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Current number of entries:
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Skepticism <span class="SFPTagline"> From SCIFIPEDIA </span>  Skepticism is a social movement which seeks to counter the uncritical acceptance of claims of the paranormal. Proponents believe this serves the public good in several ways.
The size and organization of the movement might surprise casual observers. There are Skeptics' societies in many cities and many countries. A typical large bookstore is likely to carry one or more magazines on the subject. Skeptical books have been successful, and there is more than one publishing house dedicated to the viewpoint.
OppositionSome skeptics have been accused of being "true unbelievers," who will as uncritically accept a mundane explanation as the true believers will accept a paranormal one. Just as some UFO authors or psychics have probably fabricated evidence to support their position and get publicity, some Skeptics have probably done the same. A truly neutral position would challenge the claims of a hoax with the same concern as claims of a paranormal event. Marcello Truzzi's aphorism (often credited to Carl Sagan) that "Extraordinary claims require extraordinary proof" is a good example. Scientifically, every claim should require the same evidence. However, that doesn't mean that the claim that someone has seen a UFO in the sky is as likely to be true as the claim that someone has seen an airplane in the sky. Each claim is actually a combination of claims: the witness saw something; that something was in the sky; and the third significant piece here, that it was either an airplane or a UFO. Since it is well established that airplanes exist and can be seen in the sky, that claim doesn't need to be proven again. The UFO piece would need to be proven, since it is at least unresolved. Others find some skeptics' rejection of miracle-based religion to be troubling.
SupportWhile it may be true that skeptics often say "just because I can't explain it doesn't mean that it's a UFO, it means we need to further advance science," doesn't mean that they would reject any solid evidence found. On numerous occasions, skeptics like Joe Nickell have stated that they are always open to the possibility that perhaps there is and “other side,” just, they haven't seen it yet. Skeptics do not strive to find (nor fabricate) evidence to disprove the existence of aliens or ghosts. The skeptical approach to investigating a paranormal claim would be to try to explain the phenomena as being something that naturally occurs in nature (i.e. a minor earthquake causing things in a house to shake,) or fooled the eye (i.e. a mirage.) Skeptics often say that there is a difference between debunking a claim and doing a skeptical inquiry into it. Alas, perhaps skeptics aren’t entirely neutral since it is their nature to be more likely to believe an event is a hoax instead of a paranormal event. This, however, is not without good reason. There have been plenty of confirmed hoaxes in history, but very little of the “extraordinary evidence” mentioned by Carl Sagan in the quote above. Finally, not accepting the skeptical point of view just because they tend to reject miracle based religion is unmoral. Many skeptics identify themselves as Secular Humanists. The main idea of Secular Humanism is that you don’t need to believe in a deity to have strong morals. Also, one of the reasons why the Puritans came to America was so that they couldn’t be discriminated against because of religion. Non-believers are just as entitled to the right to not be discriminated against as anyone who believes in an omnipotent supernatural being. Rejecting skepticism because of non-belief is morally and ethically wrong.
External Links
To see specific information, such as books, organizations and individuals in the movement, please click the Skepticism category link at the bottom of this article.
2008, SCI FI. All rights reserved.
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