Skepticism: Going out of business?

After 13 years of service, I resigned from the Australian Skeptics a few weeks ago. Those who know me personally are aware of the circumstances, but for those who don’t, I kind of like the idea that my leaving is shrouded in conspiracy…

Here is the Editorial that never was…

Skepticism: Going out of Business?

The main function of the National Center for Science Education (NCSE) is to keep evolution in schools, and creationism out.

NCSE Executive Director Eugenie Scott said to me recently, “Our goal is to do our work so well that we’ll eventually be out of our jobs.”

“You want to go out of business?” I asked.

“Yes,” she confirmed.

Some organisations aren’t meant to last. Or rather, it’s hoped they won’t need to last.

Ideally, educational and relief organisations would not need to exist. To that end, some organisations have deliverables, time frames, plans, policies and programs. They have a specific, achievable objective. For example, the aim to teach evolution in schools but exclude pseudoscience from the school syllabus; or, to inform people about HIV/AIDS and encourage the use of preventative measures; or, to educate people about the benefits of vaccination and overcome misinformation so we can ultimately eradicate diseases such as diphtheria and polio. Skeptical groups want to promote critical thinking in schools, and society at large. But this last lofty goal raises a few questions…

Should skeptical groups aim to go out of business?

It has occasionally been said to me that skeptical movements should also aim to put themselves ‘out of business’, so to speak, and ultimately make themselves unneeded. I’ve heard a range of estimates, “We should aim to disband in 10 years.” Or 20 years, or 30 years or 50 years. There are as many vague, unsupported predictions for the end of skeptical groups as there are predictions for End Times.

Are we expecting some sort of apocalypse for pseudoscience and the paranormal? Perhaps we’re awaiting some sort of Hundredth Monkey Effect whereby we’ll all wash our sweet potatoes of skepticism, and critical thinking will instantaneously disseminate?

But there is no instant gratification. Skepticism is spread by stealth.

Is a lack of critical thinking something we can eliminate entirely? Have we effectively purged credulity from ourselves? The fact is, we’re all skeptics-in-training. A relative of mine, a self-professed “hard-core skeptic”, lauded the benefits of water diving during drought on his rural property. He didn’t invariably find water, but there were times he did! As skeptics, there will always be something for us to teach, and something for us to learn.

So, how will we know when our job is done? When homeopathic products are out of pharmacies? When astrology columns are no longer a feature in newspapers? When the crystal ball becomes a desk weight? When the “Going out of Business” sign appears on the Church door?

Skepticism isn’t like education about evolution, or eradicating smallpox. Skepticism is not just one theme. It is broad, and there are a wide range of topics that we need to tackle. There are ever-changing fads, and seemingly “unsinkable rubber ducks”.  Beliefs and practices evolve, and so too we skeptics must evolve…

These challenges don’t mean that our objectives are hopeless, or that skeptics are ineffective. We need to be creative, patient, and vigilant. Our aim is to educate, but not overlook the ongoing need for skepticism to exist.

If there was no need for skepticism, I’m sure we’d all pack up our baloney detection kits and skeptical toolboxes and go home to enjoy our skeptical Utopia. But there is a need.

On the other hand, skeptical groups are often accused of being self-propagating. Believers, in particular, perceive us as skeptical vampires who feed on pseudoscience and the paranormal. It was once said to me, “You need the supernatural to justify your existence!” But skepticism fills a gap, it doesn’t create one.

Another time I was accused, “You skeptics thrive on people like Sylvia Browne and Uri Geller.” I replied that skeptical groups exist because of these people; they don’t exist for us.

Skepticism isn’t sport. To illustrate this point I’ll reference examples featured in this issue alone; I am yet to meet a skeptic who thrives on the news story that a young girl died of whooping cough because parents in her community neglected to vaccinate their children, on the advice of anti-vaccination groups. I am yet to encounter a skeptic who relishes family arguments about religion around the holiday dinner table. I am yet to find a skeptic who delights in the unsolved mystery above solving the mystery. And I’m yet to find a skeptic who enjoys watching a psychic medium tell a crying woman that he has “made contact” with her deceased husband, who “loves” her; but she interrupts and explains that her husband is critically ill, though not dead…

Skepticism fills a need; a multi-faceted need, and an ongoing need.

The Skeptic has a practical purpose in addressing this need. We raise awareness of critical thinking, examine beliefs and practices, we engage in activism, especially beyond our community. This magazine aims to inspire, motivate, educate and make you think, critically, of course.

Reading The Skeptic has a practical purpose too. This isn’t like scouring a food magazine for recipes; reading Playboy “for the articles”, or flicking though a gossip mag while you wait in the foyer of your dentist’s surgery; where you are no doubt having those dangerous amalgam fillings taken out of your mouth…

You are readers with responsibilities.

You are on the front lines of skepticism. You close the pages of this magazine and you walk away with an everyday duty to society and a personal duty to your friends and family. You warn your mom that the colloidal silver she makes can render her skin a gray color, permanently. You advise your colleague against participating in that multi-level marketing scheme. You gently explain to your friend that the belief he’s dabbling in is more cult than religion. You comfort your frightened child with the truth that there’s no ghost in the cupboard.

Skepticism is a work-in-progress, for all of us. Just as there will always be a need for reason, science, logic, critical thinking, and plain old common sense; there will always be a need for skepticism.

Will skepticism go out of business?

I doubt it.