Are we there yet? A skeptic’s Thanksgiving.
Are we there yet? A skeptic’s Thanksgiving.
by Robert T. Carroll
Skeptic’s Dictionary
Sometimes skeptics feel like we’re just spinning our wheels. We look like we’re moving but we’re standing still. We feel like we’re standing on the gallows, waiting for the last train or for the fat lady to sing or for the cavalry to arrive. This theme, more or less, was the focus of a recent essay and podcast by Daniel Loxton, editor of Junior Skeptic magazine, which is published by Michael Shermer’s Skeptics Society as part of Skeptic magazine. The title of Loxton’s piece asked of the skeptic movement “where do we go from here?” My initial reaction was to start talking to myself. There is no ‘we’ to go anywhere, I said. “Nobody cares what you think,” I responded. In fairness to Loxton, he focuses on “classic skepticism” and uses Paul Kurtz’s organization as a model. Kurtz runs CSI, formerly CSICOP, publisher of Skeptical Inquirer magazine, Skeptic magazine’s only competitor. I couldn’t help but wonder why somebody from Skeptic was writing about what the other folks should be doing. Whatever the reason, I’m sure it stimulated a lot of self-reflection in the skeptical community.
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