by Kylie Sturgess

Today, I still see flyers in my local chemist for homeopathy - a practice questioned by The Lancet medical journal as little better than placebos. My veterinarian once supported acupuncture for cats - until she discovered how better armed the cats were for retaliation. But unless I keep a keen eye on the notices thumb tacked to the bulletin board at my local universities, I would never know about upcoming science lectures… and this makes me question.

When I overheard my local primary school students discussing John Edward's latest tour and learned that out-of-body experiences were being touted as evidence of the existence of god in their religious education class, I stopped believing. I stopped believing that the skeptics on the various forum boards that I frequented were as impressive or resourceful as they once appeared to be.

The 'broad brush' approach to claiming we want to create a more skeptical and science-orientated world just doesn’t seem to work. We, as self-proclaimed skeptics, have failed to be skeptical enough about the effect we have on the world merely by participating on internet forums.

Although the 'big issues' are being debated and we all talk about 'raising awareness' for skepticism, science, et al., the few practical gems become lost in the swathe of forum boards, blog posts and internet sites. How many of us recall Andrew Mayne’s "50 Things You Can do To Encourage Critical Thinking - Think Skeptically, Act Locally" from Skeptic, 2004? I think it’s time to revisit strategies like the ones he proposed.

As a teacher from an all girls' school, one issue concerned me the most. Why aren't there more women interested in skepticism? Maybe because we're not addressing the ground roots situation of the average woman, let alone the average man and really have little to no say in changing the academic world as an everyday person.

Why do people think science is dry? Perhaps because they don't know the avenues to find out more about it, especially if they're young people. Why do people claim we are in ivory towers? Why are skeptics mostly 'old white men'? Why are we considered 'elitist and humourless'? Could it be because underneath it all, we are? Or worse, that we reinforce that stereotype with our behaviour, acting publicly only as sneering nay-sayers and acting privately at skeptic conferences as Shermer's groupies? It's not that funny when your humour is primarily used to cut people down for your own egotistical satisfaction. Less when you say you represent a group of people with that attitude and behaviour.

Ben Pile wrote in his article 'Debunking the Debunkers', on spiked-online.com, of how "putting science and rationalism back on the map is going to take more than PR, angry rants about stupid religious people, or teaching kids that ‘science is cool’. We don’t need a police force to protect us from bad ideas. We just need better ideas."

This perspective that Pile puts forward indicates how we may undermine all our well-meaning efforts. Unless we start making a difference in our own communities and show ourselves to be caring, generous, thoughtful and proactive citizens of a real-world community. I admit, this seems to be forgotten at times amongst the flame-wars and scrabble to be first with the off-the-cuff put-down.

I feel that the online platforms for skeptics of different educational levels and interests and creation of places to discuss the issues never actually seemed to make any difference to more than a handful of people who were already calling themselves 'skeptical'. It comes across as just reinventing the wheel again and again at times.

Maybe you feel that you don't have the skills to promote skepticism in public? I agree that just because someone is an accomplished researcher doesn't mean they're a good communicator too. Just because someone is a scientist doesn't mean they're a skeptic. We're not all book writers or professors at the podium.

But we don't change anything by being fantastic researchers and / or communicators on internet sites who mainly focus on associating with other skeptics and raise small funds for activities that have no accountability in terms of what they really produce.

In short, it's not the 'I grew towards' stories that I want to hear but 'here's some things I did that changed a child's situation'. Or better yet, 'here's how people in my street or my community learned something and dealt with a danger or a problem that had a pseudoscientific or paranormal basis'.

I'd certainly like 'here's some real strategies and informed study that I based upon significant experience and scholarship in the field'! The fact is, not all of us are going to be the last category. That doesn't mean we can't work towards that today – and if not for our own curriculum vitae, why not for the future careers for the children in our community?

These days I feel like saying to all proclaimed skeptics – give me twenty ways that you can change what you see in your world and make accountable differences.

I began by looking at myself - here are mine.

1) Instead of swapping books on a forum board amongst other skeptics or reviewing books by well-known skeptical authors and only talking about them with other skeptics - try donating books that particularly inspired you to think critically about 'weird things' to your local school or library. If we can start getting those skeptical books that are out of print back into circulation, they'll deliver royalties and raise their profile (especially when in a library). It can start to address the imbalance caused by overwhelming number of horoscope and new age texts in the 130 Dewey decimal section of the library.

The tradition of 'Book-crossing' or leaving books with a message inside for people to 'read – register – release' may initially seem like a good idea for Carl Sagan's classic 'Demon Haunted World'- but it really doesn't have an accountable result like knowing if it's being read or respected.

