The Skeptics Society & Skeptic magazine

Back Issues, volumes 25 through 27

Skeptic volume 26 number 2

volume 26 number 2
Drug Trips & Reality

DMT and the Nature of Reality: Are the Entities and Experiences of a DMT Drug Trip Real or Imagined?; Johannes Kepler, Giordano Bruno, and Scientific Martyrdom; Lizard People, 5G and the Nashville Bomber; Why Weird Beliefs Are a Normal, Central, Almost Universal Aspect of Human Affairs; Astrology as a Spiritual Belief System; How Science Can Explain Ghosts and Haunted Houses; Trial, Error, and Success: How People Learn and Think; Twenty-five Fallacies in the Case for Christianity; Junior Skeptic: Cognitive Dissonance
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Skeptic volume 26 number 1

volume 26 number 1
Cosmic Beginning

How Did It All Begin? Cosmic Inflation, the Multiverse, and the Nature of Scientific Proof; The SkepDoc: Osteopathy Then and Now, by Harriet Hall, M.D.; Psychological Risks with COVID-19 Vaccines; The Future of Civilization after COVID-19; The Future of Higher Education Reengineering Learning for a Post-Pandemic World; Havana Syndrome Skepticism—Why We Should Be Skeptical: It Was Probably Psychogenic; Why Mark Twain’s The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn Belongs in English Literature Curriculum Despite—Indeed Because—of its Use of the N-Word; Why Time, Causality, Consciousness, the Self, and Free Will Are Not Illusion; Alien Skulls and Their Makers: The Creation of the “Sealand Skull” and the Hoax It Unintentionally Inspired; Why We Are Not Hybrids of Earthling and Extraterrestrial Ancestry; Skeptic Extraordinaire; As Seen by Skeptic Magazine Artists; Junior Skeptic 78: Conspiracy Theories
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Skeptic volume 25 number 4

volume 25 number 4
QAnon & Conspiracies

QAnon and Conspiracy Theories; Why We Can’t Unsee Patterns — Real or Imagined — Once We See Them; QAnon in Conspiratorial Context; QAnon is Just a Warmed Over Witch Panic (and It’s Also Very Dangerous); Harriet Hall, M.D. on How Gwyneth Paltrow Spins Straw into Gold; The Art of the Skeptic: Finding Your Niche if You Love Both Science and Art; Fat Man and Little Boy: On the 75th Anniversary of Nuclear Weapons, a Moral Case for Their Use in Ending WWII and the Deterrence of Great Power Wars Since, and a Call to Eventually Eliminate Them; The Rise and Fall of Charles Willson Peale’s Philadelphia Museum; The Testimony of Witnesses: Raising the Dead; Do Diversity Training Programs Work? Creating a Culture of Inclusion through Scientific Reasoning; Unpacking Political Life in America: The Skeptics Society’s Social and Political Attitudes Study; How Do You Get People to Care About Truth in Politics?; Are Laws of Nature Discovered or Invented?; Junior Skeptic: The Honest Truth About Vaccines
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Skeptic volume 25 number 3

volume 25 number 3
What Science Says About Race

Did Race Evolve, or is It a Social Construct? What Does Science Say? Plus: The Pope and Mussolini; Harriet Hall, M.D. on wearing face masks; Junior Skeptic on Pandemics Throughout History; Hollow Earth; Wicked Games: Lance Armstrong and Doping; Finding Meaning and Purpose Without Religion; A Naturalist Model for Reducing Speciesism, Racism, and Bigotry; What Moby-Dick Can Teach Us About the Current Pandemic Crisis; Is Science Amoral?; Faked Death Stories and Resurrection Myths; How Religions Use the Threat of Punishment to Terrify, Manipulate, and Control Believers; Reviews of Civilized to Death: The Price of Progress, and The Tyranny of Virtue: Identity, The Academy, and the Hunt for Political Heresies; and more…
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Skeptic volume 25 number 2

volume 25 number 2
Giving the Devil His Due: When Should Speech Be Censored?

Giving the Devil His Due, by Michael Shermer • Claims About a Government “UFO Program” — How Much is True? • Religious Intolerance, Witchcraft, Superstition, and Underdevelopment in Africa • Ark of Absurdities: Creationism Comes to Brazil • The Mystery of Göbekli Tepe: A New Chapter in History • What’s to be Gained Through Rationality? • Where and Why Science and Religion Conflict • The Conditions Under Which Common, Everyday Bullshit is Most Likely to Emerge • Ptolemy Revisited: The Return of Earth-Centered Cosmology • Reviews of: Poisoner in Chief: Sidney Gottlieb and the CIA Search for Mind Control; Conspiracy Theories and the People Who Believe Them; Estrogen Matters: Why Taking Hormones in Menopause Can Improve Women’s Well-Being and Lengthen Their Lives—Without Raising the Risk of Breast Cancer
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Skeptic volume 25 number 1

volume 25 number 1
Conspiracies!

