I am very pleased to announce that I have become a Fellow of the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry, commonly known as CSI (and formerly known as CSICOP). CSI is one of the foremost skeptical organizations in the country and the world, and it is both humbling and an honor to be a part of it.
I was chosen along with other 15 other people, many of whom will be familiar to regular readers, including Skeptic Dictionary creator Bob Carroll, Steve Novella, Harriett Hall, Massimo Pigliucci, UK Skeptic’s Christopher French, Seth Shostak, and my fellow astronomer Jay Pasachoff. You can get the full list at the CSI announcement.
I’m also very happy to note that another of the new Fellows is one James Randi! Randi helped create CSICOP, but left years ago due to personal reasons when Uri Geller (boo!) sued both him and CSICOP. Randi has maintained a cordial relationship with the group over the years, and I know he’s personally very happy to be a part of CSI once again.
I’ve received a few emails from folks asking if my leaving the JREF to do TV work would take me away from doing skeptical outreach. It will be impacted, of course, but I hope this announcement lets you know that I will continue to do what I can to make this world a more reasonable place. I could no more stop doing that than I could stop blogging, or stop breathing, or stop being amazed at how wonderful our Universe is.
My thanks to the good folks at CSI, and to all of you who support me!
January 13th, 2010 at 2:07 pm
Good grief.
January 13th, 2010 at 2:19 pm
Congrats to you and all of the other Fellows.
January 13th, 2010 at 2:29 pm
Congratulations, Phil. I know this isn’t up to you, but is it the best idea to change CSICOP to CSI in age where we have, what, forty or fifty CSI:Blank City TV shows on the air? (Big fan of CSI:Bakersfield, here!)
January 13th, 2010 at 2:33 pm
Kick ass!! Congratulations
January 13th, 2010 at 2:34 pm
@Michael Swanson
Hmm…perhaps CSI could be CSI: Roswell? Or maybe one for each of the cities in which the fellows reside?
January 13th, 2010 at 2:35 pm
Related to Michael’s comment, my first thought in seeing the title was “Hey cool, he must have gotten a walk-on roll on one of the Crime Scene Investigation shows.” Anything that could be done to make the science on those more realistic would be welcome.
January 13th, 2010 at 3:10 pm
Congrats, Phil. I was afraid you’d have a few minutes of free time a day and not know what to do with yourself. No longer!
January 13th, 2010 at 3:13 pm
How do you throw a party in space?
January 13th, 2010 at 3:13 pm
You plan-et.
January 13th, 2010 at 3:33 pm
Are you sure you have no DOUBTS about doing this?
January 13th, 2010 at 3:40 pm
It’s good to know Phil is not completely out of the picture. Much better resignation/announcement pair than some.
January 13th, 2010 at 4:43 pm
Don’t you mean “make this world a more reasonING place”?
January 13th, 2010 at 5:07 pm
Too bad you’re not in Miami, Phil. You could do cheesy one liners with sunglasses.
Congrats!
January 13th, 2010 at 6:45 pm
Congratulations. That is indeed an honour and quite an amazing list of people to be associated with.
January 13th, 2010 at 7:41 pm
Michael @3
The name change was done in late 2006. From the wikipedia article on the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry:
On November 30, 2006, the organization further shortened its name to “Committee for Skeptical Inquiry” (“CSI”, pronounced C-S-I.)[2] The reasons for the change were to create a name that is shorter and more “media-friendly”, to remove “paranormal” from the name, and to reflect more accurately the actual scope of the organization with its broader focus on critical thinking, science, and rationality in general.[3]
The reason for the change was given in the Skeptical Inquirer either in the last issue for 2006 or the first of 2007.
George
January 13th, 2010 at 10:33 pm
I kinda figured as much, Phil.
Good to see you recognized and in such good company. Also delighted to see Randi back in a position that he has earned the old fashioned way. Damn the politics! Full speed ahead!
Keep to the high road, my friend.
January 14th, 2010 at 8:08 am
Phil: Were you previously a member of the parent body, the Center for Inquiry? I’d be surprised if not since you probably know a ton of people (including DJ) who are. Either way, congratulations!
January 14th, 2010 at 8:14 am
Congratulations, little bro. But don’t forget, I’m the favorite.
“All have made major contributions to science and reason, critical inquiry, and public education, and are notable figures in a wide variety of scientific and scholarly fields, prominent writers, and investigators.”
Wow. Nice honor.
January 14th, 2010 at 4:01 pm
Ah good, glad to see the “rift” between Randi and CSI finally mended. I seem to remember Randi saying a year or so ago that he was interested in improving the relationship, and I’m glad it happened so soon. Friendship between skeptical organizations is always a good thing, even when we don’t always agree (which is practically impossible for all issues).
January 15th, 2010 at 7:15 am
6. Wayne on the plains Says:
Related to Michael’s comment, my first thought in seeing the title was “Hey cool, he must have gotten a walk-on roll on one of the Crime Scene Investigation shows.” Anything that could be done to make the science on those more realistic would be welcome.
IIRC, the original CSI had, before William Petersen left, a cameo by Jamie and Adam from the MythBusters….
J/P=?
January 15th, 2010 at 6:00 pm
Phil,
Proud…..VERY proud!!! Congratulations.
BAMom