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Letters to the Editor SI March April 2010 pgs_SI J A 2009 1/27/10 10:48 AM Page 63 L E T T E R S T O T H E E D I T O R could hardly be enthralled by the prospect of the worth of items. receiving a text message that read, “OMG!!! U The other day my wife came across a pro- RASKEPTIC!!! AWESOME!!!” Since I don’t even gram on the A&E channel called Extreme have a cell phone, let alone a Blackberry, this Paranormal. Perhaps we need to counter that won’t happen. I fully realize that serious with a program called Extreme Skeptic! devices such as computers, mine included, David W. Briggs are often used for frivolous purposes. Still it [email protected] is difficult for me to envision serious scien- tific investigations being bandied about on cell phones and YouTube. Heidi Anderson’s article “Skeptical Parent - I am also concerned about quality. There is no law that states that the product of ing: Raising Young Critical Thinkers” should quantity and quality is a constant, but it raise a red flag for skeptics. In discussing the often works that way, alas. I thus can only be decision to have children, she quotes a skep- concerned that so-called skeptical investiga- tic who “admits that choosing to have a child tions will be half-baked and injurious to the was a ‘bit of a leap of faith,’ an approach for- health of the skeptical movement. Scientific eign to many skeptics.” She goes on to list investigations are able to dispel rumor and reasons for remaining childless. hoax because they are conducted with an eye She’s not wrong. Here are two testable to discover fact and (an important and) they assumptions: the number of children a fam- ily has is inversely proportionate to the com- Skepticism 2.0: are done by people who possess the necessary qualifications. Anything less than this stan- bined education of the parents; and the more A Special Issue dard will result in a weakening of the entire education, the higher probability of rational skeptical movement. thinking. If these two assumptions are true, Congratulations on a bold, brilliant issue of SI: it is not the meek but the ignorant who will Jerry F. O’Donnell “Skepticism 2.0: What’s Next?” (November/ inherit the earth. Artesia, New Mexico December 2009). It was great to see people Why is it that skeptics don’t get the con- from different organizations coming together nection? Religions that tend to be anti-evo- to give the clearest possible view of what is lution are very strong on procreation. The I have read with considerable interest the happening to skepticism. All skeptics should resulting baby boom is dominated by chil- November/December SI, devoted primarily read through these articles and consider where dren of believers and people with less educa- to finding new ways of spreading critical they belong in the new movement. tion. It appears that Dawkins’s “selfish gene” thinking and the skeptical viewpoint to the Daniel Loxton is surely right to say that has attached itself to whatever it is in the younger generation—Skepticism 2.0. As a the prospects for the new version of skepti- human psyche that wants to believe. And “senior citizen,” I have acquired some skill in cism are far greater than the problems. Still, those who manage the business of religion two questions concern me about the future. the use of e-mail and the Internet, but some have been quick to recognize and embrace First, if skepticism is becoming a decentral- of the newer “networking” methods are a bit this symbiosis. ized network movement, how do we ensure beyond me. However, I am sending a copy of The evolutionary bottom line is that win- that all paranormal claims receive due inves- this issue to my daughter, who is profession- ners are chosen by natural selection and the tigation? Could “black holes” of paranormal ally trained in higher education planning selection mechanism is procreation. Skeptics claims develop that are harming people’s and is familiar with the use of the newer need to take their libido out of the deep lives yet are overlooked by the new move- communications technologies. freeze and get busy growing the base. ment? Second, how do we ensure that skep- The SKEPTICAL INQUIRER started out with Robert D. Veitch ticism retains its essential meaning in a large, the “scientific investigation of the paranor- Minneapolis, Minnesota diffused network of this kind? mal” but has expanded its field to include var- Still, the future looks positive, and I thank ious pseudosciences, cryptozoology, UFOs, SI and the team of writers for a terrific issue. and creationism, and more recently it has ven- tured into more boldly questioning religious D.J. Grothe rightly acknowledges that his Martin Bridgstock beliefs. Although many of these are interesting roundup of skeptical podcasts is “hardly