Skeptical Inquirer
Encyclopedia
The Skeptical Inquirer is a bimonthly American
magazine
published by the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry (CSI) with the subtitle: The magazine for science and reason.
CSI's mission statement
is to "encourage the critical investigation of paranormal
and fringe-science
claims from a responsible, scientific point of view and disseminate factual information about the results of such inquiries to the scientific community and the public." The Skeptical Inquirer is an international magazine, but is not a formal scientific journal
.
, homeopathy
, astrology
, SETI
, the creation-evolution controversy
, global warming
, AIDS Denialism, the historical basis of legend
ary persons such as King Arthur
, and controversial medical diagnoses like Attention Deficit Disorder. In addition to topics that concern scientists and academics, the magazine also has a stated mission of examining subjects that interest the general public.
For the thirtieth anniversary of the Skeptical Inquirer in 2006, CSICOP founder Paul Kurtz
listed four long-standing policies:
If an article criticizes a proponent of a paranormal claim, he is always given an opportunity to respond. Some have taken advantage of that opportunity (Suitbert Ertel and Michel Gauquelin
, for example).
Cecil Adams
of The Straight Dope
calls the Skeptical Inquirer "one of the nation's leading antifruitcake journals".
. The first issue was in the Fall of 1976. About a year later there was a dispute regarding the Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal (CSICOP): Truzzi wanted to include proponents of paranormal ideas in the group and the magazine. Following a no-confidence vote against Truzzi, he resigned, and the magazine was (starting with volume 2, issue 2) retitled Skeptical Inquirer and Kendrick Frazier
(former editor of Science News
) became the new editor.
It retained The Zetetic as a subtitle through volume four. The magazine was initially a bi-annual publication in digest size
(15 cm by 23 cm). In about two years it changed to being a quarterly publication; then in 1994 it started being published bimonthly. In 1995 it became a full-sized publication (21 cm by 27 cm). Since January 1996, its subtitle has been: The magazine for science and reason. In 1998 the publication began printing on a glossy paper stock. As of 2010 Frazier is still the editor and Benjamin Radford
is the managing editor. The magazine is headquartered in Amherst, New York
.
On October 9, 2010 CSI met at the Millennium Biltmore Hotel
in Los Angeles
to discuss future plans and to expand the Executive Council which is CSI's "official policy-making body". Organized by Executive Director Barry Karr the board announced the following members who also serve on the magazine's board. James Alcock
, Kendrick Frazier
, Ray Hyman
, Scott O. Lilienfeld, Amardeo Sarma, Eugenie C. Scott, David E. Thomas, Leonard Tramiel and Benjamin Wolozin. (This list was expanded over subsequent months, adding Elizabeth Loftus
and Karen Stollznow
). It was also decided to resume CSI conferences, the next scheduled for Oct 27-30, 2011.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
magazine
Magazine
Magazines, periodicals, glossies or serials are publications, generally published on a regular schedule, containing a variety of articles. They are generally financed by advertising, by a purchase price, by pre-paid magazine subscriptions, or all three...
published by the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry (CSI) with the subtitle: The magazine for science and reason.
CSI's mission statement
Mission statement
A mission statement is a statement of the purpose of a company or organization. The mission statement should guide the actions of the organization, spell out its overall goal, provide a path, and guide decision-making...
is to "encourage the critical investigation of paranormal
Paranormal
Paranormal is a general term that designates experiences that lie outside "the range of normal experience or scientific explanation" or that indicates phenomena understood to be outside of science's current ability to explain or measure...
and fringe-science
Fringe science
Fringe science is scientific inquiry in an established field of study that departs significantly from mainstream or orthodox theories, and is classified in the "fringes" of a credible mainstream academic discipline....
claims from a responsible, scientific point of view and disseminate factual information about the results of such inquiries to the scientific community and the public." The Skeptical Inquirer is an international magazine, but is not a formal scientific journal
Scientific journal
In academic publishing, a scientific journal is a periodical publication intended to further the progress of science, usually by reporting new research. There are thousands of scientific journals in publication, and many more have been published at various points in the past...
.
Content
The content consists of articles, columns and book reviews that critically examine a variety of topics, such as ESPExtra-sensory perception
Extrasensory perception involves reception of information not gained through the recognized physical senses but sensed with the mind. The term was coined by Frederic Myers, and adopted by Duke University psychologist J. B. Rhine to denote psychic abilities such as telepathy, clairaudience, and...
, homeopathy
Homeopathy
Homeopathy is a form of alternative medicine in which practitioners claim to treat patients using highly diluted preparations that are believed to cause healthy people to exhibit symptoms that are similar to those exhibited by the patient...
