Can you change someone’s life?
Actually, you can. I see it happen all the time. At Dragon Con, and at TAM, I saw people come up to Randi (dare I say reverently?) and they tell him how seeing him changed them, made them critical thinkers, made them abandon their pseudoscience and embrace reality. I’m proud to say that I too have had this happen to me. Several wonderful people at DC told me that they read my blog, which led them to skepticism, and changed their lives for the better.
Wow.
So following your dream, embracing your goals, can change not just yourself but others around you. And now we have proof! I welcome Dr. Johnson Haas into the fold: because of TAM 6, he has started blogging. And it looks good too (ST:TOS reference to Skalosians FTW!), so I’ve subscribed.
Will he change lives? I think yes. Will you?
September 12th, 2008 at 3:16 pm
You have big shoes to fill.
No pressure.
September 12th, 2008 at 3:20 pm
I try Dr Plait, I try hard! However, I have a short fuse when it comes to idiot, or people being deliberately dense… But I still try!
September 12th, 2008 at 3:25 pm
Can you change someone’s life? Well, chuck that. I’d settle for changing someone’s web page.
Everytime I bring up a new page under http://www.badastronomy.com I get the following error exactly 7 times:
“A Runtime Error has occurred.
Do you wish to Debug?
Line: 51
Error: ‘Link’ is undefined”
It DOES tend to get annoying after the first few times it happens. It will always happen in navigating back to the main page or an older page. This is definitely some type of JavaScript (or VBScript?) error. The line it faults on is:
var class_dict = { t3: Link, t1: Comment, t4: Message, t5: Subreddit, Listing: Listing, OrganicListing: OrganicListing };
It’s referring to a variable called Link which apparently hasn’t been defined. I have no idea why it happens exactly 7 times each time you go back to the main page. Is anyone else seeing this same thing?
BTW, here in Houston we have Hurricane Ike getting prepared to change all of our lives in just a few hours. That’s even more annoying.
September 12th, 2008 at 3:31 pm
No surprise here Phil.
I’ve been a skeptic for years now, but that’s not the part that pertains to you (sorry to say, I’ve been reading your blog for less than a year). I’m an illustration student and a few of your descriptions of hypothetical situations are pretty much bound to end up being illustrated at some point (probably not published, but it’s the free-thought that counts!).
You can’t tell me the idea of someone falling perpetually through the center of the earth isn’t hilarious!
September 12th, 2008 at 4:00 pm
I once helped convince a fundamentalist (a 60-something year old grandma from Alabama) into accepting the validity of evolutionary theory. I had run into her many times on discussion forums, and gradually started getting through to her that creationism is neither science nor reason-based. The kicker was when I explained the basics of DNA retroviral inserts to her. Now she happily bashes creationists and I love seeing her dissect creationist “logic” like an old pro. This is rare, and I was happy to have helped her out. Yes, lives can be changed.
September 12th, 2008 at 4:12 pm
Hey Gumby – don’t suppose you could talk to my mom. *sigh*
September 12th, 2008 at 4:17 pm
James Randi certainly changed my life, putting me firmly on the path to skepticism and science.
I remember being nine or ten and watching some “psychic” on a show called That’s Incredible!. He claimed that his Kung-Fu discipline enabled him to move things with his mind. There was film of him displaying his psychic powers and then he came on the show and demonstrated his telekinesis by moving a pencil and pages in a phone book.
I was totally convinced. As a young boy, I had a strong belief in the paranormal and here was proof…right on TV.
The next week on the show, they brought the psychic back along with…you guessed it…James Randi. Randi exposed all the psychic guy’s tricks and the scales fell from my eyes. From that moment on, I was a skeptic.
I like to think that would have eventually figured this stuff out on my own, but you never know. Randi is a personal hero of mine.
September 12th, 2008 at 4:45 pm
You also changed my views on life too, Phil. You’ve shown me the power of skepticism.
You, the Mythbusters, James Randi, and Penn & Teller all have given me new views that, I feel, have given me a better aspect of the world; one through that of science and critical thinking.
September 12th, 2008 at 4:46 pm
Phil –
Thanks for the heads-up on Dr. Hass’ blog. Its great.
I noted what he had to say about Palen and her proposed book banning while Mayor.
Weird – these people who say they favor individual freedoms without “big” government interference and then if they get into power, want to enforce their own pseudo-religion on us and our kids, and want to tell us what we can and cannot read or what women can or cannot do with their own bodies?
Sarah Palen doesn’t appear to know that “Of the People” means all of us – its not “of our people”.
September 12th, 2008 at 5:11 pm
Yea completely agree with you, most of your blogs are really excellent, except for some of the ufo blogs. They are still right in one sense, although critical thinkers like me have had such strange experiences which you could describe as a typical ufo experience. These are unprovable, but some intelligent people think your blogs on that subject a little silly at best.
September 12th, 2008 at 5:47 pm
dare I say reverently?
Please don’t.
