The comments posted with dictionary entries are mostly critical and mostly negative. I have received favorable comments from many people who thank me for the Skeptic's Dictionary. I am now posting some of the more recent votes of confidence. I thank you all for the support. Your notes more than compensate for the effort that goes into writing the dictionary and for the verbal abuse I frequently encounter from those who are offended by my thoughts. [R.T.C.]
26 Nov 1996
After an especially exasperating argument with a Ph.D. psychologist friend
over her advocacy of Touch Therapy, I decided to search the WEB for more
information about this dangerous nonsense. Lo and behold, there you were
- the Skeptic's Dictionary - What a wonderful service you are
performing!! This site is truly an oasis of critical reason is our sadly
deteriorating society.
Skepticism needs to become more militant in defense of the positive intellectual achievements of human civilization. Touch Therapy -just for one example- is on the march. It is now even being demonstrated at hospitals in "family-oriented and conservative" Pittsburgh, PA. No doubt as insurance companies push HMOs into more and more cost-savings, cheap mystical pseudo-therapies will increasingly replace traditional "expensive" medical care. When I see this happening and the "credentials" of the Ph.Ds who are pushing this, I want to weep.
There are an increasing number of Ph.Ds in the health field who seem to be totally immune to rational argument; they are the ones who are opening the doors wide to irrational pseudo-treatments with the enthusiastic support of the cost-cutters. Tragically there just aren't many people fighting back.
Thanks again for your site. You have placed yourself on the front line
of the major intellectual (and social) battle of our time. That takes a
lot of courage, stamina and compassion.
Patrick Curry
reply:I appreciate the support and I agree that we need to be more militant, if only because the voices of unreason don't play by traditional rules of evidence, inductive argument, relevance, etc., much less by the rules of civility or logic. It's a street fight, I'm afraid.
Keep up the good work.
18 Nov 1996
Thanks for your Skeptic's Dictionary. It has allowed me to see for the
first time that there are many others who think the way I do. Growing
up in a Christian environment had left me feeling guilty for many years,
searching for that perfect way of feeling God in my life because,
"That's how it's supposed to be," and thinking I was a failure because I
could not do it, did not "feel" the same things others felt.
A few years ago, I quit trying and just resigned myself to not being a spiritual person. That view changed over time as I slowly began to realize that I was the one who was questioning the things that really should have been questioned all along. I was not blindly giving my soul to something I could not see, touch, hear or in no way prove actually existed to begin with and it made perfect sense.
I began to shed the guilt and self doubt. I have become at ease with myself, knowing that I can make my own way instead of spending most of my mental time and energy wondering what "God's plan" is for me. My wife, who was raised in an Assembly of God/Church of God environment and still holds to it, spends so much time worrying about those and other things, it's incredible. I hope that over time, she will understand from my example that life does not have to be that way.
I am relatively new to the Internet and discovered your SD by accident during a routine search. It showed me for the first time that there are a great number of people who think generally the same way and has been a reenforcement to me. It's not easy staying out of office conversations in a Dallas company as I am often the one with the most to say. This is still Bible Belt country and most all of my co-workers have strong religious faith.
The rest of the SD is also wonderful in its completeness. You logically show the inconsistency and overused imagination of people and their amazing ability to make themselves believe in almost anything.
Anyway, thanks again for your "gift" to us all. I spread the word whenever I can. Take care.
Dwight McCauley
3 Sept 96
Very good work, indeed--I enjoy the Skeptic's Dictionary very much. It
is a lighthouse of reason in a sea of basic stupidity.
sean (s.) harris
reply: Sometimes I feel it is that useless, too!
6 Oct 96
Thanks so very much for all the good work you are doing.
I love the Skeptic's Dictionary so much I tend to check it every time I log on, hoping to see something updated, and I feel somewhat like a kid on Christmas when you update something or post something new.
Justin the Blue
4 Oct 1996
Thanks for all the good work. As a Teacher of science it concerns me
that so much ignorance even of basic scientific concepts and logical
thinking abounds and that an anti-science attitude is leading to the
growth of many dangerous cults and scams. Your contribution to
rationality is appreciated. I am concerned that scientific language,
especially words such as energy, fields, vibration etc. are losing
their meaning and being used to delude rather than inform.
Rick Swancott.
