The Skeptic Society

The Skeptic Society (website ) is largely a one-man band, directed by Michael Shermer whose “Skeptic” column is featured in the Scientific American and who also regularly appears on U.S television. Shermer is the editor of Skeptic magazine (not to be confused by the British Skeptic magazine, produced by CSICOP). The magazine contains news items, essays by Michael Shermer and provides material on how to teach courses in skepticism in colleges.

In the “Skeptic Manifesto” (by Michael Shermer) there are several wise caveats about skepticism: “It is easy, even fun, to challenge others’ beliefs when we are smug in the certainty of our own. But when ours are challenged, it takes great patience and ego strength to listen with an unjaundiced ear. But there is a deeper flaw in pure skepticism. Taken to an extreme the position by itself cannot stand…if you are skeptical about everything, you would have to be skeptical of your own skepticism. Like the decaying sub-atomic particle, pure skepticism uncoils and spins off the viewing screen of our intellectual cloud chamber.”