Readers of this blog have probably noticed that I am a proponent of evidence-based and critical thinking. On rare occasions, I even pull off engaging in it myself.
So you can imagine the honor I felt when I was invited to become a columnist for Swift, the official online publication of the James Randi Educational Foundation (JREF).
The JFEF is best known for its standing million-dollar offer to anyone who can prove a paranormal or supernatural claim. Its aim is "to promote critical thinking by reaching out to the public and media with reliable information about paranormal and supernatural ideas so widespread in our society today."
Any fantastic claim is fair game—from the paranormal, to alien abductions, miracle cures, mind reading, alternative medicine, you name it. As you might imagine, this inevitably means they do a lot of debunking. This doesn't always make the JREF popular with well-intentioned people who hold irrational beliefs dear. It makes them even less popular with con artists. Either way, it provides a valuable service.
If you'd like to read my first effort for Swift, please click here. (Also check out the reader comments. Quite a few of them unwittingly demonstrate the very behavior that I urge readers to avoid.) And check back often. I'll be contributing monthly, and plenty of other writers add good stuff daily.
Steve Cuno
So you can imagine the honor I felt when I was invited to become a columnist for Swift, the official online publication of the James Randi Educational Foundation (JREF).
The JFEF is best known for its standing million-dollar offer to anyone who can prove a paranormal or supernatural claim. Its aim is "to promote critical thinking by reaching out to the public and media with reliable information about paranormal and supernatural ideas so widespread in our society today."
Any fantastic claim is fair game—from the paranormal, to alien abductions, miracle cures, mind reading, alternative medicine, you name it. As you might imagine, this inevitably means they do a lot of debunking. This doesn't always make the JREF popular with well-intentioned people who hold irrational beliefs dear. It makes them even less popular with con artists. Either way, it provides a valuable service.
If you'd like to read my first effort for Swift, please click here. (Also check out the reader comments. Quite a few of them unwittingly demonstrate the very behavior that I urge readers to avoid.) And check back often. I'll be contributing monthly, and plenty of other writers add good stuff daily.
Steve Cuno
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