2 Oct 1996
Please accept my heartfelt thanks for restoring my faith in humanity
with your wonderful dictionary! I thought after taking my 9 yr-old son
to see "Independence Day" recently that most US citizens must have
some sort of warped deluded mentality about their place in the universe
(i.e. that they're right at the centre - cf. Close Encounters, ET etc). Now
I see that Skepticism is alive and well, even in the good ol' US of A, home
of probably the largest collection of ratbags in history (nothing personal -
we get bombarded with so much US hype in newspapers and
on TV "down under"). You might have added a few categories related to
feminist mythologies, the Holocaust debunkers, the origin of "free
speech" (esp on the Internet), the Millennarians, etc.
Keep up the good work
Terry Woodhouse
Australia
1 Oct 1996
Well done.
This is possibly the best web site I have seen so far. Great fun! As someone who is a fan of horror fiction and The X-Files and the IDEA of all of those ghosts, vampires, witches, monsters, supernatural phenomena and what have you, it is almost as much fun to find out the real story as it is to believe the myths (which I don't).
I was particularly interested in the Amway story as I had already arrived at the conclusion that Amway was basically a cult after my involvement with a couple of Amway missionaries, sorry, salespeople over the years.
Another fad I had a personal interest in was the facilitated communication debacle. As a special ed. teacher it is sad to see desperate parents cling to something so obviously phony. Of course people with disabilties CAN learn to communicate in a variety of alternative ways,but some of the miraculous language skills (such as spelling) that suddenly appeared would have been laughable if they were not so pathetic.
Keep up the good work. I will certainly be visiting regularly.
Mark Holdsworth
NSW Australia.
24 Sep 1996
I have been skimming your Skeptic's Dictionary, and, having just finished
the chiropractic and crop circle articles, I felt compelled to write you.
Your web site is one of the best I have encountered, providing both good
information and quality humor. I find your "biased" viewpoints refreshing.
Regarding crop circles, I heard a news report on "All Things Considered" a few years back, when a new flurry of circles had appeared, in the form of some complex mathematical diagrams. The reporter interviewed a math professor from "nearby Cambridge University," who stated that the diagrams must have been made by highly intelligent beings. It did not seem to occur to the reporter to ask if mathematical underclassmen qualified as intelligent beings.
Thanks for your efforts in maintaining this site.
Terence Kelleher
9 Sept 1996
Thanks for maintaining some of the best pages I've seen for a
long time.
One might have thought the success of science would lead to a more enlightened populace; but instead the folklore and myth become pseudoscientific studies of pyramid power and technobabble about flying saucers.
I happened on your pages by chance. Coincidentally, there was a
program on UK TV earlier today about the anti-evolution bill in
Tennessee I think. Apparently 50% of Americans believe in
biblical Creation. For the only country that has been to the
Moon, this is quite remarkable.
Bob Cousins
22 Aug 1996
I felt real good after seeing the skeptic's page. I'm an Archaeologist
in New Mexico and am tired of BUNK. I worked on the Victorio Peak Gold
Project as an archaeological monitor. Not like Unsolved Mysteries at
all.
Arkboy
20 Aug 96
The Skeptic's Refuge is indeed a rufuge for many of us. The web page is
like a breath of fresh air in our polluted atmosphere.
Thank you very much.
Janice Wait
05 Aug 1996
What a delight to find that the web has useful and
imaginative information to offer. I'll keep myself
connected a while longer. Thank you for your site.
David Hansen
16 Aug 1996
As a Physics student, I come in contact with all too many X-Philes,
Trekkers and the like, who have a way of looking at you wild-eyed, mumbling
"it's out there" and humming the theme to the Twighlight Zone at the
slightest provocation. Your book has provided me with the ammunition to
fend them off, or to refute their claims. That it is well written
with a dry wit is more than an additional bonus. Thank you.
Daniel Ucko
P.S. Do you perhaps know why so many believers in the occult and the
unexplained are attracted by an essentially "hard science" such as
Physics?
reply: Many New Age advocates seem to think that quantum physics validates any non-intuitive or non-sensical claim, but I have not found them to be really interested in studying quantum physics.
15 Aug 1996
Thanks for maintaining the page. I doubt any visitors will actually be
swayed by a reasonable discussion of the topic, but it's a great
reference work.