, astrology
Astrology
Astrology consists of a number of belief systems which hold that there is a relationship between astronomical phenomena and events in the human world...
, SETI
SETI
The search for extraterrestrial intelligence is the collective name for a number of activities people undertake to search for intelligent extraterrestrial life. Some of the most well known projects are run by the SETI Institute. SETI projects use scientific methods to search for intelligent life...
, the creation-evolution controversy
Creation-evolution controversy
The creation–evolution controversy is a recurring cultural, political, and theological dispute about the origins of the Earth, humanity, life, and the universe....
, global warming
Global warming
Global warming refers to the rising average temperature of Earth's atmosphere and oceans and its projected continuation. In the last 100 years, Earth's average surface temperature increased by about with about two thirds of the increase occurring over just the last three decades...
, AIDS Denialism, the historical basis of legend
Legend
A legend is a narrative of human actions that are perceived both by teller and listeners to take place within human history and to possess certain qualities that give the tale verisimilitude...
ary persons such as King Arthur
King Arthur
King Arthur is a legendary British leader of the late 5th and early 6th centuries, who, according to Medieval histories and romances, led the defence of Britain against Saxon invaders in the early 6th century. The details of Arthur's story are mainly composed of folklore and literary invention, and...
, and controversial medical diagnoses like Attention Deficit Disorder. In addition to topics that concern scientists and academics, the magazine also has a stated mission of examining subjects that interest the general public.
For the thirtieth anniversary of the Skeptical Inquirer in 2006, CSICOP founder Paul Kurtz
Paul Kurtz
Paul Kurtz is a prominent American skeptic and secular humanist. He has been called "the father of secular humanism." He is Professor Emeritus of Philosophy at the State University of New York at Buffalo, having previously also taught at Vassar, Trinity, and Union colleges, and the New School for...
listed four long-standing policies:
- to criticize claims of the paranormal and pseudosciencePseudosciencePseudoscience is a claim, belief, or practice which is presented as scientific, but which does not adhere to a valid scientific method, lacks supporting evidence or plausibility, cannot be reliably tested, or otherwise lacks scientific status...
- to replicate the methods of scientific inquiryScientific methodScientific method refers to a body of techniques for investigating phenomena, acquiring new knowledge, or correcting and integrating previous knowledge. To be termed scientific, a method of inquiry must be based on gathering empirical and measurable evidence subject to specific principles of...
and the nature of the scientific outlook - to seek a balanced view of scienceScienceScience is a systematic enterprise that builds and organizes knowledge in the form of testable explanations and predictions about the universe...
in the mass mediaMass mediaMass media refers collectively to all media technologies which are intended to reach a large audience via mass communication. Broadcast media transmit their information electronically and comprise of television, film and radio, movies, CDs, DVDs and some other gadgets like cameras or video consoles... - to teach critical thinkingCritical thinkingCritical thinking is the process or method of thinking that questions assumptions. It is a way of deciding whether a claim is true, false, or sometimes true and sometimes false, or partly true and partly false. The origins of critical thinking can be traced in Western thought to the Socratic...
in the schools.
If an article criticizes a proponent of a paranormal claim, he is always given an opportunity to respond. Some have taken advantage of that opportunity (Suitbert Ertel and Michel Gauquelin
Michel Gauquelin
Michel Gauquelin was a French psychologist and statistician. Along with his first wife Françoise Schneider-Gauquelin , he conducted statistical research in an attempt to develop a scientific basis for astrology.-Early interest:Although he was highly critical of certain areas of the art, Gauquelin...
, for example).
Cecil Adams
Cecil Adams
Cecil Adams is a name, possibly a pseudonym, designating the American author of The Straight Dope, a popular question and answer column published in The Chicago Reader since 1973. Ed Zotti is Adams' current editor....
of The Straight Dope
Straight Dope
The Straight Dope is a popular question-and-answer newspaper column published in the Chicago Reader, syndicated in thirty newspapers in the United States and Canada, as well as being available and archived at the .-Newspapers:...
calls the Skeptical Inquirer "one of the nation's leading antifruitcake journals".
History
The magazine was originally titled The Zetetic and was founded and originally edited by Marcello TruzziMarcello Truzzi
Marcello Truzzi was a professor of sociology at New College of Florida and later at Eastern Michigan University, founding co-chairman of the Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal , a founder of the Society for Scientific Exploration, and director for the Center for...
