Point of Inquiry podcast - Joe Nickell - Humanistic Skepticism

[webmdave]

The worldâs leading paranormal investigator, Joe Nickell is a regularcontributor to Skeptical Inquirer science magazine. He is the author oreditor of more than twenty books, including Looking for a Miracle, Inquest on the Shroud of Turin, and most recently The Relics of the Christ.

In this discussion with D.J. Grothe, Joe Nickell expounds on hisunique kind of paranormal investigating, which is neither "mysterymongering," nor "debunking." He emphasizes how his humanist valuescarry over into his skeptical work, and how his notion of "doing good"is applied to skepticism as a movement. He criticizes many in theskeptical movement who seem not to care to honor claimants withon-the-ground investigations, instead dismissing from the "armchair"that a supernatural claim is impossible. He also challenges those withthe "ghost hunter" mentality, who lack effective training ininvestigation and instead just promote belief in unsupportableparanormal claims, even while engaging in important fieldinvestigations. Nickell ends discussing the future of the skepticalmovement and the odds he thinks it has to adopt the kind of "humanisticskepticism" he promotes. 

 

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