Fred Askew
Austin, TX
14 Aug 1996
My wife and I just discovered your dictionary and were very pleased that
information like this is out there. We are Ph.D.'s in Neuroscience who
are firmly stuck in the materialist, naturalist world and we laud your
efforts to question the multitude of ridiculous belief systems of this
culture. We went into Neuroscience because we saw it as a unique way to
bridge our interests in philosophical questions with science. I would
suggest, if you are interested, looking into more recent developments in
the philosophy of science, such as the works by W.V.O. Quine and P
Churchland (Neurophilosophy: toward a unified science of the mind-brainby Patricia
Smith Churchland. [Cambridge, Mass. : MIT Press, 1986] is a particularly good, yet simple book).
Good luck with all your work.
T.E. Sipes
UCI School of Medicine
Irvine, CA
07 Aug 96
Although I have had only a short visit to your fabulous site, I can
firmly state that it is one of the best sites I have ever encountered.
Keep on doing the good work!! there can never be enough logic and
scientific thinking, for as you have written the human capacity of self
deceit is endless.
yours skeptically,
G. Amir
Afula, Israel
06 Aug 1996
It is always a relief to dicover that scattered among the writhing masses of
ignorance and irrationality there still exist a few rational minds. As a
PhD student studying ME and CS I am deeply disturbed by what appears to be a
rise in popular mysticism paralleled by an increasing ignorance of
scientific/mathematical knowledge. It makes me very sad to see the products
of engineering used by a population which neither understands nor
appreciates the magnitude of effort, education and experience necessary to
bring these devices into existence. I'm not certain "Atlas Shrugged" is the
solution but something has to be done. Well, thanks for your contribution.
Rob Frost
04 Aug 1996
I downloaded a past version of your Skeptic's Dictionary and spent many
pleasurable hours reading it. It is good to see someone willing to spend
the time to prepare information for those of us in search of the truth,
wherever it may lead us.
I am currently a computer consultant and college student finishing a degree in computer science, but I am considering a masters or higher in philosophy for the future. When I was younger, I used to take for granted almost anything which seemed reasonable (or pleasurable to believe). Now I see that one must ordinarily look beneath the surface in order to grasp the truth of a matter. It seems to be easy, and fashionable, for the human species to adopt the thoughts of others, rather than thinking for themselves. People like you helped inspire me to take the time to think deeply. Of course, once I began doing this, I realized thinking for myself is its own reward.
Thank you for taking the time to prepare this information. I especially like the references listed at the bottom of each article to enable further study. I will continue to stop by when I have time to see your latest work. I will also look for your books.
Chris Lamke
03 Aug 96
[From a teacher of anatomy] Your dictionary is a wonderful source for clarification on many areas.
Most of my students do not know how sound is generated in the inner ear, but think they know how ESP, astrology, etc .work
Keep up the good work
Jim Dodson
02 Mar 1996
A truly great page ! Keep up the important job you do.
I'm an atheist from Tel Aviv and I have a link to your
section about god in my page.
It's a special link within a virtual poem i wrote. If you want
you can check it out at http://www.geocities.com/SoHo/3664/
sincerely yours
Ron Guetta, Tel Aviv
27 Jun 1996
Dear Mr. Carroll,
I must tell you that this is one of the funniest and most interesting books I have had the pleasure of reading....I was interested if you would consider writing this dictionary as a book for sale. I know you had a reason for putting it on the web but there is something special about being able to crawl into bed and reading something.
Sincerely,
Eric Kloper
reply: I have had many similar requests and it is likely that within the next year a printed version will be made available, as will another book I've written, Becoming a Critical Thinker in the New Age.
08 Jul 1996
Thank you, thank you. This is simply too good to be true. I have been
cruising the Web looking for sites to add to my home page. I feel my
students here in middle TN (bible belt) need a dose of reality.
Creationism is alive and well here. Your efforts on the behalf of other
skeptics are greatly appreciated! This site will be first on my list.
--Clay Harris
Middle TN State University
13 Apr 1996
Your pages are delightful.
I recently attended a marketing seminar in Los Angeles given by Jay Abraham, and promoted by one David Avrick, a sucessful promoter of various products and services via direct response advertising.
I engaged David in conversation during one of the breaks, as I was rather interested in finding out what makes him tick and modeling his business success. As we were about to re-enter the seminar, I asked him if he could provide a summary of his business philosophy, or at least a pithy and thought-provoking phrase. I can't remember the words I used to ask the question, but I won't forget his reply, given after a very long pause: "Never underestimate the stupidity of Americans". I laugh again, as I write it.
His succinct advice is borne out in your pages, which are testimony to people's willingnes, nay, their strong desire, to believe just about anything they are told, and to pay dearly while they are doing so.
Keep it up.
