It seems like a river of national awareness days - sometimes I look for fun, and then other times I am dismayed by the topics celebrated. I wonder if there should be a National Skeptics Day. Of course there is - it is October 13th - and it is International Skeptics Day.
Wikipedia lists many organizations as skeptical organizations. But then scientific skepticism is a positive thing - it questions the veracity of claims lacking empirical evidence. Most common is the examination of claims and theories that appear to be beyond mainstream science.
"What skeptical thinking boils down to is the means to construct, and to understand, a reasoned argument and, especially important, to recognize a fallacious or fraudulent argument. The question is not whether we like the conclusion that emerges out of a train of reasoning, but whether the conclusion follows from the premises or starting point and whether that premise is true."
— Carl Sagan
Our International Skeptics Day seems to be something else.
"Research thus far has not revealed an inaugural year of recognizing International Skeptics Day, nor does skepticism itself follow a clear timeline that would be punctuated by specific events.
But as a paradigm within which to operate, skepticism shows no loss of momentum, with periodicals like “The Skeptic” and “The Skeptical Inquirer” still in print, along with podcasts, TV documentaries, and and meet-up groups all over the world. The Doubting Thomas who is reading these words should have no trouble finding like-minded people, whatever his or her current location.meet-up groups all over the world.
The Skeptics jokes are very strange...
A man walks into a bar and says to the bartender: “I bet you fifty dollars that I can bite my right eye.”
The bartender says: “Yeah, right! I’ve never seen anyone do that!” So the man takes out his glass eye and bites it.
The angry bartender pays the man his fifty dollars and the man walks away. He comes back half an hour later and says: “I bet you fifty dollars I can bite my left eye.”
Now the bartender becomes really skeptical. She says: “I just saw you walk in here, you can’t be blind!”
So, to the bartenders dismay, he takes out his fake teeth and bites his left eye.
I take photos of Cannas every chance I get. These were at Sunshine Express last week.
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