MEET ONE OF THE ROGUES FROM THE SGU

Bob Novella - 1 August 2015

In 2014, NZ Skeptics had the pleasure of hosting the rogues of The Skeptics’ Guide to the Universe podcast at the NZ Skeptics Conference. As they say on their show, here’s a quickie with Bob.

Q: How did you first get involved in the skeptical movement?

I first got involved in the skeptical movement in the mid 1990s (before the World Wide Web was a thing) when we realized that the list of local skeptical organisations in the back of the Skeptical Inquirer did not show an entry for our state. We created the Connecticut Skeptical Society and started making a quarterly newsletter (The New England Journal of Skepticism). This quickly lead to the New England Skeptical Society (The NESS) with chapters in each New England State and a quarterly meetings for socializing and talks. Kind of a Skeptics in the Pub except in a library and no booze.

Q: Why do you think the skeptical movement is so important?

The skeptical movement is important because the critical thinking skills it instills are increasingly vital in our complicated society awash with mountains of poor-quality/misleading/fabricated information. These skills help us navigate through this torrent of pseudoinformation (as well as everyday social interactions) and help separate reliable information from useless or even harmful information.

Q: Tell us about some of the projects you’re currently involved in.

We recently completed (with the NY City Skeptics) our annual NECSS conference in New York which was a resounding success. We are now focused on preparing for our 10-year SGU anniversary show which will be a marathon 10-hour video podcast, live-streamed on May 2nd. We are also working with volunteers to help enact Anti-SLAPP legislation in as many states as possible. This will give bloggers the freedom to express their opinions online without the threat of overwhelming court costs to defend their freedom of speech.

Q: What are your skeptical ‘pet peeves’ and why?

My biggest skeptical pet-peeve is the use of the word quantum (..cough Chopra…cough) to support all sorts of crazy pseudo-scientific nonsense. It’s true that Quantum Mechanics is incredibly counter-intuitive and, dare I say, seemingly magical, but it is also a thoroughly tested and widely accepted representation of phenomena at extremely tiny scales. That doesn’t mean you can use it to support crank theories that have no connection to real quantum mechanics other than the bizarreness of their claims.

Q: If you could give one piece of advice to skeptics, what would it be?

One piece of advice I’d give to skeptics is to not only focus outwards, confronting pseudoscience, identifying logical fallacies, examining evidence etc. It’s just as critical and much harder to consistently turn that focus inwards onto our own sacred cows and to recognise that even the best skeptics have biases and fallible perceptions that need to be recognised and minimised.