We also have to consider the risk of having 'The Demon-Haunted World' thrown in the bin by annoyed cleaners on the order of the management when you start sneaking them into hotel bedside tables. And what if fundamentalist groups retaliate in return with their own books?

Think outside the laptop screen and make those texts we see as useful introductions to skepticism both available AND valued by others. Start with your co-workers and neighbours. We should trust other people’s ability to determine their own interests or make their own decisions, certainly. So doing it in a non-threatening or patronising manner should always be kept in mind.

2) Without wanting to sound too panic-inducing, I propose noting what groups are influencing grade and high schools – in your town. 'Intelligent Design' groups took action in the Dover Area School district and continue towards infiltrating science classes around the world - and we can be certain that this will not stop any time soon. So why not attend Parent / Teacher / Community meetings? Be the "devils' advocate" and get first hand knowledge about what is going on in your community with plans that target the least powerful members of society - the children.

It's one thing to discuss what goes on amongst other skeptics online or at the conference gatherings - it's another thing to talk to your local school's teachers, the school council and to your fellow parents and concerned citizens. It may also help get a more balanced perspective on exactly how problematic some issues really are - I wouldn't be surprised if you found that there is already a general community backlash against ID that isn't coordinated by any skeptical group!

That's something we don't often consider - just how much of a 'threat' is something? Start researching on your own and find out if it's really in your town first.

3) Suggest that both your local and school libraries consider featuring Science Week (which does occur in many countries, mostly found out by typing in Science Week in Google or just asking the library to find out for you) and putting more popular science books on display for people to read. Or suggest them making a more balanced-point-of-view book display when the Psychic Faire happens to be in town, for example.

It's certainly more proactive than just furtively moving copies of Bad Astronomy into the Astrology section at your Barnes & Noble for people to "accidentally find" - not unlike my previous comment about accountability for what is being read as opposed to just being 'found'. We should respect people's right to make an informed decision about what they want to read.

4) There are quite a few groups of skeptics online who have creative writing groups. This could cater to adult readers of short stories but also to children and teenagers. Several authors I've already mentioned have written short stories aimed at children. Cross-curricular education programs can mean that issues and techniques from the Science classroom can be used in the Humanities. Get in touch with the publishers of those books to see how popular they are and cater to the much-needed niche likewise.

It would also help if people started writing for non-skeptic magazines, especially if you're a teenager yourself. Max Fagin from Skeptical Briefs wrote a fantastic article on 'Psychic versus Skeptical Predictions' in the June edition of CSICOP - http://www.csicop.org/sb/2006-06/predictions.html- and he's a high school senior.

Considering the number of pseudoscientific and paranormal features in the average teenage girl's magazine, it could be proposed that we're heading towards a crisis point. These young women are being urged to pay for advice that is unchallenged by the publication and in fact promoted by it. This would be an excellent project for a group to tackle, especially those who tout the 'skeptical women' banner.

5) If you have a particularly well-loved skeptical book in mind, buy two copies and give one to a friend who has children and the other to a school library. Be willing to discuss it with the parents and any children, especially teenagers, about the book.

Notice that there are quite a few critical thinking books out there by authors like Phillip Cam (who has written philosophical enquiry short stories based on the 'Philosophy for Children' model by Lipman and Sharp), Dan Barker, Tim Yule, Joe Nickell, Bill Nye, Dr Karl Kruszelnicki, as well as the new series of the Baloney Detection books. Give children your Junior Skeptic section of the Skeptic magazine or if they're older, a gift-subscription.

6) What is done with books can also be done with DVDs and films... every public let alone school library should have a DVD loan section and if not, start one by donating some. In fact, why not start looking at how we can make short films for internet broadcast?

We have already seen how the Loose Change documentary was first initiated by teenagers and if anything points to the power of the medium, it's that. Start asking if more lectures taped from skeptical conferences can be made available online like the Skeptic.com 'Mind, Brain and Consciousness' conference and point them out to teachers as a free resource. 'You Tube' could also be considered a useful resource.

7) Speaking of DVDs and films, how many of us suggest to our local video store that more documentaries and science programs be made available? Is Mythbusters on the shelf? In fact, are we trying to get more shows like Mythbusters on our screens? What about contacting your local school and asking them what are some of the popular science shows that they use in the classroom, anything from dinosaurs to DIY experiments and then seeing if your video store will promote some of them?

