By Gary P. Posner
The Skeptics Movement
Prior to 1976, the scientific community was generally divided
into two camps as far as reports of paranormal phenomena were
concerned. The larger simply ignored such claims, feeling that
it was beneath the dignity of scientists to even bother
contemplating such "nonsense." The other was prone to off-the-cuff
proclamations of denial, often without benefit of having
obtained sufficient data with which to formulate a justifiable
opinion. Hardly the "scientific method" in action.
But this all began to change in 1976, when about two dozen
scientists, authors, and scholars (among them Isaac Asimov, Carl
Sagan, B. F. Skinner, Martin Gardner, and
James Randi) founded
the Committee for the Scientific
Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal
in Buffalo, NY. CSICOP has since mushroomed into an
international phenomenon, serving as a clearinghouse for
inquiries from the media and individuals from around the world,
and publishing a critically acclaimed journal, Skeptical
Inquirer (now with a readership of about 40,000).
Even more unexpected than the sheer explosion of interest in and
talent within CSICOP has been the emergence of
local groups
with similar aims, both in this country and globally. At last count
there were 37 such groups serving 29 states and DC, with another
36 groups in 21 other countries, including one in the USSR,
where glasnost has ushered in a "new age" curtain to partially
replace the rusted iron one.
Three years ago I founded the only such group in Florida, the
Tampa Bay Skeptics (TBS).
We admit our bias -- we are highly
skeptical of paranormal claims -- but are willing and eager to
subject them to objective, critical scrutiny, and to let the
chips fall wherever. We expect that such chips will continue to
fall where they have thus far, but we are open-minded to the
remote possibility that one may one day land in a most
unanticipated place.
TBS is presently offering a
"$1,000 Challenge" prize
(and a
place in history) to any local UFOlogist, psychic, astrologer,
or the like, should anyone come forth with verifiable
scientific proof of any paranormal phenomenon, under conditions
which eliminate the possibility of cheating or self-delusion. So
far we have had one taker, one welsher, and one no-show (details
next time), and (unfortunately?) we still have our money.
A year before I founded TBS, I began the "Skeptics"
Member-to-Member Service for my fellow Mensans, and have received about 100 inquiries
so far. One of the first was from David Group, a freelance
writer in Geneseo, NY, who was conducting research for a book on
astrology, to be structured as if it were a debate between a
scientist/skeptic and an astrologer/believer. He later wrote
back to say that the articles I provided to him (from
Skeptical Inquirer) "contain a more detailed examination of
astrology than many books I've read."
Group's final product, an 84-page monograph entitled Astrology:
Does It Work? (Pitbull Press, Buffalo, 1990) is a well-balanced
effort, which is all that we skeptics ask, but which may be too
much for the believers. To wit, the witty last line of Group's
"Introduction": "Senders of death threats and letter bombs will
receive personal replies from local and federal law enforcement
agencies."
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