Channelling sceptic thought

Martin Bridgstock
December 13, 2006

SURVEYS in Australia and the US indicate that about 80 per cent of the population holds at least one paranormal belief. These include extra-sensory perception, astrology, UFOs and ghosts.
The science-based investigation group Australian Skeptics believes that all paranormalists' claims should be tested carefully before acceptance. It considers that widespread belief in the paranormal has produced many appalling outcomes.

People have died trusting alternative therapies or faith healing when medicine could have saved them. More have been conned out of large amounts of money by fake mediums, clairvoyants and channellers.

To prevent this, we need to seek out and evaluate the evidence for paranormal claims.

Many regard scepticism as a closed-minded form of rejection. It isn't. Scepticism undertakes to investigate paranormal claims, and follow the truth wherever it leads. If a paranormal claim can be sufficiently evidenced, the Skeptics are bound to accept it - they want to know if paranormal abilities really exist.

To motivate psychics and channellers to come forward, Australian Skeptics has offered a prize of more than $100,000 for anyone who can demonstrate paranormal powers. So far no one has come anywhere near substantiating their claims.

The Skeptics also offer $10,000 annually for the Australian Skeptics Prize for Critical Thinking. It is awarded for work that investigates conventional wisdom and beliefs which lack reliable evidence or scientific method, thereby promoting rational thinking about such matters by the public, educators and the media. This year I was awarded the prize for my university course "Skepticism, Science and the Paranormal".

The course is a second-year elective, open to anyone. It began in 2003, and 27 students enrolled. Since then the numbers have grown relentlessly. In the first semester of 2007, I expect to have more than 100 students.

I lay a heavy stress on the nature of science and how it works, as scepticism and the paranormal are partly defined in terms of science. I talk about the paranormal, and scepticism, and then analyse selected fields, such as astrology and creation science. The students give seminars on subjects which interest them, critically analysing evidence for the claims.

I genuinely don't mind whether a student ends up believing in aliens or acupuncture. However, I do mark students on how well they understand and can apply sceptical principles: how well they can assess whether a paranormal claim is adequately supported by evidence. If a student can ask and answer those questions, they receive good marks.

Sceptical thought is powerful. It can force us to radically revise our views and beliefs. As one student wrote, "Martin, you destroyed my fantasy world!" Another remarked, "I'm having to rethink 50 years of belief because of this course". Yet another student acknowledged the value of the course then added, "But I also feel like I've lost out on something. I have lost the ability to believe for the sake of believing, a trait which may be scorned in academic circles, but gives a thoroughly liberated and boundless quality to the soul". I call this "sceptical shock". Very few students can grasp the power of critical thinking and emerge unchanged.

Of course, universities are all in favour of critical thinking. They say so. They include it in their goals, often heavily larded with words like "excellence" and "rigour". The reality is rather different. Universities are under pressure to become more like businesses, and they are beginning to resemble educational supermarkets.

So we find a burgeoning of strange courses - including alternative and complementary medicine - perhaps aimed more at the market than at intellectual excellence.

My own university, to its credit, has accepted my efforts in the sceptical direction without a qualm. It is clear that more students are interested in doing my scepticism course, but are prevented to do so by timetables and distance. So I want to offer the course in flexible mode - giving the students a number of ways of accessing material. More radically, I want to automate the course: students will be able to study over the summer, taking computerised assessment.

There is also the possibility of a new course in evaluating alternative and complementary medicine. This is a huge growth industry, with a market totalling more than $2 billion in Australia. A course applying critical thinking and sceptical evaluation skills to alternative medicine would be beneficial to anyone considering medical or pharmaceutical careers.

I am not arguing for some sort of scientism, nor do I think we should all relentlessly scrutinise beliefs in terms of some idealised science. I do think that many people could benefit from being able to deploy some basic intellectual scientific tools to evaluate evidence. The world is full of the deluded, the predatory and the dishonest. I think that scepticism and critical thinking can provide the tools to navigate through these shoals.

Martin Bridgstock is a senior lecturer in the school of science at Griffith University