I would like to make a special request of the readers of this e-Skeptic internet group. I am hoping you will all support us in an important scientific educational project we will be implementing in the next couple of months. Please read on . . . .
The late astronomer Carl Sagan once said that science is the greatest baloney detection kit ever built. When my book WHY PEOPLE BELIEVE WEIRD THINGS was first published in 1997, a year after Sagan's THE DEMON HAUNTED WORLD, there was a surprising number of course adoptions of both books, and SKEPTIC magazine, by professors around the country for newly-designed courses on science and pseudoscience. Professors were using pseudoscience and the paranormal as a way to hook students into learning about how real science works.
We then started receiving requests for examples of course syllabi in how to teach such a course, so we put out a request for those professors already teaching such courses to send us their syllabi. We have received so many requests that this gave us the idea to put together the Baloney Detection Kit, which we would like to send free of charge to 12,500 professors.
The Kit includes a copy of WHY PEOPLE BELIEVE WEIRD THINGS, generously donated by my publisher W. H. Freeman, a copy of SKEPTIC magazine and JR. SKEPTIC magazine provided by the Skeptics Society, and examples from numerous course syllabi on how to teach a course on science and pseudoscience. In other words, the Baloney Detection Kit helps professors teach their students to think critically about science and pseudoscience.
In addition to the books, my publisher, W. H. Freeman, has also generously donated a mailing list of 12,500 professors. But the mailing itself, along with the printing of the course syllabi, cover letter, the special packaging in which it is all inserted and mailed, etc., will cost the Skeptics Society $25,000. We are poised to do the mailing but do not have the funds. Thus, we need your help.
If you would like to help implement this important educational project in teaching students to think critically, please make a tax-free donation to the Skeptics Society, which is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit corporation, in one of the following suggested amounts:
Any donation of $100.00 or more will receive a free one-year subscription to Skeptic and Jr. Skeptic magazine. (If you are already a subscriber you can name a friend, professor, or library to have it donated to.) With any donation of $500.00 or more you will receive a Baloney Detection Kit plus a one-year subscription to Skeptic for yourself or as a gift to a professor or library. If someone would like to fund the entire project we will name the Baloney Detection Kit after him or her.
To make a donation mail a check to Skeptics Society, P.O. Box 338, Altadena, CA 91001. We can also take donations through your Visa or Mastercard by going to our web page at www.skeptic.com and clicking on the appropriate button at the top of the home page and filling out the information (we just need your name, address, phone, Visa or Mastercard number and expiration date). You can also fax the information to 626/794-1301, phone it in to 626/794-3119, or e-mail us at skepticmag@aol.com your phone number and we will call you to get the information.
Thank you for your support on this important educational project. If you can e-mail me your pledge amount in addition to sending the check or posting a donation through our web page, I can then post a regular update on how we are doing on the fund drive and let you know when we get there.