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Skepticism is not a knee jerk reaction like, "That's bunk!" to everything that sounds a little off the wall, it's the science/art of critically analyzing a proposed statement of fact to ascertain, to the best of our ability, whither its something we should store for future use in our lives, or junk that should be discarded with the rest of the trash. Even the best thinkers sometimes make mistakes in their critical thinking. The late Dr. Carl Sagan said during the burning of the gulf war oil wells, "The smoke and particles will rise up into the stratosphere and cause a "Nuclear Winter" affecting the entire world." At the moment he said that on network TV in 1991, I was shocked! I knew he was wrong. Dr. Sagan has always been, and will remain, in my mind, one of the worlds finest proponents of ""Good Science" and critical thinking. But I realized, in his 1991 statement, that he had let his emotional concerns for the environment prejudice his scientific thinking. I recognized that unlike the energy of a nuclear blast or volcano, the temperature of one burning oil well, or even one thousand burning oil wells, was insufficient to carry the smoke and particulate matter more than a few thousand feet into the air where it would fall back to the ground within a few hundred miles down wind of the well. Even the best scientists make mistakes, but that is the heart of the scientific process. If your theory has a problem admit it and do more research. That's exactly what Dr. Sagan did, and in one of his subsequent books he apologized for his "Nuclear Winter" statement of 1991. Now that's the hallmark of a world class scientist, and a top-notch critical thinker.
The goal of this web page is to present you with the tools to help you think a little more critically about the validity of information you may be exposed to online, or anywhere else for that matter.
All of us have a sacred cow or two, I am not intentionally trying gore either yours or mine with this website. This web page has links to, what I believe to be, a broad spectrum of valuable resources to aid in the cultivation of a good crop of critical thinking skills. If at least one or two of the following links don't cause a few scars on one of your sacred cows, then I have probably failed in my endeavor to make the world just a tad more rational... Enjoy!
The official website of the Skeptics Society. This award-winning site is your pathway to critical thinking, where everything must pass under the magnifying glass of scrutiny.
On this site we'll explore urban legends and folklore from a variety of perspectives, setting pointers to the very best of what the Net has to offer, and, I hope, enjoying ourselves along the way. Features are updated weekly, so come back when you can to see what's new and add your two cents' worth. There'll be much to talk about, I promise you.
As an astronomer, teacher, lecturer and all-around science junkie, Philip Plait is exposed to all sorts of people and their ideas about what goes on in the sky around them. Philip has been delighted to find that most people are very curious about the night (and day!) sky, but unfortunately a lot of misinformation is spread about astronomy. Sometimes this information is just plain silly, and sometimes it makes just enough sense that people believe it. Sometimes the news media help spread these ideas (like the one that you can spin or stand an egg on end during the Vernal Equinox). Mr. Plait says, "I feel obliged to right these wrongs when I can".
Your Guide to Health Fraud, Quackery, and Intelligent Decisions
The James Randi Educational Foundation is a not-for-profit organization founded in 1996. Its aim is to promote critical thinking by reaching out to the public and media with reliable information about paranormal and supernatural ideas so widespread in our society today.
"Junk science" is bad science used by: personal injury lawyers to shakedown deep pocket businesses; the "food police" and environmental Chicken Littles to fuel wacky social agendas; power-drunk regulators; cut-throat businesses to attack competitors; and slick politicians and overly ambitious scientists to gain personal fame and fortune.
