| Product: |
Skeptical Inquirer |
| Date: |
24/08/00 (41 review reads) |
| Rating: |
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Advantages: Scientific perspective, often neutral and serious approach
Disadvantages: Sometimes superficial and aggressive
So, what's behind astrology and UFOs and other paranormal topics? While most publications take a rather uncritical approach, the Skeptical Inquirer provides a skeptical view. The Skeptical Inquirer is published by the Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal (CSICOP), and they pride themselves of having a number of Nobel Prize winners and other scientific celebrities among their advisors.
It is in general a good magazine. Some of the articles are investigative, in which individual topics or e.g. UFO or ghost cases are evaluated from a critical scientific background - usually with negative result. Other articles (and those are the ones that I find almost more interesting) look at the underlying belief systems from a sociological and psychological perspective: They discuss e.g. under which conditions almost everybody can have subjectively convincing paranormal experiences - but also that subjectively convincing experiences are not sufficient to prove the existence of the paranormal, but can be highly misleading, so that a more critical evaluation is needed. Now, I am aware that it almost always leads to misunderstanding if you critically discuss personal experiences, so I would like to make clear that this by no means implies that people with paranormal experiences are somehow "crazy" or have a mental disease - the relevant psychological mechanisms are completely normal. But it is also quite clear that our cognitive system is not perfect, and that we are subject to self-deceptions, so that it is wise to know these human imperfections.
As such, the Skeptical Inquirer is a good counterweight against the generally more uncritical media coverage of the paranormal. At the same time, you will learn a lot about human (and your own!) perception and cognitive biasses, and it can help to get a more balanced view of paranormal experiences - and perhaps also a more balanced view of other topics.
However, havi
ng been a regular reader of the SI for a few years, I find now that it is getting a bit repetitive and stops at a level which I no longer find satisfactory. Most of the articles seem to be written for new readers, but as a long term reader I often look at the table of content and think "Haven't I seen this before?"
Also, while the SI generally tries to promote a neutral, matter-of-fact approach which tries to take paranormal experiences seriously, I find that often this neutral approach seems only a superficial coating under which a more aggressive approach lurks. CSICOP has a campaign for "Media integrity" which essentially means to act as a pressure group against all paranormal TV programmes. While I don't like the many paranormal pseudo-documentaries either, I think is rather problematic to effectively call for censorship. Even more problematic I find the impression that some CSICOP members also exert pressure on academic researchers who take a more favourable approach to investigating paranormal events.
Furthermore, I find it rather irritating that some SI articles and CSICOP press releases take a very cursory and generalistic view of everything paranormal and label everything from alternative medicine to UFOs as "superstition". Obviously, these are very different things, and an investigation into UFOs tells you little or nothing about alternative medicine. Secondly, viewed as belief systems, e.g. astrology and UFOs are almost completely separte sets of beliefs, i.e., the majority of people who belief in astrology don't believe in the existence of UFOs, and vice versa. It is therefore neither correct nor useful to label everything as "superstition".
Now, having said that, the SI in general does try not to oversimplify, so my remarks are not meant as devastating criticism, but rather as a hint where you should be skeptical when reading the Skeptical Inquirer.
Skeptical I
nquirer homepage:
http://www.csicop.org/si/
European subscrition:
£11.50 for one year, £22.50 for two years, or £33.50 for three years (these prices include shipping).
Skeptical Inquirer, 10 Cresent View, Loughton, Essex, IG10 4PZ
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