Who are Perth Skeptics?
We are a group of people with a common interest in using scientific inquiry, reason, and critical thinking to evaluate claims and answer questions about our universe and everything in it. Many of us are not scientists, but are familiar with the tools needed to evaluate knowledge claims, evidence and the logic of arguments. We recognise that absolute certainty isn't possible, but probabilities allow us to make meaningful decisions about claims. Evaluation of all the evidence is often impossible, in which case, we rely on scientific consensus for answers. Some questions may not yet have science-based answers, or even be answerable. Accordingly, we don't make up answers when there are none, but accept the answer is not known and remain open to credible evidence. Being a skeptic means that we acknowledge these limitations—in some cases it means being comfortable when there is uncertainty. Skeptics do not believe in conspiracy theories for the simple reason that they rely on a complex web of assumptions (defying Occam's Razor – the principle that among competing hypotheses, the one that requires the fewest assumptions should be selected), such as the assumption that all of those supposedly involved in the conspiracy are perfect keepers of secrets. This means that we do accept that humans landed on the moon, humans have caused global warming/climate change, the “9/11” terror attacks were caused by terrorists, that fluoride is beneficial in drinking water and that vaccines are beneficial and as safe as any other form of medical treatment. Because of our appreciation of the self-correcting nature of science, we accept evidence-based medicine as the best form of health care and don’t accept so-called “complementary & alternative medicines”. Acupuncture, Reiki, homeopathy, applied kinesiology, Chinese medicine or any other form of supplementary/complementary/alternative medicine is generally no better than placebo and—in some cases—actually dangerous We look forward to meeting you at one of our upcoming events.
