A reply to Steven Novella

Steven Novella has written a post taking exception to some things I’ve said, specifically on the issue of the overlap of science, skepticism, and religion. I have to say, though, that what his post actually does is confirm my claim: that a lot of skeptics strain to delimit the scope of skepticism in ways that are not rational, but are entirely political and emotional.

But there’s also a lot I agree with. He has a lengthy introduction in which he lists many of the core elements of skepticism, including for example, promoting science and critical thinking, opposing pseudoscience, etc. (he also includes “methodological naturalism”, a claim I’ve grown disenchanted with…but that’s something for another day. Here’s something from Larry Moran for a contrary view.)

With that one exception, sure, these all sound like things I promote, too. I also agree with this, and have said so many times:

I have never endeavored to tell other people what to do with their own activism. If Penn and Teller want to have a skeptical/libertarian show, that’s their right. They can do what they want. The Skepchicks combine feminism and skepticism, and PZ combines (by his own account) skepticism, atheism, and liberal politics. My view – let a thousand lights shine. At the end of the day, we are all skeptics. Let’s celebrate that, and we can still argue about our differences but let’s not pretend that any skepticism-plus is the one-true-skepticism just because it’s our own.

So why is Novella complaining? Have I said anywhere that there is one-true-skepticism, and it is mine?

No. He objects to the fact that I pointed out that organized skepticism isn’t true to that principle, but has domains where it actively asserts that certain subjects are NOT-true-skepticism, and that many prominent activists are complicit in belittling certain topics…and I have to include Steven Novella among them. There is a skeptical dogma.

Let’s get to specifics.

With all of this as background, let me address some of what PZ wrote in his blog. In response to another blog complaining that many skeptics (specifically naming the SGU) avoid political or economic issues, PZ wrote:

Yes. Yes. Yes. The modern skeptical movement is built on a very narrow foundation; a lot of the Old Guard spend an incredible amount of effort restricting the range of allowed topics to a tiny set of staples, which means that too often we hear lots about the bogosity of Bigfoot, but almost nothing about the bogosity of an economic system that maintains gross social inequities. And which belief do you think does greater harm?

I love the opportunity to disagree with a fellow skeptic – it usually means we are getting to an interesting and complex area, and it tends to be more satisfying than shooting more fish in a barrel. So let me disagree with everything that PZ wrote above (sorry, PZ). First, I do not think that the modern skeptical movement has a narrow foundation. I outlined it above – that is a massive foundation. It is, in fact, overwhelming. We need more than one movement to tackle it. Science-based medicine itself needs its own movement.

Skepticism has a broad brief. The skeptical movement does not. There’s a difference there; there is a lot of bigotry against atheism, for instance, within the skeptical movement, and much contempt for atheists that gets expressed. I think Novella’s privilege is speaking here; skepticism focused on alternative medicine is part of the traditional package, and he’s not going to get any pushback against his skeptical specialty. Skepticism about religion, however, has been stigmatized and traditionally excluded from the scope of skepticism, so I get to see the ugly side of the skeptical movement far more often than he does.

Does he get a flood of email and twitter protestations every time he’s invited to participate at The Amazing Meeting, Skepticon, or NECSS (for that one, I should hope not)? Do people write to him and tell him he’s not a True Skeptic for combating quackery, or that his presence is inappropriate at a meeting of skeptics? I do.^* And it’s not just me. How soon we forget the “scandal” when Richard Dawkins was invited to speak at TAM; why, he’s openly atheist. He might criticize religion, and there are religious people at these meetings!

We had people resigning from the JREF because there was too much of this atheism stuff goin’ around.

There was that bizarre episode where Daniel Loxton, one of the people Novella cites approvingly, was dismayed at a panel on diversity that included D.J. Grothe, Debbie Goddard, Greta Christina, Jamila Bey, Hemant Mehta, and was moderated by Desiree Schell…why, they were all atheists, so it wasn’t diverse at all. Yeah, and they were all skeptics, too, and every one of them also rejects quack medicine, but no one is going to complain about a panel of people who reject pseudoscience at a skeptics’ conference. But oh, all those people reject religious superstition, too? Too much. That’s a problem.

Page 1 of 5 | Next page