BTW, I received very good marketing advice at that seminar, and so far this year I have made as much as I made in the whole of last year.While I am skeptical, I have no doubt about the efficacy of what I was told there!
Richard Ebbs
I watch TV shows about the paranormal for the same reason I look at car accidents - I'm compelled by the grotesque. On Friday, the "Learning Channel" was apparently hijacked by MUFON members and served up several hours of programing about Alien Abductions, Ghostly Visitations, the Bermuda Triangle, etc., while 20/20, a "respectable" investigative journalism show, offered a segment about people who have received messages from dead relatives. On Saturday, the Fox network offered something new, the "Paranormal Borderline" hosted by Jonathan Frakes of Star Trek fame (shades of In Search Of... here), a sort of "Real People", only with ghosts, psychics, and aliens instead of likeable folks with unusual hobbies.
Your Skeptic's Dictionary is like a one-volume antidote to all of
that.
Graham Broad
I was thrilled to find your skeptic's dictionary just now. I have made a bookmark to it, and I will be reading it off and on for the next several months, to be sure. Thank you for providing a truly valuable resource on the WWW.
Eric DeFonso
Dept. of Atmospheric Science
UC-Davis
Thank you for the Skeptic's Dictionary! It is one of the best things
I have ever seen on the Internet. I often fear that the so-called
"Information Superhighway" will do more harm than good, as it can
also quickly spread MIS-information. I never realized that the
cult of idiocy was so widespread in the
Age of Reason until I began checking out various messages from the
irrational believers. I am scared by the some of the things I have
read in the "Reader's Comments" section of your dictionary. How can
you take the abuse? You are a more patient man than I! I want to keep
this brief, so I will just wish you well and thank you for this valuable
resource of skeptical thought and arguments against the irrational thought
processes of, it seems, nearly everyone around me.
John Segale
What a great job you've done on this dictionary! It has taken me several days to read through it, and I will be back.
I must agree with a recurring theme of yours - how fervently people want to believe even the lamest crap you can imagine. Years ago, I used to read tarot cards. I always told people that these were just pieces of paper and that this was just a party trick. It didn't matter. I was informed repeatedly that I did not have to be a believer myself for the spirits to channel through me. I could not convince them that I was a fake. I finally quit bringing my cards to Halloween parties because people refused to NOT believe in me.
Keep up the good work.
Leslie Steach
Terrific piece of work. I downloaded the face on Mars for my Astronomy class,
and, after they puzzled over the complete area of the face and its surrounding
region on Mars for many minutes, not one identified the supposedly obvious
"face". It was clear to them that the face was a natural feature, carved by
natural geological processes. Thanks for your discussion.
Dr. Dale C. Ferguson
It is always nice to see another sober-minded example of rational
thought. Thanks for publishing, what has got to be, the most concise
source of skeptical thought on the net (and that is saying a lot).
Joe Katter
28 Jun 1996
Robert,
I stumbled on your site by accident and liked what I saw - keep challenging things, someone needs to.
John Carroll
2 Jul 1996
Just a wanted to let you know that I enjoy The Skeptics Dictionary and appreciate the effort. Thanks!
Jim Huber
4 Jul 1996
What a great dictionary this is! Exactly what I have been
looking for since quite a long time. I have the feeling
that more and more people (among my friends) are turning
to these kind of "religions" and have always found it hard
to find the right arguments to convince them. I hope your
work will help extending their sight.
Best greetings, Mathijs (Switzerland)
17 Jul 96
Greetings:
It is to your credit and benefit to all that you invest your talent in a
well maintained "Skeptics Dictionary". Keep the faith... and thank you.
--Jack Covy
13 Jul 1996 14:50:08 -0700
Keep up the good work on your Skeptic's Dictionary!
It's great, and I see that you are adding new stuff all the time.
--Dan Pressnell
19 Jul 1996
Thanks for "Skeptic's Dictionary"-- it's great breakfast for my head.
--Trish Domengeaux
19 Jul 1996
Great stuff!! The world seems to be tumbling exponentially into credulity
and irrationality. Television, for example, is a vast inellectual wasteland
except for the few programs on public TV - but even these channels are
plagued by new-age charlatans such as Deepak Chopra. Religious
fundamentalism, postmodernism, and political fanatacism are on the rise....
but I could go on and on..... Keep up the good work. It is so refreshing to
see a bright light in a world that seems to be heading back to the dark
ages. Cheers.
John Rebman: Skeptics Inc.