. The first issue was in the Fall of 1976. About a year later there was a dispute regarding the Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal (CSICOP): Truzzi wanted to include proponents of paranormal ideas in the group and the magazine. Following a no-confidence vote against Truzzi, he resigned, and the magazine was (starting with volume 2, issue 2) retitled Skeptical Inquirer and Kendrick Frazier
Kendrick Frazier
Kendrick Frazier is a science writer and editor. He was the editor of Science News for several years. Since 1977 he has been the editor of Skeptical Inquirer, the journal published by the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry [CSI. He is a member of the executive council of CSI, an international...
(former editor of Science News
Science News
Science News is an American bi-weekly magazine devoted to short articles about new scientific and technical developments, typically gleaned from recent scientific and technical journals. Science News has been published since 1922 by Society for Science & the Public, a non-profit organization...
) became the new editor.
Digest size
Digest size is a magazine size, smaller than a conventional or "journal size" magazine but larger than a standard paperback book, approximately 5½ x 8¼ inches, but can also be 5⅜ x 8⅜ inches and 5½ x 7½ inches. These sizes have evolved from the printing press operation end...
(15 cm by 23 cm). In about two years it changed to being a quarterly publication; then in 1994 it started being published bimonthly. In 1995 it became a full-sized publication (21 cm by 27 cm). Since January 1996, its subtitle has been: The magazine for science and reason. In 1998 the publication began printing on a glossy paper stock. As of 2010 Frazier is still the editor and Benjamin Radford
Benjamin Radford
Benjamin Radford is deputy editor of the science magazine Skeptical Inquirer, former editor-in-chief of the Spanish-language magazine Pensar, which was published in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and a columnist for Skeptical Inquirer magazine Skeptical Briefs newsletter, Discovery News, LiveScience.com...
is the managing editor. The magazine is headquartered in Amherst, New York
Amherst, New York
Amherst is a town in Erie County, New York, United States. As of the 2010 census, the town had a total population of 122,366. This represents an increase of 5.0% from the 2000 census. The town is named for Jeffrey Amherst, a British Army officer of the colonial period...
.
On October 9, 2010 CSI met at the Millennium Biltmore Hotel
Millennium Biltmore Hotel
The Millennium Biltmore Hotel, originally named the Los Angeles Biltmore Hotel of the Biltmore Hotels group, is a luxury hotel located on Pershing Square in Downtown Los Angeles, California. Upon its grand opening in 1923, the Los Angeles Biltmore was the largest hotel west of Chicago, Illinois in...
in Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
to discuss future plans and to expand the Executive Council which is CSI's "official policy-making body". Organized by Executive Director Barry Karr the board announced the following members who also serve on the magazine's board. James Alcock
James Alcock
James E. Alcock is a Professor of Psychology at York University . He has been a professor at York since 1973. Alcock received his BSc from McGill University and a PhD in Social Psychology from McMaster University...
, Kendrick Frazier
Kendrick Frazier
Kendrick Frazier is a science writer and editor. He was the editor of Science News for several years. Since 1977 he has been the editor of Skeptical Inquirer, the journal published by the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry [CSI. He is a member of the executive council of CSI, an international...
, Ray Hyman
Ray Hyman
Ray Hyman is a Professor Emeritus of Psychology at the University of Oregon in Eugene, Oregon, and a noted critic of parapsychology.-Career:...
, Scott O. Lilienfeld, Amardeo Sarma, Eugenie C. Scott, David E. Thomas, Leonard Tramiel and Benjamin Wolozin. (This list was expanded over subsequent months, adding Elizabeth Loftus
Elizabeth Loftus
Elizabeth F. Loftus is an American psychologist and expert on human memory. She has conducted extensive research on the misinformation effect and the nature of false memories. Loftus has been recognized throughout the world for her work, receiving numerous awards and honorary degrees...
and Karen Stollznow
Karen Stollznow
Karen Stollznow is an Australian writer, linguist, podcaster and skeptic. She is a columnist for both Skeptic and Skeptical Inquirer magazines and is host on two different skeptic podcasts...
). It was also decided to resume CSI conferences, the next scheduled for Oct 27-30, 2011.
Collections
There have been several collections of articles from the Skeptical Inquirer, most edited by Frazier. A DVD and CD-ROM of all articles of the first twenty-nine years has been released. Books of collections of articles are:- Paranormal Borderlands of Science (1981). edited by Kendrick Frazier, Prometheus BooksPrometheus BooksPrometheus Books is a publishing company founded in August 1969 by Paul Kurtz, who also founded the Council for Secular Humanism and co-founded the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry. He is currently the chairman of all three organizations. Prometheus Books publishes a range of books, including many...