Well, I became skeptical through my own means at a young age so… I have nothing to add. :-\
September 12th, 2008 at 5:51 pm
Phil Plait is directly responsible for starting the chain of events that led me to calling myself a skeptic (and perhaps even thinking like one from time to time). I won’t bore everyone with the details, as I already had a chance to tell Phil this when he last came to DC (that’s Washington, DC, not Dragon Con).
J. D.
September 12th, 2008 at 5:56 pm
Well, you did also change my life through your blog. It was kind of my final push towards skepticism. It also kind of started my investigation with evolution (used to be a creo), which changed my mind about evolution in about a week. Oh, and I discovered blogging thanks to you. Anyways, love your stuff. ^_^
September 12th, 2008 at 6:08 pm
Me too.
September 12th, 2008 at 6:10 pm
I said it in an email once, but will repeat it here: I discovered skepticism and re-discovered my love of science because of you.
Thank you.
September 12th, 2008 at 6:13 pm
Phil, this is OT, but check out this story… hackers have hacked into the LHC already:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/main.jhtml?xml=/earth/2008/09/12/scicern212.xml
September 12th, 2008 at 7:06 pm
Jewel, the main impetus for change came from within the ex-creationist herself. I just happened to be talking to someone who was secretly filled with doubts about “creation science”, and since she discoursed in a civil and non-combative manner I saw I was dealing with someone who was actually willing to listen and learn something. That free exchange of ideas does not often happen with fundamentalists. Just be aware that your mom is no better or worse a person for her beliefs. I personally don’t care if someone is a creationist as long as they don’t try to make it a political or educational agenda. Too bad so many do.
September 12th, 2008 at 7:14 pm
Well, Phil, I was one of those people who came up to you at Dragon*Con. I’m back in school (as a 32-year old!) to get a degree in Astronomy and hopefully a Ph.D. My goal is to do public outreach and education. I never would have come to this path had I not run across you on the internet years ago.
Thanks again.
September 12th, 2008 at 8:21 pm
I’ve never changed anyone’s life. I don’t think so anyway. I’m still young though, I might have to get working on that.
September 12th, 2008 at 9:11 pm
I’m skeptical of Haas’ assertion that it’s Adam Savage’s quest to build a replica of the *Maltese* Falcon.
September 12th, 2008 at 9:58 pm
I’m putting up my own skeptic blog at http://stoopidreality.blogspot.com. Not likely that I’ll change the world, but I still want to do my part. Wish me luck.
September 12th, 2008 at 10:10 pm
Phil is also single-handedly responsible for turning me from a dedicated woo to a skeptic. I was reading about the moon hoax and that led me, by sheer luck, to notice his book sitting on the shelf at my university book store. I bought it, and was told that it was good I did because that was the only copy and they were sending it back to their distributor after the store closed that day. That book, and the suggested reading list at the end, quickly turned me into a skeptic. If I had gone to the bookstore a day later who know how long it would have been before I learned about skepticism. Months, years even.
September 12th, 2008 at 10:39 pm
Keep up the good work, Phil. You’re really changing lives.
Just don’t forget to balance out these articles with more like your two-part series on why there are no green stars. There’s no better advertisement for science then nature itself.
September 13th, 2008 at 5:17 am
Dr. Plait, I can honestly say that upon discovering your first book and your blog after, you have changed my life for the better.
September 13th, 2008 at 7:03 am
No and yes.
September 13th, 2008 at 9:30 am
You certainly have some big shoes to fill. James Randi was the last piece of a confusing puzzle for me- how could so many older, wiser adults be so wrong and I was right? Randi investigated all these claims for years and found no validity, that was good enough for me and he offered the million dollar challenge, which should have more of a presence. I wish this challenge was more well known in the non-skeptical population as I think it would convince a lot of fence-sitters.
September 13th, 2008 at 9:41 am
Guys, try to remember this: don’t stop thinking when you see something that agrees with you on the surface. You’re still subject to something called “confirmation bias”: the tendency to rate ideas higher when they agree with you.
Above, there was a mention of Sarah Palin and banning books. Superficially, you may want to believe that she would do that because she has professed to be a Christian. However, the list going around includes books that weren’t out yet when she was supposed to be pushing to ban them. It was a hoax, which many people will believe in its entirety. It is still possible that banning books is a wish of Sarah’s, and you should be alert for that even though the office of VP will prohibit her from expressing that wish, but you really need to think about the people who would promote the hoax. Are those liars better people?
The whole point of being an habitual thinker is to keep thinking. Some of the ideas you have right now are probably wacko. You have to have the integrity to admit that when you find it out.
In short, question everything.
September 13th, 2008 at 9:44 am
You’re doing great things with this blog. I just wish I’d known about you when we still lived in Boulder! We’ll just have to time a visit with one of your talks, I guess. =)
September 13th, 2008 at 10:34 am
I wholeheartedly agree. Doubt and question everything! That is the way we learn. Onwards and upwards.
