returns on Thursday, February 16, at 7:00 p.m. ET for a live conversation with author Erika Engelhaupt. She’ll discuss her book Gory Details, which uncovers fascinating stories about medical treatments involving all manner of bodily fluids while exploring the concepts of disgust and magical thinking. Engelhaupt will also talk about more extreme examples of delusions of infestation, in which people with no other signs of mental illness become convinced that insects have taken over their bodies.
Free registration is required to take part in this live Zoom event, so sign up right now.
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Erika Engelhaupt is a freelance science journalist and author. Her work has appeared in National Geographic, Science News, Popular Mechanics, NPR, and other magazines and newspapers. She holds M.S. degrees in biology and environmental science and was formerly the online science editor at National Geographic. She is currently collaborating on a physician’s guide to delusions of infestation, and is writing her next book for National Geographic, called Go to Hell, a traveler’s guide to the mythology, science, and history of the underworld. She is based in Washington, DC, and Knoxville, Tennessee**.**
This live Zoom event is FREE, but advance registration is required so sign up today.

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The Center for Inquiry (CFI) is a nonprofit educational, advocacy, and research organization headquartered in Amherst, New York. It is also home to the Richard Dawkins Foundation for Reason & Science, the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry, and the Council for Secular Humanism. The Center for Inquiry strives to foster a secular society based on reason, science, freedom of inquiry, and humanist values. Visit CFI Tampa Bay on the web at https://bit.ly/3tmIIlZ.