; ISBN 0-87975-148-7. - Science Confronts the Paranormal (1986). edited by Kendrick Frazier, Prometheus Books; ISBN 0-87975-314-5.
- The Hundredth Monkey: And Other Paradigms of the Paranormal (1991). edited by Kendrick Frazier, Prometheus Books; ISBN 0-87975-655-1
- The Outer Edge: Classic Investigations of the Paranormal (1996). edited by Joe NickellJoe NickellJoe Nickell is a prominent skeptical investigator of the paranormal. He also works as an historical document consultant and has helped expose such famous forgeries as the purported diary of Jack the Ripper. In 2002 he was one of a number of experts asked by scholar Henry Louis Gates, Jr...
, Barry Karr, and Tom Genoni, CSICOP. OCLC 37626835 - The UFO Invasion: The Roswell Incident, Alien Abductions, and Government Coverups (1997). edited by Kendrick Frazier, Prometheus Books; ISBN 1-57392-131-9
- Encounters With the Paranormal: Science, Knowledge, and Belief (1998). edited by Kendrick Frazier, Prometheus Books; ISBN 1-57392-203-X.
- Bizarre Cases: From the Files of The Skeptical Inquirer (2000). edited by Benjamin RadfordBenjamin RadfordBenjamin Radford is deputy editor of the science magazine Skeptical Inquirer, former editor-in-chief of the Spanish-language magazine Pensar, which was published in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and a columnist for Skeptical Inquirer magazine Skeptical Briefs newsletter, Discovery News, LiveScience.com...
, CSICOP. OCLC 45054771 - Paranormal Claims: A Critical Analysis, 2007, edited by Bryan Farha, University Press of AmericaUniversity Press of AmericaUniversity Press of America is an academic book publisher based in the United States. Part of the independent Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group, it was founded in 1975 and boasts of having published "more than 10,000 academic, scholarly, and biographical titles in many disciplines"...
, ISBN 978-0-7618-3772-5. Five of the eighteen chapters are reprints of Skeptical Inquirer articles.
See also
- Committee for Skeptical Inquiry (formerly Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal)
- Skeptic (U.S. magazine)Skeptic (U.S. magazine)Skeptic is a quarterly science education and science advocacy magazine published internationally by The Skeptics Society, a nonprofit organization devoted to promoting scientific skepticism and resisting the spread of pseudoscience, superstition, and irrational beliefs...
- The Skeptic (UK magazine)The Skeptic (UK magazine)The Skeptic is a British magazine and is billed as "the UK’s longest running and foremost sceptical magazine, which examines science, scepticism, secularism, critical thinking and claims of the paranormal."-History, format and structure:...
- The Freethinker (journal)The Freethinker (journal)The Freethinker is a British secular humanist magazine, founded by G.W. Foote in 1881. It is the world's oldest surviving freethought publication.It has always taken an unapologetically atheist, anti-religious stance...
- SkepticismSkepticismSkepticism has many definitions, but generally refers to any questioning attitude towards knowledge, facts, or opinions/beliefs stated as facts, or doubt regarding claims that are taken for granted elsewhere...
- Scientific skepticismScientific skepticismScientific skepticism is the practice of questioning the veracity of claims lacking empirical evidence or reproducibility, as part of a methodological norm pursuing "the extension of certified knowledge". For example, Robert K...
- Critical thinkingCritical thinkingCritical thinking is the process or method of thinking that questions assumptions. It is a way of deciding whether a claim is true, false, or sometimes true and sometimes false, or partly true and partly false. The origins of critical thinking can be traced in Western thought to the Socratic...
- FreethoughtFreethoughtFreethought is a philosophical viewpoint that holds that opinions should be formed on the basis of science, logic, and reason, and should not be influenced by authority, tradition, or other dogmas...
- PseudosciencePseudosciencePseudoscience is a claim, belief, or practice which is presented as scientific, but which does not adhere to a valid scientific method, lacks supporting evidence or plausibility, cannot be reliably tested, or otherwise lacks scientific status...
- Reason (magazine)Reason (magazine)Reason is a libertarian monthly magazine published by the Reason Foundation. The magazine has a circulation of around 60,000 and was named one of the 50 best magazines in 2003 and 2004 by the Chicago Tribune.- History :...
- The Skeptic's Dictionary
- Snopes.com
- The Straight Dope
- FactCheckFactCheckFactCheck.org is a non-partisan, nonprofit website that describes itself as a consumer advocate' for voters that aims to reduce the level of deception and confusion in U.S. politics." It is a project of the Annenberg Public Policy Center of the Annenberg School for Communication at the University...