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John Horgan: My controversial diatribe against “skeptics” (skeptic of skeptics style) - C C - Apr 13, 2023
https://johnhorgan.org/cross-check/my-controversial-diatribe-against-skeptics
INTRO: The backlash was immediate after I spoke at the 2016 Northeast Conference on Science & Skepticism, which bills itself as a “celebration of science and critical thinking.” Although the conference had allotted me 10 minutes for questions, the stage manager, Jamy Ian Swiss, shooed me off the stage and took my Q&A time to rebuke me.
After I published my talk on ScientificAmerican.com (under the headline “Dear 'Skeptics': Bash Homeopathy and Bigfoot Less, Mammograms and War More”), I was slammed by Jerry Coyne, Steven Pinker, Michael Shermer, Lawrence Krauss, David Gorski, Steven Novella and many others. The controversy was covered by Nature and other media. People still cite my diatribe, so I decided to publish an edited, updated version here on my free journal, which has no paywall.
OPENING EXCERPT: I hate preaching to the converted. If you were Buddhists, I’d bash Buddhism. But you’re skeptics, so I have to bash skepticism.
I’m a science journalist. I don’t celebrate science, I criticize it, because science needs critics more than cheerleaders. I point out gaps between scientific hype and reality. That keeps me busy, because, as you know, most peer-reviewed scientific claims are wrong.
I’m a skeptic, but with a small S, not capital S. I don’t belong to skeptical societies. I don’t hang out with people who self-identify as capital-S Skeptics. Or Atheists. Or Rationalists.
When people like this get together, they become tribal. They pat each other on the back and tell each other how smart they are compared to those outside the tribe. But belonging to a tribe can make you dumber.
Here’s an example involving two idols of Capital-S Skepticism... (MORE - details)
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CLOSING EXCERPT: You can find links to my original article, as well as responses and my counter-responses, here, here and here. The following articles update claims I made in 2016:
Is Medicine Overrated?
The Cancer Industry: Hype vs. Reality
Can Psychiatry Heal Itself?
Has the Drug-Based Approach to Mental Illness Failed?
Will War Ever End?