September 13th, 2008 at 10:36 am
Demon Haunted World by Carl Sagan is what I credit for making take a serious look at some of the woo-woo ideas I once held.
If only the man were still alive so I could thank him personally.
September 13th, 2008 at 11:26 am
Yes,The Great Randi is directly responsible for changing my life. About 10 years ago when I heard him say he wanted to be sure he was experiencing everything to it’s fullest reality is when the switch flipped in my head. I feel I owe him a great deal and I would love to be at the next TAM to thank him personally. If you’re reading Randi, THANK YOU!!!!
September 13th, 2008 at 12:33 pm
Not all skeptics are the ages of most of the readers and writers of this blog. I am almost 75 and made the trip from what you call “woo woo land” to reality on my own over many many years of feeling that somehow I didn’t really belong where I found myself. When I found this blog about 2+ years ago it was absolutely thrilling to find mostly like minded people. I’m not quite young enough to enjoy the “in your face” type of dialogue I still find it a breath of fresh air knowing there are many questioning folks. I don’t know how old Randi is but he feels like a friend to me. I now know there are many skeptics my age and even if I don’t know anything about Dr. Who (actually I seldom watch TV) and I don’t catch all the jokes, I read this blog religiously (oh dear, bad pun) and hope you continue to teach reality to everyone.
September 13th, 2008 at 3:20 pm
I’m glad to have shook your hand at the even at the Cincinatii Observatory today! You helped me gain a grasp on reality and I thank you for it, again.
Keep up the good work Phil!
September 13th, 2008 at 3:49 pm
Re Radwaste
As I understand the story about Governor Palin relative to the alleged book banning incident, she approached the individual who headed the library board for the town library and inquired as to the procedures for banning books. When that individual essentially told her to get lost, Mayor Palin fired her. Pressure from the community subsequently forced the mayor to rescind the firing. It is apparently true that the mayor didn’t specifically state what books she wanted to ban.
September 13th, 2008 at 4:50 pm
As the saying goes, the pen is mightier than the sword. Education is an effective tool to remove the blinders of pseudoscience that is so prevelant in our society. I think the first mandate of a journalist is skepticism, unfortunately pseudoscience is what we usually get. I regard Sagan and Randi as my heroes. I’ve never met them, and likely won’t but that is the foundation of my outlook on things. I wish I was a better propogator of skepticism, I don’t think I’ve changed many minds myself.
September 15th, 2008 at 9:13 am
Hi Phil! I, too, was one of the teeming DragonCon skeptics who gathered excitedly to see you and James Randi and the other AMAZING skeptics assembled in Derek’s awesome Skeptic Track! (I was the long-haired extremely-excited-to-be-there woman who kept eating Richard’s musk sticks–godawful, yet strangely addictive!)
Well, DragonCon inspired me to take up blogging, too! So now I am (perhaps none-too-shockingly) The Perky Skeptic, where I can use lots of caps and exclamation marks to exude my enthusiasm for critical thinking onto the blogosphere WILLY-NILLY!!!
Thanks SO much for being such an inspirational figure in the skeptical community, and for being such a clear explainer of astronomy! You’re a joy to read and to listen to!
September 15th, 2008 at 1:27 pm
I was at the Sketpicism 101 panel on Friday and it was great seeing all of you guys up there. I didn’t make it to any other panels, I had my hands full throwing parties the whole weekend, but I was really glad to see the great turnout to the track. It makes me happy that we have a direct answer to the X Track now
September 16th, 2008 at 8:49 am
A little over a year ago, at a time where I was beginning to question my Catholicism, I discovered Podcasts. As a fan of Penn & Teller, I stumbled upon “Penn Radio” and heard you debating Joe Rogan on the moon hoax, which led me to Bad Astronomy.
About the same time I also discovered Astronomy Cast, The Skeptic’s Guide to the Universe, PZ, Skepchick, and a host of other science podcasts and blogs. Every so often on your blog or in a podcast, someone would belittle religion and at first it was like a real sour spot in an otherwise tasty apple. Then I started to investigate why all of you smart and talented people thought so little of religion. Within about 6 weeks, I was an atheist. Turns out, I’ve always been a rationalist, just never knew the tools of skeptical thought.
My life has changed dramatically in the past year or so thanks to you and everyone else on the Skeptical websphere.
Be sound.
September 17th, 2008 at 1:09 pm
I’ve been a skeptic since I was a kid, but I never thought to get involved in the skeptical movement until I started listening to podcasts. SGU, Skepticality, Atheist Experience… which led me to Bad Astronomy. Then I was hooked. As I said on my blog, I thought for a long time about starting somehow in the skeptic/science internet media, but I didn’t know how. And besides, who the hell am I to think I could just waltz in and start posting?
But after listening to podcasts and reading blogs for a couple of years, and then this summer going to TAM, I realized that it was important for me to try. Only time will tell if my efforts totally suck.
Phil, thanks very much for coming to take a look. Next TAM, I’m buying you a white russian or three.