Circular Reasoning

An archive site for the Skeptics' Circle. It includes a list of past Skeptics' Circles, future hosts, and announcements.

Thursday, May 24, 2007

Don't forget your towel! It's the 61st Meeting of the Skeptics' Circle!

In honor of Towel Day, the theme of the latest meeting of the Skeptics' Circle is The Hitchhiking Skeptic's Guide to the Galaxy. Join Rebecca (a.k.a. The Skepchick) as she takes you on a tour of the skeptical blogosphere. But don't do it for me. Don't even do it just for Rebecca.

Do it for Douglas.

After you're done gallivanting about the universe with your towel, don't forget that two weeks from now we'll be doing it all again. Next up to host will be Thursday at Polite Company. Start getting your best skeptical entries together for our next go-around. Better yet, if you want to avoid the Vogons of credulity (and quash that horrific Vogon poetry, the tool of small-minded woo for sure, in the process) in a bigger way (by volunteering to host your very own Skeptics' Circle, of course!), head over to HQ, check out the schedule and guidelines for entries and the guidelines for hosting and then drop me a line. If you meet the requirements (no woo on your site, for one thing), I'll put you on the schedule to host.

Thursday, May 10, 2007

The 60th Meeting of the Skeptics' Circle:

It's that time again! Has it really been a fortnight since the last time the skeptics of the blogosphere met to apply desperately-needed critical thinking skills to the woo, credulity, and general lack of critical thinking in which the blogosphere is continually awash?

I guess so.

This time up, we have a rather unusual presentation of the Circle for the 60th Meeting of the Skeptics' Circle over at Infophilia. This time around, the threat is real:

"So, here's the situation. Woos have struck at the foundation of reality, and it's now determined by the popularity of ideas. Simply put, the argument from popularity actually works now. Many like-minded woos have grouped together so that in certain areas, their beliefs will take form."

"Wait, hold on," one skeptic says. "You're going to have to excuse me if I'm a bit skeptical of all of this. Woo taking over the world in one night? Seems very far-fetched, even taking into account the Bigfoot abduction sighting and the ghost of Hahnemann."

"Perfect. Keep up that attitude and we might have a chance. The firmer your grasp on reality, the better you'll be able to fight back. But just remember, now isn't the time to get stuck in an Ivory Tower of skepticism. Tonight, we have to fight.


Kinda makes you want to paint your face blue, just like Mel Gibson in Braveheart and shout, "Skepticism!" doesn't it?

Can our intrepid band of skeptics hold back the tide of irrationality? What will become of the very nature of reality? You'll have to tune in to the rest to find out.

Assuming reality survives the attack, next up to host will be Rebecca at Memoirs of a Skepchick. Start getting your best skeptical entries together for her, just in case the war isn't over by then and reality is still threatened. Better yet, if you want to join the army of skepticism as an officer rather than as enlisted personnel (by volunteering to host your very own Skeptics' Circle, natch!), head over to HQ, check out the skeptical regs and the manual on what is expected in an officer and then drop me a line. If you meet the requirements (no woo on your site, for one thing), I'll put you on the schedule to host.

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