Ramblings of an Armchair Skeptic

I found something that fascinates me. Something intriguing and stimulating. An obsession if you will. Skepticism has become more than a hobby for me and it’s driving me crazy. Much to his chagrin, I sit and bitch at my husband about all the insane wooishness that exists on this planet. There’s not much usefulness in this obsession of mine. It’s useful in the way that I know that I and my family won’t get suckered by the charlatans and snake oil salesmen, but what can I do for others? Daniel Loxton has been kind enough to give his publication “What do I do Next?” to everyone for free. It lists 105 ways of getting the word out and bringing skepticism out of the closet and into the mainstream. While I do some of the things, there are many that I just don’t think I would be capable of doing. Skepticism requires confidence and a thick skin. Sadly, I have neither and this is a barrier that keeps me from going further. I would love to find a way of making money with my newly found fascinatio...

I watched a show called “Paranormal Investigator” the other day. I was hoping they may have a bit of skepticism involved but I ended up being disappointed. They claim to be investigating phenomena with a critical eye and then letting the viewer decide the validity but it seems they skew things in favor of the phenomena being real. The show I watched dealt with remote viewing . It seems that there are those among us who can “see” things or events that are hidden or far away through psychic ability. For example, there is a picture in a sealed envelope, the remote viewer then doodles on a piece of paper and when the picture is removed from the envelope, there should be an uncanny resemblance. This is a magician's trick employed by many mentalists. The doodle is also usually vague but yet something that could fit a wide variety of things. On the show they had one man pull up a random picture on his laptop and the viewer then had to draw what he “saw.” He drew a bunch of little circles ...