Who believes in conspiracies and why? Read real conspiracy theories and conspiracies with no theories. Also in this issue: Why People Believe Conspiracy Theories, by Michael Shermer; Apples and Oranges: The Misunderstood Art of Making Comparisons; Drone Sightings in the Midwest — But Rule Out the Mass Hysteria Explanation; What Board Games Teach Us About Capitalism and How to Modify It; Meditation as Ideology and Meditations on Meditation: A Scientific and Clinical Perspective; Biological Beauty; Integrative Cancer Care Below the Bar of Science; Can We Ever Explain It All? Eight Key Points from World History; Countless Counterfeits: A New Logically Fallacy?
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Retrospective

Skeptic cover art by Pat Linse

Art of the Skeptic

In celebration of Skeptic magazine’s 100th issue, we present sage graphic art advice for skeptical groups and a gallery of art reflecting more than 47 years of skeptical activism from Skeptic’s long time Art Director, Pat Linse

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    aliens atheism belief climate change consciousness conspiracy theories creationism critical thinking Darwin evolution evolution and/or creationism free will God human nature Intelligent Design morality mythology neuroscience politics pseudoscience psychology religion review science Science Salon skepticism The Michael Shermer Show UFOs universe violence

    • Detecting Baloney

    Baloney Detection Kit Sandwich (Infographic) by Deanna and Skylar (High Tech High Media Arts, San Diego, CA)

    The Baloney Detection Kit Sandwich (Infographic)

    For a class project, a pair of 11th grade physics students created the infographic shown below, inspired by Michael Shermer’s Baloney Detection Kit: a 16-page booklet designed to hone your critical thinking skills.

    FREE PDF Download

    Wisdom of Harriet Hall

    Top 10 Things to Know About Alternative Medicine

    Harriet Hall M.D. discusses: alternative versus conventional medicine, flu fear mongering, chiropractic, vaccines and autism, placebo effect, diet, homeopathy, acupuncture, “natural remedies,” and detoxification.

    FREE Video Series

    Science Based Medicine vs. Alternative Medicine

    Science Based Medicine vs. Alternative Medicine

    Understanding the difference could save your life! In this superb 10-part video lecture series, Harriet Hall M.D., contrasts science-based medicine with so-called “complementary and alternative” methods.

    FREE PDF Download

    Top 10 Myths of Terrorism

    Is Terrorism an Existential Threat?

    This free booklet reveals 10 myths that explain why terrorism is not a threat to our way of life or our survival.

    FREE PDF Download

    The Top 10 Weirdest Things

    The Top Ten Strangest Beliefs

    Michael Shermer has compiled a list of the top 10 strangest beliefs that he has encountered in his quarter century as a professional skeptic.

    FREE PDF Download

    Reality Check: How Science Deniers Threaten Our Future (paperback cover)

    Who believes them? Why? How can you tell if they’re true?

    What is a conspiracy theory, why do people believe in them, and can you tell the difference between a true conspiracy and a false one?

    FREE PDF Download

    The Science Behind Why People See Ghosts

    The Science Behind Why People See Ghosts

    Mind altering experiences are one of the foundations of widespread belief in the paranormal. But as skeptics are well aware, accepting them as reality can be dangerous…

    FREE PDF Download

    Top 10 Myths About Evolution

    Top 10 Myths About Evolution (and how we know it really happened)

    If humans came from apes, why aren’t apes evolving into humans? Find out in this pamphlet!

    FREE PDF Download

    Learn to be a Psychic in 10 Easy Lessons

    Learn to do Psychic “Cold Reading” in 10
    Easy Lessons

    Psychic readings and fortunetelling are an ancient art — a combination of acting and psychological manipulation.

    FREE PDF Download

    The Yeti or Abominable Snowman

    5 Cryptid Cards

    Download and print 5 Cryptid Cards created by Junior Skeptic Editor Daniel Loxton. Creatures include: The Yeti, Griffin, Sasquatch/Bigfoot, Loch Ness Monster, and the Cadborosaurus.

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