Griffith University examples of unnatural and unscientific think- comprehensive,” as no such article could be. Queensland, Australia ing, there are other areas affecting our lives I was disappointed, however, to discover that and pocketbooks that need to be examined the piece contained listings for podcasts that with critical thinking. Some that come to ceased production years ago, while failing to Having just read the November/December mind are the marketplace, the Internet, TV, include the current, popular, and outstand- issue of SI, I must say that I look forward to advertising, newspapers, law, and politics. In ing Reasonable Doubts. Skepticism 2.0 about as much as I did to dis- addition to outright scams, such as the Billing itself as “Your Skeptical Guide to covering the differences between Windows Nigerian scam and phishing in e-mail, there Religion” and produced by professors Jeremy 3.0 and Windows 3.1. I recognize that I am are many subtle deceptions in merchandising: Beahan, Luke Galen, and David Fletcher out speaking from the perspective of a person the placement of items in grocery stores, of Grand Rapids, Michigan, this polished who has lived more than three-quarters of a slack-filled containers, and sales pricing that and wildly entertaining one-hour podcast century on this planet, but all the same I leaves a buyer with an unclear perception of features news, clever banter, analysis and dis- SKEPTICAL INQUIRER March / April 2010 63 SI March April 2010 pgs_SI J A 2009 1/27/10 10:49 AM Page 64 L E T T E R S T O T H E E D I T O R section of religious topics, and interviews still actively covering up their involvement in The ‘Walking Tree’ with leading lights of the skeptic and atheist faking live television broadcasts from the movements. Moon, will a bunch of easily Photoshopped Regarding Benjamin Radford’s “Skeptical My first thought was, as improbable as it pictures of the alleged landing sites from a Inquiree” column “The Myth of the Walking seemed, that Mr. Grothe must not be aware satellite be at all convincing? Tree” (SI, November/December 2009): The of the existence of this podcast, which could I predict that the doubters will follow quotation from “no less an authoritative be seen as a competitor to his own excellent James Randi’s argument against Uri Geller source than Wikipedia” is true but dated. Point of Inquiry. Imagine my surprise, then, by saying something like, “We were able to The quoted text was removed from the when I discovered who the featured speaker make an image that looks just like the LRO Wikipedia article (“Socratea exorrhiza”) on is on this week’s episode of Reasonable image in five minutes through trickery, August 2 by an editor who was expanding Doubts: none other than D.J. Grothe! so why should we believe that NASA did it the article. And on October 23, another edi- for real?” Glenn Davis tor added (and cited) information from Personally, I think the LRO images of the Lewis Center, Ohio Radford’s article about the myth to that Apollo landing sites are wonderful, but the Wikipedia article. idea that they will convince even a single doubter in this age of easy, at-home photo John Broughton Though I am one of the faithful—I’ve been manipulation seems to be the result of an Alexandria, VA subscribing since 1978—I worry that idealism that’s been proven wildly unrealistic Skepticism 2.0 will follow 1.0 down the by claims that the hoax believers have been tubes. Your November/December 2009 issue making for decades already. ignores the following: Moral Duty of the Skeptic? 1. Superstition in the West has mush- Dave Weiblen roomed on your watch, relative to skepti- Centreville, Virginia Massimo Pigliucci’s column “The Moral Duty cism. Your optimistic tone denies our abject of a Skeptic” (SI, November/December 2009) failure, so far. David Morrison responds: briefly touches on the notion that it can be dif- 2. You cannot gain authority by proving ficult to talk about moral duty without engag- your point—supported by the market, the The point is well taken, and perhaps I am ing in a discussion regarding the existence (or hordes of unreason simply ignore logic. naïve. Following the argument to the extreme, nonexistence) of moral facts. However, he 3. Disciplined thought is at the heart of even if we sent a new group of astronauts to merely makes mention of this idea and then skepticism, yet the Internet encourages the re - take photos and collect artifacts at one of the moves on. I think this is a tremendously verse: anonymous comment free of conse- Apollo sites, the hardcore conspiracy theorists worthwhile exercise that he dismisses or at quences, however unqualified, insincere, or would claim that expedition was also faked, least glosses over (perhaps due to space con- lying it may be.
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