8) Many of these points already assume that you have money to spare on them and I apologise for that. The cost of a stamp or a click of an email is all that it takes to send one letter to an editor. Why not aim on forum boards to use the 'creative writing skills' that so many boast about to start a real writers club aimed at polishing draft letters to the editor on credulous issues?

Highlight at least three issues in the media each week and create a 'form letter' structure that could be tailored for anyone to forward on - just the basics for those who are unfamiliar with how to structure short, snappy letters that actually have a chance to be printed.

Writing to the advertisers in regards to your support or distaste for the content that they are linked to is another aspect we should consider.

9) Letters to the editor can also be letters to the producer, the radio station, the journalist who wrote the article and your local council. If the adage that a letter counts for seven other people who didn't take the time to put pen to paper, imagine what seven letters that have additional personalisation to a well-composed basic template from a group could mean to those who have the power to change the things?

10) I'm not just thinking about criticism of what credulous material that is sent out there - do we write into broadcasting companies or film producers thank them for creating certain documentaries? Ask if a station or publishing group will help us see or buy documentaries that are only on show in other countries?

Enough of a pressure group and enough letters of praise to the local paper for it being shown (as well as encouraging everyone to tune in) can only help in encouraging likewise action for future programming choices. Keep in mind that rather than dictating, it is about suggesting a wider range for everyone's benefit.

11) Contact your local bookstore and say that you want those two copies of your favourite and that you'll be recommending it to other people to buy.

Then perhaps contact the publisher of the book and ask if there are any new books or a tour heading your way. Certainly, you could use the forum boards to coordinate these efforts and to look at international authors to raise their profile rather than just having their talents known in your country.

12) The New Zealand Skeptics group, on their website at http://www.skeptics.org.nz/SK:RESOURCES:1001 have produced information flyers and brochures, not unlike those information leaflets that we get at chemist stores or are used to promote vitamin supplements or information on popular illnesses.

With a keen skeptical group collating and organising themselves, many topics could be produced and published, printed off by any skeptic and given as an addition to the stands at the chemist, the reading material at the doctor's office and the local community hall. Keep in mind that getting in touch with a church group can be an excellent start to caring about how many groups outside the skeptics suffer from the effects of the pseudoscientific – we have the example of ' StopKaz.com' and her targeting of religious communities for that.

13) Book reviews on skeptic sites are all fine but unless you're already a skeptic, you're not likely to read them. Let's target Amazon.com and the other major book review sites to use our talents to intelligently target the problems with credulous textbooks and update and foreground some of the skeptical texts that do not often get considered by the casual browser.

A user on the Brights forum suggested another tack - shouldn't we also consider writing reasoned, researched and polite critiques of the popular credulous and pseudoscientific texts? E-Skeptic has already dissected Anne Coulter's most recent book and that leads me to think that perhaps other works by the likes of Browne, Edwards et al need fresh reviews that will lead potential buyers to recognise an alternative interpretation to the back-cover blurb.

Many publishing groups request reviewers and should want a wider range of people who would be interested in their books. Start using them in the local book clubs or write up reader guides for ones that you think will be accessible to people in your community. Start up a community book club that specifically aims to use texts that will match well with what teenagers are studying in Science class and become not only a book club but an informal tutoring / discussion group. This way it would match up with something that's already relevant for young people's educational needs rather than a dictating attitude.

14) If skeptics want to be seen as an authentic force for improving the communication of science, it has to take more than social events in venues where teenagers are not welcomed to listen. The tradition of the 'skeptic in the pub' is proactive yet limited.

The opportunity to have a more open forum in a more publicly-accessible space where you can address a wider age range will knock criticisms that we are just sneering naysayers or a narcissistic coterie that doles out abuse to those unfortunate enough to start a credulous thread. Although the danger of debating forum is that it is not where science and education on science happens, a proper lecture and opportunity to have discussions later is always a start. At least it's local networking too.

15) Contact your local university and ask if they host scientific speakers and get involved by helping out in any way you can, promoting with flyers, telling people about the lecture. Contact those same speakers and see if they're interested in talking to high schools.

See if you can help in some way in promoting such speakers, not just during Science Week but Careers days, see if coincide with aspects that are being taught in schools. Not just the Science department either; the English department, the Society studies, Mathematics department, Health studies and many other groups could benefit from hearing another side to what we are told about pseudoscientific claims in the media.

16) Don't just think of books - try periodicals. Donate a subscription to any one (or more!) of the many Skeptical magazines out there. Magazines traditionally grab the reader quicker and are more likely to be mentioned in conversations about things they read. This may also prompt people to consider contributing to them, which is easier than writing their own book!

