The East Bay Skeptics Society A local non-profit, member-governed organization dedicated to: The advancement of reason, science and intellectual integrity -- and to the exposure of superstition, fraud and pseudoscience.

 

The East Bay Skeptics meet on the fourth Sunday of each month for dinner at 6p.m. at the China Village restaurant, 1335 Solano Avenue, in Albany CA. We have friendly informal conversation about topics of interest to the members. Most meetings focus on is a topic announced in advance on our mailing list. To join the list send e-mail to   If you have any questions, send e-mail to Jerry.

Read this whiney lament by the guy who was left holding the bag when the CIA finally shut down the DOD's secretive 24-year-long "anomalous cognition" (ESP) research program. Last year, Congress handed this $20 million "asset" to the CIA, and the agency decided it couldn't stand the odds.

For more about this fracas, see Jessica Utts home page.

A new book titled Why People Believe Weird Things by Michael Shermer, the head of the Skeptics Society in Los Angeles.

Skeptics have developed this new universal homeopathic floppy for your computer. You can automatically generate any remedy in a glass of water on your desktop.

Troubled by certain questions?

• Are you concerned about the unjustified legitimacy of medical pseudo-science?
• Do you wonder about the reality of UFO's astrology, spoon bending, levitation, crystal energy, channeling, pyramid power and other "psychic" abilities?
• Do you doubt that ESP can replace our expensive telephone network?
• Is your astrological sign manipulated by hokum?
• Was the Psychic Friends' Network just too busy answering phone calls to warn of the Oklahoma bombing?
• Are circular reasoning and magical thinking driving you nuts?
• Do you wish our society had a little more common sense?

IF.. you suspect you're not alone,
THEN.. you should investigate
The EAST BAY SKEPTICS SOCIETY

Introduction

The survival of a democratic society depends on the ability of its citizens to determine, for themselves, the difference between sense and nonsense. Yet modern mass-media, like cinema, television, radio and newspapers, even books, often blurs the distinction between reality and entertainment. This casual interchanging of myth, science, and metaphor robs each of these realms of their unique power to deepen our understanding of our wondrous world.

Pseudo-scientists claim the authority of science, but are unwilling to abide by the rules that earned science its authority in the first place.

We are concerned that the community's confusion in this area is detrimental to informed decision-making both in public and in private.

Our Mission

• Evaluate claims of extraordinary phenomena critically and impartially, particularly . . .

  paranormal phenomena: extra-sensory perception (ESP)  psychokinesis & levitation  clairvoyance & remote viewing  channeling & psychic powers  auras  dowsing (divining)  also see: The Skeptical Dictionary

  fringe-science & fringe-medicine claims: homeopathy  astrology, crystal power, & Quantum Consciousness  applied kinesiology & Therapeutic Touch  UFO & alien abductions  iridology & biorythms  clinical ecology (multiple chemical sensitivity)  an additional list of mystical and supernaturalistic health treatment methods

• Serve as a responsible and reliable information resource on these matters for the public
• Foster the fellowship of like-minded persons in the community from all walks of life
• Remain neutral on religious issues except where scientifically-testable claims are made
• Provide a public forum, without advocacy, for exploring the scientific issues underlying the use of controversial technology, such as . . .
• food irradiation
• 60-Hz EMF fields
• acupuncture
• nuclear energy
• vitamins
• genetic engineering
• fluoridated water
• etc. 

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Philosophy

• Reflections on speculative science, self-delusion, belief in pseudo-science, quackery, fraud, etc.
• Study of the scientific method and the ethics & standards of credentialed educational programs in parapsychology, fringe science and fringe medicine
• Discussions of folk wisdom, the limitations of human inference, the meaning of common sense and sanity, as well as topics from related fields such as... statistics, epidemiology, stage magic, the history and epistemology of science, etc. 

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Skeptical Resources on the Internet

• The Skeptical Dictionary
• The Committee for the Scientific Investigation of the Claims of the Paranormal (CSICOP), a venerable national group based in Buffalo, New York that publishes the bimonthly Skeptical Inquirer magazine. Their website has an interesting list of mystical and supernaturalistic health treatment methods that have been popular in recent decades.
• The Skeptics Society is an active West Coast group based in Los Angeles that publishes The Skeptic magazine. Their web page is maintained by Jim Lippard, who maintains a list of links to many other interesting sites.
• The San Diego Association for Rational Inquiry (SDARI) is an educational and investigative organization which advocates the application of scientific method and open rational inquiry to extraordinary claims of all kinds.
• Montana Rationalists and Skeptics Network
• Rocky Mountain Skeptics
• PhACT -- Philadelphia Association for Critical Thinking
• Bay Area Skeptics is the other skeptics group in the San Francisco bay area.
• The British Columbia Skeptics Society
• Inquiring Skeptics of Upper New York
• New York Area Skeptics
  For general information on NYASk, e-mail to nyask@liii.com
• National Council Against Health Fraud. Their motto is Enhancing Freedom of Choice Through Reliable Information.
• Some concerns we have about Waldorf Education.
• The Center for Critical Thinking at Sonoma State University (Northern California).
• The National Center for Science Education is a wonderful source of information on the nonsense of "creation science."
• Quack Watch accurately covers a wide variety of health claims.
• The James Randi Foundation

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