Three years ago, I believed a lot of strange things and only had a faint awareness of the skeptical movement. Then on November 15, 2007 I attended an atheist event where Michael Shermer happened to also be in attendance. I’d only just discovered a few clips on YouTube featuring him as well as a few featuring James Randi. At the event, I remember talking to Shermer briefly about a television show running at the time featuring Uri Geller as well as the skeptical magician Criss Angel.
As I was leaving that night, I saw several fliers for other upcoming events and one of them was a Saturday afternoon lecture hosted by a group calling itself the New York City Skeptics. The speaker was someone I’d never heard of by the name of Steven Novella. It sounded interesting enough and so I attended. There, I found myself so impressed by Dr. Novella’s lecture that when he mentioned he hosted a podcast, I decided to check it out. Today, it’s own of my favorite podcasts.
In many ways, that NYC Skeptics lecture was my introduction to skepticism. So when Page invited me to write for the organization’s blog over a year ago, I was honored. Though I’m not nearly as articulate as Steven Novella, I hope that in the time I’ve been writing here, I’ve helped inspire others towards skepticism and skeptical activism.
So I’d just like to thank everyone at the NYC Skeptics as well as my fellow Gotham Skeptics and my readers for indulging my rants. And while I will no longer be writing for this great organization, I will continue to contribute to it in some other form.
So with that, I bid you all adieu.
The follow video is one of my very first solid introductions to Michael Shermer and the skeptical movement. It was Shermer vs. a number of UFO enthusiasts, and Shermer just destroyed his critics. It more or less was the final nail in the coffin of my belief in alien visitation. Thanks Michael.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=6udgzzCQP0M