There are many more Science-for-youth magazines out there – publications that are more accessible texts for less literate young people. We as skeptics could even donate a subscription to our local schools let alone the public library. At least they will be available for their perusal, rather than absent altogether.

17) Getting involved with a local school needn't be so hands on - you can contribute your mind.

This year, the West Australian Skeptics' Award was run, involving people judging high-school student reports on a paranormal or pseudoscientific claim. The WA Skeptics offered several Awards for what they saw as entries which showed excellent overall examples of clarity, organisation, survey skills or testing, critical thinking and thorough research. They gave honourable mentions to those who demonstrated much of the above and gave feedback both for the task and for the school / teacher.

There may be many people who enter into a typical creative writing competition or submit a manuscript, gain no critical feedback and never try again. At least getting back something that reiterates the rules, tells more about what the organisation is looking for or provides some tips might improve the likelihood of another entry.

There is absolutely nothing stopping a community group in a bigger state, another country and with a larger population doing something exactly the same. It's not just for the Science departments either – work can be done by any student even without school time by simply creating suggested templates.

The WA Skeptics have even put a call out for people to contribute resources for an updated challenge, in the Spring edition of the Australian publication 'the Skeptic'. There is a similar plea for resources by the Queensland Studies Authority for their Philosophy and Reason course. With the new AS Critical Thinking course in the UK, they should also warrant our attention and support. See what your state's curriculum is like by contacting your local school and finding out what professional educational groups are looking for likewise.

In addition to this, on 5th May, 2005 a female Skeptic by the name of Deja Gateward put forward a challenge to test the GSIC chip. I have seen no similar effort by any skeptical woman to do a legitimate template or experiment suitable for the James Randi Educational Foundations Million Dollar Challenge - until my classes of 48 female students ran their own entries for the WA Skeptics Awards.

The time is well overdue for people to start thinking how they could be more proactive in promoting the benefits of the challenge by creating resources or contributing to young people's education on pseudoscientific claims.

18) In addition to the WA Skeptics this year, The New Zealand Skeptics ran a competition where high school-aged students wrote speeches about skeptical issues and part of their prize was to present it at the 2006 conference.

The NZ speaking competition (as it was proposed) would also be under no limitation in terms of giving recognition to those students who put in the effort and enthusiasm to create a good, critical and well-researched speech, if not several exemplary ones that are finally presented.

Why not offer to be a judge for similar competitions, write the guidelines, promote it, donate a prize, and offer suggestions to teachers on suitable textbooks, issues, resources, prizes that indicate that we see young people as valued for their efforts?

Talk to those two groups about what they did and see that if they could do it in their state, why couldn't you and others? If skepticism is about a process not purposelessness, couldn't this be seen as a reinforcer for those who want to try?

19) Of course, money isn't the only factor that hinders us - many of us have jobs and commitments that are just as if not more important than contributing to the communication of critical thinking. Consider how you can tailor what you do every week and every month so you can do your part.

If you make an effort to help fundraise, why not use it to contribute to projects like those above that primarily target changes to your community? With work, you can cater your efforts to incorporate doing something that contributes to a scientific or skeptical project, even if it's just once a year. Look at what other local projects there are out there and how you can donate to something that will actually make an accountable difference to your everyday.

Of course, some of the best things people can do just involve creating ideas and being a support mechanism for those in a position to do something with it. We don't further anything if we fail to respect the need to keep ourselves, our jobs and our families alive.

20) Finally, I would add the proviso for those who find the notion of a 'scholarship', as discussed on several of the forum boards, appealing. If you do get funding to go to a skeptic's conference, why not show some real thinking skills and actually do something proactive with what you learned? Accountability is one thing that every educational institution expects and if we want to be respected like educators and educational foundations, then demand accountability for what we fund.

Even if it's a small thing that inspires you from going to a conference, take it beyond the forum boards and try contributing something to a real world community, not just an internet one.

Although conferences can be loved for their social aspects and everyone can write pages and pages about 'why they became a skeptic' - try thinking about how to make others skeptical in your street. The best place is to start is your own backyard as it's always going to there when you log off.

I challenge you, not for a million dollars, but to show why you deserve to be called a skeptic by starting your own top twenty list of 'things to do'. If you can’t give me twenty – just ten. Or even just five.

Then either do some of them or pass it onto some people who can make it a reality.

Because this is something everyone can do.
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Copyright © 2004 - 2006 by Kylie Sturgess, all rights reserved. Printed with permission.